Kurapika's Duel

"You bastard! You did that on purpose!"

Leorio pointed at Tonpa, who was still on the platform pretending to wipe away tears, the veins on his forehead bulging with rage.

"That idiot practically had 'paper' written all over his face, and you threw rock? How have you survived this long?"

"I... I really didn't do it on purpose!" Tonpa walked down from the platform, looking deeply wronged. His display of anguish might actually have fooled Lin Yan if he hadn't already seen through him.

"Who knew he'd really throw paper? I thought he was trying to bait me!"

"You!" Leorio was too furious to get another word out.

"Enough, Leorio." Kurapika stopped him, his voice icy. "This isn't the time to assign blame. We've already lost one round. We need to focus on the matches ahead."

Gon ran over to help calm things down. "Yeah, Leorio, don't be angry. Maybe Mr. Tonpa really was just unlucky."

Killua stood off to the side with his arms folded, watching Tonpa coldly, a mocking smile tugging at his lips. He had already seen through the man's true nature; he simply couldn't be bothered to expose him.

Lin Yan stood nearby without a word.

His calm gaze swept over the prisoners opposite them.

Tonpa's betrayal had been entirely within his expectations. Ever since his Qi Observation technique had revealed Tonpa's foul, rotten aura, he had known the man couldn't be trusted.

Right now, he was more concerned about their next opponent.

After reaching Foundation Establishment, his Qi Observation technique could reveal more than an aura's color and shape. He could perceive the texture of qi on a deeper level.

For instance, the gaunt prisoner who had just beaten Tonpa also had a gray aura, but its texture was extremely thin, like a layer of mist. That meant he possessed little strength himself and was merely cannon fodder pushed to the front.

The scar-faced leader, on the other hand, had a dark red aura, thick as clotted blood and filled with brutality and cunning.

Just then, a series of heavy footsteps broke the standoff.

Someone even more troublesome stepped forward.

An enormous prisoner emerged from the opposing group. With every step he took, the ground seemed to tremble slightly.

Most disturbing of all were the stitch marks covering his hideous face and the malice in his gaze, as though their lives meant nothing to him.

"The second round is a fight to the death."

The hulking man pulled open his shirt, revealing a sinister design on his back-a spider with twelve legs.

"The Phantom Troupe?!" Leorio cried out, cold sweat instantly soaking his back.

The moment that sinister spider tattoo came into view, Lin Yan felt the air beside him seemingly freeze.

He turned his head and saw Kurapika's back shudder violently.

Through Lin Yan's Qi Observation, Kurapika's blue aura, previously as tranquil as water, suddenly seemed to have boiling lava poured into it. In that instant, it transformed into a deep crimson, violently raging, oppressive, and steeped in destruction.

That wasn't Nen, but a nearly cursed form of life energy rooted deep in his bloodline.

"I'll do it."

Kurapika's voice had changed, turning low and hoarse, with a chill that sent shivers down the spine.

He slowly walked onto the arena platform, each footfall heavy.

It was as though every step landed on the blade of hatred.

"Oh? Another pretty boy coming to die?" The hulking man swung his massive fists, cruel amusement filling his eyes. "I'll crush your bones one by one, just like all those people I killed before..."

"Shut up."

Kurapika raised his head.

Below the platform, Lin Yan's pupils narrowed slightly.

He saw that Kurapika's once-clear brown eyes had turned crimson, as magnificent as rubies yet as harrowing as fresh blood.

It was the most beautiful color in the world, and the curse behind the Kurta Clan's extermination.

"If you're a member of the Phantom Troupe, there's nothing more to say."

Those eyes made the hulking man's skin crawl, but he still roared and charged like a tank, his spiked iron fist driving straight at Kurapika's face!

"Die!"

Yet Kurapika didn't dodge.

At the critical moment, just before the wind of the punch struck his face, Kurapika abruptly dropped low. His body became a red afterimage, skimming along the ground and slipping inside the hulking man's reach.

"So fast!" Killua's gaze sharpened. This wasn't mere speed; some kind of explosive latent potential had been ignited in an instant.

Kurapika held his fingers together like a blade. The edge of his hand gave a faint whistle as it sliced through the air, striking the hulking man's wrist joint with perfect precision.

Crack!

A crisp sound of breaking bone rang out.

"Aagh!" The hulking man screamed, his fierce punch instantly collapsing.

Expressionless, Kurapika moved without the slightest pause. He rose with the momentum, drove his knee hard into the man's lower abdomen, then seized his neck with both hands. With a twist of his waist, he executed a textbook shoulder throw, slamming the body, which weighed over two hundred pounds, into the stone floor.

Boom!

The floor cracked, and stone fragments flew.

Kurapika swung himself astride the hulking man's chest, the crimson in his eyes growing ever more eerie. He used no flashy moves, only his fists, smashing them into that terror-stricken face again and again.

"Tell me. Are you a member of the Phantom Troupe?"

"M-mercy... It's a tattoo... It's fake..." His face covered in blood, the hulking man begged incoherently.

At the word "fake," Kurapika's fist stopped in midair.

The crimson in his eyes flickered slightly. Far from subsiding, his savage aura grew even colder at having been deceived.

"First, a real Spider has a number."

"Second, don't ever... mention that name in front of me."

Kurapika abruptly stood, his right leg sweeping across like a steel whip and striking the man's temple with crushing force.

The hulking man didn't even grunt. His body slid several meters across the floor, and he fell unconscious, his fate unknown.

The entire arena fell deathly silent.

Kurapika stood where he was, his chest heaving. Only after a long while did he slowly close his eyes.

When he opened them again, they had returned to their original brown, but the sorrow etched deep into his bones refused to fade.

Watching him step down from the platform, Lin Yan marveled inwardly.

Although Kurapika still didn't know what Nen was, the life energy he had unleashed with the power of those Scarlet Eyes had already touched the edge of that realm.

It was a fire of vengeance, fueled by lifespan and hatred, ignited without regard for the consequences.

"One to one."

Kurapika walked past the others, his voice weary and cold.

"The next round is yours."

Leorio swallowed as he watched Kurapika's somewhat frail back, realizing for the first time that this seemingly gentle, refined companion