Gourmet Hunter - Chapter 452

Chapter 452: Confrontation

The main entrance, the banquet, and the museum—three separate routes.

The Phantom Troupe's objective was to seize the three treasures showcased at the evening banquet, as well as Clover's collection, aligning perfectly with their style.

Luo quickly surveyed the situation. Clover, surrounded by guards, was being escorted away to safety. The number of guards arriving to the scene was significantly reduced, likely due to a strategic adjustment, but no amount of guards could withstand Franklin's machine gun.

On-site, Wugu and Pakunoda had lost their mobility, which posed a concern for the Troupe, but not enough to make Chrollo call off the operation.

Thus, it wasn't a matter of persuasion; Chrollo never intended to be persuaded in the first place.

Luo sheathed his sword and looked at Nobunaga, whose eyebrows were furrowed in frustration.

If the conflict continued, not only Nobunaga but even Machi and Uvogin would find themselves in a difficult position, and that would undoubtedly be uncomfortable.

However, Luo had already decided not to consider Machi and the others' feelings any longer. After all, he had given Chrollo two chances, and as the saying goes, "three strikes and you're out."

"Salin, watch this person. If he dares to move, kill him," Luo said calmly.

Wugu stiffened slightly upon hearing this.

Ironically, he had rushed over to rescue the hostages, but ended up becoming a hostage himself. It was quite frustrating.

Salin nodded and said, "Be careful."

"Mm."

Luo raised his hand and, in front of Chrollo and Nobunaga, retrieved True Master back into the Black Cat Space.

The reason for putting True Master away was to utilize the advantages of a Conjurer, just like when he had suddenly summoned True Master to sever Wugu's limbs, catching him off guard.

Nen floated around Luo, enveloping his body.

Chrollo observed, understanding that Luo's concessions due to Machi and the others had reached their limit. If he still didn't withdraw, a confrontation would be inevitable.

Should he call it off now...?

But time was too short. He needed a bit longer for Machi and the others to have enough time to plunder.

Chrollo glanced at Nobunaga. Pakunoda needed someone to guard her, so he wouldn't let Nobunaga join the fight. He just needed to delay until Shalnark gathered the members of the Special Task Force.

With this thought, Chrollo's muscles twitched slightly as Luo made his move.

In that instant, Chrollo retreated without hesitation, trying to draw the battle away from Nobunaga and Pakunoda to avoid any sudden attacks on Pakunoda.

Luo, without a word, used Instant. With just one move, Chrollo responded, using an Emitter's ability to distance himself from Nobunaga and Pakunoda at the cost of nen.

Had the person guarding Pakunoda been Feitan or Franklin, Luo would have shifted targets the moment Chrollo distanced himself, disabling Pakunoda's limbs.

Chrollo understood this well, which is why he confidently moved away, creating a larger combat zone.

"Before the others arrive, I'll disable Chrollo's limbs or directly extract his heart."

Luo's thoughts surged as he pursued Chrollo.

After retreating more than three hundred meters, Chrollo suddenly stopped, raising a submachine gun he had picked up from a corpse and emptying the remaining bullets at Luo.

Luo easily dodged the few bullets, maintaining his speed.

Seeing this, Chrollo closed Skill Hunter, dispelled the book, and with a sudden force, shattered the submachine gun into pieces, scattering the fragments towards Luo like sand.

The fragments of the gun flew towards Luo like scattered flowers.

After making this move, Chrollo stomped the ground, chasing after the fragments.

Luo avoided the fragments, and at this moment, Chrollo seized the opportunity to close in, slamming his palm towards Luo's eyes. As his palm blocked part of Luo's vision, his other hand held a poisoned sharp blade, ready to strike.

Whoosh!

The palm wind was fierce.

Luo raised his hand, striking Chrollo's wrist, deflecting the hand. At this moment, Chrollo swung the blade towards Luo's abdomen.

"Hmm?"

Chrollo suddenly sensed something amiss, noticing a portion of Luo's nen flowing rapidly to his feet. Unsure of Luo's intentions, Chrollo decisively withdrew, stepping back.

Simultaneously, the ground where Chrollo had stood suddenly rose. If he hadn't stepped back, the rising ground would have disrupted his balance, a critical mistake in close combat.

This showed Chrollo's caution. He always attacked with reserve strength, only going all out when he had a near-certain chance of success, aiming for a lethal strike.

"Judging by the flow of nen? Quite decisive," Luo thought.

Earlier, Luo had driven his nen into the ground, manipulating a small area to create a rock spike to disrupt Chrollo's balance.

However, Chrollo's quick decision to abandon the attack thwarted Luo's subtle move.

Unperturbed, Luo stepped forward, pressing towards Chrollo.

Chrollo lightly jumped back, creating more distance, and suddenly threw the knife at Luo, who was just two meters away.

Despite the close distance, Luo, having anticipated Chrollo's move, easily dodged the flying knife by shifting his upper body.

Then, Luo noticed Chrollo's hand subtly pulling back, an unnoticed pulling motion.

"Oh?"

Luo observed this but didn't care. He closed in, striking towards Chrollo's face with his palm.

Chrollo leaned back, dodging the palm, and kicked towards Luo's outstretched hand.

"Bang!"

A dull thud of flesh colliding.

Luo swiftly changed his move, grabbing Chrollo's kicking right foot.

"Got you." Chrollo remained unfazed, his eyes gleaming.

He had tied an invisible thread to the knife, pulling it back when Luo dodged. With Luo not reacting, the knife had a high chance of hitting Luo's back.

As Chrollo anticipated success, Luo diverted some nen to form a domain, blocking the knife from his back.

Chrollo quickly realized the failure, twisting his body and using his waist's force to break free from Luo's grip on his right foot.

The next moment, Chrollo flipped back, creating more than a meter of distance, and simultaneously summoned his book. Almost at the same time, Luo summoned True Master, slashing at Chrollo's hand holding the book.

One of the conditions for activating Skill Hunter was holding the book in his right hand and flipping the pages.

Aiming at this condition, Luo attacked Chrollo's right hand.

"Not enough time..."

Chrollo assessed the situation and decisively dispelled the book, dodging the slash, then moved forward, grabbing the knife hovering behind Luo.

Clang!

Chrollo blocked Luo's potentially fatal slash with his knife, sparks flying as the two blades collided.

Suddenly, Luo retracted True Master.

The sudden disappearance of the long blade caused Chrollo's force on the knife to lose balance, making him lean forward.

Luo seized the moment, striking Chrollo's chest with his palm.

In a flash, Chrollo adjusted, aiming the knife at Luo's attacking palm, but Luo's real attack was with his other hand.

Chrollo reacted swiftly, using his other hand to block the true strike.

In this exchange, both pushed their Ryu to the limit, precisely directing nen in their offense and defense.

Bang!

Luo's right palm didn't hit the knife but his left palm struck Chrollo's left arm.

The brief contact left Chrollo pale, blood trickling from his lips.

"I thought I blocked it."

Confused, Chrollo pushed Luo away, retreating to create distance.

However, Luo didn't give Chrollo a chance to catch his breath and continued his pursuit.

Nobunaga, watching from the side, saw Chrollo inexplicably coughing blood, his face changing.

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