The moment the giant mole stepped into Sally's aura perception range—
Sally crouched low.
Then launched herself skyward.
The giant mole burst from the sand with explosive force—but Sally was no longer there.
A dark object dropped from above.
The mole's pupils contracted.
A normal mole has terrible eyesight.
But this wasn't a real mole.
It was made of nen.
And its vision was just as sharp as any human's.
BOOM!
Sally's second ability.
In addition to her long-range sniping skills, she also wielded medium- to close-range explosive capabilities.
And those explosions packed even more power than her distant shots.
The impact blasted the mole back into the sand.
Countless small lacerations tore across its body—
And one massive wound.
Blood pooled from its side.
The mole instinctively burrowed down again, trying to vanish into the sand.
But Sally was faster.
She pulled the trigger.
BOOM!
A bullet tore through the air toward the creature.
At the same time, Siper launched her attack.
Siper's shots weren't as powerful as Sally's—
After all, she was still a relatively recent nen user.
But her aim? Unmatched.
Even injured, the mole was still dangerous. But with both attacks landing—
Both bullets struck true.
Kaizen nodded at Siper and Sally.
Their coordination was tight. Their rhythm—flawless.
They met his expectations.
One plus one really was greater than two.
Once Siper advanced to C-rank, the two could suppress even a B-rank opponent with precision crossfire.
In Nen battles, numbers mattered.
...
Kroll was manipulating the sand around them while watching the skirmish unfold.
Unlike his subordinates, he wasn't angry.
He was thinking.
Rosgel's body still wasn't complete.
The Republic of Mimbo had spent years recovering the sealed corpse of Rosgel from the Kingdom of Fiora, but even now, they'd only managed to retrieve part of it—
The torso.
One arm.
One leg.
The remaining limbs and head were still in Fiora's hands.
And with Mimbo's internal politics growing increasingly unstable, Kroll's faction couldn't afford to wait.
Their only option was early resurrection—through sacrifice.
Because they only had partial remains, the ritual required a tremendous amount of life energy to succeed.
By watering the corpse with life itself, they could force Rosgel to revive.
Even if the resulting power wasn't at full strength, he would still surpass the level of most A-rank nen users.
There were few in the world who could match such a being—even in that incomplete state.
And once resurrected, Rosgel would be aware of where the rest of his body was.
That meant they could track down the missing parts faster.
And once fully reassembled—
Rosgel would return stronger than he was before death.
With that power, Kroll's faction could accomplish things they'd only dreamed of.
...
Long ago, the Republic of Mimbo wasn't a nation at all—
Just a patchwork of scattered tribes.
Until the Kingdom of Fiora invaded and colonized them, ruling over the land for centuries.
But then Rosgel appeared.
He led the revolution.
He drove out the Fioran army.
And for the first time, declared Mimbo's independence.
That was the birth of the Republic of Mimbo.
Today, the Republic is one of the V5—
But internally, it's still a chaotic mess compared to the others.
It's not governed by one single force.
The title of "King" is ceremonial at best.
In reality, the nation is controlled by a coalition of dukes.
A fractured power structure.
One duke alone holds nearly half the country's political sway.
Four others share another 40%.
The remaining 10% is split among minor dukes—
Kroll's faction is one of these small-time groups.
Several minor dukes had formed an alliance together.
But their ambitions reached far beyond their current station.
That's why they came up with the plan to revive Rosgel.
However, not all factions within the Republic supported the idea of using sacrificial rites.
Which was why Kroll and his allies had come to such a remote place to conduct the ritual.
One reason was to avoid sacrificing their own men.
But the main reason? To avoid detection.
The bounties and warrants issued by the Republic for Kroll and his group were just a smokescreen.
"Their nen is strong… Their life energy must be abundant."
"Better than expected—or at least enough."
"With them added in, the numbers are just right."
The deaths of his underlings had stirred fury among his group—
To them, those were comrades.
But Kroll felt nothing.
If the sacrifices weren't sufficient, he would have killed his own subordinates without hesitation.
And if even that wasn't enough—
He'd kill himself.
...
The giant mole reappeared beside Kroll.
"Kroll-sama."
Its massive form shrank, reverting into the form of a brown-haired woman.
"Forgive me. I failed. Should I engage them directly?"
Kroll replied calmly.
"Focus on the sniper. Leave the rest."
"Yes, Kroll-sama."
The brown-haired woman transformed back into her mole form and burrowed through the sand.
She surfaced near Sally, harassing her—
But didn't dare get too close.
With her injuries, she knew she couldn't win.
Kroll didn't offer her any backup.
"I can hold on a little longer. Better to use this time to harvest more sacrifices."
"When I reach the end of my rope—then I'll act."
"That will be the most optimal time for the ritual."
...
Elsewhere on the battlefield, a B-rank nen user gritted his teeth.
"Damn it…"
"This woman's ability is such a pain!"
Tessia's ability was driving him into a corner.
But what puzzled him more—
Why hadn't anyone else shown up to support him?
Where was his partner?
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Fanfic is completed on patreon.com/FanficsHub (1047 chapters in total)