Clearly sensing killing intent, using En, Auren approaches Vanessa and Neffi.
"He's doing what we feared he'd do," Auren mutters as he identifies a strong Aura surrounded by multiple weaker ones, typical of Non-Nen users. "Please take care of yourselves... I'm checking it out."
"No!" Vanessa yells, grabbing Auren's shoulder. "Let me fight him too... when there is an opportunity... do what you think is right. I can help. You said you want me to stay close to you, just moments ago. Keep your word."
"She is right," Neffi states. "We trained for this... didn't we? Let us support you for once."
Thank you....
"You are Hunters, so I won't coddle you... but I trust you," Auren replies. "Go ahead, but I'm taking the lead... I'll tell you what to do!"
Darting towards the direction where Auren sensed the large group of candidates, they see that a few are already lying on the ground, their corpses bloody, cards stuck in their bodies, with dozens standing opposite Hisoka.
Those two... Kurapika... the Kurta... and the other man's name... Leoreo? No... Leorio.
Notably, Gon's comrades. Kurapika and Leorio are also standing a little distance away, blocked from advancing by Hisoka as well, Auren recognizing them, the vague images in his mind now almost fully refreshed.
"I meant to hold off until the second phase..." Auren hears him say, his expression peaceful, with a kind smile, "but the first phase is simply intolerably boring ♠️. So I thought I'd assist in the selection process... ♦️ and judge your qualification to become Hunters. ♣️"
"Idiot, we've lost the examiner in this mist! We have no idea which way he and those still with him went! Which means everyone here has failed! That includes you!" an angry examinee yells, only for Hisoka to draw a card.
Smiling, he disagrees as he stares directly at the candidate. "Quite wrong ♠️, I'm rather on edge and won't accept such rudeness ♦️," he says, throwing a card directly at his face.
Vanessa, surveying the situation, instantly reacts and throws a jab, using Emission and targeting the card, missing it slightly, but grazing it, thus causing it to drift farther into the air and shoot above its target.
The examinee, his face full of horror, falls onto the ground from the shock, his life flashing by him.
Hisoka, still smiling, turns to Auren's group. "You... came to play with me ❤️? I'm eager to accept... but please wait your turn, I'm afraid these candidates have earned the right to be judged by me first. You wouldn't want to rudely cut in line, right? ♣️"
Vanessa shakes her head. "I've never seen someone so worthless in my life," she says, full of conviction. "What a pathetic excuse for a Nen user. Targeting unaware sheep... you indeed are the lowest of the low. A small fry... who enjoys terrorizing people that can't even fight back. A child hunting for rare bugs, stomping every single one he finds boring. Usually, you wouldn't even be worth my time, but I hate it when lowlives act like they're something special."
Vanessa....
She is correct... her words are completely true. I didn't tell her a thing... yet she already saw through his entire character and personality.
His goal... is to find talent... to look out for potential rivals... just to play with them and finally kill them once he's grown bored of them. Anyone who doesn't catch his eye, people he views as worthless... which would amount to a vast majority of all people, seeing as even the skilled Hunter examinees are below trash for him, he'll kill for no reason. Her comparison to bugs... fits. He's truly like a spoiled child a couple years older than his helpless victims.
Still in thought, Auren notices a person approaching, calmly walking up to Kurapika and Leorio, just in time to receive the shock of a lifetime as Hisoka displays his Aura, full of killing intent and madness.
"That... isn't very nice ♣️," Hisoka says, his expression now full of malice. "Such rude insults... I can't help but get emotional ♠️."
Then he glances at Gon. "Oh... you came to save your friends? You show... potential. ❤️" Gon shudders as he joins Kurapika and Leorio, who immediately tense up at Hisoka's gaze.
Gon is here as well... now's the time to make a decision.
Just accepting things and making sure everything runs its course... that's what I set out to do...
What a pathetic goal. What a pathetic decision. What is wrong with me? When did I turn into this much of a coward?
I've been quite passive... ever since I arrived in Meteor City... and lived in Lidor's mansion, I've calmly, yet passively made calculated moves, always going with the flow... never actively creating my own future. I sacrificed my fellow students... all for my own advantage... to gain power, using their lives as tools. Enduring for six years... until the very end, where I had the best opportunity to profit. Acting like the ultimate opportunist... I've regretted it ever since... just a little at first... but now... will I continue to act like this?
That's how a machine... programmed to obtain the safest, yet most rewarding result would act.
I've gained more and more strength since then... and rarely used it for my own desires. Now the Association's rules... the examiners' rules... Satotz's rules... are in conflict with my own wishes and desires. Should I just obey... just to... let things run their natural course? What use is my strength... if I can't change anything?!
Did I train my entire life... only to listen to a worthless nobody like Satotz? To care about his pathetic exam? To allow this murderer to randomly slaughter examinees for sport? Huh?!
