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Chapter 96 - Hoisted by His Own Petard

"Hisoka, do you know what I hate most about you?" Chrollo asked expressionlessly.

"Oh? Do tell." Hisoka violently lashed out two strands of Bungee Gum, connecting his feet to the floor to preemptively guard against the elusive teleportation ability.

"You're a man who never understands rejection. Once you find something you're interested in, you chase it relentlessly, like a mad dog that's sniffed out a bone!"

Without mincing words, Chrollo spoke his truest feelings. From his perspective, being constantly stalked by a pervert was certainly not a pleasant experience. Especially when that pervert was a battle maniac who thought of nothing but killing him.

"Heh heh~ May I take that as a compliment?"

Hisoka clearly didn't deny it. After a slight stretch, he actively resumed his attack. This time, he was noticeably more cautious, his eyes fixed on the pages floating in the air. He released large amounts of Bungee Gum, connecting them to various corners of the room, using the elasticity to gain greater speed and better reaction capability.

"A compliment? No, I'm expressing my disgust for you. Perhaps I shouldn't have allowed an anomaly like you to join in the first place, or the Troupe wouldn't have fallen to this state. But none of that matters now. What I want to do right now is kill you! Use your blood to mourn our fallen comrades. Because even if I die, the Phantom Troupe will not disappear; it will simply be reborn in a different form."

As he spoke, Chrollo grabbed another floating page, crumpled it, and activated the ability recorded on it. Instantly, the symbols of the sun and the moon appeared simultaneously on his hands. Without any hesitation or doubt, he immediately covered his entire body densely with the moon symbols.

As Allen, who had read the Dark Continent arc's "Hisoka vs. Chrollo" fight, he instantly recognized the ability acquired from a Meteor City Elder—The Sun and Moon. The effect was simple: by touch, two marks are placed on any surface; the moment they touch each other, a violent explosion occurs. The longer the contact time, the greater the explosive power.

By covering his body with the moon-shaped marks, Chrollo had effectively turned himself into a massive bomb. If Hisoka dared to get close, he would instantly be branded with the sun mark, triggering a violent explosion. This meant Chrollo truly intended to drag the "traitor" to hell with him, utterly disregarding his own life. He was ruthless!

Most importantly, Hisoka was completely unaware of the terrifying nature of this ability and charged forward nonetheless, full of excitement. The next second...

Boom!

A deafening roar and explosion filled the entire room!

When the dust in the air gradually settled, the two men's heavily injured states were revealed. Hisoka, being the one who bore the brunt of the blast, had not only had his right arm completely severed but his abdomen was also a bloody mess, constantly oozing blood.

But Chrollo was not much better off; the hand holding the moon mark had been blown off, but the hand holding the sun mark remained. Clearly, since his own body was covered in moon marks, he no longer needed the ability of the hand that used it, sacrificing it to gain a chance to severely wound or kill his enemy.

Not only that! The moment the marks were placed and made contact, the guy decisively cut off his right wrist and instantly teleported it along with Hisoka a short distance away, minimizing the blast damage he took.

"Using a part of his own body as a fuse, turning the opponent's body into a bomb, and then using teleportation to reduce the damage. No, not just damage reduction, he also instantly teleported his opponent right back in front of him. This guy is truly a dangerous element through and through!" Allen analyzed, narrowing his eyes meaningfully.

As a fellow Nen user who steals and then reorganizes and develops abilities, he could completely understand Chrollo's tactics and intentions. The only difference was that Allen could improve the stolen abilities to suit his needs, while Chrollo could only try various combinations of original abilities to make them greater than the sum of their parts.

"What just happened?" Baise stared, clearly confused. To be precise, given her current level and perspective, she couldn't possibly grasp the daring and brilliant tactics Chrollo had executed in mere seconds. Unfortunately, everyone's attention was drawn to the tense battle, and no one stepped up to explain the details right now.

Hisoka, in particular, looked at his severed arm and bleeding abdomen, immediately using Texture Surprise to stick it back and stop the bleeding, before tentatively asking, "Those moon-shaped patterns on your body are actually the cause of the explosion, aren't they?"

"I apologize, but I have no obligation to answer any of your questions. And next time I attack, I will blast you directly into pieces." Chrollo mercilessly issued a death declaration.

"How cold~ In that case, let's decide life and death in the next round." Hisoka shrugged carelessly. Whether he genuinely didn't care or was just pretending, only he knew. After all, the nature of Transmutation users is to enjoy hiding and deceiving, whether benign or malicious; few people besides themselves can truly guess their thoughts.

One thing was certain: in the next round, one of the two would definitely die. As the scent of blood and death in the air grew thicker, Hisoka and Chrollo could finally no longer suppress the fierce urge to kill each other and charged out almost simultaneously.

Just as they were about to collide! A silver Chain suddenly appeared out of nowhere, immediately wrapping Chrollo tightly from top to bottom.

"I've got you!" Kurapika slowly stepped out of the darkness, his eyes blazing blood-red, radiating indescribable fury and excitement.

Chain Jail!

He instantly forced Chrollo into a state of Zetsu, and all his abilities and the pages floating in the air vanished in an instant.

The spectators never imagined that a spoiler would suddenly appear in this duel, just as it was reaching its climax. As for Hisoka, who had been hyped up to the max, he stopped in his tracks, petrified. The pervert never dreamed that the landmine he had intended to plant to restrict Allen had ended up blowing up on him instead.

Seeing this interesting sight, Allen immediately chuckled and teased: "This is truly hilarious! It's an unbelievable, spectacular twist! However, Kurapika, I have to tell you some bad news."

"Bad news?" Kurapika instinctively frowned.

"Yes. Because you caught a dead man! Chrollo just staked all his Nen and his life as collateral to establish an incredibly powerful Vow and Limitation. Although I don't know the exact details, if you release the Chain now and allow him to regain his Nen ability, there's an eighty percent chance he'll drop dead on the spot." Allen stated his speculation frankly. Especially when the leader ripped up Skill Hunter, Allen was absolutely certain that no matter the outcome of the duel, the guy was definitely going to die in the end.

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You can read the ahead chapter on Patr-eon if you're interested: p-atre-on.c-om/Overgod [Just remove the hyphen to access normally]

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