At the main gate of the manor, beyond the decorative iron gate and surrounding wall, the entire area stretching toward the buildings and gardens along this path was a large expanse of empty lawn.
Pairo watched the situation before him vigilantly. After Earthworm burrowed out of the ground to block his path, he didn't hesitate to burrow back into the soil. Clearly, the opponent didn't know about his Nen ability, nor did he realize he had been affected from the start. But the opponent also had his own experience. At the beginning of the fight, aside from sticking out of the mud to attack, he seemed to spend the rest of his time moving through the ground beneath his feet.
What kind of Nen ability allowed one to burrow underground? Transmutation? Enhancement? Pairo couldn't make an accurate judgment. Though he had Nen ability knowledge taught by Kevin, his experience was indeed insufficient. But based on the bizarre appearance of the opponent's body he saw, he was clearly not someone to be trifled with.
Since the opponent was in the ground, Pairo directly closed one eye. He stole the opponent's vision. And then he saw—the opponent was about to come out. Behind him.
The moment he saw it, he immediately lunged forward, rolled, quickly got back on his feet, and turned to face the enemy. A pointed head broke through the soil.
"You found me?" Earthworm was surprised. His first surprise attack was dodged by the enemy, and it happened the instant he emerged from the ground. Such keen perception—was it intuition? Or some kind of Nen ability?
Pairo's eyes were fixed on him at this moment. Earthworm didn't hesitate, immediately burrowing back into the ground, stopping about three or four meters below the surface.
The moment the opponent left, Pairo once again opened one eye and closed the other. This allowed him to constantly face what he saw while also stealing the opponent's vision.
He hasn't moved. He's thinking.
Earthworm was indeed thinking at this moment. For an organization like the Ten Old Men, controlling the entire underground mafia meant immense power. Even behind them, governments of various countries provided support, helping their forces handle certain issues. Nen ability was no secret to them. The reason they could become the Shadow Beasts—a force belonging solely to the Ten Old Men—was because of their powerful strength. Among the Nen user community worldwide, the Shadow Beasts' strength could definitely be considered upper-middle tier. If they worked together, they could even achieve victory against stronger opponents. There wouldn't be many stronger than them.
And now that kid had instantly sensed his movements. His name was [Earthworm], and his name was just like his Nen ability, allowing him to burrow through the ground. His body had been modified, making it strong and flexible, and he himself was an Enhancement user. By burrowing, he could easily drag enemies underground and bury them alive. Even if the opponent could still resist underground, they would be easily killed due to the severely restricted combat environment. His speed was very fast, and combined with his ability to travel underground, his attacks were even harder to guard against.
This is troublesome now. This guy can sense my movements. Some kind of reconnaissance ability?
At this moment, Pairo, standing on the ground, silently pulled out a pistol from behind his back. This was a specially made pistol—its power far greater than ordinary standard pistols. At this stage, Pairo clearly knew his weakness: his offensive capability was very weak. Though Kevin had trained them with potions and physical exercises, the time was too short after all. Furthermore, he was not an Enhancement user and needed a certain amount of time to grow. At this awkward stage, using hot weapons could cause considerable damage. Coupled with the assistance of his Nen ability, he could definitely deceive the enemy. Using firearms was definitely a very good choice.
Swoosh!
The enemy broke through the soil. Still behind him. Pairo didn't hesitate, reaching back and firing a shot, his entire body once again dodging forward.
Bang!
The custom-made firearm had great power, but its recoil and sound were not small. The recoil could be resisted by a body enhanced with aura, and the sound directly pierced the night sky. Pairo, having dodged again, turned his head to look. The opponent had dodged this shot, but not completely—a very obvious scorched bloodstain appeared on his cheek.
Indeed, though the opponent was stronger than him, he was definitely not stronger than Kevin. Uncle Kevin could take a bullet from him head-on, though most of the time he would dodge—taking a bullet head-on was unnecessary most of the time. For those who were not Enhancement users or special Nen users, the lethality of hot weapons was still fatal. Those who could withstand bullets were ultimately few, and even ordinary pistol bullets would cause a certain amount of damage, let alone his custom-made large-caliber pistol.
