*Bang!!*
Allen pushed off fiercely with both feet, shooting from the tree like an arrow. He closed the distance in an instant, unleashing a Shaori burst into a straight jab aimed right at his opponent's face!
*Bang!!*
Even with the dynamic vision of compound eyes, Toruno couldn't react in time to this lightning-fast strike. His inverted triangular mantis head was knocked backward.
Allen twisted his body in midair, delivering a vicious bicycle kick right to his opponent's face.
At the same time, as if completely immune to hit stun, Toruno's mantis forelimbs shot out at extreme speed!
*Bang!!*
*Slash!*
Both attacks landed simultaneously! Allen's violent kick smashed his opponent's head into the ground.
Toruno's forelimbs, acting like sharp scythes, tore open Allen's chest, sending droplets of blood flying into the air.
Allen retreated, his feet touching down and skidding a few meters. After steadying himself, his eyes darkened. Bending his knees slightly, he pushed off and charged forward once more.
*Bang!!*
Just as Toruno stood up, Allen delivered a spinning back kick, slamming heavily into his body!
The kick carried immense power! It launched Toruno away from the giant cauldron, sending his body flying backward into the forest until he crashed violently against a tree trunk!
*Boom!!*
Countless fallen leaves fluttered through the air as the massive, splintered tree slowly tilted and crashed to the ground.
Toruno glared furiously at Allen. The surface of his body rapidly transformed, its color gradually shifting to pitch black.
The muscles in his legs bulged, elongating into the powerful, reverse-jointed hind legs of a locust, while his forelimbs retained the deadly twin scythes unique to a mantis.
Thick, hard plates of chitinous armor covered his chest and abdomen. His head looked as though it were wearing a helmet, and a massive horn with a bifurcated tip sprouted from the top of his skull.
Behind him, a long tail tipped with a deadly stinger swayed slowly, while four translucent dragonfly wings folded and retracted against his back.
Seeing Toruno completely transform into a hideous monster, the crew couldn't help but gulp nervously.
Allen's solemn gaze darkened slightly.
If he had to describe his opponent's appearance, the closest image that came to mind was—
A Xenomorph!
A Xenomorph mashed together with the traits of various insects!
*Tch, he can transform freely, so did he really have to make himself this ugly? He could have at least kept a bit more of his human form, like a Terra Formar,* Allen scoffed inwardly.
Disgust aside, the strength of this form was absolutely not to be underestimated.
Allen hadn't forgotten that the man standing before him was a genuine Mythical Zoan user, one with a track record of defeating a Marine Vice Admiral.
The two stared each other down for less than three seconds.
Toruno lowered his body, bending his powerful locust hind legs to build momentum. His coiled muscles violently erupted with terrifying force!
*Bang!!*
The ground shattered, spiderweb cracks spreading outward as Toruno's body shot toward Allen like a subsonic cannonball!
Faced with the ferocious, instantaneous charge, Allen hurriedly raised his arms, crossing them in front of him to block!
*Bang!!*
The massive Hercules beetle horn struck like a steel pillar. The terrifying force of the impact transferred through Allen's arms, but he desperately held his ground.
His body was pushed rapidly backward, his feet plowing two deep trenches into the earth until his back slammed heavily into a giant tree, snapping it in half!
Allen reached back and grabbed the massive horn, stomping his back foot down hard to barely halt his backward slide.
Before he could counterattack, Toruno jerked his head up. The giant horn unleashed an astonishing amount of power, launching Allen high into the sky.
Allen flipped a few times before spreading his limbs to stabilize himself. Stepping on the air, he used Moonwalk to hover in the sky, his gaze locked on the ground below.
He watched as Toruno unfurled the two pairs of translucent dragonfly wings on his back. Vibrating at a high frequency, they generated terrifying speed, and with a flash, Toruno vanished from his spot.
"This time it's a dragonfly's flight ability..."
Allen furrowed his brows.
The developed leg strength of a locust, the bladed arms of a mantis, the defense and power of a Hercules beetle, combined with the compound eyes and flight of a dragonfly.
Add to that his previous transformation into a peregrine falcon, and this Mythical Zoan fruit was practically a culmination of all Zoan abilities rolled into one.
Allen's eyes darkened as he pushed his Observation Haki to its absolute limit. The trajectory of his opponent's movements flashed through his mind. Straightening his arm and clenching his fist, he roared, twisting his waist to throw a devastating punch behind him.
"Sonic Punch!!"
Sure enough, in the very next instant, Toruno suddenly appeared right where the fist was landing!
*Bang!!*
The fist broke the sound barrier, violently smashing into Toruno's body and fracturing the hard carapace covering his chest.
The moment Toruno appeared, he was blasted right back by Allen's punch. He plummeted to the earth, smashing a deep, spiderweb-cracked crater into the ground as billowing dust and smoke kicked up.
"Moonwalk!"
Allen shouted, stomping heavily on the air to dive downward. Guided by his Observation Haki, his eyes were dead set on Toruno within the dust cloud.
Just as he was about to plunge into it, Allen's eyes widened in shock. From within the thick smoke, countless red, high-temperature liquid bullets suddenly erupted!
"Shaori・Paper Art!!"
Allen's tense muscles instantly relaxed. His body became like a leaf fluttering in the wind, rapidly dodging through the dense rain of bullets.
The high-temperature liquid bullets were comparable to magma. As they landed on the grass and tree canopies, they sizzled and smoked, quickly igniting into raging fires.
Allen stumbled as he landed back on the ground. He rolled once and quickly stood up, snapping his head around to look.
The dust cleared, revealing Toruno's figure. His chest swelled, and he opened his hideous mandibles, once again spewing out countless red liquid bullets that shot toward Allen.
"Careful! That's the ability of a Magma Bombardier Beetle! Its abdomen stores two types of biological fluids, and when mixed and sprayed, the power is comparable to magma!"
Heracles hurriedly shouted a warning.
"Shave!!"
Hearing this, Allen let out a loud shout. Tapping his toes continuously against the ground, his figure flickered around the area, dodging the attacks.
Although those magma bullets were incredibly powerful, under the perception of his Observation Haki, their flight trajectories were already mapped out in Allen's mind.
He relaxed his body, his leg muscles seemingly melting into liquid, before suddenly tensing up and pushing off with explosive force!
"Shaori・Shave!!"
*Bang!!*
The ground exploded into countless cracks as Allen leaned forward and shot out at an accelerated speed, breaking through the magma bullets to arrive right in front of Toruno.
Allen's eyes gleamed fiercely as he raised his leg, delivering a brutal upward kick right to Toruno's jaw!
*Bang!!*
Toruno's head snapped back with an agonized hiss, the high-temperature mixed fluid in his mouth spraying harmlessly into the sky.
Allen curled his lips into a savage grin. Stepping forward into a lunge, he pulled his arm back, taking the starting stance for his Supersonic Burst Punch.
But right at that moment, a massive shrimp claw appeared in front of him. The claw was swollen and bulging, its front pincers wide open and aimed directly at him.
*Is this... a pistol shrimp?!!*
Allen's pupils shrank in shock. On Toruno's backward-leaning head, a pair of protruding, giant compound eyes glared at him furiously.
The next instant.
*Snap!!*
The shrimp pincers snapped shut, and a terrifying shockwave erupted from the claw, blasting violently against Allen's chest!
*Boom—!!*
Allen's entire body turned into a cannonball, flying backward at extreme speed. He tore through everything in his path, snapping several large trees in succession before crashing deep into the forest.
Billowing dust and smoke rose into the air, stretching for hundreds of meters.