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"Sand Storm!"
The enraged Crocodile opened with a deadly move.
A swirling sandstorm appeared on his right hand. He flung it towards Auguro, and it instantly transformed into a colossal desert cyclone. He simultaneously elementalized his body into sand and merged with the cyclone, closing in on Auguro to wait for an opportunity.
Seeing the overwhelming force of the desert storm, Auguro held his Zanpakutō horizontally and chanted the Shikai release command.
"Growl, Haineko (Ash Cat)!"
A blanket of smoke and dust instantly enveloped the area. Unlike Matsumoto Rangiku's original Haineko, Auguro's cloud was white!
"Nekko!"
The smoke rapidly coalesced into a tornado, meeting Crocodile's Desert Storm head-on.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ground shook. An immense collision of dust and earth obscured half the sky, looking from a distance like an approaching natural disaster.
Crocodile's body slowly re-solidified in the air. His expression was serious, and he thought, "What is this ability? It can match my Suna Suna no Mi!" The feeling of encountering an elemental equal intensely irritated Crocodile.
Zzzt!
Several blades formed from white smoke sliced toward Crocodile, passing straight through his body. Element transformation is indeed a troublesome ability!
"You think this little bit of strength is enough to defeat me? That's pure delusion!"
Crocodile sneered, swinging his right hand violently. It instantly became a gigantic sand blade that descended from the sky.
"Desert Grande Espada (Desert Treasure Sword)!"
The massive sand blade sliced the earth, leaving a deep black chasm as it rushed toward Auguro. Auguro's pupils contracted slightly. He felt a significant threat from this attack!
Shunpo (Flash Step)!
Auguro stomped his foot and did not hesitate to widen the distance.
A naïve fool!
Crocodile had been prepared. He instantly closed the distance, and the gigantic sand blade that had formed his right arm smoothly rotated into a horizontal sweep, completely encompassing Auguro.
"Arc-shaped Sand Dune!"
This attack's sand blade was designed only to touch the enemy, not to cut them. But the instant the sand blade touched the target, it would suck out all their moisture, turning them into a mummy! This fulfilled Crocodile's initial declaration: he would drain all the water from Auguro's body and make him experience the most painful death!
"A good idea! Unfortunately, it's not enough!"
Despite being in a crisis, Auguro's face showed no sign of panic. He retracted the smoke form of his Zanpakutō and softly chanted the second Shikai release command.
"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!"
"Some no Mai: Tsukishiro (First Dance: Tsukishiro)!"
In an instant, a colossal pillar of ice rose to the heavens. Crocodile's Arc-shaped Sand Dune was completely frozen within it, unable to advance even an inch! Crocodile was forced to abandon the sand blade and re-solidify his right arm.
"First smoke, then ice! What Devil Fruit did this guy eat?" Crocodile's face was filled with shock and uncertainty; Auguro's abilities were completely beyond his comprehension!
"But it doesn't matter! As long as I can elementalize, I am invincible! The moment I find the flaw in his ability, this battle is over!" The nature of the Logia-type Devil Fruit gave Crocodile boundless confidence.
"Your strength is decent! But unfortunately, you picked the wrong opponent!"
Crocodile slammed his right hand onto the ground, causing countless grains of yellow sand to spread out.
"Sirocco (Erosion Cycle)!"
This was Crocodile's strongest ultimate move. Within the attack's range, everything—people, objects, even rock—would have its moisture drained, thoroughly weathering into nothing but sand. With this single move, he could turn a lush oasis into the most desolate desert!
"You're asking for death!"
A fierce glint flashed in Auguro's eyes. This location was just a stone's throw from the capital, Alubarna. If he allowed Crocodile to unleash this ability, at least a third of the capital would suffer catastrophic damage!
Whoosh! Auguro raised his Zanpakutō and charged toward Crocodile.
"He took the bait!" Crocodile sneered. Caring about the city and the people behind you—that's your greatest weakness! You want to stop me? Go ahead and try!
A hand formed from yellow sand reached out to grab Auguro. He was going to suck Auguro dry!
"Tsugi no Mai: Hakuren (Next Dance: White Ripple)!"
Just as Crocodile was about to grab Auguro, he saw Auguro point the tip of his blade at the yellow sand. A torrent of chilling air erupted. The sand hand was instantly frozen into a solid mass, losing all control.
Auguro stepped onto the ice and disappeared with a Shunpo.
In the next second, Auguro appeared beside Crocodile, his Zanpakutō horizontally slashing out.
Slash!
Pfft!
A deep, bone-showing wound appeared horizontally across Crocodile's lower back. He looked at the scene in disbelief, only then noticing that a faint layer of Armament Haki was wrapped around Auguro's Zanpakutō!
"You... you held back your true strength!"
He had the Armament Haki that countered Logia-type Devil Fruits, yet he had concealed it until this very moment! This was clearly done to wait for this decisive opportunity!
Even more severe was the frigid air from Auguro's Zanpakutō, which surged into Crocodile's body through the wound. The blood hadn't even had a chance to spill from the gash before it froze solid!
Negative eighteen degrees Celsius!
By lowering his Zanpakutō and his own body temperature to this level, the enemy's blood would be frozen instantly upon impact, preventing it from even flowing out of the wound! Despite being in the scorching desert, Crocodile felt his body freezing into numbness!
"Crocodile! Your alertness dropped the moment you left the New World, didn't it?" Auguro shook his head lightly.
He was, after all, a great pirate who contended with Whitebeard. If he hadn't grown too comfortable and lowered his guard after being virtually invincible in the first half of the Grand Line, Auguro would never have succeeded so easily.
To avoid detection, the amount of Haki on Auguro's final strike was minimal, only enough to ensure he could strike Crocodile's physical form.
The great pirate who dominated the Grand Line, the outlaw personally sanctioned by the World Government, the Warlord of the Sea... was ultimately defeated by his own arrogance!
"Victory is for the King; defeat is for the bandit. There's no more to be said!"
Crocodile tried to elementalize to save himself, but he couldn't reverse the freezing of his blood and the resulting damage to his organs. The few grains of sand that successfully elementalized were tinged with frost. His face grew paler, and his body rapidly lost all warmth.
The Warlord of the Sea, Sir Crocodile... is dead!
Auguro watched the scene, his feelings complex. This was precisely why he trained Haki despite having Shinigami powers. The sea was full of unforeseen dangers. Without complete preparation, who knew when it would be his turn to capsize?
"Ding! A powerful, ownerless soul detected. Host is advised to absorb it as soon as possible!"
The system's voice brought Auguro back to attention. This was the soul of one of the strongest Logia-type Devil Fruits! The system wasn't even asking for confirmation but was directly urging him to absorb it!
"Absorb!"
Auguro watched a gigantic black soul be absorbed by a portal in the void.
Soon, the system notification sounded again.
"Ding! Absorption complete. Can be exchanged for one Legendary-tier lottery ticket!"