Splat

Just as Hawk had said—

Cheadle was an exceptionally talented person who had risen above countless elites.

Yet she had not invested much time in combat, instead pouring all her talent and energy into her professional field.

She had even disregarded the limits of Nen Capacity and developed multiple abilities outside her own Nen System to serve her profession.

Even an ability like "Medical Ledger," which could be used in battle, was strictly speaking non-combat-oriented due to the Restriction of "Benevolent Healer."

It was worth mentioning—

Cheadle was a Manipulator.

She wanted to deal with Ken and Sivir as quickly as possible, but neither of them was weak. On top of that, she had no combat-oriented Nen Ability to support her...

In this situation, trying to defeat two powerful Enhancers in a direct battle was simply impossible.

Therefore, although Moyu's performance and results had both surprised and delighted Cheadle, the sense of crisis lingering in her heart had not diminished in the slightest.

At the end of the day—

Cole and Genbul's abilities had merely been the trump card that allowed Sivir and Ken to kill Cheadle outright.

Now that they had lost that trump card, they might no longer pose a substantial threat to Cheadle. But Cheadle, who lacked direct offensive power, could offer them only limited resistance as well.

If either Sivir or Ken shifted their attention to Moyu or Hawk—

Then, given Moyu and Hawk's current condition, they would have absolutely no chance of withstanding a threat from Sivir or Ken.

Cheadle understood this point, which was why she keenly realized that the crisis had not yet passed.

After learning from Hawk that Cheadle was a non-combat Nen user, Moyu naturally thought of the same thing.

We have to change the situation quickly...

What else can turn this around?

Cheadle and Moyu, standing in different places, were both desperately thinking of how to resolve the crisis.

But no matter how they imagined it, the best possible outcome remained—

Cheadle would survive unscathed, Moyu would be in constant peril, and the badly injured Hawk would undoubtedly die.

Sometimes, being able to see too far ahead was not entirely a good thing.

Cheadle could practically see the outcome already. Even with her strong nerves, she could not help but begin to worry at this moment.

The change in her state of mind showed through subtle changes in her movements.

Sivir, growing increasingly irritable after failing to break through for so long, did not notice it at all.

But Ken was different.

Like a Viper, his cold gaze always fixed upon the weaknesses an enemy inadvertently revealed.

"That boy, could he be...?"

Ken kept swinging his blade at Cheadle, habitually narrowing his eyes.

Thirteen years ago, an infant had endured the erosion of Post-Mortem Nen in the womb and still stubbornly been born.

Thirteen years later, had that baby with such an unusual birth become the boy before him?

He had assumed that the Price brought by King's Balance would force that boy to remain forever before the threshold of Nen Ability...

Now, it seemed things differed somewhat from his expectations.

But it no longer mattered.

Ken knew—

That boy's appearance had indeed ruined their trump card for killing Cheadle outright. But because of the boy's appearance, they had also gained another chance to kill Cheadle outright.

"Sivir, you should have enough 'fuel' by now, right?"

As Ken threw the question at Sivir, he swung his blade straight at the inconspicuous opening in Cheadle's defense.

Cheadle's eyes sharpened, and she retreated rapidly, narrowly avoiding Ken's viciously angled strike.

That was close...

Cheadle's heartbeat quickened slightly. Before she could steady herself, Sivir's Wheel Blade swept horizontally toward her neck.

With her perception at its peak, she leaned backward at once, letting the sharp Wheel Blade skim past her face. Then she directly dismissed "Medical Ledger," lifting the Restriction of "Benevolent Healer."

Afterward,

Cheadle raised her palm against Sivir's elbow and, with nothing more than a borrowing-force technique, flung Sivir away.

The moment Sivir was thrown aside, Ken's slash came at Cheadle again.

Compared to Sivir's increasingly rough and distorted offensive, Cheadle was more wary of the man with the blade, who could always strike at the tiny gaps she inadvertently exposed while defending from tricky angles.

Cheadle took a sharp step back, evading another of Ken's slashes.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it... Stop asking whether I have enough! All I want now is to tear her apart!!!"

At that moment, Sivir's frantic roar suddenly came from behind her.

Along with it came an even more surging, powerful aura.

"Hm?"

Feeling Sivir's aura suddenly grow stronger, Cheadle could not help but feel startled.

Throughout the battle, neither Sivir nor Ken had used their abilities. This had led her to believe they were both pure Enhancers who did not develop abilities, focusing only on improving their physical power and Nen techniques.

But that was not the case.

Cheadle shot Sivir a quick glance.

The Manifestation Aura around Sivir surged like raging waves. The aura blasting from her body swept up sand, dust, and fallen leaves, while even her long red hair floated fiercely under its force.

"War Rhythm."

This was Sivir's ability.

When her negative emotions accumulated to a certain extent, she released all those pent-up emotions through her aura in one burst, greatly increasing the intensity of her original Manifestation Aura.

As for the principle behind this ability—

If someone asked Sivir, she would only answer like this: What? When people are angry or irritated, don't their punches hurt more?

Limited by her understanding of her own personality, she had thus created a Nen Ability like "War Rhythm."

In truth,

There was a phenomenon within the Nen System.

While Nen subtly amplified human emotions, it could also—

Increase or decrease the intensity of Nen power under the influence of emotions such as anger, irritation, joy, madness, sorrow, fear, hatred, carelessness, loyalty, fervor, suspicion, shame, pleasure, resolve, and so on.

Sivir's "War Rhythm" was based on precisely this principle.

"Three minutes. I'll tear you apart!"

Sivir's entire body radiated a torrential aura as her eyes, brimming with killing intent, locked onto Cheadle.

"Hey, hey, you've got the wrong target."

Ken halted his offensive, pointed his blade toward Moyu's direction, and smiled like a fox.

"The one you should tear apart is that little guy."

"!!!"

Cheadle's expression changed, while Sivir, in her War Rhythm state, froze.

At this very moment,

Moyu had no spare energy to think about what Hawk's words meant.

The problem before him now was the threat from Genbul.

"Huff, huff... I'm going to churn your guts into mush!!!"

Genbul looked at Moyu with a face full of killing intent.

By now, he had finally recovered somewhat from the intense pain.

Otherwise, the moment he had pulled out the short blade, he would have attacked Moyu immediately.

Having recovered, Genbul charged at Moyu with murderous intent.

"Splat."

Suddenly, a crisp sound rang beside Genbul's ear.