(I finally sent him to hell.)

In a dense forest.

Just a few hours ago, 41 applicants participating in the Hunter Exam entered here. Before entering, they almost unanimously took off the number plates hung on their chests. Those were the serial number plates given to them by Beans when they entered the venue for the first phase of the exam. At the same time, it was also the most important prop for this third phase of the exam.

Each of them had a number as their target, while their own number plate was also eyed by another person. They had seven days in this forest to obtain their target's number plate, while protecting their own at the same time. Their own and their corresponding target's number plates counted as 3 points each. Number plates not belonging to their target counted as 1 point. Collecting a total of 6 points would mean passing the phase.

The targets and order of entering the forest were decided by drawing lots. The "hunting" relationships between every two applicants were recorded by the examiners, to check the results at the end of the exam period.

Even the closest of friends became competitors at this point, with suspicion, distrust and wariness stealthily spreading between people.

In the silent forest, a babbling stream flows. The creek water was clear to the bottom. However, if you look closely, you would notice a trace of blood red carrying in it. Soon after, the smell of blood began to permeate the air, an aura of killing spread.

Upstream of the creek, a boy silently washed the blood red off his hands. It was dried bloodstains. The white undershirt he wore was blooming large, ghastly blood flowers, which looked exceptionally striking combined with the boy's pale skin. However, the boy's tender and exquisite face was expressionless, with cold, ruthless and indifferent eyes, as if he didn't feel the blood stains on him. Suddenly, hatred and disgust flashed across them.

That prison actually imprisoned Sabal.

He, who had been a nightmare for them for four years, the Thunder Guardian of the Estraeno family, the mad Sabal.

"How is it today, huh?! You little scums!!"

The tall, muscular man with bulging and hideous muscles slammed open the door. The backlight prevented the children inside from seeing his expression clearly, but one could imagine that the scarred, bulging-eyed, disgusting face must have had a cruel smile.

The seven to eight year old children were originally huddled in the corner. They wore rags that gave off a rancid stench. Some clothes were even covered with large patches of dried blood that had hardened into chunks from not being washed for a long time.

They had all become skin and bones, with dry, dull hair. Their cheeks were deeply sunken, making their eyes appear even bigger.

It was the cold winter, and of course this three meter long hut had no heating, only the bone-chilling cold. The children were all disheveled with filthy black little faces exposed. Their slender arms that seemed they could be snapped with a pinch, their tiny hands and feet, had all turned purplish-black.

Some still showed the deep wounds on their bodies. Those dark blood holes had stopped bleeding, but apparently could no longer withstand another day of torment.

As the door opened and the terrifying man appeared, almost all the children shrank back in unison, huddling even tighter together, their faces filled with fear. However, this obviously did not include those with deadened expressions among the corpses.

The man pinched his nose and strode over, impatiently and roughly poked a few of them. "More died?! What the hell, you useless trash! Can't you give me someone useful for once?"

He casually and disgustedly threw those already stiff little bodies out of the hut like throwing away trash. His subordinates waiting outside quickly caught them and threw them at their feet to catch the next one, then carried them back for their Thunder Guardian master to study later.

Even corpses could be useful for studying drug efficacy.

Seeing their little friends casually thrown around like ice lumps, a few slightly bigger children looked on coldly, with killing intent concealed deep in their eyes.

The man looked at the remaining children. As his fierce gaze fell on them, they couldn't help but cower like quails, lowering their heads in fear. They seemed to feel his substantial gaze weighing on them, sizing them up and searching for his "prey" for today.

"Mister..." In this silence, an anxious boy's voice, like a whisper, spoke up. The children all looked over in surprise and worry for a moment. The bigger kids stared wide-eyed in complete disapproval.

The man looked at the orange-haired boy, an interested smile on his lips. "Oh?"

The boy shrank back. But something prompted him to keep talking. The ash-blond boy with rugged features sitting next to him was pinched hard by the blue-haired boy behind, who surreptitiously pulled the hem of the other's clothes. The boy hesitated for a moment under the increasingly impatient gaze of the man, before stammering with a trembling voice, "Luna... Luna has a high fever... a really bad one... so, could you... could you please..."

He trailed off into silence under the man's clearly brightened gaze. He instinctively sensed something bad, but taking back his words was clearly impossible now.

"Fever? Oh, fever's good!! Hahaha, fever is just perfect!! Finally there's a decent one!!! Hahahaha..."

He called impatiently to the boy, "Which one? That little runt called something-na? Which one is she?"

The boy hugged his own legs tightly, looking at those eyes as big as bronze bells in fear. He involuntarily glanced sideways to the back, but was secretly kicked in the leg by the black-haired boy on the other side. He quickly turned back with panicked and terrified eyes towards the man.

But it was too late.

"It's this one? Huh? Hahaha, it's this nasty little runt, isn't it?!"

