While Morrow was entangled with Illumi and used Shooting Star to eliminate Chrollo...
The battles among others in the arena ranged from intense clashes to nearing conclusions.
Kurapika's Dowsing Chain completely neutralized Pakunoda's offensive capabilities.
Thanks to the enhancement of all Nen types provided by his Emperor Time ability, Kurapika had been suppressing Pakunoda from the very start of the fight.
Barring any surprises, Kurapika should have been able to defeat his opponent faster than Kanzai and Kalluto.
But Pakunoda still had one last trump card.
She could store the combat memories of elite fighters into Memory Bombs.
These combat memories weren't merely condensed techniques, but more so the state and even emotions those experts experienced during battles.
Pakunoda could inject these Memory Bombs into her own mind, synchronizing with the near-limit-breaking state those masters once achieved, thereby drastically improving her combat prowess.
However, this ability came at a cost.
First, the duration was short. Second, after the "state" ended, Pakunoda would suffer from uncontrollable distraction and difficulty concentrating for a long time.
But given the current situation, Pakunoda naturally disregarded the consequences.
She decisively played this card.
Unfortunately, she was facing a survivor of the Kurta Clan massacre, a vengeful spirit.
The chains conjured by Kurapika were as unbreakable as his will for revenge.
No matter how fiercely Pakunoda fought back, she couldn't change the inevitable.
Every assault she launched was mercilessly dismantled by Kurapika's chains.
Thus, step by step, Kurapika forced her into a dead end; her defeat was only a matter of time.
And Chrollo's death accelerated this process.
Leader...!
A sharp pang of dread caused Pakunoda to momentarily lose focus.
Kurapika seized this fatal opening and immediately manipulated his Chain Jail, coiling it around Pakunoda's body from her blind spot.
Chain Jail...
Pakunoda's aura output was instantly suppressed back into her body by the Chain Jail, and the revolver in her hand dispersed into floating Nen floss.
Stripped of her only weapon, Nen, Pakunoda, feeling the cold restraint of the chains, wore an expression of despair.
She gazed into Kurapika's blazing scarlet eyes, seeing her own desperate reflection in those glowing crimson crystals. For a fleeting moment, she also glimpsed the faces of those red-eyed people who had once worn the same despair.
After securing Pakunoda with Chain Jail, Kurapika swiftly glanced at Morrow and Kalluto's situation.
His thirst for vengeance and his urgency to aid Morrow and Kalluto...
Amidst these clashing emotions, Kurapika underwent a transformation.
Without hesitation, he drove the Chain Jail straight into Pakunoda's heart.
Pakunoda shuddered, her eyes frozen in despair as she collapsed to the ground.
Kurapika didn't spare her another glance, immediately shifting his focus to Morrow and Kalluto.
The successive deaths of Chrollo and Pakunoda undoubtedly affected Machi and Amanda.
Machi was filled with rage and helplessness, while Amanda seethed with resentment and indignation.
Originally, both of them were already at a disadvantage, and now, swayed by their emotions, their situation became even more precarious.
Meanwhile.
Illumi quickly finished his deliberation.
He could no longer attack Morrow.
This consideration wasn't just because he had noticed Kurapika, who had already defeated his opponent, or because his younger sister's battle was nearing its end.
The more crucial reason was that he no longer had the "commission" as a legitimate excuse.
This essentially stripped him of the justification to attack Morrow in front of Kalluto.
In other words, if Kalluto hadn't been present, he might have acted recklessly, even working for free, using the flimsy excuse of "already receiving a deposit" to convince himself.
In the end, Illumi decided to stop, swiftly withdrawing the bloodlust from his aura.
However, stopping wasn't something he alone could decide.
Morrow's current thought was to take advantage of Kalluto's distraction and quickly kill Illumi under the pretense of "self-defense."
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a massive chunk of concrete hurtled through the dust, flying straight toward Illumi.
Having just steadied himself, Illumi calmly assessed the incoming projectile. He first used a bead-head needle to stop the bleeding in his right arm, then raised his left hand, fingers rigid like a blade, and thrust directly at the concrete.
The tip of his hand struck the center of the chunk with pinpoint accuracy, the aura-infused strike splitting it cleanly in two.
The bisected concrete slid past Illumi's sides, crashing to the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.
The concrete wasn't a flat slab; its base was still attached to a large mass of rubble, giving it a distorted, top-like shape.
Now split in half and lying askew, one side remained facing Illumi's back.
And the moment the concrete landed, Illumi's pupils reflected a dozen tiny points of light.
Morrow's fractured Shooting Stars, following right behind the concrete.
Yet Illumi still had the presence of mind to scan the swirling dust; though he couldn't see Morrow, he could sense his presence. Or rather...
his overwhelming bloodlust.
So you ignored my signal...
Expressionless, Illumi faced the incoming fractured Shooting Stars, assessing their threat level in an instant.
Ken.
After locking onto Morrow's position, Illumi opted for a more stable defense, covering his body in armor-like Nen.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The weakened, fragmented Shooting Stars struck Illumi's body one after another, but failed to breach his defenses.
He endured the barrage of Nen bullets, his gaze never leaving the thick bloodlust emanating from Morrow within the dust.
But what he didn't realize, what he had no way of knowing, was that behind him, on the twisted, fallen concrete slabs, two stellar crosses had silently appeared.
Hm?
Almost simultaneously, Illumi sensed three distinct surges of Nen.
One came from Morrow, faintly visible within the dust. The other two were right behind him, chillingly close.
Which side demanded his full attention?
In that split second, relying on his vast combat experience, Illumi focused the bulk of his defense on his back.
The two nearby Nen fluctuations posed a greater immediate threat.
As for Morrow ahead, though his bloodlust was palpable, the distance still allowed more reaction time.
Illumi hastily erected a Nen barrier behind him.
Two Shooting Stars shot from the surface of the concrete blocks struck Illumi's back with precision, triggering a violent explosion.
Despite the solid protection from his Nen, the force of the blast still sent Illumi stumbling forward several steps.
In that instant...
Morrow appeared before Illumi as if from thin air, the Poultry Scarlet Knife in his hand wreathed in a chilling killing intent as it slashed toward Illumi's neck.
Faced with this sudden assault, Illumi's pupils trembled violently.
Already on guard, his instincts kicked in, and he reflexively crossed his arms in front of him.
Sssshhk!
A sharp blade flash sliced through.
Blood sprayed instantly; more than half of Illumi's right arm and his entire left hand were severed, spinning through the air.
How... is this possible...!?
Morrow's figure reflected in Illumi's trembling pupils, followed by a sharp pain near his collarbone as a jet of blood erupted.
The Nen imbued in that blade far surpassed the Nen he had wrapped around his arms.
Thus, even after his hands were severed, the residual force of the slash didn't dissipate, carving a bloody wound near his collarbone.
Had the Poultry Scarlet Knife not been limited in length, the damage would have been far worse.
But what truly left Illumi in disbelief was...
The two new abilities Morrow had displayed in this assault!
There was no time to dwell on this phenomenon that defied comprehension; Illumi was now face-to-face with an overwhelming sense of crisis.