Box × Phone

Nampis Auction House.

Though it was midnight, the grounds outside were brightly lit, with all sorts of people shouting orders in anxiety or anger.

All kinds of equipment, weapons, and even construction vehicles took turns unleashing everything they had on the building before them.

Drobada stood in front of the Twelfth Prince, keeping the dust thrown into the air from settling on Mumuzawa.

They had hurriedly retreated to an open space some distance from the building.

Drobada had just received a message from Dio containing only a few simple words:

"Stay back. The building's about to collapse."

The moment he saw the message, he knew Dio had dealt with the enemies inside. That was how he had known ahead of time that the building was going to collapse.

Knowing full well that a mere collapsing building could not endanger a Nen user like Dio, Drobada promptly told everyone to find an inconspicuous clearing and wait.

Sure enough, just seconds after they came to a stop, the building before them began visibly shaking from the inside out.

The shaking grew more and more violent. At the same time, the windows, which had looked as though they were veiled in mist, began shattering one after another.

This strange development, entirely unlike anything before it, naturally drew plenty of attention.

The workers who had been sweating away were all frightened into stopping in their tracks, while those directing the assault on the building were equally bewildered and alarmed.

Unlike them, Drobada had been searching for something in the darkness all along.

Just as he had expected, he soon spotted a figure darting past an inconspicuous window on the building's second floor.

At the same time, however, the building finally reached its limit and began breaking apart, like a child's stack of blocks being knocked over.

Huge sections of wall, shards of glass, and peeling plaster fell amid billowing dust and screams that rose one after another.

BOOM!-

The deafening crashes of falling walls and bricks rang out in an unbroken barrage.

Standing behind the wall of guards, Mumuzawa stiffened. Her expression changed abruptly as she watched the building collapse, her eyes filled with disbelief.

Drobada, however, quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

With a Nen user's astonishing eyesight, he had already seen an inconspicuous figure leap out of the building with something tucked under his arm before the collapse, disappearing into the night.

Sure enough, shortly afterward, just as Mumuzawa recovered from her shock and, looking distressed, tried to push past the guards to investigate-

A rush of footsteps rang out clearly.

Carrying Bokushin under his arm, who had been knocked unconscious by the impact of landing, Dio abruptly burst into the group from a direction none of them had expected-behind them.

"Mr. Dio!"

Upon reaching the group, Dio did not immediately respond to Mumuzawa's delighted cry. Instead, he spoke gravely to Drobada:

"Let's go. Things are about to get messy here."

Then he turned to Mumuzawa and said:

"Your Highness, please return to the hotel at once."

Hearing the seriousness in Dio's voice, Mumuzawa forced down the jumble of emotions inside her and obediently hurried toward the convoy with her guards.

Along the way, however, she still stole occasional glances at the unconscious Bokushin tucked under Dio's arm:

What happened inside...? I'll ask Miss Bokushin later...

Come to think of it, why is Mr. Dio still carrying her under his arm? Surely he could let someone else carry her now that we're here...

Dio, who hurried into a car and told the driver to get moving, paid no attention to such minor details. He tossed Bokushin into the back seat and took the front passenger seat himself.

His warning that things were about to get messy here had not been baseless.

Just moments earlier, when he jumped out of the window, he had used his elevated vantage point to take a quick look around and spotted more than one ability user radiating obvious fluctuations of Nen Aura.

Fortunately, he had immediately used [Zetsu] to diminish his presence and, while the collapsing building drew everyone's attention, successfully vanished into the darkness and dust.

Those Nen users were undoubtedly trouble, though. If they entangled him, things might end in another violent clash.

Although Dio's Ripple reserves had recovered a little over time, fighting another group battle in an open area was clearly unwise.

Too bad I haven't finished developing [Atmosphere Creator] yet. Otherwise...

Dio idly mused as he watched the scenery slide past the window.