With one hand he picked up the little girl whose flushed face could still be seen under the grime, excitedly. The girl had her eyes closed, breathing laboriously with an uncomfortably high temperature. As the man moved her, a few strands of hair slipped out from under her hood. If you looked past the dirt, you could vaguely make out its original silvery-white color.

She seemed to have been woken up and arduously opened one eye. Immediately, those pure blue pupils as if they could cleanse one's soul, so sharply contrasting with the filthy environment, met the man's agitated, disgusting eyes. Then those pupils contracted violently for a moment.

She just looked like an ordinary fever patient. It wasn't the complications caused by the drugs that he was hoping for.

The man examined her arms hesitantly, but still decided to take the little girl to the lab for testing, just in case. It was rare for the third symptom to appear. He absolutely could not let his guard down.

If she didn't have it... Well, this little runt looks quite nice...

The fleeting lewdness and indecency in the man's eyes did not escape the notice of some children. The orange-haired boy suddenly clung to the man's legs, a panicked expression on his face. "Mister Sabal? Where are you taking Luna? What do you want to do?!"

The man kicked the boy away impatiently. "Get lost!"

He strode towards the door. The boy's chest caved in from the fierce kick and smashed into the wall. Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth as his face turned deathly pale. He struggled to get back up while desperately watching the man carry away the girl he loved like holding a little chick. He saw her deliberately worn hood fall back, revealing that no longer smooth white hair. Her tender, powerless little hands trembled as they grabbed weakly onto the man who was pinching her collar, her fingertips turning white from exertion, yet unable to budge him one bit.

"Stop! Give Luna back... Give Luna back to me!"

He called out painfully, but was unable to raise his voice due to the injury to his chest. Just then, the girl struggling to turn her head back against the light. Those clear eyes flickered with the fragile glint of despair, pleading for help towards the back.

Was she looking at me?

At this moment, such a thought suddenly popped into the orange-haired boy's mind.

How do I save her?

Save her, save her, please... Please save her!! Won't someone go save her!!!

In the blink of an eye, the man was already at the door. A line of crystalline teardrops gracefully rolled down the girl's cheek.

"Wait."

A clear yet hoarse voice sounded in the small room, like heavenly music.

The orange-haired boy stared wide-eyed at the speaker, complex emotions in his eyes, yet also seeming somewhat relieved. While the girl seemed to have known this would happen all along. The look in her eyes towards him was full of unconditional trust

A person slowly stood up. Along the way, he was desperately pulled back by the hem of his clothes by the blue-haired boy beside him, but did not stop his motion of standing up.

His hands were tightly tied by ropes at his wrists, and both hands were unnaturally drooping downwards in a purplish-black color, with fingers twisted at odd angles.

His hands were completely broken.

However, despite this, it could not cover up his aura. As soon as Sabal met his cold yet spirited gaze, he had already lost interest in the little girl in his hand. He looked at the boy they had been vigilant yet expectant of with interest.

"I have a fever too." Disregarding his clothes being stretched out of shape by the blue-haired boy, he stood upright and spoke to the bronze bell-eyed man, while also raising his arm. As his sleeve slid down, the red rash on his fair arm made the man who had been staring at him suddenly have his eyeballs pop out, horrifyingly.

The second mutation had already appeared? This is.... Why did we never notice before? He took a step forward and grabbed the boy up in the same way. However, he encountered some resistance along the way. Before he could frown, the boy whom they believed to be the only successful one had already lowered his head and smiled gently at the blue-haired boy still grabbing his clothes, refusing to let go. "I'll bring Luna back."

His tone was gentle, yet determinedly firm.

Clearly, the man was already impatient.

The blue-haired boy hesitated, staring at the black-haired boy with his heterochromic eyes for a long time, finally slowly letting go with his hand, sending off the three people as they walked out of that dark hut and into that singular source of light.

But he was completely confident that place was definitely not where hope lies, but rather...the entrance to hell.

The pitch black pupils were filled with smoldering wrath and cold cruelty. The young boy recalled how it felt when he crushed that piece of scum's throat just now. His blood sprayed onto him, making his stomach churn, his face green almost to the point of vomiting, but at the same time, a deep ecstasy also surged within his heart.

Luna, I finally sent him to hell.

He remembered that girl's innocent and sweetly lovable smile, as the coldness in his eyes finally gradually dissipated.

It was an arduous battle. A person qualified to be the Thunder Guardian naturally wouldn't be weak, even if he indulged himself in research.

But this still wasn't enough.

Since Sabal appeared here, then he probably not long after was captured as well. As long as his mother is still alive, with the dimensional artifacts that opens dimensional holes, they would still work. They have a special locating effect, no need to worry about winding up in a different world.

Sabal was captured by someone else. And there's no news of that damned man in black either.

He didn't personally hunt down those damned "prey".

