291: The Swordsmen’s Duel — Monet’s Tears

May 9, 1504, Age of the Sea Circle

"Shimotsuki?" Orion murmured, somewhat surprised after hearing the samurai's surname, since it was the same as that of the geisha he had met many years ago, who was also the teacher of his fiancée, Gion.

Even so, the thought only lasted for an instant, because regardless of whether the samurai before him had any connection to Shimotsuki Ren, it did not change the fact that he was his enemy, and that they were about to engage in a duel to the death.

"Tsubame no Senritsu!"

Kojiro noticed that Orion was slightly distracted and did not waste the opportunity, unleashing a powerful attack made up of countless thrusts whose trajectories shifted erratically and without warning, making them extremely difficult to predict.

Using Soru while activating both his Prism Eyes and Observation Haki, Orion managed to evade the first thrusts without much difficulty, though he soon realized that the further the samurai's attack progressed, the harder it became to predict the trajectory of the strikes.

In the end, Orion suffered two cuts that grazed his arm, while a third attack struck him directly in the chest, though fortunately he managed to protect himself with Armament Haki at the very last moment.

Even so, if he had relied solely on his swordsmanship during that exchange, he would have suffered a fatal injury, so it could be said that he had been the loser of the duel's first clash.

"What's wrong? Is that all you've got?" Kojiro mocked, adopting a rather strange stance with his katana drawn back behind him and his body leaning forward, almost as though he were preparing to launch himself straight ahead in a direct assault.

"Interesting," Orion said with a smile, immediately focusing completely on the battle before him and pushing aside every stray thought.

In truth, he knew that his current overall power surpassed Kojiro's, and that if he fought using all of his abilities, he could defeat him without much trouble. However, Orion had no intention of doing that, because he believed this was the perfect opportunity to refine his swordsmanship.

After all, while the daily sword training he practiced was useful for increasing the level of his Swordsmanship, there was nothing better than a real battle against another swordsman to rapidly improve his abilities.

According to his estimates, Shimotsuki Kojiro's overall strength was likely similar to Galus's, which was already quite impressive, considering Galus had been regarded as one of the strongest rookie pirates of the latest generation in the Grand Line.

However, that level of power comparable to Galus only applied if the pirate made use of his Devil Fruit abilities. Otherwise, he would not have been a match for the samurai standing before him.

Even though Orion had only been fighting Kojiro for a few brief moments, he had already realized that the samurai's level of swordsmanship far surpassed his own, which was precisely why he wanted to use this battle as a means to polish his skills and reach a higher level.

For that reason, Orion had resolved not to use the rest of his special abilities, instead focusing solely on his sword techniques—though he would still make use of Haki, because otherwise it would have been impossible to fight someone of Kojiro's caliber.

For several moments, Kojiro remained in that peculiar stance, waiting for the perfect timing to launch his strike, while Orion adopted a defensive posture without leaving any openings, fully prepared to confront him head-on the instant he lunged forward.

Little by little, the seconds dragged on, and the tension between the two rose dramatically, though neither made a move.

Finally, just as a faint breeze swept across the battlefield, the samurai shot forward like a bolt of lightning and unleashed a powerful attack.

"Hien: Kyusetsu!"

"Thirty-Six Styles, Moonfall Sword!"

Kojiro's attack rose upward from below, aiming directly at Orion's throat, while Orion's descended from above with terrifying force, intending to shatter all the momentum the samurai had accumulated.

However, just as the two blades were about to collide, Kojiro suddenly altered the trajectory of his strike, redirecting his sword downward in a descending slash aimed straight at Orion's groin.

"Fuck!"

Orion could not help cursing when he saw the merciless direction of the samurai's attack, and abandoning his powerful Moonfall strike, he barely managed to deflect Kojiro's katana at the last instant. As a consequence, however, his stance was completely ruined, leaving him utterly exposed to the next attack.

"Tsubame-Gaeshi!"

Kojiro's blade once again began its frenzied dance, tracing a figure-eight movement at such speed that it looked as though the sword itself had split into two separate blades.

Completely exposed because of the previous exchange, Orion could only raise his cutlass slightly to block one of the two strikes, but the second blade slammed directly into his shoulder.

A powerful explosion echoed throughout the area, and Orion felt his shoulder being torn apart by the samurai's attack. Even so, he managed to use the force of the impact itself to create distance between them, avoiding becoming an easy target for another follow-up strike.

"Damn… that hurt," Orion said. After receiving Kojiro's Tsubame-Gaeshi, he could no longer move his left arm at all, while blood poured heavily from the wound he had suffered.

"It seems I overestimated your abilities," Kojiro said, and once again taking up an attacking stance, he added,

"It's time to end this duel."

