Arrogant!
Benjamin's pupils contracted slightly.
In his opinion, Oboro had completely forgotten his own place. A mere gang leader, completely unaware of his limitations. Perhaps some of the Fells' recent successes had inflated this man's ego beyond reason.
"Bastard," Benjamin growled.
In a flash, he raised his hand and sent a heavy wave of pressure directly at Oboro's head.
Pah!
The clothes trembled, disturbed by the airstream Benjamin created, but the powerful blow never reached Oboro's cheek. Instead, it was intercepted by a slender arm, Oboro's five fingers wrapped tightly around Benjamin's wrist.
The contrast was striking. Compared to Benjamin's arm, thick as an ordinary man's calf, Oboro's seemed much thinner, almost delicate. Yet the strength he exerted made Benjamin shiver inside.
His hand wouldn't budge as Oboro's fingertips slowly pressed down, and Benjamin's arm muscles instantly buckled under the pressure. Despite this, the eldest prince remained calm, his expression betraying nothing.
"Oh? No wonder he's such an arrogant Nen user?" Benjamin studied Oboro, genuine surprise flickering in his eyes.
"Great Prince!" Benjamin's private soldiers immediately tensed. None of them had expected Oboro to possess such strength.
"Stand down," Benjamin ordered, waving his free hand as several men prepared to intervene.
A violent surge of aura suddenly erupted from the eldest lord's body. Standing so close, Oboro felt as if a storm had hit his face, making it difficult to keep his eyes open.
In the original novel, Benjamin's strength was described as "invulnerable mental energy". Well, that description proved to be accurate.
Aura output correlates directly with vitality and physical strength. Benjamin's physique was formidable by any standard, so naturally his aura capacity was considerable.
"I like to hunt strong prey," Benjamin said, "because that is the only way I can prove my strength! I will hold you like a captured beast and crush your skeleton piece by piece" As he spoke, his arm began to move, gradually resisting Oboro's suppression and rising inch by inch.
Fighting with primal ferocity.
Benjamin enjoyed fighting large, ferocious beasts. He had wrestled lions to the ground, ripped apart giant bears with his bare hands, and even killed dangerous magical beasts using only his physical strength. These hunts fed his fierce nature and sustained his power.
As king, he believed himself invincible and untouchable.
Any creature foolish enough to challenge him would face only death.
Oboro looked at his slowly flexing arm. Benjamin demonstrated remarkable control over his Nen, and his raw willpower added to his already formidable aura. Most impressive, however, was his extraordinary physical strength.
"It seems you've been systematically trained in Nen," Oboro observed calmly.
"But did you misunderstand something?"
Benjamin hesitated, confused.
Misunderstood?
In the next moment, veins bulged across his forehead as pain distorted his features.
His facade of composure was instantly shattered.
The arm that seemed to be gradually overpowering Oboro suddenly erupted in searing pain that went directly through his nerves to the depths of his brain, draining all color from his face.
With a sharp ripping sound, the sleeve of Oboro's shirt, where he had grabbed Benjamin's wrist, exploded into shreds of fabric that fell to the ground.
The thin muscles of Oboro's arm swelled like inflated balloons, expanding to many times their original size in a matter of seconds. His skin took on a stone-like texture, with veins protruding like small green snakes slithering beneath the surface.
The violent power hidden beneath this skin and flesh transformed Oboro into something otherworldly, a monster in human skin.
At the same time, Oboro released his aura, though not at full capacity. He allowed it to flow along the surface of his body, activating his muscles and revealing his true physical strength. Under normal circumstances, Oboro would contain his energy, slowing his blood flow and reducing his heart rate to minimize dramatic physical changes that even he found unsettling to witness.
In general, he maintained only the minimum amount of energy necessary to move.
"AHHHHHHH!" Benjamin roared in agony.
Oboro's fingers, now shaped like knives, easily pierced Benjamin's aura defense and sank into his flesh.
The lord had only managed to raise his arm a dozen centimeters before it fell back. Against such overwhelming force, resistance proved futile.
"Too weak," Oboro said. "The power you think you possess is merely an illusion born of isolation. The Kakin Empire is but a small corner of the human world. You must step beyond your borders and truly see what lies beyond. Only then will you understand what true power is."
He tightened his grip on Benjamin's hand, forcing the prince down until he was kneeling on one knee.
"Great Prince!" The soldiers shouted in alarm.
