Your Soul, I'll Take It!

On the barren mountain terrain, the Nen of Oboro and Neferpitou created an extremely low atmosphere on the battlefield.

A human and an ant were locked in a fierce battle in the wind, invisible to the naked eye and completely vanished... Only the booming of their collisions could be heard, or a dark shadow being knocked away and crashing into the mud, creating quite a stir.

But soon... both of them disappeared again.

Neither of them had time to check their injuries.

Neferpitou landed from mid-air, the Demon Puppeteer still controlling her, but as her feet touched the ground, a blood vessel on her swollen thigh muscles suddenly burst... In that short moment, she kept urging Terpsichora without stopping.

Whoosh! From within the Ghost Mist, a wisp of soul seized the opportunity to slip in and enter her body.

This caused Neferpitou's intact eyeball to dim for a moment, but it quickly returned to normal.

Her Terpsichora be more effective against men, began to weaken. This was partly due to what Oboro had mentioned, and also because the ghost could erode the soul... and one's willpower.

After the soul entered his body, it was as if something had been added to Neferpitou's brain, causing fluctuations in his mental state and involuntary distractions.

In a life-or-death battle, this is extremely deadly! Fortunately, her will is strong, and the body evolved from her spirit in her mind is rapidly erasing the intruding souls... This time may only be a minute or a second. After dealing with the ghosts in her consciousness, her spirit will return to her body and continue fighting.

Although she appeared unaffected, the fact remained that her will was scattered. No matter how fast her reaction speed was, she would still experience a moment of stiffness and dazedness. It was precisely because of this that Long seized the opportunity and gained the ability to compete with her on both offense and defense! Because... sometimes, there is more than one ghost that enters the body.

At first, humans were unable to dodge or block her Nen... they had little chance of reacting.

But in such a short time, the Neferpitou discovered that... Oboro was beginning to adapt to her rhythm.

He was actually able to keep up with his own speed...

Admittedly, her declining physical function also played a role.

It must be admitted that although men are considered inferior humans, their talent and experience in combat are outstanding.

Bang! Neferpitou had just extinguished the ghost in her sea of consciousness, and her eyes had just begun to light up, when the dark mist behind her gently rippled out, and a whip-like leg, as swift as lightning and shaped like a battle axe, struck her cheek hard from behind.

Neferpitou jumped away... she could have dodged it.

However... even with the distance she had created, she was still within Oboro's attack range.

In an instant, Neferpitou's face began to deform, as if she had been hit in the face with a hammer. The enormous force sent her body tumbling dozens of times in mid-air as she spun and flew away.

Long slowly lowered his legs, his whole body covered in blood.

The experience of fighting Neferpitou head-on is definitely not pleasant.

Compared to the damage he could inflict and the number of hits, the opponent's attack efficiency was clearly superior to his.

Logically speaking, this style of fighting, which involves trading injuries for injuries, should be very disadvantageous to him, but Oboro still chose this method.

"As expected... I'm traumatized!"

A piece of flesh was hanging from his face, bleeding profusely, and looked like it was about to fall to the ground at any moment; it had been torn apart by the Neferpitou earlier.

Long watched the ant fly away, a sneer spreading across his face.

Neferpitou is traumatized; if she loses her other eye, she will surely be defeated!

Therefore, Neferpitou has always been intentionally protecting her intact eyeballs...

This is Oboro's psychological warfare tactic! The Neferpitou's physical body has no weaknesses, except for her eyes.

Once fear sets in, it will inevitably disrupt the opponent's offensive.

"Her single-leg hopping is too much for her lower limbs to Terpsichora to herself.

Not only Neferpitou, but he was also constantly overloaded, pushing his breathing techniques to the limit... frantically squeezing out the power of his flesh and blood.

"I can hold on for three more minutes... I have to finish her off within those three minutes!"

His eyes were clear but firm.

They immediately charged toward the enemy's position.

On the other side, Neferpitou didn't fall to the ground. Instead, she used her terrifying body twist to dissipate the force acting on her. After leaping a hundred meters away, she landed as lightly as a large cat. However, when she landed and braced herself, another burst of blood appeared on her thigh.

Neferpitou remained unmoved. Sensing the direction from which the humans were leaping through the air, she jumped up like an arrow, and although the drifting mist obscured her vision, it was as if it were nothing to her.

With her arms crossed, she slashed with her sharp nails, aiming two crimson beams of Nen power at the emerging mist! It was excessively powerful!

