"Although I fired a lot of needles just now, each one was infused with strong Nen. As far as I know, Karamo, the second son of the Westin family, is mediocre in strength. There's no way he could withstand my needles," Illumi remarked coldly.
"Yet, here you are, easily dispatching not just the other family members but even the family head in their panic. I have every reason to suspect… you are no longer the Karamo I once knew."
Shua!
The moment Illumi's words fell, the Westin family's leader and the elder in the red turban turned their furious, fearful gazes toward Ronnel.
Among the six Westin family members, only Ronnel, the butler, and the elder in the green mask were unharmed. The others had fallen, their temples or throats pierced by needles.
Their strongest fighter—the heir of the family—had narrowly escaped being fatally hit but lay on the ground, seriously injured and groaning in pain.
Not just the Westin family but everyone present now turned their wary eyes toward the scene.
"I just wanted to lay low, enjoy the show, and stay out of this mess... but here we are."
Ronnel sighed internally, knowing that no one would believe him even if he explained himself.
Feeling the weight of the stares, he glanced at Illumi with a trace of resentment before placing his right hand on his face.
In an instant, his Face-Changing ability activated, and his true appearance was revealed.
"It's him!"
Illumi's usually emotionless eyes trembled slightly upon recognizing Ronnel.
"The same Ronnel from the Hunter Exam… the one who crossed paths with the Phantom Troupe?"
Illumi had never forgotten Ronnel.
His strength during the Hunter Exam left a deep impression, as did the contradiction of his identities:
A respected champion of the Battle Olympia, trained in the Shingen-ryu discipline, yet tied to the infamous Phantom Troupe—a member of the world's most notorious criminal gang.
'I didn't expect to run into him here...' Illumi thought, his wariness growing.
"This guy isn't like the rest of these pathetic excuses for fighters."
As Ronnel's true identity became clear, the atmosphere in the room shifted. The arrogant man on the high platform now wore a grim expression.
Under their noses, an imposter had infiltrated their ranks, killed their guests, and deceived them all.
It was a direct insult to the dignity of the Matar family.
The head of Westin and the red-turbaned elder radiated rage, their auras almost bursting into flames. Yet, the undeniable strength of the intruder kept them from acting recklessly.
For Ronnel to replace Karamo and fool them all without raising suspicion was already unsettling. And as Illumi had stated, Ronnel had effortlessly neutralized their strongest fighters.
Even so, the Matar family's confidence was bolstered by the presence of their own assassins and the fact that this was their territory.
"Well…"
Sensing the rising hostility, Ronnel raised one hand innocently and said with a faint smile:
"I swear, I'm just here to watch the fun. No ill intentions. Do you believe me?"
The room collectively scowled as if to say: "Do you think we're idiots?"
Crack!
The arrogant man on the high platform crushed the microphone in his hand, his voice laced with fury.
"You insult not only our family but our intelligence as well?!"
Sensing the growing tension, Gel—the woman standing closest to Ronnel—calmly dragged her chair a few steps back, wanting no part in the conflict.
"I don't care if you're here to watch or to cause trouble," the man on the platform announced, his Nen amplifying his voice so that it resonated across the hall.
"But our Matar family is not a place where anyone can come and go as they please. Since you're here, you're not leaving!"
Although the man's voice carried a feminine lilt, his tone was firm and commanding.
The humiliation of having their family infiltrated could only be washed away by blood. Whether the intruder was an ordinary mercenary or a member of the Zoldyck family, the arrogant man had already resolved to kill them both to reassert the Matar family's dominance.
The man's gaze sharpened as it landed on Illumi.
He had recognized Illumi immediately. As someone who viewed the Zoldyck family as a rival, he was well-versed in their lineage.
"So, even the Zoldyck family has come knocking on our door. This must be fate."
With that, he pulled out his phone and made a call, his expression darkening with anticipation.
"Do you want to keep me?" Ronnel muttered, scratching his head. "Then there's no other way~"
He shrugged and spread his hands in mock helplessness.
"Too bad your temple's too small to house someone like me. Honestly, I was in a pretty good mood today and didn't want to kill anyone…"
He trailed off, flipping his palm to summon a gleaming, white jade-like bone spear.
The temperature in the room seemed to plummet.
Illumi didn't respond verbally, but the needles now clutched between his fingers spoke volumes about his intentions.
The hall erupted into chaos as tension reached its boiling point.
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