The staircase spiraled downward far longer than any of them expected—so long that even Killua's expression shifted from mild interest to faint irritation. The air grew heavier with every step, thick like wet metal, and the temperature dropped into a still, clinical chill.
Ethan walked last, keeping himself behind Gon's bright momentum and Kurapika's careful scanning. The Panel pulsed quietly against his wrist, its soft glow dimmed to avoid attention.
Somewhere below them, a presence waited.
Not just strong.
Focused.
A presence that did not belong in a place like this.
The staircase finally widened into a landing shaped like a broken disc. A single stone door stood before them—decorated with spiraling carvings that resembled the twisting of muscle fibers under strain.
A voice vibrated through the stone.
"Enter."
Not loud.
Not threatening.
Just… inevitable.
The door cracked apart like a shell splitting, revealing a chamber carved entirely out of obsidian rock.
The Arena of the Abyssal Gate.
The ceiling arched a hundred meters above, vanishing into darkness; the walls glowed faintly with embedded flecks of gemstone. At the center sat a simple stone chair. A man rested on it, posture relaxed, expression unreadable.
He looked like he could have been in his late twenties or early thirties—long dark hair tied back, clean jawline, and an aura that felt like a pressure front.
He didn't wear chains.
He didn't wear shackles.
He wasn't trembling or desperate like the other convicts.
No—this one had chosen to be here.
He opened one eye.
"You may call me Sael. I'm the final Warden of the Tower."
Killua froze.
Not in fear—
but in recognition.
Gon blinked. "Do you know him, Killua?"
Killua's voice came out tight.
"I've only heard rumors. Dad mentioned someone like him once—someone who trained for the Hunter Exam, passed the first four phases without a scratch, and then walked away because none of the challenges were 'interesting' enough."
Kurapika's eyes sharpened. "A failed Hunter candidate…?"
"No," Killua corrected.
"He wasn't failed.
He quit."
Leorio swallowed. "People fail for less…"
Sael lifted a single hand and the entire floor shimmered.
Nen.
Dense, heavy, pressurized.
The type of aura that weighed on the lungs—like the air itself judged them.
Ethan's Panel vibrated once under his sleeve.
---
PANEL — EMERGENCY SCAN
Subject: Sael
Classification: Former Hunter Candidate / Nen Adept
Estimated Category: Equivalent to Phantom Troupe minor tier
Affiliation: None
Nen Type: Unknown (Specialist probability: High)
Threat Level: EXTREME
Canon Deviation Risk: Low (Non-affiliated anomaly; self-contained)
Host Directive:
– Assist the main cast without altering critical outcomes.
– Prioritize self-preservation.
– Extraction success chance: 22–31%
---
Ethan fought to keep his breath even.
This was the strongest person he'd met in any world so far.
And unlike Hisoka—who watched like a predator—Sael watched like a judge.
"Rule is simple," Sael said. "Only one of you must defeat me. The rest may assist… to the extent they are able."
Leorio muttered, "Oh we're dead."
Sael rose from the stone chair.
He didn't walk.
He moved—smooth and frictionless—as if the ground welcomed him.
His aura expanded.
A glacier's weight.
A storm's certainty.
A blade's intention.
Gon took a step forward, fists tightening.
Killua blocked him with an arm.
"Don't. He's not someone you blitz with enthusiasm."
Kurapika narrowed his eyes. "We need a plan. Even a second of reckless movement could—"
Sael vanished.
No warning.
No sound.
Just—gone.
Ethan's senses screamed—Panel pinged a burst of red—but even then he barely ducked in time before a slicing arc of aura cut across where he'd been standing.
Gon jumped back, eyes wide. "Fast!"
Killua hissed, "Not fast—unreadable!"
Sael reappeared behind Gon, hand raised—
Ethan lunged.
Not using superhuman power.
Not breaking canon.
Just pure movement trained from two worlds.
He shoved Gon aside an instant before Sael's palm passed through the air like a guillotine.
Sael didn't seem annoyed.
He almost smiled.
"Good reflexes, traveler."
Ethan froze.
He saw me.
Not the Panel—not directly—but something about Ethan's presence registered differently to this man.
Kurapika snapped his chains defensively.
Killua lowered his center of gravity.
Gon stood beside them, eyes blazing with conviction.
Sael folded his hands behind his back.
"Let me explain your reality," he said calmly, "before I dismantle your assumptions."
He stepped slowly into the open center of the arena.
"When I trained for the Hunter Exam, I learned one truth: nearly everyone lies about who they are."
He pointed at Gon.
"You lie to yourself about fear."
Gon stiffened.
He pointed at Killua.
"You lie about the limits of your training."
Killua glared.
He pointed at Kurapika.
"You lie about your purpose."
Kurapika didn't respond, but his jaw clenched.
Then he pointed at Ethan.
"And you—
you carry a secret you don't fully understand."
Ethan's pulse hammered.
Not the Panel.
Not the worlds.
But Sael sensed something foreign about him.
Sael stepped forward again, aura shaping itself into translucent threads behind him—threads that pulsed like veins of living light.
"I've trained for years in reading intent, energy, and the anomalies that ripple off certain individuals. You aren't from the same mold as these children."
Ethan swallowed.
"And that," Sael said, "makes you interesting."
His aura collapsed inward—dense as a star.
He flicked his wrist.
A burst of compressed Nen shot toward Kurapika.
