Feitan's aura was clearly stronger than before.
During their earlier clash, Joey had already sensed that Feitan's aura volume was about the same as his. But this sudden surge told him that Feitan was even stronger than he had imagined.
Yet in that same moment, Feitan's En vanished—
—exactly the opportunity Joey had been waiting for.
Without hesitation, his clone activated Weather Report's ability, simultaneously executing it within the room.
The wall shattered silently.
His clone stepped into the room unnoticed and extracted Melody without alerting Feitan.
As for the other two in the room, Joey didn't even spare them a glance.
He'd considered taking the female Exorcist with him earlier, but the moment he sensed Feitan's menacing aura and saw the costume forming silently on his body, he abandoned that plan.
The clone carrying Melody retreated from the battlefield at a speed comparable to Franklin's.
Now, with the clone safely gone, Joey focused all his attention on Feitan.
Even as his En detected numerous presences rushing toward their location, he didn't let his focus waver.
He had provoked a beast—and unleashed it with his own hands.
Now he had to face it head-on.
Joey shifted into Ken—his aura hardened to the maximum.
From what he knew, Feitan was primarily a Transmuter, but his abilities blended elements of Conjuration and Emission.
His skill: to create a miniature sun that incinerated everything within its radius until it burned out completely—leaving nothing but ash. The heat lingered until fully spent.
Pure, blazing, heat-based destruction.
To protect himself, Feitan would manifest a special heat-resistant suit.
The only reason Joey dared to challenge him directly was because of Weather Report—his own Nen ability.
Joey was also a master of heat manipulation—and cold.
As Feitan was sent flying in their last exchange, Weather Report had already begun churning the air, creating a frigid microclimate.
Frost started forming along the hallway walls as Feitan exited the room.
But when Joey's eyes landed on Feitan's outfit—he froze in surprise.
This wasn't the suit he remembered.
Feitan's "sun" armor had been red-and-white, covered in spikes, exposing only the eyes.
But the version in front of him now?
The spikes remained, the eyes were still the only exposed area—
—but the color had changed completely.
The suit was now ice blue.
Joey's gut twisted.
No way…
A pale blue Nen orb materialized in front of Feitan—
He murmured incantations as it rose to the ceiling.
"I shall return the pain to you,"
Feitan's eyes locked onto Joey's through the visor slit.
"For the unforgivable…"
"—Suffer the wrath of absolute cold!!"
Flames burst up through the hallway the moment the Nen orb hit the ceiling—
—but they vanished instantly, devoured by the explosion of the blue orb.
Steam flashed through the corridor, then froze midair, forming ice that rained down in jagged spikes.
But amid the rapidly forming frozen hell, Feitan saw something impossible:
Joey stood unmoved.
A space suit, made of white vapor, had formed around him.
It looked conjured, but was completely seamless and perfectly fitted to Joey's body.
Unlike Feitan's visor-only exposure, Joey's suit had a transparent faceplate—and through it, Feitan could see his smirk.
"What the hell? What did you do?! How are you withstanding this? This is far below freezing!"
Feitan's muffled chant devolved into normal speech, his voice rising.
He took an involuntary step back—just as Joey took one forward.
If Feitan had used heat, Joey would've needed Weather Report's full force to resist.
But Feitan had chosen cold instead—
—Joey's element.
Weather Report, as it had in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, had the ability to create a space suit.
Joey had refined that into a Nen construct made entirely of manipulated atmosphere.
This suit could withstand temperatures up to +148°C—
—and down to -184°C.
Feitan's cold may have frozen mafia and Royal Army soldiers rushing to the scene, leaving them encased mid-stride…
But not Joey.
Feitan's aura was immense—his power undeniable.
But this cold field he unleashed didn't hit -184°C.
Which meant Joey's Atmospheric Suit was unbreached.
Feitan's flashy attack was burning through his aura with no effect.
To generate a field of cold over 50 meters in radius like this—
Joey estimated it must've cost tens of thousands of aura units.
Even Feitan couldn't sustain that for long.
His strength scaled with his injuries, yes.
But if he kept getting hurt to power up, how many more times could he escalate?
And Joey had already given him a chance.
Next time, it might not be a wound—
—it might be death.
Joey didn't press forward.
