The Strongest Assassin of the Zoldyck Family!

After that, killing any more worms no longer increased Ron's progress.

He halted the hunt, dismissing both Akutagawa and Killer Queen.

The grassy field gave way to barren earth and scattered rocks—a terrain much like a Gobi desert.

"What kind of monsters will I run into this time?"

He soon found out. Overhead, a flock of black birds with crimson eyes swooped down. For the worms, Akutagawa's attacks hadn't been especially effective, but these crows proved far less durable.

"Shhhk!"

Akutagawa's razor-sharp claws cut through them. One strike meant instant death; the birds were split clean in two with no chance of survival.

Ron frowned slightly. 

"These crows seem weaker than either the branches or the worms. 

But I suppose that's reasonable. Even a Nen Spirit's creations have limits— 

you can't expect every monster it spawns to be top-tier. 

Still, the branches and the worms each had a clear weakness, 

whereas these crows don't appear to have any at first glance."

Against ordinary people, both the branches and the worms might not be fully reliable. These crows, on the other hand, would rip them to shreds without mercy. That made sense if the Kurta Clan wanted effective security—but also needed ways to leave if necessary. Ron glanced back toward the forest.

"So those branches and worms each had obvious weaknesses. 

Was that part of a Nen restriction and vow… or did the Kurta Clan design it that way on purpose for themselves?"

Either explanation was plausible. If it was a vow-and-constraint approach, the monster's offensive abilities would be strengthened at the cost of a key vulnerability. Or perhaps the Kurta themselves made them that way so clan members could travel in and out safely—like giving the forest monsters a simple weakness to fire and the worms a path of stones to step on.

An ordinary person carrying a torch could cross the forest, and as Ron suspected, there was a small stone trail through the grassy plain. Likely if you stuck to the stones, you could avoid triggering the worms altogether.

Deciding to test his theory, Ron hopped back across the field onto one of the stones. 

Nothing happened.

"Just as I thought." 

Which suggested these monsters weren't purely about maximizing lethality through vows. They were deliberately created with certain flaws, so any Kurta who knew the trick could bypass them.

"In that case, there must be a built-in weakness for these crows, too. 

And it probably isn't difficult to exploit."

Ron eyed the scattered stones across the ground—they looked noticeably different from the ones back in the grasslands. He picked one up and lobbed it at the crows overhead. They dodged easily, then dove for Ron at swordlike speed.

"Shhhk!"

Before they reached him, Akutagawa sliced them apart. The thrown stone dropped to the ground with a dull thud.

Clunk!

Suddenly, as though startled by the noise, the rest of the crows flapped away in a hurry.

Ron raised an eyebrow. 

"So the weakness is sound. The noise from the stones colliding… 

That's interesting—reminds me of the old saying, 'Where venomous snakes prowl, an antidote is never far away.'"

He didn't keep banging on stones, though. Instead, he allowed the crows to attack, and let Akutagawa slaughter them. When the crystal sphere's progress hit nine percent, he finally had Akutagawa grab two stones to clang them together while leaving that zone.

Beyond the stone-strewn plain, he found a stretch of yellow sand—and more strikingly, a lone figure standing amid that sandy expanse, locked in battle with a pack of creatures.

A woman with long, purple hair pulled into a ponytail. She glanced over when Ron appeared. (t/N: She had purple hair in the 1999 version) 

"A Spider," Ron thought, unsurprised.

He'd known that coming to the Kurta Clan's hideout meant crossing paths with Phantom Troupe members eventually. Not long ago, he'd glimpsed Franklin from a distance, though they hadn't interacted. This was the first time he'd ended up so close with one of them.

In this vicinity, only Ron and Machi stood. Judging by Machi's build, she seemed trim, younger than twenty at this point—but her appearance made her look even younger. Her outfit wasn't especially mature either, and her height wasn't too far from Ron's. 

Nen energy pulsed around her, strong enough that Ron narrowed his eyes and used Gyo on both of them.

"She's on par with Franklin in aura level, yet I suspect her combat style might differ," Ron reflected. 

Even if two users had similar amounts of aura, the way they allocated their focus could vary greatly. Some poured much of their effort into direct battle skills; others honed abilities like poison, healing, or intelligence gathering. Galeu was a prime example: though classified as A-level, two-thirds of his skill lay in toxins, leaving only a third for fighting. In a sudden confrontation, a well-trained B-level fighter might outmatch him.

"Franklin's ability, the Double Machine Gun, leans heavily toward combat. Machi's Nen threads, on the other hand, are more geared for medical use, stitching wounds. They can be used offensively too, but it's not her primary focus. Her actual battle power may lag behind Franklin's. Of course, a real fight depends on many factors, including location and surprise."

Machi stood in the shifting sands, beset by many creatures. She'd fashioned her Nen threads into a large net, simultaneously shielding herself and tangling up the monsters around her. Whenever they lunged, they snagged in those threads and hurt each other. All Machi needed to do was maintain the lines.

"Quite clever."

Ron stayed still, letting her do the work. The crystal sphere continued absorbing the monster's traits as Machi killed them. In a sense, she was clearing the field for Ron. One by one, the creatures fell. Their numbers, however, kept rising.

Ron glanced around. 

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