An Emission-type teleportation ability, and the apple and throwing knife!
The former required caution, but the threat was acceptable. The latter's characteristic of ignoring the Guardian Chain could also have its threat reduced with attention.
However, when these two were used simultaneously, they became quite troublesome.
A single lapse in attention could lead to a fatal injury.
Fortunately, he had raised his arm in time to block it then, and even more fortunately, the injured location was his left arm.
If his right arm had been injured, the power of his chains would have been greatly reduced.
Watching Chrollo charge towards him, Kurapika instantly understood his opponent's intention.
It was nothing more than not wanting him to use the Holy Chain to treat the penetrating wound in his left arm, and to press the advantage to kill him.
'The book hasn't turned pages or been dismissed, meaning those two abilities are still active.'
Kurapika quickly glanced around, searching for anything he could use.
This area was directly in front of the main entrance of the Cemetery Building, built like a small plaza.
Nearby was a parking lot. Further away, there was a small grove in the green area.
Both these places could hinder the teleportation ability.
However, whether he could successfully shift the combat zone was hard to say.
As his gaze shifted, it settled on the rapidly approaching Chrollo.
"Before that, what can be utilized..."
The corner of Kurapika's eye was still stained crimson.
That was real blood.
Chrollo's charging body suddenly vanished from its spot. The next second, he appeared on Kurapika's right side.
Just as Kurapika swung his arm, preparing to defend, Chrollo used his ability again and disappeared.
His real target was Kurapika's left side.
Because Kurapika's left arm was injured, its defensive capability would be greatly weakened.
Whoosh!
But Kurapika was prepared. He manipulated the chain to circle around his body, creating an Aura Whirlwind that temporarily forced back Chrollo.
Then, Kurapika made a move as if to use the Holy Chain on his left arm, only to see Chrollo approach again.
One defended, one attacked.
The two went back and forth, neither yielding.
They remained deadlocked like this for over three minutes. Kurapika had no chance to treat his left arm, and Chrollo didn't gain another advantage.
"Two times."
While maintaining his defensive posture, Kurapika counted a number silently in his heart.
During the back-and-forth stalemate, his left arm couldn't be treated, only barely stopping the bleeding. Chrollo had two opportunities to imprint the apple pattern, but he gave up them.
'Why did he give up?'
Kurapika recalled that before Chrollo's first knife throw, he had closed his eyes and paused for about two seconds.
If that was a condition of the ability, then before Chrollo successfully imprinted the apple pattern and threw the second knife, there would be enough time to treat the injury on his left arm.
Therefore, Chrollo gave up the two chances to imprint the apple because those chances couldn't result in a fatal injury.
'But giving up just because of this point still lacked persuasive force.'
'If I were him, there would be no need to give up the chance to imprint the pattern.'
'Even if the imprinted location wasn't fatal, as long as the ability isn't activated, he could keep imprinting apple patterns during the fight.'
'Once enough apple patterns have accumulated, release the knives all at once for a sure-kill effect!'
'But he didn't do that. And even without imprinting the apple pattern, he could look for opportunities to attack. Yet he seemed determined, only wanting to imprint the apple pattern.'
Kurapika needed to consider Chrollo's motive for doing this, and factor in his own healing ability.
The final conclusion he could draw was: conditions.
1: Close eyes and pause for about two seconds.
2: Can only throw one knife at a time.
3: Can only set one apple pattern at most.
4: Requires zero-distance touch to set the apple pattern.
5: When setting the apple pattern, cannot cause immediate damage, which is why it can ignore the target's Nen defense to leave the pattern.
He couldn't be sure every guessed condition was correct, but that kind of ability effect that ignores defense to cause damage directly requires multiple harsh conditions to support it.
Without more than three types of conditions, such a terrifying ability effect wouldn't exist.
Therefore, among the five hypothetical conditions, pick one, or even two, that could match Chrollo's motive for giving up the opportunity.
That would be 2 and 3!
So, to neutralize the threat of this ability, in the subsequent exchanges, he didn't need to dodge, but should actively move closer to let Chrollo imprint the apple pattern.
Having formed a plan, Kurapika's movements became noticeably lighter.
After several exchanges, Kurapika seized an opportunity. He used the chain to wrap around his injured, weakened left arm, then manipulated his left palm to actively offer itself, letting Chrollo touch it.
A blood-red apple pattern was thus imprinted on Kurapika's left palm.
A flicker of surprise passed through Chrollo's eyes, but he abruptly retreated, actively creating a safe distance.
He looked at Kurapika with interest and asked, "Have you considered the risk of betting wrong?"
Kurapika said coldly, "You've already revealed the dice, so I won't bet wrong."
"Is that so..." Chrollo didn't deny it and said seriously, "Quite confident."
As soon as the words fell, he raised his left hand. As Aura surged, he conjured a throwing knife, closed his eyes, and sighed, "This is a very troublesome ability to use, but it's interesting."
"As long as an apple pattern is left on the target, even if separated by hundreds or thousands of kilometers, just tossing it casually like this, the knife can cross that distance, ignore any defensive means, and accurately hit the apple pattern."
As Chrollo spoke, he released his hand, letting the throwing knife fall towards the ground.
However, the knife defied gravity, forcibly tracing an 'L' shaped trajectory, and autonomously generated momentum, flying towards Kurapika's left palm.
Kurapika's expression remained calm. The moment Chrollo closed his eyes, he had already used the Holy Chain to treat the penetrating wound on his left arm. Immediately after, the throwing knife pierced through his left palm, then disappeared.
The Holy Chain quickly climbed onto his left palm, treating the second penetrating wound.
Chrollo didn't stop Kurapika. Instead, he started flipping through the book, selecting the next ability.
The flaws of [Blind Man's Throw] had been discovered by Kurapika. Combined with Kurapika's overly strong healing ability, there was no reason to continue using it.
The most harsh condition of this ability was that during the preparation process, the relationship between the [Performer] and the [Assistant] could not be disrupted. The performance, from start to finish, was like a planned script.
Therefore, when using this ability, Chrollo could only harm Kurapika by throwing the knife at the apple.
In other words, when Kurapika actively let his left palm be imprinted with the apple pattern, the lethality of this ability was suppressed to its minimum.
If Kurapika understood the conditions of this ability well enough, the moment his left palm was imprinted with the apple pattern, his first consideration wouldn't be treatment, but to launch a fierce attack against Chrollo.
Because, until Chrollo completed the 'Knife-Throwing Performance', he couldn't harm him.
In that situation, he could eliminate Chrollo without any worries.
To avoid this potential risk, Chrollo didn't prevent Kurapika's healing actions. Instead, he insisted on completing the knife-throwing performance, then decisively dismissed the ability.
Actually, after the first successful knife-throwing performance, he should have dismissed the ability.
But doing so would have created an opening for Kurapika to heal his left arm.
Ultimately, it was because that healing ability was too efficient.