An eerie mist hovered in front of their eyes, and what made the members of the Phantom Troupe shudder were the ghosts that clung to them like maggots, almost alive. Some climbed onto their bodies, others pulled at their pants legs, while others circled around them making eerie howling noises. These ghosts had no physical form and posed no real threat, their movements like smoke passing through solid bodies.
But the scene was too bizarre for comfort.
A ghost with a blurred face and no features appeared right in front of Pakunoda and stared into her eyes. Although it had no eyes of its own, she could somehow sense its emotions of mockery and laughter. It kept waving its hands to grab her hair, as if it wanted to pull her into the thick fog.
Move! Run!
The same thought raced through the minds of every Spider member. They had to evacuate the battlefield as soon as Oboro appeared - that was Chrollo's order, even if he hadn't said it in front of Hisoka. That was the contingency plan.
Although, no matter how you looked at it, the operation seemed to have ended with the Troupe's victory.
But Chrollo had still reacted and made decisions for everything he could imagine and even for what he couldn't.
Yes, time to run.
A drop of cold sweat ran down Pakunoda's cheek and dripped from her chin. The man standing on the dome of the palace radiated terror beyond her expectations. The difference in aura was so great that even a non-Nen user could feel it.
He was simply an unattainable being.
She turned her head stiffly and found her companions standing motionless like her. Though their expressions were different, their trembling pupils revealed their shared uneasiness. Panic In the past, they had weathered countless storms and developed strong psychological strength. They should not experience such an embarrassing paralysis. Those few short seconds were enough time for them to make more than a dozen reactions, and they should have dispersed and fled by now.
The reason they were still here was because they were all in the same state as her. Their brains were screaming for action, but their bodies weren't responding normally.
"I must do something to alert my companions," Pakunoda thought.
At that moment, she saw Chrollo slowly close his eyes, as if accepting his fate, and an idea flashed through her mind.
"We can't stay like this, we're completely intimidated by the opponent's overwhelming aura. My companions need stimulation."
"We need a signal to restore our body temperature and our mind!"
At this critical moment, a sense of awareness or mission made this woman, whose strength wasn't the greatest in the troupe, the first to react.
With one swift movement, Pakunoda raised the silver-white revolver in her hand and aimed it at Oboro, who stood high above them. She pulled the trigger.
A bullet shot out of the chamber towards its target.
She knew that her shot wouldn't hurt Oboro in the slightest.
But her goal was achieved! When the shot rang out, the troupe members, their limbs numb and stiff, suddenly came to their senses, as if a thick layer of imprisoning ice had melted and shattered from their bodies.
Above them, Oboro nonchalantly extended two fingers, a smile playing on his lips. He pinched the air with his fingertips and caught the bullet in mid-flight. A puff of smoke rose from his fingers as he flicked them, sending the bullet casing spinning away.
Pakunoda's move served as a signal to the other members, an invisible, perfect understanding.
Franklin and the others quickly turned and ran.
After firing, Pakunoda didn't even check to see if her bullet had hit its target before turning to flee. Everyone's actions were surprisingly synchronized.
But the next second, time stopped.
For the mist on the dome disappeared.
There was no sound of wind, no sharp noise - the man simply appeared out of nowhere in their midst.
Oboro landed lightly, one hand in his pocket, the sole of his shoe barely touching the ground. The world lost all its luster in the eyes of the troopers.
The scene seemed to freeze at that moment.
Feitan, Shizuku, everyone's pupils slowly dilated when Oboro appeared in front of them.
Oboro's exposed hand shaped like a black whip and swung with lightning speed. The room they were standing in tore apart like a torn photograph, cut by an invisible sharp edge.
Phew!
Pakunoda suddenly felt weightless, her body weak. She saw her chest split open by several deep wounds, a dazzling spray of blood gushing out. She could clearly see her internal organs being shredded by the tearing force.
Her mind went blank.
