Chapter 56: The Grand Melee

Fleeing crowds guided the way for Hisoka and Moro.

Yet, even without encountering these people escaping from the direction of the plaza, Hisoka and Moro would have pinpointed the location immediately.

Because it was simply too conspicuous...

The aura fluctuations emanating from the plaza, carrying a heavy intent to kill, were as conspicuous as a lighthouse in the dead of night.

Although they had not witnessed the scene firsthand, Moro could basically confirm that Silva had made a move against the Phantom Troupe.

This was the value of intelligence.

Of course, Moro was not foolish enough to charge blindly into the scene. His gaze pierced through the gaps in the crowd, brushing lightly against Hisoka’s retreating back in the distance.

"The Troupe... there are at least three or four of them present."

Seeing Hisoka heading purposefully straight toward the scene, Moro could only marvel internally at Hisoka’s self-assurance—or more accurately, the unreasonable driving force of his pursuit of bloodshed.

Averting his gaze, Moro walked toward a nearby high-rise building.

When he reached the deserted rooftop of the skyscraper, he could see the situation in the plaza at a glance.

In a crater blasted open by brute force lay a corpse with a gruesome death, most likely the Troupe’s member number 8.

One could only say he was truly worthy of being the current head of the Zoldyck family; his assassination efficiency was beyond reproach.

Meanwhile, on the flat ground not far from the crater, Chrollo and Silva were engaged in combat.

Surrounding them were Machi and a few other Troupe members.

Judging by the aura emanating from them, it seemed they could intervene in the battle at any moment.

"Six of them."

Moro swept his gaze across the Troupe members in the plaza, noting that their numbers exceeded his expectations.

Right at this moment.

The duel in the plaza was reaching a white-hot intensity.

Having fallen behind in physical combat and Nen techniques, Chrollo did not stubbornly continue to trade blows head-on with Silva.

The reason he had initiatied close combat in the first place was that the moment Silva killed Lucius with a single palm strike, Chrollo had managed to catch a glimpse of certain underlying principles.

That was not merely a physical attack, but an Emission-type attack form where Nen was accumulated and allowed to release beyond the palms.

Even though it was just a fleeting instant, Chrollo had keenly captured this crucial piece of information, which was why his counterattack immediately took the form of close-quarters combat.

From this, one could also perceive his profound self-confidence in physical combat and Nen mastery.

However, after truly exchanging blows with Silva, Chrollo realized that Silva’s close-combat prowess far surpassed his own by a wide margin.

Not only physical combat and Nen techniques, but even combat experience and bodily resilience were completely beyond what Chrollo could compare with at his current stage.

Realizing this, Chrollo decisively shifted his strategy. Opening up a short distance between them, he raised his hand and materialized Skill Hunter.

Rustle—

The black-and-red book turned its pages automatically.

Holding the book in one hand, Chrollo fixed his gaze squarely on Silva.

Seeing Chrollo materialize a book, Silva remained standing in place, his peripheral vision sweeping toward the other restless Troupe members encircling them.

Materialized objects usually possessed special abilities and mechanisms.

Therefore, when fighting against a Materialization-type Nen user, one must not rashly give them an opening, but instead prioritize probing attacks.

This was the wisdom Zeno had imparted to Silva long ago.

Naturally.

Given Silva’s current strength, he could completely synchronize "probing" and "attacking," directly employing Emission-type long-range attack methods from medium range.

The reason Silva had not made a move was not because he held any apprehension toward the materialized object, but rather because he refused to waste his effort on a futile endeavor.

Thus, even though Chrollo took the initiative to strike, Silva had primarily focused on evading from the start, and Chrollo was certainly not the kind of third-rate Nen user who could be dealt with casually.

"It seems they won't let me leave easily."

Silva took note of the positioning of the other Troupe members; they were clearly and consciously blocking every possible route of escape for him.

From the beginning of the battle until now, Chrollo’s attention had been constantly fixed on Silva, and naturally, he could notice Silva’s subtle maneuvers aimed at observing an escape route.

"Insisting on avoiding combat, are we..."

Chrollo lowered his gaze slightly, the fingers of his right hand resting on one specific page of Skill Hunter.

Perceiving that Silva’s intent was to make a getaway, he simply abandoned any thoughts of a one-on-one duel.

