A circular En spanning kilometers could create an extremely powerful alert effect.
If it were Neferpitou... She would have detected the Deceptive Shooting Star the moment it entered her alert range and countered with the fastest possible response.
But Shaiapouf couldn't.
Even with Beelzebub's microscopic clone ability enhancing his vigilance density, he couldn't replicate the effectiveness of Neferpitou's En.
Thus, when the aura fluctuations of the Deceptive Shooting Star appeared above the Meat Orchard, though Shaiapouf's senses immediately registered the information, he had neither the opportunity nor the space to intercept it.
This was the inevitable result of the difference in alert ranges.
Moreover, the Deceptive Shooting Star's target wasn't the main hall where the King resided, but the distant central courtyard instead.
By the time Shaiapouf flew out from the main hall structure, he saw the Shooting Star, radiating dazzling light, tracing a smooth arc through the air.
It appeared to be guided by some force, following that arc to land precisely on one of the meat trees in the central courtyard.
In an instant, it was like a massive rock crashing into water.
After an extremely brief moment of silence, the destructive energy contained within the Shooting Star surged outward like a tidal wave, engulfing everything in its path.
Nearby meat trees, the ground, and the stationary puppet soldiers were instantly swallowed by this energy.
Then, violent shockwaves spread, affecting meat trees further away.
The numerous flesh eggs hanging from the trees, as if struck by a hurricane, helplessly tore from their branches amidst the near-crushing pressure, swept into the air by the fierce winds.
The explosive energy quickly dissipated, leaving a massive crater at the impact site in the central courtyard.
Further from the crater, only five or six meat trees remained standing stubbornly, though most of the flesh eggs that had hung from them now lay scattered on the ground like fallen leaves.
Closest to the pit, two meat trees had snapped and fallen, their flesh eggs mostly shattered from the impact, oozing viscous fluids that entangled with curled, motionless humanoid forms.
As for the meat tree that had been at the very center of the explosion, it had long vanished without a trace, with only faint traces of debris remaining.
—--
On the high outer wall of the palace, Morrow stood quietly, a Star-Marked Divine Script coin pinched between the fingers of his left hand, while his right hand controlled aura that flowed and rotated like steady water.
He paid little attention to the devastated scene in the central courtyard after the explosion, instead lifting his gaze to stare at Shaiapouf hovering in the air above the main hall.
With just a focused gaze, he could clearly see the rapidly intensifying, uncontrollable fury spreading across Shaiapouf's human-like face.
And in the air around him, faint points of light were visible.
At first glance, they appeared scattered further away like scales or dust.
But Morrow knew that was Shaiapouf's other ability, Beelzebub.
This ability allowed Shaiapouf to split his body into countless microscopic clones, down to the nanometer scale.
Morrow guessed Shaiapouf was using this ability to compensate for his En's inferior range compared to Neferpitou's.
Based on his understanding of Shaiapouf's abilities, Morrow easily deduced the reason.
Good, he's angry...
Morrow had deliberately controlled the Shooting Star's power precisely to use the Meat Orchard's devastation to provoke Shaiapouf's emotions. The King might not care about these thousands of flesh eggs incubating soldiers.
But Shaiapouf was different.
His sole ambition was to assist the King in becoming the ruler of the world, and he valued the inception of this future army more than anyone else.
Now that someone was trying to destroy the first step of his meticulously laid plan, it was only natural for him to be enraged, even to the point of losing his rationality.
Moreover, the loss of only one-third of the Meat Orchard would instead ignite an even stronger protective desire in Shaiapouf.
This was precisely the intention behind Morrow deliberately controlling the power of the Shooting Star.
He was not only controlling the force of the explosion but also the fluctuations of human emotions.
With this kind of scheme targeting human nature, he aimed to tear a clear flaw in Shaiapouf's seemingly composed and calm yet highly emotional personality.
However, he did not immediately follow up with a second Deceptive Shooting Star. Instead, while observing Shaiapouf's reaction, he remained vigilant of the situation inside the palace.
No response, huh...
Morrow's expression remained calm as he muttered to himself. Does he think Shaiapouf is enough to handle the attack, or... is he more concerned about the chess game?
Before he could ponder further, he saw Shaiapouf fluttering his dazzling butterfly wings, flying toward him menacingly through the air.
