Gourmet Hunter (HxH Fanfic)

There were many ways to protect someone.

Kenda's decision to have Law take Ellie and flee was one way, but it did not eliminate the danger.

These two people were obviously coming for Ellie. While the gunfight on the long street was still in stalemate, they could work together to eliminate these two to avoid any worries.

In Law's opinion, the bearded man and the earless man were far from overwhelming threats. If he cooperates with Kenda, it should not be difficult to deal with them.

This was Law's plan when the two opponents first appeared. However, Kenda's following words surprised him.

Kenda actually intended to stay behind alone while sending Law and Ellie away. He also revealed Kuri and Vogt's evil intentions, which left Law perplexed.

Law already harbored grudges against Kuri, and no matter how this mission unfolded, he would remain wary of Kuri without needing Kenda's reminder.

However, when Kenda mentioned that Kuri and Vogt were scheming something at this time, it was obviously not because of the grudge between him and Kuri that he made the warning.

Kenda concealed some information concerning Kuri, and Law wanted to know what it was.

But before that, they needed to deal with the bearded man and the earless man as quickly as possible.

"Be careful."

Law's eyes flashed with resolve. He made his decision. Ignoring Ellie's protests, he ran to the other side of the alley with her in his arms.

"Law, Young Miss is the one who least deserves to be hurt."

Kenda faced the bearded man and the earless man and said something cryptic and incomprehensible.

In response, Law remained silent.

"Law, you can't do this!" When Ellie saw that Law agreed to let Kenda stay alone to cover for their retreat, she kept struggling.

Sometimes, people's emotions override their rationality.

Ellie knew very well that if she stayed there, she would only be a burden. She also knew that Kenda staying behind alone was incredibly dangerous and he might very likely die.

She didn't understand Nen or combat, but she could still sense that these two enemies were stronger than Kenda. After all, Kenda's bullets had been useless against them.

The thought of Kenda dying overwhelmed her, and her not-yet-ten-year-old reason crumbled under the weight of her emotions.

Her struggling brought Law some inconvenience, but it didn't hinder him much.

"Law, I hate you!" Ellie cried.

Law remained silent. He didn't have time to explain to Ellie.

"Trying to run?"

Seeing Law holding Ellie and turning to run, the bearded man bursted into laughter. His scimitar shone as Nen enveloped it, and he lunged forward. At the same time, the man earless man maintained the effect of his Nen Ability and ran in front of the bearded man.

'Damn it…'

Kenda's heart sank when he saw the other party was so cautious.

He deliberately threw away his submachine gun in order to make the other party relax, and then used the gun hidden under his waistcoat to deliver a fatal shot.

However, these two were too careful and have a certain basis for cooperation. Since exploiting any openings would be difficult, he can only fight them head-on!

Taking a deep breath, Kenda steadied himself, and a not very abundant amount of Aura surged through his body. Judging from the Aura he released, it was about the same as that of the bearded man and the earless man.

The splashing of his boots on puddles was muffled by the relentless gunfire echoing from the main street.

The gap between the two sides closed rapidly. Combat erupted.

The bearded man swung his scimitar in large, sweeping arcs. Despite its exaggerated size, the blade moved nimbly, its wind cutting through the rain-soaked air.

The strange, shield-like blade lent itself to an equally bizarre combat style. Its strikes came not only as slashes but also as blunt, shield-like smacks that made Kenda's evasions stiff and awkward.

This awkwardness was a result of the 'prediction' that comes from Kenda's monocle, which guided his movements rather than his own instinct.

Although his movements were stiff, Kenda still managed to dodge every blow from the bearded man.

However, with the earless man's close-combat strikes added to the mix, he was barely holding on.

The alley is twenty meters long, which is not very far.

Law had other ideas in mind, so he didn't run very fast.

Ellie's small fists pounded weakly against his chest as she continued to cry and struggle, but Law ignored her and ran forward while looking back at the bearded man and the earless man who were fighting with Kenda.

He... is observing!

Kenda's plan for Law to take Ellie and meet up with Barney made sense on the surface, but Law didn't entirely agree with it.

'Their Nen isn't particularly strong.'

'They're cautious and seem to have some level of teamwork.'

'The trickier one is the man with the sword. If we get rid of him first, the other one will be easy to deal with.'

