A Luo had been hiding behind the curtains all along. Only when Chrollo confronted Hisoka about killing Omokage did she belatedly recognize the head he had tossed inside as belonging to the Phantom Troupe's Number Four, Omokage.
Especially after hearing Hisoka readily admit that he had killed Omokage, A Luo silently cursed that perverted fruit farmer.
Accident, my ass. Obviously, your twisted urge to fight flared up just as you ran into a Troupe member who'd come here to find Chrollo and the others for whatever reason.
Talk about an utterly undeserved disaster for Omokage!
Then the two sides simply launched into an all-out fight.
The combined assault from Machi, Feitan, and Pakunoda clearly put Hisoka under considerable pressure.
At least, with all three attacking him, he could no longer spare the effort to provoke Chrollo.
Hidden behind the curtains, A Luo watched the chaotic melee, barely able to keep up.
Then Chrollo stood up on his own initiative, opened his copy of Skill Hunter, and began murmuring something toward the three still fighting in the lobby.
What was Chrollo trying to do?
Was he going to get ruthless with Hisoka?
Was a little butterfly like her really that powerful? One flap of her tiny wings had made Hisoka meet Chrollo ahead of schedule, and now she was going to get Hisoka killed, too?
The next second, Lola felt an incredibly powerful tug, dragging her straight into the center of the encirclement formed by the three Spiders.
She took Machi's, Pakunoda's, and Feitan's attacks simultaneously in someone else's place!
Agonizing pain shot through her neck, both hands, and thighs at once. A Luo let out a heart-rending "Aaaah!"
As for the culprit who had dragged her in to serve as his shield?
Hisoka chuckled and darted in front of Chrollo, interrupting the Troupe leader's murmuring.
"Boss? Is this your Nen Ability? Specialization? ♥ What happens if you finish that incantation? With a chant that long, does the chosen target die instantly once you're done? ♣"
Chrollo dodged the playing card in Hisoka's hand, its edge as lethal as a blade, and looked at him.
"Why don't you try it?"
Then, while exchanging blows with Hisoka, he doggedly began reciting the incantation again.
The other three Spiders weren't idle, either. They didn't even glance at A Luo lying on the floor covered in blood, all rushing toward Hisoka to coordinate their attacks with Chrollo.
What should I do?
At this rate, who knows what'll happen to Hisoka, but I'm probably going to bleed to death first.
A Luo struggled to prop up her upper body and tried to crawl toward the hotel entrance.
The ordinary people who had fled earlier must have called the police. Even if the area around Heavens Arena was lawless, judging by its size, this hotel didn't look like it belonged to some nobody.
Big families and financial conglomerates like that generally maintained guards and hired muscle of their own.
Enough time should have passed for those people to respond-not just them, but the police and medical personnel, too.
As long as she could crawl through those doors, she might be able to beg someone to treat her.
Unfortunately, the idea sounded nice, but reality was cruel.
Just as A Luo made her first crawling movement and faintly heard sirens outside, Hisoka suddenly stopped fighting.
"That little shorty just said that since I killed Number Four, your rules say I either join or get killed by you... What does that mean? ♥"
Feitan was furious. Ignoring the fact that Hisoka had stopped, he shot toward him again like an arrow loosed from a bow.
Hisoka flicked out a card and lightly pushed off with his toes, using Bungee Gum to spring swiftly behind Chrollo.
"What a headache! My tastes have always run strictly to one-on-one, you know. Fighting all of you just now was already an exception! ♥"
His uniquely cloying yet magnetic voice sounded softly beside Chrollo's ear. The dark-haired, dark-eyed Troupe leader's pupils contracted slightly as he turned to look at the pervert who had suddenly appeared beside him.
"What exactly are you after?"
Hisoka chuckled, straightened up, and swept his hand outward, sending countless playing cards flying.
"Nothing much! Before, I just wanted to fight you alone. But now I seem to have found something more interesting, so I've changed my mind for the moment. How about I join your Phantom Troupe? ♥"
Chrollo: "..."
Feitan: "..."
Machi: "..."
Pakunoda: "..."
A Luo: "...?"
Which psychiatric hospital had this lunatic escaped from? Was there even the slightest bit of logic connecting anything he said?
Besides, why should he get to join just because he wanted to?
Feitan, in particular, had just been viciously called a shorty by Hisoka.
Behind his skull-patterned face covering, Feitan's dark gold eyes blazed with fury.
"You think you can join just because you say so? What gives you the right?"
Hisoka cast a flirtatious glance at Chrollo.
"Boss~ ♥"
Before Chrollo could answer, Machi spoke first.
"Feitan! Don't forget our rules. Aside from being recruited by the leader, new members can also kill an existing member, inherit their number, and become a member of the Troupe."
Pakunoda said nothing, but she seemed to be siding with Machi as well.
Feitan looked at Chrollo. When the leader voiced no objection to Hisoka joining, he knew Hisoka's position as Number Four was settled.
With a shout, he shattered the lobby's crystal chandelier with a slash, then noticed A Luo still doggedly dragging herself toward the entrance.
"What about her? She looks like she's about to die. What do we do with her now?"
A Luo turned around, meeting the gazes of the fruit farmer and the four Spiders.
Hisoka: "Our little cutie promised to be my middleman and round up little fruits for me! Wouldn't it be such a waste to let her die like this? ♣"
Chrollo: A Luo still had so many secrets. She couldn't die before he got those answers.
Feitan: He still hadn't repaid the humiliation he'd suffered when he couldn't move. If this little brat was going to die, it could only be at his hands.
Machi: Hmm, she hadn't gotten tired of the little cook's food yet. Maybe she should save her after all.
Pakunoda: The leader probably didn't want this little one dead just yet.
And so, before the police and ambulance arrived, the four Spiders and the perverted fruit farmer suddenly reached a reconciliation and made peace.
Before fleeing, they even remembered to bring along A Luo, who was drenched in blood.
Feeling Machi stitch her battered body back together with Nen stitches, A Luo nestled in Chrollo's arms and turned to look at Hisoka bringing up the rear.
Should I say he really is a born Transmutation user?
Cherishing something like a priceless treasure one second, discarding it like a worn-out shoe the next-that was the truest reflection of Hisoka's personality.
Barely half an hour ago, he'd been obsessed with fighting the leader. How little time had passed, and now he was already a well-behaved, obedient member of the Phantom Troupe?
In a world where A Luo alone had gotten hurt throughout the whole ordeal, the girl couldn't help silently demanding an answer from the heavens.
Who on earth had I offended to deserve this?!
Before you continue