Perception Changes, A Burden

In non-exceptional cases, once a Nen user closes their aura nodes and enters a state of "Zetsu," any Nen abilities currently in use also disappear.

This includes Nen Beasts manifested from "aura."

But Moyu's "Soul Echo" possessed a trait that ordinary Nen Beasts lacked...

When he used "Zetsu," his detached "Shadow Person" did not vanish, and the ability's effects remained unaffected.

Why did it have this trait?

Moyu himself wasn't sure. He had thought deeply about it but only came up with a few possibilities—

Perhaps it was because his body carried two souls, or because his avatar was manifested using "shadow" as a medium, or maybe it was due to the ideological influence of the book "Swamp Man."

It could even be because of the restriction effects he had set up earlier...

In any case, Moyu fully exploited this trait to create a single, decisive killing opportunity.

As for the final result, it perfectly matched Moyu's expectations.

And the reappearance of that voice called "Perception" was an unexpected surprise.

Four Major Principles basic proficiency level +1...

When the voice faded, Moyu, who had just finished his lethal strike, clearly sensed a shift in his technical level.

Ken became smoother and more fluid.

If measured by the mission grades issued by the Hunter Association—

Before killing the Long-Haired Man, Moyu's Ken was equivalent to G-rank.

After killing the Long-Haired Man, Moyu's Ken directly leaped to F-rank.

A jump of one rank brought a truly noticeable change.

It was foreseeable that Zetsu, Ren, and even Hatsu would all see significant improvement.

"A highlight moment..."

Amid his surprise, Moyu suddenly glimpsed the opportunity behind "Perception" granting him rewards.

Perhaps, Any brilliant performance at any moment, as well as the correct decisions and choices made in any situation, would bring him significant improvement.

Understanding this, Moyu reached a basic conclusion—

This so-called "Perception" was not the system he had previously guessed.

But so far, he still lacked a clear enough understanding of "Perception"'s full picture.

He had thought about it before.

Maybe "Perception" came from some existence in the Dark Continent, or perhaps it was because his predecessor, while still in Elena's womb, had been eroded by the "Balance"'s Post-Mortem Nen...

It could even be a narcissistic trait deep in his consciousness that he wasn't yet aware of.

Because of subconscious narcissism, he believed his outstanding performance needed rewards to highlight it, and his Nen ability had responded to that?

"I'm pretty sure I'm not that narcissistic..."

Which possibility it was, Moyu had no way of knowing, and at this moment, he had no time to delve deeper.

Because the crisis wasn't over yet. Looking at the battlefield situation, they were still at a disadvantage.

Moyu stepped over the Long-Haired Man's corpse and picked up another submachine gun with a full magazine.

At that moment—

Genbul had to accept the fact that Cole had been decapitated by a brat.

"**"

He cursed viciously and, without a second thought, charged toward Hawk, who was leaning against a tree trunk.

He hadn't been fixated on landing the final blow on Hawk earlier, even pulling back the distance, all to create an opening for Cole to attack.

He never expected that this very move would instead push Cole into a death trap.

Now that things had come to this, Genbul's only thought was to kill Hawk first, since that guy was an Emitter...

Even though he was severely injured, the possibility of him suddenly launching a sneak attack couldn't be ruled out.

Genbul charged at Hawk, and as Moyu stepped forward, he raised the submachine gun and fired at Genbul.

Da-da-da—!

Flames spewed from the muzzle as bullets flew toward Genbul.

With the physical enhancement from Nen, recoil had almost zero effect on Moyu, so he could roughly control his aim.

This time, Genbul ignored the incoming bullets.

"Ken!"

He wrapped himself in the maximum "Manifestation Aura" he could release, forming a defense that bullets couldn't penetrate.

The flying bullets struck Genbul's "Ken," sending sparks scattering in all directions.

Genbul frowned slightly.

The defensive power of "Ken," constructed by expending aura, could withstand attacks from conventional firearms, but the pain from being struck still remained.

Ignoring the unending hail of bullets, Genbul charged at Hawk at his maximum speed.

"Too late..."

Moyu's pupils contracted. Even though he had already released his shadow, he was behind Genbul in both distance and speed.

"Is there any way to stop him...!"

In the blink of an eye, Moyu thought of the Black Nen coiled around his right hand.

It was transformed from his "Emotion Fragment," and its power had already been verified on the Long-Haired Man.

Without time to consider whether the Black Nen would dissipate after leaving his body, Moyu swung his arm abruptly. The Black Nen gathered in his palm instantly transformed into an arrow, shooting through the air toward Genbul.

"Hm!?"

Before the Black Arrow arrived, its intense and dangerous aura stimulated Genbul first.

What is that...

Sensing the danger, Genbul only cast a hurried glance at the Black Arrow before suddenly stopping and making a timely sideways dodge.

The Black Arrow streaked past his chest, shooting toward a large tree not far away.

Chi!

With an extremely faint sound, the tree trunk was effortlessly severed by the Black Arrow.

The Black Arrow's momentum didn't diminish; in an instant, it cut through seven or eight large trees before disappearing into the depths of the darkness.

"Such power... Another Emitter!!!"

Genbul quickly glanced at the trees severed by the Black Arrow, a tremor running through his heart.

That was too close.

If he hadn't dodged just now, the consequences would have been unthinkable.

"This brat!!!"

Genbul stared at Moyu with a grave expression.

Decapitating Cole, and unleashing such a powerful nen attack...

He absolutely could not afford to underestimate this brat because of his age.

Even so, Genbul still intended to deal with Hawk first.

Bang!

Genbul kicked off the ground and continued charging at Hawk.

But this time, he focused more attention on Moyu, his sprint speed noticeably slower than before.

Moyu, on the other hand, after throwing the "Emotion Fragment," never paused his rush toward Hawk for a single moment.

Both of them were closing in on Hawk.

This also meant that as Moyu approached Hawk, he was simultaneously getting closer to Genbul.

For Moyu, who was at an absolute disadvantage in nen technique strength, actively closing the distance was an extremely risky move.

But for Hawk's safety, he had no choice but to do it.

"Click-click--"

The magazine ran empty, and the gunfire ceased.

Moyu pressed his lips together, choosing not to discard the submachine gun.

Under the large tree.

Hawk, severely injured and barely able to move, stared blankly at Moyu.

He couldn't understand it at all.

His own son, awakened for less than half a month, actually possessed such a high level of nen ability.

This could no longer be explained by mere talent.

"Moyu..."

Even though he had witnessed Moyu's strength with his own eyes, Hawk still didn't believe Moyu could defeat Genbul.

The reason was—

He had become Moyu's burden.