Attack and Defense

The enemy's strength was greater than anticipated.

In times like these, the most rational course of action was to make a run for it.

So, despite the pressure of orders from above, the grim young man, after some internal struggle, decided to avoid the immediate confrontation.

He'd consider tonight's sniping mission as an intelligence-gathering operation...

This was the reasoning the grim young man, named Vaughn, used to convince himself.

His will to fight then receded like a tide, and he turned to flee.

When facing a strong enemy deemed unbeatable, choosing to retreat and avoid battle was nothing to be ashamed of.

Only by staying alive could the clock hands continue to move forward.

And only by staying alive could one get the chance for "next time."

Seeing Vaughn flee, a peculiar expression flickered in Moro's eyes.

But things had reached this point, and with his "nascent battle intent" already formed, how could he let Vaughn leave? While raising his guard, he gave chase at his fastest speed.

Around three hundred meters—

While pursuing, Moro estimated the distance between them with his eyesight.

It was far, but not a problem.

"Flying Star: Swallow Return."

While sprinting, Moro shot two shurikens backward with both hands. He didn't look back, instead keeping his eyes fixed on Vaughn ahead.

The training principles he usually adhered to proved their worth at this moment.

As Moro adjusted his position, he found the timing by feel, easily dodging the two shurikens coming from behind.

Whoosh, whoosh—

Accompanied by a slightly sharp whistling sound as they cut through the air, the two shurikens passed Moro and flew straight towards Vaughn in front.

Vaughn had already witnessed the shurikens' long-range striking capability, so he was prepared.

As the two shurikens approached, he narrowly dodged them. He then watched as the two shurikens carved two trajectories through the night, striking a rock in the wilderness.

Bang!

In an instant, the energy contained within the shurikens erupted. The seemingly solid rock instantly shattered into pieces.

And in order to dodge these two shurikens, Vaughn inevitably slowed down his escape.

At the same time, he glimpsed Moro's resolute intention to keep him here.

Therefore, when this battle became unavoidable, running away turned out to be the worst choice.

Vaughn cursed inwardly but quickly adjusted his mindset, preparing himself mentally for the engagement.

However, even though his decision shifted from avoidance to engagement, he didn't immediately stop his escape.

As the distance between them continuously closed, Vaughn, risking exposing his back to Moro, managed to bait out several of the shurikens Moro was using for pursuit.

This action somewhat depleted Moro's potential aura output.

It was hard to say whether this risky behavior, like licking blood off a blade, would yield any advantage...

But if Vaughn had understood Moro's shuriken mechanism, he certainly wouldn't have taken such a risk.

Because the shurikens' unique two-stage power-doubling mechanism actually consumed 1 point of energy to produce 2 points of output.

Therefore, the Nen consumption Moro used for pursuit wasn't as much as Vaughn had anticipated.

Under these circumstances, Vaughn, in order to evade the successively thrown shurikens, inevitably affected the rhythm of his movements.

A flaw thus appeared—

Of course, even if the rhythm between running and dodging went awry, as long as Moro couldn't instantly deploy shurikens, Vaughn could readjust his rhythm in that gap, thereby closing the flaw.

However, things did not go as planned.

Vaughn would take risks to execute his strategy of reducing Nen quantity, and the reason Moro didn't hesitate to consume Nen wasn't entirely due to the shuriken mechanism.

Creating an opening and striking that opening.

This was the outcome Moro desired.

And while his current "Hatsu" couldn't support a seamless offensive flow, he had another weapon.

Seeing Vaughn's Nen distribution become unbalanced due to the shuriken assault, and his running movements falling out of rhythm—

Moro decisively drew his pistol.

Marksmanship, in itself, is honed through the expenditure of a large number of bullets.

And in this world, as long as one had enough money, there was no shortage of bullets to buy.

Moro had both money and the drive, which was why his marksmanship was excellent.

Bang, bang...!

Moro raised his gun and pulled the trigger, emptying the magazine in a very short time, filling the space that Vaughn would have had to catch his breath after the shurikens ran out.

In an instant, the bullet, still hot and spinning rapidly, flew sixty to seventy meters towards Vaughn's weak points.

Facing this sudden barrage, Vaughn's pupils constricted sharply as he abruptly stopped and turned around.

"Hearth."

Ability activated!

Vaughn's abdomen transformed into a fireplace burning with flames, while he allocated his remaining aura output to his front.

Twelve bullets arrived as expected.

Chh-chh-chh—

Gouts of blood spurted from Vaughn's cheeks, shoulders, and the sides of his legs, each a wound from a bullet.

The remaining bullets either missed entirely or flew into the fireplace on his abdomen.

Swish!

Those few bullets instantly acted as fuel, causing the flames in the fireplace to burn fiercely, turning into a mass of fire.

While not overwhelmingly intense, the flames caused Vaughn's aura output to increase noticeably.

"Now's my chance!"

Empowered by his ability, Vaughn decisively stomped the ground and charged forward, heading straight for Moro.

From Vaughn stopping to block the bullets to suddenly switching from defense to offense, the entire process took no more than a second.

But this brief moment was enough for Moro to clearly see the changes in Vaughn.

The materialized fireplace, the flames ignited by the swallowed bullets, the significant increase in aura output.

These visible pieces of information undoubtedly pointed to one answer:

A Nen ability that converted damage into beneficial effects!

And judging by the flames' behavior, this buff was definitely time-limited.

Realizing this, Moro immediately reined in his offense, shifting his focus to defense.

The opponent's ability was now an open book, reducing the threat to some extent.

"So fast to react..."

Seeing Moro respond so quickly, Vaughn was inwardly surprised, but his attack didn't falter.

He used the brief surge in his power to close the distance to Moro.

Then, Vaughn threw a straight punch towards Moro's face.

Moro dropped his pistol and blocked the attack with his arm.

At that moment, Vaughn stepped forward, and with his other hand, he struck upwards towards Moro's chin.

Moro struggled to defend and could only retreat, dodging the uppercut.

Seizing the advantage, as Moro retreated, Vaughn twisted his waist and kicked, striking Moro in the abdomen.

Bang!

This kick sent Moro flying.

Despite being violently suppressed by Vaughn, Moro remained calm.

When the flames in the fireplace weakened, it would be time to counterattack...

He knew this was the most prudent course of action.

Yet, he felt he couldn't just defend passively.

That would be too rigid.

While airborne, Moro's thoughts shifted, and he put his ideas into action.

Before landing, he endured the pain and shot two Flying Stars towards Vaughn with both hands.

Then, as Vaughn's attention was drawn to those two Flying Stars, Moro kicked a marble-sized Flying Star behind him with his heel before landing steadily.

In a round that should have been purely defensive, he took the risk of setting up a follow-up...

If it were the Moro from before his death and rebirth, with little practical combat experience, he would never have made such a choice.

Now, Repeated practical combat was filling the gaps in Moro's previous inexperience, acting as nourishment.

This was the most crucial and important first step in the growth of his combat abilities.