While Allen was patiently waiting inside the Dungeon for the Orb of Deception's cooldown to finish, the Phantom Troupe members outside had already erupted.
Especially Nobunaga, who had witnessed his friend's heart being pierced, immediately roared in uncontrollable fury: "Bastard! That scumbag killed Uvogin right in front of us! I'll find him and tear him to shreds! Get out here, you Shadow Beast piece of trash! I know you're nearby!"
"Don't be rash. He clearly did that to provoke us. The most important thing now is to return to base immediately and report the whole situation to the leader," Machi reminded him calmly.
"Agreed." Shalnark rubbed his chin, analyzing with a deep frown: "Don't forget that guy mentioned the Mafia hired the Zoldyck Family to hunt down all of us. If the Shadow Beasts are all as strong as him, or even half or a third as strong, we will face the most serious crisis since the Troupe was formed."
"Which means we have to retreat. Otherwise, if the Zoldyck Family assassins or other Shadow Beasts arrive, we could be surrounded," Franklin also agreed with the previous two.
In the end, Nobunaga was forced to follow the other members, leaving this place of grief with intense reluctance, fury, and sorrow.
Watching their retreating figures, Kurapika, hidden far back, trembled slightly and uncontrollably. Several times he wanted to pursue them, but in the end, he held back.
"Kurapika, are you alright?" Melody asked with a concerned look.
"I'm fine. Let's go, we should also return to report the situation to our Boss. If that guy who called himself a Shadow Beast wasn't lying, then the full-scale war between the Phantom Troupe and the Ten Dons is about to begin," Kurapika replied, forcibly suppressing the intense hatred in his heart.
"Yes, agreed. After seeing the exaggerated fight between those two guys, I would absolutely refuse to fight a monster like that," Basho nodded with lingering fear.
Clearly, the "two guys" he referred to were Uvogin and Allen, disguised as Rabid Dog.
Especially the terrifying destructive power generated by the final fist collision; anyone who witnessed it couldn't help but feel fear and despair, asking themselves in their hearts, "Is that truly something a human can do?"
Soon, the bodyguards hired by the Nostrade Family drove off and vanished at the end of the highway.
Shortly after Kurapika and his party left, Allen, having completed the Orb of Deception's cooldown, once again transformed into Rabid Dog and emerged from the Dungeon. He first swept the area using Track Humanoids to confirm there were no ambushes, then chuckled and muttered to himself: "They've all gone? Looks like my performance wasn't wasted. Chrollo Lucilfer, let's see what your clever mind can analyze and what choices you will make."
The moment he finished speaking, six unfamiliar auras suddenly descended from the sky. The leader, wearing sunglasses, asked bluntly, "Hey! Rabid Dog, where are those thieves?"
Without a doubt, they were none other than the remaining six members of the Shadow Beasts.
The one speaking was Owl, who possessed the ability to shrink and easily carry objects—"Fun Fun Cloth."
"Isn't that obvious? They all ran away!" Allen feigned impatience.
"Ran away? Did you fight them? Who were these guys? And where are Porcupine, Leech, and Worm?"
As Owl questioned, he observed the mutilated corpses scattered nearby and the environment that had been damaged beyond recognition.
Even an idiot could tell that a supremely fierce battle had taken place here.
"The thieves who attacked the auction were the Phantom Troupe. As for those three pieces of trash—Porcupine, Leech, and Earthworm—they were naturally killed for being too weak. But I'm different; I'm very strong," Allen responded, mimicking Rabid Dog's tone.
"Oh? The famed Phantom Troupe! Wait, I need to call the Ten Dons and explain the situation."
Owl's face instantly turned serious when he heard the name Phantom Troupe, and he quickly pulled out his phone and dialed one of the numbers.
As he walked to an isolated corner to make the call, Allen's eyes fixed on the remaining five Shadow Beast members, and he immediately activated his Transmutation Nen ability, liquefying the air in their lungs.
The next second...
The five wretched beings, completely unprepared, suddenly started spewing bloody chunks mixed with ice from their noses and mouths. Even their windpipes and esophagus were instantly shredded by the biting cold.
Before the Shadow Beasts could even register what was happening, Allen, leveraging the advantage of a sudden sneak attack, ended their agonizing suffering one by one at a speed too fast for the naked eye to discern.
Having done all this, he immediately reverted to his original appearance, allowed the Red Dragon Vaelstrasz to turn them into cocoons and consume them, while he himself leaped and charged toward Owl's location.
Owl, however, clearly possessed far superior combat experience and Nen ability compared to the other Shadow Beasts. He instantly sensed the killing intent from behind and immediately released his ability (Fun Fun Cloth), while loudly demanding, "Who exactly are you?"
"Why even ask? I am a member of the Phantom Troupe, of course! Tell me, where did you hide the auction items?"
Allen did not hesitate to pin this blame on the Troupe.
Because he noticed that the other party's phone call had not been disconnected.
This meant that the Ten Dons could hear the entire conversation at this very moment, the perfect opportunity to instigate a full-scale war between the two sides.
"Damn it!"
Noticing that the five Shadow Beasts he had brought had all vanished into thin air, beads of sweat immediately broke out on Owl's forehead.
"Heh heh, it seems you've realized what you're about to face. In that case, how about we gamble all our Nen and have a little fun?"
As the last word left his mouth, Allen gave his opponent no time to think, immediately activating his ability—Heartbeat Watch, beginning to test a new combat method he had only recently conceived.
And Owl became a miserable test subject.
However, due to the massive disparity between the two, this battle had no suspense from the start; it was utterly one-sided manipulation.
Under the control of the Heartbeat Watch, whenever Owl had a chance to throw his large cloth over Allen's head, his movements would instantly stiffen, or even suffer a momentary pause.
Clearly, the sudden slowing or quickening of the heart rate has a profound effect, even on a Nen user.
Especially the repeated adjustment from fastest to slowest within a single minute, which would cause the target to suffer a series of severe adverse reactions: dizziness, chest tightness, chest pain, shortness of breath, profuse sweating, fever, anxiety, convulsions, facial paleness, and cold limbs.
If this were outside of a combat situation, such symptoms would merely be uncomfortable and wouldn't be enough to truly take down a Nen user.
But in the midst of a fierce battle, even a split-second lapse in concentration can lead to instant death.
After obtaining the desired test results, Allen decisively initiated the ability-stealing procedure, sending Owl to meet the rest of the Shadow Beasts in just a few short minutes.
Thus, the Shadow Beasts unit, lauded as the Ten Dons' strongest trump card, was completely annihilated.
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You can read the ahead chapter on Patr-eon if you're interested: p-atre-on.c-om/Overgod [Just remove the hyphen to access normally]