Capture: An Alternative Life-Form

"My God, he's practically Superman!"

An stared in disbelief.

Not to mention him, Tell next to him was also stunned.

He's a middle-aged Hunter x Hunter now, having obtained his Hunter License when he was young.

As a Disaster Investigation Hunter, he frequently deals with national-level forces and often collaborates with other Hunter x Hunter or Nen user.

But this was the first time he had ever seen anything like it.

"How did he do that? Even Enhancement Type don't make that kind of sense!"

Tell couldn't understand it at all.

The main issue was that what had just happened was simply too exaggerated in their eyes.

Kevin charged forward on the Griffin with incredible speed and over an extremely long distance.

The problem is that they could feel the force of that impact.

The way that wind pressure came from was very strange.

Moreover, such a huge Phoenix, I don't know what kind of Nen ability he used to bind the opponent, and he even managed to pull the person down from the sky.

Iffal's teammates stared in disbelief at the scene, muttering to themselves.

"It's a good thing you didn't get into a conflict with him. I can't even imagine what would have happened if we had."

The sheer force of their absolute power shocked them.

"What are we doing standing here? Let's go take a look."

They only realized it after someone else reminded them.

They immediately ran towards the direction of the battle.

On the other side...

Kevin had landed on the ground, and the surrounding branches and trees were already ablaze.

The lush trees were originally rich in moisture, but after the Phoenix fell, the scorching temperature caused the moisture in these trees and plants to evaporate rapidly and ignite.

The flames on the Phoenix's body burned fiercely. Its huge body and wings were not covered with feathers as light as those of a bird, but were made entirely of flames.

Or rather, this bird is simply a shape constructed entirely of flames.

Kevin was now completely enveloped in a shield; the fusion of his two Nen ability allowed this shock-resistant shield to also withstand the intense heat from the outside world.

"How are you? Do you need any help?"

The Griffin circled above Kevin's head, and Griffin Men Qi, sitting on its back, asked loudly.

She shouldn't come down rashly; Kevin usually wouldn't need help, so it's best to ask first.

Without even looking up, Kevin shouted, "Maintain a safe distance! I've only subdued this bird. The high temperature on its body isn't just due to temperature; it should be able to quickly expel the surrounding moisture."

He could feel the outside temperature, which was far too low to quickly drain the moisture from the surrounding plants before igniting them.

"Plow down the surrounding plants to control the fire!"

If the flames are allowed to spread, they will definitely cause a wildfire. It's best to control the fire while it's still small.

"No problem!"

With a cry, the Griffin swooped down, crashing its entire body into the vegetation below.

A fierce wind howled, and a violent collision sounded.

Buhaci and the others quickly arrived and, under Men Qi's command, swiftly cleared a circle of land.

"Watch me!"

With a loud shout, Buhaci's originally obese body underwent a rapid transformation. The accumulated fat instantly turned into taut muscles, like a layer of armor anchored to his body.

Buhaci used his Nen ability.

He went from being a tall, fat man the size of a ball to a strong, muscular man.

"Mighty Push!"

With a sharp shout, he cupped both hands and pushed forward.

Some tree roots and soil were directly lifted up, and a large amount of soil piled up forward, forming a layer of earthen wall.

When Tell and the others arrived.

What they saw was a semi-circular area surrounded by earthen walls, and within this area, a raging fire was emanating intense heat.

The surrounding air was distorted by the temperature.

"Dig a ditch from here, and then cover this area—"

Tell immediately jumped down and landed beside Men Qi and the others, quickly instructing them on how to build a temporary firebreak.

"Then we-"

One of the team members behind Iffal asked.

"Please help, letting the fire spread won't do us any good."

Several Nen user, along with a group of Special Operations Team soldiers, quickly cleared a safe area.

Tell nodded in satisfaction.

"That solves the problem, but... is that That Bird still inside? And what about that man from earlier...?"

As he asked questions, he pointed to the inside where the flames were erupting.

