It all happened in the blink of an eye. Loki stood on Franklin's chest, a faint smile playing on his lips.
Crack! Crack! Two distinct sounds of shattering bone echoed as Loki effortlessly crushed Franklin's wrists.
'What—' Franklin, enduring agonizing pain, glared at Loki, his forehead slick with a cold sweat, a shiver running down his spine.
Gritting his teeth, the now-wounded Franklin, unable to continue firing Nen bullets due to his broken wrists, unexpectedly lunged forward and embraced Loki.
"Run!" he gasped, his voice strained with desperation.
Bonolenov, having just managed to escape and turn around, witnessed this horrifying scene unfold before his eyes.
Instantly, he channeled all his Nen into his feet.
Boom! A powerful burst of Nen energy erupted from beneath his feet, generating a tremendous propulsive force that propelled Bonolenov several dozen meters away in an instant.
But, rip! the familiar sound of tearing fabric echoed behind him.
Bonolenov, mid-flight, twisted his head to see Loki's arm piercing through Franklin's chest.
A pair of icy eyes locked onto his own.
'Franklin's dead,' Bonolenov thought grimly. Even as Franklin's body remained upright, his eyes had already lost their light, the life draining from him.
Psh! Loki swiftly withdrew his blood-soaked arm, a small flame erupting from his fingertips and quickly climbing his shoulder, incinerating every trace of blood.
Standing motionless, Loki turned to Bonolenov, a chilling smile spreading across his face.
'Damn it!' Thump! Whump!
Before Bonolenov could even formulate a coherent thought, he collided violently with an unseen obstacle, the impact sending him reeling backward.
He landed heavily on the ground, his entire body jarring from the unexpected collision.
All his Nen had been concentrated in his feet, leaving him completely undefended.
The force of the impact was such that it shattered Bonolenov's skull, causing a torrent of blood to pour from the wound.
A dark shadow materialized on the ground, slowly encroaching upon Bonolenov until it completely engulfed him in darkness.
'What the hell was that?!'
'Something appeared out of nowhere right in front of me! There shouldn't have been anything there to obstruct my path!'
Bonolenov thought, his hand instinctively flying to his throbbing head.
The speed of the impact had been so great, and he had neglected to shield himself with Nen, leaving him disoriented and dizzy.
He shook his head violently, desperate to clear the fog from his mind. A terrifying specter of death loomed behind him, and he knew that he had to escape as quickly as possible.
The slow, deliberate shush of approaching footsteps, sounding eerily like a death knell, further fueled his desperate flight.
As Bonolenov struggled to his feet, his eyes fell upon a pair of enormous feet planted firmly on the ground before him. His movements ceased abruptly.
Slowly, he raised his gaze. A crimson figure, towering at least three meters in height, loomed before him—a terrifying monstrosity with a single, enormous eye fixed intently upon him.
'A Nen beast,' Bonolenov managed to think, his mind still reeling from the dizziness, though he wasn't quite ready to believe that the creature before him was anything other than a Nen beast.
The sheer size and menacing form of the creature left no doubt as to its nature.
The imposing physique of the Nen beast, known as Zenki and Goki and, exuded an aura of overwhelming pressure, even surpassing the chilling intensity of Loki's presence.
Its grotesque visage, coupled with the menacingly large battle-axe clutched in its clawed hand, instilled a profound sense of dread in Bonolenov's heart.
The mere presence of this single Nen beast was enough to overwhelm him with a sense of insurmountable pressure.
"Still trying to run away?"
Loki's voice, calm and chilling, cut through the tense silence. Bonolenov slowly turned his head to face Loki.
Loki flicked his fingertips, sending two small sparks of flame dancing towards the remains of Franklin and Kortopi.
Instantly, the sparks erupted into raging infernos, engulfing the corpses and casting an eerie, flickering light across the alley.
An oppressive silence descended upon the alley, broken only by the crackling of the flames. The stillness was heavy, thick with unspoken tension.
Bonolenov stared at Loki, his mouth opening and closing, but no sound escaping his throat.
"ROAR!!!"
Zenki unleashed a deafening roar, its massive battle-axe arcing through the air in a swift, brutal strike.
Swish! Psh! Blood erupted like a fountain as the axe cleaved through Bonolenov's body.
Bonolenov's lifeless body collapsed to the ground, his severed head soaring high into the air before tumbling down, its eyes still faintly twitching as it rolled to a stop in the corner of the alley.
Thus, the Phantom Troupe was almost completely annihilated at the hands of Loki.
However, unbeknownst to Loki, several members had managed to narrowly escape death.
Nobunaga, severely burned, Phinks, with his left arm nearly crippled by the blast, and the unconscious Shizuku were all receiving emergency medical treatment at a nearby hospital.
As night yielded to the approaching dawn, the first rays of sunlight pierced through the sky above Yorknew City, casting a pale light upon the aftermath of the previous night's carnage.
The events of the previous night were destined to forever be etched into the collective memory of Yorknew City's inhabitants.
The spectacle of a fiery inferno descending from the heavens, resembling a falling meteorite, had completely obliterated an entire building, leaving a scene of utter devastation that had been witnessed by countless individuals.
As the first light of dawn broke over Yorknew City, the explanation for the extraordinary events that had transpired remained shrouded in mystery to the general populace.
However, within the clandestine world of Hunter intelligence websites and the black market's intricate network of informants, the images of the Great Flame Ring, the Fire Emperor, and the catastrophic destruction of the entire building were already spreading like wildfire.
These images not only sent shockwaves through the black market but also reached the ears of the Hunter Association itself, causing a ripple effect of concern and alarm.
Yet, Loki, the architect of this unprecedented destruction, remained largely unaffected, as did the city of Yorknew itself.
The aftermath of this incident, however, would soon bring forth a significant new challenge for Loki.
At that moment, Loki remained completely oblivious to the profound impact his actions would have on the world of Nen users, never having considered the potential ramifications of unleashing a fiery inferno capable of obliterating an entire building.
In the alley, Loki glanced up at the sky. Zen'gi, his Nen beast, retracted into his body, dissolving back into pure Nen.
Turning away from the scene of devastation, Loki flicked a tiny spark of flame onto Bonolenov's corpse, then onto the severed head that lay rolling in the corner, setting them both ablaze.
With a swift, almost acrobatic leap, he vanished into the shadows.
The flames continued to burn fiercely in the alley for a considerable time before gradually dying down.
In the end, nothing remained but the bloodstains that marred the ground and three blackened, charred remnants of what had once been human beings.
After a little over ten minutes, Loki arrived at the location he had casually mentioned to Pakunoda earlier—a relatively secluded park.
The early hour meant that the park was devoid of any other visitors. Loki settled down beside the central pond, patiently awaiting Pakunoda's arrival.
Having parted ways with Franklin and the others, Pakunoda had no possible means of escape. She would inevitably come.
Loki waited, his patience unwavering.
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