Facing scattered Chimera Ant soldiers, the battle could be said to be completely risk-free.
Especially with Morel's Deep Purple providing support from the sidelines.
However, charging alone into a two-hundred-strong Chimera Ant army was an entirely different level of risk.
Yet Morrow did exactly that.
Picking off enemies one by one and being surrounded were two completely different situations.
Morel and the others felt that Morrow was being far too reckless, but he was too fast, they had no time to voice their objections.
Only Kalluto and Hisoka, who were relatively close to Morrow, cast aside all hesitation in that instant. Their bodies moved before their minds could process the situation, and they rushed to assist Morrow in his seemingly bold move without a second thought.
Kalluto hadn't really thought it through, nor had he considered what difference his own strength could make.
He simply felt that even if he could only distract a small portion of the enemies, it would reduce the pressure on Morrow's frontal assault.
Hisoka's motivation was even more straightforward.
He didn't want to see Morrow exhausted to death by these mismatched Chimera Ant soldiers.
Morrow shot toward the numerous Chimera Ant soldiers like an arrow. With his keen senses, he naturally noticed Kalluto and Hisoka following closely behind.
But he had no time to dwell on it further.
The moment this Chimera Ant soldier unit burst onto the battlefield, Morrow knew he had to take on the responsibility of drawing the majority of their firepower while simultaneously speeding up the pace of eliminating the enemies.
Otherwise, if this unit coordinated with the original fifty-plus Chimera Ant soldiers already on the field, the entire Extermination Team would be in grave danger.
Moreover, there was no ruling out the possibility that Neferpitou had refined her puppet commands.
If Neferpitou had added new commands prioritizing reducing enemy numbers above all else, then... these controlled Nen-using soldiers might focus their attacks specifically on the weakest members of the Extermination Team in terms of potential aura.
As Morrow descended from the sky, the numerous Chimera Ant soldiers who had just arrived on the scene, under the control of the clownesque puppeteer, uniformly displayed hostile intent toward Morrow.
They had no concept of Nen Techniques, let alone genuine Nen abilities. All they possessed was brute aura output, with fangs and claws as their weapons.
As Morrow rapidly closed in, six Chimera Ant soldiers immediately leaped up, swooping toward him like birds of prey.
Under the precise control of the clownesque puppeteer, though they pounced with leaping motions, they exhibited an unnatural hovering ability that defied physical laws.
It was as if the clownesque puppeteer's Nen itself possessed levitation properties, suspending these puppets in mid-air like marionettes.
Whoosh, whoosh...
Claws infused with aura tore through the air, emitting piercing shrieks as they sealed off Morrow's advance from different angles.
「Starlight Convergence」
Brilliant starlight suddenly erupted from Morrow's body, expanding outward like En, instantly enveloping the six Chimera Ant soldiers lunging through the air.
In that fleeting moment, what seemed like a torrent of visualized information flooded into Morrow's mind, all calculations completed in the blink of an eye.
A trajectory of radiant light manifested before his eyes, precisely connecting the six enemies into a constellation-like pattern.
That was the optimal route of attack.
The next moment, the brilliant starlight that had been expanding outward rapidly retracted back into Morrow's body, then transformed into bubble-like solidified aura bubbles swelling up from various parts of his body.
Pop, pop!
Under Morrow's exquisite control, the bubble-like aura bursts successively, transforming into precisely measured propulsive forces.
This generated force violently altered Morrow's trajectory through the air.
Following the path marked by the constellation beam, he flew assaultingly, delivering lethal attacks precisely to the six Chimera Ant soldiers along the route.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...!
A slightly zigzagging light trail carrying Morrow's figure flashed past. Using only his palm blades condensed with aura, he accurately severed the heads of all six Chimera Ant soldiers.
Instantly, heads separated from bodies mid-air, blood spraying everywhere.
The six heads were simultaneously carried upward by the impact force, drawing six crimson arcs in the air.
This demonstrated the extreme precision of Morrow's attack route and the astonishing speed of his strikes.
To observers, the entire process, from the blooming and retracting of the brilliant starlight to his figure flashing past and decapitating the six heads, took merely one second.
Yet the speed and precision displayed in that single second embodied a violent aesthetic beauty.
Witnessing this, Morel, Gel and others felt their hearts tremble, finally following up with movements like Kalluto and Hisoka.
The beautifully destructive offensive power Morrow revealed in the melee indeed conveyed a reliable sense of security.
