Stepping forward, Ron felt a familiar aura envelop him—so familiar, it made his pupils constrict.
"A Nen Spirit's aura!"
"It's so similar to what I sensed at the Colosseum, and at Ganlu Temple."
"No wonder the Kurta Clan could stay hidden for so long without being discovered."
"So the Kurta Clan has a Nen Spirit. And since they've also been able to relocate multiple times, this spirit must be mobile, like the Colosseum."
Ron immediately grew intrigued. From the moment he learned about Nen Spirits, he'd been keen on the idea of obtaining one. Compared to Nen tools, Nen Spirits could be far more powerful, offering more ways to fight and protect oneself. If harnessed properly, they could let you defeat opponents who might otherwise be out of your league, or even multiple enemies at once.
He had longed to claim one for himself. But the Colosseum was a national treasure of the Kingdom of Fiora, and Ganlu Temple couldn't move. Therefore, Ron could neither take them for himself nor make real use of them. But the Kurta Clan's Nen Spirit seemed different—it might be mobile.
He could bring it back to the Zoldyck Estate or set it up somewhere else. As for whether the Kurta Clan would be destroyed, that was practically a foregone conclusion given how many Nen users had gathered here: the Phantom Troupe, the Heil-Ly Family, and a swarm of hired combatants, most of whom wanted to kill Kurta members for their Scarlet Eyes.
Ron wasn't interested in the eyes themselves—only in absorbing the Kurta Clan's traits. But other people here had no such scruples; they aimed to slaughter the Kurta Clan and take their eyes.
Ron had neither the means nor the standing to save them. He was a Zoldyck, and it made no sense to risk his life fighting everyone else for the sake of strangers. Besides, even if he tried, he couldn't possibly stop so many determined parties. Some might fear the Zoldyck name under normal circumstances, but not in a free-for-all , and not these forces: the Phantom Troupe, the Heil-Ly Family aligned with Kakin's royal power—an empire that could soon turn V5 into V6—and all the other factions besides. Ron knew from experience (like his trip to Fiora) that massive countries didn't necessarily quake at the Zoldyck name. Their self-confidence was on a different level.
"I'll just do my best to get this Nen Spirit," Ron thought.
Having made his decision, Ron placed top priority on absorbing the Kurta Clan's traits, followed by acquiring their Nen Spirit.
In the next moment, he realized he'd arrived in a totally unfamiliar setting. Logically, stepping through that cave entrance should have led him into a tunnel. Instead, he found himself in a dense forest. Towering trees rose overhead, exuding an eerie presence.
A dark shape hurtled toward Ron with startling speed. Natsu flashed forward and blocked its path.
Flames flared around Natsu as his fist smashed into the incoming blur—only to reveal that it was nothing more than a shriveled tree branch.
Ron expanded his aura, now forming a twenty-five-meter radius. Within that sphere of awareness, he sensed countless similar shapes converging on him.
"They're all withered tree branches, lots of them. They move like snakes. I wonder what happens if one bites me."
But just before they reached him, the branches paused, as if hesitating.
Ron followed their line of sight toward Natsu, whose fists still blazed with fire.
"Afraid of fire, are they? Makes sense—after all, they're just dried-out wood."
Ron commanded quietly, "Extinguish your flames."
At once, the fire on Natsu's fist vanished, and the branches instantly lost any fear, surging in at Ron from all sides. One after another, they lunged with terrifying speed.
Natsu's fists reignited, and the wood creatures froze again, retreating to a distance of around three meters.
"So it's definitely the flames they fear," Ron murmured.
He lifted a finger and aimed at one of the branches.
A shot of aura flew straight at the branch.
With a crisp crack, the twig exploded. For a split second, a tiny point of light appeared, then flew into the crystal orb hovering beside Ron, raising its progress bar ever so slightly.
Ron's eyes lit up. He fired again and again.
He struck repeatedly, destroying branch after branch, and the crystal's progress bar steadily rose.
"This is still too slow," Ron muttered. Then he switched tactics.
He gave Natsu a new order: "Snuff your flames."
The instant the fire vanished, the withered limbs swarmed him again in massive numbers, piling on until they formed what looked like a giant spherical cluster—much like the time the monster girl had attacked Dominica.
Just as the branching horde was about to close in completely—
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