Two minutes passed in a blur of gunfire and screams before Conrad made his move.
His thumb tapped the screen of his phone once.
Now.
Across the street, Adarte broke off his assault without hesitation.
This was the second signal that pointed out that the group needed to move even faster than usual.
It also sent to Anisa too; tell her that she joins the battle now, the act two, second distraction to lure away the nen user that protects Maxwell.
Adarte kicked backward, using the recoil of his own Nen-enhanced movement to launch himself away from the densest cluster of gunmen, vanishing into the smoke and rain as if the chaos itself had swallowed him.
Anisa moved at the same time.
She stepped forward.
In one fluid motion, she conjured her dagger into her left hand and drew her revolver with the right. The metal gleamed briefly under the streetlights before rain dulled its shine.
"There is another one."
"Kill that bitch!"
The mafia members who were shocked by Aderta felt the energy of Anisa, that she used her nen to gather attention on herself, and directly pointed their guns and attention on her.
Distracting ordinary mafia members, ordinary people that know nothing about nen, was as easy as walking for a nen user.
The only thing needed is for the Nen user to use some of theirs and flare it to make them feel.
Bullets snapped past her as several mafia members reacted too late.
Anisa twisted left, then right, her footwork precise and economical.
A man tried to block her path; she passed him, blade flashing once across his throat.
Blood sprayed in a thin arc as he collapsed without even realizing he'd been cut.
Another reached for her arm.
She shot him point-blank and kept moving.
To Conrad's eyes, Anisa's actions and murders were elegant.
Anisa wasn't wasting Nen; at least she was trying to control her Nen output as much as she could. Every strike was aimed to kill, not to injure or anything; this made her actions and battle fun to watch, like a dancer, a ballet of some sort.
Bodies dropped behind her like discarded props.
"Now they'll panic," Conrad thought. "And now they'll commit."
His attention snapped upward.
There.
A ripple in the air, faint but unmistakable.
Nen, who had been held back, was no longer bothering to hide.
A presence unfolded from the fifth floor like a blade being drawn from its sheath.
Now that there is a second Nen user, the Nen user hidden in the Strepo Apartment must decide that it is time for him to act. If he waits more and lets the mafia member that provided distraction dwindle much more, the Nen user will need to fight against two enemy Nen users, which is never ideal and mostly a death wish for many Nen users.
Conrad smiled faintly.
"Found you."
The window shattered outward as a man stepped into view.
Middle-aged. Long hair tied back.
This man was a Nen user, and it was not hard to see at all.
"He's a problem," Conrad muttered.
Below, Anisa felt it too.
The pressure washed over her skin; she stopped advancing and slowly lifted her gaze, locking eyes with the man above.
Her grip on her weapons tightened; she was a little bit excited to fight against a nen user in the real world, their life on the line.
Which was important for her, as her revolver had a condition that gave her a lot of power and a kill shot ability as long as she was attacked with the intent from the enemy to kill her.
"So this is the guardian," she thought.
She took a step back, widening the space between them.
"So," Anisa said,
"You're the one protecting him."
The man's lips curved into a polite, amused smile as he dropped from the shattered window, landing lightly on the wet pavement several meters away from her.
"I am Cailo, and no, madam, I won't ask why you're here. Everyone has their reasons for violence. As you know why I protect the man that I protect."
As he straightened, his hands moved.
Two blades slid into his palms, one in each hand.
They weren't conjured;
Conrad could see that instantly.
Anisa didn't know that.
But she knew enough not to assume anything for the time being.
They can be conjured before he enters the battle too.
The air tightened.
Then Cailo vanished.
He crossed the distance in a blink, rain exploding beneath his feet as he lunged.
His right blade slashed toward Anisa's neck while the left angled for her ribs, a clean, professional opening meant to end the fight instantly.
Anisa twisted, barely avoiding the first strike as steel grazed her collarbone.
Cailo laughed softly as he moved again.
Conrad nodded once.
"Good," he thought. "He took the bait."
His attention shifted inward, recalculating.
Thirty seconds.
Maybe a minute.
That was all he needed.
With the Nen user fully engaged and the battlefield locked onto Anisa, Conrad slipped away from his perch, his orbs already drifting ahead.
Maxwell Herivo.
"Hold on," Conrad murmured, already moving. "I'll end this fast."