Loki's flames could ignite Nen, but burning Nen attacks like Nen bullets took time. Hisoka's gum and rubber Nen didn't take long to burn. Perhaps it was the rubber property that made it burn faster. "Yeah, my Nen seems too flammable!" Hisoka mused, guessing his ability changed Nen into gum and rubber Nen. Rubber was weak against fire.
"It seems you've lost, Hisoka," Loki said.
"It's too early to conclude," Hisoka replied, raising his hand; Nen appeared. His Nen had stuck to the ground beneath Loki's feet.
Bang! Hisoka charged at Loki.
"You sense attacks against you, but not others," Hisoka laughed. Loki used Gō multiple times to see through his attacks, not consciously, but instinctively. If the attack wasn't aimed at Loki, he couldn't sense it.
Hisoka charged, cards flying behind him like petals. He punched Loki.
Green fireflies flew from Loki's hands, filling the screen with sparkling light. The announcer saw the sparkling lights on the screen, like stars.
"Beautiful! Strange lights from Loki's hands. So romantic," she said.
Bang bang bang! The fireflies exploded, engulfing the ring in flames.
The sudden explosion silenced the audience. One second, it was romantic; the next, terrifying. The flames raged. The contrast was huge. The fireflies exploded; there was nowhere to hide on the ring. Loki was also engulfed, but the flames didn't harm him.
The explosions stopped. The flames gathered, then dissipated. Loki stood in the center of the ring, his white cloak billowing. The Burning Net vanished. Loki looked down; Hisoka was below, brushing off flames.
"Hisoka is out," the referee said.
The arena was silent, then erupted in cheers.
"Loki wins! He defeated Hisoka! The flames were terrifying; even Hisoka had to jump off to avoid them."
Hisoka extinguished the flames, looking at Loki. He spread his hands. "Too bad. This fight ends for now!"
He looked disappointed, but his eyes gleamed.
Gon and Killua were stunned. Killua pointed at Hisoka. "That bastard! He did it on purpose!"
Gon was surprised. "Maybe not, Killua! There was nowhere to hide from that attack!"
"He could have stuck his Nen to the ceiling, but he jumped off," Killua said. Loki had overpowered Hisoka. Killua wanted Hisoka to fail, but Hisoka was cunning; seeing little chance of winning, he jumped off.
"Why did Hisoka forfeit?"
Killua looked at Gon. "He probably didn't intend to win. He wanted to test Loki's abilities. He'll fight Loki again when he finds a way to counter him."
Killua calmed down. "Hisoka's right. The ring favors Loki." The open space favored Loki. Hisoka didn't try to win; he wanted to test Loki's strength and find a better opportunity to fight him.
The referee raised Loki's hand, declaring him the winner. Loki smiled faintly at Hisoka.
'Cunning magician Hisoka.' The next fight would be harder. But Loki wasn't afraid; he hadn't used many abilities. He couldn't use the Mera Mera no Mi's full power on the ring; otherwise, few would survive.
Loki had four wins, needing six more for ten. Besides Hisoka, there were no other notable opponents on floor 200. He registered for another match.
Soon, Hisoka called.
Loki answered, his tone unfriendly. "What?"
He'd won, but Hisoka had tricked him.
"You seem unhappy," Hisoka said, not provoking him further. "You came to the Heaven Arena to fight, right?"
"The Heaven Arena is good for killing time, but few strong opponents are here."
"I'll introduce you to stronger opponents. Interested, Mr. Loki?"
"Not interested," Loki said, about to hang up.
Hisoka said, "Don't refuse. They're more interesting than the Heaven Arena's fighters! The Phantom Troupe. You've heard of them, right?"
Loki was about to hang up.
Ding!Mission triggered. Help Hisoka fight Chrollo in a one-on-one duel. Reward: One S-rank lottery draw.
Loki paused. He was interested in the mission, not the fight. Hisoka triggered a mission! Loki said, "I accept."
Hisoka was surprised; Loki had agreed before he could finish his pitch. He wondered why Loki agreed so quickly.
He thought it over. Loki agreed after mentioning the Phantom Troupe.
'Revenge, like Kurapika?' If so, it would be more fun. This Yorknew City event would be great!
Loki thought about how to complete Hisoka's mission and get a double reward.
"Over-completing missions gives double rewards. How do I over-complete Hisoka's mission?" he wondered. Making Hisoka challenge everyone wouldn't work. Maybe making it easy for Hisoka to fight Chrollo. That was possible. The Troupe members might interfere, so he'd need to hold them off.
He put this aside. The Yorknew City auction was far away. The ten wins were just a matter of time. The important thing was completing Gon and Killua's mission.
After the fight with Hisoka, Loki didn't compete for a month; no one registered. This worried him about the ten-win mission. The Heaven Arena allowed three months' rest after each match. That was too long.
Loki trained Gon and Killua more strictly. They'd learned Shū, but were far from his requirement of 300 chops without damaging the paper. A week was too short. Their aura was still growing. Unlike in the original story, when they reached Greed Island, their aura was already strong. They couldn't improve quickly now.
__________________
for more advance chapters visit patreon.com/bars45.
For 10$- All advance chapters.