Leo raised his right fist, Nen gathering frantically toward his knuckles.
A golden sphere of light formed before his fist; the surrounding air was distorted, light was devoured, and the gravel on the ground was pushed away by an invisible force.
The pressure radiating from that sphere of light made Kalluto, who was standing in the distance, involuntarily take a step back.
In the next instant, Leo appeared in front of the two of them.
Silva and Zeno's expressions changed simultaneously as they perceived the terrifying aura emanating from that sphere of light.
They keenly sensed the dreadfulness of this blow.
Subconsciously, the two prepared to leap backward to create distance, assuming Leo was about to attack them.
Leo saw their movement, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.
Unfortunately, he wasn't planning to attack the two of them, but rather the ground, to deal area-of-effect damage.
"I predicted your prediction!"
As he swung his fist, the golden sphere of light slammed into the ground beneath Zeno and Silva like a falling meteor.
The moment his fist made contact with the ground—shattered.
"Boom——!!!"
With the point of impact as the center, an explosion with a diameter of over fifty meters formed instantly.
The explosion spread spherically in all directions; everywhere it passed, the ground churned, soil was upturned, rocks were shattered, and trees were uprooted and torn to shreds in mid-air.
Although Zeno and Silva reacted quickly, retreating while instantly increasing their Nen to protect themselves, they were still engulfed by the explosion.
The shockwave, carrying gravel, soil, and broken wood, slammed into them like a tsunami.
Their bodies tumbled through the air, pushed dozens of meters away by the blast wave, slamming heavily into the ground, bouncing up, and slamming down again.
The ground trembled as if it had experienced a small earthquake.
On the distant cliff face, rubble cascaded down.
Kalluto crouched behind a large rock, hands covering his head, feeling the entire world shaking.
Dust and smoke rose into the sky like a mushroom cloud, reaching over ten meters high, slowly ascending and obscuring the sky.
Sunlight was blocked by the dust, and the ground plunged into darkness.
A breeze blew from the valley, dispersing the dust and revealing the massive crater.
The crater was over fifty meters in diameter and several meters deep; the soil at the bottom had been baked scorched black by the high heat, and the stone slabs at the edges had been fused into glass, reflecting the sunlight.
Around the crater was a scene of ruin—trees toppled, rubble scattered, and the air filled with the smell of burning and earth.
Leo stood in the center of the crater floor, retracting his fist.
He glanced at the edge of the deep crater.
He had controlled the power of this blow.
He did not intend to take Silva and the others' lives.
After all, he had to consider Kalluto's feelings, and Killua was his fellow Disciple's nephew.
With these two relationships, he wouldn't kill them, but beating them into serious injury was no problem.
More importantly, he wanted to obtain a wish from Nanika; he had an idea he wanted to verify.
For this reason, he couldn't kill Zeno and Silva; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to contact Nanika, and Nanika only listened to Killua.
Moreover, after the exchange, he felt that the Zoldyck Family was just going through the motions.
Otherwise, if they had called Maha Zoldyck along, the three of them surrounding and killing him, he would definitely have died.
There was also a Dragon Demonic Beast in the sky; he wouldn't have been able to run even if he wanted to.
High in the sky, that cyan-yellow Dragon Demonic Beast was slowly flapping its three pairs of wings, flying in the direction of Kukuroo Mountain.
Zeno stood at the front, his clothes tattered, his cuffs shredded into strips of cloth, and a large piece missing from the hem.
His silver-white hair was messy and covered in dust, and there were a few bloody scratches on his face, but his expression remained calm.
He kept his hands tucked in his sleeves, watching the clouds receding before him.
"Silva, you can still hold on, right?"
Silva stood behind him, his left arm temporarily splinted with cloth strips, hanging unnaturally at his side.
His purple top was torn with a long gash from his chest to his abdomen, revealing bruised, purple-black skin and several wounds that were still oozing blood.
His breathing was steady, and his expression showed no pain.
"No problem. Just a broken left arm, three broken ribs, and minor fractures to six other bones."
His tone was so flat it didn't sound like he was talking about himself.
Such injuries would be fatal to an ordinary person, but for him, it was just business as usual.
But opponents who could make him break his left arm and three ribs simultaneously could be counted on one hand over the past few decades.
