In the Extreme Cold Hell, the cold wind howled.
Transformed into her female form, Ivankov leaped out from the secret entrance of the New Transvestite Paradise.
But before she could land steadily on the forest floor outside,
a patch of ground covered in pristine white snow suddenly softened.
The delicate, crystalline snowflakes transformed into heavy, soft clay.
Splash――
The white clay shot up into the sky like a fountain.
Storm's figure then revealed itself before Ivankov.
'Now's the time!'
Ivankov glanced at Storm's position and blinked sharply.
"Death Wink!"
Taking advantage of the moment Storm had just appeared,
Ivankov unleashed a powerful blast of explosive wind, rushing toward him at incredible speed.
After all, the Clay-Clay Fruit is a Paramecia type, not a Logia type.
Even if Vongola Storm had developed the Clay-Clay Fruit to the level of Awakening,
he couldn't possibly maintain himself in a "Clayification state" all the time... could he?
Under Ivankov's eager gaze,
the intense explosive wind generated by "Death Wink" accurately struck Storm's body.
Boom! The explosion was deafening.
Storm's newly formed body exploded at that moment, shattering into countless fragments.
Small pieces of white clay mixed with the shockwave, scattering down to the ground nearby.
"Got him!?"
Ivankov's expression was a mix of surprise and joy.
But in the next moment,
the ground where Storm's "fragments" had fallen underwent a transformation under an invisible force.
In just a few breaths,
the entire forest floor was transformed and assimilated into clay by the Clay-Clay Fruit! The trees that had stood in the forest for who knows how many years were also turned into clay at that moment.
Unharmed, Storm once again revealed himself from the same spot.
He looked up at the Queen of Kamabakka Kingdom in mid-air, manipulating the clayified forest to launch a dense attack toward the sky.
Clay Tree Sea!
Each clayified tree was over ten meters tall, with trunks thick enough for a person to embrace.
Countless clay trees gathered together, forming a tightly woven white net.
The overwhelming visual pressure made it hard to breathe.
Ivankov looked at the incoming "Clay Tree Sea" below and took a deep breath.
In the next moment, her body suddenly curled up, her hands tightly hugging her calves, almost turning into a "ball."
"Revolving Beauty!"
Ivankov, curled into a ball, began to spin rapidly in mid-air, like a giant top.
Smack! Smack!――
One clay tree after another collided against Ivankov's body.
They struck like long white whips lashing at the top.
The tremendous force not only failed to slow down the spinning of the "Ivankov Top," but instead became a boost to his speed.
Ivankov's spinning grew faster, causing the air around him to whirl as well.
Eventually, the air gathered around his body, forming a faint spherical protective shield.
When the assault of the "Clay Tree Sea" ended,
Ivankov continued to spin.
Storm raised an eyebrow below, lifting his right hand and bringing his fingers together.
The "Clay Trees" that had just rushed into the sky twisted at his command.
One by one, the "Clay Trees" intertwined, resembling strands of silk on a spider's web.
In the blink of an eye,
these clay trees formed a true net of heaven and earth!
"Spider's Nest!"
Storm manipulated the clay web, enveloping the spinning Ivankov like a net.
The white clay continuously gathered inward, compressing Ivankov's space for movement.
By the time Ivankov stopped spinning, the "Spider's Nest" had already reached around his body.
Above, below, left, right...
Ivankov struggled against the dizziness in his mind, scanning around for an escape route.
But to his disappointment, all he could see was clay.
Endless clay filled every corner of the space, leaving not a single gap.
Even someone as strong as Ivankov found it hard to breathe at that moment.
"Emporio Male Hormones!"
Ivankov first injected himself with a "shot."
His previously slender and graceful female form instantly transformed into a muscular male body.
In the next moment,
Ivankov raised both hands, palms flat, forming a knife-hand shape.
"New New Human Martial Arts 44: The Secret of Beauty――"
His eyes narrowed sharply as he wildly swung his arms, launching high-speed attacks at the nearest clay.
"Dream Strike Punch!"
Thud! Thud! Thud――
Ivankov's knife-hand struck the clay before him, producing a series of dull thuds. The clay itself was relatively soft.
Storm had not wrapped any Armament Haki around the "Spider's Nest."
