Chapter 62: The Leader
After some discussion, the five of them finalized their plan.
Currently, the Jester and the Brigade Leader were in a hotel half a kilometer away. Su Xiao was responsible for dealing with the Brigade Leader, the Three Brothers of National Football would hold back Feitan, Machi, and the others, while the Fangirl would go alone to assassinate the Jester.
As things had developed, the situation had taken a massive turn. Originally, Su Xiao and his group were on the defensive, but now they were taking the initiative. All of this was due to their advantage in intelligence.
The information Bubu Wang provided was far too important. If this battle ended in victory, Bubu Wang would undoubtedly be the MVP.
The five of them left the alley and quickly made their way toward the hotel where the Jester and his group were staying.
The street was deathly silent, with only the distant screeches of the Nirapon echoing in the air.
"Stop."
The Fangirl slipped into a shop by the roadside, and Su Xiao and the others followed her inside.
Dozens of seconds later, a large group of Nirapon ran past the street, seemingly searching for Su Xiao and his group.
Among the five-person team, the Fangirl had the sharpest perception. As a female assassin who had killed countless people, her perception was even keener than some intelligence-specialized mages. Perhaps only contractors who specialized in perception systems had stronger senses than hers.
The Fangirl pressed her finger to the ground. After the group of Nirapon ran off into the distance, she nodded.
"It's clear. There are no other Nirapon nearby. Let's launch a direct assault."
The team moved at high speed under the cover of night, quickly arriving at the base of the hotel. It was an eight-story luxury establishment.
"How many people are inside?"
Su Xiao looked at the Fangirl. Although his own perception wasn't weak, it still fell short of hers.
"Five. Three on the first floor, one on the fourth floor, and one on the top floor. If I'm not mistaken, the one on the top floor is the Jester."
"Are you sure?"
The Three Brothers of National Football were eager to act. In a three-on-three fight, even if the enemies were stronger, they weren't afraid.
"Positive."
"Then let's go."
The eldest of the National Football Brothers charged toward the hotel's main entrance.
With a loud crash, the front door was shattered by the eldest brother. The second and third brothers rushed in behind him, swinging golden energy hammers like a demolition crew.
Su Xiao and the Fangirl were stunned. They exchanged glances, and the Fangirl's mouth twitched.
"These three idiots... My god, how did I ever manage a successful assault with them? It's a miracle."
The Fangirl was clearly furious. Stealth would have been the better choice here.
"Everyone has their own way of fighting."
Su Xiao's eyes showed a hint of reluctance. He was still uneasy about the Fangirl going to assassinate the Jester, but the situation forced his hand. If he didn't hold back the Brigade Leader, no one else would participate in such a dangerous operation.
Su Xiao made a silent decision: he would finish the Brigade Leader quickly. Within ten minutes, either he would die, or the Leader would.
The Realm Severing Thread shot out from his bracer, its hook anchoring into the outer wall of the fourth floor. As he retracted the thread, he flew upward.
Silently, he flipped through a window into the fourth floor. The fourth floor was the hotel's "game room," complete with a row of gambling tables—essentially a small casino. The room was pitch black.
Whoosh!
A sharp sound of something cutting through the air came straight at him. A small, pointed object flew toward his face.
Su Xiao tilted his head to dodge. A weapon resembling a large sewing needle embedded itself into the wall behind him.
"Oh? Pretty sharp, aren't you?"
With a click, the chandelier in the center of the fourth floor lit up, illuminating the room. There were two people inside, not the one the Fangirl had sensed.
"Just as you predicted. Their target is the red Jester, and someone would come to hold you off."
A man with smooth, jet-black hair stood by the door. Several large needles were stuck into his neck.
"The red Jester is using me as bait as well. But he's the real bait."
A man in a white shirt, with a cross tattooed on his forehead, sat on one of the gambling tables. This was the Brigade Leader, Kuroro Lucilfer.
As for the other person in the room, he wasn't a member of the Brigade. He was an assassin from the Zoldyck family, Illumi Zoldyck.
Illumi Zoldyck was extremely strong. As the eldest son of the Zoldyck family, he was a Manipulation-type Nen user.
