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206 HxH: Tombbound Power
🕑 Added 2024-11-17 08:15:09 +0000 UTCChrollo felt a sudden lightness in his right arm, followed immediately by a sharp pain.
"Is it broken?" he wondered.
Despite the injury, Chrollo kept his expression neutral, pulling back to assess the field. His opponent hovered in the sky, wings beating steadily, while another figure stood in the spot he'd just occupied, identical down to the last detail.
"A clone… and it can fly?" Chrollo pondered as something fell to the ground with a dull thud.
He glanced at his severed right hand on the ground before refocusing on his opponent. Wings, strange cloth, and now a doppelgänger—it was the third ability the opponent had shown.
Counting the revolver that seemed to have infinite rounds, that made four distinct types of Nen abilities!
Someone with that many Nen abilities… Chrollo's eyes narrowed, his expression unreadable.
A Nen user with multiple abilities wasn't unheard of—he himself could steal and use others' Nen, so it wasn't entirely unexpected. Still, he couldn't help but be taken aback by the sheer versatility on display.
But how could this opponent use so many abilities at once without any apparent restrictions? There had to be limitations. Nen always had conditions. He just hadn't seen them yet.
Where is it? Where is the limit?
While Chrollo sought out this elusive boundary, Ronnel descended from the sky, landing on the ground with a calm demeanor. His gaze fixed on Chrollo, whose right arm dangled uselessly, blood dripping to the ground. Ronnel allowed himself a slight smile.
Earlier, as Chrollo had prepared to tag him with some pattern, Ronnel had activated Double by exploiting a blind spot. He'd left a stand-in to take the hit while his real body used Star Moon Night Walker to launch himself skyward.
As the clone touched down and triggered an explosion, Ronnel created a fresh substitute within the smoke, sending it in for another attack. In the confusion, he'd managed to land a decisive blow, severing Chrollo's arm.
The outcome of the battle was clear now.
Ronnel's wings disappeared, and he waved his hand, dismissing the stand-in beside him. With a final glance at Chrollo, he turned and walked away.
Chrollo, stunned for a moment, didn't bother with clichéd lines like
"Why aren't you finishing me?" or "Are you looking down on me?" He knew Ronnel held the upper hand and, more significantly, hadn't even revealed the full extent of his Nen.
To continue fighting with a missing arm—and without understanding the limitations of his opponent's abilities—would be pointless.
As for stealing Ronnel's abilities? The thought was laughable. It was just as likely that Ronnel had acquired these powers by plundering others, making the risk of losing his own abilities to him all too real.
This whole battle hadn't been part of the prophecy, so maybe it was destined to end in anticlimax. After a moment's pause to confirm that Ronnel had really left, Chrollo slumped to the ground, breathing a sigh of relief.
Using a strip of cloth from his clothes, he tied off his injured arm to slow the bleeding. He applied a Pain Relief Patch to the wound, gasping as the discomfort eased.
He knew better than to linger, though. If Ronnel decided to come back on a whim, he'd be finished. Gritting his teeth, Chrollo rose to leave, pulling a damaged phone from his pocket.
Despite its state, the device still worked. He dialed a number, and after a moment, a voice picked up on the other end.
"Hello, are you alive?" Illumi's emotionless voice greeted him.
"Just barely. If your father and grandfather showed up, though, I might not be."
Relaxing slightly, Chrollo even managed a dry joke.
"Don't worry. I took care of your request, they're gone."
"Good to hear." Chrollo felt another weight lift off his shoulders. "I'll send the final payment now."
The Zoldyck family adhered strictly to their business model: deposit, assassination, final payment. There was no "big shop bullies customers" treatment here.
"Pleasure doing business. Next time, I'll give you a 10% discount," Illumi said, hanging up.
Chrollo transferred the payment and pocketed his phone. As dawn's first light broke, he retrieved his severed arm and made his way back to the base.
On the other side of town, Ronnel walked back toward the Leiert family's room, a sense of satisfaction warming him. He had seriously injured Chrollo without relying on his most destructive attacks, and the fight had been an exercise in ability rather than raw power.
The first time they clashed, he'd known his strength and Nen surpassed Chrollo's. But this battle had been an enlightening challenge in adapting skills to outwit an opponent of Chrollo's caliber.
