Hunter x Hunter: Card Master, the Strongest in the World.

Chapter 229 Hunting S-Rank Powerhouses! Demonic Aura Zanpakuto!

The air was distorted on the field, which reeked of scorched earth.

Lynn turned his head to look at Maha, whose face was gloomy in the distance, and remained calm.

Mahathir was in a truly miserable state at this moment, rarely seen in such a disheveled state.

Because his movements were affected by Mega Gengar's Shadow Tag, he could only avoid most of his body area even when he used all his strength.

The left arm was still affected by the beam of light, leaving a considerable injury.

If he weren't bald, or had a beard like Netero, he would probably be burned to ashes by now.

It's perfectly normal that Maha was able to dodge; if he could be taken away so easily, it would be a waste of his S-class strength.

It was because he used all his mental energy that he was able to escape quickly into the distance.

This is the immense spiritual energy he possesses as an S-rank powerhouse!

Within the S-rank range, no Nen user has a low Nen reserve. Maha just now dodged by desperately expending his Nen at any cost.

If you don't dodge this powerful beam of light, it will take much more psychic energy to withstand it!

Mah stood quietly under the tree, his serpentine eyes fixed on Lynn with a serious expression.

This guy—he really wanted to kill him!

Given the strength that Wei En has demonstrated, his best option right now is to retreat. After all, he is an assassin and there is no need for him to fight troublesome enemies head-on. His strength lies in assassination.

But unfortunately, he was playing on his home turf.

This is his home, the Zoldyck family's headquarters.

It's easy to imagine what will happen to his family after he escapes; it means the Zoldyck family's business, passed down through generations, will be destroyed.

Land lost can be regained.

But once the person is gone, everything is gone.

The Zoldyck family has always been small, consisting mainly of their lineage. If Silva and Illumi die, all that will remain is—Ki, who is traveling abroad.

From this perspective, it's not unacceptable. After all, there are still bloodlines left in the world. Moreover, Qi has white hair and is the child with the purest bloodline of this generation, unlike Illumi, Milluki, and others.

But then again, whether he can leave is another matter entirely.

Maha glanced at the shadow at his feet, though the eerie eyes had already disappeared.

But he always felt he couldn't leave the field; whenever he had that thought, a powerful repulsive force prevented him from leaving.

Clearly, he had been hit; it was some kind of Nen ability that prevented him from leaving the battlefield or from leaving Lynn by a certain distance.

He didn't know the specific effects of countering Nen abilities, but he knew a method that was generally applicable in most cases.

Kill each other.

Mahathir adjusted his stance and stared intently at Lynn in front of him.

And four figures located in the four corners of the field.

It was Tsunade, Sasuke, and the Tsunade and Sasuke dolls created by Lynn using [clay dolls].

Immediately after launching the beam of light, he released "four people" to prepare the second line of defense after [Shadow Step].

"Four Purple Flame Formation!" Tsunade and the others shouted in unison.

The next moment, a crimson light shot into the sky, forming a rectangular barrier that encompassed Maha and Lynn.

The Four Purple Flame Formation, as the name suggests, requires four people to stand at the four corners as the formation's cores. They cannot move while casting the spell, forming a barrier that can be used for defense or to trap enemies.

Although the [Four Purple Flame Array] cannot compare to the more advanced [Four Crimson Sun Array], it is still a barrier spell with a decent effect.

【Shadow Step】 + 【Four Purple Flame Formation】, double insurance, Lynn was determined not to give Maha a chance to escape, this was a hunt for S-class powerhouses!

Is it a tactic to trap the enemy?

The experienced Maha immediately knew what the barrier was for after just one glance.

Sure enough, his idea was correct.

Shadow-type distance restriction methods.

Methods to trap enemies using barriers.

And that powerful light wave after it was fully charged—

All signs indicate that this kid didn't come here today with the intention of sparring, but rather to kill him!

They even set up double restrictions to prevent him from escaping.

"You really want to kill me?"

"So confident that you can definitely kill me?"

Maha spoke expressionlessly and at a slow pace, as if he were recounting a trivial matter, but in reality, he was subtly probing Lynn's thoughts.

There are only two possibilities for Lynn to do this.

First, he is an arrogant and conceited fellow.

Second, he truly possesses deadly methods.

