The bullet wound hurt, but that pain was nothing compared to the black flames that exploded out of it the instant the round punched through. Despair hit Lev like a sledgehammer.
He poured aura into the wound, trying to pull the flames onto his nen instead of his flesh. It didn't work. Not even close.
He jerked his head up and locked eyes with the shooter in the crowd.
Short blond hair. Blood-red eyes that burned even brighter than the fire eating him alive.
Scarlet Eyes.
Kurapika.
The name slammed into Lev's skull at the same moment the black flames finished spreading from the wound.
Kurapika hadn't planned on shooting Lev at first. But when Ronin dropped Amaterasu on him at the last second and Lev shot into the sky wrapped in black fire, Kurapika saw his opening. He slapped a [Magnetic] card on himself and followed Lev straight to Andoniba.
Even then he didn't rush in. He waited for the perfect moment, then put a bullet straight through the exact spot where the black flames were already chewing through Lev's aura.
Trapped inside the fire with no way to strip it off again, Lev snapped.
He was going to drag the bastard who ruined his last chance straight to hell with him.
Too bad for him.
The second Lev took that first step toward Kurapika, the blond already had another spell card in his hand.
[Beginner]. It would only drop him back at the starting point, but that distance was already way too far for Lev to cover before the flames finished the job.
Kurapika didn't say a single word. He just stood there with those scarlet eyes and watched Lev burn.
Lev let out one last, ugly laugh. With every hole in his body and the black fire chewing through him, he gave Andoniba's gates the most brutal show anyone had seen in years.
He died screaming.
His aura slowed the burning a little, but all it really did was stretch the agony out longer. Lev hadn't lived enough. Right up until the very end he kept clawing for some way out, and that only made the pain worse.
Kurapika felt satisfied. Even if it looked cruel, Lev's desperate will to live had been almost impressive. But none of that stopped the quiet wave of relief that rolled through him when Lev finally stopped moving.
He hadn't killed Lev alone, but he'd been part of it. That counted.
He hoped his parents and the rest of the clan could see this from wherever they were. With Big Brother Ronin's help he'd grown strong enough to stand on his own two feet.
Tears slipped down his face when he turned away, but there was no victory smirk. Just hard, steady resolve.
---
The scene shifted to a thick forest.
It wasn't famous, but it made a solid training ground because of the A-rank monsters that lived nearby. Even B-rank ones hit like 200th-floor Heaven's Arena fighters. A-rank? Most nen users saw those and decided they had somewhere else to be.
In Greed Island these monsters weren't specified cards. They were just big, dangerous targets you beat for cash or quest items.
Ronin and Feitan dropped right in the middle of it.
No monsters. No spectators. Just bugs and birds calling in the trees.
"Picking this spot for your grave?" Feitan opened with a sneer. "Not bad taste."
His [Ken] stayed tight and his stance said everything: the second Ronin slipped up, Feitan was ending it.
"That cocky already?" Ronin smiled like he had all the time in the world. "You do remember I've got your ability mapped out, right?"
Half bluff. Half truth.
Feitan's power scaled with how badly he got hurt. Ronin's gut said death might push him all the way to maximum output. Dying was the ultimate injury, and someone as twisted as Feitan wouldn't go down without pouring every last drop of nen and obsession into one final strike.
It was a nasty loop.
Kill him fast and you might trigger post-mortem nen at full strength. Beat him half to death and he could still blow up on you. Then you had to decide whether to finish the job and risk the explosion or leave him alive and risk him recovering later.
Ronin already knew how he was going to play it.
"Heh." Feitan's laugh was cold. One-on-one, he didn't fear anyone.
"You want me to go first?" Ronin kept the easy smile. "Didn't think your height and your balls were proportional."
That line landed. Killing intent exploded off Feitan in a wave. He vanished from where he stood.
Ronin's mouth curved. He didn't bother with ninjutsu. He just matched Feitan's speed. The second Feitan appeared at his side, Ronin threw a heavy punch straight at him.
Feitan dodged.
He could feel the weight behind that fist. It hit as hard as Uvogin's Big Bang Impact. This guy was a goddamn monster.
But Ronin's Sharingan caught every twitch of muscle and every shift of aura. When Feitan moved, Ronin was already adjusting, staying right on top of him.
Feitan had started the attack, but the second he got close everything flipped. He went from hunter to hunted in a heartbeat. His thin sword kept stabbing, but Ronin slipped every thrust and answered with deliberate, heavy punches that forced Feitan to keep backing up.
Less than a minute in and Feitan already felt the frustration building.
Every time Ronin's fist was about to land clean it shifted at the last second and just barely missed. It felt deliberate. Like Ronin was actively avoiding dealing real damage.
"Does this asshole actually know my ability?" The thought hit Feitan hard.
Ronin kept the pressure on, Sharingan spinning, every move calculated. He wasn't trying to end it fast. He was setting something up.
And Feitan could feel the trap closing in.