Chapter 586: Rain of Arrows—Deadly Blizzard
Seeing Machi’s cellphone crumble into dozens of parts right in front of his eyes, Alex can’t help but stare at it for a moment before sighing loudly.
Might as well use that as an excuse to leave... I’ve done my part... right?
“Should we head to the balloon and leave?” he asks nonchalantly.
Frankly, I want to leave... I think that by saving Machi, I’ve proven my loyalty.
Soulmate! Look what Princess Jewel found.
[Pure Paladin Token] x3
World: Hunter x Hunter
Quality: Deep Green
Type: Token
Effect: Raises Mission Rating when kept.
Effect: Automatically gets converted into 5,000 FC at the end of the mission.
Note: Unlike its owner, the Token is created out of pure materials, namely stainless steel.
A small metal token... I don’t recognize it. It’s kinda round-shaped, with some kind of flower in the middle? Whatever, good job, Jewel.
❤️
Meanwhile, Machi steps forward, looking at Alex cautiously. “You can leave... it’s not your fault in the first place. You also saved my life... but I need to go on,” Machi says, one eye still closed, while most of her remaining injuries have already recovered somewhat, though the exhaustion is obviously still there.
She then walks over to the body of the Pure Paladin Squad member Jewel killed earlier and grabs his formerly white, now blood-colored jacket, using it to cover her almost naked body.
“No...” Alex says, letting out a quiet sigh. “I’ll follow along. Let’s see what the others are up to.”
“Thank you...” Machi says in a low voice, suddenly sprinting away at high speed.
Alex follows, the two of them almost appearing like ghosts as they move through the abandoned streets of Yorknew.
Because of the earlier explosions and the Hunters’ interference, the streets are completely empty, making it easy to pick up the sounds of battle nearby.
After just a minute, Machi raises her hand and uses Zetsu, Alex, and Jewel quickly following along.
At the next intersection, the sounds of battle growing louder, Alex hides behind a car and sees a battle unfolding. The white-clothed members of the Pure Paladin Squad completely surround the battered Troupe members.
On one side, he sees dozens of Pure Paladin Squad members, including Bushidora himself; on the other, the remaining Troupe members. While some of the Pure Paladin Squad members lie dead on the ground, there are still at least thirty Nen users left. In addition to that, the Troupe’s terrible injuries make it nearly impossible for them to reasonably defeat such a large number of Nen users.
Judging by their Aura... these Pure Paladin Squad members are not particularly strong... but they are not amateurs either. So many unknown Hatsus... this can only go wrong.
He sees Franklin carrying Shizuku, while Feitan, Nobunaga, Uvogin, and Shalnark are still fighting, taking on a defensive position, using cars as shields, while the Hunters are not above using simple firearms, using their Aura to improve the destructive ability of the bullets.
Notably, Uvogin is almost completely naked, and his right arm is completely covered in blood, while the rest of his body looks just a tiny bit better. The others are in terrible condition as well, Alex guessing that some of them may end up with permanent injuries. Every single one of them is heavily wounded.
They can’t fight like that... they are losing too much blood.
Franklin, using his one free hand, fires at the Pure Paladin Squad, but one of them somehow manages to conjure a Nen Beast, resembling a powerful metallic minotaur, which seems to be strong enough to block his shots.
On closer inspection, Alex realizes that this Hatsu is supported by more than one of them, giving a reasonable explanation for such an unexpectedly strong and potent ability, able to block Franklin’s Powerful Hatsu.
More than five Squad members are focusing their Aura onto their bull, leaving themselves completely unguarded.
“This might be doable after all... a surprise attack could work,” Alex whispers.
Princess Jewel will take care of the big boss. She requires the Peasant girl to draw their attention to herself. Soulmate can protect the Troupe members by stopping the enemy assault and causing confusion and chaos.
Jewel... our goal is to save them and escape! There is no need to take on the risk and outright beat them.
Princess Jewel will be careful! Soulmate should trust Princess Jewel.
Without giving Alex a chance to argue further, Jewel darts off, using the walls of the surrounding buildings to move stealthily, aiming for the open space behind the Hunters.
Alex briefly glances at Machi, and after their gazes meet, they both briefly nod at each other before rushing forward.