Do I just accept this madness? Why did I gain this much strength in the first place, to obey stupid and worthless people? Am I just a worthless shadow?! Slowly growing... without anyone noticing?!
This is not about saving a few examinees... I don't even care too much about them. This is about my own values... my own freedom... my autonomy... and about me finally standing up for them!
What use is strength if you lack the basic conviction to act and stand up for your beliefs? Living... without living. Even the fake Nitro Rice would be wasted on such a person... that's the truth.
My passive approach... ends now...!
I'll show him... and myself... what I am truly capable of!
No more holding back!
Feeling something permanent change in himself, like a switch has been flipped, Auren immediately acts.
"Leave the scene if you want to live!" Auren yells towards the examinees as he, Neffi, and Vanessa approach Hisoka, shielding the others from him.
"But where should we..." one of them asks.
"That way!" he adds, pointing towards the location of the second exam, already knowing the vague direction from the information Netero and Beans shared with him.
However, nobody really moves; everyone is unsure.
"MOVE!" Auren roars, emitting a little Aura in their direction, causing the group to leave, quickly fleeing the scene. Noticeably, Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio also back off, their expressions serious, disappearing into the fog, but still spectating from afar.
Doesn't matter...
"I really didn't want to do this," Auren mutters, shrugging, not the least bit affected by Hisoka's Aura. "But I'm afraid... your little game of playing examiner... deciding who gets to live and die, based only on your personal whim. It will now end... forever."
"So you can use Aura after all ❤️... I had a feeling, you know. My senses rarely deceive me," Hisoka replies. "You three made me quite curious... I wonder... will you three be able to offer me some entertainment, to relieve me of my boredom ♦️? Please... show some manners and show me who I'll have to pleasure... to destroy ♣️!"
"I'd like to apologize instead," Auren replies. "You can view this as a game... since you think the rules of the exam shield you. My interfering here is against the rules... but I'm afraid, I don't care about that now. You might not have realized it yet... but this is where it all ends for you. Your game... is over."
"Really? But I'm afraid, I'd like to keep playing... which one of you wants to go first ❤️? The violent one who punched me so rudely earlier ♦️... the small, quiet one, silently observing ♠️... or you... the apparent leader ❤️. I'll let you decide."
"I told you... this is not a game. We won't challenge you to a one-on-one fight. This is just... a cold, cruel lynching. You will suffer greatly..." Auren states, his eyes and expression calm, staring right into Hisoka's eyes. "You are not even worthy to see my face or know our names. Die quietly... knowing only that your own arrogance killed you."
It's time!
"Tactic M3!" Auren declares.
Suddenly, Auren, Vanessa, and Neffi use Ren, their Aura gushing out, Auren's Ren quiet and almost unnoticeable.
Neffi's is quiet, calm, yet deep, completely under her control, as it is already partially seeping into her clothes, sticking close to her body.
Vanessa's Ren is the opposite, violently leaking outward, using sheer force and power, powerful enough to clear the fog in the surrounding area, revealing Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio in the distance, just behind a tree outside the clearing, who are surprised about what happened.
For the first time, Hisoka's face shifts. His arrogant, entertained expression now grows serious as Vanessa's Aura surpasses his own in terms of raw violent output, even if it can't match it in depth and profundity.
"Power... is not enough. So wild and chaotic... so beautiful... yet so fleeting and deceptive❤️. I'll teach you how to use your head during a fight ♠️," he declares, still quite confident, as he takes out a fresh deck of playing cards and shuffles it skillfully, letting the cards fly from one hand to the other.
Power... is everything, as long as you can control it... guide it! Against truly superior Aura, all of his tricks... are worthless.
With this technique, I can increase my own output for a while... at the cost of burning through so much Aura, I'd be out of Aura in just ten minutes or so, just by maintaining Ren. It's a gamble... but for this situation... it's all I'll ever need.
Auren's Aura, in the meantime, slowly grows, still calm, but growing larger and larger until it matches Vanessa's, only to keep growing. Not only Hisoka, but even Vanessa and Neffi are looking at Auren in shock as they notice the massive volume of his Aura.
Finally, when it surpasses even Vanessa's Aura in terms of output, yet remains perfectly calm and serene, Auren retracts his Aura, compressing it onto his body, only for him to unleash it violently again, his Aura now even more chaotic than Vanessa's, destroying the ground next to him through pressure alone, allowing Auren to muster an absurd amount of Aura, quickly draining his reserves.
Hisoka's eyes glow as he stares at Auren, now stumped, his body shaking in excitement.
"Beautiful ❤️... so much Aura... it feels so cold... it's refreshing ❤️." Hisoka states. "Show me more... show me how it will look after I kill your two friends right before your eyes ♦️!" he says, cackling manically as he fearlessly walks toward Auren, his own Aura growing along with his excitement, strong enough that the three can feel his madness and insanity.
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