Chapter 36: It’s Just Elentalization, Anyone Can Do It!
As Ryuji’s words fell, Crocodile saw the tidal wave erge from nowhere.
The ltwater from the iceberg gathered and surged, forming a wave dozens of ters high.
It was as if a real dragon was thrashing within the water!
With a roar, it charged toward the patch of desert where Crocodile stood.
"..."
In the distance, Eha stared, dumbfounded.
He thought he was dreaming.
But a mont later, he knew he wasn’t. Even in a dream, he couldn’t have imagined such a scene.
In Alabasta—the kingdom of deserts—a tsunami had appeared!
At that mont, Crocodile felt an unprecedented sense of crisis.
This was beyond his understanding too.
"How did he lt that massive iceberg instantly?"
"What exactly is this guy’s ability?"
He had countless questions.
But right now, none of them mattered.
Only one thing mattered: the outco of this battle!
"I’ve really run into one hell of a monster."
Crocodile didn’t retreat. Against an attack like this, running was pointless.
So...
BOOM!
He grabbed his left wrist with his right hand and slamd both hands into the sand beneath his feet.
"Ground Death!" (Erosion Samsara)
As he roared, the earth shook violently.
The desert sand surged even more violently than before.
It turned into an invisible wave, spreading out from Crocodile.
Everything in its path...
Even the minuscule moisture that remained in the desert was instantly sucked dry. Rocks hidden in the sand turned to dust in an instant.
And then...
"Sables: Pesado!" (Heavy Sandstorm)
Crocodile unleashed another technique. The sand swirled into a massive, super-dense sandstorm.
The next mont...
The power that withered everything and the colossal sandstorm... collided with the tsunami sweeping across the desert!
CRASH!
Sand t water, churning into muddy columns.
Golden sandstorm against azure wave—the collision was grand enough to be a scene from a myth.
But... all stories have an ending.
The mont the first droplets of the tsunami pierced through the sandstorm...
The victor was decided.
SPLASH!
The tsunami smashed through the sandstorm.
Mud sprayed everywhere, and the remaining wave washed over Crocodile without resistance.
Feeling his body instantly stiffen, Crocodile gritted his teeth.
He knew—from this mont on, he could no longer elentalize.
And he knew his opponent wouldn’t miss this chance!
Sure enough.
CRACK!
Intense cold radiated toward him. Crocodile looked up.
He saw Ryuji leaping toward him, frost coating his fist.
"It’s over, Crocodile!"
Ryuji punched down!
"Yes."
But at that mont...
A strange smile appeared on Crocodile’s face. "It is over!"
As he spoke...
BANG!
From the sand behind Ryuji, which had just been washed by the wave...
Sothing burst through the surface. It was a hand!
A left hand with a golden hook, the severed stump wrapped in sand.
But now, the hook was gone—replaced by a sharp, poisoned needle.
SHUNK!
The hand flew through the air and stabbed directly into Ryuji’s right side.
Crocodile grinned in triumph.
"You’re strong. A wave that size... even my Ground Death couldn’t absorb it all."
"But..."
He stood up.
The wind blew his cloak, revealing that his left arm was indeed missing from the shoulder down.
"Before the water hit , hiding one hand under the sand... that much I can do."
Crocodile knew he had won.
The hook and the needle inside it were coated in deadly scorpion venom from the Alabasta desert.
Without an antidote, death was certain!
But before Crocodile could declare victory...
He realized sothing was wrong.
"Hm!?"
His left hand didn’t feel like it had pierced flesh.
Instead... it felt like it had stabbed into sothing thick and viscous.
A split second later, Crocodile felt a searing heat and excruciating pain from his severed arm.
"GAAH!"
The pain of bone and flesh lting made even the tough Warlord scream.
But his willpower forced him to look up.
He saw sothing flowing from Ryuji’s body.
But it wasn’t blood.
That thick, scorching, burning substance was...
"Magma!?"
He gritted his teeth, his voice hoarse. "Elentalization!?"
He understood what had happened. Ryuji had elentalized at the last second to dodge the fatal blow.
But...
"Impossible... the Magma-Magma Fruit belongs to Akainu!"
With his experience, he knew exactly who owned that top-tier Logia fruit.
But Ryuji clearly didn’t intend to give Crocodile ti to think.
SWISH!
The sound of rushing air returned—Ryuji’s fist was already there.
And in that instant, Crocodile saw his opponent’s impossible form.
The majestic Dragon Head Mask seed to split into two colors: red and blue.
And his body followed suit.
Steam wreathed him like a white sash.
Half of his body was made of frozen ice.
The other half was burning magma.
"Dual Elentalization: Frostfire Avatar."
Water dripped from the lting ice, silently answering Crocodile’s question.
His ability was never ’manipulating moisture.’
"Ice and Magma... two completely opposite elents... in one body?"
This defied Crocodile’s understanding of the world.
He was certain that if he told anyone what he saw, it would shake the world to its core.
But clearly... he wouldn’t get the chance.
"I told you, didn’t I?"
The voice from the mask was calm. The eyes beneath it held only stillness.
"You can’t beat ."
The fist of magma and ice grew larger in Crocodile’s vision.
He closed his eyes.
"’The Zodiac’... ’Ryuji’."
He whispered the na he had heard for the first ti today.
He knew this man was destined to shake the seas.
Just like... he once did.
The excitent of first setting out as a pirate, the thrill of growing stronger, the helplessness of defeat against Whitebeard, the pride of becoming a Warlord—countless mories flooded his mind.
He thought of his unfulfilled ambitions, his grudges, his pursuits.
But, as he had said...
In defeat, those were just useless words carved on a tombstone.
Winner takes all. Loser eats dust. That was the rule of the sea.
"I really am... unwilling to accept this."
That whisper was Sir Crocodile’s final thought.
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