Outside the villa where Su Xiao was located, a man and a woman stood in front of the main entrance. The woman was alluring, and the man was slightly chubby.
"Dié, are we sure about doing this? Although Arson..."
The chubby man appeared somewhat uneasy. They were both contractors responsible for hunting in the Holy Grail world. Originally, their target was Umbrellaless Brother, but upon arriving, they discovered that their primary target was also present.
"They are just two second-order contractors. Arson is currently busy... probably."
"But..."
The chubby man hesitated.
"Don't worry about it. Stan, the big boss, once said that whoever takes down that guy will be handsomely rewarded. Don't forget, Arson is not in our team. He may be the vice-leader, but our team leader is no pushover either. If Arson benefits, we'll get a small share at best."
Dié gave the chubby man a seductive look, and after a moment of contemplation, he nodded.
"I'll go with your plan, but let's be clear: if things go south, you take responsibility."
"Haha, 'things go south'? You crack me up."
The chubby man laughed and shifted his gaze toward the villa.
"These two guys seem pretty composed; they haven't come out on their own."
"That means they're not complete fools."
Energy surged from Dié's body. While ordinary Nen energy was white, Dié's Nen was pink, visibly pink. Her Nen energy was extremely vast, surpassing even leaders like the Phantom Troupe or Hisoka by far.
This was still with her power restricted. If she were in a third-order world, her strength would be at least two to three times greater.
"Slaves, charge!"
Dié shouted, pointing towards the villa.
"Roar!"
Matou Kariya, controlled by Dié, let out a furious roar and led the civilians, all wearing explosive vests, charging towards the villa.
Despite the situation, Su Xiao and Umbrellaless Brother remained inside the villa. Both knew that rushing out now wasn't a wise choice, even though the villa was on the verge of being destroyed.
One of the civilians reached the villa's base. His face bore a twisted smile, and from his expression, it seemed he wasn't completely controlled but willingly became a human bomb for Dié.
Boom, boom, boom...
Explosions echoed, debris and rubble flew around, but the explosions caused by regular bombs were different from alchemical explosions; they didn't produce much fire.
Once the shockwaves from the explosions ceased, smoke billowed from the wreckage of the villa. Within the debris, Matou Kariya was pinned beneath a concrete block.
Limbless body parts were scattered in the villa's courtyard, and dozens of people were blown to pieces, filling the air with a strong burnt and bloody smell.
A piece of concrete was kicked away, and Su Xiao, unscathed, emerged from the wreckage, his Counter Shield floating around him.
On the other hand, Umbrellaless Brother was far from being as graceful as Su Xiao. He was covered in dust but otherwise unharmed.
"Roar."
A furious roar came from Matou Kariya, lying nearby, controlled by the enemy. He was trapped under a large concrete pillar, his eyes emitting pink light, and his body filled with pink energy.
"Nen energy?"
Su Xiao placed his foot on Matou Kariya's chest, and his Spirit Blade energy flowed out through his foot.
Matou Kariya convulsed as if he had been electrocuted, and the pink light in his eyes faded under this 'electrotherapy.'
"Oh? To be able to dispel my charm effect, no wonder the boss values you so much, handsome. How about a little sparring, my dear?"
Dié smiled seductively, beckoning Su Xiao with her finger. Her nails were long and sharp, painted with red nail polish. Oddly, her middle finger was unpainted, suggesting it had a 'special' purpose.
"Spar?"
Su Xiao engaged in an unusual pre-battle negotiation with the enemy. On the other hand, Umbrellaless Brother charged at the chubby man, making it clear he wanted to avoid a confrontation with the woman and chose the chubby man as his opponent instead.
"Have you already chosen your opponent? I must say, you're unfortunate. If Arson were here, at least you could have died quickly."
Dié took a step forward, astonishingly wearing high heels during battle. It was clear that she intended to engage Su Xiao in close combat.
"You entered the lower-order world not just to seek revenge on me, right? If you're going to such lengths just because I killed one of your Seed Guild members..."
Su Xiao didn't finish his sentence, as Dié raised her hand.
"No need to beat around the bush. We're here for one purpose – to kill you, plain and simple."
Dié placed her fair fingers against her red lips, blowing a kiss toward Su Xiao.
As she did so, a strand of pink Nen energy stretched between her lips and fingers, forming a heart shape. This pink heart-shaped Nen energy floated in mid-air, sending ripples outward, instantly enveloping Su Xiao.
[Tip: The Hunter is under the influence of 'Captivated by Love LV.43,' causing his abilities to exceed the limit of the second-order world power system. This ability has been reduced to LV.35 intensity.]
[Charm attribute evaluation in progress... Evaluation failed.]
[Willpower attribute evaluation in progress... Evaluation failed.]
[Intelligence attribute evaluation in progress... Evaluation failed.]
[Warning: You are under the influence of 'Captivated by Love LV.35.']
[Tip: The Master Swordsman LV.30 additional ability 'Mind Blade' is activated. You are immune to the current charm effect.]
The pink light in Su Xiao's eyes gradually faded. Seeing this, Dié furrowed her brows.
"A Master Swordsman above level 30? Not bad at all."
Dié was a top-level third-order contractor, and as soon as Su Xiao resisted her charm ability, she deduced the cause from his weapon.
A diamond ring on her hand began to sparkle. Su Xiao immediately identified it as a detection-type equipment.
"63 Strength, 63 Agility, 60 Vitality, 60 Intelligence, 6 Charm... What kind of bizarre attribute distribution is this, with all four attributes simultaneously developed?!"
After detecting Su Xiao's information, Dié was taken aback. She had never seen a contractor with all four attributes simultaneously developed.
"How did you achieve this?"
The seductive smile on Dié's face disappeared as she found the guy in front of her rather abnormal.
Su Xiao didn't respond to Dié. He realized that obtaining information from the enemy wouldn't be easy, so he decided to remain silent. Holding his Zanpakuto, he advanced towards the enemy.
"It looks like I need to be careful. We don't want to mess things up."
Dié clasped her hands together.
"Split."
Bang, bang, bang...
Like bursting balloons, the heart-shaped Nen energy floating in the air began to split, creating dozens of copies that drifted around Dié.
Su Xiao stared at the heart-shaped Nen energy, and his instinct warned him not to let it touch him.
Dié waved her hand, sending those heart-shaped Nen energies toward Su Xiao. Simultaneously, she rushed toward him in her high heels.
It was rare for an enemy to proactively charge at Su Xiao. However, considering that Dié was a top-level third-order contractor, it was understandable.
Su Xiao controlled one of his Counter Shields, launching it like a flying blade at the incoming heart-shaped Nen energy.
This was a new use of the Counter Shield – cutting off the energy supply of one piece of the shield to launch it from a distance.
The Counter Shield collided with one of the heart-shaped Nen energies, and with a crisp sound, the Nen energy shattered like a bubble. The Counter Shield remained undamaged and continued its path toward Dié.
Dié, charging forward, kicked the Counter Shield with one foot, her legs stretched perfectly straight, and the Counter Shield shattered like glass.
