From Neferpitou's elevated perspective, it was only natural to find the aura output of the modified Chimera soldiers unsatisfactory.
But for human Nen users, these Chimera soldiers, approaching Officer-level strength and enhanced by her aura, still possessed considerable power.
So while dissatisfaction remained... their combat capabilities were barely acceptable.
Yet the hundred Chimera soldiers just dispatched to Peijin were rapidly diminishing in number.
The speed at which those linear auras vanished immediately reminded Neferpitou of Netero's presence.
In her understanding, only Netero could eliminate Chimera soldiers so extravagantly.
She stared toward Peijin, her pupils slowly dilating as a topographic map of the city unfolded in her vision.
Each Chimera soldier was distributed across it like chess pieces.
Whenever one piece lost connection, she instantly perceived it and clearly traced a rapid cleanup route advancing through her mind.
More than one person.
Other positions across the entire board began losing soldiers consecutively.
But these sporadic losses paled compared to the main route cutting through the battlefield like a sharp blade.
Where it passed resembled nothing less than one-sided slaughter.
Too many pieces were being taken...
Neferpitou instinctively bent her knees to rise, but slowly settled back down, maintaining her cross-legged posture.
If I strike now, I could eliminate many human Nen users first... but I cannot leave the King's side, meow.
She keenly recognized this as a perfect opportunity to reduce the human faction's strength.
If she led all Chimera Ant soldiers in a surprise attack, even if they ultimately couldn't handle that old man, they could still completely eradicate the other human Nen users.
With the Selection ceremony approaching, eliminating a few more threats would provide greater security.
Though Neferpitou recognized the opportunity, as the King's Royal Guard, her primary duty remained ensuring the King's safety above all.
Thus, even if weighing "the King" against "military opportunity" on a scale, she would unhesitatingly choose the former.
The humans... must have calculated this, meow.
She couldn't take the initiative, immediately understanding why humans dared act so boldly in Peijin.
They had counted on her and Shaiapouf never straying far from the King's palace.
Of course, this might also be a probe.
The humans wanted to test the King's character and conduct, whether he would order them to Peijin to remove potential disruptions to the Selection ceremony, or even intervene personally.
If such possibilities existed, humans could seize a chance to directly target the King.
But currently, the King was immersed in the world of Gungi, completely indifferent to external disturbances.
Was this ultimately good or bad?
Regardless, from any outcome perspective, the humans' operation was destined to yield gains.
This is your scheme, isn't it, meow.
Neferpitou's eyes abruptly turned cold.
She decisively severed the Nen controlling the East Gorteau soldiers, shifting all her focus to the Chimera Ant soldiers within the courtyard. The humans' calculations were sound.
Yet they failed to account for the factor of quantity.
Neferpitou indeed couldn't leave her post, but she could increase the numbers, thereby posing a threat to the humans running amok in Peijin City.
Even if no substantial results were achieved, it would still significantly drain the humans' energy and stamina.
When it came to endurance... humans were nothing but ants.
Neferpitou had every reason to be confident.
She could maintain an expansive En for extended periods without rest, simultaneously control numerous puppets, and perform highly complex Chimera Ant modification surgeries.
Putting everything else aside, her endurance alone far surpassed any limit humans could hope to reach.
—--
Inside Peijin City.
A cold wind howled incessantly, like restless spirits with nowhere to go.
The armed soldiers previously scattered throughout the city suddenly collapsed limply to the ground.
Some stationed at high elevations lost support and fell consecutively from building rooftops.
Without Neferpitou's aura reinforcement, their bodies hit the ground and quickly formed expanding pools of blood.
She withdrew the aura applied to the ordinary soldiers...
Morel tightened his grip on the massive smoke pipe, twisting his body to block a fierce claw strike from a Chimera Ant soldier.
A crisp impact echoed as he used the momentum to leap backward.
While creating distance, his peripheral vision registered the collapsing ordinary soldiers, and the relentless gunfire that had persisted since the battle began rapidly faded into silence.
It seems she intends to deploy another batch of Nen-using puppets.
Morel landed steadily on a building rooftop, ignoring the Chimera Ant soldier charging toward him.
