Bonolenov's face froze in shock and unwillingness.
Sshhk.
Morrow cleanly withdrew the Poultry Scarlet Knife, the crystalline blade pulling free with a spray of crimson blood.
Bonolenov's pupils instantly dilated, his body riddled with dark holes finally losing all strength as it collapsed heavily to the ground.
The Phantom Troupe had just lost its third leg.
Morrow's expression remained utterly indifferent to this outcome, as if he had merely taken a sip of water, nothing difficult about it.
This was the advantage of striking first and possessing intel.
He knew the abilities of Franklin and Bonolenov, so he didn't need to account for the usual unknowns in a Nen battle.
With that advantage, he could strike first without hesitation.
And his newly developed ability, Insidious Shooting Star, had the perfect element of surprise, making it ideal for an opening move.
After using Insidious Shooting Star to obliterate the off-road vehicle, all he had to do was leverage the strengths of Emission, maintaining relentless pressure on Franklin and Bonolenov to create the perfect opening for Kalluto and Kurapika.
This was the power of coordinated combat once an advantage was secured.
To the point where a Nen user of Bonolenov's caliber didn't even get a chance to use his ability before dying outright.
The unwillingness frozen on his face in death was hardly surprising.
Clink, clink.
Kurapika, his expression tense, glanced at Bonolenov's fallen body before retracting his extended chains.
Kalluto, gripping his purple bamboo fan, didn't spare Bonolenov's corpse a single glance, instead immediately gathering the scattered paper scraps.
There was still one enemy left.
Morrow flicked the poultry knife, clearing the blood from its edge, then turned his gaze toward Franklin, who had been forced back by Insidious Shooting Star.
After eliminating Bonolenov with lightning speed, Franklin now faced an overwhelming disadvantage.
Yet Morrow didn't consider victory assured.
Until Franklin was a corpse, he wouldn't give him even a moment to breathe.
Deceptive Shooting Star
The aura in Morrow's left hand surged violently, taking the form of a stalactite-like spike before collapsing into a single emerald Shooting Star, which shot backward.
Almost the instant the Shooting Star left his hand, Morrow dropped into a half-crouch, splaying his left fingers against the damp sand.
At this moment, Franklin's gaze swept past Morrow, landing on Bonolenov's corpse.
Witnessing his comrade's instantaneous death made his pupils tremble, fury erupting from his eyes like a volcano.
But Franklin was a man who valued composure. He knew that in this situation, emotions could not be allowed to interfere.
He immediately steadied himself, his sharp gaze locking onto Morrow, who was crouched in an attacking stance.
Aside from his ground conduction attack, he has standard Emission techniques... and then there's that brat with the chains... Amidst the rapid whirl of thoughts, Franklin kept glancing at the ground while decisively shifting his position, wary of Morrow's ability to unleash Nen bullets directly from the terrain.
Yet the anticipated attack never came.
Franklin immediately realized Morrow had merely adopted a half-crouched stance with his hand pressed to the ground, not yet activating that ground-based assault ability.
Moreover, due to the density and height of the grass, it was difficult to discern the movements of Morrow's left hand concealed within the undergrowth.
In other words, even if this guy was just bluffing...
He had to remain vigilant against attacks transmitted through the ground at all times!
No.
The most troublesome aspect was that this guy could activate his ability at any moment!
So it wasn't a bluff at all; he was exploiting the advantage of "instant activation" to restrict Franklin's Double Machine Gun.
Because when using Double Machine Gun, the Nen defenses on other parts of his body would weaken.
Unless he consciously reduced the firepower of Double Machine Gun to reserve more aura output for reinforcing defenses elsewhere.
But doing so would mean voluntarily discarding the advantages of Emission, rendering it utterly pointless.
In this situation, the best countermeasure would be to have an ally secure his firing conditions.
But Bonolenov was already...
Huh!?
Could it be that these people had planned from the start to swiftly eliminate Bonolenov?
All to prevent him from freely unleashing the full power of Double Machine Gun!?
The enemy, they knew the details of both my and Bonolenov's abilities?
Then, were they the ones who killed Feitan and Shalnark!?
Franklin abruptly realized this, recalling the leader's earlier speculation that the perpetrator might be aware of Feitan's ability intel.
So, was there really a traitor in the group?
