Dominique's admission procedures at El Hospital were completed without any problems.
Well—more precisely, there was a problem.
No visible wounds could be confirmed, yet the patient had clearly lost a massive amount of blood. It was only natural for the hospital staff to find that suspicious. When Aisha demanded thorough examinations—including tests for infectious diseases—some doubtful voices were raised. But at that moment, the ultimate trump card came into play: the Hunter License.
When a Hunter License—possessing countless privileges—was presented, the hospital staff could say nothing. Rather, they willingly accepted Dominique as a patient. Aisha had heard stories about its privileges before, but this was the first time she truly experienced their power.
In any case, thanks to the license, Dominique would receive the highest level of treatment with VIP care—an unexpected but welcome outcome for Aisha.
For now, priority was being given to a blood transfusion to replace what he had lost. Internal examinations and infection checks would still take some time before results were available. The doctor had said there was likely no danger to his life, which gave Aisha some much-needed relief.
After glancing once more at Dominique, who continued sleeping while receiving the transfusion, Aisha left the room.
Now that her worries about her father had eased, her concerns for her companions resurfaced. Although she had strongly warned Leorio, she doubted that alone would be enough to stop Kurapika. She could easily imagine him ignoring everyone's words and charging ahead recklessly.
The strength Aisha had experienced from the Troupe members was tremendous. Only because of her own abnormal aura quantity and skill had she been able to overwhelm them like that. There was no doubt that ordinary Nen users—even working together—would stand no chance against them.
Kurapika himself had already reached a level far beyond ordinary—one could even call him first-rate.
But even so, he was not strong enough to overturn a disadvantage in numbers.
Even if only those four Phantom Troupe members were currently in Yorknew, Kurapika alone would have no chance of victory.
No—even if Gon and the others joined him and removed the numerical disadvantage, the chances of winning against those four together would still be slim.
That was the gap in ability between them and the Troupe.
Praying that her companions hadn't done anything foolish like fighting the Troupe, Aisha headed to the hospital's phone room to contact them.
But suddenly she noticed something, and her hand froze while operating her cellphone.
"...This is… Are they… suppressing their presence?"
What Aisha sensed was the faint presence of what seemed to be an intruder.
There was no way someone would be moving around a hospital at night while concealing their presence. And the way it was concealed was far from ordinary—so subtle that only Aisha could detect it.
The fact that such an abnormal presence existed inside the hospital made her suspicious.
Incidentally, Aisha completely ignored the fact that she herself was the most abnormal existence present.
Just like the intruder, Aisha suppressed her presence and moved toward the location where she sensed it.
It was a room used to store medical equipment.
Nearby, someone who appeared to be a hospital staff member was sitting in a chair—but upon closer inspection, they had been knocked unconscious.
Unaware of Aisha's presence, the intruder carried a large amount of equipment and tools out of the room and began moving down the corridor.
Hidden in the shadow of the unconscious staff member while using Zetsu, Aisha confirmed the intruder's face.
—This man is one of the Phantom Troupe! Why is he here!?—
Yes.
The one who had infiltrated the hospital was none other than Shalnark, a member of the Phantom Troupe.
After Uvogin had rushed out as a decoy, Shalnark had separated from the others.
His reason was to secure medical supplies.
Shalnark was one of the Troupe's most knowledgeable members, and among the many skills he had mastered were even those of a makeshift doctor.
However, even treatment was impossible without proper medical tools.
At the moment, what they needed most urgently was blood for transfusions.
That was why Shalnark had infiltrated a nearby hospital and was stealing the necessary supplies like this.
With Uvogin currently rampaging, he had assumed the chances of being discovered by the mafia—or by Aisha, who had attacked them earlier—would be low.
But infiltrating the very hospital where Aisha had brought Dominique…
One could only call that terribly bad luck.
To avoid causing a disturbance inside the hospital, Aisha refrained from attacking Shalnark and instead quietly followed him as he moved toward the outside.
Her stealth blended so naturally with the surroundings that her tailing seemed to go unnoticed.
Still carrying the supplies, Shalnark headed toward the hospital's ambulance.
Apparently he intended to steal it and escape.
He was probably planning to return to his comrades. Aisha guessed the stolen medical equipment was meant to treat injured members.
Although she found the Troupe's concern for their comrades somewhat surprising, Aisha hesitated over what to do next.
Subduing him here would not be difficult.
Shalnark had not noticed her at all. With a surprise attack, she could easily incapacitate him.
But if she continued following him…
Wouldn't she be able to discover the Phantom Troupe's hideout?
Thinking that, Aisha hesitated to launch an ambush.
What should she do?
She hesitated for only a moment.
But that hesitation soon became meaningless.
Suddenly, a cellphone ringtone echoed through the area.
The phone that rang was Aisha's.
As proper etiquette, she had turned off her phone while inside the hospital.
However, earlier she had turned it back on to contact Gon and the others.
The call was from the companions she had been hoping to reach—but needless to say, it also revealed her presence.
"!?"
Shalnark reacted instantly to the sudden sound in what he thought was an empty space and looked toward its source.
Standing there was a girl.
He was shocked that he hadn't sensed her presence.
But what shocked him even more was who she was.
"You're the one from before! Damn it! Why are you here!?"
While Shalnark stared in shock, Aisha calmly answered the phone without taking her eyes off him.
"Hello. What is it?"
"Ah, Aisha. Actually, we managed to capture one of the Troupe members."
The caller was Killua.
Gon and the others had captured Uvogin and secretly brought him back to the hotel they were staying at before the mafia could find them.
Taking into account Uvogin's capture and what to do next, they had contacted Aisha to gather everyone and discuss the situation.
But Aisha had no idea that Gon and the others had fought the Phantom Troupe.
The news struck her completely out of the blue, and she practically shouted into the phone.
"What were you thinking!? Doing something that reckless by yourselves! Are all of you safe!?"
"Whoa! Don't shout all of a sudden! It couldn't be helped—Kurapika went berserk. There are some injuries, but no one died. Relax."
At those words, Aisha let out a sigh of relief.
She was somewhat angry at their recklessness, but more than that she felt relieved they were safe.
Meanwhile, Shalnark slowly tried to move away.
