Chapter 48: Spider Extermination (Part 5)

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Although burning fury raged within Feitan's heart, his consciousness remained unexpectedly calm.

He possessed quite a variety of Transmutation Nen abilities, but his [Rising Sun], which was originally best suited for dealing with such high-speed opponents, was completely neutralized by the opponent's immunity to fire. [Pain Packer: Bloody Afernoon] required too much time from activation to taking effect, and [Thunder God's Chime] had too small an area of effect, making it very easy for the opponent to escape...

Tch, it really had to be [Bloody Afternoon] after all.

However, he first needed to lure the opponent away from this place, otherwise Nobunaga would lose his life.

Swish! Feitan retreated rapidly, while Heather pursued relentlessly with a broadsword in hand. The two instantly wove through a hundred meters of dust and toxic fog.

Both possessed exceptionally keen dynamic vision; even though the visibility in the surrounding environment was abysmally low, they could still easily dodge the suddenly appearing sharp steel rebars and ruined walls while rapidly chasing and evading.

If Heather were to rank the members of the Phantom Troupe he had fought against by strength, Feitan would undoubtedly be in the top three, and in terms of how troublesome he was, he could even rank second.

If Feitan truly had a weakness, it was probably his relatively fragile physique, but his ultra-high speed, which ranked first in the Troupe, greatly compensated for this flaw.

After sprinting a few hundred meters, Heather suddenly stopped in his tracks, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly to form a mocking smile:

"Hey, hey, where are you trying to take me? I'm a good boy, I won't run around with a bad guy like you."

"Oh, too scared to chase anymore? Or simply can't keep up?" Feitan also stopped, his narrow golden pupils narrowing even further.

"NONONO, you misunderstood my meaning."

Heather waved his finger: "I mean—playing with you is too boring, I might as well go back and find that samurai-sword-wielding piece of trash."

Swish! Heather's figure instantly vanished into the smoke.

Feitan cursed under his breath, immediately activated [En], and gave chase in Heather's direction.

As he pursued, Feitan's terrifying dynamic vision suddenly detected a slight, unnatural fluctuation in the dust ahead. He immediately concentrated his Nen into his eyes, using [Gyo]!

A narrow chain coated in [In] was seen waiting quietly in his path of necessity, resembling a python lying in wait for its prey.

At a hair-raising moment, Feitan violently bent his waist backward. The chain brushed past his chin and the tip of his nose, and after sliding on his knees for several meters, he immediately flipped over and leaped sideways, avoiding yet another surprise chain attack.

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At this point, the dust and smoke had begun to clear, and Feitan could see the scene before him.

Phinks, whose entire skeleton had been crushed to a pulp, lay quietly on the ground like a limp, water-filled leather sack. Blood and visceral fragments flowed slowly from his half-open mouth and nostrils.

Kurapika, standing directly in front of Feitan, wore a stern expression. The Chain Jail on his middle finger slowly coiled into a series of vortexes, surrounding him in the center.

Heather appeared silently to Feitan's rear left, resting his broadsword on his shoulder and whistling: "Little Kuru, your [In] still isn't proficient enough; this shorty saw right through your flaw."

The two formed a faint pincer movement, cutting off Feitan's escape routes.

Feitan no longer looked at Phinks's corpse, focusing entirely on the immediate situation.

The Nen-cutting blade was too fast, and once struck by it, it was direct GAME OVER. The chain user was slightly slower, but that tracking chain was extremely troublesome. Judging from Phinks's state of death, he must have been strangled to death by the chain. Phinks was a master of Enhancement Nen whose raw physical strength was second only to Uvogin; the fact that even his strength could not break free from the chain indicated that the opponent had means to restrict enemy movement, or that the chain itself was problematic.

Escape was no longer possible, but before dying, he would at least drag one person down with him!

The Nen of all three was climbing steadily, and battle was imminent.

Yet before they could make a move, a violent tremor suddenly erupted beneath their feet, and a massive roar came from the floor below!

Downstairs? Is it the Boss?