Because of the explosive speed and the fact that it was suspended in mid-air, Oboro couldn't change direction on the spot... and it looked like it was about to crash into Neferpitou's attack.

This ant's fighting ferocity and instincts are simply abnormal.

Within the Ghost Mist, Oboro could perceive everything happening within it. He could clearly 'see' the Neferpitou's movements, but... even so, it wasn't easy to deal with. Because the attack was already upon him the moment he saw her; Neferpitou's speed was too fast!

Even if it's injured to this extent!

With this move, Neferpitou intended to kill Oboro once again! Although the injuries she inflicted on Oboro were healing, the process was much slower. This allowed Neferpitou to instantly realize that Oboro's Nen were limited and that he could not be brought back to life again! Taking advantage of this moment, several ghosts entered Neferpitou's body.

But it did not affect her movements or will at all...

Her eyes held an intense killing intent! She chose not to clear the ghosts from her mind for the time being, but to first severely injure the true form of Oboro, the 'manipulator'!

She was also analyzing... and calculating, summarizing the best way to fight.

"Go to hell!"

"Neferpitou shouted."

In her view, Oboro had absolutely no chance of dodging this attack.

She endured the damage caused by the ghost's corrosive power.

But the next second, the human who was about to be torn apart by her claws suddenly... disappeared.

It is not a spontaneous displacement.

Because under such circumstances, it is absolutely impossible for humans to do this!

Nen! The Neferpitou's expression changed.

Oboro used Flash...

He has too many trump cards and killer moves!

These were all things he intentionally concealed, so that they could be used to their fullest potential at crucial moments.

As I said before... don't let the opponent get any information; fight with your brain.

This isn't the kind of crushing victory he used to have; it's a situation where one wrong move and he could die...

Oboro appeared out of thin air above the Neferpitou, twisted his waist, exhaled hot breath, and his arms instantly grew larger, the bulging muscles showing granite-like textures. "Too weak..."

He murmured a sentence.

The powerful punch, carrying immense force, shattered the air and slammed directly onto Neferpitou's skull!

At this moment, Neferpitou's skull finally made a crisp sound.

Blood gushed from her forehead, and she seemed to sink into the ground like a nail.

The ground was covered with cracks, spreading out like a spider web. Then, the soil within a radius of nearly 100 meters collapsed with a roar, and the horizon dropped.

That's the limit!

A hint of joy flickered in his hazy eyes.

Finally... finally I was able to inflict damage on Neferpitou using pure physical strength, instead of just using Nen.

Terpsichora the Neferpitou's physical body to collapse...

"Um?"

Suddenly, Long raised an eyebrow.

He discovered that a tail had wrapped around his waist, pulling him down with it.

This is a teleportation... a displacement that crosses space without any warning or trace of movement! "Although I couldn't react in advance, I can still counterattack the moment I'm attacked..." Oboro was startled, and then she and Neferpitou sank into the mud. The power transmitted by the cat tail was very domineering, and it pulled Oboro close to her in an instant.

Unable to break free...

There's no escaping it!

The idea had just begun to form.

The two arms that were held in front of him were instantly shredded... flesh and bones were blasted into dust.

Oboro also saw the Neferpitou's fierce and triumphant smile below.

Swoosh.

Oboro's joints trembled, and her body shrank in an instant, breaking free from the cat's tail's restraints and leaping away.

They flashed to a distance of ten zhang.

"Ha ha ha ha..."

A moment later, in the depression created by the two's fight, the Demon Puppeteer behind Neferpitou was gone. She released her Nen, slowly peeled away the soil covering her body, and stood up, letting out a happy laugh.

With a wave of his hand, the force he stirred up once again dispersed the dust and smog.

Her steps were unsteady, and blood kept flowing from her forehead, but she didn't seem to care. Instead, she looked at the man opposite her.

At this point, Oboro no longer had arms.

"Your Nen... is very interesting. It seems quite complex and diverse..."

How did you do that?

"As far as I know, the development of human Nen is limited in many ways. First, there's the type of ability, then there's the transformation and fusion of Nen power attributes, including brain capacity... The use of multiple abilities places extraordinary demands on the brain. I've studied your human brains... They're simply no match for ours... You absolutely cannot achieve what you're doing. Even I probably couldn't... Is there some secret to it?"

Neferpitou extended a finger, touched her lips, and asked sincerely.

It seemed as if he was genuinely seeking advice.

The scales of victory tipped in her favor once again.

Even if humans could use the same ability again, it wouldn't have any effect on her.

Without his arms, Oboro was a lamb to the slaughter.