At this moment, the aura on his body began to erupt, and malice permeated the air.
Clearly, the opponent was angry. Being toyed with by a child like this.
"I can sense all your movements. You can't ambush me from underground." Pairo stared at the opponent and said bluntly.
"Heh heh, kid, it seems you don't understand anything."
"Bang!" Another shot. This time, the opponent directly burrowed back into the ground. With almost no time to react, there was movement in the mud behind Pairo. But instead of dodging forward, he raised his hand and fired a shot forward.
"Ah!" Earthworm's scream rang out. He had originally intended to create the illusion of an ambush, waiting for the opponent's dodging position, and then use his hands to grab the opponent's limbs and drag him into the ground. Unexpectedly, the opponent was not deceived at all, and his outstretched hand was hit by a shot.
"You little brat!" Earthworm decided to stop playing these ambush tricks. The opponent's age, physical fitness, and the hot weapon he used all indicated that his frontal assault capability was not strong. Might as well just attack head-on. This was the analysis of the information he obtained from his injury and observation.
A very obvious bulge appeared directly on the ground. In this situation, Earthworm's speed was much faster than running on the surface. Pairo quickly retreated, even starting to run directly.
"Indeed, you're dead, kid." Earthworm's voice came from behind. He had discovered the enemy's weakness. The cautious ambush just now was completely wrong. This was a kid with keen perception, and his Nen ability might even be attached to this.
The ground exploded. Earthworm directly burrowed out like a fish leaping out of water, drawing an arc in the air, and flew toward Pairo.
This time, Pairo directly closed his eyes, rolled to the side, and fired a shot with his backhand. This shot was not successful. After his attack missed, the enemy immediately burrowed into the ground, drew an arc, and rushed toward him from the ground again. With a layer of mud as cover, plus his extremely fast speed, even if Pairo used a pistol, he might not be able to cause any damage to the enemy underground.
He couldn't escape this time. A fist protruded from the ground and struck toward his face. Pairo immediately defended with his arms in front of him, and aura flowed up with his will.
With a collision, Pairo's body was sent flying without hesitation under the force, smashing onto the grass. A trench was pulled out of the lawn, revealing the brown soil beneath. After being hit, Pairo did not lose his resistance, but instead rolled back up to a squatting position with the force of the roll, raising his gun to aim.
"Bang bang bang!" Facing the charging enemy, Pairo closed his eyes and fired several shots. The precise positions of these shots forced the enemy to stop his attack and burrow back into the ground to approach from underground.
So fast. At this moment, Pairo felt serious pressure. Though he could see what the opponent saw and predict his attacks from underground, the opponent's speed when attacking head-on was too fast. As long as he gave up ambushing from deep underground and chose to attack head-on, he would have difficulty resisting the opponent's speed, and his strength was also extremely powerful. If he hadn't frequently been beaten by Kevin and learned to defend and dodge, he might have started to fall into a disadvantage now.
In battles between Nen users, the importance of martial arts cannot be ignored. If he were given more time, he shouldn't be so helpless, but there was no "if."
Earthworm burrowed out of the ground and launched a series of attacks using both hands and feet. However, this time Pairo, with his eyes closed and full concentration, dodged them all. This forced Earthworm to lift his leg and kick, sending Pairo sliding several meters.
Does closing your eyes make your perception more sensitive? Earthworm frowned tightly. But the outcome was already decided. He was just a child after all. Perhaps his Nen ability's reconnaissance capability was powerful, but his offensive capability was too weak. Even using a gun was meaningless.
"You don't have many bullets left in your pistol, do you? Even if you hit me, it won't be fatal. You've already lost, kid." A cruel smile flashed across Earthworm's bizarre face, and he stuck out his tongue to lick his lips. He dared to injure him—this kid must be taught a good lesson about the price he had to pay.
Pairo was breathing heavily. Closing his eyes to use the opponent's vision to dodge his attacks was a special technique he had trained through fighting Kurapika. His dodging ability was better than he had imagined. The gap between his basic stats and the opponent's was still too large. After dodging a few times and taking one or two punches, he was already out of breath and exhausted. The opponent had rich combat experience.