With a unified cry, all nine warriors channeled their Nen simultaneously. Those who specialized in close combat materialized beside Oboro in an instant and launched coordinated attacks to free Benjamin from his grasp.
With a mere whoosh of air, Oboro nonchalantly waved his free hand through the air like a black whip. At the same moment, the attackers froze. Their heads simply disappeared from their necks, leaving only crimson spatters that painted the floor and nearby glass surfaces.
One of Benjamin's most trusted private soldiers aboard the Black Whale, Wu Xiaohei, attempted to use his Nen ability, Insect Shooting Ball, against Oboro, a Nen beast that resembled a wasp. If it struck undetected and certain conditions were met, it could kill without physical contact.
But before his ability could fully manifest itself, the suited man fixed his gaze on him. Oboro's piercing eyes sliced through the distance like twin blades, penetrating Wu Xiaohei's defenses and stabbing deep into his heart.
Accompanying that gaze was an overwhelming aura pressure that radiated malevolence.
Under such a mental assault, Wu Xiaohei found his body trembling uncontrollably, his Nen destabilizing. The entire hall seemed to turn into a dark cave, where Oboro had become a terrifying predator awakening from its slumber, its blood-red eyes fixed on prey to be delivered directly into its mouth.
His temper was chaotic.
Oboro knew everything about the eldest lord's private soldiers, their Nen abilities, their strengths, their weaknesses. All information lay open before him.
The latest chapters will be published first on Liu9shuba!
Among the Black Whale chapters, Li Han, Benjamin's private soldier, stood out. His scalp prickled with fear. Li Han's foreign-type ability allowed him to analyze an opponent's Nen ability and create a Nen beast specifically designed to counter it. In the original story, the Nen beast he bred had devoured the Eighth Prince's guardian spirit beast.
Basically, his ability worked as a Nen nullification, but the fundamental problem was that Oboro didn't use any specific Nen ability; he just killed with raw aura.
Without enough intelligence to analyze and prepare, Li Han couldn't produce a counter-beast against Oboro.
Besides, everything happened too fast for preparation.
"HAAAAH!"
Benjamin roared, raising his free fist to strike at Oboro.
BOOM!
The surviving private soldiers couldn't follow the movement; they only heard a thunderous impact. When their vision cleared, they saw Oboro lower his leg, his pants torn by bulging muscles. The eldest lord had been sent flying, his body embedded in the solid wall, blood flowing from multiple wounds, his eyes rolled back in apparent unconsciousness.
Of the nine private soldiers, only four were still alive.
"Don't do anything stupid," Oboro said, calmly putting his foot back on the ground and tapping his shoe. "Otherwise I will kill him."
He was referring to Benjamin.
Though these soldiers seemed panicked and disoriented, they showed no fear of death, a testament to Benjamin's training. They were truly dedicated warriors.
But with their prince's life at stake, they dared not act rashly.
Suddenly, an eerie green mist spread from beneath Oboro's feet and filled the room. Blurred, ghostly shadows swayed in the mist like fish swimming through water. Some even climbed onto the bodies of the private soldiers, giving the scene a particularly macabre atmosphere.
The temperature dropped noticeably.
Oboro slowly walked toward the wall and, under the horrified eyes of the soldiers, reached his hand toward Benjamin's chest.
His movement caused nearby ghosts to swarm toward him, transforming into floating wisps of ghostly fire that attached themselves to his arm.
His entire limb blazed with green flames, creating a bizarre, otherworldly sight.
Then came the most disturbing phenomenon of all.
Oboro's arm passed through the eldest lord's chest without causing any physical injury, penetrating deep into his body.
With a swift tug, he pulled a human-shaped ethereal form out of Benjamin, a part of the prince's very soul.
And tore off a piece.
"Hehe," Oboro chuckled softly.
When he raised his other hand, mist swirled around him and two ghostly figures appeared, dragging a strange object, a lantern suspended from a chain.
It resembled a small cage. For reasons they couldn't articulate, the four surviving soldiers felt an overwhelming sense of dread upon seeing it.
Oboro opened a small door in the cage, stuffed the fragment of Benjamin's soul inside, and sealed it.
Then he immediately withdrew his ability.
The hall returned to normal.
"You may take your eldest prince and leave," Oboro ordered dismissively.
"What did you do to him?" Li Han asked with a trembling voice.
"Don't you see?" Oboro raised an eyebrow. "I took something from him." This simple statement sent shivers down the spines of all four men.