However, even while speaking on the phone, Aisha fixed him with a sharp glare, preventing him from moving.
"So where is everyone now?"
"We're in the room we rented at the hotel. What about your old man?"
"Yes, thank you for your concern. He's fine—safe."
"…? …I see. Hey—are you dealing with trouble right now?"
Aisha couldn't help but click her tongue in admiration at Killua's sharpness.
He had found it suspicious that she hadn't mentioned any proper names during the conversation.
Aisha had deliberately chosen her words carefully so Shalnark—who was listening—would not learn Killua's name, Dominique's name, or the fact that Dominique was hospitalized here.
"Yes, I'm fine. You could say it's trouble, but it'll be over soon."
"…Well, if it's you, you'll be fine. Anyway, hurry up—we're waiting."
"Yes. I'll see you shortly."
After saying that, Aisha ended the call, slipped the phone into her pocket, and faced Shalnark again.
"Thank you for waiting."
"I didn't really need to wait, you know? Can I just go home now?"
"That won't do. Stealing is wrong. You'll be punished."
"Hahaha. I've never been punished before, so I'll be fine."
The two spoke in a light tone, almost like friends meeting again after a long time.
Yet the air between them seemed distorted by an intense pressure.
"You have been punished. After all… you were found by me."
"…Maybe you're right. Man, why did I have to run into you here? …Wait. …Ah, I see! So that's how it is! Hahaha! We really have terrible luck!"
Watching Shalnark suddenly burst into laughter, Aisha asked suspiciously,
"What's so funny?"
"Oh nothing. I'm just laughing at how unlucky we are. Who would've thought a monster like you was related to the mafia?"
"What are you talking about?"
Although she tried to brush off his words calmly, Aisha was shaken internally.
To deduce that much from so little information…
She could only admire his insight.
"You're good at hiding things. But it's pointless—there's no other conclusion. The reason you were in that building. The reason you targeted us. And the reason you're here at this hospital. If you connect all those dots…"
Shalnark smiled.
"There's someone here, right? A mafia member close to you—the one who got injured back then."
Using his keen intellect, Shalnark analyzed Aisha's circumstances.
And his conclusion was perfectly accurate.
"Well? Even if that were true, what meaning would it have here?"
Her words implied that even if he was correct, it wouldn't matter—because she could simply defeat him here.
Yet even understanding that, Shalnark only smiled wider and made a proposal.
"Let's make a deal."
"A deal?"
"Yeah. If you let me go here, I swear I'll keep your secret—and your relative's—hidden from everyone."
"So that's what you were going to say…"
Aisha sighed openly, about to dismiss the foolish proposal entirely.
But Shalnark continued speaking.
"You sure about that? If you kill me here, my comrades will come looking."
"…"
"They know I came to this hospital. If I never return, they'll naturally grow suspicious. The first place they'll investigate is this hospital. And that would be a problem for you, wouldn't it?"
Aisha said nothing and simply thought.
Shalnark didn't appear to be lying.
His aura did not waver in the slightest. Even in this situation he remained perfectly calm. Aisha could read emotions from the slightest changes in aura movement and quality. And from that, she judged that his words were not false.
However, that method of judgment could easily be deceived by anyone with a certain level of skill. Aisha considered it one factor in her evaluation, but she never relied on that technique alone.
If someone were highly skilled in aura control, their aura wouldn't change even if they boldly told a lie. Even if Shalnark was sincere at this moment, there was still the possibility that he might change his mind later.
After thinking for a brief moment, Aisha took a fighting stance toward Shalnark.
It was the signal that the deal had failed.
"…I see. Are you really sure about that? He's important to you, right?"
"It doesn't matter. Even if I let you go here, there's no guarantee you'd keep your promise."
"That's harsh. I'm actually the type of person who keeps promises."
"You expect me to trust the words of a thief who steals not only people's possessions, but even their lives? Besides, it doesn't matter how many people come. …I'll just defeat them all."
"…!"
Shalnark was momentarily overwhelmed by that unwavering confidence. Only now did he recall that this single girl had already defeated three of his comrades. A bead of sweat ran down his forehead as he instinctively took a step back.
"I see. That's… unfortunate!"
The moment he finished speaking, Shalnark hurled the equipment he had been carrying at Aisha and immediately dashed toward the exit.
"You're not getting away!"
Dodging the thrown medical instruments, Aisha instantly gave chase.
—Ah, damn it! If only I could at least use Black Voice!—
Shalnark grumbled inwardly while reinforcing his entire body with as much aura as possible to increase his escape speed.
Shalnark's ability, Black Voice (Cell Phone of Fate), allowed him to control a target freely by stabbing them with the antenna attached to his custom cellphone. However, the ability could only control one person at a time. At the moment, he was already using it to control Franklin in order to strengthen Franklin's healing ability after his severe injuries.
In other words, Shalnark currently could not use his ability.
And in that situation, even a member of the Phantom Troupe didn't believe he could defeat that monstrous girl who had overwhelmed three of their comrades.
If he could just stick the antenna into a target, he could win even against an extremely powerful opponent.
As a trump card, he could even stab the antenna into himself and enter auto-control mode, unleashing power beyond his normal limits.
But in this situation, there was nothing he could do.
The distance between them closed rapidly. The difference in aura allocated to physical enhancement between Aisha and Shalnark was simply too great.
Without slowing down, Aisha closed the gap, then used Shukuchi to instantly step in front of him.
"Whoa! You're way too fast!"
Even while saying that, Shalnark launched an attack at Aisha.
If he couldn't escape, then he had to fight. Once he made that decision, he acted without hesitation.
He threw a punch carrying the momentum of his sprint. His weight and acceleration flowed into the strike, and aura shifted to match the speed of the attack, reinforcing both offense and defense.
Seeing the seamless technique, Aisha felt a bit impressed.
Indeed, he was certainly a first-rate Nen user.
But whenever Aisha saw an enemy attack, there was always only one thought in her mind.
—Still inferior to Netero!—
When your comparison point was the world's strongest Nen user, anyone would naturally come up short.
Aisha evaded Shalnark's punch with the smallest possible movement and instantly dislocated the joints of his right wrist and right elbow.
"Tch! Dislocating two joints in that instant!"
"Thank you. But that makes three."