Franklin was still lifting his foot when half of his face was sliced off. The eye in the severed half of his head seemed to function for a moment, just long enough to see Shalnark falling, Pakunoda kneeling with blood splattering around her, and Feitan, who seemed to have reacted and tried to dodge, but could not completely avoid the attack that cut off a third of his upper body from his left shoulder to his waist.
"Danchou" Before his head hit the ground, Franklin caught a glimpse of Chrollo's back, standing motionless.
Then consciousness fled.
Everything happened in milliseconds.
When Oboro was completely on the ground, several spiders around him began to bleed brilliantly, like blooming fireworks, and fell on their backs one by one.
They were all within his attack range, including the beast controlled by Franklin, which was also killed instantly.
With Oboro's finger strength, fighting skills, mental strength, and critical precision, the troupe had no chance to resist.
Oboro had used his "Flash" technique.
Of the six people present, three died instantly. Only Machi and Chrollo escaped unharmed.
Although Feitan didn't die immediately, he collapsed with blood gushing from half of his body. He didn't have much time left.
And Chrollo was the only one who hadn't tried to escape.
Before Machi could act, her companions had died before her eyes. This sent her newly recovered mind back into an icy paralysis, rendering her immobile once again.
Even my fingers are numb, I can't feel anything The fear growing in her heart grew infinitely.
One fact became painfully clear in the face of absolute power: running was useless.
Like flies drawn to blood, the ghosts swirling around immediately pounced on the bodies of Pakunoda and the others. They kept screaming, seemingly in a state of extreme agitation.
"After killing people in my territory, it's impossible to get away with it," Oboro said, slowly turning to face Chrollo with a smile.
Chrollo felt a chill run through his heart.
He opened his eyes to see the bodies of his companions. He felt no panic, no fear, only acceptance of death.
At that moment, he and Machi should have died as well, but the reason they were spared wasn't out of mercy.
It was because Hisoka had already made it clear that Oboro would create a battlefield for them where no one would interfere.
As for Machi, she might have been spared because of her connection to Hisoka.
Whether all the Spiders were destroyed or not was of little importance to Oboro. From the beginning to the end, they were never a threat to this man.
This was a game that had been designed long ago.
With the help of the Troupe, the Fells family had wiped out the Dons and their old gang members. This made it easier for Oboro to take over the underground forces of the entire world.
If the Dons had been killed directly by the Fells Family, once the news spread or suspicion arose, it would cause massive repercussions and create hidden dangers.
But if the crime was blamed on the Phantom Troupe, and then the Fells family acted heroically by killing the murderers to avenge their colleagues and uphold the dignity of the Mafia, it would be different.
The reputation of the Fells family would rise to unprecedented heights.
It was perfect timing; the gangs that had originally belonged to the Dons were now leaderless, their bosses all dead.
The entire criminal underground would be easily absorbed by the Fells family.
In short, from beginning to end, the Troupe had been working for Oboro.
The Dons and all the gang leaders who died today were just bait to lure the Spiders out. Oboro let them eat and drink their fill first, enjoying the slaughter of the gangs, thinking they had dealt a fatal blow to the Fells family. Just when everything seemed to be going perfectly, that man reappeared, bringing with him pure despair!
There was a key figure in all of this: Hisoka!
If Hisoka hadn't disguised himself so well and cooperated so skillfully, the troupe could have avoided this disaster.
Thinking of this, Chrollo looked up at Hisoka.
Even the expressionless Illumi was shocked.
"It turns out that they don't understand Oboros strength either," Chrollo suddenly realized.
As long as I survive, I will grow stronger.
Every death is growth," Chrollo muttered.
The "I" he was referring to was the spiders, the entire troupe.
He had already guessed from Oboros actions and plans that if he could kill Hisoka, at least he and Machi could leave safely.
Oboro walked over to Chrollo, looked at him calmly even after all this and commented with appreciation: "Your determination is quite remarkable." "Can I make some preparations?" Chrollo asked and looked at Hisoka.
He asked for Oboros permission.
He knew that Oboro would grant it.
"You may."
With a wave of Oboro's hand, a gap suddenly appeared in the swirling mist, revealing a path.
