Sizzle!
The flying flame slash grazed Guzman's cheek. Having used [En] to predict its trajectory, he tilted his head just in time to avoid it.
The searing heat left his cheek flushed and raw. Having missed its target, the slash slammed into the ceiling, carving a massive hole and disappearing into the sky.
Seeing Magic Shadow killed in an instant, his corpse slumped in the corner like a discarded rag, Otsuka Yu let out a strange cackle. He glanced casually at Mark Wayne. "Wayne, how does his blade compare to your axe?"
The Executioner—specializing in lopping off heads!
As the most renowned Enhancer under the Fourth Elder, Mark Wayne was a master of the hand-axe. He responded indifferently, "I'd have to fight him to know for sure."
The martial faction always let strength do the talking. Intelligence suggested the priest was likely a Conjurer, yet his swordsmanship was so sharp it felt more like an Enhancer's... even more so than his own.
Even if Mark Wayne was reluctant to praise an outsider, he had to admit that someone capable of one-shotting Magic Shadow was no amateur. Plus...
'That bizarre cloning ability,' Mark Wayne thought, his [En] focused intensely on the boy with the sword. Suddenly, a fragrant breeze brushed past him as Eve Valentine leaned in flirtatiously.
The woman wrapped her arms around the man's arm, her breath warm against his ear as she whispered, "Mark, share some of that intelligence with me later."
Not being able to use [En] was such a hassle. "You know, I don't really like all the fighting."
'Slut!' Sister Lotus thought, watching the two with disdain as they traded intimacy for information. She knew perfectly well that they—Otsuka Yu included—were here not just for reconnaissance, but potentially to back Guzman up.
They were all creatures of profit. Guzman's drug trade spanned the entirety of Meteor City with the tacit approval, or even direct support, of the Elders. Naturally, they all got their cut.
Now, a brat had emerged from some unknown corner of the world, attempting to destroy this effortless source of revenue. Since the young priest refused to play by the rules, the Council of Elders wouldn't play by them either.
Sister Lotus adjusted her wide-brimmed black hat, revealing a glimpse of her beautiful face beneath the veil. As she watched Roy and recalled her conversation with Berus, a thought suddenly struck her. 'Perhaps a saint is simply a fool!'
A fool whom the common masses could never understand.
Tap... tap...
The sound of footsteps echoed. Inside the villa, which now had a gaping hole in its roof, sunlight poured down, draping the boy in a layer of golden light.
Yukibashiri was pointed directly at Guzman. A few stray drops of Magic Shadow's blood remained on the tip, but they quickly vaporized in the intense heat. One hundred meters... ninety... eighty... the distance closed.
The [Stainless Steel Zip Ties] Guzman had used to bind Roy's limbs finally succumbed to the heat. With a gentle shrug, Roy broke free. His black hair swayed as he continued his unhurried march toward his target.
Guzman swirled the red wine in his glass. After the brief distraction of Magic Shadow's death, he refocused. To him, an underling was just a piece of porcelain; if it broke, it broke. He locked his gaze onto Roy and offered a sinister grin. "It seems you really don't intend to talk this out. Fine then..."
He slammed the wine glass onto the floor!
Glass shards sprayed in every direction. A few grazed the "zombies" who had consumed the "candy," slicing into their skin and flesh. However, lost in their drug-induced euphoria, they didn't even notice. They collapsed at Guzman's feet with blissful smiles or stood in grotesque, twisted poses, appearing to welcome their "king" and "master," offering up their own life force to him.
Hum...
Several visible streams of Nen flowed toward Guzman. He opened his mouth and sucked them in, swallowing them whole.
In that instant, the green-haired youth looked as if he had injected himself with a powerful stimulant. His expression turned ecstatic as his aura surged, and his physical form began to undergo a massive transformation!
[Psychic Morphine]: Capable of providing "pleasure" to others, and even more so to oneself!
Boom!
An evil, twisted [Ren]—laced with a hint of lethal euphoria—erupted from Guzman!
The youth's eyes turned blood-red. His body expanded, and his tight-fitting clothes tore with a violent rip, unable to contain the sudden explosion of muscle.