But they couldn't let Morrow shoulder all the risks alone.
Every one of them possessed the resolve to stake their lives!
With Morrow's instantaneous decapitation of six heads as the starting point, the chaotic battle erupted anew.
Facing greater numbers of Chimera Ant soldiers in tighter formations, Morrow had no capacity to monitor his teammates' movements or situations.
He descended diagonally from the air toward the ground.
The moment he landed, fearless Chimera Ant soldiers swarmed him from all directions.
This was the advantage of puppet soldiers.
They wouldn't be intimidated by Morrow's thunderous strike, nor did they possess negative emotions like fear or hesitation.
If these were Officer-level Chimera Ants with human nature and emotions, they would inevitably be affected by emotional fluctuations, delaying the optimal counterattack timing.
In that case, Morrow would have had more room to extend this shock effect after landing.
But the mindless Chimera Ant puppet soldiers obviously wouldn't grant him such opportunities.
As the Chimera Ant soldiers pressed forward like tidal waves, Morrow still refrained from using Shooting Star, an Emission attack capable of scattering enemy formations.
On one hand, it might accidentally harm East Gorteau civilians inside buildings; on the other, Shooting Star's output conversion efficiency was relatively low.
More precisely, it was less efficient than employing Palm Blade enhanced with Gyo.
Compared to the higher cost of Shooting Star, simply gathering more aura in his palms using Gyo could create highly efficient one-hit kills.
「Starlight Convergence」
Brilliant starlight once again emerged and expanded from Morrow's body surface, but this time its range was precisely controlled within a one-meter radius.
This approach conserved more aura output for combat while preventing brain overload from instantaneous information intake.
Under the extreme perception and error tolerance provided by Starlight Convergence, Morrow charged forward like a meteor, tearing a fierce gap through the enemy ranks.
Wherever his palm blades struck, a head would inevitably soar into the air. He continued to cut through the battlefield with this cold and efficient rhythm.
However, trapped in the midst of heavy encirclement, there was ultimately little room for further evasion.
Facing the soldiers swarming forward like fearless ants, Morrow, while drawing the majority of the enemy's fire, gradually began to accumulate wounds on his body.
This was an almost unavoidable cost, and it was also related to Morrow's complete focus on offense during the battle.
In his view, with the stamina provided by "Shooting Star · Essence Siphon," trading injuries for killing efficiency was a completely viable choice.
After several rounds of fierce combat, over a dozen Chimera Ant soldier corpses lay scattered around Morrow.
Meanwhile, outside the Chimera Ant soldiers' formation, his teammates, led by Kalluto and Hisoka, launched a fierce assault.
However, the Chimera Ant soldiers, fighting in formation, had clearly become much harder to kill.
Apart from powerful offensive forces like Hisoka and Kite, who remained unaffected... Nen users like Kalluto, Knuckle, and Shoot, who relied on specific mechanics and excelled at single-target engagements, found it difficult to perform efficiently against organized groups of enemies.
Despite this, Knuckle and the others continued to fight desperately.
Even if they couldn't kill efficiently, they could still use their own flesh and blood to draw enemy fire, sharing the pressure for their teammates.
Every feint, every diversion, each created subtle yet crucial turning points in the overall battle.
Unfortunately, human endurance has its limits.
The enemy's numerical advantage was simply too overwhelming. As the high-intensity combat dragged on... everyone, including Morrow, had to consider the inevitable outcome of their potential aura eventually running dry.
The reality, given the current situation, was that even if they drained the last drop of their potential aura, they wouldn't be able to clear out all the Chimera Ant soldiers here.
Morel, with his seasoned strategic insight, had foreseen this and had notified Knov in advance to come for extraction. This move, though unseen, had secured a vital retreat path for all his teammates.
About a hundred left...
Morel roughly estimated the number of remaining enemies on the field, then swept his gaze over his comrades.
They all showed visible exhaustion.
In this chaotic, outnumbered battle where one misstep could be fatal, the extreme mental strain and the pressure to avoid any mistakes had instead accelerated the consumption of their aura drastically.
Or rather, unnecessary aura wastage had increased.
But in a situation where a single misstep could lead to utter ruin, who would be willing to bear the cost of trial and error?
It was only human nature.
Perhaps only a powerhouse like Morrow, who moved with such ease, could ensure that every bit of aura was utilized to its fullest in such a chaotic and grueling fight.
