When Illumi stated he would kill all his subordinates, Beyond's expression finally shifted slightly. He frowned and slowly closed his eyes.
Moments later, Beyond opened his eyes, the killing intent in his heart now restrained.
"I fell for it inadvertently, hahahaha..."
Beyond forced a carefree smile, comparable to Netero's goofy, awkward laugh.
"Go, contain all of them."
Illumi, seeing Beyond return to normal, ordered the Avenger troops to put all the Hell's Bells surrounding them into mana alloy containment boxes.
"What a pity... I wanted to try my full power."
Pride's lips curled into a cold arc. He looked at Beyond in front of him, a hint of displeasure flashing in his eyes.
"Tch, so constrained, it's really annoying."
Greed also wore an extremely displeased expression. Illumi always considered this and that, making him feel incredibly frustrated. If it were him, he would have killed Beyond and everyone else in the camp!
"Hiss hiss..."
Soon, the continuously hissing nineteen Hell's Bells were contained one by one by the Avengers, who were completely unaffected by emotions.
Hell's Bell, as a monster, possessed the terrifying ability to transmit killing intent. But besides that, they themselves were even less dangerous than ordinary poisonous snakes.
But even when they themselves were contained in mana alloy containment boxes, they continuously released their killing intent-transmitting ability outwards.
"Let's go, we'll continue searching this land."
Illumi, after the Avengers had contained all the Hell's Bells, was the first to turn around and lead everyone away from here.
"What a dangerous brat."
Beyond walked towards the camp where his companions were resting, glancing at Pride from the corner of his eye. He had been able to quickly suppress his killing intent just now, partly because of Pride.
The strong killing intent that Pride generated in that instant, and the powerful oppressive feeling that appeared simultaneously, combined with the killing intent of Illumi, King Bradley, Greed, Sloth, and the others.
It instantly led his remaining sliver of rationality to deduce the outcome—defeat!
"These people, gathered together, are no weaker than the higher-ups of the Hunter Association." Beyond thought to himself as he walked through the dark night.
"L-Leader..."
When Beyond returned to the camp, Cervantes and Sergio had already woken up. But under the influence of the tranquilizer darts, they didn't even have the strength to move their tongues, unable to speak clearly.
"Don't speak, rest well."
Beyond came to the extinguished campfire and reignited it. With some dry grass and wood, the fire immediately roared with crackling sounds.
For a moment, the camp became bright again, and a little warmth returned.
"Hell's Bell invaded the camp. You were all affected by the killing intent. Illumi injected each of you with two tranquilizer darts to prevent you from suddenly raging and killing."
Beyond pulled over a backpack, rummaged through it for some food and compressed rations, and slowly ate them with a bit of mineral water.
"Then... their... people..."
Cervantes' lips parted and closed. His eyes, in the corner, strained to glance at Beyond, who was sitting by the campfire. He managed to utter half an incomplete sentence, his words carrying a hint of confusion.
Beyond continued to enjoy his food. He understood Cervantes' confusion.
"Monsters that even affect me, yet they have no effect on those Avenger soldiers. It's as if killing intent doesn't even exist for them."
"I noticed it long ago. Those Avenger soldiers have lost the emotions that humans should possess."
Beyond said this aloud, while in his mind, he recalled the Avenger soldiers' behavior over the past month. They were completely unlike normal people. And their height and astonishingly robust physiques were simply unlike anything humans could possess.
"Human experimentation..."
Beyond suddenly remembered what Pariston had told him on the phone a few months ago. A Hunter investigator had reported King Bradley's Umbrella Bio-Tech company for conducting a series of human experiments that violated human ethics.
However, due to a lack of evidence, and the informant's whereabouts remaining unknown afterwards, coupled with King Bradley's contributions and influence within the Association, as well as Umbrella Bio-Tech's influence on the entire human society, the matter was left unresolved.
He hadn't paid attention at first, but now, he could mostly confirm the truth of the matter.
But Beyond wouldn't bother with it. He never considered himself a good person, nor a bad person. He was just a human who constantly hovered on the edge of life and death, pursuing the ultimate individual strength.
Another reason was also because of Illumi, King Bradley, Pride, and the others. Their formidable strength was something that even Beyond himself was unwilling to easily provoke.
"Crunch."
Thinking of this, Beyond threw the last bit of food in his hand into his mouth. He crunched, chewed, and swallowed it. He then sat cross-legged in front of the campfire, closed his eyes, and entered meditation.
In the silent, cold night, time passed by minute by minute, until 4 AM, when the sun rose.
"Zzzz~"
Suddenly, a faint current sound came from the miniature earphone tucked into Beyond's ear. Illumi's low voice sounded from within.
"Beyond, it's time to depart."
"Also, we have contained all the Hell's Bells that appeared on this land. To prevent your people from being affected by Hell's Bell, it's best to maintain a distance of over one thousand meters from us."
"End transmission."
As his words fell, Illumi ended the call without waiting for Beyond's reply.
"Then, now, let's try if it works."
At this moment, on the northern edge of this land, Illumi stood on the shore, looking at the two containment boxes in front of him, his eyes filled with intense interest.
"Open them."
Under Illumi's command, an Avenger squatted down and entered the opening code. With two "clicks," a crack appeared at the top of the two containment boxes, splitting open to both sides.
"Hiss hiss..."
As soon as the containment boxes opened, the Hell's Bells, wriggling their rough, rune-covered bodies, crawled out from within the boxes. They hissed and flicked their tongues at Illumi and the Avenger soldiers, their jaws wide open in warning.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..."
At this moment, black silk threads shot out from Illumi's and Pride's feet. As the black threads continuously increased and condensed, they eventually transformed into two black pythons, each as thick as a human arm.
"Hiss...!"
The two Hell's Bells sensed the two black pythons that suddenly appeared before them. Their hissing grew louder, and their mouths opened wider.
And the two black pythons that suddenly appeared before them silently opened their huge mouths and devoured the two Hell's Bells.
"Whoosh!" x2
Accompanied by the massive bodies of the two black pythons sweeping across the ground, the Hell's Bells' hissing abruptly ceased.
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