The Battle Forced to a Halt

Dark!

Damp!

The spacious tunnel was lined on both sides with pipes of varying thickness and unknown purpose.

This was the hundredth underground level of Saba City, as well as the venue for the 287th Hunter Exam.

However, since it was still early before the actual start, only a little over a hundred veterans who had taken the Hunter Exam before, along with some exceptionally capable newcomers, had arrived ahead of time. They each went about their own business, with almost no interaction between them.

Among these people, one stood out above all others: Hisoka, dressed as a clown.

He sat on the floor, idly playing with the cards in his hand. His eyes remained fixed on the elevator leading upward as he repeatedly licked his lips with his tongue, occasionally letting out a chillingly perverse laugh, as though anticipating something.

The candidates who had participated in last year's Hunter Exam all instinctively moved away upon hearing it. After all, this lunatic would even kill an examiner when he went mad.

Suddenly!

A powerful presence descended from above without warning, like a heavy hammer smashing viciously into everyone's chest.

Heavy!

Oppressive!

Sweat dripped down their foreheads and cheeks, as if even breathing had become incredibly difficult.

Only two people remained unaffected. One was Illumi, the eldest son of the Zoldyck Family, disguised as Gittarackur. The other was, naturally, Hisoka.

The latter in particular had an intense killing intent erupt from his eyes. His entire body trembled slightly under the sway of his excitement.

Ding-dong!

Along with the sound of the elevator, the owner of that powerful Nen ability finally appeared: Allen, accompanied by his pet, Lupos.

Without question, he had done it deliberately, using it to deliver his declaration of war to his opponent.

"Heh heh heh heh heh..."

"Hahahaha!"

"Wonderful! This is truly wonderful! You really haven't disappointed me! The beautiful little apple has finally ripened! It can be picked!"

Hisoka began laughing maniacally and incoherently like a madman. His gaze was like that of a hunter who had finally found prey he had pursued for so long, his spirit instantly reaching the peak of excitement.

"Are we starting right here?" Allen asked without wasting words.

"Of course! I don't want to wait even one second! Come on! Let's fight! Let's wager our lives!" Hisoka spread his arms and shouted in reply.

Just from Allen's battle-hardened "Ten," Hisoka could sense the strength of the opponent before him. Under normal circumstances, it was impossible for someone to develop their Nen abilities to such a degree in barely a year.

But the amount of aura did not lie!

And in the world of Nen, nothing was impossible, because Nen itself possessed limitless possibilities.

Summon Nen Beast—Red Dragon of Life

When Allen assumed the role of a hunter, the red hatchling dragon that normally remained permanently invisible immediately appeared near his left shoulder.

Compared to when it had first been born, however, it was clearly a size larger. Both its body and the size and thickness of its scales had increased.

Allen lightly bit open his finger, then placed it into the hatchling's mouth. With a blank expression, he said to Hisoka, "No. I won't kill you. I'll only return all the violence you inflicted on me last time. As the stake for victory or defeat, if I lose, I'll die without regret. But if you lose, then for the next three months, all your aura will become nourishment for the Red Dragon's growth, and you won't be able to use any Nen during that time."

"Oh? So this is your ability? Taking other people's aura to strengthen your Nen Beast? No problem! I agree!" Hisoka agreed immediately without even a moment's hesitation.

"Then the contract is formed! The battle... begins!"

The instant the final word left his mouth, Allen immediately activated his Manipulation Nen Ability and began liquefying the air around his opponent's body, intending to first restrain or slow Hisoka's excessively agile movements.

But before those raindrops carrying bone-chilling cold could fall, a voice suddenly rang out beside them. "Stop! There are other candidates here. This isn't a place for the two of you to settle personal grudges."

As soon as the words fell!

The iron gate that had sealed off the passage slowly rose, and a man in a suit with a mustache walked out from inside.

He had undoubtedly sensed the outrageously powerful Nen emanating from Hisoka and Allen. He bluntly threatened them, "I am Satotz, the examiner for the first phase. If you continue fighting, I will immediately disqualify both of you from this Hunter Exam."

"Disqualified from the exam? Whatever. I've already found something more interesting than the Hunter Exam!" Hisoka licked his lips and chose to completely ignore him.

Allen, however, reacted in the exact opposite manner. He restored every droplet of Liquefied Air to normal air and withdrew from his combat state.

"Understood. I'll choose another place to continue this unfinished battle. Sorry, Hisoka. It seems you'll need to be patient for a while longer. I believe there will definitely be a stage suitable for us in the upcoming exam."

"It's fine! I can wait! Because you're worth waiting for!"

Although Hisoka desperately wanted to begin a life-or-death slaughter immediately, he ultimately chose to restrain himself for the time being.

Yet the cells and emotions throughout his body, already stirred into excitement, could not calm down so easily. He used a Nen-enhanced playing card to slice through the neck of the unlucky person closest to him, then put the blood staining it into his mouth and savored it.

Seeing that the crisis caused by the two candidates with powerful Nen abilities had finally been temporarily resolved, Satotz visibly breathed a sigh of relief. He retreated to the other side and closed the iron gate again, leaving behind only the ordinary candidates trembling in the corners.

Several of them had even had their minds and wills crushed by the terrifying killing intent and malicious Nen. They directly gave up on this year's Hunter Exam and took the elevator back to the surface.

They would rather wait another year than remain in the same room as two monsters, let alone compete in a brutal and bloody contest.

That was no different from suicide!

It looked like this year's number of examinees would be lower than the 404 from the original story...

Allen fiddled with the number badge marked 105 in his hand, roughly estimating the number of people who had just taken the elevator. He swiftly reached a conclusion in his mind.

But those people would probably never know that this escape meant they had completely lost their chance to become Hunters.

After all, Hunters could be greedy, bloodthirsty, crazy, and willing to use every possible means to pursue everything they desired. But there was one quality they absolutely had to possess: the courage to face danger, and curiosity toward the unknown.

At that thought, he instinctively turned his gaze toward Killua, who was secretly watching him from a short distance away.

Although this little guy had also shown fear of Nen, he had not chosen to run away. Instead, he stayed to struggle, desperately trying to break free of the Nen Brother Illumi had left in his mind.

"Looks like this Hunter Exam won't be too lonely..."

Allen gave Killua a friendly smile, then murmured in a voice only he could hear.

After training in isolation for an entire year, he needed this exam to determine exactly what level his strength had reached before deciding what to do next.

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