A dense, murky fog swirled around the battlefield, unsettling the young man.
Then, out of nowhere, another dark red claw emerged behind Natsu.
Three sharp, crimson claws slashed toward the young man with terrifying force, pressing down on him like an iron grip.
And this was only the beginning.
Natsu took a sharp breath.
A powerful burst of flames surged toward Kaizen.
With no time to evade, the young man took the full brunt of the attack. The intense heat and explosive impact rattled his body, momentarily freezing his movements.
At that exact moment—
Raiken clapped his hands together.
In an instant, the young man and Raiken swapped places.
Before the man could react, the Killer Queen was already closing in, baseball bat in hand.
Kaizen instinctively tried to dodge, but it was futile.
Dark red claws surrounded him from all sides, forming an impenetrable cage.
Natsu’s Rashomon was far stronger than Akutagawa Ryunosuke’s. There was no way he could break free in such a short time.
The Killer Queen’s bat smashed into his torso.
A silent explosion erupted.
His waist vanished in an instant—completely obliterated.
Blood sprayed into the air as his upper and lower halves fell separately to the ground.
Before he could even twitch, his last breath escaped him.
In his fading vision, disbelief filled his eyes.
He couldn’t comprehend how he had been defeated so easily by someone classified as a C-rank Nen user.
But classification meant nothing when it came to Kaizen’s opponent.
He had vastly underestimated the complexity of his enemy’s abilities.
On paper, He was a B-rank Nen user, and Kaizen was a C-rank. But Kaizen’s abilities—Killer Queen, Kaizen’s own martial prowess, and the Lantern Ghost’s environmental manipulation—each operated at a high level.
Natsu, after merging with Akutagawa Ryunosuke, had already touched the threshold of B-rank himself.
Which meant that from the very start, the man had been facing an overwhelming force:
Four C-rank Nen beasts and a B-rank combatant attacking simultaneously.
How could he possibly survive?
Worse still, he had no intel on Kaizen’s abilities, while Kaizen’s unpredictable power set made countering him nearly impossible.
And yet, even if they had known each other’s capabilities beforehand, Kaizen’s sheer versatility would have given him the edge.
He was outmatched in numbers.
He was outmatched in strategy.
And ultimately, he was outmatched in raw power.
Kaizen exhaled, watching the man’s corpse.
"Before, a B-rank Nen user from the Republic of Mimbo had me on the defensive," he mused. "But now, I can take down a B-rank opponent with ease." Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on N0velFire.ɴet
He clenched his fist.
"That means I’ve grown a lot stronger."
Of course, He had never been as powerful as that Mimbo Republic fighter.
Still, Kaizen hadn’t even used his full strength in this fight. He had yet to activate the Lantern Ghost’s pain-sharing ability, his Rotten Knife, or his newest addition—his newly acquired conjured spirit, Sumas.
He stepped forward to claim his remains.
A B-rank Nen user’s body had value. Whether tossed into the Trial Grounds to become part of the arena or mummified in the Pyramid, it was a resource that shouldn’t be wasted.
But just as Kaizen reached for the body—
A chilling aura pressed down on him like a glacier.
The air grew deathly cold.
A figure materialized behind Kaizen.
The voice was deep and casual, but the sheer pressure radiating from it was suffocating.
"Your Nen beasts are quite interesting."
A hand reached for Raiken’s shoulder.
"How about joining us in Mimbo?"
Raiken’s eyes narrowed as the words sank in.
"You took out Naz so easily... Your strength and talent are exceptional."
The man chuckled. "Didn’t expect to make such a find on a temporary mission."
He extended his hand. "How about it? Be my student."
From a short distance away, Raiken heard a sharp voice.
In an instant, Kaizen and Raiken’s clone switched places.
The moment the mysterious man’s hand made contact with the clone—
Raiken’s entire duplicate body was instantly frozen solid.
The real Kaizen reappeared in the distance, his expression grim.
"An A-rank Nen user..."
This was a completely different battle.
Against a B-rank opponent, Kaizen had confidence. Even if he wasn’t stronger, he knew he wouldn’t be easy to kill.
But against an A-rank?
That was an entirely different realm of power.
"Extend the Lantern Ghost’s fog!"
At the same time, Kaizen reached for the hilt of the Rotten Knife.
A sinister glow flickered from the cursed weapon as it slashed toward the enemy.
Yet before the blade could reach its mark—
It stopped, completely frozen in midair.
An overwhelming wave of frost radiated from the enemy’s body, as if even the space itself had been encased in ice.
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