The terrifying blizzard had completely stripped Diamante of any ability to resist.
At first, he had still been able to put up a stubborn fight thanks to his ample stamina.
But as time passed, despair began to creep in.
Every single one of his attacks hit their mark, yet every time, new obstacles blocked his way.
No matter how many times he swung his weapon, the ice before him never seemed to diminish.
No matter how he used the powers of his Float-Float Fruit, he simply couldn't escape this sealed space encased in thick ice.
The temperature kept dropping.
Even breathing had become an excruciating ordeal.
The moment he exhaled warm air, it instantly turned into ice shards.
When he swung his sword, the exposed skin on his arms would freeze and crack in an instant.
His flesh split apart, chunks of his body falling to the ground like shards of glass, densely scattered across the ice.
Those pieces of flesh had already turned purple from the cold.
In less than a second, they would be buried under the relentless snowstorm.
Diamante even tried leaping through the air to escape, but countless ice crystals, along with an avalanche-like torrent, would slam his soaring body back down to the ground.
He wanted to call for help from his comrades, but unfortunately—
Doflamingo and Trebol were being held back by Jake alone, while the other officers couldn't break through the Marines' blockade.
Even if another officer recklessly forced their way through the barricade, they would be stopped by a man no one had ever seen before.
That man was tall, a faint smile on his face, occasionally even talking to the air beside him.
The look he gave Jake carried a fanaticism even more intense than the devotion they held for their Young Master.
Monet watched as Diamante's resistance gradually weakened.
The power of her blizzard didn't diminish in the slightest—if anything, it grew even fiercer.
This was what Jake had taught her: when an enemy shows signs of faltering, do not let your guard down.
Instead, crush their last shred of hope with even greater force than before.
Only then could victory be absolutely assured.
And clearly, Monet had taken Jake's words to heart.
In truth, this was exactly what Diamante had feared.Upon realizing he couldn't break through the blizzard, he considered conserving his strength, waiting for Monet to lower her guard before using his Flag-Flag Fruit to slice through the surrounding ice and escape this frozen hell that sought to claim his life.
But to his dismay, when his feigned weakness only invited an even fiercer ice storm, the last glimmer of hope in Diamante's heart shattered.
It was as if his fighting spirit vanished in that instant.
He attacked his surroundings frantically, but it only hastened his demise without offering any salvation.
When the blizzard finally subsided, the only thing left within the thick layers of ice was Diamante's frozen corpse, now a lifeless ice sculpture.
From this moment onward, within the entire Marines, Monet would stand as the strongest wielder of ice-based calamity—second only to Kuzan himself.
...
High above in the sky, Doflamingo who's locked in combat, gazed upon Diamante's frozen remains, his expression twisting into pure rage.
"I will kill you here! Marines!"
This was the first time since his father's death that he had felt such overwhelming bloodlust toward another person.
The reason Jake could hold off both Doflamingo and Trebol wasn't because he surpassed them in strength, but due to his reckless, near-limitless expenditure of stamina.
Lightning, light barriers, spears—
Under Jake's unrestrained assault, the sheer volume of attacks momentarily pinned Doflamingo and Trebol down, preventing them from aiding Diamante.
Clenching his fists, Doflamingo watched Diamante's corpse, waiting—waiting for Jake's stamina to falter under this unsustainable offensive.
The moment Jake showed even the slightest weakness, Doflamingo would sever his head without hesitation.
Though grief-stricken by Diamante's death, a sliver of relief also flickered in Doflamingo's heart.
Jake's approach all but guaranteed his defeat.
Once they triumphed here, the remaining Marines would be nothing more than lambs for slaughter.
Yet, when Jake unleashed yet another devastating area-of-effect attack, Doflamingo sensed something amiss.
Nearly half an hour had passed since Monet trapped Diamante, and Jake's assault hadn't weakened—if anything, it had grown even more ferocious.
'This man's stamina was like an abyss, with no bottom in sight.'
'Damn it, does this bastard not feel fatigue?!'
Doflamingo grew increasingly unnerved as the battle raged on.
Unlike Jake's berserk onslaught, he had been meticulously conserving his energy, avoiding unnecessary exertion.
Yet even so, merely evading attacks had left him panting heavily.
Meanwhile, Jake showed no signs of exhaustion—not even the slightest intent to conserve stamina.
"100,000,000 Volts Discharge! Raikou!"
A colossal thunder dragon roared from Jake's body, tearing through the clouds before splitting the heavens and crashing down before Doflamingo.
"Overheat!"
Threads hardened with Armament Haki, guided by Doflamingo's Observation Haki, sliced the lightning into fragments.
But attacks of this magnitude—Doflamingo knew he couldn't endure many more.
'No, this can't go on any longer.'
'I must take down that brat while I still have stamina left'
'Otherwise, once my energy is completely drained, there'll truly be no chance left.'
'Are Zoan-type Devil Fruit users' recovery and endurance really this absurd?!'
However, a vicious grin crept onto Doflamingo's lips.
Coincidentally, not long ago, he had mastered the ultimate secret of Devil Fruits.
Awakening!
"Trebol!"
With Doflamingo's roar, Trebol instantly understood his young master's intention.
Though his entire body was charred black, covered in lightning strike marks, he still mustered his strength and waved his hand, summoning a tsunami-like wave of mucus that surged toward Jake.
Before Jake could react, a terrifying chill swept across the ground.
In an instant, Monet froze all that mucus into solid ice.
Seeing this, Doflamingo's face twisted with excitement.
Standing atop the falling ice sheets, he raised a finger toward Jake.