Post-mortem Nen

Goreinu charged straight at Terrence.

He knew he had to deal with the ranged threat first. Those Nen bullets were devastating, and if Terrence was left alone, Colton's people would soon be slaughtered.

Black Sage and White Sage, the two heavily muscled gorilla Nen beasts, charged together at Gabri, who was slaughtering Colton's guards in the distance.

Terrence had just pulled the trigger when the Nen bullet he fired swerved unnaturally in midair and shot straight toward Goreinu's chest.

Goreinu was ready. Nen Aura erupted around him, forming Ken over his body to block the shot. He then drove a fist at Terrence.

On Gabri's side of the battlefield, the white gorilla proved every bit as fast as he was.

Each time Gabri's blade flashed, the gorilla dodged by a hair's breadth and countered with its thick arms, forcing him to keep changing direction.

With the pressure eased, the guards seized the chance to regroup, but they had already lost more than half their number.

Meanwhile, Theodore moved as if no one could stop him.

He had not used the front entrance at all. Instead, he had climbed over the wall on the estate's west side.

Two guards spotted him and started to raise their guns. Theodore flicked his fingers, striking both guards in the forehead. Then he closed in, gave them a sharp twist, and they fell.

Without slowing down, he headed straight for the main building. Every guard he encountered along the way fell just as easily.

Theodore wore a relaxed smile throughout, as though he were strolling through his own backyard.

He went up to the second floor and pushed open the meeting room door.

Leo stood in the center of the room, watching him calmly.

"Hm? Just one person?"

Theodore raised an eyebrow and looked around the empty room.

"Kid, where's that woman? Tell me. If I'm in a good mood, I might give you an easy death."

Leo did not answer.

He was observing Theodore: gray hair, red tattoos, hands tucked into his pockets, and the openly mocking Nen Aura surrounding him.

"So there was someone else after all."

Leo finally spoke, his voice steady.

"All I have to do is deal with you."

Theodore froze for a moment, then threw back his head and laughed.

"I love how ignorant you are!"

He pointed at Leo, his smile twisting.

"Let's have some fun!"

Before the words had left his mouth, violent Nen Aura burst from his body.

Two dice appeared out of thin air in his palm. One was an ordinary six-sided die marked with numbers.

The other was marked "Great Fortune," "Lesser Fortune," "Great Misfortune," and "Lesser Misfortune."

"This is my ability, Risk Daredevil."

Theodore showed off the dice, his voice brimming with pride.

"The number die goes from one to six. As for the risk die... one face is Great Fortune, two are Lesser Fortune, one is Great Misfortune, and two are Lesser Misfortune."

"The number die determines how much of a boost I get."

He licked his lips, a manic gleam in his eyes.

"Once I throw them, if I roll Fortune, the boost depends on the number."

"If I roll Misfortune... heh, the reduction depends on the number too."

"To activate it, I have to explain the rules to a witness."

Theodore stared at Leo.

"And you're my witness. Isn't that fun?"

Leo immediately grasped how terrifying the ability was. Its potential was enormous, but so was its downside.

A gambler's ability suited Theodore's crazed personality perfectly.

But Leo had also spotted a flaw.

Theodore had explained too much.

He was too confident, and too stupid.

"Well, then..."

Laughing wildly, Theodore tossed both dice high into the air.

"Let's see what fate—"

He never finished.

While the dice were still airborne, Leo appeared in front of him.

Leo moved faster than Theodore could react.

He reached out with his left hand and caught both falling dice.

At the same time, his right hand clamped over Theodore's face.

Theodore's pupils contracted, and his crazed grin froze.

He had no idea what had happened.

An instant later, tremendous force struck him.

Leo gripped Theodore's head and slammed it into the wall.

Boom!

The wall cracked, and fragments of stone flew everywhere.

Theodore's face was buried in the wall. His nose shattered, and blood gushed out.

But that was only the beginning.

Leo let go. Theodore's body had barely begun to slide down when a heavy punch smashed into his face.

Bang!

His skull caved in.

The second punch shattered his jaw.

