Gourmet Hunter - Chapter 424 (Patreon)

Chapter 424: Coercion

Two Zoldyck family butlers created a perfect pincer attack, but they were caught off guard by Saiyu.

The gold cudgel that manifested extended forward, effortlessly piercing through the butler’s Nen defense, killing him instantly.

By concentrating most of his Nen on the attack, his own defense weakened. The other butler, attacking from the front, seized this opportunity. A glint of cold light slid out from his sleeve.

A Nen-imbued dagger, driven by the butler's arm, aimed directly at Saiyu's unprotected face.

Just as the sharp end of the dagger was about to stab into Saiyu's eye, Saiyu's body suddenly jerked backward, avoiding the lethal blow.

Upon closer inspection, it was the gold cudgel retracting that pulled Saiyu's body back with an unbelievable physical force.

The butler’s dagger missed its target. Calmly, he didn't continue the attack but instead retreated to create distance.

He was well aware that his duty was to protect Young Master Killua. Judging the enemy to be very powerful, he changed his intent from killing Saiyu to stalling for time.

With his partner dead and himself as the only barrier against Saiyu, in a low-chance-of-victory situation, he needed to buy as much time as possible for Young Master Killua to escape.

Just as this thought arose, the butler's body suddenly jolted. He sharply sensed something was wrong with his ears; he couldn't hear any sound.

“What...?”

His expression changed slightly as he noticed a large-eared yellow monkey had appeared beside him at some point, showing him a human-like mocking smile.

Swish!

The dagger sliced through the air towards the monkey, which agilely dodged and headed towards Saiyu.

"Surprised, scum?"

Saiyu watched this scene, half-lidded eyes flashing with sharpness.

Can’t hear anymore?

The butler’s face remained stern, his well-trained body instantly responded to the damage as he covered his ears and frowned, retreating again.

"This is my Nen Beast. While dodging your attack earlier, I used ‘In’ to conceal its presence. It's a rather crude application, but effective against small fry like you."

Saiyu's face bore an enigmatic smile, his eyes shimmering with Nen as he took a step forward, applying pressure. "The Nen on your dagger is solid and stable. The Nen on your body is evenly distributed across your right arm and both legs, indicating you’re likely an Enhancer."

At this point, Saiyu casually rested the gold cudgel on his shoulder, saying lightly, "Unfortunately, my Nen ability works quite well against Enhancers. Of course, this is mainly because you’re too weak."

Were these two butlers weak?

Their perfectly timed attack, calm demeanor, efficient strikes, and solid Nen techniques all indicated they were competent Nen users, at least not weak in combat.

However, when they launched their attack, they had already lost more than half of their chances of victory. Saiyu's primary goal wasn’t to capture Killua alive but to first eliminate the two butlers.

This was a counter-attack based on clear intelligence, aided by the pre-arranged Nen Beast, turning the situation entirely in Saiyu's favor.

Facing Saiyu's barrage of insults, the butler didn’t argue back. These belittling words were a form of pressure from the opponent.

He remained unmoved, retreating slowly with the single thought of buying time.

“Huh?”

The butler's face changed again. He raised his hand abruptly, stabbing the dagger towards his side, where a large-mouthed yellow monkey grinned and dodged, retreating to Saiyu's position.

“You're quite clueless, scum.” Saiyu raised his eyelids, saying coldly, “I already told you my method, yet you fell for it again?”

The butler opened his mouth, but an obscure attempt made him realize he couldn't speak.

Having been touched by the large-eared monkey Nen Beast, he lost his hearing. Being touched by the large-mouthed monkey, he couldn’t speak.

If this was all, it wouldn't affect his combat ability.

The butler thought calmly, but then heard Saiyu continue, "Sorry, sorry, it’s normal for you to fall for it a second time. After all, I hid the fact that ‘I have two Nen Beasts’ from you."

"You might think that losing hearing and speech isn’t a big deal, right?"

"Scum, next, you can verify whether your thoughts are correct."

As his words fell, Saiyu suddenly moved. At the same time, the Nen Beasts beside him also took action, with one monkey Nen Beast rushing ahead towards the butler.

The butler gritted his teeth, retreating constantly while preparing for the visible monkey and potential unseen ones.

Logically, if there are monkeys that take away hearing and speech, there should also be monkeys that take away sight, smell, and touch. This was something to guard against.

The charging monkey Nen Beast adopted a desperate stance, recklessly pouncing, drawing part of the butler’s attention and obscuring most of his vision.

Suddenly, the monkey Nen Beast's body exploded, and a cudgel head emerged from its broken body.

"Using his own Nen Beast as a cover!"

The butler was horrified, narrowly avoiding the deadly cudgel strike. Simultaneously, he saw an even more shocking scene.

“The one holding the cudgel is another monkey, so…”

Just as the thought arose, a cold sensation rose from his spine, and in the silent world, darkness instantly descended.

Crack!

Saiyu swiftly twisted the butler's neck, sighing, “Didn't I say? Only two Nen Beasts. Are you guarding against air, scum?”

After effortlessly eliminating two competent Nen users, the manifested monkey Nen Beasts and the gold cudgel turned into Nen, returning to Saiyu's body.

"See? Unable to hear sounds, you’re doomed to such bad luck, scum."

A sinister glint flashed deep in Saiyu's eyes. Leaving his final words, he departed the corridor, heading towards Killua’s escape route.

Does he only have two Nen Beasts? Is his excessive talking during combat part of his nature?

The corridor bore no battle traces, but two bodies lay there. Though the butler's intent to buy time failed, Saiyu’s words during the fight were transmitted to the Zoldyck family via devices.

At the same time, Luo received a call from Killua. Upon answering, the voice on the other end wasn’t Killua's but a sharp male voice with high recognition.

“I’ve broken this kid’s limbs. Interested in coming to take a look?”

Luo’s face turned cold, his voice like winter as he asked the shortest question.

“Location.”

On the other end, Saiyu stepped on the unconscious Killua, raising his eyebrows at Luo’s emotionless question.

From this moment on, he was officially facing this troublesome guy named Luo.

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