Currently, an era of rival warlords had arrived, with each organization rapidly redrawing the maps of their territories. The Ten Old Men becoming mere figureheads was inevitable. The seats inherited by legitimate successors were few, and they were in a state of barely clinging to past glory while their interests were being chipped away.
They were old wolves suffering from an incurable disease. Some chose to die gracefully for the sake of the pack, but others desired to prolong their lives. If someone claimed there was a way to extend their lives even a little longer, they would want that means no matter what the cost. There's nothing more troublesome than a beast that has failed to die.
The perpetrators who influenced this offline meetup from the shadows were the Mafia, but there must be someone pulling the strings from even further back. Some kind of influential person was moving this Mafia. Even if the deal was of an insane nature, the current Ten Old Men might take the choice of driving themselves into a place of death for the sake of self-preservation.
Who the shadow ruler was and what their purpose was, Bat had no way of knowing. After all, he was just one of the disposable pawns. The squad under the Ten Old Men's direct control, the Shadow Beasts, were now nothing more than paper tigers. The only ones who still found value in that name were the dying wolves.
But Bat actually liked the name. He didn't care about the intentions of those above. The only thing important to him was the joy of encountering a strong enemy. If they would give him that, he would gladly accept any infamy.
Answer Bat—now Shadow Beast Bat—surged aura through his breaking body. The enemy was far too strong, and he couldn't see a hint of a way to defeat her. How could he solve—unmask—this difficult trick of an enemy? His heart trembled at the life-threatening riddle.
Seeing Bat's reaction, Chel was starting to vaguely realize his true nature. There was no doubt Chel would win, but her experience predicted it would be a struggle to get to that point.
However, haste was forbidden. If she let her mind be disturbed, her control of aura would also be disturbed, and the time for the match to end would likely be extended further. No matter how strong Bat's mental state was, if she didn't miss her chance and dealt damage steadily, he would reach his limit.
Chel focused on unifying her spirit. She corrected even the slightest flaws in her aura and chipped away at any openings Bat could take advantage of. In contrast to Bat, who was encouraging himself with surging aura, Chel met her enemy with a state of thorough stillness.
Her techniques became more accurate with every strike. Bat was trying to read Chel's movements with 'Gyo,' but the reverse was also true. Chel was also steadily capturing Bat's movements during the fight. No matter how high Bat's tension was, it was rare for the difference in strength to be overturned by strength of feeling alone.
His left arm was snapped, he couldn't stop vomiting blood from internal damage, and he didn't know how many ribs were broken. The reason the damage to his abdomen and chest was so great was that he was prioritizing the defense of his head and limbs as much as possible. Protecting his head was a given, but if he lost the use of his hands and feet, he would be killed instantly.
If things continued this way, Chel would win as expected. At that moment, she noticed one small oddity.
'A sound...?'
A faint sound reached Chel's ears. At first, it seemed like a sound, but it felt less like she was hearing it with her ears and more like it was being sent directly into her head.
Chel immediately put distance between herself and Bat. Although she had the upper hand throughout this match, the thing she still feared most from the enemy was 'Hatsu.' It's not uncommon for this individual special ability of Nen users to turn a losing board around. Chel guessed that this signal, which resembled a sound, was due to Bat's ability.
However, that guess was wide of the mark. Bat's Hatsu was only 'Analysis Eye.' He had a few other techniques, but they were all within the realm of simple Enhancement abilities. Rather, he was becoming more guarded at Chel's sudden action, thinking she might be about to do something.
'He calls himself Bat, so is it an ability related to that...? If so, is it ultrasound? My head is pounding...'
The sound showed no sign of stopping and gradually grew stronger. It echoed inside her skull, gnawing at her brain as the vibration seemed to amplify. She desperately endured, not wanting to show an opening during combat, but it was beyond the range of what she could handle.
Bat didn't break his previous stance. He wasn't feeling anything unusual. Chel was the only one perceiving the 'sound.'
'Crap... some kind of activation condition... have to stop it, fast... my head... a-aaaaaaargh!!'
Chel's vision distorted. The ground shook. Agonizing pain ran through her entire body. The sound that had been churning inside her brain turned into the sound of pouring rain.
On a ship swaying in high waves, the death cries of her comrades, the gazes of the monsters surrounding the ship—countless eyes were watching Chel. There was no escape anywhere. The memories of the return trip from the Dark Continent, which she never wanted to remember again, came rushing back.
