The moment that indescribable Aura and the pain in his right shoulder converged on his nerves, Kite deeply understood the terror of Pitou.
With one arm missing, there was no way to defeat such a monster.
That was Kite's thought at the time.
So, at that time, he was mentally prepared to die in order to buy time for Killua and Gon to escape.
But Pitou had given him a chance to catch his breath.
Bang! Bang! Bang!...
With the muzzle of the carbine pointed above Pitou, Kite kept pulling the trigger.
The flames gushing out at close range flickered frequently on his face.
'There's a chance...'
Kite's eyes reflected the gunfire.
Curiosity kills the cat...
This monster's behavior perfectly exemplified that saying.
Kite naturally had to seize the opportunity she had given him.
Judgment, timing, and... the luck of rolling the Magic Wand.
Kite would cherish these conditions and do everything in his power to close the gap, taking down the monster beneath his gunfire!
"Huh?"
Suddenly, Kite's pupils contracted sharply, and he abruptly bent his elbows, placing the peculiarly shaped thick gunstock horizontally in front of him.
Thud…!
A whip-like black shadow slammed into the gunstock Kite held in front of him. With a deafening dull sound, an extremely powerful impact force was transmitted through the gunstock to Kite's arm.
In an instant, a needle-like pain spread through the nerves of his entire arm, and the impact sent him flying backward.
'Tail…?!'
As he flew through the air, Kite barely managed to see the true form of the whip-like shadow.
'Even her slender tail had such strength...'
Kite was shocked. He adjusted his posture mid-air and landed steadily, sliding over ten meters before coming to a stop.
As he went from motion to stillness, the hat on his head flew off, and his silver hair spread out like branches before settling on his shoulders and back.
At the same time-
Pitou, who blew Kite away with her tail, was finally able to escape the fire suppression and stood up from the ground. Then, she turned to look at Kite, who had been sent flying over twenty meters away.
There was surprise and a hint of calmness in her eyes as she looked at Kite.
Kite, on the other hand, looked at Pitou with nothing but gravity in his eyes.
'The close-range intensive firepower attack couldn't even deal any substantial damage...'
Kite's eyes were locked on Pitou, who remained unharmed, with serious expression.
Their gazes met in mid-air.
The hat that had flown off Kite's head earlier now fell from the sky, landing right in the space between their intersecting gazes.
Swoosh-
When the hat was still two to three meters above the ground, Pitou and Kite disappeared almost simultaneously, leaving only a swirling Aura in their wake.
In the next instant-
The hat, which should have landed safely on the ground, was silently split in two.
Then, an invisible force pushed the two halves of the hat to either side, as if two strings had yanked them apart.
As the hat was blown away, Pitou and Kite's figures suddenly reappeared at the spot where the hat had fallen.
Clang!
Sparks flew as Pitou's claws pressed against the gunstock Kite held in front of him, which now resembled an oar more than a gun.
"You're quite strong, meow."
Pitou's gaze went past the gunstock, landing on Kite's face.
She was clearly in the superior position, using her overwhelming Manifested Aura and physical strength to suppress Kite's defensive stance.
The appearance of the No. 4 Weapon, Carbine, is very bizarre. Most of its body, including the barrel, looked like a pistol with a silencer attached.
However, the gun handle extending from the back of the gun body was enlarged several times. Not only was its length exceeding an astonishing one meter, its width and thickness were also abnormal.
However, it is precisely this unconventional design that gave Kite the means to defend himself in close combat.
Kite used the oar-like gunstock to hold back Pitou's strength, intending to angle the barrel slightly to shoot at her legs while maintaining the struggle. However, he was completely outmatched in strength.
'Avoid direct confrontation at all costs.'
Kite, who only has one arm, finds it difficult to face Pitou head-on.
He suddenly turned sideways, and at the same time, he dismissed Crazy Slots.
As white smoke and game-like sound effects dissipated, the thick gunstock vanished into thin air.
Pitou, suddenly losing her point of leverage, was inevitably pulled forward by her own strength, losing her balance.
Kite, now standing sideways, glanced at Pitou and swung a palm strike, which is infused with solid Aura, at her back.
Thud!
Pitou, who was already off balance, was sent flying forward.
At the same time, Kite maintained his palm-striking posture and immediately used the Aura he had released for the attack to conjure Crazy Slots once more.
'I need a 2 or 8 now...'
Kite's thoughts raced as he focused on Pitou, who was flying away.
Neither No. 6 Weapon, the Right-Angle Boomerang, nor No. 4 Weapon, Carbine, could cause any substantial damage to Pitou.
Then, he can only place his hopes on the No. 2 Weapon, Scythe, which is characterized by its sharpness, or the No. 8 Weapon, Longsword, which has not yet been revealed.
"Durururu..."
The wheel in Crazy Slots's mouth spun rapidly, and the number froze in less than a second.
[Number 7: Heavy Hammer]
A bulky sledgehammer appeared in Kite's hands.
"Ahahaha, it seems like Lady Luck has abandoned you."
Seeing that Kite had rolled the least suitable weapon for the situation, Crazy Slots, which is located at the end of the hammer's handle, let out a gleeful laugh.
As the carrier of various weapons, Crazy Slots knew that if Kite could roll the No. 2 for the Scythe at this moment, it would connect with the previous strike's setup, allowing the Silent Waltz to hit Pitou, who wouldn't have time to defend.
Unfortunately, luck was not on his side, and he rolled the most inconvenient weapon at the worst possible time, which is a hammer.
At this moment, not only could he not initiate a combo attack immediately, but he also had to figure out how to meet the conditions to dismiss the hammer and re-roll for a new weapon during the battle.
After all, Kite now had only one arm, and it was his left arm at that. Making the most out of this weapon was going to be extremely difficult.
"…"
Ignoring Crazy Slots's laughter, Kite frowned and struggled to lift the bulky sledgehammer with one hand.
Losing his dominant arm right at the start had a significant impact on this top-tier Nen User, who excelled in weapon combat.
If 'luck' wasn't going to be on his side...
He would truly be at his wit's end!
Kite stopped where he was, knowing full well that charging forward with the bulky sledgehammer wasn't an option.
Pitou flipped in mid-air and landed steadily, puzzled as to why Kite hadn't seized the opportunity to pursue her.
When she turned around and saw the cumbersome weapon in Kite's hand, she immediately understood the reason.
"You can conjure up a variety of weapons, but you can't choose freely, meow... Shouldn't abilities be as convenient as possible?"
Pitou placed a finger on her chin, showing no signs of being in the midst of a fierce battle, and asked Kite curiously, "So why did you create such a troublesome ability?"
She was born not long ago and knew nothing about the Nen System, so it was naturally impossible for her to know the concept of Vows and Limitations.
And Kite certainly wasn't going to explain it to Pitou during a life-and-death battle.