Chapter 155: Curse Practitioner Kakkin
BOOM—!!!!!!!
A deafening roar that defied description! It was as if all of Greed Island trembled within this singular detonation!
Blinding, incandescent white light instantly swallowed everything within a hundred-meter radius centered on Riku~! Where the light reached, space violently distorted, and light rays were stretched and torn!
The hyper-violent lightning plasma, like an out-of-control torrent, poured and surged frantically in all directions!
Bearing the brunt of it were the three deadly Nen needles shot by Illumi!
While still a dozen meters away from Riku, they were instantly vaporized by this destructive lightning, not even leaving a trace behind!
Immediately following was Illumi himself!
In his hollow, dead eyes, that incandescent white capable of incinerating everything reflected for the first time! A intense crisis of death pierced his nearly numb nerves like a cold steel needle!
In the nick of time, his bizarre body rapidly leaned back and twisted in a posture defying common physics. Simultaneously, thick black Nen surged frantically from his body like viscous ink, attempting to construct a defense before him!
Sizzle—!
The ink-like Nen, in the face of the violent lightning plasma, was like snow encountering a blazing sun, instantly evaporated and torn apart!
The incandescent lightning brutally washed over Illumi's hastily constructed defense!
"Ugh!"
A suppressed groan sounded!
Illumi's figure was sent flying backward like a kite with a broken string. His tough black outfit was torn with several scorched rents, and his exposed skin was covered in fine electrical burns, wisps of black smoke rising from them.
He staggered several steps after landing before barely steadying himself. His usually meticulous long black hair plastered messily against his pale cheeks, a glaring streak of blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
His hollow eyes stared fixedly at Riku in the center of the lightning. For the first time, an emotion named "horror" was clearly reflected within them.
The instant the Lightning Core erupted, Zeno's hands tucked within his sleeves had already shot out like lightning!
A majestic, vast Nen, like a tornado storm, instantly condensed and took shape before him! The Nen spun and howled, faintly forming the phantom of a giant dragon roaring at the heavens!
[Dragon Head Caricature: Fang Thrust]!
Rumble!!!
The incandescent, destructive lightning plasma and the roaring Nen dragon collided fiercely!
The deafening explosion tore through the sky! The terrifying shockwave, like a substantive tidal wave, expanded frantically in all directions!
Crack! Crack! Crack!
On the edge of the arena, several more giant stone pillars carved with runes could not withstand this superimposed terrifying power. Their surfaces became densely cracked, emitting groans of being overwhelmed!
The seven-colored Nen barrier on the dome flashed and distorted frantically, as if it would collapse at any moment!
The hard white floor tiles on the ground were lifted and pulverized in sheets. Dust and smoke, mixed with violent energy turbulence, completely obscured the center of the arena!
Those players who were already terrified were violently blown away by this destructive shockwave like fallen leaves in a gale! Screams were drowned out by the deafening explosions, and those with weaker strength were directly torn to shreds by the violent energy!
"Lunatics! They're all lunatics!" Soros screamed in terror, heavily guarded behind Aaron and Lilith. The three were pushed far away by the shockwave like rolling gourds, in an incredibly wretched state.
Under Razor's severe shouts, the administrator team finally managed to break free from the aftermath of "Kyōka Suigetsu." The thirty individuals (original bodies plus Shadow Warriors) frantically outputted Nen, jointly erecting a massive protective shield, struggling to withstand the rampaging shockwaves and energy turbulence.
Everyone's face was as pale as paper, their eyes filled with unbelievable horror. Their proud guardian lineup appeared so fragile in the face of the aftermath of the collision between these two non-human powers!
The dust and energy turbulence slowly dissipated, revealing a ruined, apocalyptic scene in the center of the arena.
Riku still stood in place, tiny lightning arcs still lingering around his body. The light of the [AT Field - Modified] had dimmed, but his posture remained as upright as before. He was panting slightly, but his gaze was as sharp as a knife, locked dead ahead.
The ground beneath Zeno's feet had caved in deeply. One corner of his wide gray sleeve had been torn away by the violent energy, revealing a lean, muscular arm.
He slowly withdrew his hands, tucking them back into the tattered sleeves. His archaic face no longer held any trace of underestimation, replaced by an unprecedented solemnity, and even... a hint of excitement at finding a worthy prey!
"Good! A fine 'my fists are the rules'!" Zeno's voice carried a peculiar vibration, like a dragon's roar. "Young man, you are more... interesting than this old man imagined!"
His cloudy yet profound gaze pierced the dust, locking firmly onto Riku.
