Extreme Cold Hell, where icy winds howled.
Ivankov, transformed into a woman, leaped out through the secret entrance to Newkama Land.
But before he could land safely on the forest floor outside—
In a clearing somewhere in the forest, the thick blanket of snow covering the ground suddenly softened.
The sparkling snowflakes turned into heavy, pliable clay.
Whoosh—
White clay shot into the sky like a fountain.
Storm's figure emerged before Ivankov.
Now!
Ivankov looked toward Storm and gave a sharp wink.
"Death Blink!"
Taking advantage of the instant Storm had just appeared, Ivankov unleashed a powerful blast of explosive wind that hurtled toward him at incredible speed.
The Clay Fruit was a Paramecia, not a Logia, after all.
Even if Vongola Storm had developed the Clay Fruit to the level of Awakening, he couldn't possibly keep himself in a "Clay State" at all times... could he?
As Ivankov watched with eager anticipation, the powerful blast of wind created by "Death Blink" struck Storm's body with pinpoint accuracy.
Boom!
The deafening explosion shook the air.
Storm's newly formed body exploded, blown into countless fragments.
Small chunks of white clay scattered through the shock wave and fell across the ground nearby.
"Did I get him?!"
Ivankov looked both startled and delighted.
But in the very next moment, the ground where Storm's "fragments" had fallen began to change under the influence of an invisible force.
In just a few breaths, the entire forest floor had been transformed by the Clay Fruit, turned into clay.
The trees that had stood in the forest for who knew how many years also became clay.
Storm, completely unharmed, appeared again where he had been.
He looked up at the Okama King in the air and manipulated the clay forest to unleash a relentless assault on the sky.
Clay Tree Sea!
Every clay tree was more than ten meters tall, and its main trunk was thick enough for an ordinary person to wrap both arms around.
Countless clay trees gathered together, forming a dense white net.
The sheer scale of it was so overwhelming it made it hard to breathe.
Ivankov looked at the oncoming "Clay Tree Sea" below and took a deep breath.
In the next instant, he curled up, clasping both hands around his legs until he had nearly shrunk into a "ball."
"Spinning Beauty!"
Ivankov spun rapidly through the air in his ball shape, like a gigantic top.
Smack! Smack—
One clay tree after another slammed into Ivankov's body.
They were like white whips lashing at a spinning top.
Their tremendous force didn't slow the "Ivankov Top" at all. Instead, it helped him spin faster.
Ivankov's rotation accelerated, stirring the air around him into a whirl.
Eventually, the air gathered around his body and seemed to form a spherical shield.
Even after the "Clay Tree Sea" had finished its assault, Ivankov kept spinning.
Storm below raised an eyebrow and lifted his right hand, closing his fingers into a fist.
The "clay trees" that had just shot into the sky twisted at his will.
One clay tree after another joined together, like strands of a spiderweb.
In the blink of an eye, the clay trees formed a genuine inescapable net!
"Spider's Nest!"
Storm manipulated the clay web, enveloping the spinning Ivankov like a net.
The white clay steadily drew inward, compressing the space Ivankov had to move.
By the time Ivankov stopped spinning, the "Spider's Nest" had closed in around him.
Above, below, left, right...
Ivankov fought the dizziness washing over him and looked around, searching for a gap to escape through.
But to his disappointment, all he could see was clay.
Clay filled every corner of the space, leaving not even the tiniest gap.
Even a powerful fighter like Ivankov couldn't help feeling a little suffocated.
"Emporio Male Hormone!"
Ivankov first gave himself a "shot."
His slender, graceful female body instantly turned into a muscular male one.
Then he raised both hands, flattening his palms into knife-hand shapes.
"Newkama Kenpo, 44th Technique: Beauty's Secret Art—"
His eyes narrowed. He swung his arms frantically, unleashing a barrage of attacks at the nearest clay at blinding speed.
"Dream Impact Counter Punch!"
Thud! Thud! Thud—
Ivankov's knife hands struck the clay in front of him again and again, making a continuous series of muffled thumps.
Clay itself was relatively soft.
