Switching quickly between connected or nearby shadows was no difficult feat for Qiao Lun.
So while Franklin was using Double Machine Gun to clear the ordinary people out of the venue, he had already traveled through the shadows and entered the shadow of the Nen user who had rushed out.
Qiao Lun knew who the woman rushing out was.
She was a bodyguard for the Nostrade Family and a colleague of Kurapika, one of the protagonists of the original story.
His name was Feitan, and his Nen Ability was "180-Minute Love Slave." As long as he could kiss someone on the lips, he could control them completely.
Qiao Lun now had two choices before him.
One was to emerge from the shadows and launch a surprise attack the instant Shizuku came after him. There was a very high chance he could seriously injure her or even kill her in one blow.
But if he really did that, he would most likely end up locked in a fight to the death with the Phantom Troupe.
The other was to ignore Feitan, move straight into Shizuku's shadow, and hide there while looking for a chance to escape.
But remembering the look in Feitan's eyes before he sank into the shadows, Qiao Lun knew hiding might not work.
So he made his choice in an instant.
Shizuku had two tasks. One was to guard the venue's entrance and let no one who came out escape. The other was to clean up both the venue and the corridor after the slaughter was over.
She was a little surprised that Feitan had managed to rush out so quickly.
But that was all. She only moved once Feitan had run a dozen or so meters away, partly because she wanted to see whether anyone else would rush out of the venue, and partly because Feitan's speed really did not seem fast to her.
So the instant she burst into motion, the distance between them began shrinking rapidly.
She raised Blinky high in her hands. It was Shizuku's weapon, something she had conjured.
Not only did it function as a vacuum cleaner, it could also serve as a hammer.
All she needed was a light swing, and the fleeing person who did not even dare look back would die!
But in the next second, the shadow on the floor changed. A sandbag-sized fist shot out of Feitan's shadow, stretched long beneath the lights.
Thud!
With a muffled grunt, Shizuku was blasted away even faster than she had charged in.
At the same time, Qiao Lun's figure was exposed right after the attack. His outstretched fist quickly drew back, meeting his other hand as it returned.
Qiao Lun held his left index and middle fingers together, and his ring and little fingers together, leaving a gap between his middle and ring fingers. With his other hand pressed against the web between his left thumb and index finger, and his thumb raised, he cast the shape of a dog's head onto the floor.
"Divine Dogs!"
Pitch-black shadows appeared in front of Qiao Lun, and two enormous wolves, one white and one black, charged out in an instant.
At that same moment, the black Divine Dog swiped a paw forward, while the White Divine Dogs turned and pounced toward Feitan, who was already nearing the door at the end of the corridor.
With a clang, the Black Divine Dogs' paw collided with an umbrella.
Behind the umbrella appeared a short figure with narrowed eyes. It was Feitan, who had come out of the venue.
The moment the Cursed Energy around Qiao Lun fluctuated, Feitan had picked up his trail.
The only reason he had waited until now to rush out was that Franklin's Double Machine Gun had only just stopped.
As for Shizuku, who had been knocked flying, Feitan did not care at all.
The Black Divine Dogs blocking him surprised him somewhat. He had not expected a beast to be able to stop his attack.
A Nen beast!
Feitan reached that conclusion in an instant. At the same time, he gave the umbrella handle a slight twist. The next moment, the tip of the umbrella held back by the Black Divine Dogs detached and shot toward its head like a bullet.
Blood sprayed. With its head wounded, the Black Divine Dogs had already opened its bloody maw and lunged to bite Feitan.
The Black Divine Dogs unleashed tremendous strength, as though trying to stamp the umbrella in Feitan's hands straight into the floor.
At the same time, Feitan noticed that Qiao Lun had disappeared.
An alarm of danger exploded in his mind. Feitan pressed with a fingertip and retreated as the Black Divine Dogs slammed the umbrella's canopy into the floor. A slender sword was now in the retreating Feitan's hand.
He drove the slender sword forward in a burst, stabbing toward his own shadow on the floor.
At the same time, Feitan, completely unaware of the changes behind him, had approached the door at the end of the corridor. All he had to do was open it, and he could rush outside.
A spark of hope flared in Feitan's eyes.
But the next instant, an enormous snow-white wolf pounced on him and sent him flying.
The instant he was knocked away, the corridor door opened. But outside was not the mafia backup Feitan had hoped for, but a tall, powerfully built figure brimming with wildness.
"What's going on?" Uvogin's deep voice came from the doorway he blocked, carrying a note of challenge.
But in the very next second, a fist shot out of the shadow beneath Uvogin's feet and smashed toward the center of his back.
The change happened far too quickly.
So quickly that Uvogin was sent flying before he could even register what had happened.
Qiao Lun took Uvogin's place, standing in the doorway at the end of the corridor.
His brows lifted slightly. He could tell that this punch was nowhere near enough to deal Uvogin a fatal injury. Instead, it might enrage the beast.
At that thought, Qiao Lun quickly brought his hands together before him, hooked his thumbs together, and extended his other eight fingers straight out, making the shape of an eagle taking flight.
"Nue!"
Pitch-black shadows spread beside Qiao Lun, and Nue appeared behind him, wearing a white mask, with an owl-like form, orange-brown plumage, and sharp claws and fangs.
The next second, a window of the Semetary Building shattered. Qiao Lun crouched over Nue's back as it shot out of the building with Feitan clutched in its talons.
The two Divine Dogs in the corridor sank simultaneously into the shadows on the floor and vanished.
Uvogin emerged from the broken wall, his expression grim, but there was no visible injury on him.
He had already prepared for battle before the door opened. Although the speed and angle of his opponent's surprise attack had both been extremely tricky, its force had not been enough to fully break through his defenses. It had merely caused him a little pain.
He silently walked to the window and looked up at Nue flying away high overhead.
"Interesting." Feitan and Shizuku came over as well. It was Feitan who spoke.
Traveling through shadows, and even being able to summon two types
of Nen beasts-his opponent was clearly an expert.
"He won't get away." Uvogin revealed a savage grin. Then, without waiting for Feitan to say anything, he leaped out through the shattered window.
"Let's clean up first." Franklin's voice came from the venue entrance nearby, stopping Feitan just as he was about to follow.
With traces of blood at the corner of her mouth, Shizuku looked out the window, then rubbed the spot where she had been hit before turning and following Feitan with an expressionless face.
From Nue's back, Qiao Lun turned to look down at the base of the building. He did not see what he had been worried about, which made him breathe a slight sigh of relief.
As for Uvogin, who subsequently leaped out of the window, he did not care.