The Shakespeare Grand Theatre was aesthetically pleasing and spacious, though not excessively large. For Kuro to thoroughly scout it within ten minutes posed a certain level of difficulty, but it was achievable.
After all, Kuro was no ordinary Nen Beast. He was an independent soul, capable of making judgnts autonomously without needing explicit instructions.
When it ca to reconnaissance, there was likely no Nen Beast more skilled than him.
When it ca to proving his usefulness, Kuro was indeed highly effective. However...
"One hundred pages."
Once the terms were agreed upon, Kuro dissolved into black smoke and diligently infiltrated the quiet theatre.
Ten minutes later, Kuro returned.
"Killua is hanging above the center of the stage, about three ters high."
"There's only one enemy, sitting in the very center of the audience seats. He wasn't actively hiding, but since there was a chance I might be detected, I didn't get too close."
Kuro reported the results of his ten-minute investigation.
"Only one?" Law was slightly surprised. He asked the most pressing question: "Is Killua alright?"
"He's alive, but his limbs are severely fractured. He looks pretty rough. And I don't know if it's so peculiar preference of the enemy, but Killua's clothes have been stripped off completely." Kuro said.
"Stripped naked...?"
'What was the purpose? At least he's still alive.'
Law inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. Moreover, since there was only one opponent, things would be easier to handle.
With that in mind, Law directly assigned Kuro the task of diverting the enemy's attention, with the additional objective of getting Killua away from the combat zone.
"If it's just about drawing attention, that's no problem. But I won't be participating in the fight." Kuro said with an indifferent tone. His Aura was finite, and once used, it was gone. If he could avoid combat, he would.
"I wasn't counting on your combat ability anyway." Law shot him a glance.
"Tch." Kuro scoffed, thinking to himself, 'Just you wait until I blacken a few thousand pages… then you'll see how strong I really am.'
"Don't ss this up."
Law issued a final warning before imdiately launching the rescue operation.
Saving Killua was the top priority.
The stage inside the theatre was expansive. In the vast auditorium, only the stage lights were illuminated, while the audience seats remained shrouded in near-total darkness, with not even a single spotlight turned on. The overall lighting was extrely dim.
Killua hung naked above the stage, swaying slightly, still unconscious.
Saiyu sat cross-legged in the very center of the audience seats, like an ordinary ticket-holding spectator, calmly observing everything on stage.
Suddenly, Saiyu's eyes turned cold. He sprang up from his seat and dashed toward the main entrance at the end of the aisle. Just monts ago, a Nen Fluctuation had emanated from there, signaling the arrival of an enemy.
His speed was astonishing. Within two seconds of the Nen Fluctuation appearing, he had already passed through the main entrance and arrived at the source of the disturbance, but found nothing there.
The Nen Fluctuation had been deliberately emitted by Kuro, whose primary objective was to divert attention. After releasing the conspicuous Nen Fluctuation, he had imdiately fled.
The mont Saiyu exited the auditorium through the main entrance, Law used his God Hand to clear a path, taking the shortest route backstage. Once Kuro had successfully lured Saiyu away, Law imdiately made his way to the stage.
At the sa ti, on the balcony of the second-floor VIP seats, an irregularly shaped pattern resembling a script was drawn on the floor. A handgun lay beside it.
As Law reached the stage, the script vanished, transforming into a monkey-like Nen Beast nearly two ters tall. The mont it materialized, it grabbed the handgun and fired a shot directly at the stage.
Bang!
The gunshot echoed through the silent theatre auditorium.
A bullet tore through the darkness, flying straight toward Killua, who was still suspended in midair.
Law's nerves tightened. He kicked off the ground, leaping into the air and deploying his Domain to intercept the bullet fired from the VIP balcony.
Simultaneously, he severed the rope binding Killua.
However, the mont Law jumped into the air, another irregularly shaped script hidden beneath the stage activated, transforming into a large-mouthed monkey Nen Beast that lunged at Law while he was still midair.
"Hmm?"
The sudden appearance of the Nen Beast caught Law off guard. Worse yet, an even more pressing issue now demanded his attention.
Law's eyes turned cold. With his free hand, he condensed his Aura and fired the basketball-sized Nen Bullet at the charging monkey Nen Beast.
At the sa ti, his other arm, which is wrapped around Killua, quietly gathered Aura as well.
The Nen Bullet struck the wide-mouthed monkey, tearing it apart into dissipating energy.
At that mont, Saiyu pushed open the main door, his lips curling into a cold smirk as he watched the scene unfold on stage.
Boom!
Before Law and Killua could land, they were suddenly engulfed in a violent explosion.
Whoosh!
A fierce gust of wind roared, igniting the red stage curtains. The steel frawork above collapsed, crashing onto the stage in pieces. Thick smoke billowed outward, scattering the seats at the front of the auditorium.
"Didn't see that coming, did you?"
Saiyu's face was twisted in a sneer as he descended the aisle steps, walking toward the now-destroyed stage.
The smoke was too dense to see through, but Saiyu was certain the silver-haired brat was dead. As for Law, even if he wasn't killed, he would at least be severely injured.
The reason is that he had planted several miniature remote-controlled bombs inside Killua's stomach.
The blast radius of the micro-bombs covered fifty ters, with devastating lethality. Even a highly skilled Enhancer, if caught off-guard, would either die or suffer critical injuries.
The key factor in inflicting maximum damage is lack of preparation!
As for the two Nen Beasts set up via [Divine Script]… the one on the VIP balcony had used gunfire to force Law into a midair rescue attempt, while the one hidden beneath the stage had lured Law into allocating his Aura toward offense, leaving his defenses weakened.
All of this had been orchestrated to serve a single purpose: the bomb inside Killua.
Saiyu had gone to great lengths, not necessarily expecting to kill Law, but he was confident that, if caught in a point-blank explosion without any defenses, Law would at least be severely wounded.
"Huh?"
Saiyu suddenly halted. The thick smoke on stage was being forcibly parted, as if by an invisible hand, revealing Law still holding Killua… both completely unhard.
"...Impossible."
Saiyu's triumphant expression froze.
Law stood atop the ruined stage, his cold gaze fixed on Saiyu, who stood in the aisle between the seats. He vaguely recognized him as the [Monkey] of the original work's Zodiacs, though in this tiline, he wasn't a Zodiacs' mber.
'So, the enemy was him...'
"I didn't expect you to know Divine Script. Given the advantage of setting up in advance, using it instead of In to conceal traps is indeed more effective.
Law raised his right hand, which is now covered in soot, and addressed the stunned Saiyu, "Your little sche at least managed to dirty my hand. For that, you should feel honored. However..."
His calm voice suddenly carried a murderous edge.
"You actually resorted to such cruel thods against a child."
"You... are dead."
If not for the unique ability of his God Hand, Killua would have undoubtedly died in that explosion.
Even Law, with his defenses up, would have struggled to avoid fatal injuries.
That hypothetical scenario only solidified Law's resolve. His killing intent surged, saturating the air until it felt suffocating.
Saiyu forcibly steadied himself, 'Even if this bastard had survived unscathed, how had that brat remained unhard too?'
Since the trap had failed, there was no choice but to fight head-on. He still had a trump card, so victory wasn't out of reach.
Law set Killua down. Kuro was already circling around to retrieve him. Once Killua was safely away, Law could focus entirely on killing Saiyu.
When the monkey Nen Beasts had manifested via Divine Script, Law's earlier analysis of the recorded ssage, which he had considered settled, was suddenly cast into doubt again.
'This Saiyu... might have been executing a misdirection strategy all along.'
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