Killua intercepted with a kick—shattering the blast into fragments that burned the air.
Gon darted in, trying to punch Sael—
Sael tilted his head and Gon flew sideways like a ragdoll, skidding across stone but rolling back to his feet instantly.
He wasn't holding back.
But he wasn't killing them either.
Ethan activated the Panel in Clear Mode.
---
PANEL — COMBAT OPTIONS
Micro-Boost (Untraceable):
– +4 Agility (30s)
– +8 Perception (20s)
– +5 Strength (20s)
Cost: 120 PP (bundle)
Skill Extraction Chance:
– Sael's Nen Thread Manipulation (Rare) — 18%
– Sael's Movement Pattern "Fold Slip" — 25%
– Sael's Aura Compression — 31%
Recommended Strategy:
Support Gon/Killua.
Target movement roots before aura projections.
Avoid direct clash.
---
Ethan accepted the boost.
A silver wash rippled through his limbs—barely perceptible, but exquisitely precise.
Sael turned his gaze to him.
"Good. Now you look awake."
He lunged.
A single step.
Ethan braced—
—but Sael wasn't aiming for him.
He sidestepped, reappearing behind Killua and flicking his fingers like a pianist. A dozen thin aura threads whipped toward Killua's back.
Ethan blurred, intercepting two with a kick and slashing another with the edge of his forearm. They recoiled like live wires.
Sael's eyes widened a fraction.
"…Interesting indeed."
Gon charged again, wild grin flashing—
Killua appeared with lightning footwork—
Kurapika's chain whirled in a sharp arc—
Sael blocked all three with one motion, aura forming a shield that bent their attacks like distortions in glass.
Then he struck the ground.
The arena rippled.
It was like fighting on the surface of a slow-moving earthquake.
Ethan rolled with it—
Killua backflipped—
Kurapika dug his chain into a pillar—
Gon used the shifting momentum to leap high—
Ethan coordinated instinctively.
He darted in and slashed his hand downward at Sael's left ankle—the one moment Sael's stance wasn't perfect.
Sael moved to parry—
But Gon crashed down from above—
Kurapika's chain coiled—
Killua aimed a kick at Sael's rib—
Sael blocked the chain—
Caught Killua—
Shifted his stance—
Ethan struck.
A clean hit.
Knuckles slammed into Sael's side, backed by boosted strength and perfect leverage.
Sael slid one full step back.
His expression changed.
Not anger.
Not pain.
Appreciation.
"You four," he said slowly, "are the first examinees in years to make me take a step."
Gon smiled fiercely. "We're not done!"
Sael's aura surged—
A massive, spiraling burst that cracked the obsidian underfoot and sent shockwaves through the walls.
Gon, Killua, and Kurapika all skidded backward.
Ethan was thrown almost five meters.
The Panel flared—
---
PANEL — RARE CONDITION DETECTED
Sael's Nen State: High-Output Core Unlocked
Extraction Chance Temporarily Increased: • Thread Manipulation: 31%
• Fold Slip: 44%
• Aura Compression: 52%
Opportunity Window: 12 seconds
---
Sael vanished.
Not speed.
Space folded.
Ethan blinked—
And Sael was in front of him.
Hand open.
Palm glowing.
"You.
Let's see the truth beneath your skin."
Ethan's heart stuttered.
He activated the Extraction Ticket.
No hesitation.
No thought.
Just survival.
---
TICKET ACTIVATED — FORCED EXTRACTION
Target: Sael
Ability: Fold Slip — Spatial Movement Pattern (RARE)
STATUS: SUCCESS
---
Power slammed into Ethan's chest—not aura, not energy, but a movement instinct, a spatial intuition that rewrote his sense of distance.
Ethan slipped.
Literally slipped—
Through Sael's palm—
Like reality bent and moved him half a meter to the side.
Sael froze.
Then he laughed—sharp and delighted.
"You stole my technique."
Gon, Killua, and Kurapika stared.
Killua whispered, "What was that…?"
Ethan braced himself.
Sael exhaled once, then lowered his aura.
"You win."
Silence detonated across the chamber.
Gon blinked. "Huh—?"
Kurapika stiffened. "Why…?"
Sael shrugged.
"To force a move of mine to resonate with your own aura and turn it against me… That's something none of the other examinees could do. Convicts, Hunters, or otherwise."
He stepped aside, aura dissipating completely.
"Your path is interesting. That is reason enough."
The stone behind him cracked open, revealing a staircase ascending toward blinding white light.
"The Tower phase ends. Proceed."
Gon whooped. Killua grinned. Leorio collapsed in relief. Kurapika exhaled the breath he'd been holding.
Ethan met Sael's eyes.
Sael said quietly:
"You're not bound to this world alone, are you?"
Ethan didn't answer.
Sael didn't push further.
Instead, he smiled—a faint, knowing smile.
"When your journey brings you back through the abyss… come find me."
Ethan swallowed hard.
Because Sael was right.
The Tower was ending.
But Ethan's path was only beginning.
And somewhere deep in the obsidian chamber, Sael whispered to the empty air:
"That boy is not from here.
Interesting…"
Ethan climbed the stairs after the group, the Panel pulsing with the new ability embedded into his muscles—
Fold Slip
A movement that bent distance itself.
The Tower Phase had ended.
But what it awakened in Ethan would echo through every world he would enter next.