The arena was deathly silent.
Morrow gripped Chrollo's severed left arm and suddenly exerted force.
Squelch.
The arm was crushed into two pieces by his bare hands, falling onto the ravaged ground.
"Cough, cough..."
Morrow coughed a few times, tilting his head to spit out a mouthful of bloody foam before shaking his arm to fling off the sticky blood coating his palm.
Though he had torn off Chrollo's left arm, his own abdomen had taken a brutal kick from Chrollo in return.
Combined with the earlier explosion damage, he had accumulated quite a few injuries by now.
But compared to Chrollo's current state, he held the advantage.
Almost there. The spider was nearly crushed...
Morrow panted heavily, his gaze sharp as a blade.
Boom.
He stomped the ground, shattering it as he propelled himself toward Chrollo.
At this moment, Chrollo was covered in blood, the brutally torn wound at his left shoulder gushing incessantly.
Despite such grievous injuries, the aura of his intent to kill Morrow remained as intense as ever.
He still had a sliver of potential aura left, just enough to...
"Hmm?"
Chrollo abruptly halted.
Several dark figures streaked low through the air, flying straight toward Morrow.
Those figures were unmistakably Needle People, their heads embedded with bead-head needles.
Judging by their unnatural flight trajectory, they appeared to have been hurled by hand.
Morrow's pupils contracted as the Needle People came crashing toward him midair.
With his potential aura nearly depleted, he had no choice but to wield Abyssal Sheath like a staff, swinging it at the first incoming Needle Person.
Thud.
The strike sent the Needle Person's bones dislocating, its body twisting violently before slamming into the ground.
Morrow swung Abyssal Sheath repeatedly, knocking down the remaining Needle People.
Illumi...
Gripping Abyssal Sheath tightly, Morrow swept a cold glance around, spotting more Needle People closing in from all sides with eerie movements.
At a glance, there were at least a hundred of them.
And at the forefront of the horde, Illumi walked calmly, bead-head needles pinched between his fingers.
He didn't immediately look at Morrow or Chrollo, instead swiftly scanning the devastated battlefield and the corpses of the Troupe members.
Unbelievable...
A rare flicker of shock surfaced in Illumi's ink-black eyes. He couldn't even begin to fathom how Morrow had accomplished this.
After delivering Kalluto to Tsubone, he hadn't returned right away; instead, he had spent time gathering a batch of Needle People from the surroundings.
That was the real reason for his delayed arrival.
But though collecting these Needle People had taken some effort, had it even been ten minutes?
In that short span, most of the Troupe's combat force hadn't just failed to push Morrow into a corner; they had been slaughtered until only Chrollo remained.
And even Chrollo had lost an arm.
Keep in mind, the Troupe had full intel on Morrow's abilities.
With such an overwhelming advantage, how could they have...?
The shock in Illumi's eyes deepened. Had he arrived just a minute or two later, even Chrollo might have fallen to Morrow's hands?
In less than half a year, what on earth...
Suppressing his astonishment, Illumi fixed his gaze on Morrow, silently wondering: Just what happened to him?
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed that someone he once had the ability to kill could push the Troupe to such extremes today.
Even if he were to face Chrollo himself, he wouldn't dare claim a hundred percent chance of victory, let alone while simultaneously dealing with the other Troupe members.
Yet Morrow had done it.
While Illumi was shocked by this, he suddenly grew intensely curious; what kind of battle had unfolded between Morrow and the Troupe in the short time he'd been away?
But this curiosity came and went just as quickly.
No matter what, the mission took priority.
At least Chrollo was still alive...
Suppressing his curiosity, Illumi raised a hand and pointed at Morrow, issuing a command to the surrounding Needle People: "Destroy him."
The moment the words left his mouth, the dull-eyed, grotesquely contorted Needle People abruptly surged toward Morrow in a frenzy.
At the same time, Illumi strode toward Morrow as well.
Chrollo watched this scene unfold, his eyes shadowed, his expression utterly unreadable. He merely entered a state of Zetsu, focusing on recovering his potential aura as much as possible.
Around them, the Needle People quickly surrounded Morrow.
Following Illumi's destruction order, they attacked with everything they had, hands, feet, even their teeth, doing their utmost to tear into him.
Morrow's condition was already nearing its limit. He could only rely on the innate aura strength of Abyssal Sheath to destroy the Needle People one by one as they lunged at him.
If his willpower held firm, he might still be able to eliminate all hundred or so of them.
But even if he had the strength left to deal with every last Needle Person, he stood no chance against Illumi at full power.
"You really are too dangerous."
Illumi's icy voice cut through the gaps between the Needle People.
Along with it came his fist, striking at a vicious, precise angle, straight into Morrow's abdomen.
A dull thud of flesh hitting flesh echoed.
Morrow spat blood as his body was sent flying backward, crashing into the mass of Needle People.
For a moment, they toppled like bowling pins.
Illumi pressed his advantage without hesitation.
His sneak attack hadn't used the Nen needles restricted to the head area; instead, he'd relied purely on Body Technique, making it easier to find an opening.
That single punch had all but sealed the outcome of the battle.
"So, you must die here today."
Illumi's flat, emotionless tone carried the coldest bloodlust.
Morrow barely steadied himself, his chest heaving violently, blood still dripping from the corner of his mouth.
Slowly, he lifted his gaze. He said nothing, only looked at Illumi as if he were already staring at a dead man.
"That look in your eyes... Do you still not understand the situation?"
Illumi spoke again, his voice just as indifferent.
In battle, he wasn't one to waste words.
But the phenomena and results he'd witnessed from Morrow, things that defied all logic, seemed to have struck a nerve somewhere deep within him.
In any case... he just needed to kill him.
With that thought, Illumi launched another lethal strike at the faltering Morrow.
But at that very moment, Morrow's figure vanished into thin air.
A flicker of surprise passed through Illumi's cold eyes.
The next instant, Morrow suddenly appeared right in front of Chrollo.
At the very last moment, Chrollo had used his ability, now off cooldown, to forcibly displace others, pulling Morrow to him.
He had to kill Morrow with his own hands!
With this resolve, he gathered the last remnants of his aura into his right hand and thrust it into Morrow's chest.
However, missing one arm meant he had to first dismiss Skill Hunter from his right hand before attacking Morrow.
This extra step gave Morrow an opening to counter.
Morrow pushed his right hand forward, pressing it against Chrollo's face, and drove two fingers deep into Chrollo's eyes; blood splattered instantly.
A warm, sticky sensation spread from his fingertips...
At the same time, shadows flickered across Morrow's vision.
Before his consciousness was swallowed by darkness, Morrow's final thought was to absorb the aura from Abyssal Sheath...