Hunter X Hunter : The Boundary

Chapter 31: Another Victim of Tonpa's Schemes

The humidity in the wetlands grew thicker, and the ground became a viscous mire. Each step was accompanied by a soft, sucking sound, as if the entire marsh were a living mouth, slowly devouring the runners.

The wind died, and breathing became a chore. Satotz's figure, though still visible ahead, seemed to recede with every second, as if time itself were stretching away.

Ryan remained in the middle of the pack. He was a drop of ink in the fog, present but unseen.

A scream erupted from the front right. "Ah! What is this?! My foot—"

A tall examinee had fallen into a sinkhole, a patch of innocent-looking grass that had given way like a trapdoor. Several others stopped to help, only to slip and fall in themselves.

Nearby, Tonpa, the amiable-looking "veteran," feigned anxiety. "Are you all right?" he shouted, his voice laced with concern. "Don't move, I'll help you!" He pointed to what looked like a patch of dry land. "Go right! It's safe over there!"

But Ryan's pace never wavered. He glanced at the so-called "dry land." The grass was yellowish, the edges slightly concave—a clear sign of a concealed layer, something devious waiting for a victim. He's a predator.

Just as he predicted, another young examinee trusted Tonpa and ran toward the path he'd indicated. The ground swallowed him to his waist. "How...?" the boy sputtered, his face pale with panic.

"Oh no!" Tonpa exclaimed, a mask of standardized guilt on his face. "I thought that was a safe path..."

Ryan offered no assistance. He simply bypassed the chaos, Zetsu making him a silent, breathless silhouette. In his mind, Tonpa wasn't a threat to be dealt with now, he could be exploited later.

The running continued, and the illusions grew more frequent. Examinees saw phantom corpses, phantom cliffs, and phantom pools of water that were actually bogs. The fear came not from the terrain, but from the uncertainty.

Then, a sharp, piercing scream cut through the mist. "Don't kill me!!" It was followed by another, a sickening, tearing sound that made one's scalp tighten.

"Something's happening back there!"

"Someone's killing people!"

The group's rhythm shattered. Ryan dodged an examinee who slammed into him blindly, then leaped onto a floating rock, using a subtle pulse of Nen to gain a higher vantage point.

Through the fog, a graceful, eerie figure approached. Red hair, a demonic smile, a playing card twirling between his fingers.

Hisoka.

He was like a beast patrolling the hunting grounds, a look of blatant pleasure on his face. The bodies of several examinees lay scattered around him. "How boring," he purred, his lips curved like a crescent moon. "Who's next?"

Just as a dead silence was about to fall, a desperate gasp broke the quiet. "Damn it... Kurapika, watch out!!" It was Leorio.

Ryan's gaze snapped over. Leorio was losing his balance in a patch of soft mud. Kurapika was trying to pull him out, but they were both exposed, directly in Hisoka's path. They're not Hisoka's targets, they're just in the way. However, if they're in the way, they will die.

He didn't want to get deeply involved, but he couldn't just stand by and watch the plot unravel into a bloodbath. He had two seconds to act.

He shifted his weight, his feet gathering Nen, and leaped five meters to the left, landing on a half-submerged rock. He scooped up a handful of wet soil, mixed it with gravel in his palm, and flung it with all his might.

The clump of mud and stone flew between Hisoka and the pair, scattering and striking vines and dead branches with a series of sharp, rattling sounds.

Hisoka's advance paused, his playing card momentarily still. The unexpected sound had broken his rhythm. He slowly turned his head— by the time he looked, Ryan had already leaped back into the fog, Zetsu instantly reapplied.

The distraction was all Kurapika needed. He dragged Leorio into a sideways roll, narrowly escaping the path of Hisoka's murderous intent. "Who... who was that?" Kurapika whispered, but the mists were already empty.

Hisoka narrowed his eyes. He licked a fleck of mud from his fingertip, and a slow, dangerous smile spread across his face. "Oh... Someone else is here," he murmured. "Interesting."

He took two slow steps in the direction of the disturbance, then stopped. "Hidden so well... who are you?"

There was no response. Ryan held his breath, already three rows back, once again a ghost in the crowd. He knew this single action wouldn't make him Hisoka's target— but it would plant a seed in the magician's mind.

And for now, that was a risk he had to take. The killing had been stopped, at least for a moment, so the run continued.