Kortopi, who was closest, reacted first. He reached out and grabbed Pakunoda.
But the next second, the chain binding Pakunoda wound around him as well.
Pakunoda strained with all her strength, but she could not budge the chain in the slightest. It was wrapped around her as though welded in place.
"Let go!"
Noticing something was wrong, Pakunoda immediately warned Kortopi.
By now, the chain was no longer just wrapped around her thighs. It had already spread to her waist.
If it had only been around her thighs, she could have saved herself by severing her legs, but now it seemed she could only be dragged away.
Unlike Kortopi, Franklin lunged forward and seized Great Serpent's tail the moment he saw the chain bind Pakunoda!
He couldn't let Great Serpent leave like this!
As Great Serpent unleashed his tremendous strength, Franklin's feet carved two deep furrows through the hard floor. Even so, Franklin could not stop Great Serpent from moving, only slow him down a little.
But that was enough, because the next second, Bonolenov charged along Great Serpent's body toward his head.
The black and white Divine Dogs followed close behind Bonolenov, but they could not keep up with his speed at all.
Bang!
Great Serpent smashed straight through the glass on the building's eighteenth floor. By then, Qiao Lun and Kurapika were already standing on his head.
The "zone" state had completely faded, but Qiao Lun also felt that his overall condition had recovered considerably.
He brought his hands together in front of him to cast another shadow, but this time, nothing emerged from the shadow beneath his feet.
Because the gesture Qiao Lun made was the one used to summon Divine Dogs!
The Divine Dogs pursuing Bonolenov suddenly leaped forward together when Qiao Lun made the gesture.
The black and white Divine Dogs collided in midair. There was no sound of impact, only the much larger Divine Dog: Totality born from the fusion of black and white!
When one of the two Divine Dogs died, all of that dog's power would flow into the other's body.
Qiao Lun had learned this while reading the manga.
And Divine Dog: Totality, born in that way, was stronger than ordinary Divine Dogs.
But the Ten Shadows Technique already had a method for fusing different shikigami to create stronger ones. Why couldn't that method be applied directly to the Divine Dogs?
With that thought in mind, Qiao Lun had simply chosen to fuse the two Divine Dogs, creating a new Divine Dog: the Divine Dog: Totality now charging forward.
This was entirely an inherent mechanism of the Ten Shadows Technique. Qiao Lun could not understand why Megumi Fushiguro did not know how to use it, since Megumi Fushiguro could fuse Toad and Nue to create "The Well's Unknown Abyss."
The ordinary Divine Dogs could not catch up with Bonolenov, but once the two fused and their strength combined, their explosive speed instantly brought the black-and-white Divine Dog: Totality, with intricate cursed technique markings on his head, right behind him.
His raised paw was larger than before, and the cursed energy coiling around it was even more terrifying.
Bang!
Bonolenov had never expected such a change behind him. Before he could thrust his spear at Kurapika, Divine Dog: Totality swatted him clean off Great Serpent's body.
Qiao Lun clearly saw tears appear in the conjured armor Bonolenov wore, with blood seeping out through them.
Clearly, Divine Dog: Totality's strength was already enough to break through all of Bonolenov's defenses.
But just as Bonolenov was knocked away, an explosion erupted at Great Serpent's tail.
It was Franklin.
Holding Great Serpent's tail, he had not unleashed "Double Machine Gun," but instead used the more powerful ability, "Palm Cannon"!
A new opening appeared in his palm, which was pressed against Great Serpent's skin.
It was a black hole larger than those at his finger joints. Unlike "Double Machine Gun," however, its attack was not instantaneous. It required time to charge.
That was why Franklin's ability only erupted after Bonolenov had been knocked away.
Great Serpent's tail could not withstand that point-blank blast at all. Franklin's "Palm Cannon" blew it straight into shredded flesh.
And the powerful Nen projectile that shattered the tail continued blasting upward along it!
From the look of it, Franklin intended to blast the entire Great Serpent to pieces, starting from the tail.
But before the Nen projectile could travel far, Divine Dog: Totality, who had knocked Bonolenov away, suddenly raised his paw.
Even more violent cursed energy gathered on his sharp claws. The instant he swung them down, Great Serpent was severed through the middle.
A roar escaped the serpent's mouth, but the enormous serpent, who had already smashed out of the building, plunged toward the ground as he roared.
Pakunoda, whom Kortopi had released, was dragged and flung out along with him!
That was right.
Kortopi had let go. As the chain was about to wind around him from Pakunoda, he had no choice but to release her.
But as he let go, a slender figure carrying a vacuum cleaner had already appeared at the shattered window.
"Suck up the chain!" Shizuku ordered "Blinky."
Powerful suction instantly burst from Blink[y]'s mouth. The chain, which was about to plunge downward with Pakunoda, suddenly stopped in midair, then actually entered a stalemate with Blink[y]'s suction.
But the stalemate did not last long at all, because as he fell, Qiao Lun had already recalled both Divine Dog: Totality and the gravely wounded Great Serpent into his shadow.
His hands formed another shadow-puppet gesture in midair.
So you wanted a tug-of-war?
An elephant head's silhouette was cast onto the building's wall in the moonlight. The next second, as the suction pulled him upward, Qiao Lun seized a tusk emerging from the shadow!
It was Max Elephant!
The moment the several-ton Max Elephant appeared, he shattered the balance between the two sides.
Blinky's suction overloaded outright, and the chain carried Pakunoda toward the ground below even faster.
Kurapika's gaze as he looked at Qiao Lun took on more of the look one gave a madman.
They were on the eighteenth floor!
Even if each floor was only three meters high, that was still over fifty meters. If they fell straight down like this, they would be smashed to pulp, elephant included.
Qiao Lun naturally understood the meaning in Kurapika's eyes. He smiled faintly, and when Max Elephant had carried them down to around the tenth floor, Max Elephant vanished, and on the building's
wall, lightning appeared. Nue suddenly burst out of it and clamped its beak around the chain.
The next second, their view rose sharply as Nue carried the three people linked by the chain straight into the sky.
But Nen projectiles also poured madly into the air at that moment, like antiaircraft guns firing volleys at a bomber!
Nue was simply too fast. Franklin's Nen projectiles were left far behind.
Standing at the shattered eighteenth-floor window, the Phantom Troupe members could only watch helplessly as Qiao Lun and Kurapika abducted Pakunoda!