The moment Crocodile shouted, "Hands on," most of his body dissolved into yellow sand, swirling rapidly in the wind.
Brush!
Ayr's movement was instantaneous. His speed shattered visibility Robin couldn't even register the blur. A gleam of black light cut clean through the storm of sand, and with it, blood exploded in midair.
Ayr's blade, the supreme-grade "Godslayer", carved a path through the air like a black lightning bolt. He stood calmly, eyes fixed on Crocodile. Despite Crocodile's full activation of Observation Haki, he was utterly blindsided by Ayr's terrifying speed.
Crocodile wasn't weak he had stared down Yonkos and clashed with Whitebeard's remnants but against Ayr, he was just a man with delusions of control. And now, powerless.
As Crocodile attempted to reform, blood sprayed from his chest, thighs, and arms. He collapsed heavily to the ground, his Logia body forcefully stabilized by the Armament Haki Ayr used his sand form betrayed by the Haki coating that nullified its defense.
Robin, frozen at the edge of the battle, watched as her partner, a former Warlord of the Sea, writhed in agony.
Crocodile had tried to retreat faster than ever in his life but Ayr was already there. A white shockwave burst through the air with the force of the slash, shaking the tavern's frame. Robin didn't even see the attack happen. All she saw was Crocodile falling, a black flash between them and then carnage.
"Now," Ayr said, "pay the price."
The words landed heavier than the blow.
Crocodile gasped, trying to speak. "As expected of Senior Ayr… truly terrifying." Blood ran down his sides. His limbs twitched from the sheer pain. His mind raced, flashing through memories of past battles none of them compared to this.
Robin knelt on the ground, unable to speak. She had thought Aokiji's power was fearsome, but Ayr's raw pressure eclipsed it effortlessly. Crocodile, though still conscious, had lost the will to fight. The difference in strength was suffocating.
Ayr hadn't even drawn his blade fully before. Now, with Conqueror's Haki flaring black lightning and Armament Haki woven into the steel, he moved with ruthless precision. The slash was deliberate not fatal, but deeply punishing.
Crocodile stared at Ayr with panic flashing in his eyes. There was no defense. He tried to speak, but no words formed. What price would satisfy this monster? Even cutting off a finger might be too light.
Ayr stepped back, bloodless, calm. "Take one attack without falling, and I'll forgive what you tried today. Otherwise, you owe a debt."
He hadn't been bluffing. Crocodile was still alive, but his pride had been obliterated. Robin saw it Ayr hadn't even needed to use a named technique.
The wound roared through Crocodile's body. Logia types rarely suffered physical damage, so the pain was even harder to bear. He looked to Ayr, desperate to answer the unspoken question What should I do? How do I fix this?
There was no answer. Not one he liked.
Ayr sheathed his sword. "Crocodile, you lost."
Robin remained slumped, silent and shaken. She thought of the earlier arrogance trying to deceive a legend like Ayr. Now Crocodile was in pieces, physically and psychologically. Even she, who had spent a lifetime navigating monsters, had never met someone like this.
The blade returned to its scabbard with a soft click. No blood stained Ayr's clothes. No emotion marred his face.
Just one clean cut one lesson.
And Crocodile learned it the hard way.
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