The End

Human feet, in terms of functionality and flexibility, are inevitably inferior to hands.

Therefore, even if Moro could kick a Flying Star, its overall strength would be far inferior to a Flying Star released by his hand.

But in the ever-changing flow of battle, as long as the right power is invested at the right time, the corresponding results can be achieved.

Moro landed steadily, his gaze fixed on Vaughn ahead.

He then saw Vaughn dodge the two Flying Stars he had released before landing.

Vaughn's reaction surprised Moro somewhat.

Those two Flying Stars were intended by Moro to disrupt Vaughn's offensive rhythm.

Therefore, they were more for show and lacked direct deterrent power.

Yet Vaughn chose to interrupt his own offensive rhythm to ensure he avoided these two Flying Stars.

From Moro's perspective, in this situation, it would have been better for Vaughn to simply tank the damage from the Flying Stars rather than dodge them.

Furthermore, he possessed the ability to convert damage into power boosts, so why not try to absorb at least one Flying Star?

When Moro released those two Flying Stars, he had already mentally prepared to give Vaughn one of them, so he hadn't poured too much Nen quantity into them.

He hadn't expected such a result.

After dodging the two Flying Stars, Vaughn suddenly sensed something was wrong.

"What's going on... they're not as strong as I expected?"

When facing the Flying Stars at close range, Vaughn couldn't feel any threat.

If he hadn't subjectively believed the Flying Stars were powerful, he might have made the decision to tank their damage and maintain his offensive rhythm based on his reflexes, or perhaps used his "Hearth" to receive one of the Flying Stars.

Instead of maintaining his offensive rhythm in a situation where he had the advantage in both offense and defense, he chose to disrupt it to lower the risk.

Vaughn grew suspicious about the true nature of the Flying Stars, but there was no time to dwell on it. With his rhythm broken, he once again burst forward, directly attacking Moro ahead.

Seeing Vaughn resume his assault, Moro's eyes flashed, and he raised his hand again, releasing two more Flying Stars.

Whoosh whoosh—

The two Flying Stars, like falling streaks of light, shot towards the ground in front of Vaughn.

"Huh?"

Vaughn reflexively slowed his forward momentum.

Bang bang.

The two Flying Stars exploded on the ground in front of him.

The released energy instantly turned into shockwaves, kicking up dust and grass.

In just an instant, Vaughn was enveloped in smoke and dust.

Inside the thick smoke, Vaughn was calmer than ever before.

Because he had already perceived part of the Flying Stars' mechanics. The first Flying Star that took out his comrade likely required the condition of "distance" to be met.

Conversely, when the distance was insufficient, the power and speed of the Flying Stars were significantly weaker.

"Trying to use the smoke to cover your attack routes... it's unnecessary, but it also confirms my judgment is correct."

A psychological restraint named "apprehension" within Vaughn was now unleashed.

His gaze swept around, observing the flow of the dust and smoke with intense focus.

"Behind you!"

Suddenly, Vaughn spun around and brought up his arm horizontally.

Just then, Moro, who had circled around, threw a punch at Vaughn, but it was blocked by Vaughn's arm.

Empowered by the Hearth's flames, Vaughn's aura output was one level higher than Moro's.

As a result, although Moro attacked first, he was forcefully pushed back one step, his fist even feeling a bit numb.

Vaughn let out a silent cold laugh, took a forceful step forward, and then lifted his leg for a front kick.

Seeing this, Moro calmly retracted his hands and crossed his arms in front of him.

Boom!

Vaughn's front kick struck Moro's crossed arms like a cannonball, instantly sending out a jellyfish-shaped aura wave that dispersed some of the surrounding dust.

Driven by this force, Moro, who was at a disadvantage in terms of hardware, was forced back several steps.

But after retreating several paces, the heel of his retreating foot slammed firmly into the ground. Then, while unloading the force, he suddenly bent his knees and crouched down.

At that very moment—

Two Flying Stars flew over Moro's head.

They were the same two Flying Stars that Vaughn had dodged earlier!

After their set suspension time expired, they now returned with a "Swallow Return."

Instantly, rings were pierced through the swirling dust, and the two Flying Stars aimed directly at Vaughn's chest in mid-air.

"When?!"

Vaughn, who hadn't fully grasped the Flying Star mechanism, couldn't help but be surprised.

However, he had now rebuilt something called confidence.

As a result, he wasn't affected by his surprise and didn't choose to retreat again.

With focused concentration, he made the most correct response at the critical moment, mobilizing his aura output to set up a defense and taking the impact of one of the Flying Stars with his body.

At the same time, he successfully received another Flying Star with Hearth.

It's over—

In that instant, feeling the Hearth's flames erupt, Vaughn felt as if he had already seen the outcome of this battle.

He turned his gaze to see how Moro, who had delivered the power boost, would react.

Then he saw Moro's face was calm.

This reaction made him feel vaguely uneasy.

The next moment.

A fierce impact suddenly struck the back of his head.

Vaughn's consciousness twisted sharply, and his body staggered forward.

What's going on...?!

Confusion arose in his mind, which felt like a tangled ball of yarn.

Vaughn, who had been suddenly attacked, didn't know what had happened, but Moro, who had bent his knees, could see the egg-sized Swallow Return Flying Star falling diagonally from mid-air.

It was the Flying Star he had kicked away at the beginning, returning to strike Moro.

And because Moro remained in a crouched position, the Swallow Return Flying Star fell and hit Vaughn on the back of the head.

This timing was precisely when Vaughn had mobilized most of his Nen to build his defense and activate the Hearth's ability.

So, even though the Flying Star was only the size of an egg, it could directly damage Vaughn, who had temporarily received a power boost.

But it wasn't enough.

Moro's feet, planted on the ground, exerted force, and he charged towards the staggering Vaughn in a sprinting motion.

He raised his hand and clawed.

Fingers covered in Nen tore a large chunk of flesh from Vaughn's throat.

"Hk, hk..."

Vaughn's body trembled, and blood spurted from his mangled throat.

Immediately, a sense of suffocation occupied his thoughts. As he lost blood, his body temperature and strength also drained away, and he slowly knelt on the ground.

In a daze, a memory flashed before Vaughn's eyes.

On a cold, snowy night, his family, who had finally escaped the war, could no longer find a place to shelter.

Curled up in his parents' embrace, why was there only a cold, hard touch? Why could he no longer feel the beating of a heart?

It was so cold. He really wanted to go back to the ordinary, square Hearth, blackened by smoke...

Vaughn slowly closed his eyes, and his body collapsed onto the ground with a thud.

Ring, ring, ring—

A mobile phone ringtone suddenly sounded in the arena.

Moro glanced at Vaughn's corpse, then took out his incessantly ringing phone from his pocket.

It was probably Argo calling.

"I'm so tired."

Moro, breathing heavily, sat on Vaughn's back and took out his phone to answer.

"Hello—"

"..."

The person on the other end of the line listened to Moro's heavy breathing and fell silent for a moment.

"My big sugar daddy, you're... you're not doing something in bed right now, are you?"

"?"