"I'm a bit better off than you; only three broken bones."
Zeno was composed, completely unbothered.
"We still underestimated him; his strength is even greater than we anticipated."
His voice carried helplessness.
"He was right; the pay was too low."
Silva did not reply.
He watched the scenery flashing by, a faint smile appearing at the corners of his mouth.
"Kalluto has grown up."
Silva's voice was softer than usual.
"Following Leo, we don't need to worry about his growth anymore."
When they were fighting Leo, Kalluto had rushed out to stand in front of Leo, shouting for mercy.
That voice, those eyes, that courage to stand in front of a friend without hesitation while also pleading for his Family—
Silva had seen it all.
Children of the Zoldyck Family learn obedience, coldness, and putting the mission first from a young age.
But Kalluto was different now.
He had people he wanted to protect, and things he considered more important than Family rules.
This wasn't weakness; it was growth.
Zeno nodded and stroked his beard.
"By the way, from now on, we will not accept any assassination contracts regarding Leo. I don't want to throw my life away for nothing."
Silva grunted in agreement.
No explanation was needed, no discussion required.
They had witnessed that young man's strength with their own eyes.
Speed, strength, defense, recovery, combat intuition—every aspect had reached an inhuman level.
What was even more terrifying was his growth rate.
He was now capable of suppressing them head-on.
Next time, who knows what it will be like.
"Are we going to give him that Phantom Beast egg? That was something Grandfather brought back from the Dark Continent, and there's only one."
Silva asked.
When humans bring something back from the Dark Continent, they also bring back a calamity...
The monster in their Family had also come along with it...
Zeno stroked his beard, his gaze falling on the distant skyline.
"Give it to him; after all, we promised. We can't hatch that egg; the amount of Qi required is too vast. He is the most suitable candidate, and it counts as forming a good connection."
Silva nodded.
"We were able to survive, thanks to Kalluto."
Zeno shook his head and sighed.
"This job was a huge loss; we even have to pay a Phantom Beast egg..."
Silva remained silent.
Ten minutes ago.
The dust from the explosion was still drifting in the air, and the giant crater on the ground was still emitting wisps of smoke.
Silva and Zeno stood up from the ruins, their wounds still bleeding, but there were no fatal injuries.
Leo stood at the edge of the crater, the golden Nen on his knuckles slowly dissipating.
Kalluto rushed out.
He stood in front of Leo, spreading his arms, with his back to Silva and Zeno, facing Leo.
His eyes were full of pleading, his lips trembling, but he stood very straight.
"Leo..."
He didn't continue.
Leo looked at him for a few seconds.
Then he smiled.
"Don't worry. I won't kill them."
He paused.
"But I have one condition."
Kalluto turned his head to look at Silva and Zeno.
The two were silent for a moment. Silva's mouth twitched, and Zeno's eyebrows furrowed slightly.
Then Zeno spoke.
"We have failed this assassination. We will explain it to the employer."
His voice was calm.
In the history of the Zoldyck Family's assassinations, failure was not without precedent.
The last time an assassination failed was related to Netero.
His grandfather, Maha Zoldyck, had personally taken action, yet still failed to kill Netero.
Where there's a first, there's a second.
Now that Leo was also Netero's Disciple, it could be considered a lineage.
Both assassinations were related to Netero; perhaps this was fate.
Leo nodded, not pressing for details about the employer.
He glanced at the dragon-shaped Demonic Beast still circling in the sky, a flash of interest in his eyes.
"I am very interested in that Dragon Demonic Beast of yours. Do you have any extras? I want one, a hatchling is fine too."
Zeno hesitated for a moment.
He looked at the dragon in the sky, then back at Leo.
"Hmm—it's not impossible to give you one."
His speech was slow, as if he were weighing the options.
"We happen to have an unhatched Dragon egg. But that egg has some issues; it is very difficult to successfully hatch."
Leo smiled.
"That's fine. As long as it isn't dead, that's enough."
Zeno nodded.
"Alright then. I will have someone send it over later."
Silva glanced at Zeno, saying nothing.
He beckoned to Kalluto.
"Kalluto, come here."
Kalluto was stunned for a moment, then walked over.