This was the battle of Hunters, where a gap in information often led to a sudden reversal.
It was far too treacherous.
He had originally thought the coordination and fighting style of the Eugene siblings were sneaky enough.
But Maggio was even worse; discovering the brother was a fake right at the climax of the battle—what enemy could keep their composure through that?
Overall, the Eugene siblings and the twins were roughly equal in strength, each individual likely falling into the B- rank.
The difference was that the Eugene siblings reached B rank when combined, whereas Maggio was B rank in his original body, split into two B- ranks because of his clone.
As Lynn was reflecting on this, he saw Maggio turn his head to stare at him.
“I’m in no hurry to kill him…
Let’s start the next round with you.” Maggio kicked Eugene aside and strode toward Lynn, a cruel smile spreading across his face.
He was currently in a foul mood and intended to let no one on the field escape.
The most troublesome opponents, the Eugene siblings, had already been dealt with.
Dealing with the remaining weaklings, Sluke and “Franklin,” would be far too easy.
So, he had finally been targeted.
Lynn remained expressionless, but he felt a sense of relief internally.
This was the advantage of spectating; now that the two sides had finished fighting and their information was mostly exposed, it would be much easier for him to make his move.
In terms of overall strength, he surpassed Maggio, though not by a massive margin.
If they had fought from the very beginning, he might have been caught off guard by a trick just like Eugene was.
Now that Maggio had exhausted most of his energy and could no longer use his Nen ability, the outcome of Lynn’s intervention was no longer in doubt.
“Franklin, are you that confident?”
“Do you actually think you can defeat me?”
“With those useless dual machine guns of yours?”
Lynn stood silently in place, showing no reaction.
Maggio’s expression gradually contorted, and he laughed angrily.
“Don’t think that just because I’ve exhausted myself a bit, you can best me.
The gap in strength between us is more than just a little bit!”
As soon as he finished speaking, Maggio lunged forward, his Aura erupting all at once as he charged like a heavy truck.
The wind arrived before the man did.
Maggio swung his arms frantically, his fists falling like a torrential rain.
Franklin was nothing more than a weak Emitter; under his fierce assault, he would be knocked down in no time!
Despite losing the chance for a preemptive strike, Lynn remained unfazed.
His body swayed gracefully as he dodged backward, light as a piece of paper fluttering in the wind.
[Six Powers: Paper Art]!
Whenever Maggio’s fist came within a foot of him, Lynn managed to dodge it with uncanny precision, remaining completely unscathed.
He was like a loach—slippery and impossible to catch.
While dodging, he used Finger Pistols to counterattack.
Orbs of Nen whistled through the air; although they didn’t wound Maggio, they were rapidly draining his remaining Nen reserves.
Maggio couldn’t help but feel surprised; the power of these Nen bullets was completely different from what had been shown before.
He had suspected Franklin was hiding his strength, but he hadn’t realized he was hiding this much.
Suddenly, an ominous feeling washed over him.
“Is running all you can do!” Maggio roared, trying to provoke Lynn into a head-on confrontation while secretly searching for an opening.
Finally, an opportunity arose.
He closed in on Lynn, his right hand reaching out like a steel pincer, intending to crush his throat.
The corners of Lynn’s mouth quirked upward.
He leaned his upper body back with the momentum, his hands forming a specific gesture as a thick, bone-chilling cold suddenly exploded.
A sharp ice spear composed of Nen surged diagonally upward at high speed, piercing straight through Maggio’s waist and abdomen!
Blood splattered everywhere!
[Ice Spear]!
The reason he didn’t target the arms was that Maggio’s limbs were currently wrapped in a significant amount of Nen, which increased both attack power and defense, making them poor targets.
Conveniently, this angle allowed for a direct strike at the waist.
Ice?!
Maggio was startled.
Wasn’t Franklin’s Nen ability based on Nen bullets?
Damn it!
This guy was hiding more than one trick!
First, he used Nen bullets to masquerade as an Emitter, but he was actually a Transmuter.
Maggio immediately assumed that Lynn was a Transmuter-type Nen user.
Not only that, but the fact that this ice spear could pierce his Nen defense meant Lynn was not nearly as weak as he had estimated!
This fight had become troublesome!
“Hmph!” Maggio grunted, raising his hand to chop through the ice spear before retreating hastily to find another opening to attack.
“You seem to have forgotten that I’ve never been alone…” Lynn’s mocking voice drifted over.
In the next moment, Maggio, who was about to retreat, felt his body shudder.
His pupils involuntarily constricted as if he had discovered some great horror.
Unbeknownst to him, a transformed Chopper had appeared behind him.
Currently, Chopper had a barrel-like physique but was exceptionally skilled in combat—this was the [Kung Fu Point] among his many forms.
“Hah!”
Chopper let out a roar.
His hooves, packed with power, tore through the air from right to left, striking Maggio squarely in the waist.
Having just been wounded by Lynn, Maggio’s Nen flow at his waist was disrupted, providing minimal effective defense.
Chopper put considerable strength into this blow; Maggio felt as though he had been hit by a heavy hammer.
Extreme pain radiated from his waist to his entire body, and he was sent flying like a cannonball, his consciousness fading.
Only then did he remember that there was a reindeer beside “Franklin”!
That tiny, harmless-looking reindeer had just sent him flying?!
Boom!
The sound was deafening.
Maggio crashed straight into the ice wall, triggering an explosion of movement as countless shards of ice, large and small, sprayed outward.
He lay in the pile of ice, his body covered in bleeding wounds, with the injury to his waist being the most severe.
He lapsed into unconsciousness.
On the other side, Eugene, who was still recovering on the ground, was dumbstruck.
Was he hallucinating?
Maggio, who had just defeated him, had now been flattened by “Franklin”?
It turned out everyone was hiding something, and they were all hiding it deeper than he was.
Franklin was one thing, but how was that reindeer so strong?
And it could transform?
With Maggio’s defeat, Lynn obtained a new card.
However, now was not the time to inspect it.
Whoosh—
A sharp whistling sound suddenly erupted.
Five branches, roughly the size of fists, shot forward at extreme speed.
They seemed intent on impaling Lynn on the spot.
But Lynn had remained vigilant.
Almost instantly, an ice wall rose from the ground, blocking the branches firmly!
Crack!
The branches slammed into the thick ice wall.
Although they failed to penetrate it, they left deep craters, proving their power was not to be underestimated.
Looking over, Lynn saw Sluke, who had been silent until now, slowly lowering his right hand.
The five branches had just been shot from his fingertips.
Seeing that the sneak attack had failed, Sluke wore an expression of helpless resignation.
“What a shame.
I was so close to succeeding.”
“So, when did you realize something was wrong with me?”
“Probably from the moment you invited me,” Lynn shrugged.
“I’m a fairly cautious person.
At the very least, I wouldn’t casually invite a stranger I just met to join my team.”
“I see.
Indeed, humans are just too complex.”
Sluke sighed.
He slowly removed his black-rimmed glasses and crushed them.
A massive amount of dark green vines burst violently from his body, and his voice became a high-pitched shriek that seemed to pierce the soul:
“Such a fine body…
You shall be my next skin!”