Both Killed

Both men felt Leo's terrifying, icy gaze as though they had plunged into an ice cellar.

"B-boss... let's retreat..."

Fire Wolf's voice trembled on the verge of tears.

Jackal ground his teeth.

Humiliation, fear, anger—all those emotions collided in his chest.

He was Jackal, the leader of the trio, a powerful fighter who had escaped a Hunter manhunt!

"Retreat?"

Jackal growled.

"If we retreat now, how are we supposed to show our faces again?!"

He shoved open the car door and jumped out.

Fire Wolf froze for a moment, then had no choice but to steel himself and follow.

The two stepped onto the street, facing Leo from thirty meters away.

"You think you can..."

Jackal's voice twisted with rage.

"Stop us all by yourself?!"

Nen aura erupted around him, his muscles swelling and the scar on his face twisting like a writhing centipede.

Fire Wolf released his nen aura too, orange-red flames igniting around his hands.

Watching the two men charge him instead of fleeing, Leo's lips curved slightly.

"If you'd turned around and run,"

he said softly,

"you would've given me quite a headache."

He paused, his smile deepening.

"I never imagined... you'd be this arrogant."

The instant his words fell—boom!

His nen aura erupted again, but this time was different.

The ground beneath Leo's feet exploded into a deep crater, and he became a streak of white light, shooting straight at them!

He was too fast.

Jackal and Fire Wolf saw only an afterimage before he was already five meters in front of them.

Leo drew back his right fist, the muscles in his arm taut as steel cables.

Nen aura surged madly into his fist, compressing again and again—the light turned from white to blazing white, then finally to an almost blinding gold!

The air warped around the gathering energy, giving off a low hum.

Super Destruction Punch!

Leo opened with a killing move.

This blow concentrated most of his power, and with the improvements to his Ko from his recent intensive training, its power far exceeded an ordinary Nen user's all-out attack.

Jackal and Fire Wolf finally felt the terror of death.

They wanted to dodge, but their bodies could not keep up with their thoughts—Leo was too fast, the pressure of his attack too overwhelming. Even the air around them seemed to have frozen.

They could only take it head-on!

Both concentrated all their nen aura in front of them, forming a barrier of Ken.

Jackal crossed his arms, and Fire Wolf thrust both palms forward—the fist came down.

Time seemed to slow.

The instant the fist touched their nen aura defenses, cracks spread across them like glass.

Then—they shattered.

BOOM!!!!!!!!!!

An explosion.

A shock wave radiated from the point of impact, blasting everything within thirty meters—streetlights, benches, landscaping, cars—into the air!

The entire glass curtain wall on the front of the Minke Building shattered under the impact, its fragments raining down!

A crater ten meters across and three meters deep had been blasted into the ground.

Charred fragments and severed limbs lay scattered across the bottom and edges—the remains left after Jackal's and Fire Wolf's bodies had been torn apart by the blast and its immense force.

Dust and smoke slowly rose, forming a miniature mushroom cloud.

Leo stood at the edge of the crater and shook out his right hand.

Wisps of white smoke rose from his fist. His skin was slightly red, but it had not even broken.

Two fairly intense waves of warmth came from the tattoo on the back of his hand.

[Level: 42 (1%)] He had gained one level.

Leo looked at the scene at the bottom of the crater and murmured to himself.

"Hmm... still a little too powerful. I'll have to hold back more next time."

"Were they hit with an idiot aura? I came up with so many contingency plans and didn't use a single one..."

He truly had not expected the two to be so stubbornly reckless, charging straight at him to take his attack head-on.

If they had split up and coordinated their attacks from different angles, the outcome would not have changed, but they could at least have lasted a little longer.

Still, this saved him some trouble.

Inside the jewelry exhibition hall.

The instant the explosion sounded, the entire hall shook.

Chandeliers swayed, the glass display cases hummed, and several exhibits even slid off their stands and shattered on the floor.

Screams rang out one after another.

Visitors crouched with their hands over their heads or scrambled to find cover.

Mizai Istom stood up the moment the shaking began.

His gaze grew grave.

"Outside..."

A disturbance this violent could only mean Leo had made his move.

And judging by the tremors, this was no minor scuffle.

