Chaos overwhelmed the mall at once.
Screams and cries of alarm rang out, and people stumbled over one another—trampling, shoving, colliding.
A member of the Four Beasts scowled.
"These people are so annoying and are getting in our way. It would be best to kill them all.
"We can do that, right? The fog hides everything, so no one outside will see. If we slaughter them, we can pin it on that guy anyway.
"Normally, killing too many would be a bad look, but now it doesn't matter."
"What are you talking about?" another member chimed in. "I've already started. Feels great."
He had a woman by the neck. Her eyes bulged, her body spasming in a futile struggle.
The lone female among them said, "I'll step out of the fog first. Once I'm clear, I'll report your positions by walkie-talkie."
"Got it," the others replied.
She flickered out of the fog's range. Ron glanced in her direction but chose not to pursue, remaining hidden in the haze.
Outside, the woman looked down at her Nen tool, then took out her walkie-talkie to direct her three companions still inside. Those three closed in on Ron's position.
Ron opened a door, slipped through, and locked it behind him. He moved along a corridor in another direction. When he reached a dead end, he used Natsu's ability to swap positions.
A Four Beasts member nearly caught up, only for Ron to vanish in the blink of an eye.
"Damn it! What's he doing, playing hide-and-seek? How many times can he use that ability?"
The female member hesitated. "It looks like he isn't doing it himself—it's his Nen Beast. We need someone to pin that thing down."
"I'll do it," said a middle-aged man from the group. "That Beast is right near me."
He charged off toward Natsu, while the remaining two advanced on Ron's location.
Ron opened another door and kept going—opening, closing, slipping through one shop, leaving it, entering another. Over and over. The two Beasts members followed, chasing him through each threshold.
Suddenly—bang! One of them flung a door open and stepped inside. The moment he did, he sensed something was off.
Too late. He whirled around, only to see the door vanish.
"What is this? Where am I? This definitely isn't the mall. Is this some kind of spatial dimension ability? That guy can do this too?"
He surveyed the area: endless yellow sand, nothing else.
"So he wants to trap me here…"
Outside, the last Beast member realized his companion was gone and shouted, "Lawson? Answer me! Where did you go?"
The middle-aged man and the woman both heard him through their walkie-talkies, immediately shifting focus.
"What's going on? Something happened to Lawson?"
"I'm not sure. He just vanished."
In that instant of distraction, a figure appeared behind the middle-aged man, charging straight at him.
He gave a cold snort and swung around with a fierce punch. Sasuke took the blow head-on with his Rashomon, Susano'o without flinching, then locked the man in a tight grip.
Ron appeared nearby, reached toward the floor, and summoned a door.
Meanwhile, Flames flickered around Natsu's fist.
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
He slugged both Sasuke and the middle-aged man, sending them hurtling through the door. The instant the man crossed the threshold, it disappeared.
Outside the fog, the woman realized something was very wrong. She shouted into her walkie-talkie at the remaining member still inside:
"Polly! Get out of the fog, now! There's something off about it—hurry!"
Polly jerked in alarm and ran clear of the fog. Ron glanced his way. It would be difficult to stop him from this distance, and since Ron's objective was already met, he let Polly escape.
Originally, there were four members of the Four Beasts. By using the smog, his position-swapping tactics, and a flurry of door-based maneuvers, Ron had systematically worn them down. The doors he'd prepared in advance lay hidden in the greasy haze; only those who got close enough would notice anything strange.
Even so, subduing skilled Nen users wasn't easy—they're inherently cautious. Ron's success relied on multiple factors: his adversaries lacked intel, and he systematically eroded their patience. Setting up so many doors took time and aura. Sumas couldn't supply all of it; Ron had to expend a share himself.
But so long as it worked, the cost was worthwhile.
He'd taken out two of the Beasts outright. With only two left, he no longer needed to hold back. Natsu and Sasuke could definitely keep the remaining pair occupied, and Ron still had other Nen Beasts in reserve.
By imprisoning those two in Sumas's space rather than killing them, Ron conserved more aura for whatever fight lay ahead. He had more aura than most at his rank, but the constant battles—and his earlier clash with the Three Hounds—could wear him down, especially with so many foes around.
With a thought, Ron dismissed Lampent. Natsu and Sasuke charged at the final two members. The tables had turned. The last pair wore grim expressions, all trace of confidence gone, wary to the extreme of Ron's abilities.
"Ponzu, have your bees locked onto them yet?"
"Report their positions to me immediately."
Natsu and Sasuke each pursued one of the remaining enemies. The hunt continued, but this time Ron was the predator, and the two members of the Four Beasts were his prey.