The air was thick with shouts and the deafening noise of gunfire. A hail of bullets flew through the alleyway, the crackle of gunfire mixing with the metallic clinks of spent shells hitting the ground, creating a harsh, chaotic symphony.
Germain's left arm conjured a shield with a winged design. He raised it just in time, deflecting the oncoming bullets with a series of dull thuds and metallic clanks.
He pushed forward, his movements becoming swift and elusive, his figure darting between flickering lights and dark shadows.
Each time he reappeared, several Mafia members cried out in agony, struck down by his swift strikes.
"Are these the enemies? I'm not just going to stand here," Shizuku said, deciding to join the fray.
With Germain drawing most of the fire, Shizuku took advantage of the distraction. She conjured a bizarre weapon that looked like a vacuum cleaner, which she called "Blinky."
Without hesitation, she swung it down hard on the back of a Mafia member's head. The impact was brutal, blood spraying out as he crumpled to the ground.
As more and more bodies piled up, the remaining Mafia members started to panic. Realizing the battle was slipping out of their control, one of them grabbed a rocket launcher from the trunk of a car.
"Everyone, get down!" he yelled as he shouldered the weapon, aiming at Germain's exposed back. He didn't care about friendly fire—he just wanted to hit the target. With a loud boom, the launcher fired, sending a high-velocity shell toward Germain.
The blast made the other Mafia members scatter, cursing and shouting as they scrambled for cover.
Germain saw the rocket coming, but he wasn't a physical enhancer; he couldn't withstand a direct hit. His winged shield might protect him from bullets, but this was a whole different level of threat.
The speed at which the armor-piercing rounds traveled seemed painfully slow to him, making them easy to dodge.
He vanished in a blink, and the shells whizzed past, hitting nothing but air and exploding into a chaotic burst. The man with the rocket launcher, who was frantically trying to get medical assistance, opened his eyes wide in disbelief.
"Did he just dodge that? Is he some kind of ninja? Does he have eyes in the back of his head?"
Before he could fully process what had happened, Germain appeared right beside him, as if stepping out of thin air, and his meat cleaver made a sickening "thwack" sound as it connected with the man's neck.
"You..."
The man's head jerked violently to the side, held by only a sliver of skin. The rocket launcher fell from his hands with a heavy thud.
The rest of the Mafia members were nearly paralyzed with fear as they witnessed this gruesome scene. They had guns, but it felt like they were unarmed, and Germain was the one with the advantage.
Germain, clutching his meat cleaver, rushed forward, ready to find his next target. Along the way, he chopped down several other Mafia members who attempted to lift their guns to defend themselves against Shizuku.
Shizuku, too, was relentless and precise. Her vacuum cleaner was like a massive hammer, swinging back and forth, splattered with bright red. A few Mafia members tried to charge at her, but they quickly became lifeless bodies at her feet.
In less than five minutes, the two "Nen Users" had wiped out all the Mafia members in sight, leaving none alive. One of the Mafia members, still breathing but gravely wounded, lay on the ground, clutching his bleeding wound and staring at the two of them with sheer terror.
"Who... who are you? Are you demons from hell?"
"No."
Shizuku raised the vacuum cleaner high and struck his head. With a "pop" sound, his head deflated like a balloon.
"The priest at the Church on Meteor City told me that even if I do something as heinous as a demon, as long as God forgives me, I can go to heaven," she said.
"He also asked me to wear an inverted cross, saying it was the 'key to heaven,' a symbol of our humility towards God."
She held up the inverted cross necklace that hung around her neck and showed it to the now lifeless Mafia member at her feet. He couldn't hear her sermon.
Germain walked over carrying the Cleaver.
The fight wasn't over yet.
He sensed that two more people were approaching, and they were not like the Mafia members they'd just encountered. So he warned Shizuku.
"There are two more people coming, likely 'Nen users.'"
"Oh," Shizuku replied, letting the inverted cross necklace fall back to her chest. She looked into the dark, where the streetlights didn't reach.
Two figures emerged from the shadows, stepping over the corpses on the ground as if walking on a blood-soaked red carpet.
"Even though the enemy is 'Nen users,' it's pretty pathetic for a whole group to lose like this," said the tall, lanky man. He scratched his hedgehog-like hair with one hand while keeping the other in his pocket, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
The short bald man beside him nodded, then shook his head.
"Good thing we were on a mission nearby and the 'Ten Dons' asked us to check it out. Otherwise, if they had escaped, we'd be in real trouble," he said.
These two seemingly unassuming individuals are part of the "Shadow Beasts," a combat unit directly under the "Ten Dons." The first is Rabid Dog, and the second is Porcupine—both are Nen users.
"You're the ones who took down Zenji, aren't you?" Rabid Dog growled, showing his teeth. "Do you have any idea what it means to cross the Ten Dons?"
Porcupine grunted in agreement.
"We're going to capture you, and then you, along with your loved ones and friends, will experience a fate worse than death. That's the price you pay for attacking the Ten Dons' men."
"I don't have any loved ones or friends," Shizuku replied casually. She grabbed the nozzle of a vacuum cleaner with her right hand and pressed it against the corpse at her feet. The vacuum's top was sucking up the blood.
She pointed at Germain and added, "I don't think he has any either."
Rabid Dog and Porcupine seemed taken aback by her bluntness.
Germain, relying on the information stored in his memory, pointed at Rabid Dog. "He has enhanced his teeths—strong enough to bite through steel plates."
Then he pointed at Porcupine. "He's enhanced his body hair. It can also pierce steel."
In the original timeline, Rabid Dog and Porcupine fought Uvogin and managed to wound his seemingly impenetrable skin. Comparing Uvogin's body to "reinforced iron plates" and "steel" was actually underselling it.
"I know," Shizuku said, completely trusting the information Germain provided.
The Rabid Dog and the Porcupine were both surprised to hear Germain speak. They turned to face him.
"You actually know about our 'Nen abilities'? Seems like you already figured out who we are."
Their surprise was palpable. Even though they were aware that the combat troops under the "Ten Dons" were in the area, they showed no signs of fear or hesitation. Could Meteor City have unknowingly bred a new generation of monsters?
"Don't hold back," said the Rabid Dog, sensing something was off. He gave the Porcupine a tap on the shoulder.
"Kill them, and don't give them any chance to retaliate."
"Got it," replied the Porcupine. "I'll take care of the woman first, then I'll help you out."
"Alright."
The two had worked together for years and knew exactly how to coordinate their attacks. Without a hint of warning, they charged at their respective targets.
Porcupine didn't attack directly. Instead, he darted back and forth, trying to confuse Shizuku. His movements were quick and deliberate as he analyzed her weapon—a vacuum cleaner with an oversized mouth.
"It's a conjured weapon," he noted. "Looks like a vacuum cleaner, so it probably has suction capabilities. Just avoid that big mouth and you're good to go."
"Easy enough..."
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