There was only one chance to modify the visual perception brought by the attack, and he had to seize this opportunity.
Otherwise, there was a high chance the enemy would notice. The opponent should still think his Nen ability was to expand his perception.
Pairo, though panting, was still thinking calmly and clearly. He slowly squatted down. As the opponent's face filled with a cruel smile, he closed his eyes, placed the pistol on the ground, and then kicked it away.
"I'm just a bodyguard they hired. I've done my best by delaying you this much. Can you let me go?" Pairo slightly raised his hands, stepped back, and asked.
"Heh ah—" Earthworm said, "Okay." But then he burrowed directly into the ground. Without hesitation, he charged toward Pairo. "I'll bury you alive!"
His speed was extremely fast. He burrowed out directly in front of Pairo, a ferocious smile on his face, and threw a punch at him. But this time, Pairo had both hands protecting his front, and his whole body curled into a ball.
"Then there's no other way."
Drip!
"What?" Bang!
The moment Earthworm reacted, a violent explosion sounded from behind him. His Nen was already gathered in his fist for that punch, and the impact and fire of the explosion sprayed directly from his back without hesitation. A scorching, powerful impact appeared behind him—very, very close.
Earthworm's entire body collided with Pairo, and both were sent flying. Violent flames shot into the sky, and mud and dust scattered everywhere. The two who were blasted away by the explosion crashed onto the ground in the distance.
Earthworm's entire back, including the back of his head and lower back, was completely blown to pieces and was giving off a sizzling, oily smell.
"Cough cough." Why? When did the bomb appear? Why didn't he notice it at all? He didn't think his eyes were that blind. He moved underground, and even when buried in the soil, he could feel it, but there was nothing special on the lawn at all. And why would a bomb suddenly be placed here? Why a bomb? Was the opponent prepared from the beginning? Bury a bomb on the lawn at home?
"Ding ding ding." There's a sound—is it ringing in his ears after the explosion?
Bang! Another explosion sounded. This time, it was directly in his face. It was a hand grenade! He was instantly blown away again. His body flew in a circle and crashed onto the ground. His face, neck, and upper body had become mangled.
He was not dead yet. He raised his head. In the blood-red world, what he saw was a black muzzle.
At this time, Pairo had raised his gun and aimed at his head.
Bang. One shot blew off the opponent's head. After thinking about it, he fired a few more shots until the opponent's head and neck were completely shattered.
Earthworm didn't understand why, even until his death.
"This should be enough to ensure he doesn't survive." After confirming there were no issues, Pairo finally sat down on the ground, panting heavily. The smell of gunpowder smoke and blood filled his nostrils.
"Hoo, hoo—is this the death match between Nen users?"
His visual alteration was limited, after all—it was only visual modification. Neither touch nor anything else could be changed, unless he used the "Absolute Time" of the Scarlet Eyes. But if he used the Scarlet Eyes, he would just use it to modify reality directly.
In this battle, he essentially only changed the visual deception of two things. One was the brightly placed bomb on the ground—a specially made bomb with great power. If you got close, you would definitely discover it. And it was just on the ground where he was moments ago. So from the start, Pairo modified what the opponent saw when looking at the bomb's location, making him see a normal lawn. That's why he kept luring the opponent toward that area.
Secondly, the pistol. He didn't actually push the pistol over. The pistol was still in his hand. He just made the pistol in his hand invisible and then turned the bomb into a pistol and threw it over. Doing this carried significant risk—if Earthworm had gone to pick up the pistol, he would have discovered it. But if that happened, the bomb would immediately detonate, as the pistol had a real tactile feel, just not the feel of a pistol.
The opponent ultimately didn't choose the pistol but chose to attack him directly instead. This was the result he wanted to see the most. Because in that case, the effectiveness of the explosion would reach its maximum—right behind the completely unprepared opponent. And it was also in front of him, which happened to block a large portion of the explosion's power for him.
Fortunately, the opponent's Nen ability wasn't complicated. However, his body was indeed tough.
