The battle had already lasted nearly twenty hours.
It had begun at 2:45 a.m. on May 21.
It had continued until 11:32 p.m.
Another battle that had raged from day into night.
Yet Loki and Crocodile's fight only grew fiercer.
There was still no sign of a victor being decided.
The two then fought from the depths of night until dawn.
The time reached 6:17 a.m. on May 22.
Loki's strength had surpassed many people's expectations. With monstrous stamina and willpower, he had endured his direct clashes with Crocodile.
His Iron Thunder had repeatedly blasted through the towering sandstorms.
The Haki and power coating it forced Crocodile to take him seriously.
The hundred-million-square-kilometer land had long since lost all traces of its former rich ecosystem.
All that remained was an endless sea of sand and the craters and scorch marks left by lightning strikes.
Yet the two men's feelings were completely different.
Loki was deeply shocked that he could not suppress Crocodile in close combat.
He did indeed hold the advantage in strength, but he was at a disadvantage in Haki.
Whether it was Conqueror's Haki, Armament Haki, or even Observation Haki, his opponent was slightly superior in all of them.
Such flawless Haki reminded Loki of the man who had once made him feel he had been born in the wrong era.
Rocks!
As for Crocodile, although he was not as relaxed as he had been against the first three opponents.
His gaze remained utterly calm, as though he felt no pressure at all.
He merely kept swinging Sand Blades that vibrated at high speed and were wrapped in purple lightning.
They crossed through the air, knocking back Loki's Iron Thunder again and again as thunder and sand collided with deafening roars.
"Bastard."
Unable to gain the upper hand