Chapter 4: Zanpakutō's First Awakening
"Kid, your journey ends here." The black-clad man stared coldly at Mord, his voice calm.
The indifference in his eyes was like that of a butcher eyeing a lamb in a cage.
This calmness was not feigned. Meteor City had no shortage of desperados like him. Whether it was for robbery, revenge, or simply because they disliked someone, suddenly drawing a blade and killing another was as common as a daily meal.
In a situation like tonight, of course, no living witnesses would be spared.
Mord understood this all too well.
The black-clad man spread his arms, two daggers sliding from his sleeves as he advanced step by step toward Mord.
He didn't let his guard down just because Mord was merely a tavern server. Foolish acts of underestimating opponents and losing one's life happened every day in Meteor City.
The more one saw and heard, the more cautious one became.
He had no intention of becoming the subject of others' drunken laughter.
As the danger crept closer, Mord assumed a defensive stance.
The next second, the black-clad man abruptly accelerated forward, two flashes of blade light crisscrossing toward Mord.
Mord hastily dodged to the side.
A spray of blood flew up.
Glancing down, Mord saw a shallow cut on his left forearm. Had he reacted a moment slower, the blade would have slashed his throat instead.
Before he could recover from the previous attack, the next strike was already upon him.
In the darkness.
Two figures continuously weaved and flickered.
Facing the storm-like onslaught, Mord could only barely avoid fatal injuries each time.
Huff... huff...
The sound of labored breathing.
The two figures separated once more.
By now, Mord's body was riddled with countless cuts, his blood-soaked form resembling a crimson specter.
"You've learned Nen, but only up to the level of Ten."
The black-clad man flicked the blood off his blade, observing Mord as he finally reached his conclusion.
Everything up to now had been probing attacks.
Merely to gauge Mord's limits—and it seemed he had been overly cautious.
He could tell Mord wasn't faking it, as there had been several moments where he nearly took the boy's life.
No one would gamble with their life for an act.
The black-clad man shook his head slightly.
Of course.
Just a tavern server, after all. That he'd even been taught Nen by that woman was already high praise.
For someone so young, reaching this level of Ten was impressive enough.
Time to end this.
The black-clad man glanced toward the direction of the Rory family mansion, wondering if things had been settled there yet.
"For someone so young, lasting this long is commendable." He turned back to Mord, his aura beginning to shift. "To honor that, I'll use my full strength for this final strike."
"My Nen ability is Lightning Flash."
"Once, I fell into enemy hands and endured electric torture. By sheer luck, I survived—and developed this ability."
"It allows me to convert my aura into faint electricity, stimulating and accelerating my cells to drastically enhance my speed."
Revealing his ability.
Holy shit.
There really are idiots like this in the world. Truly befitting the Hunter world.
Mord inwardly scoffed, recalling the sudden burst of speed during their chase and the flicker of electricity he'd glimpsed earlier.
A Transmutation-type ability.
Electric-based.
However, its level of development was clearly incomparable to Killua's later version—it was more like a severely downgraded version of Godspeed.
Even so, for Mord at this moment, it still posed a lethal threat.
Crackle, crackle—
Faint arcs of electricity began flickering across the black-clad man's body.
His hair stood on end as well.
"Damn bad luck."
Mord stared intently at his opponent, his expression growing increasingly grave as the aura of death drew nearer.
In this critical moment, the energy within his body surged to life, flowing into his focused eyes—an application of Ren: Gyo!
As if the entire world had slowed down.
Slowed to the point where even the dandruff on the black-clad man's scalp became clearly visible.
The thought flashed through his mind in an instant, just as the battle was about to erupt.
The electric light flared.
The black-clad man transformed into a streak of lightning, charging straight at Mord.
A simple, straight line.
The shortest distance between two points.
A true killing move never needed any unnecessary flourishes.
Under the effect of Gyo, Mord finally managed to barely perceive his opponent's movement.
His body couldn't react fast enough to dodge completely.
Mord took half a step back, his hands forming a loose grip as a slender longsword materialized in his grasp.
A single strand of hair.
Drifted slowly to the ground.
Drip, drip.
Then came the blood.
The black-clad man looked down at his chest in disbelief, his eyes wide with shock at the realization that he would die at the hands of such a young boy.
The longsword had run him through.
A single strike, instant death.
While the daggers in his hands had stopped just three inches from Mord's forehead.
An inch longer, an inch stronger.
"You... you're a Materialization-type Nen user?"
The black-clad man spat blood and collapsed to the ground.
Even in death, his face remained twisted with unwillingness.
Mord didn't answer. Instead, with a grim expression, he pulled out his blade.
Still uneasy, he stepped forward and delivered several more strikes until he was certain the man was truly dead. Only then did he let out a relieved sigh.
This battle had been far too perilous—the most dangerous fight he had ever faced. Since his current ability was nothing more than an ordinary blade, he had no choice but to gamble.
He feigned the appearance of a novice Nen user, then struck when least expected.
This final scene had already formed in Mord's mind the moment he saw his opponent wield a short blade.
"Fucking lunatic, I told you I was just passing through."
Just as he turned to leave—
A brilliant light suddenly erupted from the Zanpakutō in his hand.
At the same time, the status panel before him changed.
[Name: Mord]
[Nen Proficiency: C-]
[Nen Ability: Zanpakutō]
[Awakening Attribute: Pierce, Gonryōmaru! — Lightning damage can be freely added to Nen attacks (Evolution conditions not met)]
[Mastered Skills: Basic Hakuda, Basic Zanjutsu, Basic Footwork]
Mord froze.
Had his Zanpakutō just evolved?!
This was an unexpected boon. He had originally planned to seek out Zald to see if he had any solutions.
Glancing at the corpse lying in a pool of blood, he knew he couldn't stay here long. Using his aura to barely suppress his injuries and prevent fatal blood loss, he turned and sprinted out of Meteor City.
These people had dared to attack the Rory Family, the top mafia syndicate in District D—their strength was clearly nothing to scoff at.
A single opponent had nearly killed him. If they finished their business there and came after him, his life would be forfeit.