Orion, who was still processing the attack Kojiro had used moments earlier, suddenly entered a strange state of mental enlightenment, feeling his thoughts flow at incredible speed as he analyzed the situation.

The cause of this state was his passive ability,Hyperfocus (Level 1), which allowed him to enter a condition of extreme concentration that was especially useful during moments of learning.

At that very moment, Orion was assimilating the techniques his opponent had used throughout the duel. They were techniques of an extremely high level and of a style very different from his own—mainly because of the use of a katana rather than a cutlass—and he could feel himself standing on the verge of a breakthrough in his swordsmanship. He only needed one final step.

Kojiro charged toward Orion at full speed, seeing him standing motionless as though he had resigned himself to defeat, and leapt high into the air while unleashing a powerful attack empowered by the full momentum of his jump.

"Tsubame-Otoshi!"

Kojiro descended upon his defenseless prey like a bird of prey, convinced that this strike would end his enemy's life, but at the very last moment, Orion finally moved.

"Thirty-Six Styles, Infinite Sword."

Orion's cutlass began tracing figure-eight movements that were astonishingly similar to the techniques Kojiro himself had been using in several of his attacks, causing the samurai's eyes to widen in shock as a powerful sense of danger flooded his entire body.

Clang!

Kojiro's descending strike collided against Orion's strange new technique and was almost instantly neutralized. However, Orion's blade did not stop there, because the figure-eight motion carried it onward in an unstoppable orbit aimed directly at the samurai's chest.

Moreover, the fact that Kojiro had descended from the sky to launch his finishing blow had left him completely exposed, and unable to evade Orion's attack, he was struck head-on by the Ace cutlass, suffering a mortal wound that nearly split his body in two.

A massive amount of blood burst into the air, spraying violently from the horrific wound Kojiro had suffered, and without the strength to continue fighting, he collapsed to the ground defeated, slowly bleeding out as he stared at Orion in confusion.

"You… stole… my technique…" Kojiro said with difficulty, coughing up a large amount of blood.

The samurai did not have much time left, as his body had literally been nearly severed in two at the shoulder, but even so, he wanted to hear the answer to that question with his dying breath.

Orion sheathed his cutlass and exhaled deeply, relaxing his exhausted body. Though it had appeared simple, he had actually pushed his muscles far beyond their limits in order to perform such a complex technique for the very first time while already wounded.

Looking at the samurai standing at death's door, Orion showed a calm smile and answered his question.

"I wouldn't call it stealing, but rather adaptation. After all, your style can only be used with a katana, can't it?"

"Heh… hehehe… Impressive…"

Kojiro could barely speak anymore, yet through those few words and the look in his eyes, he managed to convey exactly what he was thinking to Orion. Within the dying samurai's gaze, there was deep respect—the respect one feels toward a powerful enemy.

In truth, although Orion's current skill level was still far below Kojiro's, his natural talent for the sword was far greater. His initial aptitude had already been good—unlike his talent for Haki—and over the years he had improved it even further through the aid of the system and his investment of SP.

To take techniques that his opponent had spent an entire lifetime mastering and reinvent them in the middle of a duel to the death was undeniable proof of his overwhelming talent for the art of the sword, though it was true that he had also benefited from the assistance of his Hyperfocus ability.

Finally, after hearing the answer to his question, the light in the samurai's eyes began to fade until he eventually closed them forever, bringing an end to the brief yet intense duel to the death between swordsmen.

*Ding*

*Your skill "Hyperfocus (Level 1)" has increased by 1 Level*

Orion looked at the notification that had just appeared on the system screen with satisfaction, since passive abilities of this type were always difficult to level up naturally. Hyperfocus was an extremely useful skill, as it enhanced his concentration and allowed him to exceed the normal limits of his thought process, so its level increase was excellent news.

On the other hand, although his Swordsmanship skill itself had not leveled up, Orion felt that he had gained tremendous experience from this duel, and he knew he was only a small step away from reaching the next level.

During this battle, he had created a new technique for his arsenal based on Shimotsuki Kojiro's style, but he already had several more ideas in mind for adapting the samurai's techniques into his own cutlass-based style, so he would likely end up developing additional techniques inspired by Kojiro in the near future.

Grabbing the shoulder that had been shattered by the samurai's attack during the duel, Orion activated his Room and lightly repaired the damaged tissue to stop the bleeding as a form of first aid, though he would later need to properly treat the wound.

Afterward, he focused his gaze into the distance, where Karasu was leading the Revolutionary Army of the North. They had successfully rescued the vast majority of the slaves imprisoned within the enormous mercantile base, and were now in the process of eliminating the remaining enemy soldiers, who had already begun retreating in a disorganized panic.

