Offense and Defense Reversed X Soul Trembling

As the second person to go on stage.

He definitely has the advantage, especially in terms of information and intelligence.

Having observed the entire battle, Kevin had already gained a clear understanding of the attack patterns of the Chimera Ant King, Meruem.

Battles between Nen user can be broadly categorized into two types.

A rule-based combat system that primarily relies on Nen ability; the effects of Nen ability are powerful yet deadly.

This type of Nen ability primarily appears in the lower three types: Manipulation Type, Materialization Type, and Specialization Type.

This fighting style mainly relies on how to trigger Nen ability, how to activate the effects of Nen ability, and how to get the opponent hit by Nen ability.

Another type relies primarily on physical abilities to fight, with Nen ability mainly serving as supplementary or enhancement abilities.

For humans, this is still a form of Nen ability combat, except that Nen ability are used more to enhance their own offensive capabilities.

This is mainly reflected in the Upper Three Types: Enhancement Type, Transmutation Type, and Emission Type.

And the battle between Meruem and Netero.

This forced Netero to use his Nen ability to fight.

Meruem, on the other hand, fights solely based on his physical prowess.

He possesses extreme strength, exaggerated speed, and superhuman analytical abilities.

The combination of these three elements, along with their superior physical abilities, gave them the upper hand throughout the entire battle.

So Kevin was pleased when he saw Meruem's fighting style, because it was very much in line with Kevin's comfort zone.

Essentially, Kevin and Meruem represent the same fighting style.

When Meruem launched his attack, he immediately noticed the difference.

He can still have an overwhelming advantage in some aspects, but he is completely countered by Kevin in terms of offensive firepower.

Creating some distance, the Ant King wiped his mouth; the wound left by Netero was still inside his body.

However, for Meruem at this point, these are all tolerable.

His eyes were fixed on the motionless Kevin, his gaze lingering on the layer of scales on the exposed skin.

Therefore, the main defense should be these scales.

The barrier I touched during my attack, while part of the defense, was worlds apart from the defense of the scales.

Therefore, the main purpose of a barrier is to block one's own attacks, giving the opponent time to react.

Even if he is very fast, there will still be some obstruction when he touches the barrier.

The combination of multiple barriers will prolong the time it takes for his attack to hit the target.

This gives Kevin enough time to react, so he won't be unable to act when attacked.

It's a simple and brutal method, but it works very well, unless the Ant King doesn't launch an attack.

"Bang!"

The ground was kicked into a crater, and the Ant King charged straight at Kevin.

Unlike his fight with Netero, Meruem completely abandoned any attempts to maneuver left or right.

Fighting Kevin doesn't require such fancy moves.

Because it's so easy to get it close to the skin.

In the blink of an eye, he appeared in front of Kevin, his right hand forming a claw, reaching out to grab forward.

But it was still at least a meter away from Kevin, an invisible phantom constructed of Nen Aura that bombarded him.

That's Netero's attack method.

However, compared to Netero, the gap is still quite large.

"Clang!"

A crisp sound.

Then came the sound of shattering glass.

The first transparent barrier was shattered.

Then layer upon layer.

Kevin clenched his fist and punched directly at the target.

It struck that invisible force.

No.

The Ant King withdrew its attacking hand and jumped back to create distance.

He is no longer as reckless as he was in his initial battle with Netero.

During his fight with Netero, he learned how to quickly analyze the enemy's fighting style during combat.

In the second round of combat, he planned to extend the fighting distance to avoid being caught off guard and attacked by Kevin.

His speed advantage is definitely faster than Kevin's, and since he has an advantage, he should make the most of it.

However, the Nen ability he gained by eating Netero's limbs could not achieve the same effect as Netero's because it lacked Netero's will and his extreme emotions.

Therefore, power is a completely different concept; it is merely an invisible extension of Nen Aura, utterly meaningless.

After taking a step back, he immediately launched another attack, giving Kevin no chance to catch his breath.

A few ejections later, they appeared directly behind Kevin, and before Kevin could react, they punched Kevin in the back.