It was all an illusion. The ship she was currently on was the Sky Island. While it was swaying slightly, it was flying through clear skies without being hit by a storm.
Bat watched Chel intently as she suddenly screamed and crumpled on the spot. Without anyone noticing, a 'red crystal' had wrapped around her left wrist like a bracelet.
The aura enveloping Chel's body had swelled to an enormous amount. Despite appearing to have lost her sanity, the amount of aura being released was tremendous. However, she wasn't able to control it at all.
She was no longer to be feared. Facing an enemy exposing a defenseless state, Bat thought, 'Why?'
The brilliant movements she had shown earlier and the attacks that had shaken him to his core were nowhere to be seen now. As a battle junkie, he couldn't be satisfied with this kind of conclusion.
Likely, the management had set some kind of trap. There was no doubt that there had been intervention from a third party. Anger bubbled up within him at having the best moment spoiled. And he lamented his own inadequacy for failing to hold his own and bringing shame to his strong opponent—his partner.
While apologizing many times in his heart, Bat raised his cane. Aura from his entire body began to gather into that cane.
It was the advanced application of the four major principles: 'Ko.' It was a technique of concentrating aura in one place by simultaneously using Ten, Zetsu, Ren, and Gyo. The difference from regular 'Gyo' was that the reinforcement of the rest of the body was closed off with Zetsu.
For example, if one applies 'Ko' to a fist, the offense and defense of the fist become 100, while the offense and defense of the rest of the body become 0. In Bat's case, he was further concentrating the aura into his cane by using 'Shu.' 'Ko' is a technique with 100% maximum power that a single Nen user can put into one attack, while simultaneously carrying the risk that the defense of other parts becomes almost non-existent.
Bat had no intention of overlooking Chel, who had lost her will to fight. By using 'Ko,' the reinforcement of his entire body was released, and damage that would normally make it impossible to move returned to his flesh. But Bat sensed that such pain was nothing compared to the suffering Chel faced as she fell into a state of unconsciousness before her enemy.
Though trapped in an illusion and having lost her mind, her aura remained robust. A half-baked attack would likely only cause her unnecessary pain. He would deliver the final blow with an attack of his entire soul. He believed that was the only mercy he could show her.
"Chel—!!"
A voice was heard from afar, but Bat didn't waver. The owner of the voice was Tokunosuke, who had been down after his fight with Tsukuteku.
Naturally, Bat hadn't taken his eyes off the movements of Toku, Chel's comrade. Although he had defeated Tsukuteku, the wounds Toku suffered were deep. Seeing as he was focusing on his own recovery without assisting Chel, it was clear he wasn't in a state to fight properly.
Seeing Chel's crisis, he was desperately trying to crawl over, but the distance was too great. If he had the leeway to create Nen birds, he would have used them already. It was seen through that Toku had no moves left.
Bat placed his hand on the cane. This cane had a simple trick. A blade was hidden inside the cane—it was a sword cane. The hidden blade, into which an enormous amount of aura was poured, slid from its sheath, and colorful confetti danced in the air.
[AMPUTATION MAGIC: THE FAILURE]
Unable to commit to killing as a job, and unable to commit to killing as a hobby, he was a half-hearted man who only failed. Without finding the answer to where he had gone wrong, Bat added one more mistake to that blade.
Toku could only watch the scene unfold. If possible, he wanted to protect Chel even if it meant using his own body as a shield. But in reality, even that wouldn't come true. Toku was in a sensation condensed in an instant, like a revolving lantern.
That thought was impossible to realize. However, his single-minded determination not to lose another comrade awakened a power that Tokunosuke himself hadn't even been aware of.
Just an instant before the fatal strike could reach Chel, Bat felt an incredible force being applied to his body. He was attacked by a pressure as if he were being crushed by a giant's foot. However, he couldn't see anything unusual in his surroundings. The identity of that attack, as if only 'gravity' had swelled many times over, couldn't be captured even with Bat's 'Analysis Eye.'
Bat was slammed into the floor. Combined with the serious damage he'd taken in the fight with Chel, and because his body's defense was zero due to 'Ko,' he easily lost consciousness.
Toku didn't understand what he had done. A massive amount of bleeding was occurring from his left eye, which was covered by an eyepatch. In a sensation of sinking as if being swallowed by a swamp, he tried to move forward even by crawling on the ground. He desperately reached out toward his comrade.
However, that hand didn't reach, and his consciousness was cut off by the pain arising from his left eye.