"Animals, huh? Now that you mention it, that announcer at the venue also said a tall man called Owl went into the vault once, and then everything inside the vault disappeared," Uvogin recalled.
"Oh? A Nen user with an ability similar to Shizuku's? But with so many people at the venue suddenly disappearing, the Mafia will definitely realize their opponents are Nen users too, so they'll take appropriate countermeasures~" Chrollo gave the final verdict.
Leaning against the side of the balloon airship, Uvogin said, "Heh~ the Mafia's strongest Shadow Beasts, huh? I got excited when I first heard the news, but after hearing what Number 12 said, I'm not that interested anymore. Whatever, I'll just treat it as a little warm-up. Can I go meet them?"
"Yes. Like Ilo did, give the Mafia's underlings a taste of pain. When that happens, the Shadow Beasts will definitely show themselves on their own. Wipe out the entire unit~"
…
While Uvogin was talking to Chrollo, the Mafia side also discovered their balloon airship. One phone call after another was made. Some people, eager to perform in front of the Ten Dons, had already set out toward the place where the balloon had landed. Rumor had it that the Ten Dons had already dispatched the Shadow Beasts. They had to get there before them.
Kurapika's group was also on the road and was about to come face-to-face with the Phantom Troupe. Kurapika's heart was surging violently.
Inside a luxury hotel.
"Looks like tonight is destined to be restless. It's so noisy I can't sleep anyway, so I'm going out to take a look." Roy stood up. Android 18, who had been leaning against him, said nothing more, only, "Go and come back quickly."
"Yeah. I should be back before dawn. Don't worry. You should know better than anyone that, with my strength, no one in this city is my match," Roy said to reassure her.
And in his heart, he added one more sentence.
"Besides, there's also that guy Ilo~"
Thinking that, he released a trace of his aura.
"If that guy has also come to this city, then he'll definitely be able to sense it!"
"Hm?" In a certain abandoned building far away, Ilo, who had been casually killing time, suddenly sat up straight.
In that empty and silent building, his action was especially eye-catching, and everyone present turned their eyes toward him.
"Lord Roy's aura? Releasing it so openly… is he summoning us?~"
Ilo pondered silently, but his expression remained unchanged as he slowly rose to his feet.
"Let me show you, Lord Roy, how much my strength has grown during this period~!"
"What is it?" Chrollo asked Ilo softly.
"Ah~ an acquaintance of mine has also come to this city. We had an appointment before, so I'm going to meet him."
"Do you need help?"
"Absolutely not, Boss~"
…
Watching Ilo's departing figure, Chrollo's gaze deepened.
"Phinks~ we still don't know Ilo well, and he hasn't reached the point where we can trust him."
"I understand, Boss. Leave it to me," Phinks, dressed like an Egyptian pharaoh, replied.
Then he followed him out as well.
"I just hope you don't have any special ideas, Ilo~"
For a time, the empty building returned to silence once more. Only Hisoka wore a soundless smile.
What Hisoka could see, the other members of the Troupe naturally could see as well. That was also the reason they still had not lowered their guard against Ilo.
"But for the sake of my fight with Chrollo, no matter who it is, anyone who gets in my way… I won't let them off~"
Thinking that, Hisoka once again reached for—
"Huh? I clearly remember leaving a deck of playing cards here before. Why is it gone???"
"So he came after me? That aura… Phinks?" Ilo glanced back. He had naturally learned how to sense aura as well.
But even though someone had followed him out, Ilo did not care at all. The gap in strength between them was far too great, especially with someone like Phinks, a straightforward Enhancement-Type who didn't have any particularly special abilities.
The night was long, and there was plenty of time. Ilo could sense Roy's location, so he headed over at an unhurried pace, leading Phinks behind him.
Meanwhile, at the place where the hot-air balloon had landed, some Mafia families eager to earn merit before the Ten Dons had already surrounded Uvogin and the others.
"I'll take care of all of them myself," Uvogin said, unable to restrain himself any longer as he jumped straight down.
"Looks like there's nothing for us to do~"
"No need to worry. I've got this." Off to the side, Shalnark smilingly took out a deck of playing cards.
"You even brought that with you… O_O"
"Because there just happened to be one back at the base, so I grabbed a set on the way~"
And so an utterly bizarre scene appeared on the battlefield. Down below, Uvogin was slaughtering everyone in his path in a one-man massacre, while up above, Shalnark, Machi, and the others cheerfully played cards.
Nearby, Nobunaga and Feitan watched Uvogin's performance with great interest, occasionally even offering commentary~
While Uvogin harvested lives, more and more Mafia men rushed to the scene from far away, all of them coming only to die. That must have been very hard on them~~~
"Ora ora ora! Die!!!"
As Uvogin unleashed his frenzied slaughter, the remaining Nostrade Family bodyguards, including Kurapika, also arrived at the scene.
Originally, they wanted to charge in like the other Mafia families, but Kurapika forcibly stopped them.
"Wait! Something's wrong," Kurapika said coolly.
When the Mafia men who entered the battlefield brought out armor-piercing rifles and rocket launchers powerful enough to destroy tanks, yet still failed to inflict any real damage on Uvogin, every Nostrade bodyguard on the nearby high ground broke out in a cold sweat.
"There's actually someone like this… He blocked a rocket with just one hand." Squala of the bodyguard team swallowed hard.
(End of Chapter)
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