The Velociraptor's ambush came from Ivan's right side—meaning Yuliel's left.
The moment Yuliel smashed the tennis ball, Ivan dropped low and rolled toward Yuliel's blind side.
The Velociraptor's bite landed precisely on Yuliel's left shoulder, which had already been affected by Left-Side Misalignment.
But what shocked Ivan was that even with the Velociraptor's biting force, that strike still failed to break through Yuliel's defense.
That forced Ivan to rethink his plan.
Originally, he had intended to use the Velociraptor's sneak attack to injure Yuliel and trigger the dinosaur infection countdown.
Ivan had a strong feeling Yuliel possessed important information. Capturing him alive would be extremely valuable for his future actions.
Since leaving the abandoned warehouse earlier, Ivan had also been considering another question:
Could dinosaurs use Nen?
Back then, he had abandoned Zalan and Pat in order to escape.
But if he could capture Yuliel now, he might finally be able to test that theory.
If dinosaurs could indeed use Nen, then Dinosaur Yuliel might become a trump card in his arsenal.
Unfortunately, things were proving more troublesome.
Even infecting Yuliel appeared difficult.
His defense was far stronger than Ivan had expected.
When Yuliel was lifted by the Velociraptor and immediately counterattacked, Ivan made a decision.
He could not afford to waste time fighting Yuliel here.
The trucks near the inpatient building had already provided him with a new lead.
If he continued battling Yuliel, even if he eventually infected him, Ivan would still end up surrounded by security forces.
He had no idea how many Nen users were among the hospital's guards.
At the same time, Yuliel's strength was actually good news.
After all, the Phantom Troupe was still chasing him.
If Yuliel followed him, then Yuliel could become the perfect shield.
That had been one of the reasons Ivan came to the Third Hospital in the first place.
So when the Velociraptor's skull was crushed, Ivan had already reached the rear door of the room.
From that position, he remained in Yuliel's blind spot.
But before leaving, he had one more thing to do.
A second tennis ball appeared in Ivan's hand.
When he threw it, several marbles were already attached to it.
The spinning ball approached the retreating Yuliel.
Then the marbles suddenly scattered outward.
Glass shattered.
At the same time, the earpiece on Yuliel's left ear was destroyed.
As long as the emergency guard remained active, Ivan's location would continue being transmitted to Yuliel through that communication device.
Although the guards arriving afterward also wore earpieces, destroying this one could at least delay Yuliel for a moment.
And that moment was enough.
Ivan leapt through a nearby window.
He landed smoothly onto the back of another Velociraptor waiting below.
By now, security personnel were already rushing toward the morgue building.
But before reaching Ivan, they first had to deal with the swarm of Compsognathus charging at them from every direction.
Ivan glanced once at the chaos before turning away.
Under his control, the Velociraptor sprinted toward the hospital exit.
Since the convoy had clearly become the next lead, there was no need to continue searching the hospital.
Besides, Ivan had already sent Compsognathus earlier to track the departing trucks.
But after riding roughly fifty meters, a sudden burst of pain exploded from Ivan's waist.
The force nearly knocked him off the Velociraptor's back.
When he looked down, he saw a stone dropping from his waist.
Ivan's pupils shrank.
Where had the attack come from?
With his dinosaur-enhanced dynamic vision, any moving object approaching him should have been impossible to miss.
Then a thought struck him.
He spun around toward the morgue building.
There—
at the shattered second-floor window—
stood Yuliel, finishing a throwing motion.
The next second, pain erupted in Ivan's arm.
Another stone appeared seemingly out of nowhere and slammed into him.
Emission-type Nen with spatial properties.
Ivan had initially assumed Yuliel was an Enhancer, specializing in defensive strength.
Now it seemed he had misjudged.
Ivan immediately adjusted.
From afar, he saw Yuliel grab the wall beside the broken window and rip another chunk free.
Then Yuliel prepared to throw again.
Where would the next attack land?
And more importantly—
the power felt wrong.
Although Ivan felt lingering pain, he wasn't panicking.
The impact sites bruised quickly.
But the damage wasn't nearly as severe as it should have been.
After all, Ivan currently had no Nen protection at all.
Even with dinosaurized skin, an attack from a Nen user of Yuliel's level should have shattered bones.
Yet it hadn't.
Another detail stood out.
The first attack to his abdomen had been noticeably stronger than the second.
If his perception was correct, then that meant something important.
The attack's strength decreased with distance.
Which meant the third attack would be even weaker.
Especially since the Velociraptor hadn't slowed down.
Thinking this, Ivan suddenly pulled the Velociraptor sharply toward a nearby hospital building.
But just as they turned the corner—losing sight of the morgue building—
his vision suddenly darkened.
A stone appeared directly in front of his face.
Not from the direction of the morgue—
but from the exact opposite direction.
Ivan instinctively tilted his head.
The stone still struck his forehead.
Blood flowed from the torn skin, turning the vision of his left eye red.
So it wasn't line-of-sight targeting.
Then what was the mechanism?
The Velociraptor skidded to a halt.
Ivan's gaze dropped to the stone lying on the ground.
He flicked a marble from his fingers.
It struck the stone.
The stone rolled.
The marble bounced away.
And in that brief motion, Ivan saw it clearly.
Embedded in the stone—
was another marble.
One of the marbles he had thrown earlier when activating Left-Side Misalignment.
The moment he saw it, everything clicked.
His deduction had been correct.
The attack's power did weaken with distance.
That realization eased his tension slightly.
Even if Yuliel was already tearing another chunk from the wall for a fourth attack, Ivan wasn't worried.
For one thing, the death Nen surrounding him was already healing his wounds.
By the time the fourth attack arrived, the bleeding on his forehead might already have stopped.
For another—
Ivan had finally figured out Yuliel's ability.
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