With Crocodile as the epicenter, the ground began to liquefy into sand. A rolling tide of yellow grit devoured everything in its path.
The auxiliary palace in front of the royal complex rapidly crumbled, assimilated by the encroaching desert.
The wave of sand churned beneath the earth like a subterranean dragon, surging toward Ryuuto.
Ryuuto pushed off the ground, leaping onto the palace roof.
"So this is the awesome power of a Logia-type fruit!" Ryuuto watched as the tide of sand continued its relentless advance on the main palace.
Was Crocodile trying to take the entire palace with him to the grave?
At this rate, Ryuuto's own stamina would soon be exhausted. But the sand was advancing too slowly to pose any real threat to him personally.
Even so, Ryuuto was now at a loss. The ground below was a swirling vortex of sand, Crocodile's home turf. Even if he charged forward with Yukibashiri, a single missed strike could get him dragged down into the maelstrom.
The very earth was now Crocodile's domain.
"No! You have to stop him!" Robin, who was running toward them from a distance, saw the scene and yelled to Ryuuto.
So Robin was here, too.
Crocodile was making a bet—betting that Ryuuto would prioritize saving the people inside the palace. If he did, Crocodile might have a chance to escape before his own energy gave out. But if Ryuuto simply stood by and watched him swallow the palace whole, then everything…
As Crocodile unleashed his ultimate technique—Sands of Ruin—to dissolve the palace before him, he nervously watched Ryuuto's every move, waiting to see what he would do next.
"Captain Ryuuto, please help us!" Cobra had also run out onto a balcony, his face beaded with sweat as he shouted desperately to Ryuuto.
"What can I say? I'm a good guy," Ryuuto murmured to himself.
"Rain!" he commanded with a sharp cry, his will connecting with the dark clouds overhead. He pushed his ability,催动着自己的能力, calling forth a downpour with incredible speed.
With his Rain Summoning skill at the [Proficient] level, Ryuuto could conjure a storm over this small area in mere moments.
*Pitter-patter…*
The drizzle quickly intensified into a torrential downpour, the drops falling so fast they merged into a solid sheet of water that inundated the entire area of Crocodile's sandification.
The water saturated the yellow grit, weighing down each grain. As the rain soaked deeper, the swirling sand began to clump and solidify. Crocodile's technique sputtered to a halt, as if a machine had jammed.
"I made it in time!"
Robin ran to the front of the palace, the rain drenching her completely. Water streamed from under her brown cowboy hat, plastering her thin clothes to her skin. But she paid it no mind, staring in wonder at the deluge that had appeared from a clear sky.
Crocodile's sea of sand had been stopped dead in its tracks.
"It's safe!" Robin wiped the rain from her face, a look of joyful relief spreading across it. The sand had reached the palace walls, and half of the rampart had already collapsed, but the destruction had frozen in place.
"Huuuh…" Cobra slumped to the ground on the balcony, a wave of post-danger exhaustion washing over him.
As for Ryuuto, he had already landed directly in front of Crocodile.
And not only that, but Yukibashiri, humming with a dark aura, was now pressed against Crocodile's neck.
"Nowhere left to run."
"I gave you a chance," Ryuuto said coolly, looking down at the defeated Warlord.
Crocodile had considered fleeing, but in the torrential rain, he found his Logia ability to turn into sand was completely useless.
"I've lost. This was your plan all along, wasn't it, Robin?!" He silently pulled a cigar from his pocket and lit it, exhaling a plume of smoke as he fixed his hateful gaze on her.
"Boss, if you had succeeded, the first thing you would have done is get rid of me, isn't that right?" Robin walked to Ryuuto's side and tilted her hat up slightly, her voice soft as she looked at Crocodile.
"What a touching display of partnership," Ryuuto said with a faint smile, holding Yukibashiri steady as he watched the two people who had only ever used each other.
At his words, both Crocodile and Robin fell silent, standing motionless in the rain.
"King Cobra, could you please toss some apples down here?" Ryuuto called up to the balcony. He wanted to try an experiment.
"Huh? Apples? You mean… apples? Of course!" Cobra was stunned for a moment before nodding and rushing back into the hall.
A moment later, Pell flew down with Cobra on his back, who was clutching a large bag of apples. As second-in-command of the royal guard, Pell was tasked with protecting the king. He was an Animal-type Devil Fruit user, having eaten the Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Falcon. He had been preparing to evacuate the king when the situation looked dire, but Cobra had stubbornly refused to leave. Now, his ability came in handy, delivering the king in the blink of an eye.
"Captain Ryuuto, here are the apples you asked for!" Cobra landed and immediately offered the bag to Ryuuto.
Ryuuto didn't take them. He just glanced at Crocodile. The Warlord had already finished his cigar, his eyes distant, his mind clearly somewhere far away.
Seeing this, Ryuuto swung his sword.
*Shlick!*
Yukibashiri flashed like a beam of black light. A spray of crimson followed, and the life of a titan of his era came to an end.
"Ah—" Robin gasped, clearly not expecting Ryuuto to be so decisive.
He just killed him! Just like that! Crocodile is one of the Seven Warlords under the World Government. Isn't Ryuuto afraid of retaliation from the Marines?
A flurry of thoughts raced through Robin's mind, but she said nothing more, simply staring calmly at Crocodile's body on the ground. His black coat was spread out on the wet earth. The man who was once so powerful had been defeated so easily.
Robin felt as if she were in a dream. Her gaze shifted back to Ryuuto, who stood holding Yukibashiri. The rain fell from the sky, but as it neared him, it seemed to evaporate into steam, shrouding him in a faint mist. It made it hard for her to see his face clearly.
Cobra and Pell's eyes widened, as if recalling something, but their expressions quickly turned to excitement.
Ryuuto, however, was focused entirely on the bag of apples in Cobra's hands. The rain began to lighten, pattering softly against the fruit.
But the apples remained just apples.
"Don't they say that when a Devil Fruit user dies, their fruit reincarnates randomly in a nearby fruit of the same kind?"
"So much for Schrödinger's apple."
Ryuuto thought to himself that the experiment had clearly failed. He could only sigh. The Devil Fruit just didn't choose him.
Shaking the stray thoughts from his head, Ryuuto sheathed his sword and turned his gaze to Cobra.
"King Cobra, Miss Robin here needs to see the Poneglyph you have hidden in the crypts. Would you please take her there?"