Instead, his En shifted—
—from a sphere to a fan shape.
The orb on the ceiling still exuded cold.
Feitan didn't back down.
He charged.
Joey's Weather Beast reappeared on his shoulder, unaffected by the cold.
As Joey moved to intercept, the beast mimicked his gesture—
—and hurled a gust.
The wind compressed into a fist-shaped white projectile, surging toward Feitan.
He had no rapier now, but clad in his cold-resistant gear, he raised a fist.
Feitan dodged the Nen beast's punch with a burst of speed—
—and threw his own punch at Joey.
BOOM!
Fists collided.
Feitan was blasted backward.
Power-wise, Joey had the edge.
As an Emitter, his raw strength exceeded Feitan's Transmutation-based output.
Both had about 80% efficiency using Enhancement—but Joey's physical power won out.
Feitan was faster, sure.
But Joey's Weather Beast evened that.
Feitan had no support.
That was the difference.
Joey saw it instantly.
Feitan didn't fall far—but his landing trajectory lined up with something unexpected.
His rapier—lost earlier—was embedded in the frozen floor.
Feitan skidded straight toward it, and in one seamless motion, scooped it up with one hand.
That meant he'd planned this from the start.
He never meant to clash at full force—he just needed to retrieve his weapon.
Joey's face tightened.
Feitan's mini sun had become a mini ice star—
—and the resulting environment made many of Weather Report's abilities harder to use.
He could still control wind, air pressure, and localized gases.
But attacks needing rain or cloud cover? Useless now.
Joey didn't chase.
His fan-shaped En reached beyond the icy zone.
Masses of vapor, drawn by the Weather Beast, surged toward him.
But before they reached him—Feitan's cold aura froze them solid.
By the time he'd picked up his rapier, the corridor's end was encased in ice.
Even the ceiling's cracks filled with thin frost.
Feitan sensed Joey's En pooling at the other end—he was trying to seal the corridor.
He clearly meant to trap them inside.
Feitan's eyes narrowed.
He launched forward, blade in hand.
He now understood Joey's strategy.
Atmospheric manipulation. Sealed space.
If Joey sealed the whole corridor, he could drain or control the air.
Feitan would suffocate or worse.
He wouldn't even get the chance to take fatal damage to power up again.
Joey knew his ability.
Was it Hisoka who told him?
That last punch—designed to wound but not kill—felt intentional.
Feitan couldn't be sure. But his instincts screamed yes.
What a pain...
But a worthy opponent.
The rapier pierced forward, aiming for Joey's throat.
Joey's Weather Beast moved instantly, manipulating the air to slow Feitan slightly.
That tiny bit of drag gave Joey enough time to dodge.
He didn't counter.
He couldn't risk giving Feitan another injury to fuel a stronger ability.
So Joey's tactic was simple: defensive grappling.
Once the space was fully sealed, he'd extract all the air.
Let's see Feitan survive that.
As for post-mortem Nen backlash?
Too unpredictable to factor in.
Joey wasn't counting on it.
Besides, triggering such backlash wasn't easy.
CRACK!
Two sounds split the air.
One from above. One from ahead.
The ceiling orb had reached its limit—
—it shattered with a high-pitched pop, sending a final cold shockwave through the corridor.
The second noise came from Feitan's suit.
A spike launched from his armor, past his sword—aimed at Joey's heart.
The suit had offensive capabilities?!
Joey hadn't expected that.
But before the spike could strike, the Weather Beast flung itself into its path.
SPLASH!
The spike pierced the beast's body—
—and a torrent of water erupted from the wound.
The cold froze the spray into an ice lance, which Joey enhanced with Emission Nen.
It fired back at Feitan.
Both fighters staggered back.
Joey—hit on the arm by Feitan's spike.
Feitan—struck by the retaliatory ice lance.
It was a perfect stalemate.
Then the final wave of the ceiling orb's cold hit both of them.
Feitan's suit tanked it effortlessly.
Joey, shielded by the Weather Beast and his suit, stood unshaken—
—though cracks had formed around the arm of his spacesuit.
The spike had done real damage.
But the orb's blast couldn't break the sealed ice walls.
Now, only a small gap remained in the corridor.
And through that gap—
Joey, through his Weather Beast,
—began siphoning out the air.
(End of Chapter)