Otherwise, a normal person wouldn't make preparations to prevent him from leaving and force him to fight to the death—no, normally they wouldn't want to kill him.

Because this old man doesn't have many years left to live, and he's one of the strongest people in the six continents, as well as an assassination expert.

Most people wouldn't want to kill him, since the risk is too great.

Even that old geezer Netero wouldn't dare to have such thoughts, unless, of course, he was thinking of taking everyone down with him.

But Lynn did exactly that.

Unless Lynn is extremely confident in his own strength, or he has a great hatred for Lynn, he really can't think of any sane person who would do such a thing.

"More or less."

"Although it might sound a bit like I'm bragging, killing you right now wouldn't be difficult for me."

Lynn's lips curled slightly, her tone indifferent.

This confidence comes from his strength.

Even after advancing to S-rank, he did not slack off. He continued to train normally every day, and because his Nen energy was more abundant, he even created more shadow clones to train simultaneously.

In addition, he occasionally gets cards dropped from powerful opponents, and draws cards from his existing deck—each card helps him become stronger.

Even without opening the door, his basic strength is comparable to Netero's 50 points.

If you give it your all, you can achieve a score of 80 or higher in a short time.

As for Mah—

Although we haven't actually fought yet, judging from his performance and the level of his Nen, he should be about the same as Netero. I just don't know what his Nen ability is, or if he has any trump cards up his sleeve.

"I see—"

Maha's voice was deep.

Since we can't leave, let's consider alternative plans.

To be honest, as an assassin, he really disliked this kind of dangerous head-on confrontation and was more skilled at prepared assassinations.

But now he has no other choice.

"Let me see."

"The skills of an arrogant person."

The next moment, Maha turned his head, his aura suddenly subsided, and he instantly concealed his presence.

Lynn narrowed his eyes slightly, a hint of surprise in his gaze.

At this moment, Maha was clearly standing under the shade of the tree, but the sensations transmitted through his Nen told him that there was no one there!

Maha can enter hidden mode anytime, anywhere!

The "Absolute" skill among the Four Elements can conceal one's aura.

The more advanced technique, [Concealment], can completely hide one's aura, making them extremely difficult to detect.

But Mahathir's methods go even further than mere concealment!

After the aura disappeared, Maha's figure also vanished.

It's as if the person was erased from the canvas called "the world" by an eraser; this person no longer exists!

Complete invisibility—is it an effect of his Nen ability?

The ultimate concealment, coupled with the ultimate killing move—that's the ability of the world's strongest assassin!

It seemed that Lynn was the only one left in the vast venue.

Even though the person was gone, Lynn felt an inexplicable chill and impending danger on the field.

It was as if Mahathir could launch an attack from any angle at any moment.

There is no way to detect his whereabouts based on perception alone.

A few breaths later, Lynn retreated, and at the same time, Maha's figure was exposed in front of him, his hands gathering strong Nen energy to launch an attack.

Those hands, like extremely threatening venomous snakes, were hissing as they approached him.

It seems that this invisibility will be broken when Maha uses a lot of Nen or attacks.

"So it was an attempt to dodge!" A glint of light flashed in Maha's eyes.

He has killed countless people in his life, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him a murder expert. Even after just this short contact, he was able to give Lynn a general analysis of his operational principles.

In his view, Lynn was a seemingly "reckless" but actually "cunning" person.

This is a common trait among powerful Nen users—when facing an enemy whose abilities are unknown, their first reaction is to avoid contact and analyze the ability.

In an instant, Maha's speed increased again, and before Lynn could dodge, his snake-like right hand suddenly thrust out and pierced through the latter's chest.

This is one of his usual tactics. It may seem that the opponent has moved out of the attack range, but in reality, the moment when they relax their vigilance is the most dangerous.

But Lynn had already anticipated this situation.

This is!

Mah's cloudy pupils suddenly contracted.

Lynn's chest exploded like ink on paper, without any sense of impact.

A clone?

Or is it a way to dodge attacks?

At the same time, Hyōrinmaru suddenly slashed down from the lower right, and after timing it perfectly, the slash hit Maha precisely.

boom!

Mahathir was sent flying backward, landing mid-air with great effort despite the pain. His already injured left arm was now marred by another knife wound, and a chilling aura emanated from it, rendering it half-useless.

