Beast Buster and Critical Hit

Gelman quickly came to a clear conclusion.

Its fluffy black feathers were like armor, like a shield. That meant the parts hidden beneath those black feathers were probably its weak points.

What the Lord of Crows concealed were the eyeballs extending from its head down to its abdomen, packed together like fleshy tumors tangled in mucus.

Now that he knew where its weakness lay, all that remained was figuring out how to strike it.

Another eyeball on the Lord of Crows' abdomen closed. At the same time, another eyeball opened on Gelman's left arm.

They formed a perfect pair, their horrifying gaze never leaving Gelman's face.

"Pressure +5"

Gelman did not panic. Instead, he sensed something strange.

For eyeballs to appear on his arm out of nowhere, some condition had to have been met.

If there were no conditions, he would have already turned into "Danzo without bandages."

So what was the condition?

He quickly sorted out his thoughts.

Gelman had stared into the Lord of Crows' eyes for some time. Its curse might have spread to him through eye contact, infecting him like germs.

But why his left arm? Why not his right arm, chest, or thigh?

The unusual part was probably the fresh wound Hisoka had left on his left arm several days ago.

Even though his Physique had reached 20, the wound had still not completely healed after several days.

Through their exchanged gazes, the Lord of Crows' eye curse had planted seeds of infection in Gelman's fresh wound, taking root and sprouting within his left arm.

Even if he did not meet the eyes on the Lord of Crows' torso, staring at the eyeballs on his own left arm would bring about the same curse.

That was the truth.

Amid a wet wriggling sound, Gelman noticed a third eyeball "bloom" on the same arm, practically confirming his guess.

"Pressure +5"

Without hesitation, Gelman shut his eyes, cutting off eye contact with the Lord of Crows' eyeballs.

He could lower his head, but he knew that in all kinds of emergencies, humans would still instinctively use their eyes to assess the situation.

Since he could not completely control that instinct, he might as well close his eyes altogether.

Of course, he was not giving up the fight.

In the dimness behind his closed lids, Gelman's En became increasingly acute, and his movements increasingly nimble.

Relying on memory and hearing, he had already calculated the distance between himself and the Lord of Crows. Then he took out a small sphere hidden in the Hunter Cloak and tossed it over with perfect accuracy.

The small sphere landed by the Lord of Crows' feet, then suddenly hissed out a cloud of smoke that rapidly spread.

This was a lesson Gelman had learned in Arid River Valley last time.

Rather than using small explosives that could only blow off a piece of a beast's body, it was better to use "poison"!

He had spent a sum painful enough to make his heart bleed on this tiny poison gas bomb.

However, the Lord of Crows was clearly far more intelligent than those beasts in Arid River Valley.

Standing amid the spreading poison mist, the Lord of Crows paused before spreading its wings.

With a whoosh, it kicked off with both claws, and its tall, powerful body soared into the air.

It had also realized the danger of the poison gas. It evaded it in time and immediately launched a counterattack.

Like a massive battering ram, the Lord of Crows skimmed low over the ground and slammed toward Gelman, intending to send him flying.

However, Gelman had deliberately chosen not to dodge in advance, only slipping aside at the last moment.

Just as the Lord of Crows was about to fly past him, the Blunderbuss in his left hand vanished. He reached out and clamped down hard on one of the Lord of Crows' claws.

The Lord of Crows took flight again, but unexpectedly carried Gelman along with it.

It began circling back and forth through the air, trying to shake Gelman off.

But Gelman would not let go so easily.

When would the Lord of Crows move aside its heavy wings and expose its vulnerable abdomen?

Naturally, when it took flight.

Not only was Gelman not thrown off, he also took the chance to transform the Meat Saw with a sharp click. Its serrated blade thrust forward and plunged into the abdomen covered in eyeballs with a wet squelch!

For a moment, he could not tell whether it was blood or pus, but it sprayed all over him.

"Critical Hit! Pressure -10"

The wound torn open by the Meat Saw was larger and deeper than Gelman had expected, as if aided by the gods.

The next instant, Gelman thought of one of his traits—"Beast Buster."

The Lord of Crows was considered a "beast."

And Gelman, who possessed "Beast Buster," gained a minor amplification in combat and had a chance to deal Critical Hit-like damage.

That stab just now had accidentally triggered a Critical Hit, reducing his pressure by 10 points in the process.

The Lord of Crows let out a shrill screech, its spear-like beak pecking toward Gelman's head.

If all went as planned, Gelman's skull would be left with a huge hole, and his brains would be pecked out and devoured.

Naturally, he had no intention of letting that happen.

Gelman pulled the Meat Saw from the Lord of Crows' abdomen, while his left hand still clutched one of its talons tightly.

Carried by inertia, he swayed through the air and narrowly dodged the peck.

Taking advantage of the motion, he switched the Meat Saw into a Blunderbuss, raised its pitch-black muzzle, and fired at the Lord of Crows' bloody abdomen with a bang!

The close-range blast made Gelman's ears ring, but the wound in the Lord of Crows' abdomen visibly widened as well.

The Lord of Crows screeched and struggled even more fiercely.

It suddenly raised the talon caught in Gelman's left hand, lifting him up. Its wings folded in like giant hands, locking Gelman tightly in their grip!

Without spreading its wings, the Lord of Crows and Gelman spiraled straight down toward the ground.

Gelman's entire upper body pressed against the Lord of Crows' festering abdomen.

Through the contact, the viscous fluids and rolling eyeballs vaguely formed an image in his mind.

At that moment, he opened his eyes and looked up, only to see the Lord of Crows' beak pecking down once again.

He twisted his head aside at the very limit and avoided it, but the beak still pierced his right shoulder with a wet squelch, punching straight through!

"Hiss!" Even Gelman could not stop cold sweat from pouring down his face from the pain.

The Lord of Crows pulled out its beak and was about to strike again when it realized it was nearly at the ground, so it released the wings that had been clamping Gelman.

But Gelman would not miss any opportunity whenever the Lord of Crows exposed an opening.

Just as he was about to crash into the ground, he endured the agonizing pain in his right shoulder. Amid the weightlessness and dizzying whirl of the world, he accurately seized the Lord of Crows' feathers with both hands.

With a powerful pull of his arms, he performed a pull-up and climbed onto the Lord of Crows' body.

The Lord of Crows took flight again. Realizing Gelman was impossible to shake off, it did not repeat its previous tactic of flinging him around. Instead, it called over a large flock of Multi-eyed Crows with a series of cries.

Cawing strangely, they swooped onto Gelman's back and tore at the flesh there with their sharp beaks and claws, drinking his blood.

As though the attack on his back did not exist, Gelman calmly made his judgment.

His right hand still gripped the feathers, but with a squelch, he thrust his left hand into the wound in the Lord of Crows' abdomen, torn open by the Meat Saw and Blunderbuss, driving it deeper and deeper inside!