Chapter 26: Mist × Victory!

Karl, now reduced to crawling like a maggot with only his hands to guide him, labored toward the handgun that had been knocked away. Just as he retrieved it, he looked up to see Dia diving to tackle Prince Momoze to the ground. A deafening blast erupted behind Dia. The Puppet Hole had detonated!

Good! Unless he's an Enhancer, he won't be standing back up after that!

Karl cheered internally. He hadn't expected the young man's bullets to be so potent; his own right hand had nearly been permanently ruined by a single shot. If his ability hadn't been active at that exact moment, he would have been finished in the first exchange. But now, he had returned the full force of that power tenfold!

All I need to do is lock eyes with that girl, send the Puppet Hole to finish her, and the mission is accomplished.

Gritting his teeth, he hoisted himself up, aiming his pistol at his own chest with his left hand. He began to count the remaining rounds. Nine bullets left. Even if I miss a few, it's more than enough…

Karl had already mentally signed their death warrants. The tall young man was incredibly strong, but his fatal flaw was sacrificing himself for a civilian. He wondered who the girl was to warrant such devotion, a thought that stirred memories of his own long-lost, hot-blooded days as a Hunter.

As his mind drifted, he suddenly saw a wisp of white mist float past his vision.

Hm!?

Mist? This is the second floor of a restaurant!

The absurdity struck him instantly. He whipped his head around, scanning the hall. To his shock, the banquet room had been silently blanketed in a thick, creeping white fog that was growing denser by the second.

Where did this come from? Could it be…

Karl's realization hit him like a physical blow. He scrambled to look at the spot where the two had fallen. It was empty.

Damn it! When did they…

Karl cursed, forcing his focus back to the immediate threat. Was this mist a technique of the young man's? If so, what was the intent? To obscure his vision? Could the boy really have analyzed the weaknesses of Puppet Hole after being struck by it?

Karl felt his hopes plummet from heaven to hell. The fog thickened until he couldn't see his own hands. He knew he couldn't hesitate. He pulled the trigger, firing nine times into his own chest!

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Nine dark, gaping holes appeared on Karl's torso. As he scanned the room, the nine Puppet Holes slithered out like a pack of hunting dogs. Some crawled along the floor, others scaled the walls, and some even crawled across empty air, hovering in the mist like suspended voids. Ultimately, they circled Karl like a swarm of carrion birds.

Now, even if they try to sneak up on me in this fog, it's a pipe dream.

Karl discarded the empty pistol, watching the surroundings with predatory caution. At this range, the moment the young man appeared in his field of vision, he could command all nine holes to strike simultaneously. One hole might not threaten a Nen user, but nine layered together? Even an Enhancer would have their heart pulverized.

Minutes ticked by. Nothing moved.

Karl's nerves began to fray. He felt as if a thousand eyes were watching him from the depths of the white shroud. A sudden, chilling thought broke a bead of cold sweat across his brow: What if they ran away?

Panic surged. He had no way to track them through the fog. Stay calm! The shooting downstairs hasn't stopped, so they can't have escaped yet! But once the noise stops, they'll definitely make a move… damn this mist!

Then, a stroke of genius. Karl dropped to his stomach and began to crawl toward a specific point in his memory. His hand brushed against a wall, and he looked up, the ventilation switch.

There were four exhaust fans in the room; this single switch controlled them all. It would take less than a minute to cycle the air in the room. Once the mist was gone, their hiding spot would be revealed, and that would be their death sentence.

Rumble—!

The exhaust fans roared to life, violently pumping the room's air outside. As the fog began to thin and dissipate, Karl's eyes widened. He scanned the entire hall, but there was no sign of the enemy!

They really did escape downstairs!

Fear fueled his desperation as he began to crawl toward the stairwell.

"You'd think I'd do that, wouldn't you?"

"Up here, young man!"

Karl froze. The panic on his face vanished, replaced by a twisted smirk. Clinging to the ceiling directly above him, using Ripple-enhanced adhesion, were Dia and the unconscious, cradled Momoze.

Karl met Dia's icy gaze and smiled. "Automatic sensor doors, people always trigger them when they leave. I never heard a sound."

Karl spoke leisurely. The Puppet Holes swarmed like a hive of bees, launching toward Dia!

His ability had two modes: manual navigation and automatic tracking. Only the latter required eye contact; the former did not. He had realized earlier that while the girl kept her eyes closed, she remained stationary, so he had set the holes' target points to her position. Now, he had switched to automatic tracking, targeting the biggest threat: Dia.

The tracking mode was slower, as it calculated trajectories, and the holes lost speed the further they drifted from Karl. But it didn't matter. The boy was carrying a burden; in a race of speed, the holes would inevitably catch him.

Seeing the lethal swarm descend, Dia channeled the repulsive force of his Ripple into his feet, launching himself from the ceiling to the adjacent wall, narrowly dodging the crushing strike of the holes. But the next wave forced him to leap again.

Dia zig-zagged through the air and across the floor. Despite the weight of Momoze, he relied on the repulsive force of the Ripple to barely keep ahead of the tracking voids.

Karl remained unbothered. The boy was fast, but his stamina wasn't infinite, and the holes would never stop. I've already won.

Dia's mind raced: The Puppet Holes only strike at me now! This is my chance.

Time to set Momoze down.

Dia performed a mid-air flip, using his Ripple to adhere Momoze to the ceiling, then kicked off the wall with everything he had, hurling himself toward Karl like a cannonball! He knew that even if he couldn't use his gun, killing the user would dissipate the holes.

As Dia had anticipated, all nine holes spiraled toward his back!

Facing the charging boy, Karl remained calm. With their speed, the holes would skewer the boy before he could close the distance. And if he tried to draw a weapon? His damage reflection was always active.

As Dia reached a lethal proximity, the holes behind him converged, stacking onto one another to form a single, massive void.

Karl felt a rush of ecstasy. Victory! He can't block this, nine bullets layered into one strike! He'll be a corpse before he even hits the ground!

BANG! (The sound of nine shots perfectly synchronized into one.)

The next instant, Dia was standing directly in front of Karl, looking down at him with a dead-eyed, empty expression. It was the look one gave to a corpse.

What!?

Karl felt a chill spread through his chest. He looked down, dazed.

A black jacket was draped over his chest. In the center of the fabric was a perfectly circular hole, revealing the gore of his own flesh and the floor on the other side.

Thump.

Karl's body collapsed like a sack of grain. Even in his final moment, he could not fathom when that black coat had been thrown over him.