He will not give up.

He will retaliate the pain inflicted on himself and his friends a hundredfold back onto them!!

Killing intent filled the black-haired boy's gaze, extremely icy-cold and sharp, that almost no one dared meet them head on.

Right then, there was suddenly noise from the bushes next to him. The boy's brows furrowed imperceptibly and he reined in his emotions, not moving otherwise. He merely watched that area.

The bushes rustled noisily, then suddenly, a white head popped out. Seeing Chitose, he cried out in surprise, "What the, so you were here, Chitose?"

Chitose stood up. "Killua."

The white-haired boy sauntered lazily towards him, hands in his pockets. Meanwhile, Chitose keenly captured a flash of awkwardness on his face.

Before Killua even reached his side, the corners of his mouth had tugged up subtly.

Killua's gaze swiftly swept past all of Chitose’s pockets, then moved back to his face. Seeing that smile, he suddenly halted in his tracks, his fair skin blushing brightly to the point it was visible to the naked eye.

What the, this guy... He noticed my objective? Then why is he still smiling at me? And it's such a nice smile too! Is he an idiot?

Seeing Killua's wandering eyes and barely concealed unease, Chitose had already confirmed that he was Killua's target.

He waited for Killua's next move.

Standing under Chitose’s profound gaze, Killua was silent. The instant he knew his target was Chitose, he actually felt a little excited.

Chitose was younger than him, but he knew Chitose was strong. An urge to compete with him arose uncontrollably, wanting to have a match with this person to see who was better. This was a heaven-sent chance.

Killua was always cultivated and expected by his elders at home to be the successor. His talents had also become the capital of his pride. But after he ran away from home, he met Gon who was similarly gifted, and the mysterious and powerful Chitose.

He had a premonition that many, many riddles were hidden within Chitose. He couldn't wait to uncover them all.

He looked at the blood flowers blooming on Chitose’s body —— it lent him an odd beauty —— and felt strongly that they were the same type of people.

Gon was his total opposite, too kind-hearted. But what he sensed from Chitose, was the same.... no, an even darker aura than himself, but unlike his brother's complete lack of feelings.

This excited him to no end. He couldn't wait to start exploring the mysteries within Chitose.

So he lowered his body, his gaze abruptly turning icy-cold, just like when he was executing missions.

Chitose would definitely not be simple. He intended to go all out from the beginning.

Chitose apparently understood Killua's decision, but he chose not to move.

No, not that he didn't move....

Feeling that aura suddenly skyrocket, Killua subconsciously swallowed. But the outcome, was decided in an instant.

Killua stared in disbelief at the knife by his neck on one side, and the perfectly flawless face suddenly right before him, his pupils constricted with shock.

How can this be?!

Just now, he suddenly saw his brother for some reason. It was his scariest brother, that entire aura exuding the kind that made him fearful, stepping towards him one thumbtack-filled step at a time.

Why is big brother here? How did he get here? I should be fighting Chitose ——

While his thoughts were still in chaos and he was hesitating over whether he should just turn and run, the scene before his eyes fractured like a shattered mirror in the blink of an eye. The illusion of his brother's face vanished, replaced by the sudden presence by his side and the chill from the blade at his throat.

Chitose put away the blade and stood straight. Killua relaxed his muscles accordingly, his heart still pounding as he asked in lingering shock, "What was that?"

Chitose turned to walk back towards the creek as he answered, "An illusion technique ninja use."

As he plucked disgustedly at his bloodstained clothes, he pondered briefly and subtly lowered his eyes. Chakra flowed out from beneath his feet undetectable by Killua's eyes, slowly condensing into a small inverse transmutation circle. He brought his hands together, a dazzling white light flashed, and those blood-drenched white robes were magically pristine and clean in the blink of an eye.

Killua stared straight at Chitose’s completely defenseless back. Oddly, instead of feeling the slightest bit unsatisfied with his loss, he intently surveyed Chitose. He watched as his long eyelashes cast shadows over his cheeks, watched his hands clasped together, watched his transparent, fair skin, his focused profile, his slender yet powerful waist...

"Killua." The back-facing boy's voice suddenly sounded, shocking Killua like a spooked cat as he belatedly reacted to what he had been doing just now.

He-he-he had actually been ogling a guy for this long!! Was he sick in the head!!
Killua's face instantly turned beet red.

Chitose cut off his supply of chakra, erasing the transmutation circle. Then he turned around to glance at Killua, his eyes gentling slightly. He suddenly discovered Killua resembled Boruto quite a bit. Going off like a frightened cat all the time.

To be honest, it was pretty cute.

"Come with me?" He suggested.

Killua sighed and took the lead walking, moving to Chitose’s side. "Let's go. We still need four more plates."

Then he curiously looked over at Chitose. "What's your target?"

Chitose glanced back at him. "We're going to find Gon."

 

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