Without any warning, an attack descended from the sky and struck Rice dead on.
That dazzling sphere of light seemed to have been condensed from an enormous amount of Nen. In an instant, it crashed down like a comet, unleashing a violent torrent of energy.
Even though everyone reacted, they were swept up by the aftermath of the explosion in the very next moment.
When the shockwave carried the thick smoke and dust into the distance, a huge crater had appeared in what had once been a flat field.
The Phantom Troupe members looked toward the crater with varying expressions.
Then a figure carrying a severed head suddenly leaped out of the crater and landed at its edge.
The man had a broad, powerful build and wore a fitted blue-and-white outfit. His silver hair fell to his shoulders, his sharply defined face was stern, and his beastlike eyes carried an innate, imposing chill.
This man was Silva Zoldyck, the current head of the Zoldyck Family.
He had attacked Rice because he had accepted Koko Hex's commission to assassinate him.
Rice's head dangled casually from Silva's hand, its eyes still wide with disbelief.
He had thought he could rely on his companions to teach that tiger bastard behind him a lesson, but justice had fallen from the sky and sent him straight into the abyss.
He had died with his eyes wide open.
The Phantom Troupe's gazes swept past Rice's unclosed eyes before rising to settle on Silva.
Most of those looks were filled with hostility.
One of their own had been slaughtered like a chicken. How could they possibly let it go?
However, the Troupe had an unwritten rule.
Anyone who wanted to join the Troupe had to kill one of its existing members.
Because of that rule, after Silva