A terrifying Nen pressure, even vaster and more condensed than before, as if containing the might of heaven and earth, slowly rose from his hunched body like an awakening ancient behemoth! That Nen pressure was no longer pure killing intent, but carried a majestic momentum of controlling heaven and earth and mastering nature!
"This old man... hasn't encountered an opponent who could make me get serious in many years."
Zeno slowly assumed an archaic fist stance. His movements were slow and heavy, as if pushing an invisible mountain.
As he moved, the winds and clouds above the arena suddenly changed! Invisible air currents converged and spun frantically, faintly forming a massive vortex covering nearly half the arena!
The starting stance of [Dragon Head Caricature: 100-Type Guanyin]!
A true legendary assassin getting serious!
The entire arena fell into a deathly silence. All survivors, whether players or administrators, held their breath, their hearts pounding wildly, as if anticipating that the next move would be an earth-shattering, all-deciding ultimate collision!
Just at this critical moment when even the air seemed to freeze—
"Mr. Zeno! Please stop!"
A clear, anxious female voice suddenly rang out from the edge of the arena!
Zeno's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a peculiar penetrative power; every word struck heavily on everyone's heart like a heavy drumbeat. The archaic fist stance he assumed seemed to push the weight of the entire world. His movements were slow and heavy, yet the wind pressure generated had already caused fragments of the cracked floor tiles nearby to tumble down with a rustle.
"Old man, you talk too much nonsense!"
Riku's eyes were as sharp as blades, not yielding an inch. He violently thrust his right arm forward, fingers spread, palm facing the sky! The violent Lightning Nen was instantly compressed to the extreme, and a blindingly incandescent point of light suddenly flared in his palm! The brilliance was so intense that it even pushed back a fraction of Zeno's vast Nen pressure that stirred the winds and clouds!
"Lightning Core: Heavenly Smite—Arise!"
BOOM—!!!
Destructive energy, even more violent and condensed than before, erupted violently! This time, it wasn't a spreading torrent of lightning plasma, but was forcefully compressed by Riku into an incandescent lightning pillar only as thick as an arm, yet substantive! The lightning pillar emitted a shriek that tore through space, ignoring distance like a grim reaper's spear of judgment, shooting explosively towards the center of Zeno's fist stance—the "core" position of the invisible 100-Type Guanyin!
Speed! Speed surpassing the limits of thought!
"Good!"
A sharp glint shot from Zeno's cloudy eyes, his low shout like a dragon's roar! His readied fist stance was abruptly thrust forward!
Buzz—!!!
The space before him seemed to be ruthlessly kneaded and compressed by an invisible giant hand! The vast, ocean-like Nen instantly materialized and condensed! An incredibly massive phantom of a Guanyin statue, composed entirely of pure Nen and exuding boundless majesty and compassion, materialized with a crash before Zeno! The Guanyin phantom stood dozens of meters tall, its thousand hands spreading out to cover a small half of the arena's sky! Every single palm was incredibly distinct, containing terrifying power sufficient to split mountains!
100-Type Guanyin: First Stance - Universal Compassion!
One of the giant palms of the massive Guanyin phantom, carrying the intent of "compassion" to soothe all restlessness in the world, met that destructive incandescent lightning pillar and pressed down lightly!
The compassionate palm print against the destructive lightning spear!
Rumble, rumble, rumble—!!!!!!!
An indescribable roar! As if the heavens were collapsing and the earth sinking! Two energies surpassing the limits of human imagination collided fiercely in the center of the arena!
Blinding light instantly swallowed everything! The incandescent light seemed to freeze time itself. There was no shockwave, no sound; only pure light and the will of destruction silently wrestling and annihilating!
Immediately after, the terrifying explosion, like the dawn of the universe, finally arrived belatedly!
BOOM!!!!!!
A substantive energy storm blasted outward spherically in all directions, centered on the point of collision! The indestructible white arena floor tiles, like fragile crackers, were lifted in sheets, pulverized, and turned to dust! The ground frantically caved in and cracked! On the edge of the arena, the few remaining giant stone pillars carved with runes could hold on no longer. Emitting groans of despair, they collapsed in succession with a rumble! The seven-colored Nen barrier covering the entire dome, like glass struck by a heavy hammer, became covered in cobweb-like fissures, flashing violently and emitting a piercing shriek on the verge of collapse!
"Arghhhh—!"
"Block it! Block it quickly!"
