Chapter 15 Chapter Fifteen

Chapter 15

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In the dark prison cell, a thick smell of blood spread out, with breathless gasps echoing around me. Beside the aura of despair, the bone-chilling approach of death crept closer.

The two suspended figures glared at me with hatred, their usual stoic butler demeanor gone. Covered in wounds, they knew they couldn't escape death and were now cursing me with their last strength.

"All I was doing was protecting myself. Both of you were the ones attacking me, and now you hate me, the victim? Is it really that hard for you to accept that I went from victim to perpetrator?"

I motioned for the executioner butler to stop, took the high-grade poison Illumi gave me, and slowly approached them.

"Hey... are you okay? Want me to handle it?"

Killua, noticing my state, offered to take over.

"No need. If I don't kill them myself, Illumi out there won't be happy."

"Yeah. If Aqi did it for Li He, I'd have to take her on another mission to get her used to killing people."

Illumi's voice came from outside the door, where he'd been standing since he brought me here.

"See?"

I stepped past Killua and stabbed both bottles of poison into their chests.

"Ahh!"

"Ahhh!!"

A long, agonizing scream erupted. At first, they begged me in pain for a quick death, but as their vocal cords melted away, only two bloody figures writhed and struggled against the chains.

No need to watch anymore. Killua and I walked out of the cell. Outside, Illumi was scrolling through tasks on his phone. When he saw me, he raised a hand in a lazy greeting.

"Since the butler who fell in love is taken care of, I'm out."

With Illumi around, Killua didn't want to stick around. He waved at me and got ready to leave.

"Yeah, no reason for me to stay either. Let's head out together."

"Li He, hold up a sec."

Illumi called out just as I was about to leave.

Seeing it was serious, Killua waved and took off.

"What's up?"

I asked him.

"Any progress on your Nen ability?"

"Nope."

"Got any direction, then?"

"Hmm, how to put it? There are a lot of myths from my homeland. I want to draw inspiration from them."

"I see. I'd rather you go the support route."

"So I can be a free healer on every job?"

I just rolled my eyes.

"Alright, when I have an idea for my Nen ability, I'll talk it over with you."

"Good, that's a great attitude."

"That it?"

"Have you finished all your beginner classes?"

"Yeah."

"Hmm, then it's time to think about practical training."

Illumi pointed somewhere behind me.

"Tomorrow, I'll send you to Heaven's Arena. Come back once you hit the 210th floor."

...Switching locations, huh? Fine.

I nodded, and Illumi dropped the subject. I said bye and left.

"Click."

A door clicked open behind me. The butlers hauled out two blood-soaked sacks. Illumi, still scrolling through his task list, didn't even look up, and I was already long gone.

&

Back at Heaven's Arena, this time I was a competitor, not a spectator.

My fiery fighting spirit got worn down by the long line. After waiting all morning, I finally got my registration form.

My first opponent on the first floor was a fat middle-aged guy. On the lower floors, people judged strength by size. Before the match, the audience jeered and made crude comments about me. So the second the referee yelled "Begin," I kicked that fat guy's "bitch" right back down his throat. He didn't even get a scream out before he was embedded in the wall twenty meters away.

"Hmph."

The entire arena fell silent. The audience sat quietly like obedient chickens until the referee handed me the ticket to the 50th floor. Those gentlemen were as well-behaved as kindergarten kids.

Matches below the 100th floor were a breeze. By 10 PM, I had reached the 110th floor and got my own private room.

Though private, the room was tiny and had poor soundproofing. People on both sides were snoring. I pounded the wall twice to no effect, so I just closed my eyes and rested until dawn.

...I need to climb faster to get a bigger room, or I'll die of exhaustion.

I thought at this pace, I'd be back for intermediate classes in two months. But I underestimated the hidden talents. On the 150th floor, I met a tough opponent.

He was a young man in a black casual outfit, strikingly handsome, but the cross on his forehead made him look like a thug who'd rob elementary school kids at the village entrance.

"Next up, we have Chrollo Lucilfer versus Li He—ready, begin!"

When the match started, the young man named Chrollo didn't move. He gave me an elegant smile and gestured for me to go first.

Unsure of his skills, I quickly circled around him, then faked an approach to his front. When he dodged back, I spun around and kicked him.

He reacted fast, twisting to avoid it, then threw a punch.

...So fast! Can't dodge!

Using Tai Chi's principle of borrowing force, I grabbed his fist, pulled and pushed to redirect his momentum, then kicked him.

"Interesting technique."

Even though my attack drew blood from the corner of his mouth, the young man named Chrollo still let out a laugh.

"Using my own strength to deflect my force? A novel fighting style."

...This guy—an analyzing freak, isn't he?

I stayed quiet, keeping up my hit-and-run attacks, darting in and out.

"Your movements are light and agile, your techniques quick and clean—you've clearly had professional training."

He kept sparring with me while analyzing my background from my moves.

"Hey! It's just a fight, no need to dig up my whole family tree, right?"

I suddenly stopped, kept my distance, and yelled at him in annoyance.

"Ah, sorry. It's just a habit—I analyze opponents to find their weaknesses. You can analyze me too, Miss Li He."

...I'm a foreigner who hasn't even learned the map—how the hell would I know anything about you locals?!

His shameless comment actually made me laugh.

After thinking it over, I dropped the Zoldyck family's fighting style and focused my nen into my fists.

It was a bit shady to use nen against someone who couldn't, but to prevent him from analyzing more information, I needed to end this fight quickly—so I had to be a little dirty—though the Zoldyck teachings don't really care about fair or foul.

"Ah, switching up your attack style, huh."

This time, I went straight for close-quarters blows, using nen to boost my strikes' destructive power. The arena floor under us started cracking and breaking apart.

After over ten minutes, my right leg suddenly burst open with blood, and I was kicked out of the ring by Chrollo.

"Cough, cough..."

Sun and moon symbols appeared on both his hands. Only then did I realize my opponent was a skilled nen user too.

...When the hell did that happen?!

"Winner—Chrollo Lucilfer!"

Chrollo stepped off the ring.

"Miss Li He, you're an assassin, aren't you? Your attack style, body flexibility, and way of concealing your presence are clearly trained."

He crouched in front of me, his eyes serious as he looked at me, a smile playing on his lips.

"Cough, cough..."

I coughed up a mouthful of blood.

"...You guessed wrong. I'm not an assassin."

"Oh? Is that so."

Like he was waiting for an answer to a question, then lost interest once he got it, Chrollo stood up casually and turned to leave.

...A strange person.

I refused to let the medics carry me off, took a breath, pushed through the pain, stood up, brushed myself off, and went back to my room—ah, I'd dropped back to the 100th floor.