Chapter 37: Ruin Hunter
"Heh. 'Do me a favor'?" Kai thought, an amused, slightly mocking smile playing on his lips. 'This guy leaves a "Keep Out" sign and expects everyone to just... respect it? Just who does he think he is?'
And yet... seeing this ridiculously arrogant message left by Gon's famously deadbeat dad, Kai couldn't help but laugh out loud. 'You know what? Fine. A guy this ballsy? I'll give him this one.'
"Okay, seriously, though," Menchi said, her voice echoing slightly in the stone corridor as she aimed her flashlight at the glowing Nen-script. "To be able to leave a message like this, this... Ging Freecss... he must be an incredibly powerful Nen user, right?" She turned, looking at her two companions. "Kai, Shizuku, have you ever heard of him?"
Shizuku just shook her head, her expression blank. "Never heard of him."
Dako and his team of freelance Hunters, who were nervously bringing up the rear, were even more clueless.
Ging Freecss was a ghost. Even on the official, Hunter-exclusive website, a search for his name just returned a string of question marks. His entire existence was classified. If Pro Hunters couldn't find him, this group of unlicensed freelancers had zero chance.
"Does our boss know?" Shizuku asked, turning to Kai. She looked down slightly as she spoke, and her glasses slid another millimeter down the bridge of her nose. Kai had to physically restrain the urge to reach out and push them back up for her.
"Even my grandmother has heard of him," Kai said, his voice echoing with false bravado. "He was once praised by a very heavyweight figure as one of the Top 5 Nen Users in the world."
"That powerful?!" Menchi yelped, her voice bouncing off the walls.
"One of the... Top 5..." Dako and his men looked completely stunned. The concept was just too vast for them to grasp. In a world teeming with monsters, this Ging Freecss was in the absolute god-tier?
'And that's not even the half of it,' Kai thought to himself. 'He's also one of the 12 Zodiacs, holding the title of 'Boar'. He's the Zodiacs' 'Prodigal Son,' the guy who wanders the world, can never be found, and ducks all responsibility. A classic, eccentric, master-level move.'
Kai wasn't about to share that intel, though. Why give away valuable information for free?
Kai just shrugged. "Look, I'm not stupid enough to mess with a guy like that. What you guys decide to do... is up to you."
He turned and continued walking deeper into the tomb. Menchi and Shizuku, taking his warning to heart, followed close behind.
Dako and his men stood there for a second. "Hey! If you're not going to mess with him, why are you going deeper into his tomb?! Wait up!"
They scrambled to follow.
Kai didn't even look back. "I'd love to leave," he called over his shoulder. "You see an exit I don't?"
"There's only one path, and it's forward! Besides, we're just looking. We're not touching anything. That doesn't count as 'disturbing,' right?"
"Hey, Menchi, Shizuku, you got your phones? Since we're already here, we might as well film a little vlog for Sloe. Proof of discovery..." Kai's voice echoed back from the darkness.
But even as he joked, a part of Kai's consciousness was not in the tomb at all. It was far away, back on the surface.
The night was fading. The moon, once high and bright, was now dimming as it sank toward the horizon.
A cool wind blew across the clearing. Babimaina, despite the chill, had a fine sheen of sweat on his brow. He was locked in a tense standoff with the monstrous, two-winged bone dragon. The creature's Aura was so powerful, so twisted and malignant, that it kept his every nerve stretched to the breaking point.
The dragon's presence was suffocating. It lowered its massive skull, bringing its empty, green-flamed eye sockets just inches from Babimaina's face... but it didn't attack. The other Kakin soldiers had their pistols raised, their faces pale and streaked with sweat, but they held their ground.
The bone dragon just paced, its massive head turning, its horrifying eye sockets staring at them, as if it were... sniffing their very Aura.
'Damn it,' Kai thought, watching from Butch's body in the nearby woods. 'I've been waiting all this time, and... nothing? Just fight already!' The moment he and the girls had been teleported, the ghost had transformed into this... this... SkullGreymon-looking monster. It had the oppressive aura, it had the terrifying look, but it wasn't doing anything.
