No one on the ship knew what had just happened. In the captain's cabin, Hisoka was wrapping Kurapika's head injury, while Illumi had removed all the needles from his body and was now manually steering the ship.
The ship had already been in a dangerous tilt, but suddenly the angle worsened, and both of them noticed it right away.
"Hmm~ we should've cleared the reef zone already, right?" Hisoka peeked back, but in the heavy wind and rain, he didn't see anything unusual.
"Sometimes there are stubborn reefs farther out. The ship is big enough to stay stable though."
Inside the ship, many people were thrown around from the sudden tilt. Only Alluka, who had fastened her seatbelt, remained safe.
…
Saiki Kusuo had jumped into the sea a little earlier than Chrollo. As his body sank into the ocean's rough embrace, the crashing waves and swirling currents around him made it hard to move at first—but little by little, he started to steady himself.
His body naturally adapted to being underwater, switching to a breathing mode suited for the sea. The cold water cooled him down physically, helping him return to normal faster.
That growing sense of calmness was picked up by Chrollo through telepathy. Chrollo looked down—amid the chaotic currents, the only thing he could still see was the bandage wrapped in flames.
He sensed it. He guessed what it meant.
The fire wasn't fading. That meant Saiki Kusuo must be… dead.
The dizziness was rapidly fading too, and now Chrollo's mind was completely clear. He stayed as still as possible in the water to conserve oxygen.
He was still holding onto Saiki Kusuo—not to save him, but to keep watching the flame. Best-case scenario, the fire would disappear now that Saiki had entered the water. If that happened, Chrollo could turn the page in his book and maybe pull Saiki up, assuming he was still alive. If not, at least he wouldn't leave a mangled body behind.
But the fire was still burning. Second by second, it showed no signs of going out.
Was Saiki Kusuo going to die? Then why was the dizzy feeling gone, while the heat and flames remained?
Chrollo stared at the flame-covered bandage stretching into the dark sea. A terrifying thought rose in his mind.
Could it be… a grudge from beyond death?
Saiki Kusuo was a kind person—true, he had almost no empathy and never helped others on his own, but he never hurt anyone either.
But at the moment of death, if someone attacked without realizing who he was, Saiki might desperately cling to his last shred of will… and deeply hate them. That hatred could turn into a powerful grudge—*a post-death grudge.* And if that happened, Saiki's powers might spiral out of control and completely burn everything to ash.
Should he take that chance? Saiki Kusuo definitely had great potential. He probably was the type who could reach that level.
Should he gamble? Let go of the bandage completely, or pull him up?
Pull him up—then kill him with his own hands before it's too late.
No… that's not right. Forget the fire for now. What he needed to do was face death head-on and use the second ability of *Skill Hunter* at the same time!
Time kept ticking. In a storm like this, people could hold their breath for way less time than usual. And death was slowly reaching out to Chrollo in the freezing water.
But even as death crept closer, Chrollo stayed strangely calm. Underwater, he opened his book. The burning page floated, but since they were underwater, he didn't need to hold it up. The flames, though burning, gave off just enough pressure to push nearby pages aside instead of lighting them.
That freed up one of his hands. He used one to steady the book, and the other to turn to the ability he could use even underwater.
The pressure of suffocation was creeping in. Using a power required *nen*, and Chrollo slowly reeled in the long bandage. As he pulled it back, a bit of his nen returned as well—and the burning page began to burn faster with the shortened cloth.
As the bandage pulled tighter, Saiki Kusuo was brought closer. But Chrollo didn't even glance at him, focusing fully on his book, ignoring whether Saiki was dead or alive.
He couldn't cancel a nen ability that was already active. Changing the rules of *Skill Hunter* in a situation like this was too hard. The best he could do was add something on top of it.
Chrollo went through all the restrictions he had thought about in the past—but still couldn't make it so he could use two powers at once.
And he couldn't just learn a new power out of thin air either. He was 100% a Specialist type. Maybe other types could do it. But not him.
Normally, people only look at one page of a book at a time. If you want to mark another page to look at later, you use a bookmark. So—what if he created a bookmark that counted as part of the book's ability? A built-in attachment? That could work. That could be the condition.
This was the moment everything would be decided—life or death!
But…
Bubbles escaped from Chrollo's mouth. Seawater filled his nose. Yet he still held down the burning page of *Skill Hunter*.
All the conditions and restrictions had been built instantly by Chrollo.
But it still wasn't enough. His ability was too special. To use two powers at once required way more complex conditions.
The cost didn't match what he was trying to gain. He didn't have enough strength.
Strength… did he need a grudge from beyond death?
Everyone knows about *Nen of Resolve at the Brink of Death*, but not everyone can trigger it.
There's barely any experience to learn from, because the number of people who've survived by awakening that kind of power at death's door is extremely rare. You could even say you have to die to truly awaken it. So even someone like Chrollo couldn't be sure he could pull it off.
They kept sinking deeper into the ocean. There was almost no light at the bottom, and Chrollo couldn't see anything. He didn't notice a faint image of a page forming in his hand. It was close, but not enough—he couldn't activate that ability in time to save himself.
As seawater filled his lungs, Chrollo's consciousness finally started to fade...
...
[Chrollo?]
In a world where only his mind remained, Chrollo heard someone calling him.
[Chrollo Lucilfer, hey, wake up...]
That voice... it was familiar. Why were they calling him by name?
[In Meteor City, exchanging names has a certain meaning. It's like a pact—being bound as companions... Think about it, during battle, or separated by mountains of trash or long distances, if you wanted to pass on something important to someone, you'd call their name. That's how you make sure they listen.]
[Hey, hey, you were supposed to be healed back to a day ago. The leader of the Phantom Troupe dying—how's the Troupe supposed to go on? You think you're just a disposable spider leg or something? The Troupe needs you. Who's going to steal anything in Yorknew now? And if you're living so freely out in the world, why did you even take the Hunter Exam in the first place?]
Chrollo: ...
That was a lecture.
But seriously, for a Hunter Exam to actually put his life in danger? That's just ridiculous. If someone at his level couldn't pass, then nobody could.
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