Before Feitan had time to ponder further, he instinctively vanished from his spot. Almost at the exact same time, a golden broadsword slashed fiercely into the position he had just occupied, sending rubble flying!

Kurapika swung his right hand, his middle and ring fingers held straight together. The [Chain Jail] and [Dowsing Chain] intertwined to form the [Thunder Wave], tracing sharp right angles like lightning patterns in the sky, pursuing the blurred shadow of Feitan with a sharp offensive!

Suddenly, a violent tremor occurred once again where Kurapika stood. The concrete flooring beneath his feet tilted and lifted entirely as a single slab. Losing his footing, Kurapika's posture tilted accordingly, and the chains that were about to catch up to Feitan instantly lost their control.

A flash of blade light!

The thick concrete beneath Kurapika's feet, along with the steel rebars within it, was cleanly and decisively split in two by the blade light. The pale, gleaming blade swept across his legs, and the parts below his knees immediately detached from Kurapika's body, falling into the sea of fire beside them.

Nobunaga Hazama!

This unremarkable man was bare-chested at the moment, with a large, horrifying concave dent on his chest and abdomen. Blood continually overflowed from the suture on his neck, but the arms holding his samurai sword were steady and powerful. All his Nen was concentrated on the samurai sword, and the surface of the blade was enveloped in intense Nen, magnifying it into a four-meter-long giant Nen sword!

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Transmutation Nen ability [Iai: Mighty Slash]! By concentrating all of one's Nen into the held weapon, one can condense it into a 'Qi blade' approximately 2 to 3 meters long (Nobunaga's previous limit was 3 meters), possessing peerless power! Executing this ability requires three conditions: First, the weapon must be an edged blade and must come with a scabbard; second, when condensing Nen, the weapon must be sheathed, adopting a draw-stance; third, it requires maintaining the draw-stance and charging in a stationary state to complete the ability, taking at least 4 seconds. The longer the charging time, the greater the power. Once movement or large-scale actions occur, the charge is immediately interrupted.

Kurapika, now lacking legs, hung suspended in mid-air. For a fraction of a second, confusion and helplessness flashed in his eyes, but he recovered instantly. Ignoring his injuries entirely, he whipped the chains in his hand toward Nobunaga!

Clang!

The four-meter-long giant Nen sword swung once more, striking the chains at an unimaginably high speed. The [Dowsing Chain] and [Chain Jail] lasted only half a second before snapping with a sharp sound, and the scattered chain fragments burst apart, dissolving back into scattered Nen.

Kurapika's face turned pale, and he spat a mouthful of blood. The destructive power of the opponent's giant Nen sword was simply too astonishing!

Nobunaga swung the giant sword for a third time, hacking toward Kurapika in mid-air. But this time, a golden light and flame also transformed into a shooting star, rushing toward this side.

After all, Feitan's injuries were too severe; he could no longer keep Heather entangled.

The sword of fire from mythology collided head-on with the giant Nen sword, which concentrated all of Nobunaga Hazama's body, mind, and essence. The surface of the latter flickered wildly with static like a television with poor signal, then turned into tissue paper licked by flames, vanishing into nothingness in an instant.

Although the samurai sword in Nobunaga's hand was a rare fine blade, it could no longer withstand the Nen output exceeding Nobunaga's limit and the destructive backlash from the sword of fire, turning into flying ash as well.

With his long black hair disheveled, Nobunaga spat a massive mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground, swaying unsteadily.

Heather caught Kurapika and landed lightly on the ground.

His injuries were somewhat severe; even little Kuru's [Holy Chain] could not regenerate severed limbs.

"Don't mind me... Senior brother, kill them!" Cold sweat seeped from Kurapika's forehead, but the loss of his legs and the shattering of his Nen ability could not halt the raging fire of revenge burning within him. He would absolutely not die before witnessing the destruction of the Troupe with his own eyes!

Heather looked up to see Feitan standing in the distance atop a diagonally protruding ruined wall. A full-body outfit covered entirely in spikes had somehow appeared on his body, leaving only his eyes exposed.

A chilling voice rang out—

"Both of you shall be buried with those from the Troupe who have died!"

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