It still passed through layers upon layers of Nen Aura barriers before finally touching the silver scales.

At the instant of the attack.

Kevin whirled around, grabbed the fist that was trying to pull back, and pulled it forward again, executing another over-the-shoulder throw.

It slammed into the ground again, creating another crater.

This time Kevin didn't let go; he prepared to drag her with one hand while throwing a punch with the other.

But the Ant King simply used force, employing a trembling technique, to break free of the hand and create distance.

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth again, frowning as he looked at Kevin.

How did he realize it?

The Ant King was absolutely certain that he had an absolute advantage in terms of reaction and speed of action.

But the instant his movement touched the scales, Kevin reacted as well.

So is it some kind of triggered attack action?

That should be it.

The layers of barriers served to prolong the attack time, and then, the moment Kevin touched the scales, it was as if his body's automatic reaction mechanism was triggered.

Kevin will instantly react in the direction of the attack.

After all, Kevin's physical abilities are not bad, and in this situation, his body's spontaneous actions are absolutely capable of reacting to the Ant King's attack.

Even the Ant King must pause for a certain period of time after an attack hits.

Meruem quickly figured it out; this must have been a strategy the opponent had devised while observing the battle.

But that's not the most troublesome thing right now.

He looked at his fist.

The problem now is that the force of the attack is insufficient to harm Kevin, and that's the crux of the issue.

Although his attack was reacted to, that punch definitely landed.

He held nothing back.

It means attacking with all your might.

But Kevin wasn't injured at all; he didn't even move his body.

The defensive capabilities of those scales exceeded his expectations.

Even Netero, watching from a distance, couldn't help but smirk.

Yes, that's it.

That Chimera Ant should be made to experience the frustration it felt during its previous battle.

At this point, Meruem was in the same situation as the elderly Netero had been.

The attack hits, but cannot break through the defense.

At this moment, Meruem stood in the same spot where Netero had stood, experiencing the same thing as him.

"Aren't you going to continue?"

Kevin looked at the Ant King and asked with a smile.

Sure enough, his physical defenses were not a problem.

Furthermore, the Ant King's Nen ability does not have the effect of breaking through defenses.

Breaking through his scales isn't actually difficult, as long as his Nen ability has some kind of Armor Piercing effect.

For example, Gowen's Nen ability can be converted into Armor Piercing ability when used as a bow.

However, when facing an opponent without such abilities, Kevin's defense is virtually unmatched, not just in the entire world, but at least in human society.

Meruem remained unmoved in the face of Kevin's provocation.

They continued their attack in silence.

This time it was faster and continuous.

After landing a successful attack, it immediately retreated, then adjusted its position and charged forward again.

Having learned from his previous actions, he already knew the level of Kevin's reaction speed.

He only needed to withdraw his hand before Kevin could react to avoid being attacked by Kevin.

In this way, Kevin's body kept trying to react to the Ant King's attacks, but each time he was just a hair's breadth away from them.

Just as he was about to grab Meruem, Meruem pulled his hand away and retreated, causing his attack to miss.

At the center of the battlefield, a series of clanging sounds immediately rang out.

All that could be seen was Kevin's body remaining motionless, assuming a fighting stance, while invisible phantoms moved around him at extremely fast speeds.

Within just a few minutes, the Ant King attacked at least a thousand times.

Furthermore, they limited their attacks to three points.

However, the results were contrary to expectations.

The Ant King stopped attacking and created a safe distance again.

Kevin reached up and touched his left shoulder, one of the points of attack, and it accounted for at least half of the attack's impact.

"To be honest, it hurts a little."

But that's all.

To retract your hand after an attack, the force of the attack must be reduced; you cannot launch a powerful and all-out attack.

Otherwise, Kevin would definitely react physically and grab him.

"You're actually trying to wear me down, aren't you?"

Kevin looked at Meruem and suddenly said.

He was, after all, still human, and couldn't be like Meruem, who could think about other things while constantly attacking.

