The moment he landed, Allen didn't hesitate to blow his whistle, summoning Lupos. He then pulled out the Hunting Map and said to Bodoro beside him: "Your target, Phinks, is at the six o'clock position. His ability is Ripper Cyclotron, which means the more times he spins his arm, the greater the force of his punch. Go on, enjoy your hunt tonight."
"Thank you! I will!"
Bodoro flashed an excited and joyful smile, immediately hoisting the heavy metal box onto his back and running toward the target's location, disappearing shortly after.
Allen quickly locked onto Kortopi's position and, taking Lupos and Baise, avoided the most intense areas of crossfire, silently finding the short figure in an inconspicuous corner.
He was currently coordinating with another Troupe member, Shalnark. The former used his Gallery Fake copying ability to mass-produce devastating hand grenades, while the latter used his Black Voice antenna to control Mafia members, strapping the copied grenades onto them, and shoving them back into the crowd to directly self-detonate.
The sheer power and bloody sight... any normal person would feel the urge to vomit profusely upon seeing it. Moreover, this kind of suicide attack instilled intense fear in the Mafia members, ultimately causing their morale to collapse and prompting them to flee.
"Good evening~ You two certainly cooperate well," Allen slowly emerged from the darkness and greeted them.
"A killer hired by the Mafia?" Kortopi immediately took two steps back in alarm. It was clear from this subconscious self-protective action that he was definitely the weakest fighter in the entire Troupe.
Shalnark explained with a grave expression: "No. He's no ordinary killer. Grim Reaper, Allen! The top Bounty Hunter whose fame has soared recently. In just two or three months, he's captured a huge number of A and B-rank wanted criminals, every single one ending in death. Be careful; he's not someone ordinary. I'll hold him off for a moment. You should run as far as you can and notify the others to immediately evacuate Yorknew City."
Knowledgeable and possessing a Hunter License, he instantly recognized the identity of the seemingly harmless youth before him. His nerves tightened immediately, and he inserted one of his antennas into his own body, preparing to fight to the death with Auto-Pilot.
"Grim Reaper? Are you saying..." Kortopi clearly realized something, his tone tinged with fear.
Shalnark nodded without hesitation: "Yes. If I'm not mistaken, this is all a setup, a death trap designed to wipe out the Phantom Troupe. Am I right, Grim Reaper-san?"
"You guessed correctly! To be precise, I exploited your greed for the Mafia's underground auction to set a trap. Whether it was Shizuku, Uvogin, or those dead Shadow Beasts, I was the one responsible. Tonight, including Chrollo, the leader, no one is leaving here alive, because I will complete a hunt right here and hold a grand funeral for you all."
As he spoke, Allen and Lupos completed their pincer movement, surrounding the two Spiders.
One stays to hold him off, the other runs to report? Impossible! He wouldn't leave such an opening.
And even if Shalnark activated his Auto-Pilot mode, what difference would it make? His base aura capacity limit is fixed. With just one punch, the Troupe's second brain would instantly be reduced to a pool of bloody, unrecognizable remains.
"Why? Why are you targeting us? Is there some old grudge between us?" Shalnark, clearly aware of the vast gap in aura capacity between them, tried to end this severely disadvantageous situation through communication and negotiation.
Allen sneered mercilessly and retorted: "Hahahaha! How surprising! A member of the Phantom Troupe talking about logic? Are you trying to make me laugh? Or, when you went ahead and slaughtered those unarmed citizens, was that because of some old grudge? What's more: take what you want. That's the Phantom Troupe's creed, isn't it? And all I'm doing is applying what you do to others back onto yourselves. He who kills shall also be killed. Do I really need to teach you such a basic concept?"
He made no attempt to conceal his disgust for the entire Phantom Troupe, nor his fierce desire to destroy the criminal organization.
There was no need to detail all the heinous acts these scumbags committed under Chrollo's leadership; the mere fact they slaughtered the Kurta Clan, sparing neither man, woman, nor child, was enough reason for them to die dozens of times over.
Sensing the palpable malice, Shalnark involuntarily took a deep breath and asked gravely: "In other words, there is no personal grudge between us, right?"
"Yes. I simply find you irritating. Also, I am very interested in the abilities of certain members of the Troupe. Further talk is useless. Let's stake all our Nen on a death match."
As the last word left his mouth, Allen immediately activated Aura Burst, charging forward at a speed too fast for the naked eye to track.
Auto-Pilot!
In just an instant, Shalnark unleashed his strongest ability, his entire body erupting with several times his normal aura capacity, charging forward like a madman.
But the next second... Big Bang Punch!
Boom!
Bolstered by an aura capacity more than ten times that of Uvogin, Allen severed Shalnark at the waist with a single punch. A large amount of intestines, internal organs, spine, and blood vessels sprayed out, forming a blood-red mist in the air.
But in his Auto-Pilot state, Shalnark could not perceive any pain and lacked even self-awareness. Even with only half a body remaining, he still tried to use the last strength of his upper body to attack the enemy.
But the result was obvious: his remaining arm was crushed by a stomp, and he lay on the ground, struggling for life and awaiting death.
"Contract established! Vaelstrasz, devour him."
Without any trace of pity, Allen gave the Red Dragon the command to feed, then steadily approached his next prey.
"You want to steal our abilities? Dream on! I won't let you!" Kortopi roared, grabbing a copied grenade from the ground, intending to pull the pin and take the enemy down with him.
Unfortunately, he clearly forgot about the equally dangerous Shadow Wolf behind him.
Lupos executed a Charge and lunged forward, sinking his shadow-energy-covered fangs into the target.
"Aaahhhhh!!!" Before Kortopi could pull the grenade's pin, both his arms were violently ripped off. The wounds began to rot rapidly under the assault of the Shadow energy, and blood spurted from the severed arteries, staining the ground red in an instant.
Allen stepped closer, lifted the short figure off the ground with one hand, and said coolly: "Suicide? Sorry, did you ask me first? Your ability is the one I want most, so you can only die by my hand."
"Phantom... the Phantom Troupe will never be extinguished!" Kortopi endured the intense pain, whispering with his last breath.
"Oh? Is that so? Well, we'll see, but you certainly never will." With that, Allen snapped the man's neck with a crunch, and casually tossed the not-quite-dead corpse to the Red Dragon waiting nearby.
Vaelstrasz immediately breathed the Fire of Life, transforming the corpse into a cocoon mid-air, then swallowed it whole before vanishing back into the void, thoroughly satisfied...
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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]