Just then, Kote noticed this side.
Seeing the Demonic Beasts he controlled being slaughtered rapidly, he frowned slightly and raised his scepter—the scepter's body vibrated!
A earth-shaking roar came from the dense forest behind! Trees were pushed over in rows as a behemoth charged out!
Nas!
At this moment, Nas had swollen to four meters in height, its dark red scales appearing as if forged from molten lava, and its pure red eyes were locked firmly onto Leo!
Every step it took made the earth tremble, and it opened its massive mouth filled with sharp fangs, letting out a deafening roar!
Leo punched the last two monsters in front of him, sending them flying, then turned to face Nas!
His fist smashed into Nas's head, emitting a dull, thunderous sound!
But Nas only shook its head and opened its massive mouth to bite!
Leo dodged to the side and seized the opportunity to kick its jaw!
Bang!
Nas was kicked, its head tilting back, but it immediately counterattacked, its thick tail sweeping over!
Leo leaped to avoid it, and the moment he landed, he rushed forward, his fists raining down on Nas's head like a storm!
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Blood splattered everywhere! Nas's skull cracked! But its terrifying regenerative ability activated, and the wounds healed at a speed visible to the naked eye!
"Damn it!"
Leo gritted his teeth; this regenerative ability was too disgusting!
On the other side, Hisoka's situation was worse.
He had been sent flying by Kote again, this time breaking at least three ribs, and the blood he spat out was mixed with fragments of internal organs.
Although Kote had no combat experience, his terrifying strength and infinite regenerative ability made all of Hisoka's techniques a joke.
"Cough, cough..."
Hisoka struggled to get up, a smile still on his face.
"Really... this is really intense..."
Kote walked toward him, his pure white eyes devoid of emotion.
"Let's end this."
He raised his right hand, a blood-colored Nen Bullet condensing in his palm. This time it was three times larger than before, and the energy fluctuations it emitted caused the surrounding air to warp!
Hisoka's pupils contracted—if he couldn't take this hit, he would die!
Just at this critical moment—
Leo's voice resounded throughout the entire arena.
"Instant—Release!"
Rumble—!!!
An indescribably terrifying aura erupted from Leo!
Black, living, stripe-like patterns instantly crawled all over his body! A dark red wave of Qi soared into the sky, and the ground beneath his feet cracked!
With his Rank 48 level, under the enhancement of his ability, his physical strength, speed, defense, and regenerative ability all soared to their limit!
Kote turned his head abruptly, his pure white eyes revealing shock for the first time!
Leo moved!
Fast as a teleport!
He instantly appeared above Nas's head, pulling his right fist back to the limit, Nen frantically compressing and condensing to form a basketball-sized ball of light in front of his fist—
"Super Destruction Fist—!!!"
He punched down!
Boom—!!!!!!!!!
Nas's head, as if struck by a meteorite, instantly exploded into a mist of blood!
The massive, headless body twitched violently before crashing to the ground!
A warm sensation came from the tattoo on the back of his hand.
Rank increased! [Rank: 49 (8%)]
"Nas—!!!"
Watching Nas die in front of him once again, unable to stop it in time, Kote let out a heart-wrenching roar!
He had gone completely mad!
The gem at the top of the scepter flashed with blood-red light frantically, and the Life Energy stored within poured into his body like a broken dam!
His hair fluttered without wind, his pure white eyes began to be stained with blood, and his aura surged to a suffocating level!
"I just wanted them to live! Why force me!!!"
Kote roared, charging at Leo!
Leo met him head-on!
Their fists collided!
Bang—!!!!!!
The shockwave exploded! Trees within thirty meters were uprooted, and the ground was overturned!
Kote took a step back, his arm twisted and deformed, but it instantly regenerated!
Leo also took two steps back, his right fist torn and bleeding, but in the "Instant" state, the wounds healed at a speed visible to the naked eye!
"Kill!!!"
Kote completely abandoned defense, pouncing like a mad beast!
Fists, kicks, even headbutts! Every attack carried the madness of mutual destruction!
Leo countered attack with attack!
Their battle had completely turned into the most primitive, brutal hand-to-hand combat!
The dull thuds of fists hitting flesh were continuous, and blood splashed everywhere!
Hisoka watched from afar, his golden pupils full of fanaticism.
"So beautiful... so beautiful..."
Two minutes had passed.
Leo coldly counted down in his heart.
There was less than three minutes left for "Instant," and Kote's aura remained massive—the energy reserves in the scepter were far beyond imagination!
"Can't outlast him..."
Leo landed a heavy punch, forcing Kote back, then took the opportunity to create distance and pulled two dice from his pocket.
[Destiny Gambler · Nen Tool].
"Gamble once!"
He threw the dice onto the ground behind him.
The dice rolled and stopped.
Number Die: 3.
Risk Die: Great Fortune.
An inexplicable something was extracted from his body—one day of his lifespan.
Immediately after—
Rumble—!!!!
Golden flames soared from Leo's body!
His aura surged again!
Three times! Strength, speed, and reaction, all increased to three times what they were before!
But his body was also wailing.
Leo could feel that this state could only be maintained for about two minutes at most; if he exceeded the time limit, his body would risk collapse.
Kote felt a fatal threat!
He didn't hesitate, rushing toward Leo at top speed!
But at this moment, Leo's speed far exceeded his perception!
He dodged to the side, avoiding the attack.
His right fist imprinted on his abdomen.
"Pfft—!!!"
Kote spat out a mouthful of blood, his body folding in half as he was sent flying!