1.7 meters... 1.8... 2... 2.5... 3... 4... 6 meters tall!
"Roar!"
He let out a deafening bellow that shook the very tiles of the villa. Guzman had transformed into a giant in the blink of an eye, casting a shadow that swallowed the sunlight. He threw a casual punch that scraped a wall. Crack! The wall splintered like a spiderweb and collapsed. The destruction was so great that Otsuka Yu, Sister Lotus, and Mark Wayne no longer needed [En] to see what was happening inside.
"So big... I wonder if he gets even stronger after dosing up?!" Eve Valentine could finally see. Her wanton eyes roamed over Guzman's lower half, though his massive frame blocked much of her view, leaving her disappointed.
Mark Wayne wrapped his arm around her waist and glanced at her. "I don't know about his stamina, but you certainly couldn't handle him."
Eve Valentine blinked. "What?"
Mark Wayne remained cold and aloof, but his hand wandered toward the woman's collar. "Don't misunderstand. I was talking about his power."
"Gahahaha!" Otsuka Yu let out a wicked laugh. "Don't underestimate a woman's body, Wayne."
Sister Lotus remained silent. The observers were calm enough to joke, clearly possessing great confidence in Guzman. As they said...
Size was power!
The potential of a life overextended by drugs could push an ordinary person to heights they didn't belong to. This was even truer for Guzman, who was an expert in the field. He was the source of [Psychic Morphine], the very origin of the enhancement!
"Hmph!" Two long plumes of vapor snorted from the nostrils of the giant Guzman.
He cast a massive shadow that tore through the golden light draped over Roy. The boy stopped and looked up at Guzman's face, which was flushed with a sickly, pathological red.
Compared to the "Gourmet Giant," the "100-Type Guanyin," and the two-headed demon summoned by his grandfather Zigg in the [The Game of the Dead], Roy wondered... was this beast's muscle "dead" or "alive"?
Or rather... dead muscle acting alive!
Bang!
Sword raised!
The punch arrived!
A fist as massive as a cannonball slammed forward. Guzman's feet kicked off the floor, leaving two deep craters as he closed the distance in an instant, aiming straight for Roy's face.
With a sharp hum of his blade, Roy raised Yukibashiri in a reverse grip, blocking the blow. He took the impact head-on. His body lowered slightly, but his calm face showed only a hint of disappointment. This was weaker than Silva... even weaker than Gyomei Himejima after opening his nodes. He immediately lost interest in the fight.
"As I thought, borrowed power is worthless."
"Whatever doesn't belong to you will eventually abandon you."
Roy looked at Guzman with a mocking gaze. His crimson eyes spun slowly, like a bloody sword piercing Guzman's heart, wordlessly telling him that he was nothing more than a hollow shell.
Guzman roared. Refusing to believe it, he kicked out at Roy's chest, trying to crush him.
A soft whisper drifted through the air: "Sleep."
Before the giant's foot could even lift, he swayed. A sudden wave of intense drowsiness eroded his consciousness. He staggered back several steps and slumped onto the floor.
The [Whispers of Forced Slumber] combined with the power of the Sharingan was devastating. The shift from offense to defense happened in a heartbeat, searing itself into the minds of Otsuka Yu, Sister Lotus, Mark Wayne, and Eve Valentine.
Eve's body trembled, and she instinctively clung to Mark Wayne's arm. The man's hand, still inside her collar, froze. He lost all interest in his flirtation.
"What happened?"
"How did Elder Guzman just fall like that?"
"Did he... did he overdose and fall into a hallucination?"
Whisphered conversations broke out in the surroundings. The various factions spying from behind the trash heaps stared at the scene in the villa, stunned.
Otsuka Yu, who had been joking moments ago, stood up and braced his hands on his knees. His expression was grim, the confidence and ease from before completely gone. While the amateurs saw only a spectacle, those in the know saw the truth. Otsuka Yu knew exactly what Guzman was capable of. He squinted at Roy's crimson eyes and sensed an unusual Nen presence.
