The next moment, Ron's body appeared above the red giant, while the woman materialized at his previous location.
A fissure split across the red giant's body, webbing outward as fragments began to fall away. Ron started to descend—but from a height he could easily handle, showing no sign of panic.
The woman stabilized her position midair, her expression darkening as she channeled a surge of aura into her hands. In the next instant, a long spear formed beside her, radiating intense cold. It was a construct of her Nen ability.
One, two, three... soon, there were hundreds of them—dense and packed, hovering at her side.
With a flick of her finger, every spear launched toward Ron like a storm of icicles. Suspended in midair, Ron looked like a motionless target.
"Die!" she shouted, eyes brimming with killing intent.
But Ron, watching the barrage of icy spears hurtling toward him, showed no fear. Instead, he poured a large amount of aura into the Conjured Ball in his hand. This time, flames erupted from his palm.
A massive fireball surged forth, intercepting the spears. The moment they touched the flames, the spears began melting rapidly under the high temperature, their velocity sharply reduced. What remained was no threat to Ron—he could dodge them easily.
Ron's figure was hidden behind the fireball. Though it was weakened by the ice spears, and its flames dimmed, that wasn't the end of it.
A second Nen bullet pierced through the fireball—this one moving even faster.
"Nen Bullet: Lightning!"
The woman noticed too late. There was no time to dodge. The bolt of lightning struck her squarely in the torso. An intense current surged through her body, locking her muscles in paralysis. Her clothing sizzled, giving off the smell of charred fabric.
Sasuke flickered behind her, and with a sharp hand strike, chopped at the back of her neck.
Thud! The woman collapsed to the ground.
Meanwhile, the fight between Natsu and the white-haired youth had reached a fever pitch. Their battle was brutal and close-quarters—Natsu's fire-imbued fists against the white-haired youth's bone weapons. Unlike Chrollo, Natsu wasn't intimidated by the white bones. Even if injured, as long as Ron supplied enough aura, Natsu could recover. Chrollo, being purely flesh and blood, couldn't match that resilience—wounds affected him far more.
A sharp bone blade slashed at Natsu's face, but he tilted his head slightly to the side.
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
His fist shot upward in a powerful uppercut, smashing into the youth's jaw and lifting him off the ground.
But Natsu wasn't unscathed—a deep gash had opened along his body.
The Phantom Troupe had regrouped.
They'd recovered the corpses of Uvogin and Kortopi—both confirmed dead. Even if they had a Nen healer, neither life could be saved. No one in this world could save them.
This outcome wasn't unexpected.
Facing such overwhelming enemies, Uvogin had always been among the first to fall. In terms of sacrificial order, he was always on the front lines. As for Kortopi, he was the weakest in the Troupe. In any hopeless confrontation, when everyone else was struggling to stay alive, there was little hope of protecting Kortopi—and enemies could easily pick him off.
In deadly fights, it was better to lose a finger than injure all ten. In the Phantom Troupe, Kortopi was that expendable finger.
If they weren't targeting Kortopi, who else would they go for?
The deaths of two members cast a heavy, mournful atmosphere over the Troupe. This was a blow unlike anything they'd experienced before. Until now, they'd only ever lost one member at a time.
Now they had lost two.
Uvogin's significance to the Troupe was immense.
Kortopi's ability was also highly valuable.
Nobunaga gripped his sword tightly. Franklin fell silent. Feitan and Phinks stood side by side, shadows clouding both their eyes. Pakunoda's expression was full of grief. Bonolenov looked blankly at Kortopi's corpse.
Of everyone in the Troupe, Bonolenov had been closest to Kortopi. Their unusual appearances had drawn them together. Both were from ethnic minorities, and they'd shared many conversations because of that.
Hisoka's eyes flickered, uncertain.
He'd had multiple plans for this battle—but Ron's appearance had upended all of them. Now, Hisoka would have to reassess everything.
Shalnark sighed as he looked at Ron.
He'd seen Ron aboard the airship and recognized his talent right away. After returning, he'd added Ron to the list of potential recruits for the Troupe.
But before they could even extend an invitation, Ron had already grown too powerful for them to approach.
Then Ron defeated Hisoka.
At that point, the Troupe no longer held any allure for him.
Chrollo had made the right call by giving up.
Now, watching Ron in action, Shalnark realized Ron's strength far exceeded expectations—not just strong enough to beat Hisoka, but far beyond what any of them had imagined.
The biological experiment squad that had pushed the Troupe into a desperate position and cost them two members—when facing Ron, they didn't look powerful at all.
They were easily suppressed.
That two-headed fighter had held off Hisoka and Hooker for a long time— he clearly was not weak.
But Ron had killed him in just a few moves. For more chapters visit novel✦fire.net
Shalnark's gaze shifted to Sasuke.
"This Nen Beast can unleash devastating lightning and even transform into a dark red giant with extreme defense and immense strength. The two-headed fighter didn't stand a chance."
"And on top of that, there's Ron's Nen Bullets."
"Just those Nen Bullets are terrifying enough without mentioning his Nen beasts."
Shalnark couldn't help but compare them to the other Emitters present—the now-dead Spider-Man, and Franklin from their group.