"Huh? What do you—!"
At Aisha's words, Shalnark realized something was wrong with his body.
His right arm was useless, so he tried to use his left arm to keep her at bay.
But that arm wouldn't move properly either.
Looking down in shock, he saw his left elbow had also been dislocated, leaving the arm hanging limply.
"No way… When did you—?"
"The moment I passed you."
"…Haha. I might not be able to win this one."
Faced with Aisha casually stating such inhuman skill as if it were nothing, Shalnark could only laugh dryly.
"Do you surrender?"
"Don't joke. I'll resist as much as I can."
"I see."
Even though both his arms were disabled, Shalnark still struggled. Aisha showed no mercy and continued her assault.
After all, the Phantom Troupe were the reason her father Dominique had been severely injured. And they were also the enemies Kurapika sought revenge against.
There was no reason to show mercy.
If anything, the only mercy she offered was making sure he wouldn't die.
Before long, Shalnark was completely neutralized.
Every joint in his hands and feet—down to each individual finger—had been dislocated. She had even shifted his hip joint for good measure.
If Shalnark struggled recklessly now, he might damage his spine.
The only thing resistance would achieve was a slight twitch, so it was better not to move at all.
Aisha picked up the immobilized Shalnark in her arms and headed toward the hotel.
To avoid being seen, she moved across the city the same way she had left earlier—jumping from building to building.
"Haha. This is a first for me. I never imagined that at my age—especially as a guy—I'd be carried in a princess carry."
Yes.
At the moment, Shalnark was being carried in what was commonly known as a princess carry by Aisha.
If she carried him on her back, he might try to bite her neck. And if she slung him over her shoulder like luggage, the strain on his shifted hip joint could damage bones or nerves.
Thus, this was the result.
Still, Aisha found herself thinking it might have been better to ignore the Troupe member's well-being entirely.
"If you keep saying stupid things, I'll drop you."
"Hey now, don't do that. I'd die if you dropped me right now."
"You could protect yourself with aura."
"No way. I can't even brace myself like this. If I land badly, I'm dead."
"Then stay quiet."
"Okay."
Whether he truly understood that he had been captured was questionable.
Sighing, Aisha landed on the balcony of the hotel they had been staying in and opened the door to enter.
She briefly thought it careless that the door was unlocked—but then realized that a lock wouldn't mean much to someone capable of entering from a balcony this high anyway.
"I'm back."
Looking around the room, she saw her familiar companions—and the large man she had seen at the Cemetery Building: another member of the Phantom Troupe.
Gon and Leorio were lying on the beds, apparently asleep from exhaustion. Seeing that they were injured but alive made her feel relieved.
The large man was lying on the floor, bound in chains. It seemed Kurapika had successfully captured him using his ability.
"Oh, welcome back—…Wait, who the hell is that!?"
"Oh! Isn't that Shal!? Hahaha! You got caught too!?"
"Uvogin!? Why the hell are you captured!?"
"Aisha! Don't tell me that man is also from the Phantom Troupe!?"
"Can't help it. I lost, didn't I?"
"Lost… to this girl?"
"Hey Aisha! Where the hell did you find this guy!?"
"Nope. I lost to these four. Two of them are passed out though. What about you?"
"I got caught after she found me sneaking into a hospital for medical supplies."
"…Man, I'm tired. Let me sleep already."
"Mmm… What's going on, Killua—Ah! Aisha! Welcome back!"
"You lost to a girl? That's pathetic!"
"What are you talking about!? This girl's a monster! Even muscle-brained Uvo wouldn't stand a chance!"
"What are you idiots chatting about!? Do you even understand the situation you're in!?"
"What'd you say!? Like hell I'd lose to some brat like her!"
"Says the guy who already lost to a brat! And besides, she's definitely well-developed! At least an E-cup! I saw up close!"
"Hey, handsome guy. Tell me more about that."
"Shouldn't we just kill this guy already?"
"You're the type who's always staring at women's chests, aren't you!?"
"What's wrong with a guy looking at a girl's chest!? Still better than Uvo enjoying being chained up!"
"Uh… Aisha? What exactly is going on here? I just woke up so I'm completely lost."
"Chaos. That's the only word I can think of."
As Aisha said, the room had descended into complete chaos.
Everyone was talking over each other until nothing made sense anymore.
Letting out another deep sigh, Aisha released a burst of killing intent toward the arguing group.
"!?"
The overwhelming pressure made everyone freeze instantly. …Well, except the two Troupe members, who couldn't move anyway.
"…Have you calmed down?"
"Y-Yeah…"
The four of them nodded repeatedly while shaking off the pressure. Watching them, the two Troupe members began to understand the power dynamics in this room.
"Anyway. There's a lot we need to discuss, but first we should decide what to do with these Troupe members."
Everyone's eyes turned toward the two captured spiders.
Even under those gazes, the two remained calm—smiling, even.
"Kill us if you want. Unfortunately, we won't tell you anything."
"That's right. If you think we're lying, feel free to torture us."
They spoke lightly about throwing away their own lives. There was no deceit in their words.
They were people who had long since accepted death.
"…These guys are unbelievable."
"So this is the Phantom Troupe…"
Gon and Leorio, who had lived comparatively normal lives, began to understand the nature of the Troupe through that resolve.
"Impressive resolve. But don't think you can escape into death so easily."
Kurapika glared at them, his eyes still glowing scarlet.
Reflected in those crimson eyes were the enemies he hated most.
Even so, Kurapika did not choose the easy path of simply killing them.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Those eyes… Kurta Clan, huh? So there was a survivor. Then this is revenge against us."
At Kurapika's words, Uvogin frowned while Shalnark recognized the eyes and remembered the remote clan they had once wiped out.
That realization only confused them further.
If it was revenge, shouldn't he kill them just like they had killed his people?
"Even if I kill you, my clan will not return. And even in death, you would feel no remorse, no regret—not even the slightest repentance for what you have done."
Kurapika was probably right. They felt no regret whatsoever for the results caused by their actions. That was precisely why they were strong—and why they could be called madmen.
"So what are you going to do then?" Uvogin growled. "Torture us until you're satisfied?"
"No. I'll do this instead. Judgment Chain!"
