Hiss—
It was the same familiar sound of something slicing through the air.
Yet the terrifying attack, powerful enough to cleave metal and jade, still seemed to strike nothing but empty air, failing to inflict even the slightest injury on its target.
"Looks like your attacks don't have any effect on me either~"
Adrian looked at Crocodile, who stood right before him, and spoke at a leisurely pace.
"Still, that arm made of sand really does make you look like a monster~"
Crocodile's expression changed again. Without slowing his swinging right hand, he pivoted on his left foot and spun around, pressing his right hand against the layer of sand before him. In an instant, he unleashed another ability powerful enough to cut through magma.
"Desert Spada!"
An incomparably sharp, blade-shaped sheet of sand struck Adrian across the waist, passing straight through his midsection.
"This position looks a little ugly, and it feels pretty strange."
Adrian frowned slightly and stepped back several paces, leaving Desert Spada's range completely unscathed.
Crocodile's face went slack with utter disbelief, as though he had been struck by a thunderbolt.
White Ghost was clearly a Paramecia Devil Fruit user, so how could he ignore attacks made of sand?
Crocodile couldn't understand it, but he was deeply shaken.
Clenching his teeth, Crocodile turned his right arm into sand again. He squeezed the last traces of strength from his battered body, coating the blade of his sandy arm in a thin layer of jet-black Armament Haki.
"Desert Spada!"
Crocodile swung his right arm.
Clang—
A crisp clash rang out.
Adrian frowned slightly and calmly raised the Black Blade in his hand, blocking Crocodile's sand blade.
"Using Armament Haki is a bit against the rules."
Adrian exerted a little force with his right arm, pushing Crocodile's sand blade