Chapter 45: The End of a Supernova
"You should have entered your second personality sooner. Then I might have been interested in playing with you for a while longer," Ian said, his voice calm as he suddenly stopped and disengaged from the frantic exchange. "As for now..."
His eyes locked onto the charging form of Hakuba. His more refined awakened skill had already been primed during the battle and was now unleashed perfectly.
[Five Senses Severance]!
"Have you finally stopped running?!" Hakuba shrieked, its voice a distorted echo. "Hahaha, let me chop off your head! Ugh! What's going on? My... my eyes!"
The Sickle-Weasel, mid-swing, froze in horror. The world around it plunged into absolute blackness, devoid of any light or form. It quickly adjusted its stance, turning sideways and halting its reckless assault. In its mind, this was just another of Ian's tricky Devil Fruit abilities, a temporary blindness.
"Damn it! Do you think you can restrain me like this?!" it roared into the void. "Even if I can't see, I can still sense you! I've got you now, you bastard!"
Hakuba pushed off the ground, lunging sideways to attack again. It had encountered many Devil Fruit users on the seas. The key was to defeat the user; the ability would vanish then. The fact that Ian had resorted to this meant he must be nearing his limit. It couldn't give him a moment to breathe!
"How come?!"
Just a moment ago, its Observation Haki had clearly sensed Ian's location. Now, the mental outline of his presence had vanished completely. All sound from the environment, all physical sensation—everything disappeared into an all-consuming void.
Clatter...
The famed sword Durandal fell from Hakuba's grasp, clattering onto the broken pavement. The Sickle-Weasel's hands had lost all sense of grip and feeling.
Thud.
Immediately after, its arrogantly snarling face went slack, and it collapsed to its knees, utterly powerless.
The persona of Hakuba, the Sickle-Weasel, rapidly receded, and Cavendish's primary personality surged back to the forefront. During the brief switch between personalities, Cavendish's five senses flickered back for a fleeting moment—a self-preservation mechanism of the secondary personality, hoping a reset would solve the problem. For a single, hopeful instant, Cavendish could feel the world again.
It was a pity. Two personalities, but only one set of senses.
Though Cavendish's senses had returned slightly, he could only manage to shift his knees weakly. He didn't even have the strength to stand. The scene before his eyes was a blurry mess of alternating light and darkness.
"First an illusion... now you're stealing a person's senses?" Cavendish gasped, his voice weak and strained. "Jock Ian... your horrible fighting style... What kind of Devil Fruit ability is this? Am I... going to be captured? Damn it!"
Ian did not intensify the severity of the sensory deprivation. It was enough to let Cavendish retain a sliver of perception in these final moments.
"Captured? Hahaha, you think I'm that merciful?" Ian's voice was cold as he stepped closer and picked up Durandal from the ground. If this action were witnessed by an audience, they might assume Ian intended to spare Cavendish's life. But this battle, from its very conception, was designed to end with Cavendish's death. He had been the perfect test subject, experiencing both the Dream World and the trump card of Five Senses Severance. How could Ian possibly let such a valuable experiment live to tell the tale?
"You... what are you planning to do?" Cavendish stammered, trying once more to rise, but his body refused to obey, his consciousness too fragmented to coordinate movement. From the look on Ian's face, he understood the finality of the threat. "Are you planning to...?"
"You should have realized this the day you became a pirate, Cavendish," Ian stated, his tone devoid of emotion as he stood over the kneeling man. "To be a pirate is to live by a simple rule: you either kill others, or you are killed by others. I'm sorry you ran into me. This era... doesn't need a Pirate Supernova."
With those final words, Ian's arm swept down. The sharp blade of Durandal plunged into Cavendish's heart with brutal, decisive speed.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations to the host for successfully defeating the "Handsome Pirate Captain," the "Pirate Prince" Cavendish!]
[Enhancement Points Obtained: 1200 points!]
[Current Accumulated Enhancement Points: 2246 points!]
[Notice: Every 1000 points can be used to enhance "Devil Fruit Ability" or "Overall Quality." Would you like to enhance now?]
One thousand two hundred enhancement points! It was the highest single reward he had ever obtained. A Pirate Supernova with a 280 million berry bounty was indeed a massive source of experience. Ian felt a twinge of regret; he had come to Sabaody Archipelago a year too early. If he had arrived at the same time as the other Supernovas next year, with eleven pirates boasting bounties over a hundred million... the potential gains would have been astronomical.
Using Cavendish as a guinea pig had definitely been the right choice. One person had yielded two sets of experimental data, giving Ian a much deeper understanding of his two awakened skills. Now, even if he faced a true Warlord of the Sea, he was confident he could put up a real fight.
To increase his chances of victory against such powerful foes, he needed to grow stronger, faster. He opened the system interface and without hesitation, chose to enhance both [Devil Fruit Ability] and [Overall Quality] once each.
[Ding!]
[Physical ability enhanced. The awakened passive skill "Self-Healing Recovery" has been significantly improved. Strength and speed have been markedly increased. 1000 Enhancement Points consumed.]
[…]
[Ding!]
[Conqueror's Haki enhanced. 1000 Enhancement Points consumed.]
[Conqueror's Haki level has been significantly improved. Level has advanced to "Advanced"!]
[Advanced Conqueror's Haki Effect: Pressure Strike. Can radiate Conqueror's Haki in all directions with precision. The pressure can shake ships and crack stone. Those with weak mental fortitude are completely unable to resist!]
Ian didn't pay excessive attention to the boost in his self-healing, strength, or speed. Since awakening his Devil Fruit abilities, he had scarcely been injured. His time in the East Blue and even the intense training at Headquarters hadn't pushed him to that kind of limit. The increase in base stats was just a welcome bonus.
What truly made Ian's eyes gleam with excitement was the advancement of his Conqueror's Haki.
A new effect: Pressure Strike!