Fifty Consecutive Victories / Rhongomyniad

Crocodile, a fellow Shichibukai, had been defeated, but Mihawk remained as expressionless as ever. He did show a slight reaction, however, when he saw that the person who had defeated Crocodile came from the East Blue, which he had visited not long ago.

Mihawk couldn't help recalling the swordsman who had challenged him at the sea restaurant and left him somewhat impressed.

Roronoa Zoro—

And the kid wearing Shanks's hat.

"A bounty hunter? The East Blue is surprisingly capable this year," Mihawk remarked coolly, then continued reading.

His gaze fell on the picture on the front page, and his sharp yellow eyes narrowed slightly.

"A straight sword. No... it's a kingly sword!"

The front-page picture showed Arthur floating in midair, holding Excalibur aloft. Mihawk didn't know where it had been taken from, but it had captured the moment perfectly: Arthur holding the Golden Sword, gathering radiance, with a sacred air about him.

Because the picture was in color, Mihawk could see the shape of the sword more clearly.

The blade was already incredibly magnificent with its bladed scabbard on it. Mihawk suddenly grew curious: what did the true blade hidden beneath the scabbard look like?

"Interesting. Grow stronger quickly! Let us meet soon." Mihawk suddenly felt the newspaper had been worth the money.

Mihawk didn't know how powerful the radiance-gathering strike was.

But one thing was certain: the youth in the picture was definitely an outstanding swordsman.

Not some third-rate swordsman, but a true master swordsman.

Not some third-rate swordsman, but a true master swordsman.

The newspaper had sparked Mihawk's interest in Excalibur and made him remember Arthur.

Of course, Mihawk paid more attention to the former.

There were countless master swordsmen on the seas, but fine swords were few and far between.

The Golden Sword was clearly an unparalleled masterpiece. Its magnificent appearance alone instinctively brought the Twelve Supreme Grade Blades to mind.

Even Mihawk, the World's Greatest Swordsman, felt this way, let alone everyone else.

"Find him—find out where this 'Knight of Knights' is immediately. Give him three choices: join our pirate crew, hand over his sword, or wait to be killed and robbed."

"The bounty hunter who defeated [Crocodile]? Hahaha... How interesting. Since when did a strong fighter like that appear among the hyenas?"

"'Knight of Knights'? Hmm, he really is handsome, and he has the bearing for it. His strength is even more worthy of the title! Find him for me. I'm going to capture him and make him my personal knight."

"If I kill him, will I become famous across the seas?"

"I want that sword. Only a famous sword is worthy of my strength."

"..."

Arthur, whose whereabouts at sea were unknown, had become the focus of attention on the Grand Line. Seemingly for the sake of a headline, Morgans had lavishly praised Arthur's deeds in the newspaper, calling him a breath of fresh air among bounty hunters. He had made no mention of the title Wind Sword Knight, instead giving Arthur a title acknowledged across the seas—the Knight of Knights.

By defeating Crocodile, Arthur had finally made a name for himself on the Grand Line.

But at the same time, countless people had set their sights on him because of Excalibur.

The magnificent Golden Sword was suspected to be one of the Twelve Supreme Grade Blades.

Its allure to swordsmen was certainly no small matter.

Arthur would surely have countless troubles coming his way next.

In this world, unless you were an entity like the World Government, no matter how remarkable you were, countless people would think they could become famous across the seas by killing you, whether they sought fame or profit.

Even the four emperors who ruled over the New World faced challenges at all times.

In the original story, even Admiral Kizaru had been ambushed when he appeared on the Sabaody Archipelago.

Those who sought fame and profit on these seas were as countless as fish crossing a river.

If Arthur were still the previously unknown Wind Sword Knight, he would have few troubles.

But he had defeated Crocodile and been given the title of Knight of Knights.

So he would first have to face pirates' revenge, then rejection from his peers, followed by pirates, swordsmen, treasure hunters and others who had set their sights on Excalibur...

Arthur was like fame and fortune in human form, walking about with people everywhere wanting to pounce on him and seize them.

Chapter 43: Fifty consecutive victories

[Second update]

"Two seals released, Excalibur—"

"Ding! You have won this battle. Total wins: 46!"

"Ding! You have won this battle. Total wins: 47!"

"Ding! You have won this battle. Total wins: 48!"

"Ding! You have won this battle. Total wins: 49!"

"Ding! You have won this battle. Total wins: 50!"

"Ding! Congratulations! Your consecutive win count has reached 50. Your Noble Phantasm 'Rhongomyniad' is half-awakened!"

"Ding! Because your consecutive win count has reached 50, the requirements for a victory to be recognized have increased. From now on, the requirement for defeating an enemy has been raised from a certain degree of fame to immense fame."

On the vast, surging sea, a figure walked as though on level ground. Behind him lay a great pile of shipwrecks, with numerous corpses floating on the water. Some were missing limbs; others looked as though they had been doused in lava, their bodies burned and melted in many places. They had died gruesome deaths.

