"Hmph~!"
Just then, a zombie suddenly appeared behind the retreating Illumi. Illumi stepped on the zombie's shoulder, leaping high into the air, easily evading the sword strike. The zombie, serving as a stepping stone, was cleaved across the waist by the light sword with a "squelch," its body cut into two halves, upper and lower, blood gushing out.
"Damn it."
Hiram watched Illumi leap high by stepping on the zombie. His gaze shifted to the other zombies, and he forcefully swung his light sword at the zombies rushing towards him. "If I can't deal with the main target, I'll deal with these small fry first."
But to his surprise, as his ten-meter-long light sword swept towards the zombies, they suddenly "whooshed" up, all leaping high from the ground at once, evading his slash.
"What?!"
Hiram's expression drastically changed. He hadn't expected these zombies to be so agile.
One of the zombies, upon landing, violently sprang up from the ground, its body rapidly tumbling in mid-air. While tumbling, its posture shifted, its right leg raised high, and it slammed down towards Hiram on the ground.
However, Hiram wielded more than one light sword. As Hiram's left hand swung its light sword, with a "squelch," the zombie's right leg was severed at the root, and it fell to the ground with a "thud."
"Hmph~!"
But even so, it didn't give up its attack. The zombie, feeling no pain, landed and immediately propped itself up with both arms. It opened its blood-stained mouth, revealing neat, white teeth, and bit fiercely onto Hiram's calf.
"Bastard, let go of me!"
Hiram was about to pursue Illumi, who was in mid-air, but his movement was obstructed. With a ferocious look, he raised his light sword and slashed across the zombie's neck.
"Squelch~!"
A large amount of blood spurted from the zombie's neck, spraying all over Hiram's face, his eyes also covered by the gushing blood. For a moment, his vision blurred.
"Heh heh…!!"
At this point, the other seven zombies had converged, all simultaneously swinging their fists towards Hiram.
"What good is this kind of attack?"
Hiram sneered. The two light swords in his hands glowed golden, and he suddenly swung them in all directions.
With a series of "thwack, thwack, thwack" sounds, all seven zombies were cut into two halves by the light swords, but their bodies still rushed towards Hiram due to inertia. Facing the rushing zombies, Hiram stomped the ground and "whooshed" out of the crowd.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…"
But just then, sounds of air being torn apart echoed. Hiram's eyes moved, as eight Nen needles simultaneously assailed him in mid-air.
"Hmph~!"
Hiram snorted coldly. The light sword on his right arm instantly extended. As he swung his arm, he swept towards the eight Nen needles, intending to knock them away before they reached him.
"Whoosh!"
But the moment he launched his counterattack, a figure suddenly appeared directly above his head, blocking the sunlight and casting him in shadow. Hiram looked up, and the figure was indeed Illumi. At this moment, Illumi held eight Nen needles in his hands, his body inverted in mid-air, contrasting with Hiram's upright posture in mid-air.
The moment their gazes met.
Illumi instantly threw the eight Nen needles from his hand towards Hiram's eight pressure points: Taiyang, Yintang, Fengchi, Yangbai, Shuaigu, Qubin, Tongtian, and Shenting.
"I've been guarding against this move of yours all along."
Hiram's lips split into a grin. The light sword on his left arm glowed golden, striking towards Illumi, who was above his head in mid-air. On its way, it deflected all eight Nen needles aimed at his head's various points. Simultaneously, the light sword on his right arm also deflected all seven Nen needles coming towards him.
"Heh, you have nowhere left to go."
Hiram's smile froze. The sound he heard was not of blood splattering, but of metal clashing. Hiram's gaze focused on Illumi's right hand, which had blocked the light sword. When he clearly saw what Illumi used to block his slash, he gasped.
"Needle!?"
"How?!"
He saw that in Illumi's right hand, a Nen needle, covered in dense Nen and as thin as a strand of hair, firmly blocked his light sword.
"Who said needles can't be used as weapons?"
Looking at the surprised expression on Hiram's face, Illumi was very calm.
"You little brat!"
Hiram's cheek twitched. He was only slightly surprised in his heart.
"Don't get too carried away!"
Hiram's expression hardened. Then, using the force of his left arm's light sword colliding with Illumi, he raised his right leg and kicked towards Illumi.
Illumi's expression also shifted. His left arm, covered in Nen, met the attack.
"Boom!"
Their limbs collided. A ripple of aftershock spread in mid-air, and the two bodies, one large and one small, were sent flying in opposite directions.
"Heh heh…"
But unlike Illumi, the moment Hiram landed, he was assaulted by suddenly appearing zombies. Moreover, unlike before, the number of zombies this time was double. His gaze swept over them, and there were fully sixteen zombies rushing towards him.
"Clap, clap, clap…"
The moment Hiram landed, sixteen zombies swarmed him, fiercely pinning him to the ground.
"Get lost!"
Hiram, pinned down by zombies the moment he landed, savagely wielded the light swords in his hands, dismembering the zombies around him one by one.
"Pop!"
Suddenly, a sound like a balloon popping echoed, and Hiram, who was swinging his sword, twitched in his lower body. It turned out that a zombie had grabbed Hiram's thigh, opened its blood-soaked mouth, and fiercely bit down on his crotch.
"Ah~!!!"
"Bastard!!!"
The enraged Hiram raised a leg and kicked the zombie hanging from his leg, sending it flying. At the same time, he swung his light sword horizontally, cutting it in half with a "squelch," splattering blood.
"Pop!"
And just as he was distracted by this, he felt his vision blur, followed by a chill in his brow. Hiram's movements froze, his eyes rolled upwards, and a Nen needle covered in dense Nen suddenly plunged into his brow. Hiram was about to raise his hand to remove the Nen needle, but found he couldn't even lift his arm. A chill rose in his heart. He had been careless.
"Hmm, the President's bodyguard, much easier than I thought."
Illumi slowly walked, treading on the blood-soaked ground, towards Hiram, who lay motionless on the ground.
"When did you…?" Hiram's eyes moved, looking at Illumi, who was slowly approaching him, and asked.
"Are you asking when I stuck the Nen needles into these corpses?" Illumi stood before the fallen Hiram, sweeping his hair back from his ear, his tone leisurely.
"When you leapt out of the crowd and were in mid-air."
"All sixteen Nen needles I threw at you were perfectly calculated."
"The corpses, the angles, the distances, my distance to the corpses, the angle and strength of my throw, and your sword-swinging speed, power, angle, and so on."
"I know all of it clearly~"
As Illumi spoke, he again pulled out a Nen needle from behind him, holding it between his index and middle fingers vertically in front of his chest. A cold glint shimmered at the tip of the needle.
"You… monster!"
Hiram's face was filled with astonishment. He was surprised that a brat of this age could perform such astonishing data calculations while engaging him in high-intensity combat.
"Thank you."
Illumi's lifeless eyes stared at Hiram. His index and middle fingers flicked lightly, and the Nen needle left his hand, piercing towards Hiram's throat.
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