Leo raised his right fist, and Nen began to converge toward his knuckles.
The Nen tightened layer by layer, the light on his knuckles shifting from blinding white to gold. The surrounding air began to warp, light being sucked into that power and then spat back out, forming visible, concentric ripples.
He glanced at the villa in the distance.
Belloc was still inside.
If he threw this punch with full force, let alone the courtyard, the entire estate would be razed to the ground.
He did not care whether Belloc lived or died, but he needed that man alive.
At the very least, he needed him alive to answer questions.
Leo pulled back thirty percent of his power.
The ball of light on his knuckles shrank slightly, but the sense of pressure did not diminish in the slightest.
The surrounding air was heavy, and the gravel on the ground was still trembling slightly.
Owl watched the ball of light on the fist, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks.
He felt that the light could burn right through him; tears streamed down, stimulated by the intense glare, leaving his vision blurred.
He had only one thought in his mind—run.
He turned and scrambled away, losing one of his shoes in the process, not daring to look back to retrieve it.
His legs went weak, and when his knees hit the stone slab, scraping the skin and causing blood to seep out, he could not even feel the pain.
Leo aimed at the patch of gravel and ruins in the center of the courtyard and threw the punch.
"Super Destruction Fist—!"
The golden ball of light erupted from his fist, like a small sun falling to earth, slamming into the center of the courtyard.
There was no sound.
In that instant, the whole world went quiet, and then—
"BOOM—!!!"
White light swallowed everything.
The stone floor was ripped up, shattering in the air like paper.
The water in the fountain evaporated instantly, the stones at the bottom of the pool exploded into powder, and white steam mixed with gray dust, forming a pillar that shot into the sky.
The outer walls collapsed like building blocks; roof tiles, bricks, and glass were swept up by the shockwave and flew in all directions.
They slammed into the villa, the trees, and the ground, creating a dense barrage of impact sounds.
The ground was trembling, the entire hill was trembling.
Those gang thugs sprawled outside the estate gate had not even had time to rejoice in their narrow escape before they were blown away by the shockwave.
Some hit the mountain road, spitting blood, their internal organs ruptured, not even having time to scream.
Some slammed into tree trunks, their spines snapping, sliding down limply.
Some rolled down the slope, tumbling all the way and slamming into rocks, becoming a mangled mess.
Those still running down the mountain were knocked over by the blast of air, rolling down the slope for a dozen meters before stopping, covered in blood. Some struggled to get up and keep running, while others lay on the ground, motionless.
Owl was also caught in the blast.
He felt as if he had been slapped by a giant hand; he was sent flying, flipped several times in the air, and crashed heavily to the ground.
His back scraped against the gravel for over a dozen meters, his skin torn open, blood seeping out and staining the stone slabs dark red.
His ears were ringing, he could not hear a thing, and all he could see before him was a vast expanse of white.
He thought he was going to die, thought he would be like those others, swallowed by this light, leaving nothing behind.
A few seconds later, or perhaps minutes, the white light finally dissipated.
Smoke and dust slowly rose, forming a small mushroom cloud above the courtyard, slowly ascending, slowly expanding, and being blown away by the wind.
After Owl regained his senses.
He found himself lying on the ground, covered in blood, his clothes shredded into rags, his exposed skin covered in bloody lacerations.
He moved, and there was not a single part of him that did not hurt, as if his bones had been taken apart and put back together again.
But he was still alive.
He struggled to lift his head and looked toward the center of the courtyard.
There was a deep crater dozens of meters in diameter.
The soil at the bottom of the crater was still smoking, scorched black by the high heat; the stone slabs at the edge had been fused into a glass-like state, reflecting the sunlight like an irregular mirror.
There was nothing in the crater.
Those embedded in the walls, those buried in the piles of rubble, those sprawled by the fountain—they were all gone.
Completely clean, not even a scrap of cloth left behind.
Those gang thugs sprawled in the courtyard, those hit by flying debris who had not managed to escape, those whose internal organs had ruptured from the shockwave—all had been reduced to ashes in this single strike.
A wave of warmth came from the back of his hand.
[Rank: 78 (99%) → 79 (19%)]
Leo withdrew his fist, looked down at the tattoo on the back of his hand, and then looked up at the smoking crater in front of him.
His gaze swept across the smoking villa at the edge of the courtyard—most of the outer wall had collapsed, but the main structure remained.
His decision to control his power was correct; Belloc was still alive.
Outside the estate, Kastro and Goreinu felt the terrifying commotion.
When the ground shook, they almost lost their footing.
The sound of the explosion came from within the estate, like muffled thunder, rolling over the hills, through the woods, and traveling very, very far before disappearing.
Then a mushroom cloud rose from the direction of the estate, shining with a grayish-white light in the sunlight.
Kastro looked at the cloud and was silent for two seconds.
"That is Master's Super Destruction Fist."
Goreinu swallowed hard.
He had seen Leo use this move before, back in Wusong Forest; it was this exact punch that had wiped out the ant army.
Now this move was even more terrifying; he dared not imagine what it looked like inside.
"Let's go in."
The two quickened their pace and ran toward the estate gate.
The road was littered with scattered gravel and broken glass, along with several corpses of gang thugs—
They had not been killed by the explosion, but had died from the impact after being thrown by the shockwave; their bodies were twisted at unnatural angles, their faces still frozen in the terror of their final moments.
They passed through the gate and walked into the courtyard.
Goreinu's footsteps faltered. Kastro also stopped.
In the center of the courtyard was a giant crater dozens of meters wide, the bottom still smoking.
At the edge of the crater, the stone slabs had been baked into a glass-like state, reflecting dazzling light.
Further out was a scene of ruin—the fountain was gone, the flower beds were gone, the paving stones were shattered and scattered all around.
The villa's outer wall had collapsed for the most part, exposing the rooms inside; furniture, lamps, and picture frames hung in mid-air, precariously.
The ground was covered in bloodstains and mangled flesh, along with charred remains that were impossible to identify.
The air was thick with the smell of burning and blood, so pungent it made one want to vomit.
Goreinu's lips moved, but no words came out.
Kastro looked at the crater and remained silent for a long time.
On the other side of the courtyard, Owl was lying on the ground, covered in blood, struggling to crawl away.
His fingers dug into the cracks in the stone slabs, his fingernails breaking and dripping with blood, yet he dared not stop.
His legs would not obey him, so he could only rely on the strength of his arms to inch forward, dragging a long streak of blood behind him.
Leo walked up to him.
Owl's fingers stopped.
He lifted his head and saw a pair of feet before him.
His gaze followed the feet upward, seeing the man's bare upper body and his expressionless face.
Owl's body began to tremble.
He wanted to retreat, but behind him was a pile of rubble; there was nowhere left to retreat.
He struggled to get up, but his legs would not listen.
Leo raised his foot and stepped on Owl's thigh.
"Crack."
The sound of bone fracturing was exceptionally clear in the silence.
Owl's face twisted, intense pain radiating from his leg. His mouth opened, and he let out a stifled scream, his voice hoarse, as if he were being strangled.
"I ask, you answer. Otherwise, you die."
Leo's voice was calm.
"Understand?"
Owl nodded desperately.
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100 POWER STONE = BONUS CHAPTER
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