No, the leader had already ruled out that possibility using Pakunoda's ability.
Then what was happening now? Was he overthinking, or...?
No, there was no time to dwell on this now!
What he needed to do was survive and bring the intel back!
After that burst of rapid reasoning, Franklin's gaze turned icy. He raised both hands, channeling vast amounts of Nen as the ten dark barrel-like fingers aimed squarely at Morrow and his group ahead.
If he assumed Morrow would only use that instantaneous ground-based attack when he activated Double Machine Gun...
Then he would exploit that assumption to create an opening for offense.
"Double Machine Gun."
Franklin's outstretched hands gleamed with condensed Nen.
And just as he predicted, Morrow immediately activated "Insidious Shooting Star."
Beneath Franklin's feet, a stellar cross abruptly flared to life.
But Franklin was prepared. He leaped backward in a flash.
Whoosh!
An eerie blue Shooting Star erupted from the ground before him, casting a fleeting glimmer in his pupils.
"Double Machine Gun."
After feigning an attack to bait out Morrow's Insidious Shooting Star, Franklin seized the opening to truly unleash his ability.
In an instant, accompanied by an unbroken staccato of gunfire, a barrage of diamond-shaped Nen bullets shot forth from his fingertips, raining down upon Morrow ahead. Morrow raised his gaze, thinking to himself that despite Franklin's towering stature, the man was quite sharp-witted, able to discern his intentions in such a situation and quickly find a countermeasure.
Yet even so, it changed nothing.
Facing the barrage of diamond-shaped Nen bullets raining down like gunfire, Morrow showed no intention of dodging. Instead, he actively advanced toward them.
"Abyssal Sheath."
Drawing the Abysmal Sheath with his left hand, Morrow absorbed every incoming diamond-shaped Nen bullet that might have struck him into the sheath.
Under the effects of his Vow, Franklin's Emission-type attacks could unleash even greater power.
But this "power," when divided into a machine-gun-like spread, ultimately prioritized wide-area suppression over individual destructive force.
Thus, the fragmented Nen bullets posed little pressure on the Abyssal Sheath's absorption capacity.
Utilizing the sheath, Morrow carved out a fearless path through the crossfire of diamond-shaped bullets.
Seeing this, Franklin's pupils contracted.
How could he have anticipated that Morrow, an Emission-type user, could employ a mere sheath to absorb his Nen bullets?
With no time to dwell on it, Franklin continued his barrage while swiftly retreating.
He had no absolute confidence in defeating all three enemies, including Morrow.
So he couldn't afford to linger in battle!
Trying to run...? I didn't expect that.
Morrow instantly recognized Franklin's intent to disengage and flee.
Naïve.
Given the Phantom Troupe's usual arrogance, where they took turns fighting enemies, he hadn't expected Franklin to so decisively choose retreat at this moment.
Beyond surprise, he simply found Franklin too naïve.
Had Franklin fought with a do-or-die mentality, Morrow might have exercised some caution, wary of a desperate counterattack.
"Deceptive Shooting Star."
The Deceptive Shooting Star he had released earlier finally returned at this moment.
Having already calculated the timing, Morrow crouched halfway, allowing the rebounding Shooting Star to soar over his head.
Compared to the dispersed diamond-shaped Nen bullets, the Shooting Star, now amplified in power after its rebound, was naturally far more lethal.
In an instant, the emerald Shooting Star shattered through the diamond bullets in its path, hurtling toward Franklin.
Unable to concentrate fire to destroy the projectile, Franklin had no choice but to deactivate his Double Machine Gun ability and evade the incoming threat.
At the same time, still crouched, Morrow casually stabbed the Poultry Scarlet Knife into the ground, freeing his right hand to press against the damp sand.
"Insidious Shooting Star."
Having disrupted Franklin's ability with the Deceptive Shooting Star, Morrow seized the moment to swiftly chain into his second wave of attacks.
The next instant, Franklin, who had barely dodged the Deceptive Shooting Star, had just steadied himself when a stellar cross materialized beneath his feet.
This guy...!
Franklin's expression darkened, unable to react effectively in time. He could only reinforce the aura output at the point of impact.
BOOM!
An azure Shooting Star erupted from the center of the cross, triggering a violent explosion beneath Franklin's feet.
Amid the surging shockwave, Franklin's massive frame was sent flying.
