You're a Genius

Kill the Third Princess...

The prince Mu'er served had only asked them to complete this mission as best they could while ensuring their own survival.

If it proved impossible, preserving their lives was to be the top priority.

Mu'er would not try to guess what the prince was thinking. From his own perspective, he understood the prince's instructions as—

Only by staying alive could he better fulfill his value as a pawn.

Mu'er was willing to be a pawn capable of bringing greater value to the prince.

Yet, just as his companion Aida had said, the prince did not want either of them to lose their lives over a single mission, but neither of them wanted to disappoint the prince.

Killing the Third Princess was of utmost importance.

For that purpose, Mu'er had already decided to offer up his heart when he inscribed the divine characters.

If they did not have to die, then naturally neither he nor his companion wanted to.

They still wanted to follow behind the prince and watch him ascend the throne at the top of the stairs.

But there was no helping it...

The obstacle before them was the Hunter Association's Twelve Zodiacs, who specialized in combat.

Without the resolve to stake his life, how could he overcome that obstacle and complete the mission?

So after "Cicada's Molt" activated, whether he was putting on an act or bluffing...

Mu'er was only trying to disrupt or mislead Kang Zai's judgment, leaving Kang Zai wavering in muddied waters and thus prolonging the time he could keep him occupied.

Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. Kang Zai had even guessed the timing with precision.

Even a few dozen more seconds would have been nice, but Kang Zai had guessed it dead on.

So once the sixty seconds were up, he would live for however many more seconds he could...

The longer he survived, the higher his companion's chances of succeeding.

If there was one regret, it was that he had failed to lure Kang Zai into dealing him more severe injuries before activating his ability.

That, too, could not be helped.

If he had not used even the most basic Nen aura to defend himself when struck, he would not have fulfilled the ability's conditions.

But more crucially, Kang Zai had been prepared beforehand. When he retaliated in haste, he had suppressed his instincts and had not targeted Mu'er's vital points.

Had he not set up a second safeguard by having his companion violently break into the room, thereby compressing Kang Zai's reaction time, he truly would not have been able to drag Kang Zai into the Nen space right away.

As expected of one of the Twelve Zodiacs—

Mu'er meant that praise sincerely. At the same time, he apologized to his companion in his heart.

Sorry, Aida... If I could have taken more of this guy's damage for you, your chances of surviving after completing the mission would have been much higher.

Even as Mu'er prepared to sacrifice himself, he firmly believed that his companion would complete the mission.

He lowered his gaze, then looked up at Kang Zai.

"Tiger of the Twelve Zodiacs, the information I have says you should be an Enhancer, but after fighting you, you're completely different from what I expected."

"Listen to you. Do you think Enhancers are just a bunch of reckless brutes who know nothing but charging headfirst?"

Kang Zai spoke without expression while silently counting down the time.

Mu'er asked in return, "Aren't they?"

The few Enhancers he had encountered had all been fearless, relying on their advantages in high attack and defense.

So when working together with his companion, Enhancers were his favorite opponents. He could catch them every time.

"Did Enhancers eat your rice or something?"

Kang Zai heard the disdain for Enhancers in Mu'er's words. His eyes widened slightly as he finished counting sixty seconds in his mind.

The Nen space had not disappeared...

At least he no longer had to worry about the counter-type ability effect of "damage sharing."

Kang Zai ended the sixty-second conversation phase. Then, with utter decisiveness, he acted on his judgment and charged fiercely toward Mu'er.

At the instant he launched his attack.

Kang Zai's not particularly muscular body erupted with the momentum of a ferocious tiger.

Mu'er, who bore the brunt of it, finally saw the characteristics an Enhancer should possess in Kang Zai.

"Even if he hasn't diverted his manifested aura to the divine characters, I still definitely can't block that..."

With just one glance, Mu'er sensed the gap between them in direct combat. That was also what made Enhancers so troublesome.