His aura output should be around Lv.90. Clearly, too much of his aura has been divided by Beelzebub's ability, but driven by intense emotions, his main body's aura has increased slightly, about 2~3 levels higher than Lv.90.
In that brief encounter, Morrow estimated Shaiapouf's aura output level.
The characteristics of Beelzebub's ability were the very reason he considered Shaiapouf his next target.
For instance, at this moment, Shaiapouf had split into too many clones, causing his main body to lose the Chimera Ants' natural racial advantage of overwhelming humans.
Under such circumstances, this was the perfect opportunity for Morrow to muster his strength and kill Shaiapouf in one go.
「Deceptive Shooting Star」
The already charged Nen was casually thrown by Morrow, transforming into a fluorescent green Shooting Star that shot straight toward Shaiapouf.
The speed isn't fast, easy to dodge... and this angle won't affect the Meat Orchard either.
Shaiapouf's eyes reflected the fluorescent green trajectory as he instantly made his judgment.
With Neferpitou guarding the King's side, he wasn't worried about the safety of the main hall.
What truly mattered now was ensuring that the Meat Orchard in the courtyard suffered no further losses.
Thus, he had to close the distance quickly and suppress his opponent head-on to prevent any further long-range attacks.
Although this decision was made in an instant, it also revealed a hint of helplessness.
The root cause was the lack of manpower, which limited his options.
If Youpi were still here... They wouldn't be so passive!
Shaiapouf swiftly twisted his body mid-air, deftly evading the Shooting Star just before it reached him.
But the moment he completed his dodge, a crisp ding echoed from the high walls surrounding the palace.
It was the sound of a coin being flicked.
At the sound, a coin wrapped in aura shot like a beam of light toward the Meat Orchard.
Guided by the Star-Marked Divine Script, the Shooting Star that Shaiapouf had dodged, which should have soared straight into the sky, paused briefly before abruptly changing direction and plunging downward, heading straight for the Meat Orchard.
All of this happened behind Shaiapouf.
However, it was as if Shaiapouf had eyes on the back of his head, and his reaction was incredibly swift. Just as the Shooting Star abruptly changed direction, he suddenly accelerated, swiftly turning to pursue it directly.
This sudden burst of speed made Morrow raise an eyebrow slightly.
Clearly, this guy... Outwardly, he appeared to have lost all reason due to overwhelming rage, yet while lunging through the air, he still had the presence of mind to conceal his true speed.
It was unclear whether he was deliberately employing such petty tricks or was simply accustomed to deceitful tactics.
Regardless, with the directional guidance of the Star-Marked Divine Script coin, the moment the Deceptive Shooting Star veered toward the Meat Orchard... The outcome of Morrow's strategy was already set in stone.
He rapidly concentrated aura at his feet and then stomped down.
Boom!
The wall shattered abruptly.
Morrow's figure shot into the air like an arrow released from its bow.
「Astral Step」
After closing the distance with an explosive burst of momentum, Morrow's dust-shrouded form vanished into thin air.
At the same time, Shaiapouf, with his suddenly unleashed speed, adopted a trajectory like a spear thrusting diagonally toward the ground, using his own body to intercept the Shooting Star at the last moment.
Kaboom!
The Shooting Star exploded violently in mid-air, as if detonated.
Shaiapouf curled up, enduring the blast of ferocious energy.
Although he successfully triggered the Shooting Star's explosion prematurely, visible wounds were torn across his body.
Damn human!
Shaiapouf had no time to tend to his battered body; his pupils abruptly contracted sharply.
He swiftly straightened his posture, adopting a defensive stance.
But the moment he did so, a searing heat spread across his face, followed by sudden darkness as his vision vanished without warning.
Huh?!
Shaiapouf hovered in the air.
Now, the upper part of his face above the nose, along with his entire skull, had disappeared into thin air.
Just two or three body lengths away, Morrow's figure reappeared, clutching Shaiapouf's mangled half-skull in his hand.
Squelch!
Enveloped in Nen, his hand clenched tightly, crushing the half-skull into splattered flesh and bone fragments.
"Tch."
Morrow lowered his gaze, gathering aura beneath his feet before unleashing it explosively.
Using this sudden thrust, he adjusted his posture, briefly defying gravity, and appeared in the air behind Shaiapouf.
Hovering in place, he raised a hand and pressed it against the back of Shaiapouf's body, now missing half its head.