The chain extending from Kurapika's right pinky finger pierced straight into Uvogin's chest.
The chain wrapped itself around Uvogin's heart, embedding itself as a restraining wedge.
"Uvooo!!"
"W-What the hell is this!?"
Despite the chain being deeply embedded in his chest, Uvogin felt no pain at all. That fact only confused him even more.
"I have driven a restraining stake into your heart," Kurapika said coldly. "If you break the laws I set, the chain will activate instantly and crush your heart. …The result hardly needs explaining."
"Y-You bastard! You think I'm just gonna obediently listen to you!?"
Ignoring Uvogin's shout, Kurapika continued speaking in a calm, merciless tone.
"These are the five laws I impose.
First: You are forbidden from using Nen ever again.
First: You are forbidden from revealing any information about us to anyone. Naturally, that includes writing, or information leaking through another person's Nen ability.
First: You are forbidden from harming others.
First: You are forbidden from leaving this room without my permission.
And the final one… You will submit yourself quietly to judgment under the law."
For Uvogin, this was likely more humiliating than a death sentence.
He had always lived freely, doing whatever he pleased, conquering the world through sheer violence alone.
But to have his Nen sealed, be forbidden from fighting others, and even be forced to turn himself in—it was humiliation worse than death.
Of course, Uvogin had no intention of obeying such ridiculous laws. If the alternative was living in humiliation, he would gladly choose death.
But at that moment, a voice stopped him.
"That sounds fine to me, Uvo. Let's just accept the rules quietly."
It was the voice of his comrade—another member of the Phantom Troupe.
Shalnark.
He was telling Uvogin to obey the humiliating laws imposed by their hated enemy.
For a moment, Uvogin genuinely wondered if his ears—and even his brain—had malfunctioned.
"What the hell are you saying, Shal!? You're telling me to listen to this piece-of-shit bastard!?"
"That's right."
Unlike his enraged companion, Shalnark replied calmly, almost casually.
Seeing that composure up close, even the furious Uvogin gradually began to calm down.
And Kurapika had already read Shalnark's reasoning.
"Did you say your name was Shal?"
"It's Shalnark. 'Shal' is a nickname for close friends, so I'd rather you didn't use it."
"I see. Shalnark, then. You're thinking this, aren't you? As long as you stay alive, eventually an opportunity will come to remove my Nen."
Shalnark answered calmly.
"Who knows?"
"There's no need to pretend. Compared to this fool, your mind seems far sharper. It's only natural you'd arrive at that conclusion."
"Who are you calling a muscle-brained idiot!?" Uvogin shouted.
Ignoring the shouting muscle-head beside him, Kurapika stared at Shalnark.
Shalnark simply smiled deeper and said nothing.
"Hey Aisha-san?" Gon asked. "If someone places Nen on another person… can someone else remove it?"
"…Kurapika?"
"It's fine. Go ahead and explain."
Gon voiced the question that had naturally come to mind while listening to Kurapika and the Troupe talk.
Even in a situation like this, his straightforward nature showed through.
"In that case, yes, it can be removed," Aisha replied. "Abilities that remove Nen placed on a person or object are called exorcism. Nen users who specialize in it are called exorcists. However, exorcists are extremely rare, so they're not easy to find."
"Wow… But if Kurapika's ability gets removed, that'd be bad, right…?"
"Of course it would," Killua said. "Hey Kurapika, why bother with something so complicated? You should just kill them now. Sure, killing's wrong normally—but this is an exception, right? These guys are monsters. Even if you bind them with Nen, I wouldn't feel safe. If someone really removes your Nen someday, they'll definitely come after you."
"But wait, Killua," Leorio said. "If they follow Kurapika's rules, they'll face legal punishment, right? Then wouldn't they just get the death penalty anyway?"
"Too naive, Leorio," Killua replied. "In today's world, the worse the criminal is, the harder it is for them to actually get executed. Remember the guy we saw in Trick Tower? I forgot his name, but he'd killed over a hundred people and still got sentenced to hundreds of years instead of execution.
"They probably keep people like that alive for some reason—maybe to use them later, or maybe they think forcing them to live and regret their crimes longer is a better punishment."
"Oh yeah… that's true," Leorio admitted. "And if they're imprisoned that long, there's more chances for someone to rescue them—or for them to find one of those Nen exorcists."
Killua's concern was exactly that.
Even if the Troupe obeyed Kurapika's laws, there were still paths of escape left.
Kurapika hadn't forbidden escaping from prison.
Of course, they wouldn't be able to harm others, so escaping wouldn't be easy.
But they were the Phantom Troupe.
Killua had a bad feeling they might still pull off the impossible.
"Perhaps," Kurapika said. "However, since the Phantom Troupe are A-rank bounty criminals and infamous Nen users, the facility that imprisons them will certainly be one suited for them. Without Nen, escaping will not be so easy."
"But still—"
"And besides…"
Cutting Killua off mid-sentence, Kurapika turned his cold gaze toward the spiders.
"If I leave you a path of escape, even you won't choose death so easily, will you? After all, if things go well, you might someday have the chance to take revenge on me. …Cling to that tiny hope in your hearts, and live on in humiliation, you filthy spiders."
That was Kurapika's revenge.
The spiders had already accepted death.
Anything done to them would not truly hurt them.
But sealing their Nen, forbidding them from harming others, and forcing them to live under the strict supervision of the law—
For people who had always lived however they pleased, that humiliation was worse than death.
Yet as long as there remained even the slightest chance to take revenge on Kurapika, the spiders would not easily choose death.
At least, that was what Kurapika believed.
And he was right.
"…I see," Uvogin muttered. "Now I finally get what Shal was saying…! Fine! We're the losers here! I'll accept it! But remember this! One day I'll break these chains and stand before you again! And when that day comes, it'll be the end for you!!"
"I see. Then make sure you obey the laws I set. Break them, and you die instantly. Personally, I wouldn't mind if you died. If you grow tired of living, you're free to die whenever you wish."
"Heh… I'll be looking forward to the moment that smug face of yours is filled with despair."
Uvogin glared at Kurapika as if he wanted to devour him alive.
But Kurapika ignored him and turned toward Shalnark next.
"Now it's your turn. The same restraint as him. Any objections?"