Thus, each of Ivankov's knife-hand strikes left a massive dent in the "Spider's Nest."
Time continued to pass.
Ivankov, relying on his speed honed over more than forty years of being single, blasted open a path through the clay.
When the cold wind of the Extreme Cold Hell finally brushed against Ivankov's face,
he realized he had escaped the suffocating "Clay Spider Web."
"Ha... Ha..."
The series of counterattacks had drained a significant amount of Ivankov's stamina, causing him to breathe heavily.
But before Ivankov could catch his breath,
a shadow cast down from the sky completely enveloped him.
Ivankov struggled to lift his head, and the sight that met his eyes instantly left him parched.
"Although I know that after awakening, a Devil Fruit can grant the user immense environmental influence,"
cold sweat poured down Ivankov's forehead.
"But still...
"Isn't this 'dragon' a bit too overpowered!?"
On the ground of the Extreme Cold Hell,
a gigantic white dragon lazily flicked its tail.
Its silver-gray, finely scaled body emitted a chilling aura in the faint light reflected by the snow.
Ivankov knew that Vongola Storm had a Little White Dragon—he had seen it through surveillance before.
But if the Queen of Kamabakka Kingdom remembered correctly,
the Little White Dragon had previously been no bigger than an ordinary cat, even able to perch on a human shoulder.
But who could tell Ivankov,
where this colossal beast, at least several hundred meters long, that now lay on the ground had come from?!
While Ivankov was in a daze,
the white dragon raised one claw and gently pressed it against the ground.
The clayified earth seemed unable to withstand the pressure of this immense force, exploding with a loud bang.
Endless clay shot up into the sky, instantly constructing a towering "Wailing Wall" in the Extreme Cold Hell.
Ivankov stared at the seemingly endless clay wall ahead, his eyes nearly bursting with rage.
He hurriedly plunged his hands into his face, unleashing the power of the Horm-Horm Fruit.
"Emporio Face Growth Hormones!"
"Emporio Excitement Hormones!"
In a brief moment,
Ivankov released two different forms of special hormones.
His already oversized "giant face" grew several times larger under the influence of the "Face Growth Hormones."
As the "Excitement Hormones" continued to flow, Ivankov's giant face flushed with blood.
"Facial Afterimage!"
Ivankov moved at high speed, leaving behind a series of blurry afterimages of his flushed face.
All of these actions were preparation for the next move――
"Galaxy Wink!"
Ivankov blinked rapidly, and each time he moved to a new position, he blinked frantically.
One after another, the "Facial Afterimages" unleashed an incredibly powerful wave of explosions.
These explosive waves combined and struck toward the approaching "Wailing Wall"! Boom―――
The continuous sound of explosions echoed through the skies.
Ivankov's "Galaxy Wink" left deep pits on the clay wall.
Each of these pits had a diameter of nearly ten meters.
But for this towering wall,
the destruction caused by Ivankov was utterly negligible!
With Storm's unlimited enhancement,
the damage Ivankov inflicted couldn't even keep pace with the self-repair of the clay wall! In the Queen of Kamabakka Kingdom's despairing gaze,
the clay wall surged forward like a tsunami.
This "Clay Tsunami" merely splashed a wave,
and Ivankov was directly knocked down, crashing heavily onto the ground of the Extreme Cold Hell.
Like a mountain, the clay then buried the Queen of Kamabakka Kingdom beneath it, completely engulfing him in darkness.
The Queen of Kamabakka Kingdom, Emporio Ivankov, was unable to rise again!
Once all the sounds of battle ceased,
a new trophy, seemingly crafted from crystal-clear diamonds, appeared before Storm.
[Diamond Trophy: Emporio Ivankov]
[Trophy Star Rating: ★★★★★★]
Six-star, Diamond Trophy!
"The legendary miracle worker, the commander of the Revolutionary Army on the Grand Line, only receives a six-star rating?"
Storm felt somewhat surprised but also thought this rating was r
easonable.
Upon reflection, Ivankov's combat ability wasn't particularly strong.
In the recent battle, he hadn't even demonstrated any Haki...
"A Diamond Trophy isn't too bad!"
Storm released the effects of the Clay-Clay Fruit, restoring the Extreme Cold Hell to its original state.
"Awakening power, digestion complete!"