In theory, Kurapika's assistance had no impact on the ongoing battle.
That was the actual result as well.
Under the premise of being unable to harm Beard, the restraining effect of the chains equaled zero.
Moreover, because the restriction of [Emperor Time] was too severe, Kurapika wouldn't use [Emperor Time] in this battle unless necessary.
Therefore, without the 100% Enhancement-type amplification, the chains' hardness basically couldn't restrict Beard's mobility.
Even if Kurapika's accuracy was sufficient, he could only restrict Beard for less than a second at most. And that one second, in the face of Beard's hardness, had no effect at all.
One chain shattered, but Kurapika didn't immediately use his Aura to restore the chain, nor did he let the broken chain revert to Aura to reclaim a bit of Aura.
The benefit of this was to give Beard the illusion that the chain was a physical item, not a Conjured one.
However, such a small trick was meaningless in front of Beard.
The battle flared up again.
Beard and Botobai collided, producing dull impacts.
Kurapika lurked on the side, seeking opportunities. Whenever an opening appeared, he'd use a chain to bind Beard, creating attack opportunities for Botobai.
But the chains couldn't force Beard into a state of Zetsu. Even if Botobai directly hit Beard, the latter could use high-level Ryu to offset the damage.
Several minutes passed.
Kurapika realized he couldn't contribute much in this battle. His level was still somewhat inferior to Beard's and Botobai's.
Not only Kurapika became aware, Botobai also realized this.
So, after forcing Beard back with a punch, Botobai said gravely, "Don't help me. There are other assassins in the hospital."
As soon as he finished speaking, he was entangled by Beard again.
Hearing Botobai's words, Kurapika didn't respond. He first increased the distance, then looked toward the hospital's inpatient building.
If there were other commotions in the hospital, the liveliest place would be the inpatient building.
'Assassins targeting Chairman Netero?' Kurapika thought silently.
At that moment, piercing police siren sounds came from the hospital's main gate, making Kurapika stay put temporarily.
Outside, police cars lined up in a fan shape outside the main gate.
Police officers holding firearms looked grimly at the hospital entrance. Shortly after, the sound of helicopter rotors came from the sky.
The police had just arrived… the SWAT teams followed closely.
There were five helicopters hovering in the air, and five SWAT squads had arrived on the ground.
Such a scene caused exclamations from the watching crowd.
The police mobilized, urging onlookers outside the hospital to leave. The SWAT teams entered the hospital from various directions, maintaining communication with teammates in the helicopters.
Suddenly, a burning car wreck flew out from the central courtyard. Under everyone's stunned gazes, it directly struck one of the helicopters.
Boom!
Like a blooming firework, the helicopter exploded into a burst of dazzling flames mid-air, then crashed crookedly into the hospital.
Seeing the helicopter shot down by the car wreck, the distant crowd gasped.
Central Courtyard.
Kurapika, who hadn't left the battlefield yet, saw clearly: Beard had casually kicked the car wreck, which accurately hit a helicopter.
In the face of Nen Users of this level, the well-equipped SWAT teams were just weeds to be mowed in bunches.
The most frustrating thing was, if Beard wanted to eliminate these annoying helicopters, Botobai couldn't stop him.
The helicopter rotors' sounds and explosion sounds reached the ears of everyone fighting in the inpatient building.
Cheadle encountered two more assassins, meaning at least two defensive lines had been breached. It was predictable that quite a few Association members would be sacrificed tonight.
Given the circumstances, she couldn't confirm the casualty count. She could only engage the two approaching assassins in combat.
Simultaneously, high in the night sky.
A magical beast dragon soared through dark clouds. Below was a continuous stretch of lit areas. Focusing carefully, the outline of Botda Hospital could be seen.
At this moment, explosions reached the ears of everyone on the magical beast dragon's back. Listening carefully, the faint sound of rotors could also be heard.
"Law."
Killua instinctively looked at Law. Alluka was dozing on his shoulder.
Silva and Tsubone showed no reaction. No matter what was happening below, it was certain it had nothing to do with them.
"I'll go down first to check. You find a suitable place to land, then wait for my message."
Law also knew the Zoldycks' nature… they only acted on commissions. He nodded at Killua and then leaped down.
Killua opened his mouth to speak, but Law's descent was too fast, so he could only withdraw helplessly.
