"You don't need alchemy to fight me."
Crocodile's single remark instantly enraged Charlotte Oven.
"Arrogant!"
Oven roared as he pushed the power of the Heat-Heat Fruit within him to its limits.
His right foot stomped down hard, and boundless heat erupted like a burst dam.
Within a radius of one kilometer, the forestland—whether soil, rock, or vegetation—
melted under the terrifying heat in mere seconds, turning into a vast crimson lake of magma.
The moisture in the air evaporated in huge quantities, spreading a pungent sulfurous stench.
Almost at the same time Oven activated his power, Crocodile moved as well.
The awakened power of the Sand-Sand Fruit swept across the battlefield like invisible ripples.
Endless grains of sand surged into existence beneath his feet and across the surrounding ground, like golden waves that pushed back against the spreading magma.
In the blink of an eye,
the boundary between sand and fire became sharply defined.
On one side stood a golden desert howling with fierce winds; on the other, a crimson hellscape boiling with heatwaves.
The two awakened Devil Fruit users had, from their very first clash, changed their respective battlefield environments in the most domineering fashion, standing as equals.
"Hot Wind Fist: Tiger Roar!"
Charlotte Oven launched the first attack.
A Fire Fist infused with Flame Breathing's True Technique realm blasted forth.
A deafening explosion erupted.
A crimson high-temperature Shockwave, shaped like a tiger pouncing on its prey, formed out of thin air.
The air ignited wherever it passed, flames soaring into the sky.
The thunderous roar of the tiger echoed across the battlefield, creating wave after wave of sound.
Yet Crocodile's gaze remained cold as he swiftly swung the golden hook on his left hand, meeting it head-on with a black Sand Blade vibrating at high frequency.
[BOOM!!!]
An