A Seeming Resolve

"Leave me alone!"

Hawk had made up his mind.

"Moyu, don't come any closer!"

Hawk cried out hoarsely as copious bloody foam streamed from the corners of his mouth.

He knew Genbul's close-combat strength very well. He also realized that his own severely injured, helpless state would force Moyu to engage Genbul at close range.

And in that case, Moyu, also an Emitter, would lose his advantage.

Because he understood that, Hawk desperately wanted Moyu to leave him behind.

"..."

Hearing Hawk's desperate cry, Moyu fell silent and gave Hawk a sharp look.

He only hoped to convey something to Hawk through that brief exchange of glances.

Then, Moyu moved faster than Genbul and positioned himself in front of Hawk, inevitably exposing himself to Genbul's attack range.

Emitters should avoid close combat whenever possible. Only then could they fully capitalize on their strengths.

That was common sense.

Of course, what mattered most was that this brat was standing in front of Hawk.

That meant that, from this moment onward, the brat bore the Restriction of "not being able to dodge."

Genbul's expression was cold as he mobilized his Nen and threw a punch at Moyu.

"..."

Moyu's gaze turned grave as he assumed a defensive stance under Genbul's watchful eyes.

But in the next moment—

Moyu suddenly crouched halfway down.

"Hm?"

As Moyu lowered himself, Genbul saw Hawk gathering a Nen Bullet in his right palm.

Whoosh—!

The compressed orb of Nen shot from Hawk's palm, passing over Moyu's head in an instant and hurtling straight toward Genbul's face.

Genbul's pupils shrank sharply. He hurriedly abandoned his attack, turned his fist into an open hand, and barely managed to knock aside the Nen Bullet aimed at his face with the back of his hand.

At the same time—

Moyu sprang up and channeled as much aura as possible from his legs into the sole of his foot.

The tremendous leap in his proficiency with the Four Major Principles allowed him to use Gyo in accordance with his intentions, something he had not yet mastered before.

His foot, gathered with a mass of aura, viciously kicked toward Genbul's crotch.

At that moment—

Although Genbul had diverted most of his Nen to deflect Hawk's Nen Bullet, around thirty percent of his Manifestation Aura was still distributed across the rest of his body.

Faced with Moyu's vicious strike at his groin, the highly focused Genbul reacted in time. He lowered his left hand and precisely caught Moyu's incoming foot.

First, he had turned his right fist into an open hand to deflect Hawk's Nen Bullet. Then he shifted his left hand, blocking the kick while restraining Moyu.

The entire response had flowed seamlessly.

They almost tricked me...

That thought flashed through Genbul's mind, and he immediately prepared to slam Moyu into the ground.

But at that very instant—

The shadow Moyu had sent out earlier rose from the ground. Its Mimicry hand gripped Cole's fallen dagger and stabbed straight into Genbul's asshole.

At that moment, Genbul had focused all of his attention on Moyu and Hawk's combined assault, leaving only a thin layer of Manifestation Aura around his buttocks.

Squelch!

The dagger pierced unobstructed into Genbul's asshole, and the blade abruptly twisted once.

Blood sprayed everywhere!

"Ah!"

The sudden agony made Bulging Veins rise on Genbul's neck as he screamed.

"****"

Roaring out a curse, Genbul twisted his waist and violently hurled Moyu at the Shadow Person that had attacked him.

Moyu endured the pain shooting from his ankle and mentally commanded the Shadow Person to release the dagger and return to its normal state, flattening itself against the ground.

Whoosh—!

Amid a piercing howl of wind—

Genbul swung Moyu like a club through half a circle.

During that exceedingly brief clash, Hawk fought through his dizziness and gathered another Nen Bullet, blasting it into Genbul's back to rescue Moyu.

Bang!

Nen exploded.

Genbul let out a muffled groan. The impact sent him flying and caused him to release Moyu's foot.

Freed from Genbul's grip, Moyu was flung away and crashed heavily onto the ground, gouging out a trench.

"Cough, cough..."

Moyu lay prone on the ground and spat several mouthfuls of bloody fluid into the trench before looking at Genbul, whose ass was impaled by a blood-dripping dagger.

Aiming his final killing move at Genbul's asshole...

It was absolutely not because he had a particular fondness for it. It was because the asshole was one of the few places where an attack could directly reach the inside of the body.

That stab just now—

It should have pierced straight through Genbul's rectum and torn open his ileum.

And after twisting the blade once at the end, the lacerated wound would surely cause severe internal bleeding.

That was also the key condition that allowed Moyu to defeat Genbul after exhausting all his trump cards.

"You little bastard..."

Genbul barely steadied himself. Enduring the intense pain, he pulled the dagger out of his ass.

The tearing agony made him groan softly several times.

"How dare you..."

Genbul gripped the constantly bleeding dagger and glared at Moyu with a twisted expression.

Brutal killing intent manifested through his aura.

Naturally, Moyu was not affected by that murderous aura. He was even happy to see Genbul losing his mind.

He quickly glanced at Cheadle's side, where the battle had made no progress. His heart sank slightly before he moved to Hawk's side.

"What's going on with Cheadle...?"

"Cough, cough..."

Hawk coughed a few times. Pride and gratification mingled in his gaze as he looked at Moyu, then he explained, "It's normal that you find it strange. Cough, cough... Cheadle is exceptionally talented, but she hasn't used those talents for combat."

"No wonder."

Moyu immediately understood.

He could clearly see that Cheadle was calmly handling the combined assault of two enemies. By all rights, she should have gradually gained the upper hand and opened up the situation.

Yet Moyu's side had already taken down one opponent and, together with Hawk, severely injured another, while Cheadle's side had made no progress at all.

So she was a non-combat-type Nen user...

Once he understood that, Moyu felt that things were going badly.

He had no trump cards left. Even if he could drag Genbul down with him, as long as Cheadle could not pose a concrete threat to the other two Nen users—

Then, with only his current strength, he would not only be unable to protect Hawk. Even protecting himself would be a problem.

"The situation is still terrible..."

Moyu sighed.

If he decisively abandoned Hawk now, he could escape this dangerous situation.

But some things—

Could not be done.

"Hawk, can you hold on?"

Moyu stared fixedly at Genbul as he considered his next move.

Fortunately, Perception had raised his proficiency in the Four Major Principles, giving him more ability to respond.

"Moyu."

Hawk looked at Moyu's back, his chest rising and falling.

"Hm?"

Moyu answered without turning around.

Resolve appeared in Hawk's eyes. Panting, he said with effort,

"I... won't hesitate like Cheadle. Moyu, I... no matter what, I won't let anything happen to you... If it's now... there's no need to worry about that Price anymore... Moyu, you have to live well."

"Hm?"

Moyu's expression changed slightly.

On the other side—

Cheadle had naturally noticed the situation on Moyu's side.

She was astonished, but also extremely anxious.

Facing two Heavenly Stem members of the Qinglin Squad, she truly lacked the killing power needed to end the battle.