Compared to whatever gains might be found in a "fair fight," ensuring that Silva was trapped here was a far more vital outcome.

"Make your move."

Chrollo spoke abruptly.

Hearing this, the surrounding Troupe members immediately stirred their Nen, entering combat states.

Simultaneously.

Chrollo materialized a bubble gun out of thin air in his left hand, complete with a drum magazine, its muzzle flashing with iridescent, colorful light.

"Fragile Object"

Aimed the multicolored muzzle at Silva and pulled the trigger.

Instantly, accompanied by a harsh rat-a-tat sound, a flurry of brightly glowing, multicolored bubbles flew out from the muzzle, resembling a sky full of dandelions blown by the wind, enveloping Silva.

Seeing the sky full of iridescent bubbles flying toward him, Silva was surprised by the ability Chrollo had displayed.

However, he did not pay it excessive mind, flashing backward to evade and stepping outside the enveloped zone of the rainbow bubbles, before smoothly launching an assault toward Kortopi, who was guarding one of the escape paths.

Intent on breaking through, he directly targeted the weakest breakthrough point in the arena.

Seeing Silva charge toward him, Kortopi felt a sense of utter helplessness.

There was simply no way he could block it.

That was an established fact.

Kortopi knew this with absolute clarity, yet he showed not the slightest sign of yielding.

This was not out of a willingness to risk his life, but rather because he trusted Chrollo’s ability without any reservation.

Snap.

The sound of a book snapping shut echoed through the plaza.

It was Chrollo closing Skill Hunter, causing the bubble gun in his left hand to vanish instantly.

However, the multicolored bubbles fired previously did not disappear; they continued to drift idly in the air.

This was the functional effect of "Fragile Object"—even if the user dismissed the bubble gun, it had no effect on the iridescent bubbles that had already been launched.

Therefore—

While the rainbow bubbles were still persisting, Chrollo could flip through Skill Hunter once more and employ a different Nen ability.

The pages stopped turning. At the same time, Chrollo found himself standing amidst the myriad of multicolored bubbles, his expressionless gaze tracking Silva’s movements.

"Stepping Into Another’s Shoes"

The Emission-type ability activated.

In a fraction of a second, Chrollo and Silva swapped positions.

Silva suddenly materialized right in the middle of the drifting iridescent bubbles, while Chrollo appeared a few meters in front of Kortopi.

Pop, pop, pop...

Because Silva had maintained his forward-charging momentum, the sudden position swap made it inevitable for him to collide with and burst numerous rainbow bubbles.

As the bubbles shattered, droplets of water splattered against the outer layer of Silva’s defensive aura.

Immediately afterward, like sulfuric acid, the liquid corroded small holes directly into the aura coating Silva’s body.

A composite ability combining Materialization and Transformation to weaken aura defense...

Coupled with an Emission-type ability that forcefully exchanged positions.

Since the latter possessed the functional effect of a forced displacement, it meant it was impossible to activate it a second time within a short period.

Thoughts raced through Silva’s mind. Far from hesitating amidst the cloud of rainbow bubbles, he made his countermeasure with absolute decisiveness.

He directly smashed through the remaining nearby bubbles, allowing the liquid droplets to continue eroding his maximum aura output limit, and charged straight toward the spot Chrollo had previously occupied.

That spot practically formed a gap in the encirclement.

Machi was closest to that gap, her eyes sharp as she pulled fine, nearly invisible threads of Nen between her hands.
Just as she prepared to intercept Silva, three playing cards came spinning through the air at high speed, slicing right between her and Silva to head directly toward Menchi—who was closest and had not taken any substantive action thus far.

Seeing three Nen-infused playing cards flying toward his face, Menchi’s expression shifted, and he hastily sidestepped to dodge them.

On the rooftop of the nearby building.

Moro, who was enjoying the spectacle, could not help casting his gaze toward Hisoka, the one who had thrown the cards.

He could tell that when Hisoka entered the plaza from that direction, he had originally intended to use those three playing cards as a greeting to Machi, who was closest.

Upon seeing that Machi and Silva were about to clash, he immediately pivoted his target, zeroing in on Menchi instead, who appeared to be slacking off on the sidelines.

This guy... he's pure chaos incarnate.

Noticing this, Moro could not help silently reflecting on the thought.