Four seconds.
Corea silently recorded the time his left side had disappeared.
At the same moment, the law book in his hand flipped open to a new page, lines of text rapidly appearing across it.
Holding the book, Corea faced the dinosaur's jaws only inches away without the slightest trace of panic. His voice remained firm and resonant.
"According to Articles 189 and 251 of the Kakin Royal Code—"
"Deliberately disrupting court order, showing contempt for Kakin's royal law, and demonstrating no respect toward the royal family."
"Multiple offenses shall be punished concurrently."
"The sentence is death."
Bang!
The gavel fell as the verdict was delivered.
The Velociraptor halted.
Even the relentless Compsognathus that had continued lunging forward froze in place.
Behind them, the swarm of dinosaurs pushing the Velociraptor forward also stopped completely.
But the Nen shockwaves around Corea didn't cease.
Because the Velociraptor stood less than two meters away, the automatic counter-reaction of his ability continued to trigger.
Wave after wave of Nen crashed forward like surging tides, striking the Velociraptor and several of the smaller raptors and forcing them backward.
Corea spoke again.
"Does the defendant plead guilty?"
The dinosaurs gave no answer.
Three seconds later, the gavel fell a third time.
"The verdict stands."
"Execution immediately."
Slash!
Blood sprayed across the corridor the moment his words ended.
The gavel strike hadn't simply landed on the judge's bench.
It felt as though it had struck every dinosaur that had violated the law.
Once all the dinosaurs were dead, the judge's bench, law book, and gavel gradually faded away.
Corea's Nen settled back into the calm state of Ten.
However, he didn't go downstairs.
Instead, he walked into the room Ivan had entered earlier.
A moment later, soldiers rushed upstairs from below.
"Report, sir. The suspect escaped."
"Mm."
Corea showed no surprise at all.
He simply stood by the window, silently looking out over Yalan Street beneath the night sky, as if lost in thought.
Left-Side Distortion
That was the name of the other major ability Ivan had mastered in Steel Ball Run.
It had also been the key technique that allowed him to seize the Saint's Left Eye from Diego.
Left-Side Distortion—more precisely known as Cracked Steel Ball.
Unlike the Zeppeli family's steel ball techniques used for execution or medicine, this variant had been developed specifically to protect royalty.
It was also the reason Ivan had left the Zeppeli household.
Since he couldn't learn the family's Spin technique as a non-heir, he had chosen to leave home and join the Royal Guard Corps instead.
As the name implied, Left-Side Distortion caused anyone struck by the steel ball—or even the satellite balls orbiting it—to lose the entire left side of their perception.
Even people caught in the shockwave produced by the spinning ball would suffer the same effect.
Ivan didn't have a steel ball right now.
But his technique had already reached mastery.
Even a tennis ball could function as a substitute in his hands.
The only downside was that it was harder to control, and the distortion effect lasted for a shorter time.
As for the pebbles attached to the tennis ball—
Those had been taken from the villa's decorative plant pots.
Ivan had hidden them in his sleeve beforehand.
Once the tennis ball began spinning, the pebbles naturally adhered to it through the Spin, temporarily acting as satellite spheres.
He didn't need to hit Corea directly.
All he had to do was bring the spinning tennis ball—and its satellite pebbles—close enough for the shockwave to reach him.
That was enough.
Because the moment Corea activated his ability, Ivan had already used the dinosaurs to probe it.
He had discovered that a two-meter radius centered on Corea was the critical trigger zone for the ability's automatic counterattack.
Corea's ability clearly favored thinking over fighting.
Ivan, who was equally familiar with courtroom logic, understood very well how such an ability likely worked.
There were only three ways to deal with it.
Escape before the judgment was completed.
Argue during the trial and look for a way to reduce the sentence.
Overpower the judgment with a stronger ability and break the trial entirely.
Ivan chose the first option.
The second option would require enormous time and mental effort—and that was probably exactly what Corea wanted.
He didn't necessarily intend to sentence Ivan to death.
But he absolutely wanted Ivan to reveal the location of the documents in exchange for a lighter sentence.
From beginning to end, what Corea cared about most was never Ivan's life.
It was that file.
As for the third option—
Ivan couldn't even consider it.
At least not now.
He couldn't even release his own Nen because of the post-mortem Nen binding his body.
Breaking through a counter-type ability like Corea's was simply impossible.
Ivan had already confirmed that earlier when he forced the dinosaurs to crowd toward Corea.
That automatic counterattack ability was extremely troublesome.
By the time he reached that conclusion, Ivan had already slipped outside the villa.
The dinosaurs hadn't only attacked Corea.
They had also assaulted the personnel who had surrounded and infiltrated the house.
Since no Nen users among them intervened, Ivan was able to escape quickly the moment he left the range of Corea's En.
Corea had been too confident.
That was the thought running through Ivan's mind as he darted into an alleyway and fled.
Corea had believed his ability could stall Ivan long enough.
If he had waited a little longer for more Nen users from the Kakin Judicial Bureau to arrive, escaping tonight would have become incredibly difficult.
As for the information Ivan had revealed earlier—
That had been intentional.
Just like Corea mentioning the Third Hospital, it was likely another trap.
A place where Corea could simply wait for Ivan to show up on his own if he managed to escape.
But another thought crossed Ivan's mind.
If he really went to the Third Hospital…
Wouldn't that also tell Corea something?
That he didn't actually know what the document was?
After all, if the file had truly been in Ivan's possession, there would be no reason for him to investigate the hospital.
Ivan found himself hesitating.
What exactly was Corea planning?
As for Queen Sevanci, the Seventh Queen of Kakin—
She was someone his father had once helped.
In fact, it was because of Lyman that Sevanci had been able to become the Seventh Queen at all.
Otherwise, she might have died long ago in some forgotten alley.
Because of that relationship, if Ivan sought her out and pledged loyalty—becoming one of her royal guards—then anyone involved in his father's case would simply silence him rather than kill him.
Such a choice would represent compromise.
A promise not to expose the secret.
A promise not to pursue the truth.
But according to Corea…
Even Sevanci might not be able to protect him.
If that was true, then whatever his father had been investigating must be far more serious than he imagined.
Ivan shook his head slightly.
Don't tell me…
This could somehow connect to the oldZhenlin Pavilion Incident…
The thought was absurd.
But it still crossed his mind.
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