Kuroro had already seen through the Jester's plan, but his goal was roughly the same as the Jester's: to kill Su Xiao.
Based on the fragmented information the Jester had provided, Kuroro deduced that Su Xiao would definitely come to assassinate the Jester. So, during the Nirapon tribe's siege of the auction house, the Leader didn't show himself. He waited quietly because he had a trump card: he had hired two groups of Zoldyck family assassins. One group was to kill the Ten Elders, and the other was to kill Su Xiao.
Illumi Zoldyck hadn't gone to assassinate the Ten Elders at all. That task was handled by Maha Zoldyck and Kort Zoldyck. As for Illumi Zoldyck, he had stayed in Yorknew City, waiting. The commission the Leader had given him wasn't to kill the Ten Elders, but to kill Su Xiao.
"You foresaw this situation?"
Illumi Zoldyck glanced at Su Xiao, then turned to Kuroro.
"I'm not a god. I can't foresee everything. But that prophecy poem gave me a lot of information. According to its content, I would fall at the feet of a hunter, dying. As for the final line, 'Help from the Jester,' I interpreted it in two ways: either the Jester would join us, or the Jester was already a member of the Brigade. After Hisoka fled, I ruled out the first possibility. After meeting the Jester in person, I could tell he would only help me to a certain extent, or rather, use me."
Kuroro said something that was hard to understand. Illumi Zoldyck, who had seen the prophecy poem, grasped his meaning.
"I see. So hiring me was to avoid 'falling at the feet of a hunter, dying'?"
"Exactly. Now the 'hunter' has delivered himself to us. And the prophecy poem isn't absolute. I choose to kill the hunter."
Kuroro stood up and, together with Illumi, advanced toward Su Xiao.
Su Xiao, meanwhile, was sizing up Illumi. The Fangirl hadn't sensed him earlier, and neither had Su Xiao.
Illumi currently seemed almost nonexistent. The problem likely lay with those large needles stuck in his neck.
Illumi pulled out the needles from his neck, and Nen energy surged out from his body. The guy had actually sealed his own Nen—a very dangerous move.
As the two gradually closed in on Su Xiao, Kuroro suddenly spoke.
"One question. Would you answer it?"
Su Xiao didn't reply. Dozens of hexagonal energy shields materialized, floating around his body.
"Uvogin, Feitan, Nobunaga Hazama, and Shalnark. You killed all four of them, didn't you?"
Although the Leader already knew the answer in his heart, he couldn't help but confirm it.
"Yes. I killed them."
Upon receiving Su Xiao's clear confirmation, a single tear slid down the right side of the Leader's cheek.
"Is that so... I see."
Boom!
The ground beneath the Leader's feet shattered. He lunged at Su Xiao, wielding a strangely shaped short dagger. The moment Su Xiao saw that dagger, a chill ran down his spine. If he was stabbed by it, he would definitely die.
Ding.
The dagger struck a Counter Shield. The other shields spread out, and Su Xiao's long blade slashed toward the Leader's throat.
A figure appeared at Su Xiao's side—Illumi. He kicked out with all his strength. A Counter Shield immediately moved to block Su Xiao's waist.
A tremendous force hit him. Su Xiao's body uncontrollably flew backward. The Counter Shields converged into a sphere, protecting him inside.
Bang!
Su Xiao crashed through the wall behind him, falling from the fourth floor.
While he was still mid-air and hadn't yet hit the ground, the Leader and Illumi had already dived down after him. One wielded the dagger, the other attacked the Counter Shield bare-handed, striking dozens of times in an instant.
Whoosh~
Under the relentless assault, Su Xiao plummeted at high speed, slamming into the road below with a loud crash, creating a crater.
Although he was being besieged by two enemies and could be killed at any moment, Su Xiao remained calm.
He had to kill the Leader as quickly as possible. Once the Leader was dead, Illumi would no longer be hostile. With the employer dead, the Zoldyck family would stop carrying out the commission. But was the Leader easy to kill? The answer was no, far from it. And on top of that, he had Illumi as a powerful ally.