Sorry for the late chapter today: If you didn't see my message on chat, I got a Trojan virus on my PC. So I was preoccupied with that all day yesterday. Back to normal now though ;) Also Need to fix grammraly space formatting.
----------------------------------------------
Elita froze for a moment. But soon, a resolute expression appeared in her eyes. She pulled out a dagger and aimed for her own heart.
Her clothes were torn. A small patch of red blood spread out.
However, before the dagger could go any deeper, it was stopped by Ron.
A hand grabbed Elita's wrist.
But it wasn't Ron. It was Sasuke.
"Enough. If that's the case, then help me with something."
"Okay, Lord Ron." Elita's eyes lit up.
"You said just now that you are working for the World Mafia now?"
"Yes," Elita replied. "After I fled, I lived on my own for a while, but later, the World Mafia found me. This time, their attitude was much more lenient."
"They didn't forcefully try to capture or kill me."
"Instead, they offered me the opportunity to work for them."
"If I worked for them, they wouldn't kill me."
"At that time, I had no choice but to agree to their terms."
"Because my abilities are special, I joined their intelligence department."
"I've now become a senior officer."
"There are so many of us, and we are capable, so within the World Mafia, there's much less discrimination against people like us, and we can live more normally."
"There are several of us among the Shadow Beasts."
"I came here for an intelligence mission."
"To think that I'd meet you, Lord Ron, here. This is truly wonderful!"
"Lord Ron, what would you like me to do?"
Ron thought for a moment and said, "Since you're already a senior officer in the World Mafia, then continue working there. I don't have any clear tasks for you at the moment."
"You can just collect intelligence on the World Mafia."
"Gather everything that you think is important or useful."
"Then, send it to me."
Ron gave Elita an email address.
"Contact me through this."
Elita nodded firmly. "Yes, Lord Ron."
"One more thing, for the duration of this Hunter Exam, we'll pretend we've never met and don't know each other at all, until the Hunter Exam ends. Understood?"
Ron turned and walked away, returning to Ponzu's side.
Immediately after, the voice of the Hunter Exam examiner echoed through the loudspeaker.
"Only one hour remains before the exam ends."
"Please proceed to the port in time."
Ron and Ponzu descended the mountain.
A figure, originally resting against a rock, stood up. It was Bapen.
Bapen's eyes were filled with frustration.
This exam had been the worst luck he'd ever had.
He had finally found Ponzu, only to discover that Ponzu was with Ron and Gittarackur.
He had carefully set a trap, thinking he could defeat Ponzu and take Ron and Gittarackur as hostages.
But to his surprise, Gittarackur vanished in a flash.
The venomous snakes couldn't even touch Gittarackur's shadow.
They couldn't even react in time.
And Ron seemed the same.
As a result, Ponzu found the opportunity to strike him. He fell into a huge disadvantage and had to retreat.
But thankfully, Ponzu didn't chase him.
He still had a chance to start over.
However, at that moment, a figure suddenly rushed out of nowhere and launched a flying kick at him.
The kick sent him flying into the air.
He hit the ground and passed out.
When he woke up, his number tag had already been stolen.
"That damn sneak attack... who was it?"
Bapen gritted his teeth.
This sneak attack had completely ruined his chance of passing the Hunter Exam.
Even if he defeated Ponzu and took her number tag, it wouldn't matter.
Because his own number tag had already been stolen.
The sound of the port's whistle echoed again.
Bapen knew that no matter how hard he tried, there wouldn't be enough time...
This forced him to give up.
"That bastard, I'll make sure he regrets it when I find out who he is."
"Also... what about Ron and Gittarackur's strength?"
Just then, Ron and Ponzu came down the mountain.
Bapen lifted his head.
"You've won. Don't worry, I have no hope of passing the exam anymore. I won't make another move against you."
"But, can you satisfy my curiosity?"
"Ron, I want to know, just how strong are you?"
"I want to know, if I hadn't hesitated earlier, would it have been me who won?"
"Can you satisfy this wish of mine?"
"Then, what can you give me?"
Bapen froze for a moment. Then he pulled out two bottles of liquid from his pocket.
"These are antidotes I made. They can cure most snake venom, and they're still of some value."
He tossed the bottles to Ron.
Ron caught them, glanced at them, and handed them to Ponzu.
Then, he gripped the handle of his Rotten Life Blade.
"Well then, let your snakes come."
"Alright, but if you can't block them, don't blame me."
Bapen gave the command to his venomous snakes.
In an instant, hundreds of snakes rushed toward Ron.
The attack was furious and overwhelming, much fiercer than when Bapen fought Ponzu on the mountain.
Before, Bapen had intended for a prolonged battle, with the main goal of trapping Ponzu so she wouldn't escape.
But now it was different.
Now, Bapen had gathered all of his venomous snakes together.
This was like a Nen user focusing all their aura into one attack.
After that single attack, there wouldn't be any aura left.
Hundreds of snakes swarmed forward.
Just the sight of it was terrifying.
Ron gripped the Rotten Life Blade's handle.
He faced the torrent of venomous snakes.
It was as if time stood still.
Bapen only heard a crisp sound.
He only saw a flash of light from the blade.
All those hundreds of venomous snakes seemed to freeze in place.
In the next instant...