He wasn't killed by that, and when he stole the opponent's vision, he could still see that the opponent was conscious and could see things. So he threw another hand grenade and also altered the opponent's vision again.
After resting for a while, Pairo opened one eye and closed the other. A butterfly appeared on his shoulder.
After noticing the commotion, Owl immediately headed toward the building. His speed was faster than that of the gang members who were preparing to retreat.
"Miss is in the room on the second floor, hurry and bring her down—there's an enemy invasion!" Hearing the words of a certain small gang leader, he immediately jumped onto the second-floor window and quickly entered the corridor.
"First, save the Boss!"
"Save my daughter first!"
Shouts came from below. Owl didn't care about any of that; his goal was to kidnap the target first. The opponent's boss must be alive; otherwise, extortion would be impossible. He wasn't here to carry out a massacre. Once he kidnapped the opponent's daughter, everyone blocking his way would have to die. The target was the most important.
Just then, a door in the corridor in front of him suddenly opened. It seemed like a little girl with pink hair had heard the commotion outside and poked her head out, looking left and right. Then she saw Owl. Her eyes widened. She covered her mouth, which wanted to scream, immediately pulled her head back, and slammed the door shut.
Owl acted immediately, rushing to the door in almost an instant. The moment the opponent tried to lock it, he pulled the door open directly. Seeing this situation, Neon quickly retreated to the window.
"Who are you? Stay away from me!"
Owl always acted decisively, unlike his colleagues; he never spoke nonsense. He directly reached out and lifted a large cloth to cover the opponent. Suddenly, he felt something, reacted extremely quickly, pulled the cloth back, and threw himself forward.
Several bullets shot toward him. Despite his dodge, they still pierced his shoulder and waist.
Why was there an attack out of nowhere? Someone was nearby. When? Damn it, I was ambushed.
However, at this moment, everyone in the room disappeared—including Neon and the person who attacked him.
In the spatial dimension, Kurapika and the other two were standing next to Owl. It could be seen on the long grid painting hanging on the wall of the room that the three stick figures had already reached the first half of the broken ruins in the middle. This meant that the three of them were currently engaged in a battle, and the level of danger would vary depending on the position of the stick figures on the grid painting.
Looking at Owl, who had just rolled, landed, and was now alert. Just then, an explosion sounded from outside. But because it was a battle, it required complete focus without distraction. But Owl was already preparing to run out the window; he felt that there was something wrong with this room.
Hearing the explosion outside, Kurapika pressed the button in his hand without hesitation.
Bang! The flames of the explosion engulfed the entire room, and the impact blew away the walls, doors, and windows.
At this moment, Pairo was just about to steal another person's vision, and what he saw was a world spinning around. Then he turned to look behind him. The roar of the explosion sounded once more. A room on the second floor of the building was completely blown away by the explosion. Glass windows and various pieces of furniture were thrown out. There was also a body that flew through the air and crashed heavily onto the ground.
It was covered in various explosion wounds, its limbs distorted. But even facing such an explosion directly, he did not die. Instead, he widened his eyes, trying to say something. He completely failed to understand what had happened. The only thing he knew was that they had been ambushed.
In the distance, the reconnaissance personnel saw the two explosions that occurred at the Nostra Family mansion. He quickly relayed the news from this location.
"Exploded twice? Light's house was blown up?"
Hearing this, Saro shook his head helplessly. He hadn't even considered the failure of the Shadow Beasts. Instead, he said helplessly, "How did these two guys make such a mess? This is a complete surprise attack, not a kidnapping at all." Though gangs often caused such large-scale incidents. "I hope Light wasn't injured—that would be a net loss."
Without Light, kidnapping and ransom would be meaningless, and most of the shares of the company's wealth they wanted to seize were held by Kevin. Without kidnapping him, it would be difficult to lure Kevin to their ambush location, and they might even fail to find Kevin. If they couldn't even handle this small matter with the assistance of two Shadow Beasts, his father would be disappointed in him again.
Sigh, he could only trust those two Shadow Beasts. After all, they were elite troops, always followed orders, and usually handled things quite well.
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