"Would it matter if I had any?" Shalnark replied lightly. "Just get on with it."
Realizing resistance was meaningless in this situation, Shalnark accepted the chain with surprising composure.
But inside, his thoughts were probably not much different from Uvogin's.
For now he would swallow the humiliation and survive.
And someday, he would surely take revenge.
"You've got nerve. Judgment Chain!"
Just like with Uvogin, the chain pierced Shalnark's chest and wrapped itself around his heart.
If he broke any of the laws, the chain would immediately activate and crush his heart.
"Now the chain of restraint has been driven into you as well," Kurapika said. "Wait in this room for a while. Once preparations are complete, you'll be taken somewhere appropriate for you."
Just as he finished speaking, Kurapika suddenly staggered as if struck by dizziness.
Seeing that, Aisha spoke before anyone else could react.
"Everyone, even though they're immobilized, having members of the Phantom Troupe in the same room isn't exactly relaxing. Why don't we rent another room and rest there instead?"
"That's true," Kurapika said. "In that case, I'll go rent a new room."
"Ah, I'll accompany you."
With that, the two of them smoothly left the room. Their exit was so quick and natural that those remaining behind were left slightly stunned.
All except one person.
Shalnark, who had noticed Kurapika's condition— and was smiling faintly.
After stepping outside the room, Kurapika suddenly lost strength in his legs and dropped to one knee.
"Ghk…"
"Are you alright?" Aisha asked.
"Yeah… It seems I stayed transformed a little too long."
Kurapika's eyes gradually changed from scarlet back to their original color.
At the same time, the effect of Emperor Time—which had been activated along with his Scarlet Eyes—also came to an end.
What Kurapika was experiencing now was extreme fatigue.
His ability dramatically increased his total aura output and allowed him to use every Nen category with 100% efficiency—an astonishing power. But of course, such a tremendous ability came with equally severe restrictions.
That restriction was this exhaustion.
While active, Emperor Time consumed aura at a tremendous rate. If it was maintained for too long, the user would be struck by overwhelming fatigue.
In some cases, Kurapika could even end up bedridden for more than a day.
Saying he would rent another room had simply been an excuse to leave.
Well, it wasn't entirely an excuse—they really did need another room—but that had only been a convenient reason.
In any case, Kurapika wanted to avoid showing his weakened state to the Phantom Troupe.
Even though they had been neutralized, they might one day truly break free of the chain and come to take revenge on him.
He couldn't afford to show them even a single weakness.
"Please don't push yourself too hard," Aisha said gently. "Kurapika's ability is powerful, but the backlash is just as great. You should rest as much as possible right now."
"I'm fine. I wasn't transformed all the way to my limit. If I rest for a few hours, I'll be back to normal."
Kurapika said this with a smile.
But from Aisha's perspective, it was obvious he was already pushing himself far too hard.
Yes, if a fight broke out he could probably still fight.
But he would clearly be far from his best condition.
If the Troupe attacked right now, the outcome would be obvious.
"Let's get you resting as soon as possible," Aisha said. "I'll go rent another room. Kurapika, please find somewhere to sit and rest."
"…Sorry."
The reason Aisha had left the room together with him was precisely for this.
Among their companions, Aisha was the only one who knew the full details of Kurapika's abilities.
From the way he had staggered earlier, she could tell he was accumulating severe fatigue. So she created a natural opportunity for them to leave the room together, ensuring that no one—especially the Phantom Troupe—would realize his weakness.
However, as she recalled Shalnark's expression when they left the room, Aisha grimaced slightly.
…It probably didn't matter much.
"Well, whatever," she muttered. "Even if one weakness is exposed, it won't matter if we simply make Kurapika strong enough."
Murmuring to herself, Aisha walked toward the hotel reception while quietly thinking about future training plans.
Incidentally, at that exact moment, a powerful chill ran down Kurapika's spine.
But whether that sensation had anything to do with Aisha's thoughts…
was something no one knew yet.
◆
The Phantom Troupe's hideout lay in the suburbs a short distance outside Yorknew.
All the remaining members of the Phantom Troupe had gathered there.
All the remaining members.
Yes—the number of members present was fewer than usual.
Two key figures were missing: Uvogin, one of the Troupe's top combatants, and Shalnark, one of the Troupe's intellectual centers.
Well, strictly speaking, Franklin, Feitan, as well as the leader Chrollo and Machi, were also absent from this gathering.
The first two—Franklin and Feitan—were still inside the hideout, but during the assault on the Underground Auction they had suffered severe injuries and were currently being treated in another room.
Chrollo and Machi had gone there to tend to them.
"So, what exactly happened to you guys?"
The one who asked was Phinks, a Troupe combatant known for his formidable hand-to-hand fighting ability.
He directed the question toward the members of the assault team.
"When we got to the auction goods storage vault beneath the underground auction, there was nothing inside,"
answered Nobunaga, one of the members of the assault squad.
He continued.
"The auctioneer who was there said that one of the Shadow Beasts had taken the auction goods. Apparently when they left, they weren't carrying anything, so they're probably a Nen user with a type of ability similar to Shizuku's."
"We decided to cause a scene in the auction hall to flush out the Shadow Beasts. The ones who attacked the hall were Franklin and Feitan. And then—"
"…From there, I'll explain,"
said Shizuku, cutting into Nobunaga's explanation.
Shizuku had also been injured during the assault like Franklin and Feitan, but her injuries were not life-threatening. Because of that, her treatment had been completed relatively quickly.
That said, it wasn't exactly a minor injury either—her left wrist, elbow, and shoulder joints had been shattered.
"I was guarding the entrance to the hall when a girl suddenly attacked me," Shizuku said.
"Of course I tried to drive her off, but she used movements I couldn't understand and defeated me almost instantly."
"Movements you couldn't understand?"
"Yeah. Her body movements and her actual movement were completely out of sync. I couldn't figure out how she was doing it. And she might've even been faster than Feitan. That's how I ended up like this."
Shizuku raised her injured arm slightly.
"Anyway, I was beaten and my consciousness was fading, but I managed to stay barely aware. While I was like that, I saw Franklin and Feitan fighting that girl."
"…She wasn't normal at all."