Men Qi didn't reply immediately, but just glanced at her, patted the dirt off her hands, and said, "Don't worry."

They knew as soon as he said that.

Kevin was actually inside that fire. Even Nen user shouldn't be able to withstand the heat of such a furnace.

"Nen ability?"

An muttered to herself.

Meanwhile, Tell and the more experienced Iffal couldn't help but deny it in their hearts.

That can't be.

When the opponent caught the Phoenix in mid-air, their movements were clearly Enhancement Type.

Having enhanced his physical abilities to that extent, it's unlikely he would possess a dedicated Nen ability to deal with flames.

More importantly, both of them knew Kevin.

Kevin is most famous for his potions; almost all Nen user are certain that the other person's Nen ability is potion making.

It's more likely that the drug is the culprit, temporarily enhancing one aspect of the property.

This is the most reasonable approach.

At least from the outside perspective, this is how Kevin's Nen ability appears to be.

At this moment.

Surrounded by flames, Kevin suppressed the Phoenix beneath him.

After being dragged down, the Phoenix struggled for a short while before calming down somewhat.

"What a bizarre thing! What kind of structure are you?"

Kevin suppressed his opponent while simultaneously conducting a brief assessment.

This understanding is somewhat contrary to common sense.

First of all, there is no doubt that the other party harbors Resentment, just as we guessed before, and this Resentment has accumulated within them.

The problem is that it's not all Resentment; at least a large part of the body is more like a vibrant, Life Force -giving Nen Aura.

Simply put, it's somewhat similar to Little Wang, but with some obvious differences.

Moreover, the Resentment emanating from him was definitely the kind of Resentment formed from the extreme emotions of a human sacrificed to death.

Beyond the flames.

Men Qi frowned and took her phone out of her pocket.

An unfamiliar number dialed in.

After thinking for a moment, I pressed the answer button.

"Hey, Men Qi."

Hearing the voice coming from inside, Men Qi frowned and immediately recognized who was on the other end.

"Gold?"

"That's right. To make a long story short, Kevin sent me the information he took about the Ruins. I was just trying to call him back, but I couldn't get through. After looking at the information, I think you might be with him."

"I am indeed with him, but he is obviously not available to answer the phone right now."

I can't help it Men Qi said helplessly.

I guessed so.

On the other end of the phone, Jin sat inside a tent, looking at the information on his Notebook, and spoke while holding the phone between his shoulder and head.

"The Ruins you sent, I have information on them. They are Ruins of the Totoville Empire on the Aijin Continent, dating back approximately three thousand years."

"That's a typical site for a high-level imperial sacrificial Succession Ceremony, except it's inside Volcano, which is quite rare; I've never seen one before."

"So, he's fighting the Phoenix right now?"

Men Qi looked at the raging flames ahead and the indistinct scene within them, and nodded.

"Yes, they should be fighting right now."

"Alright, let me tell you the results. Based on the murals on the Ruins and the architectural style there, I can roughly analyze the era in which it was located."

"Based on the various Ruins records of this empire that I have, I found a legend about something similar to the Phoenix."

"I've sent you the specific information first, remember to receive it. In short, the Phoenix may currently be in a state of rebirth, but the people of that time broke its mechanism through sacrifice and some kind of Succession Ceremony, forcibly imprisoning it."

"By fusing a Nen ability life form with Resentment, you forcibly transformed the other person into something akin to Resentment. That information should be enough. Remember to tell him."

The call was abruptly ended after I finished speaking.

Although Men Qi could understand some of it, she was mostly confused, but she still rode the Griffin and flew into the sky.

Seeing the situation in the center from above, and confirming that Kevin was alright, he loudly relayed the information King had just told Kevin.

After hearing the information, Kevin looked at the Phoenix he had pinned down.

"I see. Based on this information, the Phoenix's Rebirth Nirvana is actually a temporary state of Nen Aura life, where it mixes its own Nen Aura, will, or soul together."

The Resentful Eater Snake is actually like this, overcoming the crises of each form by switching between two life forms.