Alex, instead of using his melee weapons, draws his [Magoroth’s Legacy R2] and conjures a Magorian’s Rage Arrow lvl 6. He activates Ren, channels his entire Aura into the arrow using Ko, and then adds Blizzara Arrow to the attack. With the full number of Rage Illusions, which he also activates, he lets loose the multiplying arrow, unleashing a storm of exactly 36 frost-imbued arrows toward the Hunters.
“What is that?!” some of them scream as they see the sky darkened by the incoming Nen arrows.
“It’s an illusion!”
“Turn the Minotaur... fast!”
“Too late! Just block those arrows!”
“Use Ken!”
Despite their teamwork, the Hunters react too late and scramble wildly, unable to form a cohesive plan. In the end, everyone acts on their own instincts, none of their previous coordination holding up under real pressure.
As the arrows approach and finally make contact, Alex is immediately bombarded with a series of notifications.
You have dealt 57 damage to Pure Paladin Squad Hunter
You have slowed Pure Paladin Squad Hunter
You have dealt 38 damage to Pure Paladin Squad Hunter
You have dealt 41 damage to Pure Paladin Squad Hunter
You have frozen Pure Paladin Squad Hunter
...
You have dealt 56 x 3 = 168 damage to Pure Paladin Squad Hunter
You have killed Pure Paladin Squad Hunter
...
You have dealt 55 x 3 = 165 damage to Pure Paladin Squad Hunter
You have killed Pure Paladin Squad Hunter
To his surprise, some of the Rage Illusions, already deadly with all the enchantments from his special Archery skill, Imbuement Archery, his powerful [Magoroth’s Legacy R2], and the conjured Magorian’s Rage Arrow, are further strengthened by his Nen innate skills. They become so powerful that they have the potential to kill enemies in a single hit, with his LUK allowing for near-impossible headshots, since the placement is random.
Many others are injured, slowed, or even frozen in place.
Despite the immense Aura cost, Alex doesn’t hesitate. He conjures another arrow, preparing to fire one more wave using the same full combination.
Meanwhile, Machi uses her strings, wrapping her Nen threads around the necks of the enemies who have stepped away too far from the group and strangles them, while simultaneously extending the same strings to bind more enemies, tying them together.
At the same time, the Rage Illusion arrows continue to rain down onto the utterly confused enemies.
“Defensive posture M5!” A confident voice echoes through the city.
Immediately, the Minotaur, still being maintained, manages to turn around, blocking around half of the incoming arrows by stretching out his limbs, as if trying to catch the arrows.
On the other hand, Franklin, now without any obstacle in his way, fires his Hatsu at the Hunters, causing a disturbing amount of carnage, even with the little Aura he still has left.
“Retreat!” the still-confident voice yells, and the confused and injured Pure Paladin Squad members somehow immediately regain their clarity and back up in an orderly fashion.
“Order, formation M12!” the voice adds, causing the Hunters to huddle together, the Minotaur positioned at the very front.
That’s Bushidora... it looks like his voice is his Hatsu?! His commands are immediately followed; he is a formidable leader, indeed. Still, Jewel hasn’t made her move. I need to act fast to give her an opening.
They are too far away for Reave, which I can only fire in a more or less straight line... but how about this?!
Alex throws a Pull, the Biotic orb seemingly flying directly at the Minotaur, only to suddenly curve around it and drag one Hunter into the sky, the concept of gravity suddenly no longer mattering for the person hit.
He immediately follows it up with a Warp, the Biotic projectile crashing into the lifted Hunter and triggering a Biotic explosion as it violently tears him apart.
You have dealt 119 damage to Pure Paladin Squad Hunter
You have dealt 211 damage to Pure Paladin Squad Hunter
You have killed Pure Paladin Squad Hunter
...
You have dealt 121 damage to Pure Paladin Squad Hunter
...
“Do not retreat! Counter!” Bushidora yells. “Unleash!”
At the same time, multiple unknown Nen abilities are triggered.
“Lazy Orangutan!” A fat, ape-like creature suddenly appears right next to Alex, clinging to his leg and making it difficult for him to move.
“Rage beam!” At the same moment, a stream of Aura crashes into him, creating an overwhelming surge of rage inside him, forcing him to unconsciously move toward the group, his guard dropping as the ape slows him down completely, turning him into an easy target.
“Thorny Brushes!” Lastly, a Nen construct, still directly connected to its user and taking the form of sharp rose-like brushes, appears right in front of him, as he walks straight towards them.