Ronin kept most of his attention on the butler, but he never stopped observing Shizuku's fight as well.
Spence's ability was clearly something built from Conjuration mixed with Transmutation, and after adding vows and restrictions, it had developed a "rule-type" behavior.
Whenever Spence's racket struck anything flying within the court—or anything Spence himself threw—the object would transform into a tennis ball just before being hit.
And after the object was sent flying, it would revert to its original form.
It was an extremely annoying ability. And from the number over Shizuku's head, it was obvious there were hidden rules beyond that.
The scoring system looked like real tennis—though Ronin didn't yet know what would happen to the loser.
And once he realized that, the umpire chair became even more suspicious.
If someone could sit there and become the "referee," would they gain some kind of advantage?
But that still meant playing inside the enemy's ability.
Better to strike Spence from outside the rules—ignore his game entirely.
With that thought, Ronin started to move toward Spence.
At that exact moment, the butler threw a punch.
And at the same time, something bizarre appeared out of thin air behind Ronin—shaped like one of those inflatable "wavy tube men" you see outside store openings.
Except its fist was slamming down toward Ronin.
An Emitter ability?
Ronin hadn't forgotten about the butler for a second. His forward step had been bait as well.
So when the inflatable man's fist came down, Ronin met it with his own.
BOOM!
The impact was stronger than Ronin expected—but what shocked him more was what happened on contact:
the inflatable man exploded from the arm outward.
It was packed with Nen, and when it detonated, that Nen sprayed outward like cactus spines—flying in every direction.
Ronin was the one standing directly in front of it.
Susanoo appeared instantly, wrapping around Ronin. He didn't even bother blocking the incoming Nen "spines."
Instead, Susanoo's skeletal hand lunged straight for the butler.
At the same time, Susanoo's massive frame smashed through the corridor ceiling.
What the hell is that?! the butler thought, already stepping back.
But his eyes met Ronin's—inside Susanoo—for just a moment.
That single glance was enough.
The butler felt the world change. The surroundings warped, crow cries filled his ears, and black, ominous feathers drifted down.
When he looked up, there was no roof—only circling crows overhead.
The illusion didn't last long.
In the next instant it shattered, and blood burst from the butler's mouth.
He snapped back to reality and realized he'd been seized inside Susanoo's crimson skeletal hand.
Susanoo clenched at Ronin's command.
Blood sprayed.
The butler didn't even get a chance to speak—he was crushed into a pulp.
Ronin's gaze immediately shifted to Spence.
Spence had just batted the grenade Shizuku returned—yet this time, before it could reach her, it detonated on the net.
Spence also noticed what had happened outside the court.
The butler's death was far beyond his expectations.
In Spence's script, as long as he and the butler coordinated inside this "property," they were unbeatable.
But now the butler had been deleted instantly, leaving Spence alone against two opponents.
And Shizuku's ability countering his "tennis" mechanics so cleanly was also outside his calculations.
Normally, once the butler sat as umpire, Shizuku's "foul" of sucking up the ball and firing it back would be judged as a violation, reducing her score.
Under the rules, as long as Spence led Shizuku by two "points," Shizuku would lose.
And once she lost, her ability would be temporarily stripped—leaving her helpless.
But with the umpire gone, Shizuku's "illegal" returns weren't being penalized.
So the only thing Spence could do now was keep throwing grenades and attacking.
He yanked the pin. The grenade's fuse was five seconds—Spence had chosen it deliberately.
His plan was simple: right before detonation, convert it into a tennis ball and launch it, so it would explode before Shizuku could suck it in.
A good plan—except Susanoo stepped into the court, reached out, and grabbed for Spence.
Spence had watched Susanoo crush the butler. His options were only two:
Retreat.
But if he retreated out of court bounds, his ability would instantly fail.
And without it, there was no way he could survive the monster's assault.
He could already see how strong Ronin was.
So the second option:
Swing the racket and try to "tennis-ball" Susanoo's hand, then bat it away.
No hesitation. Spence threw the grenade toward Shizuku and whipped his racket toward Susanoo's grabbing hand.
Whoosh!
He swung at empty air.
Susanoo vanished—instantly—right in front of him.
And at the same time, a grenade appeared beside him.
It was the same grenade he'd just thrown.
Shizuku had sent it back.
Spence's move had been too obvious. The moment he threw the grenade, Shizuku rushed forward and raised Blinky.
Blinky's suction swallowed the grenade before it could explode. Then Shizuku stepped forward again, closing in near the net—already wrecked by the earlier blast—and fired it right back at Spence.
The grenade flew out at the exact moment Susanoo disappeared.
Spence couldn't believe it. He tried to compress his aura into defense, but the blast still sent him flying.
Ronin didn't step in again—because Shizuku vaulted the net, lifted Blinky high, and approached.
Spence wasn't dead yet, but half his body had been shredded into a bloody mess.
Seeing Shizuku above him, he instinctively tried to beg—
he didn't want to die.
But one look at Shizuku's indifferent eyes told him begging was useless.
"Kill me and your father dies!" he shouted.
Crunch.
Blinky didn't hesitate.
Before his words even finished, Blinky came down—squarely on Spence's head.
Crunch. Crunch—
Blood sprayed.
Spence's head burst.
~~~
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