Babimaina was also hesitating. This creature... it had to be a Hatsu. A Nen beast of some kind. And, given that it hadn't attacked yet, it was highly likely a Counter-Type ability... perhaps similar to his own. If he attacked first, he might trigger an unknown and devastating counter. But if he didn't attack, they could be locked here until sunrise.
Babimaina finally made his decision. He had to test it, to get some intel. But just as he was about to move, he heard several soft thuds from behind him. His pupils shrank. He had been forced to retract his En to focus on the dragon... had someone used that opening to launch a sneak attack?
He instantly used Zetsu and leaped sideways, vanishing from his spot. He glanced back... and his eyes widened in surprise.
"Don't be nervous," said a new voice. A man he hadn't even sensed was gently laying the unconscious Kakin soldiers on the grass. The man looked up at the still-tense Babimaina and smiled. "You don't need to be afraid. As the child said, 'All Hui Guo Rou must die.' You're not a Hui Guo Rou, are you? He won't attack you."
The newcomer was a middle-aged man with short, neat blond hair and sunglasses. He wore a sharp, expensive-looking suit that was ridiculously out of place in the middle of a haunted forest.
'Who the hell is this guy?' "Kai-Butch," watching from the trees, was completely stunned. He had been staring intently at the scene, and he never saw the man appear. Was it a teleportation Hatsu? Or was he just that fast?
The man in the suit seemed completely at ease. He walked past Babimaina and gave the terrifying, monstrous bone dragon a casual little wave. "'Bai'. Long time no see."
"...Hui Guo Rou..." the dragon's massive skull swiveled to face him. "...must... die..."
And with that, its message delivered, the colossal beast dissolved into a cloud of white Nen and vanished completely.
'What, is he the local park ranger?' "Kai-Butch" thought, completely bewildered.
Babimaina finally let his Ken drop, but he didn't relax. He frowned, looking at his men, who had been taken out without a sound. "Who are you? Knocking my men out doesn't exactly scream 'friendly'."
"They looked like they were about to attack me, so I just... tidied them up," the man said with an easy-going shrug. "I'll admit, my self-control is nowhere near my teacher's."
The blond man smiled, extending a hand as if he were closing a business deal. "A proper introduction. I am Alan'tr'iel=Blanchett. One-Star Ruin Hunter, Hunter Association."
"The founder of the Blanchett Company?" Babimaina's eyes widened. He now understood. He was, technically, trespassing on this man's property.
He took the offered hand. "Babimaina."
"I know," Alan'tr'iel said, his smile never wavering. "First Prince Benjamin's private guard." He released the handshake.
"Who is your teacher?" Babimaina asked.
"That," Alan'tr'iel replied, "is classified."
"And that... 'Bai'?"
"Also classified."
Babimaina frowned. "When did you discover this? The entrance to the tomb... was it you who sealed it?"
Alan'tr'iel looked genuinely shocked. "Are you telling me the Hui Guo Rou family actually wants that... thing... back? I'd have thought they wouldn't be able to sleep at night."
"That is not for me to judge," Babimaina said, his face a mask. "Classified."
'Enough with the riddles!' "Kai-Butch" thought, annoyed. 'This is just a classified-info-off!'
...Meanwhile, deep underground in the tomb, Menchi was holding her phone up, filming the glowing Nen-script on the walls, while Kai was lost in thought.
That pale ghost... it kept chanting 'All Hui Guo Rou must die.' Babimaina isn't a Hui Guo Rou, so it didn't attack. That makes sense.
But it still transformed into that dragon. Why? Babimaina isn't royal, but he's Prince Benjamin's right-hand man. Does he... carry the 'scent' of the Hui Guo Rou family?
What is it, a bloodhound?
"Ah!" Just then, a shout came from Dako's team up ahead, their flashlights all pointing at something in the tunnel.
(End of Chapter)