Oster finally realized something was off.
"Could it be someone from the United Republic of Saherta?" he muttered, his expression darkening. "No… if it were them, they'd just send an S-rank Nen user outright. Then who is it? One layer at a time, one circle at a time—they're trying to draw me in and trap me here. Are there more tricks? More people?"
His gaze flickered. The possibility of being surrounded made him uneasy.
"I can't stay here any longer."
He desperately wanted to kill Ron and the others. But with the black-haired youth and the monster already taken down, Oster was growing wary of what else they might have prepared. Caution outweighed rage.
"The Phantom Troupe…" Oster murmured the name inwardly, as if committing it to memory.
Then the massive tail behind him swung with crushing force into the wall of the building.
A deep, echoing impact thundered out.
The wall split open, a massive hole ripping through the concrete.
But just as Oster was about to escape—
Ron exhaled, long and slow.
"Conditions met," he said evenly. "Pain Split."
In the next moment, Oster felt an immense force crash down upon him. His aura began to drain rapidly—siphoned out with terrifying speed.
In a flash, half of his aura was gone.
The abrupt change hit him hard. His body faltered, unable to sustain the serpent form.
The giant serpent collapsed and vanished.
At that instant, Natsu clapped his hands together.
Oster felt his body shift again, forcibly teleported. When he regained control, he was no longer in the same place.
In front of him now—stood Killer Queen. Across from him—Uchiha Sasuke.
Sasuke reached forward and gripped Oster tightly.
A door opened behind Sasuke.
Natsu inhaled sharply and roared, "Fire Dragon's Roar!"
A torrent of flames erupted, striking Oster dead-on. The blast, combined with Sasuke's force, pushed him toward the open door.
Oster struggled to resist, but the whole sequence—from Natsu's swap to the present—had lasted less than a second. Even for someone at the peak of A-rank, the toll from Pain Split had left him severely weakened.
Despite being summoned from a B-rank beast, the Pain Split's effects, reinforced by vows and restrictions, were potent enough to destabilize even someone like Oster.
He and Sasuke vanished into Sumas's space—sealed within the pyramid sector.
Inside the dimension, Oster immediately broke free of Sasuke's grip and counterattacked.
Sasuke was blasted backward, crashing violently into a wall.
But now, Oster wasn't facing Ron's regular nen beasts.
Now—he faced Rosgell.
A figure stood upright.
One leg. One arm. A full torso. No head.
And yet, from its form radiated a suffocating pressure—something that made Oster's skin crawl.
His eyes locked onto the being, and his breath caught.
"S-rank?" Oster muttered, pupils contracting. His entire body tensed.
Rosgell stepped forward. Get full chapters from novel⚑fire.net
In an instant, it closed the gap and struck.
Oster's aura, wrapped tightly around his body, was torn apart in an instant—as useless as paper.
The blow hit him squarely in the abdomen.
His body curled instantly, like a shrimp boiled alive.
He felt his organs rupture under the impact.
One strike was all it took to severely wound him.
Worse than all the combined damage he had taken from Ron, Hisoka, Chrollo, Nobunaga, and Franklin before.
Rosgell launched a second assault.
Oster's leg was ripped clean off.
Just then, Ron relinquished control of Rosgell. The creature stopped in place, frozen like a lifeless puppet.
With him—Natsu, Sasuke, Killer Queen, and Akame.
Outside, only Lampent remained, its summoned mist still blanketing the surroundings.
Sasuke struck again. The already injured Oster spasmed violently. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
A thick chain appeared in Ron's hand.
Natsu stepped forward and helped bind Oster with it.
This was a chain brought from the Gourmet Paradise—one that could forcibly seal a target into Zetsu.
Only then did Ron step in.
Natsu and Sasuke remained close, guarding the captive. Killer Queen and Akame stood silently at Ron's side.
Oster's condition was dire.
With his power sealed and his body in tatters, he could barely lift his head. Still, Ron didn't take any chances.
Oster's eyes burned with fury.
"Who are you? Royalty from Saherta?" His voice trembled with both rage and disbelief. "How did you find me through the Underworld Mafia? Was the Phantom Troupe just a distraction—your bait?"
He had only suspected before. Ron's power hadn't seemed enough to threaten him.
But after seeing Rosgell… his assumptions changed.
There were only so many S-rank Nen users in the world. And the only enemy Oster had who would go this far—spend this much power and risk—to eliminate him, could only be the royal family of Saherta.
Ron shook his head. "I'm not royalty from Saherta."
He paused. Then asked quietly, "Oster, do you still remember Tuck?"