The white arrow was designed to transform into a spread of thorns upon nearing its target. If it pierced the target, it would drastically reduce their mobility.
Originally, the idea was that if the intruder caught the arrow, it would actually maximize its effect.
But what Shark hadn't expected was, before her conjured white arrow could even activate its power, the intruder had already crushed it between his fingers.
The moment the white arrow disappeared, Shark was certain that the Aura she'd split off had been erased by some unknown method used by this intruder.
After shattering the white arrow, Law only glanced at Shark briefly before charging at Bear once again.
If two enemies appear, take out one first.
Seeing that Law had completely ignored her, despite her role as a ranged archer-type, Shark immediately realized she was being underestimated and her expression turned dangerous.
She raised her bow and drew the string, gathering black and white Aura at her fingertips.
Law could feel the unrestrained surge of Aura at the building's entrance. Given the opponent's long-range combat style, reducing her Aura fluctuations would only help her. If necessary, she could even use In to conceal her arrows, making her attacks even harder to counter.
'Maybe she hadn't mastered In yet. Or maybe she had to use this method for some reason. Either way, there's no reason to abandon a close-range target to deal with her, especially since ranged attacks could be blocked by Domain.'
With that in mind, Law raised his hand and fired a few Nen Bullets at Bear, forcing the other party to expose an opening.
They were within four meters of each other. Bear narrowly dodged the Nen Bullets, and Law took advantage of the moment when Bear's lower body was slightly unstable in order to avoid the Nen Bullet to suddenly charge forward, raising his elbow and hitting Bear's abdomen with force.
Bang!
With a deep, dull sound, Bear's body was blasted into the air by Law's elbow. His upper body pitched forward as he flipped once in midair.
Law moved two steps beyond Bear's body before stopping. He then twisted around and jumped up. Clasping his hands together, he brought them down in a heavy hammer blow right onto Bear mid-air.
Bang!
There was another dull sound, and Bear was slammed straight down from the air, the force of the blow cracking the ground around them.
Law landed lightly on the ground, looked at Bear lying on the ground, his life or death unknown, and prepared to dig out his heart.
If Shin weren't still with Kuro, Law would have used Shin long ago.
However, while Bear's Nen Mastery were not weak, his hand-to-hand combat skills were not that good.
At this moment, the Aura fluctuations at the door of the building increased dramatically, but Law didn't even look at it. He simply raised his right hand covered in Aura and thrust it down toward Bear's back, aiming straight for his heart.
A black-and-white arrow whistled through the air.
Law could sense its trajectory clearly thanks to the obvious fluctuations of Aura, but with the Domain protecting him, there was no need to pause his attack.
However, while the arrow was flying in his direction, it wasn't actually aimed at him and instead aimed at Bear, who is lying on the ground.
"Hmm?"
The arrow was a fraction faster than Law's hand. It pierced Bear's shoulder and tore through the side of his chest cavity.
Judging by its length, it should've impaled some vital organs.
For a moment, Law thought the woman had chosen to kill her own ally to prevent him from getting his heart. In other words, 'The other party knew my Nen Ability? And therefore knew what I wanted to do by taking the heart?'
But that thought lasted less than a second, because the moment the arrow hit, a powerful Aura shield erupted from Bear, pushing Law back two or three meters.
'A shield?'
Law's brow furrowed slightly. The Aura that formed the shield did not come from Bear, who is lying on the ground, but from the black-and-white arrow.
Despite having pierced Bear's shoulder and internal organs, the arrow hadn't killed him. Instead, it formed a Aura shield to protect him.
'It must be that woman's Nen Ability...'
Law cast a quick glance at the short-haired woman holding the metallic longbow. Then, with a sudden motion, he formed his hand into a palm blade again, pouring in a surge of powerful Aura, and aimed another strike at Bear's back… still going for the heart.
However, the moment Law's palm blade touched the shield, he was instantly repelled several meters back by a forceful countershock.
Right after that, the Aura shield surrounding Bear shattered, and the arrow embedded in his chest slowly disappeared without leaving any wounds.
Bear knew it was Shark's Nen Ability that had saved him. He supported his upper body with his hands and shook his still dizzy head.
"…Thanks."
He got to his feet and shot a glance at Shark standing at the building's entrance. If it hadn't been for Shark's arrow, he might've been done for.
Normally, the two of them would always argue over differing views, but when facing a powerful common enemy, they would always put aside their differences.
"This guy's trouble." Shark said as she drew her bow and took aim at Law.
There was no arrow on the string, because she formed her functional arrows on the spot, tailoring them to the situation at hand.
For instance, earlier, she'd intended to conjure another white arrow to suppress Law's mobility, but when she saw Bear in danger, she instantly switched and formed a black-and-white arrow meant for defense.
It had struck Bear and saved his life.
She has three types of Nen Arrows.
The first was the white arrow, which spread on contact and reduced the target's mobility.
The second was a black arrow, which caused no physical damage but inflicted excruciating pain upon impact.
The third was the black-and-white arrow. It's non-lethal, but capable of generating an Aura shield to protect the target.
It is worth mentioning that the shield formed by the black-and-white arrow w has absolute protection, but it only lasts for three seconds.
Once those three seconds passed, the shield would automatically shatter and disappear.
Regardless of which arrow she used, she couldn't mask them with In, and she also had to perform some noticeable action that made her presence known to the enemy.
Bear just nodded without saying anything. After a few exchanges with Law, he was the one who was completely suppressed. So of course, he knew that Law was very difficult to deal with.
"…Hah…"
He opened his mouth and exhaled a long breath, and his Aura surged through his body.
[Scars Are a Man's Pride]
Aura gushed out from Bear's body in the form of Ren, and the scars on his head and hands began to move, spreading across his face and limbs exposed to the air.
In less than a second, those gruesome, jagged scars had crept across his entire body, and even his face was now fully deformed and covered, as though he'd been disfigured beyond recognition.
With his body covered in these scars, Bear's nerves no longer sense pain.
In other words, no matter what kind of injury he suffered, he would not feel anything.
Even if his nails were peeled off piece by piece, his fingers were broken one by one, and his bones were crushed inch by inch, he still wouldn't feel any pain.
If this ability truly allowed him to block all pain-based stimuli, then Law's plan to extract the heart and use God Hand to torment him for answers would be rendered useless. But that wasn't his only option.
Aside from nullifying pain, this ability also doubled Bear's defense and offense.
His scars came from being tortured by others, and now, he had become the tormentor.
With [Scars Are a Man's Pride] activated, Bear's confidence returned. He stomped forward and suddenly charged straight at Law.
At the same time, Shark whispered as she drew her bow: "Black and white are eternal!"
The moment the words left her lips, a black-and-white arrow shot through the air and shot into Bear's back, forming a skin-tight protective film over him.
Three seconds of absolute defense meant three seconds of his most explosive offensive potential!
He didn't need to worry about enemy attacks. He didn't need to defend.
For three seconds, his only goal was to inflict as much damage as possible!
With the shield clinging to his body, Bear roared and lunged at Law.