Orion felt a great sense of relief when he saw that everything was going smoothly with Karasu and the others, and he understood that the conflict was finally nearing its end. Now that there were no other powerful enemies like Shimotsuki Kojiro left to stand in the way of the North Revolutionary Army, they could handle the rest on their own, so Orion simply opened a door in the air and vanished without a trace, stepping into his Pocket Dimension and leaving the chaotic island behind.

…

A few hours later, the North Revolutionary Army's slave rescue operation came to an end, and Orion transported those who wished to immigrate to Pacific Kingdom so they could begin a new life from scratch, while those who chose to remain in the North Blue departed alongside Karasu, intending to return to their homes after their time spent in captivity as slaves.

Orion bid farewell to the silent leader of the Northern Army, promising that he would visit him again someday, and afterward the two parted ways, since Orion's next destination lay in the opposite direction from the North Revolutionary Army's base.

"Orion, how are your injuries? Do you need to change your bandages?" Law suddenly asked as he entered Orion's cabin carrying a medical kit in his hands.

"There's no need, Law. The treatment we performed this morning is enough for now. All I need is rest," Orion answered with a smile, placing a hand atop Law's head, though the boy immediately pulled away because he did not want his master treating him like a small child.

Although Law was a genius and generally very mature, he still had certain immature traits, such as his constant desire to look cool and appear older than he really was. Orion, however, had no intention of correcting that aspect of his personality, because after all, nearly all of his subordinates had similarly eccentric quirks in their own ways.

"Orion, you need to be more careful! Although those bandages do look good on you," Perona said, who for some strange reason was staring at Orion covered in bandages with stars shining in her eyes.

"Does it hurt if I do this?" Mitsu added from the side, extending a finger and pressing hard against the wound on Orion's shoulder.

"Ah! Of course it hurts!" Orion said, shaking his head in resignation at the eccentric behavior of his travel companions.

"Understood," Mitsu replied with a nod full of interest as she stretched out her finger again, intending to press another bandaged area.

"Stop that!" Law shouted, smacking Mitsu's hand away, prompting the girl to look at him in confusion, unable to understand why the little doctor had scolded her.

"Don't bother my patient! He needs to rest. What do you think will happen if his wounds reopen?" Law declared while crossing his arms in an attempt to look cooler.

"Can't you just heal him again if that happens? You really are a bad doctor, huh?" Mitsu replied, tilting her head slightly to the side while thoughtfully rubbing her chin.

The girl's expression was utterly irritating to Law, because he knew she was not saying those things to anger him intentionally, but was genuinely asking the question seriously.

Mitsu's straightforward personality made her terrible at understanding sarcasm, and she also lacked any sort of tact, which usually caused her to clash with Law, who was actually quite sensitive in certain respects.

For example, Mitsu would often ask Law why he closed his eyes and posed in strange positions—which he personally believed looked cool—and that would cause Orion's young apprentice tremendous embarrassment, making him lash out at her, inevitably ending in an argument.

Even so, Orion believed the interactions between Law and Mitsu were interesting, because the girl had experienced very little social interaction while living as one of Vegapunk's experiments in Punk Hazard, which had made her extremely awkward when dealing with other people, and it seemed that her constant arguments with Law were actually helping her socialize better.

On the other hand, Law had also benefited from his constant quarrels with the little clone, because sometimes their disputes escalated beyond words and they ended up exchanging blows, which invariably left poor Law completely beaten up.

Being constantly beaten by Mitsu—who, on top of that, would say things like "Wow, you're really weak" without a shred of malice—had given Law a tremendous motivation to train his combat techniques, and now he no longer wanted to focus solely on learning medicine like he had when he first became Orion's apprentice.

"Mmm…" a small voice sounded beside Orion, who had been watching Law and Mitsu's argument with interest, and when he lowered his gaze he saw that it was Sugar, the little girl he had rescued from the slave market only a few hours earlier.

After Orion had defeated Shimotsuki Kojiro, he had returned to his ship to treat his injuries while waiting for the rescue operation under Karasu's command to conclude.

Once his wounds had been treated—with Law assisting throughout the process—Orion allowed the two sisters inside the Pocket Dimension to come out, formally introducing himself to them and offering them a place within his forces.

Naturally, Monet accepted Orion's offer immediately, because it was everything she had dreamed of for years. Essentially, they would gain a place where they could live peacefully, along with someone powerful who would protect them, so there was no reason whatsoever to refuse Orion's proposal.

Moreover, although she could not properly explain why, Monet felt an absolute sense of trust toward Orion, as though her entire being were telling her to follow him without hesitation.