The screams and desperate cries for defense from the surviving players were instantly drowned out. The Nen shield formed by the trio of Soros, Aaron, and Lilith shattered like a soap bubble. The three were violently blown away by the raging energy storm like torn sacks, spewing blood wildly! The massive protective shield jointly erected by the thirty administrators (original bodies plus Shadow Warriors) twisted and deformed severely, its light dimming rapidly. Many of the weaker administrators' original bodies and Shadow Warriors simultaneously spat blood, tottering on the brink of collapse! The light sphere [Aluka's Yearning] in Razor's hands flashed and buzzed frantically. His face was deathly pale as he tried his utmost to maintain the sphere's stability, attempting to stabilize this space on the verge of collapse!
In the center of the storm, incandescent and golden energy turbulence tore and annihilated each other frantically! Zeno's hair and beard flew wildly, his gray martial arts uniform flapping noisily. The ground beneath his feet had long turned into a deep crater, but his figure remained as steady as a mountain. His hands maintained the thrusting posture, Nen pouring like an inexhaustible spring into that massive 100-Type Guanyin phantom! The Guanyin's giant palm firmly resisted that destructive lightning spear; at the edges of the palm print, space itself was distorting and tearing!
Lightning arcs danced wildly around Riku. The golden light film of the [AT Field - Modified] flickered erratically under the violent energy clash, emitting "creaking" sounds of being overwhelmed. His eyes were cold as he frantically pushed the Nen within his body. That incandescent Lightning Core pillar, like a drill, frantically assaulted the giant palm of the 100-Type Guanyin!
Stalemate! A destructive stalemate!
However, just as this clash of power surpassing limits reached its apex, the instant space was torn to its most fragile point—
Riiiiiip—!
A palpitating, ear-piercing sound, like fabric being forcefully torn apart, abruptly exploded in the very center of the energy storm!
At the exact point where the giant palm print of the 100-Type Guanyin and the Lightning Core pillar were locked in collision, space... was forcefully torn open!
That wasn't an ordinary fissure.
It was a deep, pitch-black, constantly writhing and twisting massive rift! Ominous dark purple electric arcs flickered along the edges of the rift, opening and closing like the wound of a living creature. What poured frantically from within wasn't air currents, but a viscous, cold, "alien substance"... carrying an aura of decay and primeval wilderness!
This aura instantly overwhelmed Zeno's Nen pressure and Riku's lightning! As if coming from another dimension, another older, more dangerous world! Merely the leaking of this aura caused a primal, irrepressible fear and trembling to rise from the depths of the souls of everyone who felt it! Like ants looking up at the abyss!
"The aura of the Dark Continent?!"
True shock appeared on Zeno's usually unruffled face for the first time, even carrying a hint of unbelievable horror! Even the Nen he maintained for the 100-Type Guanyin experienced an extremely subtle fluctuation because of this!
"A rift?!"
Razor's pupils shrank abruptly. Staring fixedly at that constantly expanding spatial rift, he cried out involuntarily, "How is that possible! The game core's barrier is being..."
"An opportunity!"
A low, wild, and greedy roar exploded like muffled thunder on the edge of the chaotic energy storm!
Almost at the exact moment the spatial rift appeared, on the other side of the arena's edge, space rippled violently like water! Three figures, like long-lurking cheetahs, charged in fiercely with speed and tacit coordination far exceeding all previous players!
The leader, built like a mountain, his wild, short crimson hair like burning fire. His bare upper body was knotted with muscles, covered in bizarre dark red patterns, exuding a ferocious aura like a primeval beast—Beyond Netero! His eyes burned with near-insane ambition and greed, his target aimed squarely at the [Ruler's Blessing] crystal still emanating seven-colored light, suspended within the chaotic energy storm!
To his left, a figure wrapped entirely in grayish-white bandages, revealing only a pair of emotionless gray eyes, skimmed low to the ground silently like a phantom, so fast he left afterimages! His ten fingers danced, and countless nearly transparent Nen threads shot out like living things, accurately entangling and cutting through the obstructing energy turbulence and flying rubble ahead—Manipulator: Mizaistom! His goal was interference and control, clearing obstacles for Beyond!
To the right was a hunched old man wearing a dirty white lab coat. He wore a sickly, fanatical smile on his face, holding a giant glass jar continuously dripping viscous green liquid. Inside the jar soaked countless writhing, twisting organs and a massive, bloodshot, dark yellow eyeball! The old man mumbled incantations, the eyeball in the glass jar suddenly swiveled, and a dark green light beam full of filth and cursing power shot like a venomous snake towards Zeno, who was fully engaged in maintaining the 100-Type Guanyin!—Curse Practitioner: Kakkin!