Candle-like wax flowed from his hands, spreading swiftly across the quicksand and solidifying into a hardened wax floor beneath him. He planted his feet firmly—Crocodile's sand technique was neutralized.
"Finish him!"
Ren's four wings trembled once, and his body shot into the air like a deadly hawk.
Galdino and the others followed close behind.
"You think this is enough to end it?"
Seeing that Ren hadn't used seawater to counter his sand, Crocodile finally decided to act. His right hand, buried in the ground, began to glow with the terrifying power of the Sand-Sand Fruit.
"Erosion Samsara!"
An unnatural demonic power erupted from his palm, sucking away every trace of moisture in its vast radius.
The wax ground dried, cracked, and crumbled—rocks within the quicksand turned to dust.
At full output, Erosion Cycle led everything to desolation—to utter barrenness. Sand and dust surged into the air, swirling skyward hundreds of meters like a tornado of doom.
Everyone caught within instantly felt the danger.
The swiftest of them, Zala, was the first to fall victim.
In the blink of an eye, her boots disintegrated into powder.
She barely halted before her feet and half her calves turned to dust. The powder, mixed with sand, was swallowed by the churning quicksand.
"BOSS, save—!"
She bent her remaining leg, trying to leap back while calling to her airborne leader.
But before Ren could descend to help, Zala's body dissolved into ash. The power of desolation turned life itself to "dry decay."
No blood. No bones. Only a handful of drifting sand.
"Damn it! What the hell is this!?"
Next came Galdino—he skidded to a stop and wrapped himself in layers of wax armor.
Mikita's face went pale. She leapt back, grabbing Bonney as they both shot into the air.
Just one…? No—Mr. 3 has to die too!
Crocodile's eyes went cold as he sustained the Erosion Cycle.
Cracks spidered rapidly through Galdino's wax sphere—it was about to shatter when a crimson flame ignited the sky.
The temperature soared; light and fire burst through the storm of sand.
A dragon of flame roared into existence!
Riding upon it, Nojiko appeared—wearing her Flame Crown and clad in fiery armor. A laughing flame doll danced around her, praising the arrival of the Flame Queen.
"Crush him, Tibbers!"
Her arrival came with immediate assault—she thrust a strange teddy bear into the dragon's body and leapt aloft.
The fiery dragon exploded into a vortex of heat, birthing a massive flame bear that plummeted toward Crocodile.
Annoying pest!
Crocodile halted his technique and pulled his hand free from the ground.
"Sables!"
A savage whirlwind burst forth, tearing flames apart with purple lightning and roaring wind.
Tibbers was ripped to shreds midair, and the loose flames were swallowed by the storm.A column of fire erupted skyward.
BOOM!
The explosion shook the earth—half of the hotel tower's ruins were blasted into the sky.Charred debris rained down into a massive crater.
The once-tall hotel was now a hundred-meter-wide pit, ten meters deep—a gaping wound in the earth.
Melted sand formed murky glass across the crater's surface.
The destructive power of fire and sand combined was beyond imagination.
"A new one, huh? Fire, is it?"
Wind and sand gathered again, forming Crocodile's silhouette.His eyes hardened—none of them were dead.
Zoro stood firm, three blades drawn, cutting through the aftermath of the blast. The flame's fury was contained by Nojiko, compressed into a massive fireball.
Bonney, who had charged earlier, was being dragged away by Mikita. Galdino's wax shell had saved him, but he'd been blown hundreds of meters away—alive or dead, unknown.
And the true enemy was above.
Crocodile's Observation Haki flared—his head snapped upward.
In the sky, the four-winged angel dove down, opening his mouth.
Swallowing Rivers and Flooding Lakes—!
A roaring waterfall of seawater cascaded down, filling Crocodile's vision—and confirming his worst fear.
That cursed ability to summon seawater… again!
"Sables Pesado!"
He hurled another massive cyclone upward. Lightning crackled through the storm as it met the falling sea.
At that moment, Nojiko threw her fireball.
BOOM!
The explosion disrupted the sandstorm's motion—the weakened cyclone shattered the waterfall instead of flinging it away, breaking it into an even wider torrent.
A shadow like the collapsing sky engulfed everything.
No escape!
Crocodile's face twisted. He stomped hard, shattering the glass beneath.Sand surged upward, forming a dome above his head.
"Don't think so!"
Ren spat forth a blazing torrent that melted the sand into glass. Lightning cracked—the thunderbolt shattered the barrier.
He slowed his wings, allowing the seawater to crash down beneath him.
"Don't underestimate me! I am one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea! Desert La Spada!"
Sand gathered on his right arm, shaping five massive blades.They crackled with purple lightning and slashed upward, cutting the waves into pieces.
But seawater—made of countless molecules—cannot be stopped by mere division.
It crashed down like a flood, drenching the desert. The moment wet sand formed, the power of the Sand-Sand Fruit was nullified.
"Die!"
