Shuffle The Deck

Chapter 24 - Consequence

Failure wasn't an option for her. Not anymore.

Picking her battered figure up, she clenched her palms into fists, her Nen emitting her body in an explosion of aura. Hisoka's lips parted slightly, watching her stride closer to him. He lifted a finger, and pulled it towards him, knocking her off balance. But instead of crashing to the ground, she used the tumble to her advantage, launching herself into his direction.

She spun towards Hisoka, who was ready to punch her once again. He managed to swing at her side, but at the same time, she had also dug a dagger made of ice deep into his shoulder.

She was jolted a few feet away, picking herself up and charging once again. The referee hadn't counted his punch, since not only had she avoided the clean hit, but she withstood it smoothly.

Hisoka pulled the bloodied dagger out of his skin, eyeing it with a grin. He swiftly threw it at Lilah, and she caught it in between her index and middle fingers with ease. She dissolved it into snow, his blood landing on her clothes. She shuddered and shook her hand, making him chuckle. 

She approached him at a rapid pace once again, uppercutting his chin with her heel. He flew into the air, blocking but not avoiding her barrage of punches.

As he swung in for a deadly end to the battle, she launched herself off his chest, and to the very edge of the ring, her weight slowly tipping over the side.

"Woah, woah, shit!" 

She thrust her hands behind her, creating a geyser of ice to save her from dropping out of the ring. As her eyes squeezed shut to channel her ice behind her, it gave him a golden opportunity to strike.

By the time her vision was restored, he was already above her, and his fist was dangerously close to her face. In a fraction of a second, she simply rolled a few paces forward, sending him crashing to his feet behind her.

She let out a staggered exhale and turned, her face bruised and her clothes bloody. There were tears in her shirt, and her boots had lost their polish. She spat out blood, regaining her strength, and went right in for him once again. It was a miracle she dodged his attempt to attack her rib and landed a hefty blow to his abdomen. He dragged out a staggered breath, turning to her with a sly grin.

He was getting serious.

"The score is now nine to eight! They're really cutting it close, huh folks?!"

She grinned as she heard the count, preparing herself in a new stance. It was time to end this.

She had been perfecting this skill ever since she was fifteen, with a lot of guidance from Illumi. She placed both palms in front of her, catching a glimpse of Hisoka beginning to zig-zag towards her. This wind-up could not take long, and needed to be as fast as possible. She couldn't afford to have a long time to charge up this move.

Feeling the hard ground below her heels, she dug herself into it, and catapulted her body backward, avoiding his crush to the floor, leaving the cement tile in shattered pieces. She was almost ready, her hands radiating a powerful aura. He watched in amazement as a snowball formed in her hand, knowing that this move would either make this battle end in her favor, or in his.

"What's this? Delilah is holding a...Snowball?"

People looked confused at each other, chattering to themselves about what a small snowball could do to help her win this match. But she didn't care. She was ready, and so was Hisoka. He gave himself a massive boost off the ground as she wound up her arm, and flicked her wrist to send the ball flying as if her life depended on it.

He quickly maneuvered out of its way, gliding through the air with a clenched fist, ready to end this match once and for all.

But Lilah just smirked, holding her hand out in a crushing manner. The snowball had long passed him, and that made so many people utterly confused. Her plan had worked. The snowball was the powerful manifestation of yet another decoy with the power to cancel out a Nen user's attacks for a few seconds. It didn't seem too impressive, but if you were in its radius of two meters, for five seconds exactly, your Nen ability becomes frozen for an entire minute. Hence, the nature of her aura. And that was all she needed to get his Bungee Gum off her and prepare for her final move. Hisoka was now inches away from her, and she was ready.