"If you keep staring, I'll cut you down!"
A dark-red claw stabbed into the man's back, piercing straight through and bursting out of his chest, heart still beating on its tip. The man's face went pale. He turned and saw Natsu, the Nen Beast—immediately realizing it was Ron's doing.
"Who... who are you?"
"Nothing special—just the Zoldyck you were talking about.
His pupils contracted sharply.
A mouthful of blood spewed out. Only then did his chest convulse violently, and a flood of blood gushed forth. Natsu quietly withdrew.
In the crowd, Lakin's voice rose.
"The Kurta clan has nothing to do with the Zoldycks—these abilities just happen to look alike. Everyone, go all-out—there's no need to worry or be afraid.
"Our Heil-Ly Family guarantees it!"
Ron looked again toward that moving flash of light. That person's ability only resembled the Zoldyck's technique at first glance; in reality, it contained spatial properties as well.
"If the one before looked like he had Obito Uchiha's style, this guy is more like a mix of Shisui Uchiha and Minato Namikaze.
"Regardless, both are very strong—even among A-rank Nen users, they're top-tier."
Suddenly, Ron noticed a short-haired woman in black-rimmed glasses, whose presence felt minimal. Yet many nearby invaders were acting strangely: some stood dazed and motionless, while others fell into utter madness, attacking not only the Kurta clan but even their fellow intruders.
Yes, there was already conflict over the 'prey,' but these intruders around her were clearly behaving abnormally.
"It's like they're under a genjutsu..."
A tremendous roar shook the ground, drawing everyone's attention. A giant figure appeared—humanlike, radiating a black glow, as though it were a massive dark titan. At its very center stood a middle-aged man, eyes blazing with fury.
Ron's expression changed.
Among all the Nen users he had encountered thus far, the aura this man unleashed was the strongest—far beyond Dominica, Achilles, or even Silva. As for Maha, Zeno, and the current Floor Masters of Heaven's Arena, Ron had never seen them fully reveal their aura, so he excluded them from comparison.
"This man's power likely surpasses even Uncle Silva. At this point in time, Chrollo couldn't match Silva, so surely he can't handle this person either."
By instinct, Ron glanced over at the Phantom Troupe—and sure enough, Chrollo's face had lost its usual composure, turning extremely grave.
At Chrollo's command, Kortopi, Shalnark, and Pakunoda retreated at once. Franklin moved closer to the front. Bonolenov and the Troupe's No. 8 member stepped forward, positioning themselves ahead of Chrollo. Uvogin and Phinks still held the very front line.
"If this were a team game, Uvogin's like the main tank, with Phinks as the off-tank.
Nobunaga, Bonolenov, Feitan, No. 8, and Franklin are all DPS.
Chrollo is the strategist, Machi provides control and healing, Shalnark can serve as a secondary strategist, and Pakunoda plus Kortopi... right now, they're basically deadweight."
Against an opponent this strong, Pakunoda and Kortopi were useless here.
Ron was already standing far from the core battleground and thus in no real danger, so he didn't need to move back. Meanwhile, nearly a dozen figures rushed forward—top-tier fighters from the Heil-Ly Family. On another side, warriors from Mingbo likewise charged in.
A massive clash was about to erupt. Most intruders chose not to join; some had already withdrawn, though a few refused to leave empty-handed.
"One, two, three, four..."
"There are six very powerful A-rank Nen users—plus that man. The Kurta clan really isn't simple."
"No wonder, in the original story, Kurapika could do what he did. Even though he'd only just learned Nen, he could kill Uvogin. Yes, some of that was his vow and condition boosting him, and an ability matchup issue, but it still shows how terrifyingly gifted he was—especially when his Scarlet Eyes awakened."
Ron glanced at the crystal ball before him. Its progress had already climbed to fifty percent in no time at all. Under other circumstances, he'd be thrilled to see Observer advancing so quickly, yet right now, he couldn't feel happy.
Even if Ron had no personal reason to save the Kurta, watching their current plight still struck a nerve. To annihilate them over the Scarlet Eyes alone felt terribly unfair.
All the Kurta must have felt the same. Their angry roars still echoed in Ron's mind:
"Why are you doing this to us?"
"What did we ever do wrong?"
"Aren't we humans too?"
"Just because of red eyes? How is that different from black eyes, green eyes, blue eyes, brown eyes, or white eyes?"
"All you outsiders deserve death!"
"The outside world is terrifying—no humanity at all!"
"You'll all pay for this!"
"Even in death, I won't forgive you!"
Hatred, rage, utter despair—hot tears of blood dripped onto the ground.
"How can they bear it, being slaughtered for nothing but their eyes?" Ron muttered to himself, imagining how he would feel if the Zoldyck family faced such a disaster. That fury and hatred would be boundless.
"I wonder what the Uchiha felt when their clan was destroyed in that other story world? But is it really just about the Scarlet Eyes?"
Ron frowned. Scarlet Eyes were indeed considered one of the world's Seven Most Beautiful Treasures, but still—they were just one among seven. The Heil-Ly Family's posted reward was only five hundred million Jenny.