Kaizen noticed the corpses lying scattered across the desert were drying up—visibly, rapidly.
Life force was draining away.
Not at a normal pace.
It felt like something was drawing it out... not slowly, like sipping through a straw—but violently, like uncapping a bottle and blowing hard into it.
"So the real target is their life force?"
To be honest, Kaizen was used to things like this by now.
In his experience with Nen, he'd seen plenty of similar horrors.
The Kute Gang of Thieves once turned all of Meteor City into a disaster zone, fueled by death.
The twisted elites of the Taris Kingdom had used common lives like disposable batteries.
Aura comes from life force.
Even normal people—if there are enough of them—can add up to a significant amount of energy.
"So it's confirmed now…"
"The so-called 'secret treasure' of the Sand Bandit King? A lie."
"Kroll's real goal is to lure all these people to the desert."
"To kill them."
"To do something with their collective life force."
Kaizen's eyes narrowed slightly.
"A catastrophe?"
"A creature?"
"A Nen tool?"
"Or something else entirely?"
He tried to trace the direction the aura was flowing toward, but it was too chaotic—disordered. For now, he couldn't make sense of it.
...
Soon after, a B-rank Nen user in the south—trapped between Tessia and Sally, with Nina's interference—was killed by Tessia.
Seeing that, Kroll quickly rushed toward their location.
Kaizen looked west.
A massive sand wall had risen there—tens of meters tall, steep and sheer. Impossible for regular people to cross.
"Head east," Kaizen ordered.
Tessia and the others quickly regrouped and moved out, launching a new attack on Kroll's eastern flank.
Still, Kroll didn't pursue them.
A strange dynamic had formed: Kroll's people were killing everyone indiscriminately, while Kaizen's team was systematically targeting Kroll's subordinates.
Yet Kroll made no move against Kaizen's team.
It didn't feel like a confrontation between enemies.
More like... a tacit cooperation.
But now, A-rank Nen users from the north had arrived to reinforce Kroll's side.
It seemed not all of them were comfortable with watching their allies fall one by one.
They weren't like Kroll.
...
"Captain, I want to give it a try," Tessia said, stepping forward.
Kaizen hesitated.
But Tessia didn't wait. He dashed forward, transforming mid-charge into his most powerful form.
A blue tunic shimmered into place. Horns sprouted from his head. A thick tail emerged. His aura shifted, grew more aggressive—more primal.
Kaizen looked across the battlefield.
One A-rank Nen user.
One B-rank.
Two C-rank.
Four in total.
The A-rank's arms had transformed into massive blades—cleavers as sharp as they were fast. With each motion, he launched devastating slashes at Tessia.
This was no ordinary opponent.
Tessia was strong—but clearly outmatched.
She had no choice but to dodge, over and over.
Opportunities to strike back were rare.
Right from the start, Tessia was on the defensive.
Still, Kaizen didn't jump in. Not yet.
The danger wasn't immediate. For now, he observed.
...
The B-rank Nen raised a hand—and unleashed a flood of wax, blotting out the sky, surging toward Sally.
Just then, Shizuku stepped forward.
"Blinky!"
She called out, and her familiar vacuum cleaner appeared in her hands.
With a surge of aura, a powerful suction roared from its nozzle.
Its target: the wax.
When Shizuku developed her vacuum cleaner's ability, she defined its limit—Blinky could only suck up non-living objects.
But what counts as non-living is entirely up to Shizuku's own perception.
And to her, this wax wasn't alive.
So, without resistance, Blinky devoured the wax in seconds.
The B-rank Nen user froze, stunned.
"What the hell just happened?!"
Without his wax, his abilities were useless.
Shizuku wasn't a combat-type Nen user—but her ability was a perfect counter.
The enemy gritted his teeth.
"Damn it, this chick's ability is so annoying!"
...
Sally, meanwhile, had engaged a young man with a giant afro.
One used conjured firearms.
The other turned aura into bombs.
Both were from the "gunpowder" school of Nen.
Both were C-rank.
Both evenly matched.
Their clash quickly reached a stalemate.
The last enemy—a muscular Enhancer—charged toward Sally wielding a huge club.
But suddenly, a swarm of bees flew at the man, obscuring his vision and jabbing him with poisoned stingers.
At the same time, several ordinary civilians surged toward him—puppeted by Nina's ability.
Like Illumi's needlemen, they obeyed her will.
This was Nina's second Nen ability.
Even though neither Ponzu nor Nina were pure fighters, their skills were enough to keep a slow, heavy Enhancer like this one occupied.
...
By now, over three-quarters of those who had accepted Kroll's commission were either dead or critically injured.
Kroll was being pulled in multiple directions.
With another A-rank Nen user showing up to protect his allies, Kroll had no choice but to fight on two fronts.
And in doing so... more of his abilities were being revealed.
Kaizen was analyzing it all.
"That A-rank one... either an Enhancer or a Conjurer."
"He can transform parts of his body into weapons—blades, to be specific."
"They're both durable and extremely sharp."
"He's turned his entire body into a living weapon."
"Getting close is suicide."
"We'll need mid-range or long-range fighters to handle him."
"He might even be stronger in close-quarters than someone like Uchiha Sasuke or Natsu Dragneel."
"But Natsu has long-range fire attacks. That'll work."
"Sasuke has Fire Style... and Lightning Style."
"They should be able to deal with him."
Kaizen shifted his gaze away from the blade-armed warrior and turned it back to Kroll...
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Fanfic is completed on patreon.com/FanficsHub (1047 chapters in total)