At the end of the path stood a man.
Shalnark had arrived too late.
"Is it him?" Oboro asked.
"Yes. He was originally prepared for you, but it seems useless now," Chrollo said calmly.
The scene before Shalnark was difficult to comprehend. The Danchou stood side by side with Oboro.
Machi seemed unharmed, but looked as if she had lost her soul, her head bowed.
Feitan sat slumped to the side, blood dripping from his mouth as he barely breathed. Only one arm supported his body as his consciousness faded.
Blood gushed from his wound, forming a crimson pool beneath him.
"Let us begin," Chrollo said to Shalnark.
Shalnark snapped to attention. Though his mind was a mess and he could not organize his thoughts, he walked over to the bodies of his fallen companions. Under everyone's watchful eyes, he took a hair from Shizuku, Pakunoda and Shalnark, put it in his mouth and chewed.
He activated his Nen ability.
After a moment, he opened his mouth and spat out some jelly beans of different colors.
Standing up, he walked over and handed them to Chrollo.
Oboro noticed that Shalnark's own aura had become extremely weak after using his ability.
Interesting characteristics. Oboro's interest was piqued.
Chrollo swallowed the three candy beans one by one.
"An amplification ability?" Oboro asked with a smile.
"Although I calculated only a 1% chance that you would appear during this operation, I prepared for that possibility. If you had appeared, it would have been my trump card against you at the cost of several companions' lives," Chrollo said, not hiding anything as he looked at Shalnark. "But your strength exceeds my expectations, so you win. Otherwise, the outcome would have been undetermined."
"That's very thoughtful," Oboro smiled and looked at Hisoka. "You are in trouble!"
Yes, the methods Chrollo had originally intended to use against Oboro would now be used against Hisoka.
"Let's go," Chrollo said calmly to Hisoka, then turned and left.
He would find a place to fight Hisoka to the death.
In this game, the Phantom Troupe had no capital left. He had to perform according to the script that Oboro had planned.
Chrollo spoke calmly, but his expression was filled with murderous intent.
This operation had ended disastrously, and Hisoka bore the responsibility for it. He must pay the price for the death of Franklin and the others.
Hisoka, his upper body bare, accepted with a smile and followed.
"Be careful, I won't save you," Oboro teased as Hisoka passed.
"I didn't expect your strength to have reached this level," Hisoka stopped and looked at Oboro. "Originally, I was looking forward to today's fight, but I found out that you are always the gift that surprises me the most."
"Watch carefully. For our last performance together, I will reach the same height as you and raise our show."
"I'm afraid there's no chance, I'm not kidding, you might die at his hands," Oboro said lightly.
"Heh." Hisoka smiled but said nothing more.
Then he looked at Machi whose body was shaking constantly and said, "Don't be nervous. This isn't like you Hmm, do you have anything to say about my upcoming fight with your leader?"
"Get out of here!" Machi spat.
Her fear came from Oboro, not from Hisoka.
All this time, Machi had thought she'd become indifferent to life and death, ready to sacrifice herself if necessary. But after watching several of her companions die in the blink of an eye, she felt utterly powerless. The overwhelming strength Oboro had shown shattered her composure.
The mixture of emotions was too much for her.
She had cried without realizing it, her mind blank with shock.
Oboro ignored Feitan and Machi and followed Chrollo and Hisoka. Illumi did the same.
The farce of the Phantom Troupe had come to an end.
As for the palace itself, the souls released after the death of those with Nen abilities no longer needed to be collected by Oboro in person. As the fog and ghost shadows spread, any remaining souls were automatically swept up and absorbed by the ghosts.
"Not bad," Oboro laughed to himself.
The Nen users surrounding the Dons, including their Nen beasts, and the dead members of the troupe all became nutrients he gained from this game.
The number was considerable, and it greatly increased his power.
After they had left, Kurapika finally emerged from the palace, looking somewhat haggard.
Hisoka's game had just begun, and Kurapika's quest to hunt the spiders continued!
His red eyes fell on Feitan, who was about to die.