The moment he averted his gaze, the aura-surging Chimera Ant soldier launched into a mid-air pounce, descending upon him from above.
In that split second, several smoke-constructed Deep Purple soldiers shot out from an alleyway, accurately slamming into and hurling the Chimera Ant soldier away.
Morel paid no attention to the scene from start to finish, his eyes swiftly scanning his teammates' combat situations.
He understood that while his Deep Purple ability excelled at adaptability, it was fundamentally more auxiliary in nature.
In other words, when facing enemies like Chimera Ants, his ability lacked direct and powerful lethal means.
Especially when dispersing his aura output into multiple Deep Purple soldiers, his efficiency in eliminating Chimera Ant soldiers was inevitably affected.
But Morel always maintained clarity about his role.
To maximize Deep Purple's tactical value, he fully embraced his support duties, prioritizing precision and performance by creating only fifty Deep Purple soldiers to assist his teammates in combat.
Thus, while he rarely achieved notable results personally, he effectively enhanced his teammates' offensive efficiency through coordinated operations with Deep Purple.
His focus wasn't on direct confrontation, but on constantly monitoring the entire battlefield's dynamics.
Morrow doesn't need any support at all... I even feel sending Deep Purple soldiers over might disrupt him.
Morel's gaze swept across Morrow's combat zone, witnessing only clean, efficient assassination scenes.
The swift and ferocious assaults were truly startling.
Utilizing the Emission-type "Nen burst" characteristic to enhance movement speed indeed significantly improves offensive efficiency, but correspondingly, the consumption rate is equally extraordinary. Morel's only concern was whether Morrow's physical stamina and aura could sustain such consumption.
But he also understood that Morrow had chosen this combat style precisely to fulfill his duty as the team's strongest member, using the sharpest offensive approach to alleviate the pressure on his teammates during battle.
Especially at this critical moment when the enemy was about to deploy additional Nen-using puppets, Morrow's efficient fighting style would undoubtedly benefit every teammate.
Though Morel could clearly see the entire situation from his support perspective, he could only silently accept Morrow taking these risks upon himself.
With great power comes great responsibility.
In Morel's view, Morrow had already lived up to this principle.
Though Knuckle and Shoot's abilities lean toward strategic types, even without using their abilities, they can easily break through these puppets' Nen defense with Deep Purple's cover.
Gon's offensive methods... are indeed impressive in power, though there are some risks during the "reeling in" phase. But with Deep Purple's assistance, it shouldn't be a problem.
Kalluto's strategy is quite clever, first using paper figures to trigger the puppets' "eliminate nearest enemy" command, then taking the opportunity to scatter the paper figures into numerous paper pieces, waiting for the chance to deliver a Manipulation-type one-hit kill.
Menchi has more important tasks. Once enemy reinforcements arrive, we cannot continue fighting deeper into enemy territory.
Gel's ability belongs to Conjuration and Transmutation types. Unfortunately, toxins have limited effect on puppets, but with Deep Purple's coordination, she can still achieve efficient combat using Nen techniques.
No need to pay too much attention to Kite's situation. His ability is naturally suited for combat, and even with only one hand, his clearance efficiency remains high.
However... Hisoka seems to be even more efficient.
Morel's gaze finally settled on Hisoka, who had been summoned by Morrow.
A typical combat specialist.
With just one glance, Morel made his judgment.
Undoubtedly, Hisoka was a combat specialist who reveled in slaughter and battle.
All his techniques and fighting methods served only the most direct purpose of eliminating enemies.
If such a Nen user were an opponent, one would have to be extremely cautious.
But as a teammate, he brought exceptional reassurance.
About fifty left, they'll be dealt with soon...
While monitoring the battlefield progress, Morel continuously created new Deep Purple soldiers for replenishment.
This was precisely Deep Purple's advantage.
Though individual combat power couldn't match these Nen-using puppets, they could be continuously replenished.
So as long as they fulfilled their roles of providing cover and luring enemies, even trading one for one was a guaranteed profit.
Just as he created the last Deep Purple soldier for replenishment, he suddenly noticed a large group of Nen-using puppets surging from the palace direction.
Each puppet faintly displayed the controller's phantom image, emitting a more dangerous aura than before.
