Smack!
Without a shadow of a doubt!
Allen caught the ball behind his back without even turning his head; his entire frame remained as steady as a mountain. To be precise, besides Bisky, no one in the arena could even clearly track his movements.
"What... what just happened? Did you see that?" Killua asked, instinctively rubbing his eyes.
Gon mimicked the gesture and finally shook his head. "Too fast! I didn't see a thing!"
In contrast, Razor offered his praise without reservation. "Truly unbelievable speed and reflexes. From the moment you sensed the ball touching your body to the moment you caught it, it must have taken less than a few hundredths of a second, right?"
"Something like that. I haven't measured it precisely," Allen nodded slightly.
In truth, after his sparring session with Chairman Netero, Allen discovered that his striking speed was already approaching that of the 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva. Though a gap still remained, he was far from being defenseless. When applied against others, this tier of speed and reaction time granted him an overwhelming advantage.
"This is troublesome. It seems getting you out of the inner court won't be easy," Razor sighed, looking quite helpless.
Though he had recognized this young man as a threat from the start, he never imagined he would be this vexing to deal with. In sports, especially dodgeball, which primarily tests eyesight, reflexes, and coordination, nothing is more of a headache than facing an opponent who can react with such extreme speed at the point of impact.
Allen was well aware that his presence was making things difficult for the Game Master, so he held up two fingers. "To keep this match from becoming too dull, I'll impose two additional restrictions on myself. First, from now on, I will not dodge. No matter how much Aura you infuse into the ball or what abilities you use, I will take it head-on. Second, I will only initiate one active attack, and I will not use the right to 'BACK'."
"Oh? Self-imposed Restrictions!" Razor was visibly startled.
"Exactly. After all, this isn't my stage. It's a game meticulously designed by a certain someone to train his son, isn't it?" Allen glanced at Gon as he countered.
"Heh..."
Razor offered no answer, merely giving an enigmatic smile.
Fortunately, Allen didn't plan to dwell on the subject. He directly released a massive amount of Aura to shroud the ball. Leveraging his mastery of advanced Nen applications, he formed a layer of Ken over the ball's surface. Once finished, he curled his lip and warned, "Watch out! Don't let this kill you!"
"I'm ready! Bring it!"
Without hesitation, Razor recalled all his Nen-created puppets at once. He crouched low to drop his center of gravity, concentrating all the Aura in his body to a single point, bracing for the thunderous impact he knew was coming.
From the excitement and anticipation gleaming in his eyes, it was clear that he, too, was a madman who craved battle against the strong. To be fair, very few Nen masters in the world of Hunter x Hunter were mentally "normal." They were either lunatics, freaks, perverts, stubborn mules, paranoiacs, free-spirited wanderers, or ego-driven narcissists.
"Catch this!!!"
Once the twin properties of high-speed rotation and Aura Burst were fully imbued into the ball, Allen finally swung his arm and hurled it with everything he had.
BOOM!
A deafening roar erupted! The ball instantly broke the sound barrier, generating a massive, umbrella-shaped white shockwave in the air.
In the next heartbeat...
BANG!
Razor caught the ball with hands reinforced by Ko. He began to slide backward uncontrollably, his feet plowing two deep trenches into the ground. Not only were his shoes and the floor tiles pulverized, but even the concrete beneath sprayed in all directions.
Under the immense impact and the high-speed spin of the ball, every muscle in Razor's body tensed and bulged. In several places, severe tears appeared. His right leg and ankle, which bore the brunt of the force, twisted within seconds before snapping with a sickening crack.
Losing his balance, he tumbled over a dozen meters across the floor before slamming violently into the far wall.
"You... you've got to be kidding me?!"
Goreinu stared wide-eyed at Razor, who had just flown past him, his face a mask of disbelief. He wasn't the only one; the watching convicts, along with Gon, Killua, and Bisky, seeing this for the first time, were all too stunned to speak.
After about two or three minutes, Razor finally pushed aside the wall debris pinning him down. Struggling to his feet amidst the ruins, he bared his teeth in a bone-chilling laugh. "Hahahaha! How many years has it been since I felt that brush with death? That power is truly inconceivable. You truly are the 'Grim Reaper' feared by countless wanted criminals."
"He actually caught it?!" Allen arched an eyebrow, staring at the ball still gripped in his opponent's hands.
Although the Aura Allen had infused didn't exceed the opponent's maximum capacity, the combination of Ko, Aura Burst, and high-speed rotation meant the destructive force was far more than the sum of its parts. Yet this man had chosen to face it head-on, risking shattered limbs or even death. Ultimately, at the cost of a severely fractured leg, torn arm muscles, and at least six broken fingers, he had not let the ball escape his grasp.
Looking at his battered body and feeling the sharp pain surging through his nerves to his brain, Razor gave a wry smile and nodded. "Yes... for several moments, I thought I was a goner. My apologies, please wait a moment. I believe I need some treatment."
With that, he pulled a GM-exclusive card from his pocket and vanished instantly. About five minutes later, he reappeared with a shink, his wounds healed and broken bones restored as if nothing had happened.
"Sorry to keep you waiting! BACK! Now, let us continue this fascinating game!"
Razor used his one and only "BACK" without hesitation, returning to the inner court with the ball. Ignoring everyone else, he locked his sights on Allen. He shrouded the ball in a massive surge of Aura, making it several times heavier than a lead ball of the same size. Then, he smiled and asked, "I'm putting everything into this strike! Is that all right?"
"No problem! Bring it! Let me see where your limit lies!"
Allen crouched, assuming a receiving stance. He knew that simply catching the ball wouldn't be difficult for him. However, when adding the rules of dodgeball, specifically the requirement not to step past the white line behind him, the difficulty spiked tenfold.
The friction of the floor was finite. When the force of impact far exceeded the friction, a person would slide back uncontrollably. One accidental step past the white line meant instant elimination. Just moments ago, despite catching the ball, Razor had been forced into the wall by pure kinetic force, necessitating his "BACK" to return to the court.
"Phew—"
"Take this!!!"
With a roar of power, Razor tossed the ball high. He leaped into the air, swinging his arm to spike it with devastating force.