The muscular man raised his head and glanced upward. At this point, under Kroll's ability, the entire area was almost completely sealed off, with only a sliver of space remaining at the top, but he did not believe that Ron would be able to escape from it.
While he acknowledged the strength of Ron and his team, he believed that their strength had limits and that those limits had already been reached.
The reasoning was simple: the entire situation was clearly a trap, and everyone here wanted to escape. Ron's group surely felt the same. No one would willingly step into a trap, knowing full well that it was one.
As for why Ron and the others hadn't chosen to break out like the rest, but instead opted to attack him and his allies, the muscular man believed there were two reasons.
The first was that Ron's group feared that if they revealed too much power while breaking out, they would draw the attention of Kroll's group—"The largest tree in the forest gets cut down first," and they were afraid of being targeted.
The second was that they might have wanted to save people.
Based on these two factors combined, Ron and his group had made the decision to fight Kroll's subordinates instead, killing several of them by using the chaos and sacrifice of others to their advantage. Or perhaps, after taking out a few of Kroll's people, they would then seek an opportunity to escape.
As for the details, the muscular man hadn't thought deeply about them.
Right now, what he was certain of were two things.
First, Ron and the others had already revealed most of their strength—if they had more hidden, it wouldn't be much. If they really had the power to escape, they would've done it already.
Second, Ron genuinely did not understand Kroll's group's true goal.
If he did, he would be even more desperate to flee. Because once Rosgell was revived, even if not at full power, Ron's group would absolutely not be able to resist.
Putting himself in Ron's position, the muscular man found Ron's behavior to be incredibly foolish.
"You actually had a chance to escape. I don't know why you didn't take it before."
"Maybe it was because you couldn't abandon your companions."
"Maybe it was because you became greedy for whatever is in our plan."
"But whichever it is, it's the worst decision you've ever made. Lord Kroll's plan is about to be completed."
"This place is now sealed."
"You, and your group, have no possibility of leaving. You may still have something hidden up your sleeve. But once Lord Kroll's plan is completed, no matter what you've kept in reserve, it will be meaningless."
"At this point, I may as well tell you."
"Lord Kroll is carrying out this plan to revive Lord Rosgell."
"Ah, maybe you don't even know who Lord Rosgell is."
"He's a hero of Mingbo."
Ron's pupils slightly contracted.
He had heard the name Rosgell before.
Back when he visited Lily and Ralph in the city of Kik within the Kingdom of Fiora, the Squad stationed there had suffered an ambush from Mingbo Nen users who were trying to seize Rosgell's head.
"Could it be… has Mingbo already gathered all of Rosgell's remains?"
"That shouldn't be possible. The Kingdom of Fiora is well aware of Mingbo's intentions. Logically, they would take precautions, since all the sealed remains were within Fiora."
"How could Mingbo have pulled it off?"
Both nations were part of the V5, and Mingbo didn't have greater strength than Fiora.
If Nen users from Fiora had tried to take sealed relics from Mingbo's territory while Mingbo knew about it, it wouldn't have been possible.
Ron furrowed his brow.
The muscular man continued, "With your lives as sacrifice, Lord Rosgell will be revived. Once he returns, his power will be beyond your imagination."
"No matter what you're hiding, it will be useless!"
At that moment, the enclosure made of sand finally completed its encirclement.
Not a single gap remained. The entire region was now sealed inside—completely within Kroll's domain.
The muscular man stopped.
"Lord Kroll's plan is complete."
"Looks like there's no need for me to keep talking to you."
The reason he had shared all of this with Ron was because he believed that Ron had no way of escaping. Even revealing the truth wouldn't harm the plan.
The other reason was that he simply didn't want to keep fighting and had been using this as an opportunity to catch his breath.
With the light blocked out, the area was pitch dark.
Only Misty's white flames, the flashes from Sally's sniper rifle, and the explosions from the curly-haired youth's bombs provided faint bursts of light.
Nen users, relying on their own strength, could still make out their surroundings in this limited illumination.
Among everyone present, no one could see more clearly in the darkness than Ron.
Kroll's subordinates all began to retreat at once, because from here on, their fighting was no longer needed.
"Lord Kroll, we're ready!"
Several of Kroll's subordinates looked in Ron's direction with mocking expressions. "What you're about to witness is something you've never seen before. No one has ever survived Lord Kroll's technique."
"You're all going to die!"
Something subtle was shifting in the space around them.
Kroll's figure moved to the very center of the area.
"Crack apart, earth!"
An intense suction force suddenly radiated from the sand beneath them and gripped everyone's bodies.
Ron responded with a thought.
Natsu soared into the air, flames burning from both of his palms.
As the flames came together, they merged.
"Brilliant Flame of the Fire Dragon!"
A fierce blaze exploded outward in all directions.
Ron stretched out his hand.
Misty, Shizuku, Ponzu, Nina, Sally, and Ruco—all of them, under Ron's control, entered the door and stepped into Sumas's space.
Ron followed them inside as well.
On the outside, Ron only left behind Natsu.
Very quickly, Ron understood the nature of the technique Kroll was using. He was drawing all the water out of the area using the sand. Once infused with Nen, this suction force became unimaginably strong.
It could even extract the water from inside a person's body.