Porcupine rolled his body, and apart from his eye sockets, slender needle-like quills sprouted from every inch of his body, making him resemble a literal porcupine!
"I guess you can't follow my movements, can you?" he said confidently. "I'm one of the fastest among the 'Shadow Beasts.'"
With a swift "hmm," he darted behind Shizuku and lunged toward her back, expecting to inflict severe damage with his spiny embrace. His attack was meant to leave countless puncture wounds, ensuring a slow and agonizing death.
But he underestimated Shizuku.
Shizuku abruptly turned, her large eyes locking onto Porcupine's. The sudden contact stunned him.
"I saw you."
Porcupine was taken aback: "What? You could track my movements? Impossible!"
Before he could process what had happened, Shizuku, with a emotionless face, aimed the blood-filled "Blinky" in her hand directly at Porcupine's face.
"Splurt--"
The "Blinky" ejected a large burst of blood, much like a squid squirting ink, soaking Porcupine's face in one shot.
"My eyes!"
Porcupine couldn't dodge in time, and a few drops seeped into his eyes, causing intense pain. He instinctively shut his eyes, his entire face drenched in blood.
But then, he realized the trap. He quickly opened his eyes again, only to find the gaping maw of the "Blinky" coming right at him.
The "Blinky" shot out a long tongue, its tip as sharp as an arrow, and pierced the only unprotected eye of Porcupine-like creature!
With a sickening squelch, the tongue punctured through the eyeball, causing it to burst, then continued deeper, penetrating straight into the soft tissue of the brain.
The "Blinky" retracted its tongue, drawing it back into its gaping maw.
Porcupine let out a guttural groan as he clutched at the air in front of him, desperately grasping at nothing. His stiff quills softened in an instant, making it look less like a fierce beast and more like a ragged mess of hair.
Shizuku lifted the "Blinky" and gave Porcupine a shove. He fell backward with a heavy thud, one eye socket filling with dark red blood, the other eye wide open in a horrified stare.
At the same time, Rabid Dog, faster than Porcupine, darted around, using afterimages to confuse its opponent. He moved erratically, keeping a close watch on Germain, ready to strike at any opening.
If Germain made a single misstep, he would lunge forward, delivering a venomous bite that would incapacitate him instantly. The poison on his fangs was lethal, ensuring Germain wouldn't see another sunrise.
"Come on, Germain, just one bite, and it's over for you," Rabid Dog taunted.
However, no matter how quickly he moved or from what angle he approached, Rabid Dog felt a chilling instinct warning him. Each time he edged toward Germain's "En," he knew he would be stepping into certain death.
"Why... why do I feel this way?" he wondered, a thin sheen of cold sweat forming on his forehead. This gut feeling kept him from closing the gap.
"Aren't you going to make a move?" Germain asked, his voice calm and steady.
Germain's voice was cold as he addressed Rabid Dog, who had been pacing and snarling for a while.
"If you don't do something, then I'll have to step in."
Around this time, Shizuku had just finished dealing with Porcupine. The sudden collapse of Porcupine left Rabid Dog confused.
"What is going on? How did Porcupine lose to her?" he wondered, but there was no time to dwell on it. If he didn't act quickly, he'd be in a tight spot, facing two opponents at once.
He clenched his teeth and lunged toward Germain, jaws wide open, aiming to sink his fangs into Germain's neck.
"One strike, one kill!" he thought to himself as he charged. But the moment he stepped into Germain's "En," he felt a sudden, inexplicable numbness in his legs. They wouldn't move, and he was left frozen in place.
"What—" he stammered, unable to understand what was happening. Despite his immobilized legs, his upper body kept moving forward due to momentum, rushing toward Germain.
Germain, seemingly unfazed, had already raised his Cleaver and, with a swift swing, intercepted Rabid Dog's upper body as it fell toward him.
Rabid Dog was stunned. He glanced down and trembled. "What... I'm... I've been cut in half..." he muttered, finally realizing the true extent of Germain's power.
He hadn't even seen the swing, and the fight was over.
Germain casually lowered the Cleaver, letting Rabid Dog's upper body fall to the ground. It twitched a few times, then went completely still.
Even with this assurance, Germain couldn't shake off his lingering worry. In this world, people with Nen—or "Nen users," as some call them—are known for their sheer resilience. Even if half their body is gone, it doesn't mean they'll die right away.
It was either hit the target again or wait it out. Germain chose the latter, standing still for a minute, his eyes locked on the motionless body of Rabid Dog. When it showed no sign of retaliation, he relaxed, confirming that this "Shadow Beast" was truly dead.
Shizuku approached, holding her "Blinky," a peculiar Nen beast with a huge protruding tongue.
"You're more cautious than I expected," she remarked. "Do you need my 'Blinky' to clean up the rest? It's a thorough solution."
The area, filled with dead bodies, now met the conditions for Shizuku's ability. But Germain shook his head.
"No, it's not necessary. Their target was me, and now all the Mafia members in Yorknew City know where I am. Cleaning up won't make much difference."
He turned to Shizuku and sighed. "I'm sorry for getting you involved."
"Blinky" disappeared from Shizuku's hand, her expression unchanging.
"Yes, you involved me," she replied. "It wasn't intentional, but it was still your fault. However, their fault was greater. They didn't bother distinguishing friend from foe and ended up attacking me."
She gestured with her hands, indicating a "three" with her left hand and a "seven" with her right.
"The blame is about 30:70," she continued. "Given where we are now, we can't go back and change anything. All we can do is act based on reality."
Shizuku accepted the situation, then pointed at Germain.
"My cooperation with you could still be worthwhile. But if I were to explain myself to the Mafia members, they'd probably just try to arrest me and use torture to extract information about you."
Germain nodded. "Sound judgment," he said.
Shizuku glanced at the messy scene around them. "Are we leaving now?" she asked.
"In a moment," Germain replied.
He crouched down beside Rabid Dog's corpse, rifling through his pockets until he found the wallet. He only took the cash, leaving everything else. Then he moved on to Porcupine's body, searching for more.
Shizuku watched him with curiosity, adjusting her glasses. "Are you that short on money?" she asked.
Germain didn't look up. He kept working through the bodies, responding as he went.
"I like to stay in nicer hotel suites, and I don't really skimp on food and drink," he said. "It's just how I live."
He pulled a stack of cash from another corpse and shoved it into the oversized pockets of his robe.
"But the funny thing is," he added with a smirk, "whenever I think I'm about to run out of money, someone always ends up sending me more. It's like I can't spend it fast enough."
********
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