Chapter 50
Haruto’s eyes gradually turned cold as he watched the two prisoners close in.
"Wrong choice."
Before the words had fully left his mouth, he moved.
His figure blurred like a ghost and appeared beside the two men before either of them could react.
Their vision barely had time to flicker before agony exploded through their arms.
Crack! Crack!
Two sharp snaps echoed across the arena as Haruto broke both prisoners’ arms.
They collapsed to their knees with screams of pain, cold sweat instantly soaking through their clothes.
All the arrogance vanished from their faces, leaving only agony and fear.
Haruto looked down at them.
"You understand the difference between us now. Surrender."
Silence answered him.
The two prisoners clenched their teeth so tightly that veins bulged across their foreheads, yet neither was willing to say the word.
As long as they continued delaying the applicants, their sentences would still be reduced.
Haruto frowned and glanced toward Hisoka, who stood outside the arena with his back against the stone wall and an amused smile on his face.
When he noticed Haruto looking at him, Hisoka spoke leisurely.
"I already told you. Those two are yours to deal with."
He clearly had no intention of helping.
Irritation welled up inside Haruto.
He turned back toward the prisoners, who were trembling violently from the pain but still refused to surrender.
A harsh edge entered his voice.
"I don’t have time to waste on you!"
"This is your last chance. Surrender—or die."
Until now, Haruto had never seriously considered killing anyone.
But he understood that it was something he would eventually have to face.
That was precisely why, despite his hesitation, he had agreed to handle the prisoners himself.
The two men went pale at his ultimatum, fear plainly visible in their eyes, but they still bit their lips and refused to answer.
They were gambling on Haruto not having the nerve to kill.
His gaze slowly hardened.
With the Myriad Worlds House, he was certain to encounter countless enemies in the future.
If he could not even resolve himself to take a life when necessary, then he might as well remain safely hidden in the Food Wars! world forever.
Besides, these two were vicious murderers whose deaths would hardly be undeserved.
Once Haruto made his decision, all hesitation left his face.
He calmly crouched and reached out beneath the prisoners’ horrified gazes, closing one hand around the first man’s neck.
A quiet crack sounded as the prisoner immediately went limp.
There was none of the nausea or revulsion Haruto had imagined.
His heart remained strangely calm.
He casually released the body and looked toward the second prisoner.
The man had been terrified nearly out of his mind and opened his mouth to beg for mercy, but Haruto’s hand was already around his throat.
A moment later, the arena fell completely silent.
Satisfaction flashed through Hisoka’s eyes as he watched Haruto finish them.
He clapped lightly, pleasure coloring his voice.
"Very good... My little fruit has finally begun to grow..."
Haruto gave him a cold look before turning toward the newly opened passage on the other side of the arena.
It was still far too early for him to fight Hisoka.
The murderous intent in Haruto’s gaze only made Hisoka more excited!
...
After passing through several more checkpoints, Haruto and Hisoka entered another broad stone chamber.
The moment they stepped inside, a figure hidden in the shadows slowly raised his head, revealing a face crossed with scars.
It was Togari, the examiner Hisoka had seriously wounded during the previous year’s Hunter Exam.
"I’ve been waiting for you, Hisoka!"
Togari glared at him with naked hatred.
He completely ignored Haruto standing beside him.
"I didn’t come here as an examiner this year. I came for revenge."
"Ever since last year’s exam... I’ve lived for one purpose—to kill you."
As he spoke, Togari drew a curved blade from his waist.
He had been an examiner, yet Hisoka, a mere applicant, had left him grievously injured.
The scars on his face were a lifelong humiliation. Only Hisoka’s death could erase that shame!
Haruto chose a clean stone step and sat down, idly tapping his fingers against its surface.
He had no interest in interfering with their personal grudge.
Hisoka tilted his head, a contemptuous smile on his face.
"That only proves you were a terrible examiner."
"I suppose you could call it the student surpassing the teacher."
He had no objection to people seeking revenge against him. In fact, that was one of the many things that kept life entertaining.
Hisoka sincerely hoped the former examiner could offer him some unexpected amusement.
"Still running your mouth!"
Hisoka’s attitude ignited the fury Togari had accumulated for an entire year.
With an enraged shout, he drew a second curved blade.
Both weapons began spinning rapidly in his hands.
"Prepare yourself!"
"..."
"Two-sword style?"
Hisoka raised an eyebrow, the anticipation in his eyes fading.
Compared with last year, Togari had merely added another blade.
How disappointing.
Just as Hisoka began losing interest, Togari suddenly threw both curved blades into the air.
Then he reached behind himself and drew two more from the sheaths on his back.
That regained a small measure of Hisoka’s attention.
"Infinite Four-Blade Style—take this!"
Togari roared and snapped his wrists forward, sending the two blades in his hands spinning toward Hisoka.
Hisoka shifted lightly aside and avoided them with ease.
Togari had expected that. He had never believed those first two blades would land.
They were merely the opening to his true killing move.
He caught the first pair of blades as they fell from above and charged toward Hisoka.
At the same time, the two weapons he had just thrown curved around like boomerangs and came whistling toward Hisoka’s back.
Even Hisoka was briefly surprised by the sudden change.
He twisted aside at the last moment, but not quite quickly enough.
The blades sliced through his clothing and left two bloody cuts across his shoulder and waist.
Watching from the stone steps, Haruto narrowed his eyes and lightly shook his head.
Judging from Togari’s volatile temper and wild appearance, he was most likely an Enhancer.
Yet he had developed an ability focused on controlling flying blades, something far more suited to a Manipulator.
He had chosen the wrong path.
No matter how hard he trained, he would always achieve half the result for twice the effort.
The outcome of this fight had been decided before it even began.
Togari had no idea what Haruto was thinking.
The sight of Hisoka bleeding filled his eyes with ecstatic joy.
"It’s not over yet!"
He threw the blades in his hands upward once more and caught the other two as they returned.
"Above, below, left, right, front, and back! Hisoka, there’s nowhere left for you to escape!"
"Struggle all you like! Then die, Hisoka!"
Togari was already completely intoxicated by the prospect of finally taking his revenge.
The smile slowly faded from Hisoka’s face, replaced by irritation.
He had played long enough.
This was simply too boring.
When Togari launched another pair of rapidly spinning blades, Hisoka did not bother dodging.
"You’re right. Avoiding all of them would be rather troublesome."
As he spoke, Hisoka reached out and caught both spinning blades with his bare hands.
"So I only need to... catch them."
He weighed the weapons casually in his palms, gave them an effortless spin, and looked at Togari with a particularly cruel smile.
"That was much easier than I expected."
"What a shame! You put so much effort into something so utterly pointless."
Togari’s pupils contracted.
Hisoka had casually accomplished what had taken him half a year to master.
In that instant, all his courage to resist disappeared.
Hisoka killed him with ease.
Once Togari had been dealt with, Haruto and Hisoka continued onward.
After passing through a relatively short, dark corridor, they entered an enormous room.
Lippo’s voice immediately sounded through the speakers.
"Number 44, Hisoka."
"First applicant to clear the Third Phase."
"Completion time: six hours and fifty-five minutes."
"Number 103, Suzuki Haruto."
"Second applicant to clear the Third Phase."
"Completion time: six hours and fifty-five minutes."