And Storm hadn't coated the "Spider's Nest" with any Armament Haki.
As a result, every knife-hand strike Ivankov landed left a huge crater in the "Spider's Nest."
Time passed.
With the hand speed he'd honed through more than forty years of being single, Ivankov pounded a path through the clay.
Only when the icy wind of Extreme Cold Hell brushed his face did he realize he had escaped the suffocating "clay web."
"Ha... ha..."
That series of counterattacks had drained a great deal of Ivankov's stamina, and he panted involuntarily.
But before he could finish catching his breath, a shadow cast down from the sky completely covered him.
Ivankov struggled to look up. The sight before him instantly left his mouth dry.
"Although I know that after Awakening, a Devil Fruit can grant its user an incredibly powerful influence over their surroundings..."
Cold sweat ran down Ivankov's forehead.
"But still...
"Isn't this 'dragon' just a little too ridiculous?!"
On the land of Extreme Cold Hell, a colossal white dragon lazily swished its tail.
Its fine, silver-gray Dragon Scales gave off a terrifying chill in the faint light reflected off the snow.
Ivankov knew that Vongola Storm had a Little White Dragon—he'd seen it through the surveillance system before.
But unless the Okama King's memory was failing him, Storm's Little White Dragon had been no bigger than an ordinary cat. It could even curl up on a human's shoulder.
Would someone please tell Ivankov—
Where had the prehistoric beast lying on the ground, at least several hundred meters long, come from?!
As Ivankov stared in shock, the white dragon lifted one of its claws and gently pressed it against the ground nearby.
The clay earth seemed unable to withstand the pressure of that immense force. With a boom, it burst apart.
Endless clay shot into the sky, instantly raising a towering "Wall of Sighs" in Extreme Cold Hell.
Ivankov looked at the seemingly boundless wall of clay ahead, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.
He hurriedly plunged both hands into his enormous face and unleashed the power of the Hormone-Hormone Fruit.
"Emporio Face Growth Hormone!"
"Emporio Excitement Hormone!"
In a split second, Ivankov released two different kinds of special hormones.
His already enormous face grew several times larger under the effects of the "Face Growth Hormone."
And as the "Excitement Hormone" continued to course through him, Ivankov's giant face instantly flushed red.
"Face Afterimage!"
Ivankov moved at high speed, leaving one blurry afterimage of his flushed, enormous face after another.
Every bit of this was preparation for his next move—
"Galaxy Wink!"
Ivankov winked at incredible speed, furiously fluttering his eyelids each time he moved to a new spot.
One after another, the "Face Afterimages" unleashed powerful blasts of explosive force.
The blasts merged together, slamming into the approaching "Wall of Sighs"!
Rumble—
A continuous roar of explosions rang across the sky.
Ivankov's "Galaxy Wink" left crater after crater in the clay wall.
Every crater was nearly ten meters across.
But compared to the towering wall, the damage Ivankov had caused was negligible!
With Storm endlessly reinforcing it, the wall of clay repaired itself faster than Ivankov could damage it!
As the Okama King watched in despair, the clay wall surged toward him like a tsunami.
The "clay wave" made just one sweep.
Ivankov was knocked straight out of the air and slammed hard into the ground of Extreme Cold Hell.
Clay as massive as a mountain immediately crushed down over the Okama King's body, burying him completely in darkness.
The Okama King, Emporio Ivankov, couldn't get back up!
Once the sounds and spectacle of battle had died down, a brand-new trophy appeared before Storm, seemingly crafted from crystal-clear diamond.
[Diamond Trophy: Emporio Ivankov] [Trophy Star Rating: ★★★★]
A four-star Diamond Trophy!
"The legendary miracle worker, commander of the Revolutionary Army's Grand Line Army, only got a four-star rating?"
Storm was a little surprised, but on second thought, the rating made sense.
Come to think of it, Ivankov's combat ability wasn't all that impressive.
In the battle just now, he hadn't even shown any Haki...
"A Diamond Trophy is still pretty good!"
Storm deactivated the Clay Fruit and restored Extreme Cold Hell to its original state.
"I've finished digesting the power of Awakening!"
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