Ito Xius didn't care about the slate.
Ito Xius didn't believe the slate could withstand the power of his invisible hands.
CRACK!
The slate shattered instantly.
Ito Xius noticed Kaizen gripping a baseball bat. While evading Kaizen's swift strikes, he countered with his invisible hands, aiming to finish Kaizen off.
SNAP!
Raiken clapped his hands together.
In the next moment, Kaizen's figure vanished, replaced by Ryunosuke Akutagawa.
Ito Xius's attack landed directly on Akutagawa, severely wounding him. But Raiken seized the opportunity, appearing behind Ito Xius. Wrapping his arms tightly around the man's waist, Raiken slammed him forcefully into the ground.
BOOM!
A silent explosion erupted from Ito Xius's chest.
Kaizen had planted a trap beforehand—a bomb using Killer Queen's ability. While the original plan was to lure Ito Xius into stepping on the trap, luck was on Ito Xius's side as he narrowly avoided it. Forced to improvise, Kaizen triggered the explosion remotely.
The force of the blast radiated outward, sending blood splattering in every direction.
Ito Xius's eyes widened as he struggled to lift his head from the ground. Before he could recover, Raiken's blade pinned him in place.
Kaizen hurried over to Akutagawa, watching as his injuries began to heal at an astonishing speed.
"Impressive," Kaizen muttered.
Meanwhile, dark red claws sprouted from Akutagawa's aura, piercing deep into Ito Xius's body.
Ito Xius glared at Kaizen with pure, unfiltered hatred. If looks could kill, Kaizen would have been obliterated a thousand times over.
"Y-you brat…" Ito Xius rasped.
Though the explosion had all but destroyed his body, the sheer vitality of his Nen kept him conscious. But not for much longer.
Ito Xius clenched his teeth in defiance. "This... this isn't fair! Fate itself is against me!"
His voice grew weaker. "You didn't defeat me! It's just luck! My comrades in Taris will avenge me! Mark my words… you'll regret this!"
But his threats fell on deaf ears as Akutagawa stepped forward, wielding the Knife. The blade pierced Ito Xius's chest, releasing a swarm of insect eggs that spread across his body.
SLASH!
Ito Xius's body twitched, then fell lifelessly to the ground. A dark aura of death emanated from his corpse.
"Not yet!" Ito Xius's Nen resisted, trying to lash out one last time at Kaizen.
But the Knife absorbed the death aura with ease. As the aura faded completely, Kaizen thought he could hear Ito Xius's anguished scream echo in the distance.
NOOOOOO!
Ito Xius's life force disappeared entirely.
Akutagawa returned the Knife to Kaizen, who immediately noticed something different about it.
"It's evolved," Kaizen muttered. "Absorbing all that death aura must have caused a transformation."
The blade thrummed with newfound energy, but something about it felt... sealed.
"Looks like I won't be able to use it for a while," Kaizen thought as he stored the knife.
The illusion of the arena began to fade—the ring, the crowd, and the player's area all vanished.
Dominica reappeared, holding the Kolossim, now reverted to its airship form. But the once-pristine airship was in ruins, its power systems destroyed. Smoke billowed from every corner, and the ship plummeted toward the ground in free fall.
"Brace yourselves!" Dominica shouted.
The trio rushed to the edge of the airship and leapt out. Wendy raised her hands, summoning gusts of wind to slow their descent.
BOOM!
The airship hit the ground with a deafening crash, followed by an explosion that sent flames and debris flying in all directions. Birds and beasts fled the area in panic.
The trio landed safely a short distance from the wreckage.
"We need to find shelter and recover," Kaizen said.
They located a cave nearby and set up camp. Dominica retrieved supplies using her Nen tools, producing food and water for the group.
"This should help speed up recovery," Dominica said as she passed the supplies around.
Despite the rough battle, Kaizen was mostly unscathed, while Wendy was only slightly fatigued from using her Nen. Dominica, however, bore the brunt of Crawford's counterattack and was severely injured.
Kaizen handed Wendy her necklace back, feeling a fleeting sense of calm.
The battle was over, but their journey was far from complete.
------------
+244 chapters on patreon.com/FanficsHub