"Franklin hit her directly with his Nen bullets, but she didn't have a single scratch. Not only that—she didn't even seem to care and just kept running straight toward Franklin."
"Huh!? What the hell is that!?"
Even the Phantom Troupe couldn't immediately believe what Shizuku was describing.
The Phantom Troupe was a group composed only of powerful individuals who had lived their lives as conquerors and thieves.
A being that could take their attacks head-on without even a scratch sounded completely absurd.
"Hey, Shizuku," someone said skeptically. "Maybe you were half-conscious and just seeing things?"
"That's not it," Shizuku replied calmly.
"Franklin and Feitan were both defeated. Nobunaga saw it too. She was standing there completely unharmed right next to them after they fell."
"Yeah," Nobunaga confirmed.
"Shizuku's not exaggerating. I didn't see the woman fight directly either. But she wasn't ordinary. The quality and amount of aura she gave off were on a completely different level."
From the way the two spoke, the other members realized there was no boasting or exaggeration.
They acknowledged that someone powerful had harmed their comrades.
But that only raised another question.
Why had such an abnormal existence attacked the Phantom Troupe in the first place?
"Why was that woman even there?" asked a female voice.
"Was she part of the Mafia?"
The question came from Pakunoda.
Pakunoda possessed a rare ability even within the Troupe. Like Shizuku, her survival was prioritized under certain conditions.
Her ability was a Specialist Nen ability that could extract memories.
By touching a target, she could read their memories.
It was an extremely rare ability—one that could be considered one of the Troupe's lifelines.
"No idea," Nobunaga said.
"Machi said she didn't seem like Mafia though. Apparently it was just a gut feeling."
"But Machi's instincts are usually right. She said she had a bad feeling about this whole thing from the start."
"What bothers me," Phinks added, "is that it looks like the attack was anticipated."
"Before you guys even struck, the auction goods were already moved. Then that woman shows up and attacks."
"…That doesn't sound like coincidence."
"Maybe we've got a traitor among us."
"Don't say something so careless."
The one who objected was a strange man whose entire body was wrapped in bandages—
Bonolenov.
"Whether there's a traitor or not isn't for us to decide," he continued calmly.
"Even if we argue about it here, it won't accomplish anything. We'll have to wait for the Boss to return."
"Huh? You're saying there's no point even trying to figure out what the enemy is?"
In an instant, the room filled with killing intent.
Phinks hadn't seriously meant his suspicion about a traitor.
But he wasn't the kind of man patient enough to remain calm when someone dismissed his opinion so directly.
Simply put—Phinks had a short temper.
"That's enough," said Pakunoda.
"Members fighting each other for real is forbidden. If you break that rule, we won't hold back either."
At that single sentence, Phinks quickly calmed down.
Though in truth, even that killing intent hadn't been serious.
Among the Troupe, this level of hostility was practically an everyday occurrence.
"Tch. Yeah, yeah, I get it."
Phinks clicked his tongue.
"…So, is the treatment still not finished yet?"
"Well," someone replied, "Shalnark hasn't come back yet."
"So it probably won't be done until he returns."
"He's just stealing medical supplies from a hospital, right?" Phinks grumbled.
"What the hell's taking Shal so long?"
No one responded to the complaint.
But everyone silently agreed.
For a Phantom Troupe member, stealing medical equipment and returning to the hideout should have been trivial.
The spiders felt a growing sense of impatience at their comrade's unusually long absence.
And no matter how long they waited—
Shalnark never returned.
How much time had passed?
The atmosphere in the room had grown increasingly tense as the waiting members became more and more irritated.
Then suddenly—
A pair of figures appeared, cutting through the heavy air.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
"Boss!"
The two who appeared were Chrollo Lucilfer, the leader of the Phantom Troupe, and Machi.
They had just finished the treatment and returned.
"The treatment is finished for now," Chrollo said calmly.
"Machi used her Nen thread sutures to do everything possible."
"But to be honest… the outlook isn't good."
"Feitan has passed the critical stage. But Franklin… at best, he has only a few days."
"The injuries themselves are bad, but the bigger problem is the blood loss."
"…Has Uvogin returned yet?"
"Not yet," Phinks replied.
"It's weird for it to take this long, Boss. Uvo being late is one thing since he was acting as bait—but Shal going to a hospital shouldn't take this long."
"…I see."
Chrollo nodded slightly.
"Let's set aside the matter of Shal for the moment."
"First, I want you members of the assault team to explain exactly what happened, from the beginning."
Chrollo had prioritized treating his injured comrades, so he hadn't yet heard the full details.
Though in truth, even during the treatment, the only thing Chrollo could really do was prepare to use a certain Nen ability in case things became critical.
Franklin's wounds were fatal, but thanks to his strong life force, death was not yet immediate.
That was why Chrollo had come here first—to assess the situation with the rest of the Troupe.
"Yeah… it started when—"
◆
After hearing the entire story, Chrollo quietly organized his thoughts. Then, with the intellect befitting the leader who commanded the Spiders, he began solidifying his deductions.
"Most likely, the Mafia and that woman aren't directly connected."
"Why not?" Phinks said. "That woman showed up while we were attacking the Mafia, right? No matter how you look at it, she's connected to them."
"No. They probably have some relation, but not a connection. Something like that."
The answer sounded almost like a riddle, and not only Phinks but the other members frowned, unable to grasp what he meant.
"First, let me say this: there is no traitor among us. What benefit would anyone gain from selling the Spider to the Mafia? Money? Fame? Status? Do you think anyone among us would gain anything from something so trivial?"
"…Yeah. There's no one like that."
What Chrollo said was correct.
They were thieves, but their desires were not simply about wealth. If all they wanted was money, then selling out the Spider might have been an option.
But they were different.
They took what they wanted and lived freely. Being bound by someone or living off what others gave them was something they absolutely despised.
"Besides, if there had been a tip-off, the Mafia's response was far too half-hearted. They removed the auction goods, yet their security was sloppy. If they truly knew we were targeting the items, it wouldn't be strange for them to have far stricter security."
"Wasn't that woman the strict security?"
"No. If that were the case, the response would have been far too slow. There should have been plenty of important Mafia figures among the guests. There would be no reason to play that card only after people had already been killed."