Over the past several hours, Orion had been speaking with the two sisters and learning more about their past, coming to fully understand the harsh life they had been forced to endure during the last three years, ever since their kingdom had been conquered and they had gone from princesses surrounded by luxury to slaves left at the mercy of their captors.

Orion had also analyzed the talents of the two sisters, discovering that both possessed tremendous potential, although this was something he had already expected, since the two of them would have eventually been recruited by Doflamingo in the future if Orion had not appeared first and gotten ahead of him.

What Orion did not know was that Doflamingo would not have encountered the two sisters for several more years, when he was preparing to enter the Grand Line permanently and leave the North Blue behind. In the original timeline, the future Warlord had seized the slave market where Monet and Sugar were being held by force, making it part of his own holdings.

Later on, he would continue expanding his slave trafficking business before eventually shifting his focus toward the production of SMILEs.

In any case, Monet and Sugar's recruitment by Doflamingo would have happened when the beautiful green-haired girl had already been completely broken and consumed by despair—after having lost her innocence at the hands of the degenerate visitors of the black market—which had made it easy for Doflamingo to shape them however he pleased and turn them into his most loyal subordinates.

Now, with Orion's premature appearance, Monet and Sugar's fate had changed completely, and he had even received 10,000 SP from the system for causing such a deviation.

From this point onward, Monet and Sugar would be able to live without losing their dignity at the hands of their captors and eventually becoming completely corrupted by Doflamingo.

Even so, during the hours the two sisters had spent with him aboard the ship, it had been Monet who spoke about their past and accepted Orion's recruitment offer, because Sugar had not said a single word since arriving, remaining apprehensive in the face of this unfamiliar new environment.

The little girl's mind was still shackled to the cage in which she had spent half of her life, and it was not easy for her to interact naturally with Orion.

Even so, Orion was already accustomed to these kinds of situations, since several of his companions and subordinates had gone through similar experiences.

In fact, both Perona and Mitsu had once suffered from the same problem Sugar was facing now, although both had improved considerably after living for some time in Pacific Kingdom, so he was not particularly worried about Sugar's complete silence.

However, now that she was standing beside him, clutching the new dress he had given her tightly with both hands, while wearing an expression filled with timidity and panic, Orion could not help but feel a pang in his chest, and his expression became even gentler than usual.

"What is it, Sugar? If there's something you want to tell me, you can say it without fear. No matter what it is, I'm here to help you," Orion said with a warm smile, causing Sugar to lower her head, unable to meet his gaze, though a small smile appeared on her face.

"U-Um… T-This is for you," Sugar said as she reached into a dirty little bag filled with small dark misshapen balls and pulled one out to offer it to Orion.

"It's a raisin. Grapes are Sugar's favorite snack, so she kept some like treasures and they ended up like this," Monet explained from the side, worried that Orion might feel disgusted by Sugar's gift and hurt her feelings by rejecting it too harshly.

Obviously, Monet still did not truly know what kind of person the man she had sworn loyalty to was, because otherwise she never would have worried about something like that. After all, Orion was extremely kind to the people close to him, and he had no trouble understanding their emotions and acting accordingly so that he would never hurt them.

Even without Monet's explanation to soften the situation, Orion never would have rejected the gift Sugar was offering him with such sincerity, and even if it had been a piece of dog shit he would have accepted it like a treasure, because the only thing that mattered was that it was a treasure to Sugar.

"Thank you, Sugar," Orion said as he extended his hand and accepted the raisin, which, having been dried under the sun without much technique, had not turned out very well and even had traces of mold on its surface.

Then, under Monet's astonished gaze—because she had not expected Orion to actually eat something like that—Orion tossed the small raisin into his mouth and ate it with clear enjoyment before flashing a radiant smile, placing a hand atop Sugar's head and saying,

"Delicious. I hope you'll keep sharing more with me in the future."

Sugar nodded repeatedly in an adorable manner, and then blushed faintly as she felt Orion's large hand gently stroking her hair.

After the two sisters had been captured and sold to the slave market, she had received almost no affection whatsoever, since only her sister had been able to keep her company for a few hours each day.

"You like grapes? I think there were some in the kitchen! Come on, come on, let's go check!" Perona said cheerfully as she grabbed the timid Sugar by the hand and ran out of the room with her.

Mitsu and Law muttered something under their breaths and followed after them as well, perhaps intending to join the search for grapes. Meanwhile, Monet's eyes had become flooded with tears as all the negative emotions she had been holding onto for years finally began to slowly fade away.

Today marked the beginning of a new life, and perhaps now she and her sister could finally become happy once more.

While Monet cried tears of joy beside him, Orion himself wore a strange expression, because a new notification had just appeared on the system screen.