However, it is clear that the Phoenix temporarily enter this state to reincarnate.

In the meantime, a nobleman from an ancient kingdom discovered this and used a sacrificial Succession Ceremony to put Shackle on the victim.

That's why it's become like this now.

No wonder Kevin felt so strange.

"Let me think, how should I do this--"

First, help the other party remove the lock of Resentment. Since we didn't understand the mechanism, and now we may not have the time or ability to understand it.

Then the only option is to demolish it by force.

For Kevin, violently dismantling the shackles imposed by Resentment was not difficult.

There are two possible outcomes after demolition.

He died completely after losing his Shackle.

With powerful abilities, the reincarnation mechanism can be restarted.

To be honest, Kevin could accept either outcome, but he wouldn't gain anything from the first one.

But it can broaden one's horizons.

The second option is very useful. You'll have a Phoenix chick in your possession, which allows you to conduct research and provide materials for a long time.

Does distance have an effect?

After all, the egg is still on another continent.

It would be a pity if it got a chance but got too far from the egg and died.

The problem now is that if Kevin lets go and abandons his suppression, the opponent is very likely to escape.

Now he has no means to both ease his own burdens and restrain the other party.

Because the other party has no physical form; it is a mass of Nen Aura.

"Should we put it back?"

Although we don't know why the other party detonated the Volcano, at least they are currently in a Nen tool state.

It needs to return to the physical entity.

And it certainly can't move around for long periods of time, otherwise it wouldn't be like this now, running out one minute and going back the next.

The interval in between should be the time period during which the other person needs to rest and recover.

Kevin is now almost certain that the other party's possession is at the bottom of that Magma pool.

It's okay if you guess wrong.

Thinking of this, I unleashed even more Resentment, which I then channeled onto the other person's emotional state, creating a kind of fixation.

Kevin jumped off the other person.

As Kevin relaxed his suppression, the Phoenix immediately rose from the ground, flapping its wings, and even more flames blazed forth.

"You should be wise, shouldn't you? Be quiet. I can break the chains on you, and I also have the egg from which you were born."

After listening to Kevin's words, it's unclear whether the Phoenix understood Kevin's meaning, but after flapping its wings a couple of times, it regained its bird-like posture and stood still.

A pair of eyes, which seemed to have been created entirely from the flames, stared intently at Kevin, then flapped its wings and flew into the sky.

They returned to the Volcano, and the surrounding flames were completely absorbed back into it.

As soon as the flames disappeared, the scorching temperature dropped rapidly.

Men Qi and the others quickly jumped in and surrounded them.

"Did you let it go? Or did it run away on its own?"

Upon hearing Men Qi's question, Kevin glanced at the others who had followed.

"I can't keep holding onto it like this forever."

"Why did you let it go? It will cause more Volcano eruptions, and then there will be fires here—"

Tell said impatiently.

Kevin frowned and glanced at him.

Before he could say anything, Xiahara slapped Tell on the shoulder.

"Calm down, Kevin has his own ideas."

Tell simply gritted his teeth and looked at Kevin.

He couldn't just stand by and watch the Volcano erupt, so he couldn't quite understand this act of letting the tiger return to the mountain.

At this moment, An, who was next to him, also spoke.

"Don't worry, based on the data we obtained before and the intervals in the Phoenix's movements, it should need time to recover its abilities before it can move."

"Then we need to ignite one Volcano after another, which is a long-term Volcano and will take some time."

"It won't suddenly erupt in the short term; we still have enough time to come up with countermeasures."

Having witnessed the Phoenix's behavior firsthand, he had already drawn the corresponding patterns and conclusions.

Kevin stated directly, "That's my prey, so you don't need to worry. The only reason I released it is because I wanted to take it down intact."

As he spoke, he reached into his pocket to make a call, but what he pulled out was a cell phone that had completely melted into a pile of plastic.

Use mine.

Men Qi handed over the phone.

Kevin nodded.

I dialed a number.

"Begel, I've figured out how to use that special egg from before. Can you help me—"