The members showed some reluctant agreement with his reasoning, and Chrollo continued.
"The Mafia must have obtained information from somewhere that something would happen today. Not something specific like 'we would come,' but vague information. However, someone among the upper ranks of the Mafia community believes that vague information."
"One possibility is that even vague information from that source is widely known among the higher-ups to be highly reliable. It might even be some kind of Nen-based information-gathering ability."
That explanation made sense.
Even if the information had been vague, the Mafia had known that the underground auction might be attacked, so they had moved the auction goods beforehand.
However, because the information had been unclear, the relocation happened on the same day as the Spider's attack, and the security—at least from the Phantom Troupe's perspective—had been sloppy.
"And the woman who fought you probably has no direct connection to the Mafia. Even with vague information, they predicted an attack. If someone that strong were truly on their side, they could simply have planted her inside the venue as a guest from the start."
"The fact that they didn't means she has no connection with the Mafia itself. But she probably knew someone among them. A friend, perhaps. Or family. In any case, someone she had some relationship with must have been among the guests."
"The last part is honestly more prediction than deduction, but that's my conclusion."
Chrollo's reasoning did not seem off the mark, and every member understood that.
But if that conclusion was correct—
"Wait a minute, Chrollo," Phinks said. "So what, the assault team got beaten just because that monster woman happened to be connected to someone in the Mafia and happened to be nearby?"
In other words—
They had simply been unlucky.
The Phantom Troupe themselves were a gathering of individuals who ranked among the strongest in the world. It was rare to encounter enemies stronger than them.
And encountering someone who could fight several members alone and win without a scratch was something none of them had ever seen, heard of, or even imagined.
However, Chrollo immediately dismissed Phinks' statement.
"Are you saying we were unlucky, Phinks? That's wrong. Luck has nothing to do with what we do. If anything, it simply means our strength was insufficient."
"…Yeah. You're right. I was wrong."
They lived in a world where power decided everything.
Saying they were unlucky was nothing more than an excuse.
Did they just happen to run into a stronger opponent and lose?
No.
It wasn't bad luck—it meant they lacked the strength to win.
If they were strong enough, there would be no problem. The ones who lost were simply weaker.
That was the world they lived in.
"So, Boss. We couldn't steal the auction goods. Franklin and Feitan are seriously injured. Uvo and Shal still haven't come back. What do we do now?"
"About that… Shal most likely won't be coming back."
"…What do you mean?" Phinks said. "Now that you mention it, you asked about Uvo earlier, but you didn't mention Shal."
Indeed, Chrollo had asked about Uvogin's return earlier, but he had not mentioned Shalnark's name.
Shalnark had left the hideout just like Uvogin.
The members, who couldn't believe someone as sharp as Chrollo would forget something like that, waited with growing unease.
"Shal is probably dead."
"!?"
The words were within the realm of possibility—but still the worst possible outcome.
If that were true, and Uvogin had also died, they would have lost two comrades in a single night.
If Franklin, who was still in critical condition, also died, it would become three.
Such a thing had never happened since the Spider was formed.
"Probably," Chrollo added. "There's also the possibility he was captured and neutralized."
"How do you know that?" someone asked. "Is it Boss's ability?"
Chrollo's ability was extremely unusual.
If used to its full potential, it allowed him to wield more varied abilities than anyone else in the world.
No one in the Troupe knew how many abilities he currently possessed.
Ten? Twenty? Perhaps even over a hundred.
So it wouldn't be strange if one of those abilities could determine whether a member was alive or dead.
"No, my ability isn't involved," Chrollo said.
"You know Franklin was being manipulated by Shal to enhance his healing. While we were treating him, that manipulation suddenly ended. Franklin was fine, but there aren't many reasons for the caster to cancel his own ability."
"So he ran into an enemy and got taken out…!" Nobunaga muttered.
"That's the most likely possibility."
"Damn it! If Uvo hasn't come back either, does that mean he got taken out too?! I should've stayed with them!"
Nobunaga regretted his decision, but time would never turn back.
No matter how loudly he shouted now, it would not bring his comrades back.
And because he understood that, his frustration only grew.
"So, back to the question, Boss," Phinks said. "Do we give up on the treasure and run? Or do we avenge them?"
"Either way, we should learn as much as we can about the enemy," Chrollo said. "Pakunoda, read Shizuku's memory and shoot it into all of us."
"Understood."
Despite the strange phrasing of "shoot the memories," Pakunoda obeyed without hesitation and began acting.
She touched Shizuku's body to fulfill the activation condition of her ability. Then she asked a specific question, bringing forth the target's memories and reading them.
"Remember the woman who injured you. What did she look like? How did she fight?"
With that question, Shizuku's original memories were stimulated, and Pakunoda scooped up the fragments that spilled out.
In that instant, Pakunoda understood the woman's appearance, aura, and combat ability that Shizuku had experienced.
"…This is truly unbelievable."
She had understood it in words before, but seeing it through memory left a completely different impression.
An aura whose quality contradicted her appearance.
Refined yet ferocious attacks.
A bottomless strength that couldn't be fully grasped.
Everything about her felt abnormal.
"Alright. I'll fire the memories now."
Pakunoda loaded bullets into the handgun she had taken from inside her coat. However, the bullets were not ordinary ones—they were special bullets materialized by Pakunoda herself. After loading six rounds into the gun, she took aim.
And that aim… was directed toward her fellow members of the Phantom Troupe.
"Hey, Pak!?"
"It's fine, Phinks. Just watch quietly."
Taking Chrollo's commanding presence as the signal, Pakunoda fired six shots from the handgun. The six bullets struck the heads of six Troupe members without missing.
Yet none of them were injured.
Instead, memories that were not their own began playing inside their minds, as if they were watching a video.
"…I see. So that's what you meant by 'shooting memories into us.'"
That was Pakunoda's other ability.
The memories she obtained could be placed inside bullets she materialized. When those bullets struck someone, the memories would be implanted into them.
Few abilities were as useful as this when it came to sharing information.
"I'd be happy if you shot me too ♥"
Because of the handgun's limited ammunition capacity, Pakunoda could only fire six shots at a time. Yet there were seven people here who needed the memories.
Hisoka, who had been left out, appealed to Pakunoda in a slightly theatrical tone.