But he had never intended to fight Kang Zai head-on. He gathered aura in his feet, turned, and sprinted away, immediately increasing the distance Kang Zai would have to cover to attack him.

Unfortunately, the Nen space's rules had fixed the range of movement...

He could not jump off the airship, nor could he play hide-and-seek.

"I can hold on for a minute or two!"

Mu'er did nothing but run and evade.

Because "Cicada's Molt" required him to injure the enemy within sixty seconds, he had put considerable effort into his mobility.

Going all out to avoid battle like this, Kang Zai truly would not be able to catch him for the time being. But if he did get caught, he would very likely be killed in one blow.

Thus, Mu'er and Kang Zai began a chase across the upper level of the airship.

With Nen abilities entering the equation, their states of mind gradually switched places.

Now, the one who needed to worry was no longer Mu'er, but Kang Zai.

Although Kang Zai's victory was already certain, he still had to consider the safety of his client, Saff.

"Does this guy's Nen ability... really have such a powerful effect?"

As he pursued Mu'er, time slowly passed, and Kang Zai gradually realized that Mu'er's ability mechanics were exceeding his expectations.

After sixty seconds, with the Nen space still not gone, he could basically confirm that the "damage sharing" ability mechanism had disappeared.

At most, another thirty seconds later, the Nen space should disappear as well.

Yet the phenomenon he expected did not occur.

Kang Zai could not help frowning deeply.

He did not know that Mu'er was already stalling with the resolve to await death.

Thirty-eight seconds after the chase began.

Kang Zai finally found an opportunity to attack and threw a punch at Mu'er's back, his fist wrapped in a massive amount of Nen aura.

Facing Kang Zai's attack, Mu'er suddenly turned and raised his left arm across his body, mobilizing nearly all of his manifested aura to construct a defense.

Bang.

Crack!

That punch landed on Mu'er's left arm.

The tremendous destructive force sent his body flying backward at high speed while shattering his entire left arm on the spot.

"Do you want to know how long this Nen space will last?"

Using Kang Zai's punch to temporarily widen the distance between them, Mu'er's body dropped from the air. Paying no heed to his left arm injury, he asked and answered his own question:

"A full three hundred seconds. Do you understand now? From the moment you entered this place, you were already unable to protect that Princess."

"..."

Kang Zai's heart jolted. Ignoring Mu'er's words, he burst forward again with the speed of a tiger descending the mountain and charged straight at Mu'er.

A flippant smile appeared on Mu'er's face once more.

Although both his arms were crippled, he should still be able to stall for up to another minute.

Enough!

Just as Mu'er thought that, the yellowed hue around them suddenly receded like a tide.

"Huh!?" x2.

The abrupt change left both Mu'er and Kang Zai looking stunned.

As the yellowed color faded away completely, the two remained in their original positions. However, there was now someone standing where the lounge connected to the entrance corridor.

"It's him!"

Kang Zai looked at the person and recognized the young man who had concealed his identity as a Nen user when boarding.

That young man was Moro, who had come to inspect the situation.

Watching Kang Zai and Mu'er's bodies materialize out of thin air, Moro glanced at the divine characters on the corridor wall behind him, which had already lost their Nen aura glow. A portrait had originally hung there.

"Looks like my judgment was correct..."

Moro shifted his gaze toward Mu'er, whose Nen aura was gradually retracting, and said calmly, "Destroying the divine characters—even if it brings no benefit, it can at least create a disadvantage for the 'troublemakers.'"

"You...!"

Mu'er stared in disbelief at Moro, this unforeseen variable who had appeared out of nowhere.

Moro lightly raised a hand and glanced at Kang Zai before saying seriously, "I hate terrorists more than anything. Leave him to me."

"!"

"You're a fucking genius," Kang Zai shouted.

With that, he turned without hesitation and rushed into the room.

The vast lounge was suddenly left with only Moro and Mu'er.