Heavy Pressure Breaks the Ice · Myriad Flavors Unleashed

The five of them took up positions around the ice cap and steadied their breaths.

A massive cap of Ten-Thousand-Year Mystic Ice lay across the center of the soup spring. More than ten thousand ingredients could be seen clearly sealed within the transparent ice—shrimp and shellfish, mushrooms, beast meat, sea vegetables, layer upon layer, like an icebound treasury of ingredients. The ice surface was as hard as Black Iron, and tapping it with a fingertip produced only a dull thud.

"Are you all ready?" Kurapika unfurled his Chains and drove them deep into the edge of the ice cap. "I'll secure the stress points. Gon will apply pressure from the front. Killua will use lightning to vibrate the ice fibers. Genos will add a gravity field for support. Leorio, reinforce us from the side."

"Understood!"

The four replied in unison, their Nen erupting at once.

Gon stood directly before the ice cap, Enhancement Nen surging wildly from his body, the white aura condensed almost into substance. He lowered his stance and sank his hips, slamming both palms against the ice as every muscle in his body tightened to the limit.

"Ha—!"

With a low roar, tremendous force poured through his arms and into the ice.

The ice cap did not budge.

Electricity crackled around Killua as lightning spread across the ice surface and slipped into its fissures, trying to loosen its internal structure. Blue-white arcs crawled over the ice with sizzling sounds, but left only a few shallow scorch marks on the surface.

"It's even harder than I expected." Killua gritted his teeth and raised his lightning output another level. "My lightning can't penetrate the deeper layers."

Kurapika's Chains stretched taut. More than a dozen Chains pulled and pressed at once, distributing force evenly across the entire ice cap. The