"He's in a hallucination, that's true," he said in a low voice. "But it isn't an overdose. It's... forced!"
Sister Lotus, Mark Wayne, and Eve Valentine looked over.
Otsuka Yu kept his eyes locked on Roy and took a deep breath. "We all underestimated the priest. He isn't a Conjurer. He's..."
"A Specialist!"
With the martial skill of an Enhancer, the clones of a Transmuter, the hypnosis of a Specialist, and the Conjuration seen in the intelligence... 'This Father has far too many tricks!'
Mark Wayne and Eve Valentine exchanged a glance and fell silent.
Sister Lotus's dress swayed as she turned her gaze back to Roy. She saw the boy pin Guzman's chest down with his foot and, while the giant was unconscious, swing his blade toward his neck. She glanced at the others. "Since you're already here... aren't you going to save him?"
"Gahahaha, Sister Lotus, you're still as cold on the outside and warm on the inside as ever." Otsuka Yu looked at her, then tucked his hands into his sleeves. He calmly watched as Roy drove his blade into Guzman's throat. "The priest isn't simple, but neither is Guzman."
"He isn't that easy to kill!"
"What do you mean?"
"See for yourself."
Sister Lotus frowned and followed Otsuka Yu's gaze.
The young priest sliced through the giant's neck. Instead of the expected spray of blood, it felt like cutting through a mass of cotton. There was zero feedback from the kill.
Roy's eyes lowered. Beneath his foot, the giant shrank rapidly, losing its human form until only a headless stuffed doll remained. Nearby, the head rolled across the floor, its glass eyes staring directly at Roy as if... mocking him.
"A doll?" Sister Lotus was shocked.
"Yes, a doll," Otsuka Yu said darkly. "[Psychic Morphine] isn't just a drug; it's a tool to control the users. As long as someone eats Guzman's candy..."
"Everything they have, including their Nen abilities, is seized by Guzman and becomes his own. One of those is..."
"[Substitute Doll]!"
"Substitute Doll?" Sister Lotus whispered. Sharp as she was, she immediately grasped the logic. As the name implied, the user could use dolls to take lethal blows for them. Which meant...
"As long as there are dolls left, the user will not die." Sister Lotus's eyes narrowed as she finally understood what Otsuka Yu meant.
"As expected of Sister Lotus, you've already figured it out." Otsuka Yu clapped. Sister Lotus remained silent, but then a thought occurred to her. She glanced at Otsuka Yu. "Why do you know so much?"
The smile in Otsuka Yu's eyes deepened as he winked at her mischievously. "Because... I'm a doll too."
"Me too."
"And me."
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Three explosive sounds rang out, flipping the edge of Sister Lotus's hat. Her pupils shrank as Otsuka Yu, Mark Wayne, and even Eve Valentine vanished. In their place sat three stuffed dolls of varying sizes, genders, and colors!
She stood frozen, as if she had looked into the eyes of Medusa.
A gust of wind swept through, carrying away all the noise. The various spies hidden on the trash heaps fell silent. Within the massive villa, Roy stood alone amidst several "zombies" who were high on "candy"—sitting, slumped, lying, or twisted in place. The entire area fell into an eerie silence.
"Young Master!"
Urgent footsteps approached as Kastro hurried over, his expression grave. "The people you told me to watch... they all turned into dolls!"
Roy was silent for a long while. With a sharp clack, he sheathed his sword. He looked up at the blazing sun in the sky. After a moment, he narrowed his eyes. "Let's go."
He left the North District with Kastro.
By afternoon, the sun began to dip toward the west. The light faded, losing its midday heat. At the Zoldyck estate on Kukuroo Mountain...
Roy lay in Silva's rocking chair. Suddenly, he stiffened and opened his eyes.
Silva, standing beside him, asked, "Is it over?"
Roy responded with a long silence. Was it over? The system had given notifications, and "Life Energy" had increased... yet only four small dolls remained at the scene.
Clearly... things had spiraled far beyond his control.
They were heading toward—
Chaos.
"I failed," the boy said.
Silva: "..."
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