Silva and Tsubone looked down at Law descending.
After a while, Tsubone asked, "Ignore it?"
Silva just nodded.
Seeing this, Tsubone said no more. She thought this decision was not improper, not knowing that the reason Silva stayed out was because Silva knew that no matter what happened below, Law alone could resolve it.
'His strength has become unfathomable, undoubtedly above ours.'
Watching Law's receding figure, this sentence surfaced in Silva's mind.
These words were spoken by Maha not long ago.
Regarding Alluka's matter, Maha hadn't interfered much… he was only invited to serve as backup.
In the family meeting concerning Alluka, Maha basically didn't voice opinions. The only thing he said was this sentence.
Law descended against the wind, objects in his vision growing larger.
Kuro abruptly emerged from the back of his hand, adopting a leisurely free-fall posture.
"Why did you come out?"
Law glanced at the black cat and questioned.
"Can't I watch the excitement?" Kuro retorted rudely.
Law thought for a moment, waved his hand, and pulled Kuro to his front.
Kuro's heart sank, having a foreboding sense and a deep familiarity.
Law, like a swimmer at a turn, forcefully kicked off Kuro's body, using it as a springboard to generate thrust, propelling himself downward faster.
Kuro only had time to curse angrily before being kicked high into the sky.
Law's body descended like an arrow toward Botda Hospital's location. Simultaneously, he released an En sphere with about a thousand-meter range. Before his body even landed, it first passed over the remaining four helicopters, covering the key areas of Boda Hospital.
The SWAT teams had no reaction to Law's En, but the Nen Users inside the hospital all felt a chill.
When the En passed through their bodies, it felt as if a pair of cold, merciless eyes appeared behind them, looking down from above.
'Coming from above... but this range...!'
In whichever small local battle area, whether Blackstone Family's assassins or Association's Hunters, the moment their bodies contacted the En, what they saw was an En large enough to fill their entire field of vision.
'An enemy?!'
The sudden En represented the arrival of an outsider.
But, Blackstone Family's side would think it was the opponent's reinforcement, while the Association's side would also think it was the opponent's reinforcement.
Because this outsider wasn't in either side's lineup… they came suddenly, descending from the sky.
Only a few individuals could probably guess who it was.
'Is it Law...?'
Based on the pre-arranged approximate time, even if Cheadle guessed who released the En, her heart still shook.
That kind of En, when it enveloped them, felt like a cold wintry breath, enough to make one's body shiver, and also like a lion opening its eyes, staring at them with a cold gaze.
Merely being touched by it involuntarily produced a strong sense of danger, along with an illusion of being seen through completely.
This feeling had never been experienced during previous interactions with Law.
'Was this the difference between Law in normal times and in combat?'
Central Courtyard.
Beard and Botobai consciously stopped and distanced themselves, their expressions changing as they faced off.
Then, they made the same movement: looking up at the sky.
Unlike those inside the inpatient building, they were outdoors. Just by looking up, they could see the person releasing the En.
Kurapika hadn't left this area yet, standing outside the combat zone, also looking up in surprise at the night sky.
He didn't have the experience of knowing who it was just by contacting En. Even if he did, he absolutely wouldn't guess that was Law's En.
No other reason… because Law's current strength had reached a higher level.
Then, all three of them saw Law, their reactions varying.
In the sky, Law instantly retracted his En.
The moment the En covered the hospital's key areas, he had grasped each person's location.
Generally, the larger the En range, the lower the precision.
For example, with a ten-meter En, when detecting a person, even a pimple could be scanned. But if it were over a hundred meters, with low mastery, once the number of objects was too high, only a general human outline would be scanned.
However, Law could use a thousand-meter En with the effect of a ten-meter En and simultaneously process multiple pieces of information.
Every Blackstone Family's assassin and every Association's Hunter were within his controlled range.
'Kurapika's here too?'
Law was slightly surprised, then descended directly into the central courtyard, choosing a spot between Beard and Botobai.
The reason for choosing this landing spot wasn't because it was outdoors, but because Law judged Beard to be the strongest among the enemies.
'Master.'
Kurapika looked at Law descending from the sky. This address wasn't spoken aloud but kept in his heart.
Botobai looked at Law with a complex gaze. In contrast, Beard was fully alert, his gaze nailed on Law. Putting aside that the En range was truly exaggerated, mainly he felt an inexplicable sense of crisis from Law.
