HxH: Ryomen... Satoru?

The man, missing an arm and with several ice blades embedded in him, bled like a sieve.

Cyr walked up and nudged him lightly with his foot, careful not to use too much force in case the man died on the spot.

"I'll give you two options. First, pay for your life. Second, die immediately."

The white-haired boy stood tall, looking down at the battered criminal. The faint sinister air from the dark patterns on his face made it hard to tell who the real villain was.

Frankly, Cyr looked far more evil than the injured man at his feet.

"Cough… cough…" Rajiko coughed up blood, his breath ragged. "I have no money."

"Huh? You're throwing money around on booze and human platters, and you're saying you're broke?" Cyr stared at him, clearly doubting his claim.

No one who lived this lavishly could be penniless.

Rajiko had killed so many people—there was no way he hadn't profited handsomely from it.

"You saw it yourself… I spent it all on this…" Rajiko lay on the ground, shifting to a more comfortable position as he sighed.

If he had been handsome, his actions might have seemed carefree and bold. But he lacked the one crucial element of being a handsome man—a good-looking face.

Instead, he came across as someone who deserved a beating.

"My Marcin… I gave her a crown encrusted with blue sapphires. She loved it…"

"…Cough… Too bad your eyes can't be a gift for her. She'd love them too… cough…" Rajiko muttered, his voice slipping into delirium.

"…You've got guts saying that," Cyr said with a blank expression before casually ending his life.

---

In a pitch-black basement.

Dorinck sat on a small chair in the corner, took a deep breath, and pulled out his phone to make a call. The moment the line connected, he blurted out, "A lunatic broke into my private residence…"

"Hurry and send someone to rescue me."

"I'm in the basement right now. I'm relatively safe for now."

"My bodyguards? That psycho killed them all!"

"What does he look like? A maniac who plays with cards…"

"Contact the Mafia Association, get the Ten Dons, and have them send the Shadow Beasts to save me…"

Something the person on the other end said made Dorink's tone shift, becoming slightly threatening.

"You wouldn't want a Mafia Association member like me to be killed at home, would you?"

Before he could finish his sentence, the hidden door to the supposedly secure room swung open.

Several playing cards shot through the crack, embedding themselves in his hand and slicing open his carotid artery.

The phone fell from Dorinck's hand, hitting the ground with a thud.

Eyes wide, he slumped from the chair, blood pooling beneath him. His trembling hand failed to reach the phone lying in the blood.

The sound of high heels clicked in his ears.

A figure stepped closer, bent down, and picked up the blood-covered phone. Glancing at the ongoing call, they hung up and dialed a new number.

---

In the alley behind the bar.

"Living such a lavish lifestyle on the surface but being broke behind the scenes…"

"What a poser, pretending to be something he's not…"

Cyr kicked Rajiko's corpse in dissatisfaction while submitting the bounty claim, grumbling under his breath. Suddenly, he tilted his head toward a specific direction.

"Who's there?"

His bright eyes seemed to glow in the dark, like the last patch of clear sky contrasting sharply with the black of night.

Illumi, who had just landed from parachuting in and was already preparing to attack with his needles, froze for a moment.

How had the target noticed him?

He was puzzled, but his hands didn't falter as he threw the nen-infused needles.

Although the employer's target was only one person, the blond figure trailing behind Cyr was also present. Naturally, Illumi wouldn't let him go.

But in the blink of an eye, both the target and his companion vanished.

Illumi's long black hair, draped over his back, seemed to billow despite the still air. The eerie sight made the scene even stranger.

Without even turning around, he launched himself 100 meters away with a single step.

In the spot where Illumi had just stood, Cyr appeared, dragging Maro behind him.

"A Zoldyck assassin?" Cyr remarked, his tone one of understanding as he gazed at the figure 100 meters away.

As expected, the man wielding nen needles and sporting long black hair like a ghost was Illumi, the eldest son of the Zoldyck family.

A tricky opponent. Accepting this job for just 500 million felt like a loss.

Illumi's face betrayed no emotion, but he was calculating internally.

From the opponent's combat footage at Heaven's Arena, it was evident that the target was either an Enhancement or Emission user, with a high level of skill and significant strength.

Come to think of it, this job was indeed a loss.

However, the Zoldyck family never abandoned a mission midway. If Illumi failed, his father or grandfather would step in to finish the job.

As these thoughts crossed his mind, the number of nen needles in Illumi's hands increased. At the same time, his phone began vibrating incessantly.

"Hold on a moment, let me take this call," Illumi said flatly to his opponent before pulling out his phone.

"It's me, little Illumi."

On the other end of the call was Hisoka.

"The client is already dead. Can you stay away from my little apple?"

The red-haired man leaned casually on an office desk, holding a phone in one hand and shuffling a deck of cards in the other, his smile carrying an inscrutable meaning.

On the floor in the corner, Dorink lay amidst a pool of blood, his breath faint but still present, glaring at Hisoka with unyielding hatred.

Hisoka glanced briefly in Dorink's direction, meeting the dying man's gaze.

The last thing Dorink saw before his life ended was the red-haired clown with a star and teardrop painted beneath his eyes, smiling down at him.

"…I understand," Illumi said after a long silence, his tone as emotionless as ever.

So that boy in the distance was already a target of Hisoka's.

No wonder Hisoka had shown no interest after watching the combat footage the other day.

The Zoldyck family might not abandon a mission halfway, but if the client died before the target was taken out, the mission would naturally be terminated.

The deposit would also be refunded.

Illumi had spent money to buy intelligence from Milluki and hired others to track surveillance footage leading to this bar.

Now, not only had the 500 million vanished, but he had also incurred losses worth tens of millions.

This time, it was a total loss.

"I don't want to fight," Illumi said in his monotone voice.

The Zoldyck family charged for kills; meaningless fights were not part of their practice.

"I'm just a passerby."

"Goodbye," he added before climbing over the nearby walls and disappearing in just a few swift movements.

Standing in place, Cyr blinked, still waiting to observe Illumi's abilities.

"What? He left after taking a phone call?"

"The Zoldyck family gave up the mission on me?" Cyr's tone was both puzzled and a little disappointed.

Even so, he had no intention of chasing after Illumi.

°°°

If you want to read ahead and access 20 advanced chapters, check the patreon

Link: Patreon/Moziel