Yet Morrow's assault wasn't over.
The third wave, an Emission-type attack! Morrow had already raised the Abyssal Sheath, which had absorbed numerous diamond-shaped Nen bullets, as he unleashed Insidious Shooting Star.
When absorbing Franklin's Nen bullets earlier, he had initially assumed the Abyssal Sheath would quickly reflect the bullet's energy.
But that wasn't the case.
After absorbing the first bullet, the Abyssal Sheath didn't get the chance to reflect it before the second and third bullets followed in rapid succession...
This extreme absorption rate seemed to function as cumulative charging, preventing the sheath from immediately reflecting the energy of the first bullet and instead storing it.
Because of this, Morrow was able to seamlessly transition into his third wave of offense.
The upward-facing mouth of the sheath suddenly erupted with blinding radiance, releasing the accumulated violent energy in a surging wave of light that shot straight toward Franklin in midair.
At this moment, Franklin had just barely managed to block Insidious Shooting Star, suspended in the air with no leverage to evade.
BOOM!
The Nen light wave struck Franklin squarely, the contained Nen instantly distorting and exploding.
Like a broken kite trailing smoke, Franklin plummeted heavily to the ground.
Morrow's three consecutive Emission attacks had completely suppressed Franklin, another Emitter.
The key to Morrow's success lay in the Abyssal Sheath's first practical application...
From absorbing the bullets at the start to reflecting the energy and linking it to the third wave of offense.
It was this fluid, relentless combo that allowed for such overwhelming offensive pressure.
Thus, even though Morrow's aura output was inferior to Franklin's, he could still perfectly embody the purest violent aesthetic of Emission.
This feeling... is exhilarating.
Watching Franklin's falling figure, Morrow felt an unfamiliar rush of euphoria.
He, too, was an Emitter.
But after Death Rewind, he had to maximize the combat value of his Nen within limited constraints.
So he couldn't choose a purely Emission-based approach; instead, he had to integrate Manipulation traits into his combat system to raise his early-stage operational ceiling.
Only this way could he ensure his initial growth and improve the efficiency of upgrading Tree Rings.
But now...
This unrestrained, all-out fighting style let him experience firsthand the raw appeal of Emission.
The corners of Morrow's lips curled upward as he reached out and drew the Poultry Scarlet Knife, gripping it firmly.
His total aura amount hadn't changed, meaning Franklin wasn't dead yet.
After all, this was a guy who could achieve 100% conversion efficiency even with Enhancement attributes. When he distributed his aura output defensively, it formed a defense equivalent to that of an Enhancement user.
But under this relentless assault, even if Franklin survived, he wouldn't escape unscathed.
Add to that the initial explosion from the off-road vehicle...
With accumulated injuries, Franklin no longer had a chance to turn the tables.
Because Kurapika and Kalluto were still in play.
Long before Morrow and Franklin engaged in their Emission duel, Kurapika and Kalluto had already been waiting for their moment.
They had undergone two months of intensive combat training, including numerous joint-operation drills, establishing a basic tactical synergy.
So when Franklin was suppressed and sent crashing down by Morrow, Kurapika and Kalluto didn't need to communicate; they simply moved into action. There wasn't any particularly special tactic involved. Kalluto simply manipulated the reassembled mass of paper scraps to pressure the heavily injured Franklin head-on.
Had Franklin been in normal condition, he could have easily neutralized the white serpent-like onslaught of paper scraps with just his Double Machine Gun ability.
However, Kalluto chose to strike precisely when Franklin had just crashed to the ground from midair.
Already severely wounded, Franklin lacked the capacity to counterattack as defense. He could only roll away awkwardly before scrambling to his feet to evade the paper serpent's pounce.
But by then, Kurapika's chains had already been positioned in advance.
There was no need to use In to conceal the chains' presence; Franklin, forced into evasive maneuvers, practically delivered himself right into them.
Clang!
The chains wrapped around Franklin with perfect precision.
Kurapika's eyes gleamed crimson as he activated his Chain Jail ability.
In the next instant, Franklin's Nen receded like a tidal wave.
His bloodied face jerked downward in shock as he locked eyes with Kurapika's blazing scarlet irises.
So it's one of the Kurta Clan...!?
Cornered with no way out, Franklin instantly understood everything.