The four-winged angel burst through the mist, his Cursed Blade Thousand Edge charged with Qi, ready to strike—
—but Crocodile was gone.
BOOM!
The ground behind Ren erupted—columns of sand burst from the cracks, pushing back seawater like dams.
Crocodile reformed within them, reappearing from sand form.
That was Desert La Spada's secret—turning into sand and attacking from below, guided by Observation Haki.
If not for the seawater forcing him to first block its flow, Ren would've died instantly.
Even so—it wasn't too late.
"You're the one who dies here! It's over, Ren!"
Crocodile's face contorted as he lunged—his hand turning into a gleaming Desert Spada—toward Ren, who grasped a flintlock in midair.
Timing… perfect.
Ren gripped the Ambition Rifle. His crimson eyes narrowed; the world slowed to stillness.
He saw the lightning dancing across the sand blade—it radiated death. He saw Crocodile's crazed grin——and the sinister smirk of a Shikigami floating behind him.
CRACK!
Like shattering glass, his King's Exchange illusion spell triggered again.
Crocodile's blade sliced through nothing—Ren's form dispersed like smoke.
And in that instant came the roar of the sea and the hymn of vengeance.
How!? How many tricks does he still have!?
Crocodile spun, half his body dissolving into sand to flee underground.This was the desert—even if the sea was summoned, he could still escape below.
As long as he reached the deep sands, he'd survive.
"Hawk Wave!"
Zoro's belated slash swept through the sea, spraying water across Crocodile's body.
A single splash froze him mid-action. He could still recover—but his foe wouldn't allow it.
Ren raised the Ambition Rifle, murderous aura flaring.His finger tightened on the trigger—Aim, Charge, Critical—Song of Rum!
BANG!
The melody of "Johnny Boy" echoed with the flash of gunfire—the death hymn of the four-winged angel.
You had to die, only Heaven knows why!
The Haki-charged Seastone bullet screamed forth, piercing through the storm.
But Crocodile was still a Warlord—a monster once feared in the New World.Even in his fallen state, he possessed something the newcomers of the Grand Line did not.
In the brink of death, he rediscovered it—that black iron glow of Armament Haki returned.
It was the power he'd lost since his crushing defeat to Whitebeard, Edward Newgate.
That loss had broken his faith in strength.He had abandoned Haki, relying only on his Devil Fruit.Thus, the tragedy of Alabasta.
But now—amid death's shadow—he remembered the color of power once more.
Haki.
BANG!
The bullet struck his chest—Had there been no Haki, it would've pierced his heart.
But now… he lived.
"You think you can kill me!?"
Crocodile roared, shaking off the weakness of Seastone.The bullet hadn't pierced; it hadn't even lodged inside.
In less than a second, it would fall away harmlessly.
He felt that old thrill of facing Whitebeard again—different foes, same mortal peril.
But this time, he'd break fate and take his enemy's head!
He roared, preparing to strike back—but in the sky above, the angel reached toward heaven.
His hand seized the Spear of Divine Punishment—the thunder lance hidden in the clouds.With Nami's help, the entire storm's lightning had been gathered into one spear.
Now, as he called, the spear fell. A tendril of electricity met his fingertips, leading upward to blinding brilliance—
Thunder.
How could mere words describe such destruction?
The thunderbolt in Ren's hand, thick as his forearm, was only a fraction of the real thing.When he hurled the Divine Punishment Spear, a fifty-meter-wide bolt of lightning descended from the heavens.
The dark sky turned white.Wind and rain bowed before the majesty of thunder.
From afar, it looked like a divine lance piercing the world.
No words, no breath—only awe.
Even Crocodile, trembling before its radiance, couldn't scream.His eyes widened, reflecting the blazing light.
"It's over—"
Ren clenched the lightning and cast it down.
"Blazing Thunder, Irreversible Might!"
A pillar of pure light struck the earth.
BOOM!
Thunder roared—the purple-white flash pierced the clouds.The heavens split; golden sunlight streamed through.
The light brushed Ren's wings as his divine gaze fell to the earth.
No hotel. No ruins. No battlefield.
Only a colossal crater—perfectly circular, a hundred meters wide, its cracked edges stretching for miles.
The quake shook all of Nanohana—houses collapsed in waves. Had the earlier sandstorm not driven the citizens away, thousands would have perished.
At the crater's center, steam hissed. All seawater had been vaporized.
And at the bottom lay Crocodile—his body intact only thanks to Haki. Barely breathing.
The Seastone bullet had already ended him; the thunder only made sure.
His body functions were ruined—one breath short of death.
Ren descended slowly, extending his hand.
Soul Trap!
He raised the Ambition Rifle, pointing the dark muzzle at Crocodile's forehead.
"…"
Crocodile's cracked lips moved weakly, his expression regretful yet calm.
"...Don't miss."
BANG.
His head burst—life fading with the echo.
"If you have something to say… say it inside."
Ren clenched his fist, seizing Crocodile's departing soul.
The battle of Alabasta had ended—ahead of schedule.
(End of Chapter)