Leo pursued! Fist, foot, knee, elbow!
One minute and fifty seconds!
The storm-like attacks landed precisely on Kote!
Kote's regeneration speed began to fail to keep up with the destruction speed!
Bones broke, internal organs shattered, but the scepter's energy poured in frantically, forcibly repairing him!
One minute and thirty seconds! One minute and twenty seconds! Sixty seconds!
Kote was beaten back and forth in the air like a punching bag, with no power to fight back!
Fifty seconds!
Leo grabbed Kote's head and slammed it hard into the ground!
Boom! A deep pit!
Forty seconds!
Leo pulled his right fist back, all Nen compressed to the extreme, forming a blinding golden ball of light with a diameter of one meter in front of his fist!
"—Super Destruction Fist!!!"
Hisoka's expression changed drastically, and he fled backward frantically!
The ball of light descended.
Boom—!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A hundred times louder than thunder!
A mushroom cloud soared into the sky! The shockwave swept through everything!
The entire clearing, along with the forest within a hundred meters, was leveled in an instant!
The smoke and dust slowly dissipated.
In the center of the giant pit, ten meters deep and one hundred meters in diameter, Leo knelt on one knee, panting heavily, his muscles torn, covered in blood, the pain throughout his entire body reminding him that he was nearing his limit.
Thirty seconds!
At the bottom of the pit was a charred lump of flesh that could barely be identified as human.
Leo struggled to stand up.
Hisoka walked over from afar, just about to speak—
The lump of flesh moved.
"Uh... huh... huh..."
Kote's broken body was writhing and recovering, trying to stand up.
His only remaining eye stared fixedly at the two people at the edge of the pit, filled with endless sorrow and madness.
His remaining left hand clutched that scepter tightly.
The gem at the top of the scepter had turned completely dull, with only a faint glimmer left.
"Nas... Isabella... we'll meet again in the next life..."
Kote whispered.
Then, he ignited all the Nen within his body, ignited the last bit of energy in the scepter, and ignited his own life essence—mutual destruction!
The gem at the top of the scepter flashed frantically, the blood-red light blinding!
"Not good! He's going to self-destruct!!!"
Leo and Hisoka's expressions changed at the same time, and they turned and ran wildly!
While running, both of them mobilized all their Nen to protect their backs.
Rumble—!!!!!!!!!!!
The destructive blood-colored shockwave instantly swallowed Kote and then swept out like a world-ending giant wave!
Everything in its path was annihilated!
The two had only run less than thirty meters when they were violently blown away by the shockwave, falling more than twenty meters like broken ragdolls and crashing heavily onto the ground, completely losing consciousness.
Five days later.
Southern Urubian Continent, Kukupu City.
Hospital ward.
Leo slowly opened his eyes.
The smell of disinfectant, warm sunlight, and the rhythmic ticking of the instruments by the bed,
The door opened, and Machi Komacine walked in.
"You're finally awake."
He breathed a sigh of relief.
"The doctor said it's a miracle you survived."
Leo opened his mouth.
"Where's Hisoka?"
"He woke up an hour ago. His injuries were lighter than yours, and the doctor couldn't stop him; he just dragged his severely injured body away."
Machi Komacine paused.
"However, he left a message—'This adventure was very enjoyable; I will wait for you to fully recover, and then we'll have a proper fight.'"
Leo smiled bitterly. That was indeed Hisoka's style.
"The mission on Aistan Island has ended. Hisoka has explained everything. We searched the explosion center and the surrounding area carefully, and only found some fragments of the scepter."
Machi Komacine's expression was serious.
"The Association will record a major contribution for you. All medical expenses are covered, so rest easy and recover. Thanks to you this time, otherwise it would have been troublesome!"
"Rest well. The doctor says it will take at least a month for your injuries to recover."
Leo nodded and pondered to himself.
"It seems Kote is indeed dead, and even that scepter is completely gone. That scepter is probably similar to the Kakin Empire's Legacy item, the 'Urn of Egg,' both being some kind of forbidden artifacts with powerful abilities."
"It's better that it's destroyed. If it were still around, with Pariston's personality, he would definitely be secretly causing trouble."
Seeing that Leo had fallen into deep thought, Machi Komacine left directly.
Leo lay on the hospital bed, looking at the tattoo on the back of his hand to check his ability: Proof of Humanity.
He had killed a large number of infected Dragons in the previous battle, as well as Nas, gaining a considerable amount of Life Energy, but unfortunately, Kote self-destructed in the end, so he didn't gain any Life Energy from him.
[Rank: 49 (8%)]
He was only one Rank away from reaching Rank 50.
Leo closed his eyes, his mind replaying Kote's pair of pure white, sorrow-filled eyes.
"I just wanted them to live..."
Leo sighed softly.
This world is sometimes just that cruel.
Outside the window, the sunlight was just right.
Three days later.
Aistan Island, at the edge of the battlefield ruins, a long-haired man wearing black leather stood still.
He looked down at an ancient-looking disc in his hand; the needle in the center of the disc turned slightly, finally pointing steadily straight ahead.
The man looked up, his gaze falling under a half-fallen tree ahead—where thick dead leaves had piled up.
"It should be here."
He muttered to himself, walked up, and crouched down, reaching into the deep pile of leaves to grope for a moment before taking out a stone covered in cracks and lacking luster.
The man examined the object in his hand, the corners of his mouth slowly curling into a satisfied arc.
He tucked the stone into his clothes, and his figure quietly disappeared into the forest.