Although her injuries were extremely severe, Oboro had completely lost her fighting ability...

"This is my secret... how can I just tell you?"

Long raised the corners of her mouth and smiled gently.

There's nothing he can do; he has a system.

Each of his Nen, after having an idea and framework, undergoes a process of development and derivation through systematic intelligent evolution, which can basically ensure the success rate... Most importantly, unnecessary additional items of various Nen have been optimized, redundant and related 'brain burdens' have been removed, and brief reserves have been made, which is equivalent to indirectly expanding the capacity of his brain.

Another point is that... after he reached his peak and it became difficult to break through, he realized that the focus should be shifted to the development of Nen, so Oboro made some special preparations.

I performed a minor surgery on my brain.

It's euphemistically called 'Capacity Sharing,' which is a capability.

But it's not his.

"It doesn't matter..."

The Neferpitou flicked her tail. "You don't want to say it now, but I'll find out after you die."

"Does it hurt a lot?"

Looking at her forced smile, Long suddenly spoke up.

Neferpitou's expression darkened.

"Even if you manage to buy yourself a few seconds and then try to eliminate the souls that have invaded your brain, the damage they have caused to your soul will still be indelible... In order to kill me, you chose to pay the price of a portion of your soul being injured... That's foolish."

He said in a low voice.

"But... I won in the end."

Neferpitou walked over step by step. "Your name is Oboro, right? I'll remember your name..."

"Are you deliberately stalling for time, trying to use that ability to heal your injuries?"

"It's no use~"

Neferpitou's words already conveyed the attitude of a victor.

Are you sure... you won?

Long met her gaze, his eyes cold.

As he spoke, the surrounding space suddenly froze, as if time had stopped.

At this moment, not only was Neferpitou frozen in place like a statue, but even the surrounding wind and particles in the air were 'fixed'.

Long saw a band of light emanating from his own body, connecting to a shadow he had walked along the path—his own shadow.

Meanwhile, his shadow was mimicking his previous movements, slowly advancing...

Right behind Neferpitou.

Before his two arms were blown off...

This is the first time Oboro has used this Nen.

Ekko's ultimate ability, Chronobreak.

In this state, he was unable to attack the Neferpitou and could only travel back along the timeline... back to the previous point in time.

As he walked step by step toward his time-traveling counterpart, his missing arms were instantly restored.

That's right, it's restoration, not regrowth!

In addition, his injuries are healing themselves, thanks to the healing effect inherent in his skill.

Only after his body and shadow overlapped did the flow of time seem to return to normal, and everything became vivid again... turning from a pause button into a play button.

Oboro disappeared from Neferpitou's sight. In the latter's eyes, just like the flash just now, he suddenly appeared out of thin air behind him.

Neferpitou immediately turned around and tried to retaliate.

But an invisible, tidal wave swept towards her in an instant.

The power is similar to a missile being detonated right in front of you.

Neferpitou was struck hard and sent flying.

Chronobreak is an area-of-effect damage skill.

Perhaps it wouldn't cause significant damage to Neferpitou in its normal state, but for her at this moment, this unexpected attack was enough to catch her off guard.

Meanwhile, Oboro had already sprinted forward, running with great force to the side of the Neferpitou who was about to land.

Seeing that the latter was still trying to struggle, Oboro suddenly grabbed Neferpitou's head with his large hand.

His current condition is much better than Neferpitou's! "The consequences of losing one's soul are... very serious..."

He said in a daze.

The Neferpitou's pupils contracted as her head was grabbed, and she raised her fingernail to pierce the back of Oboro's hand.

The man remained unmoved, like a mountain.

Immediately afterward, Neferpitou turned deathly pale... Her intuition suddenly told her that she was going to die!

Suddenly, the surrounding Ghost Mist surged in, began to contract and condense, like rolling waves, and finally revealed a tall, mysterious figure shrouded in mist behind Long.

Countless ghosts danced and swirled around the figure, howling and appearing particularly excited.

And this figure was none other than Thresh, carrying the Thresh of Rigge's Lantern! Two beams of green light shot from the eyes of the figure, and at the same time, the arm that was gripping the Neferpitou's head was becoming more and more like a spirit.

Will-o'-the-wisps ignite...

"I accept your soul..."

"Welcome to... Hell."

After he finished speaking, the countless ghosts that had been swirling in the sky all swooped down in an instant.

Almost countless streams of light surged into Neferpitou's body.

"Aaaaaah!!!"

Under the cover of night.

A shrill, desperate scream rang out from some creature.

The sound pierced the sky.