But that ease itself was also predicated on the absolute condition of making no mistakes.
Morel shifted his gaze toward Morrow within the battlefield.
He's the one consuming aura the fastest and the most among everyone, yet he shows no signs of fatigue, even going so far as to trade wounds for lives... Seeing that Morrow still maintained his high combat efficiency, Morel couldn't help but feel immensely surprised.
As for the numerous blood-stained wounds on Morrow's body, he wasn't particularly worried.
After all, he had grown somewhat accustomed to it by now.
At this moment, Morrow's outward ferocity remained undiminished, but his potential aura was indeed nearing depletion.
He had originally hoped to rely on quantity to pile up enough for a level-up, but he had still underestimated the massive amount of experience required after surpassing Lv. 90. Having now eliminated over a hundred puppet soldiers around Lv.60, there were still no signs of leveling up.
Thus, the plan to partially restore aura amount through leveling clearly couldn't be relied upon.
That's about enough. I've reserved some Star Marks as well...
Since it was impossible to clear all the Chimera Ant soldiers in one go, the only option was to temporarily withdraw and regroup.
There are still over ten hours before midnight.
Morrow shifted from offense to defense, gradually retreating from the encirclement of Chimera Ant soldiers.
These modified Nen-using puppets ultimately had both strengths and weaknesses.
While their individual strength was considerable, their lack of autonomous consciousness resulted in extremely rigid combat styles.
Even when driven by commands to coordinate attacks, their movements were visibly sluggish and mechanical.
However, with Neferpitou and Shaiapouf's abilities and intelligence... given more time, they could undoubtedly further refine and create even stronger, more dangerous soldier puppets.
After midnight, the Chimera Ants' 'evolution process' must be completely halted here.
Morrow understood better than anyone the terrifying evolutionary potential possessed by the King and the Royal Guards.
This evolution wasn't merely about strength enhancement but also their speed and efficiency in absorbing and utilizing vast knowledge, coupled with an almost frightening level of execution.
About that matter... will it be in time?
Casually dispatching an approaching Chimera Ant soldier, Morrow moved closer to his teammates while glancing sideways toward the palace.
Intervening in Komugi's journey to the capital palace by inserting himself into the situation... such interference, based on knowledge of the plot, might trigger worse variables.
But it could also create a better opportunity.
The opportunity Morrow was waiting for was... the King severing his own arm.
As long as Komugi entered the palace to play against the King, "this event" would inevitably occur.
Morrow was certain of this because of Komugi's pure resolve, where defeat meant losing her life.
Faced with such determination, the moment the King tried to disrupt Komugi's focus with "wagers" after consecutive losses... he was destined to act with royal pride, severing his own arm to demonstrate his resolve.
If "this moment" indeed occurred, it would trigger a chain reaction.
The first affected would be Neferpitou.
To treat the King's severed arm, she would need to concentrate all her energy and Nen.
At that point, she would be unable to maintain a large-scale En for alertness, let alone spare focus to control the puppet soldiers.
Morrow's task was to prevent Neferpitou from treating the King's severed arm.
Thus, what Netero would face was a King missing one arm.
Perhaps this outcome would dampen Netero's enthusiasm for challenging the King.
But Morrow couldn't care less.
The ideal scenario would be for the King to sever his own arm during the match with Komugi in the final two hours before midnight...
Morrow recalled that Neferpitou needed 2–3 hours to fully heal the King's severed arm.
Anyway, all we can do is wait.
Morrow stopped overthinking and prepared to retreat into Hide and Seek with his teammates.
But just then, an anomaly occurred.
The group of Chimera Ant soldiers pursuing them suddenly and inexplicably froze in place. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the clownesque puppeteer Nen used to control the Chimera Ant soldiers flew at an extremely fast speed toward the direction of the capital palace.
The Nen... has been withdrawn?
Everyone immediately realized this, their expressions shifting to shock and uncertainty.
Then, they abruptly turned their attention to the Chimera Ant soldiers that had lost their power source.
An opportunity!
Though they didn't know what had happened, now was the perfect chance to eliminate these puppets.
And once again, Morrow stepped forward without hesitation, positioning himself in front of the group.
"Let me handle this."
As he spoke, he glanced toward the capital palace, subtly furrowing his brow.
It happened after all, the Star Mark has been transferred there too.
But, it's too early.
There are still ten hours until midnight. Unless Netero can arrive immediately...
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Bonus chapter @1600powerstones
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