The severed ships sank, their flag-bearing masts going down with them.

The flags bore skulls of various designs, as well as the emblem of an Underworld organization.

All these people had waged war against one man in this stretch of sea.

"They made such a huge show of force. I didn't expect them to be so weak."

"They weren't weak. The captain was just too strong."

Aboard a sailing ship stopped not far from the waters that had become a battlefield, Nami and Robin watched Arthur walk back and each gave her assessment.

Unlike Nami, whose horizons had yet to broaden, the well-traveled Robin watched Arthur approach from afar, a faint ripple of light in her beautiful eyes.

She had just seen their captain swing several sword-pressure attacks and unleash the golden light she had once seen in Alabasta. Half the pirate crews that had formed an alliance to come after him had been easily cut apart, while the other half had crumbled to powder and vanished, as though they had never existed.

Having seen it with her own eyes, Robin could finally appreciate the strength of her new backer.

A monster—

That was the only word Robin could think of to describe Arthur's strength.

More than a dozen ships had come in an overwhelming show of force, yet they had been dealt with in a few moves before they could utter a single boast.

If that kind of strength didn't make him a monster, what did?

"What a shame. There must have been lots of Beli on those ships." Nami had none of Robin's many thoughts. Looking at the ships that had sunk or disappeared, she pouted and said regretfully, "Arthur must have sunk them all because he couldn't be bothered. Couldn't he have a little patience? There must have been lots of treasure and Beli on all those ships."

"We've collected quite a bit of loot these past few days. There's no room left on our ship, so it's only natural for the captain to do that," Robin said with a gentle smile.

"Knowing that is one thing, but watching so much Beli sink into the sea still hurts," Nami said, pouting, on the verge of tears.

Nami and Robin could watch so calmly as Arthur faced so many enemies alone because they had both grown immune to it.

More than half a month had passed since they left Alabasta.

During that time, their small-cabin sailing ship had faced several attacks.

Among the attackers were pirates, bounty hunters, treasure hunters, human traffickers, and small alliances of pirate crews.

Some had come for Arthur's head, some to take down Arthur the bounty hunter, and even more for the Excalibur in his hand.

Without exception, every last one of them had met their end at sea.

Though Nami and Robin didn't know how these people had tracked them down, they had grown used to it.

No matter how those people appeared, Arthur could always detect them first and keep danger out like a barrier, making the two women feel completely at ease.

"Fifty consecutive wins already? That's a little astonishingly fast."

Arthur walked back toward the sailing ship, treading on the seawater as he immersed his mind in his thoughts.

Fame really was important.

After defeating Crocodile, Arthur had seemingly gone from taking the initiative to waiting for others to come to him.

In the past, he had sought out pirates himself. Now he no longer needed to; those people came to him of their own accord.

In less than a month, Arthur had dealt with several waves of enemies, and his consecutive win count had risen from 32 to 50.

The eighteen system enhancements had not improved Arthur's attributes by much. They were far inferior to those he had gained from Buggy and Arlong, and couldn't even compare to Momoo, the sea cow of Arlong's crew, let alone the astonishing enhancement from Crocodile.

The first fifty victories, regardless of their order, had brought Arthur system enhancements of varying strength.

Arthur had never been able to understand why.

But now, after hearing the system's final notification, he finally understood.

Those people had not brought him substantial enhancements entirely because Arthur hadn't known any of them.

Or rather, they had never appeared in the original story.

Now that his consecutive win count had reached 50, Arthur understood that future victories would probably not come so easily.

A certain degree of fame meant that any pirate with a bounty would qualify. Such pirates must have done something to earn their bounties and had a certain reputation in some stretch of sea.

Arthur could find such people easily. Of the attackers and challengers he had wiped out over the past half month, even though he hadn't known a single one, he had still received victories recognized by the system.

But now, the conditions for a system-recognized victory had been raised.

A certain degree of fame had been changed to immense fame.

Though the difference was only two characters, the difficulty had risen by far more than tenfold.

Immense fame, as the name implied, meant the person had to have a great reputation.

And in Arthur's mind, there were three kinds of people with immense fame.

One was kings and warriors revered by their people, another was wanted great pirates, and the last was Marine officers.

Of course, there was a fourth kind.

The Celestial Dragons.

The four kinds above were either well-known within their countries or known throughout the seas and the world.

But among those who could become Arthur's targets, only the Supernovas in the first half of the Grand Line met the conditions.

"Getting a second Noble Phantasm easily really isn't going to be simple," Arthur murmured softly at the thought.

Chapter 44: Rhongomyniad

[Third update]

"Name: Arthur Pendragon

Gender: male

Age: 17

Height: 181 cm

Weight: 69 kg

Strength: C

Endurance: C

Agility: C

Mana: C+

Luck: E~~EX

Noble Phantasm: EX