Swoosh!
Hisoka rushed forward and took the initiative. No matter what Chrollo said, fighting was the best proof. The smile on Hisoka's face turned ferocious. During his years in the Phantom Troupe, even though he never learned Chrollo's background, he had a clear understanding of his abilities and fighting style.
In terms of physical ability, he was definitely better!
Chrollo held the book in one hand while pulling a strangely shaped short blade from his clothing with the other. Not quite a dagger, more like a razor-sharp knife. He lowered his stance without retreating, responding to Hisoka's attack with a calm smile.
"Your ability, what is it?" Chrollo, who was off the field, opened the book and asked curiously.
Chrollo excelled at using his mind to fight indirect battles. A frontal confrontation wasn't advantageous to him, and he was surely aware of that himself.
"Hehehe!" Hisoka laughed as he approached Chrollo.
The poker cards he'd thrown earlier were easily dodged by Chrollo, but their purpose was only to disrupt his defensive stance.
Papapapa!
Hisoka unleashed a flurry of punches. Chrollo dodged with effortless body swings while simultaneously countering with the sharp blade in his hand. Sensing the highly poisonous nature of the knife, Hisoka acted with extreme caution and dodged in response.
"Strange," Illumi whispered.
"Did you notice it too?" she looked at him vaguely.
"Yes, his aura seems to surpass Hisoka's. That's why he dares to fight Hisoka directly." Illumi nodded. Logically, Chrollo shouldn't have that much power, the only explanation was the candy he had eaten earlier.
"Inheritance" The word came to mind.
The collected nen of his troupe was a kind of inherited energy. It lacked consciousness, it was simply raw power. Even so, it seemed that Chrollo had been temporarily elevated to the sub-world class level.
The two fighters moved across the battlefield and fought viciously. Hisoka's attack seemed intense, fierce, and deadly, yet he held back. His strategy was to force Chrollo into close combat and prevent him from properly controlling the book in his hand, thus limiting his Nen abilities. At the same time, he observed, trying to discern the unknown nature of Chrollo's abilities.
"It's about to begin," came a faint whisper.
Chrollo's physical abilities were impressive. In the original timeline, during the Yorknew City auction, he had faced both Silva and Zeno in a two-on-one situation. Although he didn't last long, he showed considerable skill.
In other words, every member of the Phantom Troupe, even the weakest like Kortopi, possessed physical abilities far beyond those of ordinary Nen users.
Not to mention, Chrollo's power had now reached a whole new level.
On the battlefield, Chrollo continued to retreat, ducking under Hisoka's overhead kick. The blade in his hand rose to Hisoka's face, always looking for angles to counter rather than initiating aggression.
Hisoka tilted his head slightly, but the tip of the knife still sliced off some of his hair. With his fingers hidden behind his back, he activated his ability and the cards that had fallen to the ground suddenly flew up from Chrollo's side, attacking like hidden weapons.
At the same time, Hisoka used his other hand to wrap sticky bungee gum around Chrollo's arm, which hadn't retreated in time, making it impossible for him to dodge or resist. Chrollo's only free hand held the book.
"Compared to him, you are too simple," Chrollo remained calm despite the danger and smiled at Hisoka.
He twisted the blade in his hand, instantly slicing through Hisoka's aura, breaking free of the restraints and hurling the dagger at Hisoka.
With several whooshes, the sharp cards pierced Chrollo's windbreaker, but missed his body because Chrollo had already slipped out of his coat. The clothes fell to the ground as Chrollo disappeared from Hisoka's sight.
Hisoka dodged the thrown blade and was about to turn around when his feet suddenly slipped. Looking down, he discovered that the ground, originally paved with stone slabs, had become smooth as glass. Standing on it provided no friction for his shoes, throwing his body off balance.
In that moment of vulnerability, a powerful force struck from behind.
Bang!
A heavy blow crashed into Hisoka's temple with tremendous force, instantly leaving his eyes bloodshot and blood dripping from the corners of his mouth.
Chrollo's attack was far more powerful than expected.
Even with time to defend, Chrollo's aura now exceeded his own, thanks to those candies. Moreover, the attack was aimed at a fatal spot.
Hisoka's reaction was quick. He used the Bungee Gum from his feet to stick to his lower limbs, preventing himself from falling and keeping his balance. The challenge now was that he would have to release and reapply his aura with each subsequent movement or he would barely be able to stand.
After absorbing the blow, Hisoka used his ability to turn and counterattack.
But Chrollo was exceptionally cunning. After his successful strike, he retreated, circling Hisoka like an ice skater, his not-so-long black hair fluttering as his body moved with light grace.
He himself seemed unaffected by the slippery floor.
"The second," Oboro observed.
If Quick's nen ability gave Chrollo the power to face him, that is, raw aura, the effect of that ability was obvious.
Making the battlefield his domain.
"In his plan, he wanted a one-on-one fight with me, a duel between men." Oboro smiled vaguely.
If he hadn't been so strong, if he had been just a little weaker on the subworld level, Chrollo might have tricked him or even killed him if the troupe members hadn't been eliminated so quickly.
Ever since Oboro had put him in the "shackles," Chrollo seemed to have been making preparations.
