Phantom Troupe's Web

Chapter 16.

After some time passes, the remaining 10 applicants, the examiners of the pass exam phases and the chairman landed at the venue of the Final Phase of the Hunter Exam. "Well gentlemen and lady, did you get plenty of rest?" Chairman Netero grinned at the only female left in the group, Iris returning the gesture half-heartedly. "This hotel is owned by the Hunter Exam Selection Committee. The place is all yours until the battles have concluded. For the Final Phase, we will be holding a 1-on-1 tournament," the old man presented, throwing off the cover from the board one of his subordinates had rolled in.

Revealing the board to the group, the chairman explains the conditions of the 1-on-1 battles, announcing only one person among the passing applicants would fail the exam. The old man then peels off the bottom cover to reveal the opponents of each round, some unfairly being judged. Observing the bracket, Iris notices that she won't be fighting for a while and thus decided to drop herself onto the ground, sitting criss-cross. 'What bogus. This bracket isn't exactly fair' she huffed.

The first round of the 1-on-1 fights was Gon against the ninja-looking participant, Hanzo was his name. Uninterested in their fight, the magenta-haired female yawns, resting her cheek against the palm of her hand, staring into nothingness. Despite looking like she was dozing off, she had heard the rules the chairman had informed them about, especially about killing an opponent which lead to an automatic elimination. The female then felt someone tapping the top of her head, causing her to glance up at the culprit from where she was seated, glaring at the culprit.

"Where you listening? Killing your opponent disqualifies you~," he whispered, leaning down.

She sneers, swatting his hand away and turning her attention to the fight in front of them, emerald hues following the figure of Gon. "Of course I was," she muttered, slumping into her hands with a harsh sigh. 'Seriously...I'm already getting bored' she thoughts, dazing into space.

The disguised female is snapped out of her daze upon hearing her younger brother's voice from the other end of the line the applicants were standing in. "Why did you let him win? I'm sure you knew how to make Gon surrender without killing him. Given your skills," the child said, questioning the ninja. Glancing around the open space, the magenta-haired female noticed the ambitious spiky-haired boy wasn't inside the room.

Hanzo turned to Killua. "When I torture someone, I expect that person to hate me for the rest of their life. It's more effective and less stressful. When someone is in pain, their eyes show a gleam of hostility toward the one responsible for that pain. But there was no gleam in Gon's eyes," he explained, pointing to his left eye. "Can you believe it? I had just broken his arm. But his eyes had already forgotten about that. I guess you could say that he won me over. If you need a reason, there you go," the male stated.

From her spot on the ground, Iris yawns while watching the next fight between Hisoka and Kurapika begin. She raises an eyebrow at the redhead who surrenders after whispering something into the blonde's ear. "What was that?" the former assassin asked her acquaintance once he reached her, eyeing him suspiciously however was responded with a mere smile by the magician. As the rounds go on, the more bored the girl got. Hanzo won his next round, Hisoka made another applicant, Bodoro, surrender with ease, Killua surrendered his first round since he had no interest in fighting an elf-looking participant, and Leorio wanted to wait til Bodoro's injuries were healed before their fight. That left Gittarackur and Killua to fight before Iris fought whoever proceed to the next round.

The fight between her brothers intrigued Iris, her body moving to stand up from her spot on the floor, arms crossing under her chest as she stared at the pair; a smirk makes its way onto the girl's pale face, a finger tapping on her cheek. 'This is going to be interesting' she silently giggled, adjusting her shirt and leaning slightly forward for a better view of the fight.

"It's been too long Kil," Gittarackur states, shocking the younger boy. He begins to remove the pins wedge in his face, reverting to his natural self.

"..Brother..," the white-haired child trailed off, pupils shaking at the sight of the taller and older male.

"Yo. I heard that you cut up mum and Milluki," Illumi greeted his brother, speaking in a blank tone as he usually did. "Mum was crying," he said, tilting his head to the side.

From beside her, Iris heard Leorio muttering under his breath. "Anyone would cry if their son did that to them," he gritted out. A small chuckle escapes the woman's rose-tinted lips at his statement, shaking her head softly with closed eyes at the ridiculous statement.

"Tears of joy," Illumi clarified. "She was so happy to see that you'd grown up. But she was worried about you leaving home, so she sent me to check up on you. What a coincidence. I didn't know you wanted to be a hunter. I'm trying to get a license for my next job," the assassin tells his brother, ignoring the other applicants.

Killua stares at the ground, sweating under the gaze of his older brother. "I don't really want to be a Hunter. I just felt like taking the exam," he replied, glancing between the ground and the male in front of him.

"I see..," the black-haired assassin began, his bloodlust releasing slowly to surround him. "That's a relief. Then I have some advice for you. You're not cut out to be a Hunter. You were born to be...A killer," Illumi says, staring down at the 12-year-old. "You're a puppet of darkness, without passion. You don't want anything or wish for anything. As one who lives in the shadows, you can only feel pleasure when people die. That's how dad and I raised you," he continued while Killua maintained a strong gaze on his brother despite his eyes shaking.