"ROAR!!!!!"
With a deafening roar, the Red Dragon manifested in its physical form, opening its maw to unleash a blast of searing Flames of Life.
Under the incineration of these flames, Sadaso, who had already suffered a fatal injury, instantly curled up into a ball. His entire body was enveloped by a dense, concentrated Aura, shrinking smaller and smaller until he became a "cocoon" no larger than an egg.
The Red Dragon, showing no hesitation, swallowed the cocoon in a single gulp. Its body immediately swelled by two sizes, taking on the majesty and bearing of a true Guardian Dragon.
However, it soon dissolved its physical form, vanishing from the sight of the referee and the countless spectators, returning to its invisible state once more.
"Wh-What happened? Sadaso was actually eaten by a monster!"
"Hey! Hey! Hey! Did you all see that?"
"That was a dragon just now, right?"
"That's right! Definitely a dragon! A giant red dragon!"
"Unbelievable! How was that done?"
"So spectacular! I really want to see it again!"
"Tomorrow! Contestant Allen has another match tomorrow! And the day after! Go buy tickets, quick!"
"Right, right, right! Go buy tickets! This time I'm betting on him to win!"
In an instant, the enthusiasm of the audience in the stands was thoroughly ignited, with everyone discussing the scene that had just unfolded.
For them, merely witnessing the Red Dragon devour Sadaso was worth the exorbitant ticket price.
Not to mention that during the brief battle beforehand, both fighters had performed spectacularly, and the final blow had pushed the atmosphere to its absolute climax.
"W-Winner: Allen!"
Amidst the thunderous cheers, the referee finally recovered from his shock and loudly announced the result of the match.
Having secured his first victory, Allen swiftly returned the Runeblade of Baron Rivendare to his inventory, misleading everyone into thinking the weapon was created by a Conjuration ability. As he walked back, he reviewed the gains from the battle.
Perhaps because Sadaso had used a Vow and Limitation at the very end to drastically enhance his Nen, Allen received a whopping 8,000 Honor points, plus one Talent point.
Most importantly, the Red Dragon had finally swallowed its first cocoon. It could now stably generate Aura for its own consumption, so Allen no longer had to worry about reverting to the initial state once the plundered Aura was used up.
Simply put, the Aura obtained through contracts was like cash—once spent, it was gone.
However, the cocoon formed by devouring a Nen user was like a commercial investment, generating returns at regular intervals.
Generally speaking, the stronger the devoured Nen user, the more Aura they could provide each day.
Furthermore, the cocoon stored the lifespan and life essence of the devoured victim, which Allen could absorb to continuously strengthen himself.
Also, since all conditions were met before the Red Dragon devoured the cocoon, all the Nen abilities Sadaso possessed in life were perfectly preserved for Allen to use at will. He could even develop them further, surpassing the original owner.
If he hadn't met all the conditions, he wouldn't have obtained the abilities with 100% certainty. Instead, he would have had to draw from five cards created by Nen. For every restriction condition he failed to meet, one blank card would be added to the draw, decreasing his chances.
In a sense, this Nen ability, symbolizing plunder, was his true trump card, possessing nearly infinite growth potential.
As he walked down from the ring into the contestant tunnel, Bodoro was the first to rush up and congratulate him: "Congratulations on a beautiful victory!"
"Thank you. I just hope the other two weren't scared witless and decide to forfeit." As he spoke, Allen turned and glanced at Gido and Riehlvelt, who were peeking from a dark corner.
These two no longer had the arrogant demeanor they displayed in the hallway earlier; instead, they were filled with fear and despair.
They knew that in terms of raw power, there wasn't much difference between themselves and Sadaso. In fact, at the end, Sadaso had exploded with Nen ten times stronger than usual thanks to his Vow and Limitation.
But what good did it do?
In the end, he couldn't even touch the hem of his opponent's clothes. He was pierced through the chest with a single sword thrust and then turned into a cocoon and swallowed by that terrifying Nen Beast.
If fleeing didn't result in the permanent loss of the Nen abilities they had paid such a high price to obtain, Gido and Riehlvelt would absolutely have chosen to run without fighting.
After all, people like them had long since abandoned honor, dignity, shame, and courage. Their minds were filled only with thoughts of how to exploit the rules and use cheap tricks to become Floor Masters.
"Hmph! I suggest you don't hold high hopes for those rats who are used to living in the sewers."
Bodoro made no effort to hide his disdain, his contempt written clearly on his face.
As a martial artist, he had his own pride. During the Hunter Exam, he hadn't even wanted to fight children like Killua and Gon, believing there was no glory in such a victory. Yet, when facing a powerful opponent like Hisoka, he hadn't backed down either.
"Well, I still hope they have the courage to stand before me. Either way, one more opponent is better than one less. Let's go, back to the room. As a reward for your diligent training recently, I've prepared a little game for you today. I hope you can complete it within the time limit."
With that, Allen ignored the prying gazes from the shadows and led Bodoro away, disappearing at the end of the tunnel.
To some extent, this battle had made him famous overnight, so it inevitably aroused the curiosity of the fighters on the 200th floor.
In fact, the number of registered Nen users on the 200th floor of Heavens Arena wasn't small—there were about three to four hundred of them. Those who lived there permanently numbered over forty, far less empty than the anime portrayed.
Quite the opposite.
Since everyone was a competitor, once a fighter demonstrated powerful strength, they would immediately become a focal point for others.
Some who were keen on fighting the strong would take the opportunity to gauge the target's quality. Once the time was right, they would actively approach and issue a challenge, somewhat in the spirit of "making friends through martial arts."
Except here, "making friends through martial arts" often came at the cost of crippling injury or death.
But for Allen, Heavens Arena was currently the best hunting ground.
He had already made up his mind: once he was close to winning ten matches, he would deliberately register against a few weaklings with no hunting value, then no-show to forfeit and lose four consecutive matches, resetting his record to start over.
As for becoming a Floor Master, he didn't care about it at all.
Rather than wasting precious time and energy on such meaningless things, he would rather check the Hunter website for intelligence on B-class criminals (or higher) and work directly as a Bounty Hunter.
According to Association rules, criminals caught by Hunters were generally left to the Hunter's discretion, whether to imprison them or use them as leverage.
And Allen's method of "processing" them would naturally be to turn them all into cocoons to feed the Red Dragon.
In his eyes, talking about human rights, humanitarianism, or tolerance to a group of mass murderers was a blasphemy against their innocent victims and a trampling of fairness and law.
Only death, and only death, was the final destination these people deserved.
Moreover, with the Hunter Exam concluded, the Chimera Ant crisis would erupt around this time next year, and Meruem, the symbol of the combat power ceiling in the Hunter x Hunter series, would be born.
If he didn't have sufficient strength by then, he feared he wouldn't even be qualified to watch the battle from the sidelines.
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You can read the ahead chapter on Patr if you're interested: p-atre-on.c-om/Overgod [Just remove the hyphen to access normally]