When masters of that caliber fought, it wasn't just a contest of aura, but of strategy and battlefield performance.
Hisoka quickly analyzed that he couldn't stay in this "transformed" terrain. He wanted to use external objects, expanding and contracting his Bungee Gum to pull himself away, but Chrollo had anticipated this intention. In this environment, his movement speed was many times faster than Hisoka's.
Although Hisoka could move, every step or turn required him to use the Bungee Gum to secure his lower limbs, preventing awkward movements. This complicated his attacks and increased his cognitive load.
He tried several times to use his ability, but Chrollo disrupted each attempt by advancing quickly and launching ferocious attacks from all angles.
Whenever Hisoka showed signs of a counterattack, Chrollo would not engage, instead remaining calm and retreating immediately.
"Hisoka is like an insect caught in a spider's web," Illumi observed coolly. "Even though the area affected by the ability is less than a hundred meters in range and the opponent is forewarned, he can't escape and can only passively endure the attack."
A controlling ability, you might say.
"The situation is dire, Hisoka will die," Illumi said with his characteristic frankness.
As he spoke, Hisoka took advantage of an opening when Chrollo jumped and ran after another successful sneak attack. He used the bungee gum on his shoes to stick to the ground, trying to escape the battlefield. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to fight Chrollo 'fairly', as his opponent would always have the home field advantage.
However, after advancing only a few meters, Chrollo reappeared and kicked him back.
Since Bungee Gum couldn't be projected onto surrounding objects to pull himself away, he couldn't escape.
The fight had become one-sided!
Hisoka shielded his head with his arms as Chrollo hit him like a punching bag. The heavy blows put him in a precarious position.
With Hisoka's combat experience, as long as he didn't give Chrollo an opening, he could handle it. The problem was that if this continued, he would be worn down to the point of death! Chrollo's strength and energy exceeded his own. Even though he was able to defend himself, he was still taking damage and his energy consumption was exceeding his opponent's.
"You are too weak," Chrollo remarked with a grim smile as he saw Hisoka seemingly lose his offensive spirit and focus only on protecting his vital points.
In the gap between the attacks, silver light flashed in Chrollo's hand as another oddly shaped short knife appeared and thrust forward.
He had several hidden weapons.
Both hands are free. Even if the book is closed, the ability remains active! Hisoka realized.
As expected, Chrollo had a hidden trick.
He noticed what looked like a bookmark.
Chrollo had held the book before, but only to create confusion.
Despite his battered state, Hisoka seemed to enjoy it and found it delicious.
As the knife was about to pierce his abdomen, Hisoka suddenly opened his arms that had been protecting his head and said in a strange tone: "Be careful, you don't want to hurt your companions!
After speaking, Hisoka pulled his arm away and Machi's expression suddenly changed. An uncontrollable force lifted her feet from the ground and sent her flying directly into the fight between the two men, placing her between them. Gathering her wits and using Gyo, Machi discovered that Hisoka had at some point attached a piece of "gum" to her body and covered it with In.
Normally, she would have noticed it, but the shock Oboro had given her and her disturbed mental state had dulled her awareness.
It happened just now when Hisoka greeted her.
"Damn it!" Machi yelled.
"Don't be angry," Hisoka smiled.
Machi's sudden appearance forced Chrollo to retract his knife and catch his companion.
Hisoka seized this fleeting opportunity to make the killing move he had planned.
card in his hand, using Machi as a visual obstacle, he swung it at Chrollo.
The latter had anticipated it, but Hisoka's movements were too quick. In addition, concern for Machi distracted him, preventing Chrollo from defending in time. Uncertain of where the attack would land, he couldn't direct his aura properly.
The card sliced through Chrollo's cheek, leaving a deep gash that immediately began to bleed.
Before Machi could regain her footing, she had already attacked Hisoka, but it was too late.
Though the ground remained slippery, the area was littered with bodies and scattered debris from tables and chairs. Hisoka used these as a foothold to jump beyond the range of Chrollo's ability.
Previously, Chrollo had repeatedly blocked his escape attempts, but now that Chrollo was worried about Machi, he had no time to "take care of" Hisoka.
"Too bad," Hisoka had failed to inflict any fatal wounds on Chrollo. He licked the blood from the card with his tongue and chuckled.
Chrollo held Machi to prevent her from falling and looked at his distant opponent with cold indifference. "Very despicable, I thought you really wanted to fight me one-on-one."
Machi glared at her former comrade.
"I can't help it. Since you brought in outside forces, I had to make preparations. After all, I don't want to die here," Hisoka replied with a smile, seemingly unaware of Chrollo's sarcasm.
He didn't look well, his hair disheveled, his body bruised and lacerated.
"She's the only one he could target," Illumi remarked, finding Hisoka's choice reasonable. Using Bungee Gum on anyone else present would have been detected, only Machi was vulnerable due to her emotional state.
"However, even escaping the affected zone only restores his mobility. Hisoka's disadvantage remains."
"Chrollo must have many other tricks in store for you," Illumi looked down at Oboro who was sitting on a corpse.
"Who knows? Let's keep watching."