If Zephyr was the pinnacle of physical combat, Hawkeye was a master of swordsmanship.
Even in his youth, Hawkeye had not yet reached the limit of his swordsmanship, but he was still an opponent not to be underestimated.
Blake and he exchanged several blows, but Blake still couldn't gain the upper hand, and was even subtly suppressed by his opponent.
When the seventh foothold sank into the sea, Blake suddenly raised his sword and thrust it towards Hawkeye's face.
Hawkeye instinctively blocked with his blade, only to find it was a feint—
Blake released his grip, letting the long sword fall into the sea.
His fist had already smashed into the back of Mihawk's blocking blade.
"This is how Celestial Dragons greet each other!"
The monstrous strength, comparable to that of the Giant Race, made the Blake Blade hum.
The ship planks under Hawkeye's feet shattered into dust under the pressure, forcing him to continuously step on the flying splinters to adjust his posture.
He slid back dozens of meters, and the sea surface was temporarily furrowed by the strong wind.
The sea was now covered with floating debris of various sizes, each fragment becoming a temporary stage for their contest.
"Sure enough, fists are still more convenient."
Blake shook his wrist; after stacking Zephyr's Armament Haki, his Haki's intensity had risen another level.
It's no exaggeration to say that in terms of Armament Haki, Blake was already a cut above everyone who appeared in the original story.
Moreover, Blake had been unconsciously releasing Armament Haki frequently these past few days, then solidifying it and gradually permeating it into his skin.
It felt somewhat like moving from externalizing true qi to refining the body with true qi.
Blake was a bit puzzled by this phenomenon.
Seeing that it had no adverse effects on his body, he finally relaxed.
However, now was not the time to think about such things.
Dark Armament Haki wrapped around his fist, causing the air to crackle with every swing.
"Don't you know that bosses have phases?"
Fists and the Blake Blade collided, causing the sea surface to collapse and raising monstrous waves.
After abandoning his long sword, Blake's attacks were clearly more suppressive.
Hawkeye, like Blake earlier, began to focus seven-tenths of his attention on defense, constantly retreating.
But Hawkeye was Hawkeye after all; even when suppressed, he could still seize opportunities to counterattack.
When his Blake Blade vertically split down on Blake's shoulder, Blake had already condensed crystallized Armament Haki there.
This was a use of Armament Haki learned from Zephyr, and now, wielded by Blake, its defensive power had more than doubled.
Amidst a shower of sparks, Blake reached out and grabbed the back of the Blake Blade Yoru.
"Got you!"
His knee, hardened with Armament Haki, slammed violently into Hawkeye's abdomen, and the shockwave emptied the surrounding seawater, creating a momentary vacuum.
"The biggest weakness of you swordsmen is that you value your weapons more than your lives."
Hawkeye coughed up blood, yet still, in mid-fall, he unleashed a cross-shaped sword slash, forcing back Blake, who intended to continue his pursuit.
The sea surface was now covered with burning wreckage, and Hawkeye continuously stepped on air, forcefully stabilizing himself and landing on a charred mast.
Blood stained his lips, but his eyes were still as sharp as his nickname suggested.
"I knew it wouldn't be that easy to take you down."
Blake slowly descended, and the two once again stood facing each other.
Moments later, they both, by unspoken agreement, charged at each other again.
Blake's fists continuously smashed against the Blake Blade, causing Hawkeye's tiger's mouth (the web between thumb and forefinger) to start cracking.
After the previous injuries, Hawkeye's breathing had also begun to become uneven.
As Blake attacked, the driftwood beneath Hawkeye could no longer hold up and began to sink.
Blake seized this fleeting opportunity, his fist piercing through the sword energy net and smashing heavily into Hawkeye's left shoulder.
The sound of bones shattering was drowned out by the tide, but this attack dealt a significant blow to Hawkeye's combat capability.
Hawkeye, in mid-air, switched to holding his blade with his right hand.
But Blake, adhering to the spirit of "strike while the iron is hot," had already arrived above his opponent.
His right leg, like a giant axe, collided with the Blake Blade.
This blow slammed Hawkeye, who was already airborne, into the sea, sending up a hundred-meter-high pillar of water.
Blake stood in the air, using Moonwalk.
This was also a hidden bug of the card space.
If Hawkeye had died or lost consciousness, the space would have automatically teleported him out.
Since he was still in the space, it meant Hawkeye would emerge from the sea sooner or later.
Sure enough, it wasn't long before Hawkeye, wielding his Blake Blade, broke through the sea surface, and a deep green slash came hack towards Blake.
Blake, relying on his future-sight level Observation Haki, not only easily dodged the sword energy but also took the opportunity to close the distance, pressing his hand onto the Blake Blade.
Hawkeye's left arm was already broken; now he only held the blade with his right hand.
Blake's strength, already boosted by countless minor characters and further enhanced by BIGMOM's Iron Balloon, had now reached a superhuman level.
The Blake Blade was slowly pressed into Hawkeye's collarbone.
Hawkeye still tried to resist, but Blake's left fist had already accurately landed on his temple.
Hawkeye's figure slowly dissipated, and Blake also vanished from the sea.
"Awesome!"
In the System Space, Blake held an ability card, his expression excited.
It wasn't that this ability card was particularly strong.
Well, young Hawkeye's swordsmanship was indeed very strong.
But what truly made Blake happy was that this was his most exhilarating battle to date.
Although his previous fight against Zephyr lasted longer, Blake was mostly in a defensive position.
Zephyr's physical combat was too skilled; he could always launch attacks from unexpected angles.
Blake's victory over Zephyr was primarily due to his superior physique and slightly higher attack power than Zephyr's.
Zephyr hit him several times, and he was fine.
He hit Zephyr once, and Zephyr immediately couldn't take it.
That's why after the battle with Zephyr, Blake felt mentally exhausted, but after defeating Hawkeye, he felt exhilarated.
"Use ability card!"
Instantly, the ability card shattered and disappeared, and countless insights into swordsmanship merged into Blake's mind.
His swordsmanship level also began to rise with these insights, leaping past the realm of a Swordsman and becoming a Great Swordsman.
However, swordsmanship level was one thing; being able to fully utilize it was another.
Swordsmanship and physical combat, unlike Haki or Devil Fruit abilities, required fine-tuning based on one's physique and fighting habits to develop a unique combat style.
So, for Blake to fully integrate the swordsmanship he acquired, he would still need to challenge those strong individuals in the System Space a few more times.
But such a thing could be accomplished by simply dedicating one evening, so Blake wasn't in a hurry to start... Leaving the System Space, the time was already nearing dusk.
As they were already close to the Calm Belt, the weather here was exceptionally mild.
Sunlight spilled onto the sea, creating a golden shimmer.
Blake's mind also gradually calmed down with the sounds of Perona and the others' laughter.