Mizaistom had no intention of snatching Morrow's achievement.
Once he confirmed Morrow's primary demand, he would do his utmost to fulfill it.
But he hadn't expected Morrow's killing intent to be so strong.
If Morrow had only come for Bazel's bounty, then in this situation, there was really no need to kill the already severely injured Bazel.
However, unnecessary didn't mean forbidden.
Even if Morrow insisted on killing Bazel, Mizaistom had nothing to say.
Mizaistom silently watched Morrow.
Morrow also calmly looked back at Mizaistom, though he was more focused on observing the state of Mizaistom's aura.
No anger...
Not bad.
By discerning Mizaistom's emotional state through his aura, Morrow wasn't particularly worried at the moment.
From their earlier conversation, he knew Mizaistom wasn't trying to steal his prey.
But he also didn't understand why Mizaistom was so determined to spare Bazel's life.
This strong intent had even led Mizaistom to use his "Cross Game" ability on him without hesitation.
Yet, Morrow had no intention of letting go of the prize already in his grasp.
As for how Mizaistom would view this matter, Morrow couldn't care less.
Suddenly, Morrow felt the restraining force on his body vanish into thin air. He assumed either Mizaistom's ability had expired or Mizaistom had deactivated it voluntarily.
Casually stretching his limbs, Morrow took the opportunity to glance at the level symbol on the back of his hand.
Lv.48→Lv.49
Just one step away from Lv.50...
Mizaistom took another look at Bazel's mangled corpse.
Once the target was dead, it meant his commission to bring Bazel to trial had failed.
But judging by the outcome, the client who had entrusted him with this task would likely be even happier.
When he had accepted this commission, his condition had been that the client must agree he would "only let the law judge Bazel."
Because of this condition, his fee had been drastically reduced, low enough for the client to afford.
However, his insistence on bringing Bazel to trial wasn't to ease the client's financial burden but to uphold his professional ethics and principles.
With things having come to this, Mizaistom could only helplessly accept reality and shift his attention to Morrow, saying calmly, "Young man, even if you hadn't killed him, you could still have claimed the full bounty."
This wasn't an accusation, but more of a composed statement.
Morrow replied just as calmly, "True. But killing him also lets me claim the full bounty."
...
Mizaistom exhaled subtly, almost imperceptibly.
Observing Mizaistom's reaction, Morrow grew slightly curious. "I can tell you really wanted to spare his life, the life of a vicious criminal."
"Don't overthink it."
Mizaistom's expression remained unreadable as he responded in an even tone, "My professional duty is to bring criminals to court and let the law judge their crimes."
"Oh, professional."
Morrow slowly raised his thumb at Mizaistom, while inwardly reaffirming his earlier decision to kill Bazel.
In truth, when he heard Mizaistom's words, his mind flashed to the prisoners in the original Trap Tower, many of whom had been sentenced to hundreds of years in prison. So, if the country Bazel belonged to had abolished the death penalty in its criminal code...
In his view, while he understood the principles Mizaistom adhered to, he didn't agree with them.
A Nen user like Bazel was clearly twisted to the extreme, wielding Nen, a weapon capable of overwhelming ordinary people with ease. Why keep such a person alive to waste air instead of eliminating them sooner?
Mizaistom was no ordinary man either, detecting a hint of something unusual in Morrow's praise.
But he didn't dwell on it.
He was someone who rarely showed his emotions and wasn't easily swayed by external factors, always maintaining composure and restraint.
After a few exchanges, Morrow had a rough grasp of Mizaistom's surface-level personality traits and methods. He then gestured toward Bazel's corpse in the distance.
"My comrades are still fighting. If it's not too much trouble, could you keep an eye on the body for me?"
"I must decline."
Mizaistom refused without hesitation.
"Never mind then."
Morrow hadn't expected Mizaistom to agree in the first place. Using the exchange as a natural segue, he moved closer to Kalluto's side.
Mizaistom didn't try to stop him, merely watching Morrow's retreating figure as he headed toward the warehouse door.
Heavy killing intent, a scheming mind.
And so young...
A destabilizing factor.
With that thought, Mizaistom followed.
—--
At that moment.
On the open ground before the warehouse door, the blood of over fifty corpses had soaked into large swathes of the area.
Further away, where the blood hadn't reached, lay a body missing an arm.
It was unmistakably Barock, Bazel's younger brother.
The fatal wound was a clean, precise cut across the neck.
Kalluto stood to the side, deliberately avoiding the pooling blood, deftly closing his pristine purple bamboo fan without a single stain.
When Morrow arrived, this was the scene that greeted him.
His gaze swept over Barock's corpse, noting only the severed arm and the clean, lethal wound on the neck. A faint smile tugged at his lips.
He had previously told Kalluto to stop the meaningless habit of toying with prey.
It seemed Kalluto had consciously corrected that bad habit.
Hmm, progress.
Mizaistom, who had followed closely behind, also saw Barock's body. His eyes then shifted to Kalluto beside the corpse, a flicker of surprise passing through them.
Earlier, he had already been unsettled by how Morrow had managed to critically injure Bazel in such a short time.
Now, he was witnessing a child no older than seven or eight cleanly dispatching Barock just as effortlessly.
According to the intel he had, while Barock's strength paled in comparison to his brother Bazel's, he was far from a third-rate Nen user. The two brothers were notorious for their violent rampages.
Yet they had been so easily killed by these two before him.
Who were these people?
Truly remarkable.
Hmm, he couldn't selectively overlook this. He needed to further verify their identities as Blacklist Hunters.
Mizaistom silently contemplated.
Morrow paid no attention to Mizaistom trailing behind him, walking straight ahead.
His gaze settled on the youngest member of the Zoldyck Family, a little assassin who craved recognition for his strength more than anything. Without reservation, he praised, "That was fast. Impressive!"
Kalluto's face immediately broke into a smile at the words. Then he noticed Mizaistom standing behind Morrow and slowly put away his smile, turning a questioning gaze toward Morrow as if asking who this person was.
Morrow turned slightly, glancing at Mizaistom before shaking his head at Kalluto and whispering, "It's nothing."
"Mm."
Kalluto's right hand, which had been subtly reaching for the fan at his waist, quietly lowered.
It wasn't that he was overly sensitive; he simply sensed a distasteful aura emanating from Mizaistom.
At that moment, Mizaistom finally abandoned his passive, observant demeanor and strode toward Morrow and Kalluto.
"I am Mizaistom Nana of the Zodiac Twelve from the Hunter Association, a Double-Star Crime Hunter with special investigative authority," Mizaistom declared as he approached, his expression turning grave.
"I need to verify your Blacklist Hunter credentials."
"..."