As if to desecrate the corpse... A torrent of Nen erupted from Morrow's palm, blasting a massive hole through Shaiapouf's back.
But in the next instant, despite losing half his head and having his upper torso severely pierced, Shaiapouf's body burst apart like a firework.
In a flash, his form split into hundreds of clones, converging from all directions toward the distance.
Morrow wasn't surprised by this turn of events.
Using the Shooting Star aimed at the Meat Orchard as bait, he had successfully torn an opening in Shaiapouf's defenses.
Then, leveraging the teleportation of Astral Step, he struck that opening with lightning speed.
The result: he effortlessly destroyed Shaiapouf's brain.
A fatal wound.
Yet, the Tree Rings upgrade ability showed no reaction. This allowed Morrow to instantly grasp the situation, realizing that Shaiapouf had already detached his 'main body' before being struck.
As for how he could react so promptly, it was likely achieved through the visual assistance of his other clones.
This also explained his swift reaction earlier when his back was turned to the Deceptive Shooting Star.
After confirming the circumstances, Morrow decisively utilized Emission techniques to pivot mid-air, blasting away more than half of Shaiapouf's body with a Nen wave.
Superficially, it appeared as though he was desecrating a corpse, but in reality, he was further depleting Shaiapouf's viable forces.
Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say... He was targeting Shaiapouf's cells.
So when Shaiapouf's mangled body split into clones, Morrow casually launched two more attacks, obliterating a portion of them.
His actions were simply about expanding his advantage.
But from Shaiapouf's "perspective" and "viewpoint," he witnessed an astonishingly powerful insight that left him deeply unsettled.
I had already prepared the 'feigned death state' in advance... there shouldn't have been any flaws. How did he see through it...?
He so decisively launched further attacks and destruction against a body that, by common sense, should have been meaningless.
Was this a clear, targeted judgment, or a habitual follow-up strike?
Regardless of his motive, this move of his... not only disrupted my plan to counterattack through the feigned death state but also showed a clear... intention to deliberately destroy my cells!
Damn it, this human must have already seen through the essence of my ability.
But since when...?
Shaiapouf's thoughts raced.
Simultaneously, countless clones converged onto his main body, which was no larger than a bee, and in the blink of an eye, reconstructed Shaiapouf's completely unscathed form.
After reforming, he glared darkly at Morrow, who was falling from the sky toward the ground.
If not for his duty to remain vigilant around the King at all times, which prevented him from recalling the numerous tiny clones scattered near the palace... He might not have been able to use "visual assistance" to evade Morrow's lethal strike just now.
In other words, he had just brushed shoulders with death.
But what concerned him even more was Morrow's inexplicable insight.
And the sudden realization, during the attack, that he had been outmaneuvered.
Outmaneuvered by a mere human...!
This was the outcome Shaiapouf found most intolerable.
Should I recall the 'remaining clones'...?
Shaiapouf pondered rapidly. Though he was well aware of the importance of maintaining a security perimeter around the King, the formidable strength Morrow had displayed in his assault forced him to consider other factors.
In the end, he decided to recall the remaining clones.
Because only by killing or thoroughly suppressing this human could he prevent further complications.
Shaiapouf immediately retrieved the numerous clones assigned to guard duties, leaving only a few tiny ones for visual assistance and dispatching one clone to report the situation inside the palace.
As he recalled his clones, Morrow remained focused on the situation at the palace.
Such commotion has been stirred up repeatedly, yet there's still no reaction...
Unfortunately, Ponzu's Shared Window ability could only be shared with one teammate. Otherwise, he could have used the Shared Window ability to observe Palm's crystal ball and monitor the situation around the King.
No movement... I can reluctantly accept that...
Morrow withdrew his gaze, shifting it toward Shaiapouf in the sky. Then I'll use this opportunity to see if I can kill Shaiapouf here.
Just then, a shimmering shower of scale powder fell from the sky, covering the entire courtyard.
That was Shaiapouf's Spiritual Message ability, which could read the emotional state of targets through the scales and love spring.
Additionally, those who inhaled the scale powder would be affected by his Manipulation-type hypnotic ability.
Hmm? When the information read by the scales and powder was transmitted into his mind, Shaiapouf's expression slightly changed.
He hadn't read any emotional information at all.
It was as if Morrow were a cold, hard stone devoid of any emotional fluctuations.
What's going on with this human...?
Shaiapouf was once again deeply shocked.