The third broke his cheekbone.

Theodore could not even scream.

His Nen Aura scattered out of control amid the agony. He tried to fight back, but Leo's fists rained down, each blow carrying the terrifying force of Enhancement Type Nen Aura.

The fourth punch, the fifth, the sixth...

By the time Leo stopped, Theodore lay limp on the floor, his face unrecognizable and his breathing gone.

He had died in a ludicrous fashion at the hands of the opponent he had looked down on most.

Leo opened his clenched left hand. The two dice fell beside Theodore's corpse.

He glanced at them with disdain.

"I admire your ignorance too. You talked too much, you clown."

The spiral tattoo on the back of his hand grew slightly warm.

[Life Energy +300]

[Level: 25 (20.5%)]

Three hundred points. Far more than he had gained from any beast he had hunted before.

Leo understood. Killing a Nen user really did yield a much greater amount of life energy.

But he also knew this had been an exception.

Theodore had been too arrogant and too foolish. He had revealed his ability's weakness and activation conditions in full.

A fight between Nen users would never normally be this simple.

"Have to throw them..."

Leo recalled Theodore's words.

"So as long as the dice don't land, the ability won't activate."

He opened his hand, letting the dice fall to the floor.

He was about to leave and help Goreinu.

Then something changed.

A vast, twisted surge of Nen, thick with malice, erupted from Theodore's corpse!

Leo sprang back several steps, stunned.

That aura... Post-mortem Nen!

He had only read descriptions of it in comics: an ability user's intense obsession could give rise to it after death. He had never expected to see it so soon, much less at such staggering strength.

Black Nen Aura swirled like smoke and mist, gathering in midair and radiating a suffocating sense of dread.

Drawn by it, the two dice slowly rose into the air.

"..." Leo stared at them.

"These dice must be turning into a Nen item."

The swirling, malicious aura suddenly contracted and poured into the two dice like a tide.

The dice trembled violently. Their numbers and fortune symbols glowed dark red as their once-illusory Nen Aura gradually solidified into something that looked and felt like cold metal.

The whole process lasted about ten seconds.

When the last trace of Nen Aura had been absorbed, the dice lost their buoyancy. They hit the floor with two clinks and rolled to Leo's feet.

Leo watched them warily for a moment. Only after confirming they posed no danger did he carefully pick them up.

They felt cold and heavy, as if cast from some black metal, with sharply defined markings. He tried channeling Nen Aura into them—

The dice trembled faintly.

A stream of information flooded his mind:

[Destiny Daredevil · Nen Item]

Ability Rules:

Spend one day of your lifespan to use the dice once.

Throw the number die to determine the value (1–6), and the risk die to determine whether the effect boosts or weakens you.

Great Fortune: Strength is multiplied according to the number rolled.

Lesser Fortune: Strength increases by a percentage determined by the number rolled.

Great Misfortune: Nen Aura is completely drained, forcing you into Zetsu; additional days of lifespan equal to the number rolled are consumed.

Lesser Misfortune: Nen Aura decreases by a percentage determined by the number rolled; one additional day of lifespan is consumed.

The effect lasts three minutes. The dice must land on the ground to take effect.

Delight flashed through Leo's eyes.

Despite the new lifespan cost and time limit, and with no need to explain the ability to anyone, this Nen item was worth far more than he had expected.

There was a risk of rolling Misfortune, but with a lucky roll, it could turn a battle around.

"Looks like my luck really is pretty good."

He carefully put the dice away.

Outside the window, gunfire and fighting continued. Goreinu was still struggling.

Leo walked to the window and leaped out.

The drop from the second floor was nothing to him.

He bent his knees slightly as he landed, kicking up a light puff of dust.

He looked toward the distant battlefield. Both Nen beasts had returned to Goreinu's side, and the three of them were barely holding out against Terrence and Gabri.

Most of Colton's guards had fallen. Barely a dozen still resisted, while the Waldeck Family had more than forty fighters left. The situation was dire.

Leo rolled his wrists.

It was time to deal with the rest of the trouble.