'En was originally a skill that tested technique considerably… some even struggled to learn it successfully.'
'But this man descending from the sky had released such a large-range En.'
After landing, Law first gave Kurapika a slight nod, then looked at Beard and asked, "Blackstone?"
Beard remained silent, his Aura maintained at its peak.
Seeing Beard didn't intend to answer, Law didn't mind. Whether the opponent was Blackstone Family's assassin or not was actually irrelevant now.
The night breeze brushed his face. Law suddenly disappeared from his spot.
Beard's face changed dramatically. His earlier intense focus on Law made him sense the direction.
He perceived Law's attacking direction was from the right.
Almost simultaneously, he pushed his Aura to the extreme, throwing a punch to the right.
Whoosh!
That was the sound of a punch landing in empty air.
'Misjudgment? No!'
Beard realized instantly it was the opponent's speed being too fast, having shifted position a second time, not that he had judged wrongly.
'Only an Emitter could achieve this speed. As long as the opponent isn't Enhancer, I have confidence in defending!'
In that fleeting moment, such thoughts arose in Beard's mind.
The next instant, his peripheral vision only caught Law's figure. Then, a white figure barged into his sight without any warning, carrying an extremely imposing presence.
Beard reflexively raised his arms, which he considered his hardest, adopting a defensive posture.
The White General swung its arm, the long blade wrapped in dazzling white light cutting through the night, then suddenly disappeared again, as if never there.
Beard's raised arms hung in mid-air, his body frozen in place.
At that moment, Law passed by him, heading towards the inpatient building.
Beard slowly looked down at his abdomen, confusion appearing in his eyes.
He had seen the White General's blade clearly. Just as it was about to strike his crossed arms, it somehow disappeared, followed by a chill in his abdomen.
'I've been cut...!'
With this thought, Beard looked blankly at a line of blood seeping from his abdomen.
'That imposing strike was just a feint? It was only to make him distribute some Aura to my arms, while the real finishing move was his super-fast strike after withdrawing the Aura.'
'What terrifying and proficient technique...'
'Even so, only an Enhancer could cut through my body so easily.'
'If he were Enhancer, then what about this speed? And what was that white figure?'
Beard turned his head with difficulty but could no longer see Law's figure.
In that instant, he didn't even know how Law had cut through his body. It seemed... bare-handed?
Beard had been distracted by the White General's feint, but Botobai and Kurapika, outside the combat zone, saw clearly.
Law cut through Beard's abdomen bare-handed, right after withdrawing the White General. The speed was simply too fast.
"Who... is he?"
His body cut in two, Beard knew his death was near. He asked Botobai about Law's identity.
Botobai remained silent for a while, then replied in a tone devoid of emotion, "Monkey Zodiac."
Hearing this, Beard fell into a deathly silence.
Then, as his lower half fell to the ground, he burst into loud laughter.
"It's not over yet! Not yet!"
Beard roared, the sheer sound waves directly vibrating dozens of SWAT officers who had stealthily approached to death.
Botobai looked at the struggling, dying Beard, said nothing, and delivered the final blow.
…
Inpatient building, a certain corridor.
Cheadle was engaged in a battle of movement with two assassins.
Her ability was inherently auxiliary, suitable for supporting from the sidelines, gathering intelligence while teammates fought enemies, then activating her ability once enough intelligence was collected.
One-on-one was manageable, but simultaneously facing two strong combat-type Nen Users was somewhat taxing.
Cheadle and the assassins were in intense combat when suddenly, Beard's roar came through.
The two Blackstone Family's assassins' eyes flickered slightly, recognizing Beard's voice, knowing something had gone wrong.
Both assassins were male, ranked within the top five.
Right after the sound came, their temples suddenly throbbed with pain.
'Hmm?'
By the time they reacted, their vision suddenly tilted, crisp bone-breaking sounds ringing in their ears.
'My neck was...' x2
Thoughts instantly plunged into darkness.
Cheadle, who had rapidly retreated, suddenly stopped, staring blankly at Law, who had appeared and swiftly broken the two assassins' necks.
"Your Nen isn't suited for combat?"
Law glanced at the two corpses at his feet, throwing a question at Cheadle.
The underlying meaning of that sentence seemed to be: 'These two could hold you back?'
"..." Cheadle.