71. Buggy vs Squard

The ones who come to the Torino Kingdom are Spider Maelstorm Pirates led by Squard. He came here for Buggy's head because of his hatred for Roger who massacred his crew in the past.

Buggy grins and orders his crewmates & other natives to stay back. Then he asks the giant bird that he rides to get closer to Squard's ship. He wants to talk a little with Squard.

"So you came for my head, Squard?" asks Buggy.

"That's right, you were there 6 years ago when my crew was massacred by your crew. Coincidentally, I am in South Blue when your last bounty came out. So I came here for revenge because I couldn't do it on Roger myself. After this, I will go for your friend, Red Hair too," says Squard.

"Do you think we are easy targets, unlike the other members because we are the youngest? What a scaredy-cat," says Buggy while smirking.

"What'd you say?" says Squard with a low angry tone.

"Isn't it right? You're too scared to target the older member like Rayleigh-san or Gaban-san. So you came after me and Shanks who are the youngest. Also, your crewmates were killed because of your own fault. You were too arrogant to challenge Captain Roger and your crew paid the price," says Buggy.

"SHUT UP! IT'S ROGER'S FAULT," says Squard.

"No, it's not. If you really care about your crew, you will fight until you die. You being alive now means that you ran away from your death and let your crew sacrifice themselves. If you really care about them, you will keep fighting with them until you die. Am I wrong, Squard?" says Buggy with a serious tone.

6 years ago, Squard was just a rookie. He raised quite fast as a rookie and it made him very arrogant. At that time, Roger was one of the best pirates in the world. Roger is also a swordsman like Squard, so Squard went to challenge him just like how Ace challenged Whitebeard.

However, Squard challenged Roger for a life & death battle. Then, of course, Squard lost and he will lose his life. But then his crewmates came to his aid and violate their vow of life & death battle.

Roger honors his vow even if he is a pirate and so are his crewmates. So Roger orders his crew to kill all Squard's crew. But one of Squard's crewmates had succeeded to helped Squard escape.

"A battle of Swordsman isn't something that can be disturbed casually, Squard," says Buggy.

Squard is just silent and looked down.

"We are pirates, we are criminals. But even if we are scums of this world, we still have the honor and need to hold onto that. Shouldn't you blame yourself for your incompetence as a Captain and your inability to protect your crew instead of blaming other people?" asks Buggy to Squard.

Squard is silent for a moment before saying, "I blamed myself, I always do it, and I will redeem it. That's why I will avenge my deceased friends by taking the life of those who are involved in that incident because I can't take Roger's life anymore. So be ready, Buggy 'The Clown'."

Buggy sighs because his strategy to shake Squard's heart has failed. Squard seems to come with full preparation, be it physically or mentally.

Maybe Whitebeard has talked many things to him since he joined Whitebeard Pirates. But this is fine, at least now Buggy can understand a little about his current enemy.

"So how do you want to finish this?" asks Buggy.

"Let's finish this one-on-one," says Squard.

"Sure," replies Buggy.

Then they go to the island, on a coast that has wide clearing. Buggy & Squard stand in the middle with their crewmates surrounding them. They unsheath their swords and get ready for the duel.

Squard has 2 swords on him. One sword is just a normal katana, while the other is an oversized katana that he used to stab Whitebeard. Now he uses the oversized one to fight Buggy.

Cricket keeps his guard up while asking Jude, "Hey, do you know who this guy is?"

"Yes, I've asked Captain just now. He is 'Maelstorm Spider' Squard, a pirate with a bounty of 110 million belly. He is an infamous pirate in New World and also an ally of an Emperor, Whitebeard," says Jude.

(a.n: Squard's Bounty in the canon is 210 million, but that's 20 years from the current timeline. So I make his bounty 110 now.)

"Whitebeard?! Then, won't it be dangerous even if Captain wins? Whitebeard will come after us," says Mantis.

"Mantis, do you think Captain will care about that? We've been with him for 3 months now and he never fears anyone," says Cricket.

"I know, but he is a worrywart. He might not fear Whitebeard, but he will worry for our safety if we offend Whitebeard," says Mantis.

"I guess you're right, but Captain must've thought about it since he accepted this challenge," says Jude.

"I hope so," says Mantis.

Jude is right, Buggy has thought about that problem and decided to ignore it. Whitebeard is not a petty person like Squard and won't do anything as long as Buggy doesn't go overboard. But even if Whitebeard comes to him, then he won't be afraid and fight that old man.

Back to the duel, Buggy & Squard get into a stance. Then without any sign, they rush to each other and swing their sword. Squard swings from above, while Buggy swings from below.

*CLANG* Their clash creates a loud metal-hitting sound. It also creates a rather strong shockwave that spread in every direction. Buggy & Squard's crewmates now have the same thinking.

'That guy can match our Captain,' thinks the pirates.

Squard also gets surprised to see Buggy can match him in their first clash.

"So your bounty isn't an exaggeration," says Squard.

"Heh, do you think it's because I'm Roger Pirates' apprentice? Don't underestimate me," says Buggy while smirking.

Buggy & Squard clash again using their swordsmanship. Buggy can move faster than Squard, but Squard can use his sword well to defend Buggy's attacks. Squard uses his sword's hilt to defend sometimes.

Seeing Squard's slow movement, Buggy starts to move faster. His shortswords are very good for fast attacks, so he uses it to the max. Buggy attacks relentlessly and force Squard to defend.

Squard keeps defending Buggy's attack, but he doesn't move back at all. He tries to keep his ground and not get pushed by Buggy. Buggy grins in excitement, this is the first time he fought a good swordsman.

"A pirate from New World is really different," says Buggy while grinning.

"Don't put me on the same level as pirates in Blues!" says Squard.

Buggy keeps attacking Squard and suddenly he coats his swords with haki. Then Buggy charges Pollux in his right hand and swings it at Squard.

Buggy says his technique's name, "Divine Departure!"

"Haki?!" says Squard in surprise.

Buggy's attack using Pollux's pressure power is very strong. It pushes Squard and flings him back until he crashes into trees and breaks them.

Squard's crewmates get surprised and shout, "CAPTAIN SQUARD!"

"Captain Roger's technique is really good," says Buggy while smirking.

Buggy just used Roger's technique, although it's just the name. It's Roger's technique that was used to defeat Oden in one strike. Buggy likes the name, so he copies it.

He uses Pollux's power in exchange for advanced haki coating because he can't use it yet. If he can use advanced haki, his attack will be a lot stronger and he'll defeat Squard in one attack too.

Buggy looks in Squard's direction and sees Squard walking back. Squard has covered his body with haki to protect him from the impact. Squard runs to Buggy and jumps, then he swings his big katana to Buggy.

Squard coats his katana with haki and Buggy raises Castor to block it. Their swords clash and Squard's katana wheeze & tremble. Squard feels Buggy's sword is very hard and made his katana wheezing.

"What a hard sword," says Squard while gritting his teeth.

"Of course, you won't find any sword as hard as my Castor," says Buggy proudly.

Buggy just used Castor's Hard Hard Fruit ability to make it very hard. Castor is very good for defense, while Pollux is very good for offense. Their abilities are top-notch and they won't lose to Supreme Grade swords.

Buggy strikes Squard with Pollux and makes Squard jump back a little. Then Buggy says, "Playtime is over, I'll get serious now."

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