'Kenda is struggling to dodge but isn't counterattacking. He's focusing entirely on defense to buy time rather than trying to defeat them.'

'The opponents have realized this too, that's why their attacks feel casual, without any real sense of danger.'

'I need to... memorize the Nen signature of these three.'

Law took a deep breath, quickened his pace, and rushed out of the alley in one go.

After leaving the alley, Ellie had given up struggling and sobbed softly, "I don't want Kenda to die."

Law placed a hand gently on Ellie's head, which was buried in his chest, and whispered, "Kenda won't die. I promise."

Ellie suddenly raised her head, looked at Law with red eyes, and sobbed, "Really?"

"Of course."

Law lowered his head and smiled at her, then slowly raised his head with a solemn expression.

'The person who least deserves to be hurt is Ellie...'

Law agreed with that sentiment. But whether it was Kenda or even Barney, they deserved their death even if it was at the hands of their enemies.

Over the past ten days, Law had learned a bit about Barney's background through Ellie. That pointed-headed man they met in the hotel lobby that day was right when he called Barney a drug lord.

Saving Kenda is good for Ellie, and the same goes for killing the bearded man and the earless man.

Law's mind worked rapidly. He is formulating a plan to exploit the moment when the two enemies believed he had fled, creating an opportunity for a decisive strike.

…

When Law took Ellie out of the alley, Kenda's tense mood relaxed a little, and he concentrated on dealing with the joint attack of the bearded man and the earless man.

'The longer I could hold out, the safer Young Lady would be.'

With that in mind, Kenda concentrated fully on defense and did not dare to counterattack rashly, for fear of giving the opponent an opportunity.

Even with the assistance of his conjured monocle, Kenda still had a hard time, as physical combat had never been his strong point.

"This guy is unexpectedly tough to handle."

During their exchange, the bearded man spoke in a bad tone.

He had thought that, without his gun, Kenda would be an easy target, but instead, the butler still had enough fight in him to fend off their attacks. Seeing his target running away, he began to get anxious.

"It doesn't matter. Let's finish him first. Barney isn't our target anyway. As long as those idiots on the street don't all die, we'll have another chance to intercept the little girl." The earless man said with calm expression.

When the bearded man heard this, he thought it made sense and focused on attacking.

…

As time passed, the sweat and rain from Kenda's body merged together, and his defense was beginning to falter.

The bearded man and the earless man noticed this and their attacks became more fierce.

Bang!

The bearded man seized an opening. Twisting his wrist, he slammed the flat of his scimitar hard against Kenda's right arm. The sharp crack of bone breaking echoed through the alley as Kenda was sent flying, tumbling several times before coming to a stop.

"Haha, got him."

The bearded man laughed loudly. Though the strike had only broken Kenda's arm, it effectively sealed his fate.

'Not long enough...'

A lot of blood oozed from the corners of Kenda's mouth. He stood up quickly, but his right arm hung limp and useless. Even so, Nen surged visibly around his body, seemingly intensifying.

That blow not only broke his right arm, but the impact also damaged his internal organs.

"Huh? This guy can still fight?"

Seeing Kenda's increasing Aura, the bearded man and the earless man were slightly surprised.

"It doesn't matter how much he struggles. His fate is already sealed." The bearded man said coldly.

Kenda is the butler of the Garfield Family, but he wasn't an outsider... as Ellie is his sister's daughter.

Even if he died, even if Barney died, Ellie alone could not be allowed to suffer harm.

The rain falling on his body felt colder than ever.

Kenda's expression was eerily calm as he faced the two enemies, as if he had made peace with death.

'This guy…'

The bearded man and the earless man frowned slightly when they saw this. People who fully accepted death were always the hardest to deal with, however, since Kenda was already on the verge of collapse, he posed little threat to them.

Their faces hardened with killing intent as they rushed toward Kenda.

Boom!

At this moment, the wall to their right exploded, sending rubble flying toward them.

…

At the alley on the right side of the long street.

Martin looked at the two figures emerging slowly from the other end of the alley with a serious expression.

They were two burly men with similar looks and builds, both with sharp, fang-like features.

"The Jackal Brothers...!"

Martin's voice was heavy as he named the newcomers.