Chapter 158: Too Late!
Riku's figure slowly became clear again amidst the pervasive smoke and dust.
He remained standing, though the ground beneath his feet had long been reduced to dust; he seemed to be levitating above a magma pit.
He was panting slightly, fine beads of sweat seeping from his forehead. The tiny lightning arcs lingering around his body were somewhat dimmer than before. The pale golden [AT Field - Modified] was covered in cobweb-like fissures, its light flickering erratically, clearly having endured unimaginable pressure in that apocalyptic collision just now.
However, his spine remained perfectly straight, like Mount Buzhou piercing the firmament! Those profound eyes not only lacked the slightest hint of defeat but burned with an even fiercer, wilder battle intent. It was as if that collision, capable of destroying stars, had merely ignited a long-dormant furnace within him!
"Heh..."
Riku raised a hand, casually wiping away a trace of blood from the corner of his mouth, his movement carrying an air of careless arrogance.
His gaze, sharp as a hawk's, pierced through the thinning dust, locking firmly onto Zeno across the crater. An icy, aggressive arc curled at the corners of his mouth. "Old man, can your 'Universal Compassion' save yourself?"
His voice wasn't loud, but it struck heavily on the heart of every survivor like an invisible sledgehammer!
Pfft!
An already heavily injured player, hearing words that practically challenged gods and demons, felt his mind reel. He directly spat out a mouthful of blood and fainted dead away.
On Zeno's archaic, unruffled face, a muscle twitched almost imperceptibly.
In his cloudy yet profound eyes, that hint of trepidation was instantly replaced by the blazing fury of a top-tier predator thoroughly ignited!
How many years had it been? Since he retired from the Zoldyck family and passed the position of family head to Silva, how many years had it been since anyone dared to meet his 100-Type Guanyin head-on, let alone question him so arrogantly after doing so!
"Good! Good! Good!"
Zeno said "good" three consecutive times, each louder than the last, each carrying a more bone-chilling killing intent!
His hunched body slowly straightened. A terrifying Nen pressure—even vaster, more brutal than before, as if attempting to drag the entire arena and all of Greed Island into the abyss of destruction—completely awakened and erupted from his body like a world-ending beast slumbering for ten thousand years!
BOOM!
Substantive, dark red Nen shot into the sky, frantically condensing and compressing behind him! The air emitted groans of being overwhelmed!
This time, it wasn't the compassionate Guanyin, but a ferocious, roaring phantom with flying scales and claws, seemingly forged from hellish magma and the will of destruction—the phantom of a Nen Dragon!
[Dragon Head Caricature: Dragon Dive]!
The dragon phantom roared silently at the heavens, the fiery wrath capable of incinerating the eight wastelands burning in its dragon eyes!
"Ignorant junior! This old man will let you understand today what true... 'rules' are!"
Zeno's voice was like the freezing wind of the nine netherworlds, carrying a killing intent that froze the soul.
He brought his fingers together like a blade, ready to violently slash down toward Riku! The Nen dragon lowered its head accordingly, a terrifying dragon breath frantically brewing within its ferocious maw!
Just as this world-ending strike was about to erupt, and everyone, including the administrators, closed their eyes in despair awaiting final judgment—
"Mr. Zeno! Please stop! Immediately!!"
A clear, anxious female voice, yet carrying unquestionable authority, suddenly rang out like the dawn piercing the haze of destruction, coming from the gap in the tottering seven-colored barrier at the edge of the arena!
The instant the voice sounded, a figure shot into the arena as fast as lightning. Her target wasn't Zeno or Riku, but the seven-colored crystal hovering above the crater—[Ruler's Blessing]—which was flashing violently due to the aftermath of the collision between the two peerless powers, seeming as if it would collapse and dissipate at any moment!
It was Elena, the female administrator beside Razor! Her face was pale, blood at the corner of her mouth, clearly having suffered significant internal injuries while maintaining the protective shield. But her eyes were incredibly resolute at this moment. Tightly grasping a smaller white crystal of the same origin as the light sphere in Razor's hand, she pressed it toward the violently fluctuating crystal without hesitation!
"Using administrator privileges, initiating emergency protocol 'Lullaby'! Forcibly stabilizing the core reward!"
Elena's voice carried penetrative power.
Buzz—!
A soft yet incredibly resilient milky-white beam of light instantly shot from the crystal in Elena's hand, accurately enveloping the [Ruler's Blessing].
The violent fluctuations of the seven-colored crystal calmed down at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the chaotic energy it emitted was rapidly smoothed and contained.
This sudden turn of events was like pressing the pause button.
Zeno's hand-blade, about to slash down, abruptly halted in mid-air. The roaring Nen dragon phantom behind him also let out an unwilling cry due to the sudden stagnation of energy, its figure becoming somewhat illusory.
His dragon eyes, burning with fury, swept coldly toward Elena. The terrifying killing intent plunged her into an ice cavern, her body trembling uncontrollably, but she still gritted her teeth, desperately maintaining the light beam in her hand.
"Hm?"
Riku raised an eyebrow. The violent Lightning Nen swirling in his palm, ready to strike, was temporarily held back.
