Seeming Pleasure, Yet Also Satisfaction

The man's arrival instantly changed the atmosphere in the Temple courtyard.

An aura composed of Nen could reveal a Nen user's emotional fluctuations to the fullest extent.

At that moment, the man's aura radiated cold, ruthless killing intent.

Before this aura steeped in killing intent, Monica, an ordinary person, suffered greatly.

Moyu, meanwhile, remained unaffected. Hidden in the shadows, he concealed his presence as much as possible and waited for an opportunity.

The man walked toward Monica.

From the moment he entered the courtyard until now, his gaze had remained fixed on Monica without wavering in the slightest.

He stepped before Monica and smiled. "Do you know why I'm not killing you?"

Monica's face was ashen. She could only stare wide-eyed as the "monster" she perceived approached her step by step.

Intimidated by the killing aura, she had completely lost the ability to think, much less answer the man's question.

"Not even enough presence of mind left to guess?"

Seeing Monica's reaction, the man's smile widened.

"It's all right. I love talking more than anything. In the limited time ahead, let me slowly explain the reason to you one-sidedly. The reason I didn't kill you right away is, of course, because..."

Before he could finish, the man sprang forward like a tiger or leopard pouncing from concealment, charging straight at Moyu hidden in the dark corner.

From that instant onward, it no longer mattered whether his earlier question to Monica—"Do you know why I'm not killing you?"—had been unnecessary.

Nor did it matter whether he truly liked talking.

What the man wanted was to use words to draw and manipulate Moyu's attention, then end the fight swiftly.

"..."

Faced with the man's sudden attack, panic inevitably appeared on Moyu's face.

In the blink of an eye, the man saw Moyu's reaction.

"So he's just a brat."

The man sneered disdainfully and drove his right fist, packed with abundant Nen, at Moyu's vital point with maximum speed.

With the fatal attack closing in, Moyu seemed frightened. He hurriedly retreated to evade it, but appeared to trip over something and landed hard on his backside.

As a result, the man's lunging punch missed.

However, Moyu, sprawled on the ground, had clearly lost any ability to counterattack.

Unless he had a sharp weapon capable of extending his attack range, what awaited him would be the man's second fatal assault.

But Moyu obviously had no weapon in hand.

When all was said and done...

The brat before him was, at most, a novice who had only just glimpsed Nen Ability and knew nothing of combat. There was nothing to fear.

"You thought that was what I was thinking, didn't you?"

The man's disdainful smile suddenly vanished, and his viper-like gaze fixed on Moyu's hands braced against the ground.

At that moment, Moyu, who had fallen to the ground, smoothly drew a long, pointed Western chef's knife concealed beneath a scrap of cloth and fiercely thrust it at the wrist of the man's right arm, still held in a punching stance.

That was the fastest target Moyu could reach.

But the man had never let down his guard. He had noticed Moyu's small movement immediately, so how could he possibly let himself be stabbed?

Avoiding it would have been no problem—

Yet to end the fight faster and more cleanly, the man, who seemed to take pleasure in killing, actually spread open his right palm and deliberately met Moyu's incoming chef's knife.

Squelch!

The long blade pierced through the man's palm, spraying blood everywhere.

Yet the man's expression remained blank. Not only did he not pull his hand away, he forcefully pressed it down along the blade.

Amid the spraying blood, his entire hand slid down the blade to the hilt.

Then, as though he felt no pain, he used that blood-soaked hand pierced by the knife to clamp tightly around Moyu's knife hand.

"My Manifestation Aura is far greater than yours. From the moment I got close and restrained you, you had already lost everything. Come on, let me see your real panic."

The man looked utterly composed. So long as he wished it, his other hand, wreathed in Nen, could put Moyu to sleep at any moment.

He could deal with a Nen user without even using his ability.

Even if it was only a brat, it still gave him a small sense of accomplishment.

Moyu gave an experimental struggle, but since his Manifestation Aura was lower than his opponent's, it had little effect.

Still, the man's vigilance was higher than Moyu had expected, and his ruthless decisiveness in trading injury for the foundation of victory was not to be underestimated.

This guy... was more troublesome than he appeared.

"So you deliberately said all that nonsense to Monica not merely to disrupt my attention. You really do like talking."

Moyu sighed softly. He was not exactly calm and collected, but neither did he show the panic and terror the man wanted to see.

The man stared at Moyu's reaction and said coldly, "Looks like I underestimated you. In your next life, don't stick your neck out so casually. You might live a little longer that way."

"You say that as if you would have let me leave if I hadn't acted. Your aura laid your vile nature completely bare."

"Tch. Was it that obvious?"

The man said darkly, "Indeed. The moment I saw your aura, I had already regarded you as prey."

Before his words had faded, he threw a punch straight at Moyu's vital point.

Moyu, restrained as he was, seemed to have no way to evade it. But this was precisely the instant he had been waiting for—the moment his opponent went in for the kill.

Just as that ferocious fist was about to smash Moyu's head apart, a pair of pitch-black hands that had appeared at some unknown time emerged first from either side of the man's cheeks, covered his face, and violently snapped it backward.

Crack!

The man's head was instantly bent backward by those black hands. His throat bone broke through his skin, bringing forth a torrent of blood.

"Hm?"

The sudden turn of events froze the man's expression. Confusion coiled through his mind like wildly growing vines.

What had happened?

He wanted to say something, but could only make an indistinct, whistling sound. Soon, he became a corpse and fell to the ground.

The Shadow Dummy that had appeared out of nowhere behind the man slowly withdrew its hands, then returned to its normal shadow state at Moyu's command.

First, he had created layered illusions to conceal the Shadow Dummy's existence. Then, at the most crucial moment, he had made the Shadow Dummy appear and deliver a killing blow.

Thus, the battle ended in less than a minute.

Moyu lowered his head and looked at the man's corpse, a strange emotion brewing within him.

It seemed like pleasure, yet also satisfaction.

"How strange. I'm certain I don't like killing people, so why do I feel this way?"

Moyu raised an index finger to his chin and muttered in confusion.

"Is it because I watched this guy fall step by step into a trap I had prepared beforehand? Or because I got rid of a problem without expending much effort? A thrill like speedrunning a game?"

"Right, I don't even know this guy's name. And his Nen Ability... uh, did he even have one?"

"Forget it. It doesn't matter."

Moyu shook his head slightly, then looked at the man's corpse again.

That feeling of victory from just now continued to echo in his heart.

Nen Ability battles were truly interesting. All it took was successfully planting a single setup to end a fight in an instant.

And I could become even stronger...

Thinking of that, Moyu unconsciously revealed a faint smile.

Monica saw what had happened to the man, and she also saw the smile on Moyu's face. She felt ice-cold all over.