What was thrown were fingernails.
And they ruthlessly pierced through Ginta's defenses.
Theoretically, to achieve this, three layers of Ginta's defense had to be breached.
First layer: the front of the arm.
Second layer: the back of the arm.
Third layer: the front of the chest.
Each location was protected by Nen released by Ginta. With such fortification, it was almost impregnable.
Yet, Ginta's defenses were utterly shattered.
The fingernails that didn't pierce through his body but remained mostly embedded within were perhaps the last shred of dignity Ginta retained from this attack.
In that previous situation, he could have dodged. But in that extremely short time, he considered his teammates standing behind him.
If he dodged, his teammates behind would be affected.
Based on this fleeting thought, he chose to directly take the hit and swiftly adjusted his Nen distribution, perfectly displaying the strength of a Star Hunter.
However, at the moment he fell, Ginta still couldn't believe this was the outcome.
After making that decision, he had already mentally prepared to be injured, but he hadn't imagined the wounds would be this severe.
Ginta collapsed, blood continuously flowing from the holes pierced by the fingernails.
Seeing this, Cheadle experienced a brief moment of panic but quickly calmed down.
She hurried to Ginta's side, raised a hand shimmering with Nen, and with precision and speed, pressed several points around Ginta's wounds.
Nen flowed from her fingers into Ginta's body, producing a slow but effective hemostatic effect.
"Fortunately, no vital organs were hit."
Cheadle breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it wasn't a fatal wound, it was okay.
However, given the current situation, such injuries were still not optimistic.
"That guy's... attack..."
Due to the pain, Ginta's eyebrows slightly furrowed, sweat continuously dripping down his face.
Three piercing wounds, although not enough to kill him on the spot, had rendered him combat ineffective.
"Yes, I saw it."
Cheadle replied heavily, then looked toward the Masked Man ahead.
She saw that the Masked Man's three fingernail-less fingers were visibly regrowing fingernails at a visible speed.
Noticing this, Mizaistom and the others' eyes slightly changed. 'Was this... a regeneration ability?'
The Masked Man paid no attention to the changes in Mizaistom and the others' expressions and eyes.
He took a step forward, moving toward the Association team, then raised his hands as if to repeat the trick, using his fingernails as throwing weapons.
In his eyes, the Association's members ahead, and even the copper mechanical lifeforms, were all stones blocking his path.
Watching the Masked Man fearlessly approach, Mizaistom's expression turned cold. He raised the yellow card toward the approaching Masked Man and sternly shouted, "Restraint!"
Abruptly, the Masked Man was immobilized on the spot, his right foot, which had stepped forward, suspended in mid-air, unable to land.
'I can't move...'
The Masked Man remained frozen in position, a flicker of confusion flashing across his face, unseen by others.
Mizaistom stared coldly at the Masked Man restrained by the yellow card while Nen continuously flowed from his body into the yellow card.
His ability was called Cross Game. By presenting three colored cards to a target, he could restrict the target's actions.
Blue cards could summon the target to court, yellow cards could restrain the target, and red cards could expel the target.
Just now, he used a yellow card, creating a secret room space invisible to the Masked Man, thereby forming a perfect effect of restricting movement.
This was a hard crowd-control skill, but it had drawbacks.
The ability was called Cross Game, and its effects were respectively summoning to court, restraint, and expulsion, equivalent to the steps of a court trial.
If a criminal or suspect is summoned to court, they have no right to refuse.
Therefore, Mizaistom's instant-control effect was unavoidable. Once a yellow card was shown, regardless of the target's consent, they would be controlled immediately.
However, similarly, the courtroom is isolated from the concept of 'damage'.
In other words, once Mizaistom used his ability on a target, he couldn't inflict any substantial damage on that target.
Mizaistom's personal philosophy was to prohibit all violence, so this ability suited him well.
In a one-on-one fight, the Cross Game's ability effect was rather useless. But in team combat, it was a god-tier skill.
"Now!"
After restraining the Masked Man, Mizaistom hurriedly reminded his teammates.
Not far from him, the two combat-type Pro Hunters suddenly moved, one left, one right, charging toward the Masked Man.
These two Pro Hunters, one named Zoey and the other named Lyu, were both Conjurers.
However, they greatly admired the Chairman, so they chose the Shingen-ryu path, which leaned more toward Enhancement.
In simple terms, they had slightly deviated from their original path ahead.
Nevertheless, what Shingen-ryu brought them wasn't all disadvantages… there were more advantages.
Such as powerful physical constitution and exquisite close-quarters combat skills.
Both of them knew the characteristics of Mizaistom's ability and deeply trusted its restraining effect.
Thus, as they rushed toward the Masked Man, they focused entirely on offense.
Knuckle blades, and knuckle dusters.
These were their respective Conjuration items.
Zoey used knuckle blades, and Liqiu used knuckle dusters.
To compensate for their lack of frontal offensive strength, they followed their own categories and respectively conjured items that could enhance close-quarters attack power.
Unfortunately, having wholeheartedly devoted themselves to Shingen-ryu, they hadn't expended energy to grant special abilities to their conjuration items. But because of this, the hardness of their knuckle blades and knuckle dusters was outstanding.
Armed with their respective weapons, Zoey and Lyu approached the Masked Man at their fastest speed.
The Nen Threads manipulated by the white swallowtail butterflies slowly drifted around the Masked Man.
"Too slow."
Watching the Nen Threads that could easily slice through copper mechanical lifeforms, Zoey and Liqiu remained undaunted. With nimble and agile movements, they avoided the slowly moving Nen Threads and successfully entered the range where they could attack the Masked Man.
"Die!"
The knuckle blades emitted a glow of Nen, cutting a bright arc through the air, aiming for the Masked Man's neck.
On the other side, knuckles condensed with high-density Nen smashed toward the Masked Man's temple.
The two attacked from left and right, pincering the Masked Man.
However, due to the mask's cover, including Mizaistom, Cheadle, and Ginta who were watching the battle, none saw the cold smile that flickered across the Masked Man's face.
The invisible secret room restraining the Masked Man suddenly shattered.
Shattering along with it was the yellow card in Mizaistom's hand.
The sudden change was like a heavy hammer brutally striking Mizaistom.
His pupils contracted sharply. He immediately opened his mouth, wanting to warn Zoey and Lyu, but... it was too late.
Restraint failed.
Those few short words didn't have time to be uttered. The Masked Man, having regained mobility, merely violently twisted his body left and right, disrupting the Nen Threads drifting around him.
Caught off guard, Zoey and Liqiu were swept by numerous Nen Threads. Their bodies instantly turned into hundreds of pieces, mingled with blood as they fell to the ground.
Watching this scene, Cheadle's breath caught slightly, while Mizaistom's mouth hung open, his expression turning extremely grim.