It was a dark and windy night, the kind of night made for killing.
At some point, the moon in the sky had been covered by a drifting mass of dark clouds, leaving the world so black one could barely see their own hand in front of their face.
Within the royal capital, every house, whether it belonged to the king and nobles or commoners and wealthy merchants, was brightly lit.
Under such an atmosphere, only desperate men with no fear of death would dare appear on the streets.
Whoosh. Whoosh.
Bursts of wind swept along the streets outside, sounding like a deadly kamaitachi come to claim lives.
Inside their homes, the people knelt before statues of gods and prayed.
They knew that sound meant the demon had appeared again.
In the past, whenever that sound echoed through the streets, slaughter and death would always follow.
But tonight was different.
At the highest point of the royal capital, a man in a black cloak had already been waiting for a long time.
Bang!
Cavendish, who had just appeared at the entrance of the royal palace, was suddenly struck by a powerful kick.
If Cavendish's reactions had not become several times faster than usual, that blow would have seriously injured him on the spot.
Inside the palace, the king heard the noise outside, and his expression changed violently.
"What happened? Hurry, go and look!"
One of the braver guards quietly pushed open a corner of the window and looked outside.
"Your Majesty, a man in a black coat has stopped that demon."
The excited king quickly squeezed out from under the layers of protection formed by his guards.
He pushed aside the bold guard and walked to the window, his expression filled with emotion.
"Where did this brave warrior come from? I must reward him generously for his contribution to the kingdom!"
Cleveland loosened his muscles and drew the long blade at his waist.
Click.
Without warning, a flash of white light lit up the darkness.
Cavendish's hideous face appeared before Cleveland.
Clang!
Two blades clashed in the air, countless sparks bursting from the point of contact.
Cleveland felt somewhat disappointed.
He had originally thought that this so-called demon was a special Paramecia-type Devil Fruit user, but it turned out to be an ordinary person.
On top of that, the man's appearance and clothing looked somewhat familiar.
"You look rather familiar. I should have seen your file somewhere before."
Cleveland spoke casually, yet the movements of his hands did not stop for even a moment.
Within the range of their exchange, the sharp sounds of steel clashing rang out again and again.
Cavendish, already in his second-personality state, could not hear the outside world at all, nor did he know how to answer Cleveland's question.
There was only one thought in his mind now.
Kill the person standing in his way.
The sword in his hand became faster and faster.
His entire body truly seemed like a scythe flashing through the air; only streaks of light could be seen, not his figure.
A faint, effortless smile hung on Cleveland's face.
"So that is how it is. You are only a speed-focused swordsman."
After feeling that the force behind Cavendish's blade was not as difficult to withstand as he had imagined, Cleveland's expression relaxed.
Generally speaking, speed-focused swordsmen were difficult to deal with because they were too fast.
Most of the time, ordinary swordsmen could not even sense their attacks.
Even if the opponent's attacks were not enough to kill with one strike, the gap in speed would still eventually decide the battle.
But who was Cleveland?
He had been Raleigh's adjutant back in the North Blue, and Raleigh himself happened to know techniques used by speed-focused swordsmen.
When Raleigh combined his Storm Fruit with swordsmanship, there were hardly a few speed-focused swordsmen in the entire sea who could match him.
Under that kind of training, Cleveland had long since stopped fearing this type of opponent.
His Observation Haki fully opened.
Every one of Cavendish's strikes was within Cleveland's control.
Suddenly, a sharp gleam flashed through his eyes.
"There!"
"One-Sword Style: Falling Sakura!"
The sword technique inherited from Raleigh unfolded.
Petals of cherry blossoms seemed to bloom from Cleveland's blade.
Pink sword aura burst out from the blade in an instant, shooting toward a seemingly empty space.
The people watching all drew in sharp breaths, thinking Cleveland had misjudged the position.
Drip. Drip.
The sound of blood falling onto the ground rang out.
In the place where there had originally been nothing, a figure slowly emerged.
Across his abdomen, a horrifying wound had silently appeared, spraying blood without pause.
The ferocious expression on Cavendish's face gradually disappeared.
His suppressed main personality began to awaken once more.
His eyes were filled with confusion, and his expression twisted with pain.
Only when he lowered his head did he realize that he had already suffered a severe injury and was on the verge of death.
After Cavendish's main personality emerged, Cleveland finally patted his forehead in surprise.
"No wonder I thought you looked familiar just now. So you are Cavendish."
"I truly did not expect that the man known as the White Horse Prince would turn out to be the terrifying murderous demon of this kingdom."
Cavendish opened his mouth but said nothing.
At this point, any unnecessary words were already too late. He could clearly feel his life draining away.
If the sword in his hand had not blocked half of that move just now, Cavendish would already have been split in two by Cleveland.
"Who are you?"
Cavendish was certain that he had never seen the man before him.
Otherwise, there was no way he would have failed to recognize him.
Cleveland sheathed his blade and said with a smile, "My name is Cleveland. Vice Admiral of Marine Headquarters."
Cavendish's gaze began to scatter, and his face turned ashen.
"A Marine Vice Admiral… no wonder… you could defeat me."
Although Cavendish still wanted to continue fighting, the loss of life left him helpless.
Along with the clang of his weapon falling to the ground, Cavendish's body collapsed straight onto the street.
Cleveland picked up Cavendish's broken famous sword.
He had no interest in dealing with Cavendish's corpse.
If not for Raleigh's direct order, Headquarters probably would have sent a Rear Admiral for such a simple mission instead of dispatching an elite Vice Admiral like him.
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