"I know."
Pakunoda then fired a memory bullet into Hisoka as well.
With that, everyone present had received all the information currently known about the enemy.
While the members were astonished by the unbelievable strength of the woman—far beyond what her appearance suggested—one person alone wore a smile.
If no one had been around, he might have burst out laughing.
Because the person shown in the memories flowing through Hisoka's mind was exactly who he had imagined.
—Ahh, Aisha! I never thought you'd involve yourself even more than I expected!—
The one Hisoka longed for more than anyone.
The most tantalizing opponent he had ever seen.
He wanted to fight her to the death without anyone interfering! He wanted to savor a deadly battle with Aisha to his heart's content!
That was Hisoka's greatest wish—no, his greatest desire.
Before meeting Aisha, the deadly battle he had long desired with the Phantom Troupe's leader, Chrollo, had been the peak of his ambitions.
But now, that battle had become nothing more than an appetizer before the main dish named Aisha.
Of course, Chrollo was still a supreme delicacy.
It was simply that Aisha surpassed him as an even more exquisite feast.
While the Troupe members trembled at Aisha's strength and Hisoka burned with longing for her, Chrollo displayed a completely different reaction.
—This woman… no, this aura… I've seen it somewhere before…! No way…!—
In that instant, a certain memory surfaced in Chrollo's mind.
It had happened nearly fourteen years ago.
An encounter with the "Devil's Child" who had suddenly appeared in Meteor City.
Even after all these years, it was a defeat he could never forget.
Though he had been young and inexperienced, he had chosen the humiliating option of fleeing without even fighting.
The aura emitted by that Devil's Child—the one who had engraved that humiliation into Chrollo—was strikingly similar to the aura of the girl in these memories.
—Late teens? No… if she matured early, even thirteen with that appearance is possible. If she's a Nen user, normal assumptions don't apply anyway—
Once he began to suspect it, he could no longer dismiss the possibility.
He had no proof. No matter how much he thought about it, it remained only a hypothesis.
And yet, Chrollo became convinced that the girl in the memories was the Devil's Child from Meteor City.
There was no way he could mistake it.
This aura was unmistakably the same as that Devil's Child.
"So this woman is our enemy. It's possible Uvo and Shal didn't come back because she killed them."
"We still don't know," someone said. "It could've been the Shadow Beasts. Even Uvo might be killed if he had to fight all of them alone."
"Besides, Shal said he was going to a hospital. In a city as big as Yorknew, what are the chances he'd just run into this woman?"
As the members exchanged opinions about their powerful enemy, Chrollo—who had been quietly thinking—suddenly had a realization.
"Wait. Shal said he was going to a hospital. Does anyone know which hospital?"
"Huh? No… he didn't say which one."
"I see. Pak, bring me a map of Yorknew. Among the assault team, does anyone know exactly where Shal jumped off from the blimp?"
"I do," Machi said.
Following Chrollo's instructions, Pakunoda brought a map of Yorknew. While looking at the map, Chrollo confirmed the location Machi indicated—the spot where Shalnark had jumped down.
From that point, he calculated the nearest hospitals and considered which one Shalnark would likely target.
After studying the map for a moment, he reached a conclusion.
"Here. This hospital—the El Hospital. It's the closest and also quite large. Shal probably infiltrated this place."
"A user of Shal's level wouldn't fall behind against the Shadow Beasts. He's not the type to attempt something he can't handle alone. If he had confirmed multiple Shadow Beasts, he would definitely have chosen to escape without being discovered."
"But Shal hasn't returned. That means he was caught in some kind of trouble beyond his ability to handle. Given the current information, the most likely scenario is… that he encountered this woman."
"Why would that woman be at a hospital like this?" someone asked. "Isn't it possible she just found him on the way back?"
"That possibility can't be ruled out," Chrollo admitted. "But how likely is it that a cautious man like Shal would be randomly discovered by her in a city as large as Yorknew? It's far more natural to assume they met at this hospital."
"And once we reach that point, the question becomes why she was at this hospital. From there, the next deduction is simple."
After laying out his reasoning, Chrollo paused briefly before continuing.
"…Putting everything together, there's a high chance that this woman appeared there to help someone from the Mafia."
"You saw it in Shizuku's memory—the clear anger driving her actions."
"And although most of the guests were killed, some survivors remained. If someone she knew survived but was badly injured… where would they go?"
Ultimately, Chrollo's reasoning was only a hypothesis.
If even one of the assumptions was wrong, the entire conclusion could collapse.
Yet the way he spoke—with complete confidence and without hesitation—made the members feel as though his deductions were correct.
"Also, the Cemetery Building where the underground auction was held isn't very far from this El Hospital. If I were in her position and had to choose a hospital, I would choose this one."
"The chances are small. The Mafia member she knew is probably already dead."
"But even so, it's worth investigating this hospital. If we're lucky, we might be able to seize this woman's lifeline."
"And even if not, there's a high chance we'll learn what happened to Shal."
"So what you're saying is…" Phinks grinned, "…this isn't a retreat. It's an all-out war?"
Phinks—one of the Troupe's greatest fighters alongside Uvogin—smiled excitedly.
The others also showed no intention of backing down.
Even Machi, who had been plagued by anxiety, no longer seemed willing to retreat after being humiliated like this.
Naturally.
They had failed to obtain a single treasure. Their comrades had been defeated without even injuring the enemy. And the ones who had gone to help their comrades hadn't returned.
The Phantom Troupe had never experienced such humiliation before.
If the leader had ordered a retreat, they would have reluctantly obeyed.
But from his words, it was clear that wasn't the case.
And with that realization, the morale of every member surged.
"We're changing the plan," Chrollo said. "We'll wait until dawn. If neither of them returns by then, we head to El Hospital."
"From that point on, I'll give all the orders. Understood?"
"Yeah!!"
Every member responded energetically.
All of them were convinced that tomorrow would become the fiercest battle the Spider had ever faced.
Some sought to overcome past humiliation.
Some pushed aside their fears and looked forward.
Some felt exhilaration at the thought of a deadly battle.
And some plotted schemes for their own desires.
With many different intentions hidden within their hearts, the day in Yorknew finally came to an end.
=======================================
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