Under normal circumstances, once a Nen user closed their Aura Nodes and entered Zetsu, any Nen Ability currently in use would disappear as well.
That included Nen Beasts conjured from aura.
Yet Moyu's Soul Echo possessed a trait that ordinary Nen Beasts did not...
When he used Zetsu, the detached Shadow Person did not disappear, and its ability's effects remained unaffected.
Why did it possess such a trait?
Moyu himself did not know. He had thought deeply about it, but could only come up with several possibilities—
Perhaps it was because his body contained two souls. Or perhaps it was because his double had been conjured using a shadow as its vessel. It might also have been the influence of the ideas brought by the book Swamp Man.
It could even have something to do with the Restriction he had established before...
In any case, Moyu had made full use of this trait and created a single opportunity for a killing blow.
Judging from the final outcome, everything had gone exactly as Moyu expected.
The reappearance of that voice called Perception, however, was an unexpected delight.
The proficiency level of the Four Major Principles has increased by 1...
As the voice faded, Moyu, who had just delivered the killing blow, clearly sensed a change in his technical level.
His Ten had become smoother and more fluid.
If measured against the mission ranks issued by the Hunter Association—
Before killing the Long-Haired Man, Moyu's Ten had been equivalent to G-rank.
After killing the Long-Haired Man, Moyu's Ten had leaped directly to F-rank.
A leap of one entire rank had indeed brought about a striking change.
It was foreseeable that Zetsu, Ren, and even Hatsu had likely improved significantly as well.
"A shining moment..."
Amid his delight, Moyu suddenly caught a glimpse of the opportunity through which Perception granted him rewards.
Perhaps—
Any outstanding performance, as well as any correct decision and choice made in the face of any situation, would bring him a significant improvement.
After understanding that, Moyu arrived at the most basic conclusion—
This so-called Perception was not the system he had previously guessed it to be.
But even now, he still lacked a sufficiently clear understanding of the full nature of Perception.
He had considered it before.
Perhaps Perception came from some existence on the Dark Continent. Or perhaps it was because his previous self had been eroded by Balance's Post-Mortem Nen while still in Elena's womb...
More likely, it came from a narcissistic trait deep within his consciousness that he had yet to recognize.
Because of subconscious narcissism, did he believe his outstanding performances needed to be highlighted with rewards, prompting his Nen Ability to respond accordingly?
"I'm certain I'm not narcissistic to that extent yet..."
Moyu had no way of knowing which possibility was correct, and he had no time to investigate it further.
The crisis had not yet been resolved. Judging by the situation on the field, they were still at a disadvantage.
Moyu stepped over the Long-Haired Man's corpse and picked up another submachine gun with plenty of ammunition.
It was also then—
Genbul had no choice but to accept the fact that Cole had been beheaded by a brat.
"**"
He spat out a vicious curse and charged at Hawk, who was leaning against the tree trunk, without a second thought.
He had not insisted on delivering the final blow to Hawk earlier, and had even widened the distance between them, all to create an opening for Cole to attack.
He had never expected that doing so would instead push Cole into the fire pit.
At this point, Genbul's only thought was to kill Hawk first. After all, Hawk was an Emitter...
Even severely injured, he could not rule out the possibility of Hawk suddenly launching a sneak attack.
Genbul rushed at Hawk, while Moyu stepped forward and charged out, raising the submachine gun to fire at Genbul.
Ratatat!
As muzzle flames erupted, bullets flew toward Genbul one after another.
With Nen enhancing his physical abilities, recoil barely affected Moyu at all, allowing him to roughly maintain his aim.
This time, Genbul no longer paid attention to the incoming bullets.
"Ken!"
He wrapped his body in the Manifestation Aura released to its fullest extent, forming a layer of defense that bullets could not penetrate.
The incoming bullets struck Genbul's Ken, scattering sparks.
Genbul frowned slightly.
The defensive power of Ken, built by expending aura, could withstand attacks from conventional firearms, but he could still feel pain when struck.
Ignoring the relentless stream of bullets, Genbul attacked Hawk at top speed.
"Too late..."
Moyu's pupils contracted. Even though he had already sent out his shadow, both distance and speed left him behind Genbul.
What can stop him...?!
In that flash of Lightning Speed, Moyu thought of the Black Nen wrapped around his right hand.
He had transformed it from Emotion Fragments, and its power had already been proven on the Long-Haired Man.
He had no time to consider whether the Black Nen would dissipate after leaving his body.
Moyu swung his hand sharply, and the Black Nen gathered in his palm immediately turned into an arrow that shot through the air toward Genbul.
"Hm!?"
Before the Black Arrow arrived, its intense and dangerous aura had already stimulated Genbul.
What was that...
Sensing danger, Genbul merely glanced hurriedly at the Black Arrow before abruptly stopping and swiftly twisting aside.
The Black Arrow streaked past his chest and shot toward a large tree nearby.
Ssh!
With an extremely faint sound, the Black Arrow effortlessly severed the tree trunk.
Its momentum did not diminish. In the blink of an eye, it cut through seven or eight trees before vanishing into the depths of the darkness.
"That power... another Emitter!!!"
Genbul swiftly glanced at the trees severed by the Black Arrow, his heart involuntarily pounding.
That had been far too close.
If he had not dodged just now, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
"This brat!!!"
Genbul looked at Moyu with a grave expression.
He could behead Cole, and he could unleash such a powerful Nen attack...
He absolutely could not underestimate this brat in the slightest just because of his age.
Even so, Genbul still intended to deal with Hawk first.
Bang!
Genbul pushed off the ground and continued charging toward Hawk.
This time, however, he devoted more attention to Moyu, and his sprinting speed was clearly slower than before.
Moyu, on the other hand, did not pause for even a moment as he rushed toward Hawk after throwing out the Emotion Fragment.
Both of them were closing in on Hawk.
This also meant that as Moyu approached Hawk, he was likewise approaching Genbul.
For Moyu, whose Nen techniques were at an absolute disadvantage in strength, deliberately closing the distance was an extremely risky move.
But for Hawk's safety, he had no choice.
Click, click—
The magazine ran empty, and the gunfire abruptly ceased.
Moyu pressed his lips together and did not choose to discard the submachine gun.
Beneath the large tree.
Hawk, too badly wounded to move, stared blankly at Moyu.
He simply could not understand it.
His son, who had awakened less than half a month ago, actually possessed such formidable mastery over Nen Abilities.
This was no longer something talent could explain.
"Moyu..."
Even after witnessing Moyu's strength with his own eyes, Hawk did not think Moyu could defeat Genbul.
The reason was—
He had become Moyu's burden.
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