His gaze was also drawn to the crystal enveloped by the milky-white light beam. He acutely sensed that something inside that crystal seemed to have been prematurely "activated" under the severe energy impact just now.
The brief deathly silence was broken.
"Cough, cough..."
A suppressed, agonized coughing sound came from the smoke and dust at the edge of the deep crater.
Illumi's figure staggered to his feet.
His current appearance was wretched to the extreme. That tough black outfit had long turned into tattered strips of cloth, hanging charred on his body. His exposed pale skin was covered in a crisscrossing network of electrical burns, flesh rolling back and emitting wisps of green smoke.
Most shocking was his left arm, which presented an unnatural twist, clearly broken.
His handsome, almost demonic face was covered in dust and bloodstains. Blood continuously trickled from the corner of his mouth, dripping down his chin.
But the most palpitating thing was his hollow eyes.
At this moment, that dead darkness was completely shattered, churning within it an unprecedented, cold, and viscous resentment like a venomous snake, humiliation, and a near-insane desire for destruction!
He stared fixedly at Riku in the center of the crater. That gaze seemed to want to carve Riku's shadow into his bone marrow, to torture him ten thousand times over in the most cruel ways! His previous contempt, indifference, and sense of control had been utterly shattered by Riku's effortless yet crushing strike! What remained was only bone-deep hatred and the arrogant fury of being injured by an ant!
"Riku..."
Illumi's voice was as hoarse as sandpaper scraping, every word soaked in icy venom. "You... must die."
His intact right hand raised abruptly. This time, it wasn't a few Nen needles, but dozens of needles flashing with a cold blue light, fine as cow hair, hovering in front of him like a swarm of venomous bees! The Nen attached to these needles was bone-chillingly cold, carrying strong mental pollution and physical disintegration aura; it was clearly his trump card killing move!
Simultaneously, a bizarre Nen thread, carrying a coercive manipulation intent, like an invisible tentacle, silently crossed the chaotic battlefield, violently wrapping toward Killua, who was completely focused on the standoff between Zeno and Riku!
"Master Killua, it's time to go home!"
A cold voice rang in Killua's ear, carrying an unquestionable command!
It was Gotoh, the Zoldyck family butler! He had been lurking in the shadows at the edge of the battlefield all along, and at this moment, taking advantage of everyone's attention being drawn away, he ruthlessly struck! A giant hand, covered in Enhancer Nen and flashing with a metallic sheen, tore through the dust, carrying a fierce, evil wind, and ruthlessly grabbed toward the back of Killua's neck!
A dual killing intent! Illumi's insidious Nen needles aimed straight for Riku, while Gotoh's sneak attack confidently reached for Killua! Perfect coordination, ruthless and merciless!
"Killua!"
Gon's eyes practically split open. He wanted to rescue him, but it was too late.
"Hmph!"
A cold glint flashed in Riku's eyes.
Facing Illumi's dozens of ghostly blue Nen needles, sufficient to instantly poison an entire army, he didn't even move his feet!
With a mere thought, the pale golden [AT Field - Modified] covering his body, despite its cracks, instantly flared brightly, countless fine lightning arcs darting frantically across its surface!
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—!
Dozens of ghostly blue Nen needles, containing terrifying, chilling Nen, smashed fiercely against the pale golden force field like moths to a flame!
The expected sound of penetration did not occur.
Violent, water-like ripples appeared on the surface of the force field. Those ghostly blue Nen needles seemed to hit an invisible Wall of Sighs, their speed plummeting! The chilling Nen attached to the needle tips and the surging Lightning Nen on the force field clashed and annihilated each other frantically, emitting ear-piercing shrieks and fine explosions! Ghostly blue cold light and golden lightning flashed intensely, locked in a stalemate for less than half a second—
Zzt, zzt, zzt!
Pungent green smoke rose! Those incredibly tough Nen needles, containing Illumi's vicious Nen, actually twisted, softened, and ultimately turned into drops of scalding, smoking, ghostly blue molten iron under the continuous scorching of the lightning and the absolute repulsion of the force field, dropping weakly onto the magma of the ground with a "sizzle"!
"Impossible!"
Illumi's hollow eyes clearly reflected an emotion named "horror" for the first time as he let out a low, involuntary roar.
His strongest manipulation-kill Nen needles actually couldn't even breach the opponent's defense?!
Almost simultaneously, Riku's left hand shot out like lightning. Not toward Gotoh's giant hand reaching for Killua, but with his five fingers facing Illumi's direction, he ruthlessly squeezed the empty air!
"[Blood Soul Card] - Hisoka, don't just sit there!"
Buzz!
A card, its edges flowing with viscous bloody light, bearing the phantom of Hisoka's maniacal, wicked smile, appeared beside Illumi without any warning!
The instant the card appeared, a cold, venomous Nen, carrying an ultimate thirst for slaughter, erupted abruptly! The Hisoka phantom on the card seemed to come alive. A crimson tongue licked his lips, his hollow eye sockets staring fixedly at the nearby Illumi!
"Hehehe... Illumi... I found... the sweetest fruit..."
A twisted thought, full of malicious pleasure, pierced directly into Illumi's mind!
"What the hell is this?!"
Illumi's hair stood on end. An intense sense of crisis made him instinctively want to pull back and retreat.
However, it was too late!