He was about to head toward the entrance when a series of impacts and dull thuds came from the rear door—that was Kanzai and Coyote's battle.

Mizai Istom paused, reaching a conclusion at once.

The Jackal Trio had split up.

At least one was outside, and the one inside... had to be dealt with quickly, before he could rush into the exhibition hall and cause even more chaos.

He turned and rushed toward the rear door.

In the freight passage, the battle had already reached a fever pitch.

Kanzai was covered in blood—most of it Coyote's, though his own left arm had a wound slashed open by a dagger.

Coyote was in far worse shape.

One of his arms was bent at an unnatural angle, clearly broken.

His face was covered in blood, his nose had caved in, and at least three ribs were broken.

But both were still fighting.

Kanzai hammered punch after punch at Coyote, while Coyote blocked and counterattacked with his one remaining arm, his dagger tracing streaks through the dim corridor.

"Bam!"

Another heavy punch blasted Coyote into the wall, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

His gaze began to lose focus. He knew he would not last much longer.

This Hunter in front of him... was too strong.

It was not technique or an ability, just an overwhelming advantage in raw strength and speed.

Coyote bit the tip of his tongue, using the pain to keep himself conscious.

He saw another figure rushing toward him from the exhibition hall—a man in a suit with a steady presence.

It's over.

That final thought flashed through his mind.

The next second, Mizai Istom's knife-hand struck the back of his neck with perfect precision.

Coyote's vision went black, and he crumpled to the floor.

Kanzai leaned against the wall, panting heavily.

He glanced at the wound on his left arm and spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva.

"Tch... that dagger's pretty sharp."

Mizai Istom crouched to check Coyote's condition, confirmed he was merely unconscious, then looked at Kanzai's wound.

"It's not deep. That's good."

He tore a sleeve off his own shirt and quickly tied it tight above the wound on Kanzai's arm to slow the bleeding.

Then he took a small bottle from inside his jacket, poured out some powder, and sprinkled it over the wound—the powder hissed on contact, releasing white smoke.

Kanzai bared his teeth in pain but made no sound.

The two hauled the unconscious Coyote out of the freight passage and back into the exhibition hall.

The visitors were still panicking, and the sight of them bringing out a captive caused another stir.

Just then, at the main entrance.

Leo pushed open the door and walked in.

He was clean—his suit was barely even wrinkled, with only a little dust on the soles of his shoes.

His hands were empty, and his expression was as calm as if he had just returned from a stroll.

The instant Mizai Istom saw Leo, he understood.

"The other two... are both dead?"

Leo nodded without speaking.

Kanzai's eyes widened. He looked Leo up and down—no injuries, no exhaustion, not even a change in his breathing.

"Not bad!"

Kanzai grinned, even though the movement tugged painfully at his wound.

"I didn't expect you to be this strong! Looks like Old Ox picked the wrong guy!"

Leo smiled.

"Mr. Kanzai, you mean he picked the right guy."

"Uh..."

Kanzai scratched his head.

"That's what I meant."

Mizai Istom was silent for a few seconds.

He looked at Leo's calm face, then outside, and finally sighed.

"If possible..."

His voice was somewhat low.

"I'd still prefer you to show mercy. Bringing them before a court is the right thing to do. Indiscriminate killing... won't solve the problem."

Leo shrugged.

"But it can deal with the people causing it."

He said it quietly, but there was an unquestionable finality to his words.

Mizai Istom looked at Leo, his gaze conflicted.

He wanted to say something, but in the end he only shook his head and did not argue further.

Kanzai, on the other hand, was delighted. He gave Leo's shoulder a hearty slap with his uninjured hand.

"I'm starting to like you!"

He laughed.

"You're my kind of guy!"

Leo smiled without saying anything.

Mizai Istom took out his communicator and contacted the Hunter Association's logistics department.

After explaining the situation, he ended the call and looked at the other two.

"Let's leave first. The airship is already waiting for us."

The three escorted the unconscious Coyote out of the Minke Building under the visitors' startled, uncertain gazes.

Outside, the sun was still shining brightly. There was simply an enormous crater in the middle of the street now, along with corpses and blood scattered across the ground.

Leo glanced back at the crater one last time, then turned and followed Mizai Istom and Kanzai.