Hunter x Hunter: War of the Anime Worlds

Orban and Pigeon fell from the sky, their faces tight with shock—almost breathless.

A hint of terror flashed across their expressions.

Dead?

Just like that?

How could Xiang Nan appear so easily behind the enemy and end the fight with one blow?

"It's because of Nen…"

All at once Orban realized something and blurted it out: when Xiang Nan appeared just now, he hadn't released any Nen at all.

Pigeon froze beside him, unable to grasp his meaning.

"Uh… did you hear everything?"

Orban swallowed, looking at Xiang Nan awkwardly. Moments earlier he had agreed to become Diamond Kingdom's "dog," and clearly Xiang Nan had overheard.

"I don't blame you. I've always said every choice starts with self‑interest: when your life's on the line, you protect yourself first. Between us it's only cooperation; I never planned to force you."

Xiang Nan plainly didn't mind.

In fact, he had been watching from the shadows for a while and had seen Orban contending with the mages.

"Satotz is dead," Orban reported.

"And… a few other story characters, too."

"Mm." Xiang Nan stayed perfectly calm.

He had never imagined that, once the intruders arrived, the Hunters could drive off or kill every player without suffering losses. What they could do was guard the main world's resources as best they could and keep casualties to a minimum.

He activated his Nen ability "Hands of Love" and began healing the other two.

"There's still a hidden squad of intruders near Beishi. On my way here I checked the other sectors—most are already under control. As for Hisoka and Illumi, I'm not sure, but they should be close to finished as well," he said while channeling Nen.

"How… how did you manage it?" Pigeon asked. He meant: how had Xiang Nan taken down the two mages so effortlessly when even the One‑Star Hunter Satotz had fallen?

"I already told you about the hidden rule in cross‑world battles: differences in energy affinity and consumption," Xiang Nan answered mildly. "Clearly you weren't listening."

Pigeon was speechless.

"Whether it was Satotz or the two of you, as long as you'd observed carefully—and so long as the enemy didn't escape into the air—you could have killed them.

Satotz died because of faulty intel: he knew nothing about magic or how its energy works, so magic lay outside his frame of reference.

Those two intruders cast long‑range spells with something like mana. The fact they could lock onto you precisely proves they had a perception spell that tracked every move.

Without that spell their eyes can't keep up with a Nen user's burst speed, so the magic wouldn't hit. The spell works by sensing energy—mana, Nen, it's all the same. The moment you emit Nen, your every action lights up on their radar.

So just don't use Nen. Close in using only your physical body and their 'radar' goes blind.

Satotz never realized this level of nuance: he met their power with pure Nen combat, letting their magic reach full effect. Fight them with raw physical ability instead, and although you move slower and hit weaker, they lose their 'eyes' and you gain the edge.

Their chains can't land if they can't see."

"Of course the two mages could still levitate. I succeeded only because I used the lull while you two were talking to launch a sneak attack; otherwise they'd have been troublesome."

"Different worlds have different power systems," Xiang Nan concluded. "If you want to carve a path through the multiverse, you can't let your thinking ossify. Against special foes, brains—not power—may be what wins."

Moments later his gloves vanished; the treatment was finished.

"So that's the reason…" Pigeon was dumbfounded.

He and Orban had been at a disadvantage precisely because Aura Suppression and Nen had betrayed them—exactly what killed Satotz, who also lacked any knowledge of "magic."

"Perception magic, huh…" Orban licked his lips. Only now did he understand how Xiang Nan had earned that legendary armband in the very first ranking match: in mere minutes he could dissect so many factors and flip the battle in an instant.

"Let's move. There are still variables near Beishi."

Xiang Nan took the lead and sprang away.

Orban and Pigeon exchanged a glance. From beginning to end Xiang Nan's tone had been calm, yet the impact on them was enormous—intellectually crushed, they again sensed how truly terrifying this temporary teammate was.

…

Elsewhere

Beishi had tailed three intruders to a residential district in Zaban City, well away from downtown. With battlefield restrictions lifted, the trio left government‑controlled zones at once.

At first Beishi hadn't recognized them. They dressed exactly like ordinary passers‑by—clearly trying to stay hidden—unlike most players. Yet the city center was still in chaos: any survivor not yet evacuated would instinctively hide, panicked. These three, on the other hand, strolled along as if sightseeing amid the ruins—far too conspicuous.

One munched potato chips; another craned his neck at everything. Definitely not locals, and their disguises were awful. Beishi shadowed them, growing more certain who they were. Still, he dared not attack: each bore tattoo‑like markings, identical in style—as though from the same guild.

Beishi's anime knowledge was spotty, but the matching tattoos sparked a flicker of recognition. He felt sure he had seen something like them before, meaning he must know the world they came from—if only hazily—from his prior life.

The district had become a temporary police shelter packed with evacuees. Officials were calming the crowd, saying the unrest was under control. Given the crisis, authorities would scrutinize everyone before restoring order.

Though the battlefield was gone, wandering around would invite questioning; streets were still sealed. Blending into civilians until things cooled off was clearly the safer play.

"Purple tattoo crests… some emblem? Tch… could it be…?" Beishi watched the trio from the crowd, thinking hard. Suddenly his eyes widened.

The design wasn't identical, but the style was unmistakable—and the anime had been hugely popular. Even before he died in his last life, clips from that series still popped up on his phone.

"No doubt about it," Beishi thought, heart pounding. "Fairy… Tail."

But the emblem wasn't Fairy Tail's guild symbol. Which guild was it? He couldn't recall; he had only fragmentary memories of that series.

Beishi tensed. These three obviously had no intention of leaving Hunter and returning to the main world. They were clearly gearing up to unlock a hidden quest.

~~~

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