So when the opponent stopped attacking, he guessed Meruem's main objective throughout the entire attack.

The relentless attacks landing on the same spot were probably just an experiment.

The main goal was to probe how much stamina Kevin had lost through continuous attacks.

Putting aside everything else, constantly maintaining layer upon layer of Nen Aura barriers is an absolutely mentally taxing activity.

But this is essential for fighting him.

Otherwise, his fighting speed would be even faster, and even with a full-force punch, Kevin might not be able to react in time and catch him when it hits.

Therefore, this is essential.

Maintaining such a strong scale defense for a long time is also a considerable drain on resources.

If we understand it according to normal circumstances...

The more powerful the attack, the more Nen it would consume.

So he probed the enemy by launching thousands of attacks, even at fixed points, within just a few minutes.

But the result was not satisfactory.

Kevin's physical and Nen energy seemed to be depleted as if they hadn't been used at all.

"While that might sound like an exaggeration, Meruem, my physical endurance is something even a monster like you, who evolved from an ant colony to its ultimate form, couldn't match. In that respect, I'm even more monstrous than you."

This demonstrates Kevin's absolute confidence.

In other aspects, he may not have that absolute confidence, but in terms of combat endurance, that is definitely his greatest advantage.

It far exceeds the level that a normal person or a life form of the same level should have.

Keep in mind that his Nen capacity is over a million.

Although the output is not on the same level, there is absolutely no need to worry about battery life.

"So, don't die before I catch you."

Upon hearing this, even Meruem's expression turned gloomy.

Because that's what he said to Netero before.

Now the roles have reversed.

However, while Meruem was analyzing Kevin's abilities, Kevin was also analyzing Meruem's current state.

Meruem was in a state of serious injury at this time.

Therefore, his speed was somewhat distorted, which allowed Kevin to react.

During the time he observed the attack, did Meruem's injuries heal?

After all, the other party is not human, and their recovery ability cannot be equated with that of a human.

Especially since Kevin had just fought Youpi before, Youpi had witnessed Kevin's regenerative abilities firsthand.

Although that could be due to genetic specialization.

But after all, they are both Chimera Ant.

It has indeed recovered somewhat, but not to the extent of the dramatic recovery seen in Youpi.

So even amidst such intense battle, was the Ant King's injury still slowly healing?

Furthermore, Meruem intentionally gave himself time to catch his breath. In addition, since the offensive and defensive positions had now shifted, he would attack for a while and then pause to clear his mind and recover his body.

It seems we can't give Meruem any breathing room.

His goal wasn't to stall, but to kill.

We can't really rely on the old man's nuclear bomb explosion to end the war, can we?

With that in mind, Kevin took action.

"Old man, stand a little further back."

He shouted loudly.

Upon hearing this, Netero immediately understood what Kevin was up to.

I had to jump back a distance.

His positioning was very skillful.

Meruem narrowed his eyes and assumed a slight fighting stance.

As an opponent, as a king, he had no reason to back down.

A wisp of golden light emerged from Kevin's neck.

"Eek!"

A sharp cry.

Meruem frowned and stepped back.

He then immediately stopped what he was doing.

How is that possible?

He instinctively stepped back; this was a warning at the genetic level.

What is it?

With a cry came a scorching heat; golden flames enveloped Kevin's entire body, but did not burn him.

The golden flames enveloped him like a pair of wings.

Kevin himself crouched down and channeled his Nen Aura into the flames.

An even hotter heat began to emerge.

Instantly, intense heat appeared all around, and from a distance, the air itself seemed to distort under the intense heat.

The area in the center of the battle was crooked and distorted, making one dizzy just looking at it.

The ground cracked instantly.

This forced Netero to create distance once again.

Good lad, you've been holding back.

He had no idea that Kevin's temperature could reach this level when they fought before.

Within the golden flames, Kevin grinned, revealing a malicious smile.

When facing such an enemy, all you need to do is pour all your malice into them; there's no need to feel any psychological burden.

At least, not for Kevin.

"Meruem, do you feel the tremor deep within your soul?"