Phantom Troupe's Web

Chapter 38.

The Phantom Troupe members gather in the desert, after a brawl with the mafia and some Shadow Beasts, Uvogin is left immobilised by poison and leeches. Illuki let out an exhausted sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose as she listened to Uvogin request ice-cold beer from Franklin while Shizuku readied her conjured vacuum to remove the poison from the caveman's body when suddenly chains appeared around his muscular body; shocking the spiders as the heavy-set man is pulling into the air and disappearing. Illuki's eyes narrowed in the direction that Uvogin's body was pulled, her arms uncrossing as Nobunaga and Feitan jumped down into the pit where Shalnark and Shizuku stood.

"Did you see that?" the blonde asked the group.

"Those chains came out of nowhere, wrapping around his body?" Shizuku asked, stating the obvious.

Nobunaga walked closer to Shalnark, staring up at the sky. "Is it a new Shadow Beast? Uvo can't move because of the tranquillizer and the leeches are still inside him," he asked no one in particular, commenting about his friend's current state.

Shalnark sighs, ruffling his hair. "Guess we've got no choice...Let's go and save him." he sighs, head hanging low.

"Oh boy. He's so much trouble," Feitan complains nonchalantly.

"We can still find out where he's going," Machi tells them, a hand glowing with aura. "I used In to make my thread invisible. So as long as they don't use Gyo to spot the needle, I can follow them anywhere," she informs them, standing beside their Web who blankly looks at the sky.

"Okay, let's find them before they figure out," Shalnark nods.

Shalnark gives an affirmative nod of approach, turning back in the direction in front of them and declares with a confident voice. "Okay! Let's find them before they figure out!"

"This our chance to finish off the remaining Shadow Beasts," Nobunaga comments, his blonde comrade calling up to Franklin to leave ahead of them to retrieve the beers for Uvogin.

Illuki hums, jumping down to the pit and resting a hand on her waist. "You guys take a car. I'll keep an aerial view," she tells them, the hues of her blue orbs shifting to a crimson red as a summoning circle appeared beneath her – a soft breeze and glow appearing before a Nen griffin stood protectively around her. "Let's go," she nods, hopping onto the creature and lifting into the air; pulling out her phone and calling Chrollo to update him.

Shalnark opted to drive the vehicle with Shizuku in the passenger seat and the others wedged together in the small space of the backseats. The swordsman of the troupe had drawn the small end of the string for he was placed in the middle of the backseat between Feitan and Machi; Nobunaga had been complaining the entire ride about his seating arrangement which was ignored by his comrades. Suddenly a figure dropped onto the car hood causing the vehicle to swerve; with quick reflexes, the troupe members aside from Nobunaga escaped the car as a burlap cloak swallowed the vehicle and shrinked into a pocket-sized sack. The culprit approaches the small pouch, lifting it to his face and hears a voice complaining before turning around to see the spiders standing on a pile of rocks, staring at him.

Illuki silently dismisses her griffin, landing beside Feitan with her hands on her waist, staring blankly at the newcomer. "You guys aren't your average joes," the man had wide eyes and wore shades, an orange button-down that was poorly buttoned with beige pants; his face held a pleased smirk, staring at the non-speaking group of spiders. "Given that you were fast and quick enough to open the door and escape," he compliments, giving them weary eyes. "I'll need to stand on guard," he added.

"Nobunaga was in a bad spot," Feitan mumbles, hands tucked into his coat pockets while he thinks back to the car seating arrangements before dismissing the minor issue and focusing on the strange man's ability. From beside the man, the dichromatic-haired woman tilts her head to the side, leaning forward while staring in slight awe at the stranger's Nen ability.

"Anyways, you have a fascinating ability," the pink-haired thief comments indifferently, eyeing the man.

"So anything wrapped in that cloth gets shrunken, looks like the ultimate accessory for theft," Shizuku said from her position behind Shalnark and beside Illuki, arms by her side.

"With that thing, you could fit all the treasures in your pocket," Machi continued to praise the ability.

"So he's the one who took the treasures from the underground auction house. Which means he can turn them back to their original size," the blonde of the group summarised with a bright smile.

Shizuku tilted her head up slightly before turning it towards their Web who felt her gaze. "I believe the boss mentioned his name is Owl. Right Iris?" the glass-wearing woman recalled, the monochromatic female beside her humming in agreement.

"That's right. If we capture and bring him back to the boss, we can finish our mission easily," Illuki told her comrades, her arms crossed under her chest as she straightened herself to loom over the shadow beast regally. "His ability can be helpful for future jobs as well," she added, gesturing a hand to Owl with an indifferent expression.

"Seems his friends have arrived to help," Feitan glances over to the cliff beside them where the reaming Shadow Beasts stood. The dichromatic-haired and glasses-wearing thieves counted the number of Beasts before Shizuku made a sound of realisation, prompting Shalnark to question her.

"There are a total of ten Shadow Beasts, right? Uvo took care of four, so this should be all of them," she explains to them.

"How odd...The chain user grabbed Uvo, before escaping by car," Feitan commented.

"So does that mean the chain user isn't a Shadow Beast?" Machi asked, looking up at Feitan and Illuki.

"Well, we'll find out once we ask them..."

"Do we need to keep all of them alive?" Shizuku asked, looking over at the beasts.

Illuki shook her head, turning to look at the short-haired woman. "No. Just Owl," she tells her before glancing back at the remaining Shadow Beasts.

"Then let me handle it," Machi tells them, provoking the beasts.

"Shalnark, Iris – you just stay there and watch. I'll take three. Shizuku can take the other two," Feitan orders, aura appearing around his hand. It didn't take long for the two thieves to kill the remaining beasts, leaving a tied-up Owl with Machi and Illuki. "Just leave them. No point in hiding them now," Feitan tells Shizuku when she asks about the dead bodies, turning to where Machi, Shalnark and Illuki stood with Owl.

"Okay, let's free Nobunaga before we start torturing this guy," Shalnarks tells them but Machi stops him.

"Hold on. We're taking this Owl in the care with us, right? There's no room, so let's leave Nobunaga as is," the pink-haired female tells the blonde, ignoring the tiny shouts that were coming from the thrashing sack.

The others agreed about the cramped space while their Web giggled, summoning her griffin and hopping onto it with a childish smile – waving at the group. "Let's head back to the hideout. The boss and I will devise a plan about Uvo's situation," she tells them, taking off into the air.