Clearly, this batch of puppets carried the controller's more intense malice.
Hmm!?
Morel carefully counted their numbers, there were actually two hundred of them, and his expression couldn't help but change.
From his position, he could not only see this puppet force about to invade the battlefield, but also the En covering the palace in the distance.
This meant that Neferpitou, while maintaining such a large-scale En, could simultaneously control nearly 250 Nen-using puppets.
That's utterly ridiculous.
Morel unconsciously tightened his grip on his smoke pipe, finding it truly difficult to fathom the upper limits of a Royal Guard's power. He finally understood why Chairman Netero had failed to kill Neferpitou back then.
Such a monster... how could it possibly be killed?
In that moment, he recalled his encounter with Youpi during the assault on the Chimera Ant Nest.
That creature's aura output had actually surpassed even Neferpitou's.
Fortunately, Morrow had dealt with him back then.
Otherwise, Morel didn't dare imagine how troublesome Youpi would have become after mastering Nen.
Thinking this, Morel's gaze involuntarily turned toward Morrow's position.
He saw Morrow moving like a brilliant streak of light, with Nen-using puppets falling one after another wherever he passed.
Completely disregarding aura consumption, he poured all his power into offense, each strike executed with extreme precision and lethality.
Morrow... is he still accelerating?
Witnessing Morrow actually increase his killing pace further, Morel felt a shock run through him.
He must have noticed those two hundred additional Nen-using puppets that just entered the battlefield...
At this rate, we'll be exhausted within half an hour. I need to have Knov prepare for retreat in advance.
Having clearly assessed the situation, Morel immediately contacted Knov.
Meanwhile, Knov was hiding in some bushes on a hillside.
This location was still quite distant from the palace, but it was the closest he could get without being detected by Neferpitou's gaze.
After all, her vigilance methods weren't limited to just En.
Even her vision and senses could detect the slightest movement.
Knov maintained extreme caution throughout.
Yet despite being so far away, his hands... still trembled uncontrollably.
Neferpitou's overwhelmingly evil aura acted like a switch, mercilessly reviving the trauma he'd suffered during the nest invasion.
Is this... the extent of my "courage"?
Knov's eyes dimmed as he let out a weak, self-mocking smile.
Though fear shadowed his every move, he still had to do his best to place the portal as close as possible.
Only this way could he ensure Ponzu's giant hornets maintained precise control.
This... is as far as I can go.
With his trembling Index Finger, Knov slowly traced the portal's outline on the ground beside him.
Then he casually picked up a small stone and tossed it into the dark portal.
Moments later.
Giant hornets emerged from the pitch-black portal, flying toward the palace direction.
Knov watched them depart.
Buzz...
His pocket phone vibrated softly at that moment, interrupting his thoughts.
It was the quietest notification method.
Taking out his phone, Knov saw Morel's message and his expression changed immediately.
His approach route to the palace had been a flanking maneuver.
But being so preoccupied with Neferpitou's aura, he'd completely missed the two hundred Nen-using puppets approaching Peijin City from the front.
Fortunately, Morel had sent the warning...
Knov took a deep breath, recomposing his emotions and mindset.
At the very least, he had to accomplish this task properly.
—--
Peijin City.
Upon seeing the clustered approach of two hundred Nen-using puppets, Morrow sighed inwardly.
His teammates might be relieved at this moment that he'd managed to eliminate a Royal Guard during the nest assault.
But only he knew...
The outcome of killing Youpi also brought about obvious changes different from the original storyline.
Such as the current Nen-using puppet army controlled by Neferpitou.
If there were more reserves within the palace... the difficulty of restraining the Royal Guards would inevitably increase significantly.
So it was hard to say whether... the changes he brought were ultimately good or bad.
How much simpler it would be to just use the Poor Man's Rose.
Morrow complained quietly in his heart, then without hesitation shot through the air toward the clustered Nen-using puppets.
Even while fighting in "this area," they still had to consider the safety of East Gorteau citizens who would participate in tomorrow's Selection ceremony in every building.
Everyone was shocked to see Morrow charging alone toward the Nen-using puppet army.
This is too reckless!
Immediately after, Kalluto and Hisoka followed without hesitation.