"I never expected there to be such a trick up your sleeve," Mahathir said, squinting at Lynn.

But Mahathir didn't feel much regret, because it wasn't a mistake, but rather the deserved price of testing.

As an assassin, there will naturally be times when the intelligence about the target is wrong or incomplete, and it is perfectly reasonable to pay the price for it.

That last strike was quite powerful, but it also gave him the information that Lynn had the ability to "phantomize" parts of his body.

Although he felt helpless, for now he could only "test the waters" again and again, waiting for the right opportunity to deliver a fatal blow to Lynn.

Immediately, Mahathir disappeared again and engaged in several clashes with Lynn.

Basically, it always ends with Mahathir getting the short end of the stick.

Maha seemed to realize that invisibility was ineffective against Lynn, who likely possessed abilities like "danger perception," allowing him to react before Maha could attack.

So Maha canceled his Nen-consuming stealth state and instead engaged Lynn in a fierce battle using a fighting style that was unconventional for a normal assassin but consistent with that of a Zoldyck family assassin.

Every move he makes is a result of countless hours of practice, a killing technique honed through experience. Even a simple hand chop can pose an extremely high level of danger to the target.

Even a strong opponent of the same level could be caught off guard and die at his hands if they are not serious enough.

This was also Lynn's first time fighting against this type of strong opponent, so he carefully studied the situation, which helped him enrich his combat experience.

He hasn't fought many S-class powerhouses, but each one has their own unique characteristics.

Catwoman has a beast-like style, is prone to losing her mind, and mainly uses close-range, fast-paced attacks.

Netero is a master of enhancement techniques. Although his attacks are straightforward, he incorporates his own martial arts philosophy, making him a top-tier martial artist who combines strength and skill.

The Satanic shrine is a special necromancy user, whose style is somewhat similar to his, following the "Pokémon Master" style, and is a summoner.

Kim is the opposite extreme of Netero's enhancement system, more like an upgraded version of Chrollo, with a wide variety of methods, one after another, and their battles are intricately linked.

Before the plan is fully revealed, it is difficult for others to guess what his specific thoughts are.

Mahah is a different type from the others mentioned above.

He is the number one assassin in the six continents. There are no fancy tricks in his battles. Everything he does has only one purpose: to kill his target.

Therefore, he was extremely ruthless, his attacks were very tricky, and his timing was the best he had ever seen.

If we compare Netero and Maha, he believes Netero is better at handling skirmishes, while Maha is better at prepared battles, and even killing targets.

Unfortunately, Mahathir was unable to fully utilize his strengths against him.

Therefore, the ending was predictable.

After playing against each other for a while, Maha also realized this unacceptable fact.

From beginning to end, he had no chance of winning against Lynn!

It seemed that he and Lynn were evenly matched, reaching a balance, but in fact Lynn never used his full strength.

Whenever he used more power to attack, Lynn's strength would increase again, always maintaining a similar level to his.

He's been being played by Lynn the whole time!

No, it should be said that Lynn used him as a practice target.

For so many years, since he gained such strength, this was the first time he had been treated like this, yet he still couldn't beat Lynn.

His prized killing skills seemed utterly worthless in front of Lynn.

He clearly realized that Lynn was not exaggerating.

Lynn really does have the ability to kill him!

And he was going to die at Lynn's hands!

This moment came sooner than he had anticipated.

When Mahal attempted to trade blows for a fatal one, risking his life, the latter seized the opportunity.

In an instant, time seemed to stand still, and Maha was startled.

Could it be—Kokoro no Kenkyuu?!

"I made a wrong move."

"Maha."

At that moment, Maha heard the voice in Lynn's heart, like a death knell from hell.

The next moment, Lynn, who had merged with Zoro, unleashed an astonishing aura and was about to unleash his strongest attack!

"Ghostly aura!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a strange black-purple aura suddenly burst forth from Lynn's body, tightly binding Hyōrinmaru and Ryūjin Jakka, its momentum soaring into the sky and dispersing the gray-brown dust swirling around them.

In the broken airflow, three hideous silhouettes appeared out of thin air, and six arms holding knives pierced out from the void, each hand gripping a knife wrapped in will-o'-the-wisps.

"Asura!"

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