What Spiritual Message ability, what Beelzebub!
If it can't even deal with a mere human, what use are these abilities?
Useless.
Completely worthless.
Ultimately, it's all because...
You're a complete failure, Pouf!
The more distorted Shaiapouf's facial expression became, the more violently his emotions churned inside.
He couldn't stand being suppressed by a human, and even less could he accept that his wretched state might disappoint the King.
In the extreme shame and rage caused by his severe dereliction of duty, he involuntarily began trampling on his own dignity in his heart.
While acknowledging his incompetence, he frantically contemplated how to atone.
There was only one way.
Change the current situation!
And the first step was to develop abilities more suited for actual combat.
Then, before the 'King' noticed this place, he would fight a brilliant comeback battle!
There's not much time, but the 'King' might not take interest in the attacker. More likely, after the game ends, he'll focus on improving his Gungi skills.
So there's still a chance...
Even so, I must treat every second from now on as my last and fight with all my might!
The ferocious madness on Shaiapouf's face abruptly faded, replaced by a layer of icy determination.
Every brain cell of his was now highly active.
All for the sake of gaining an ability to rival Morrow in the shortest time possible.
Shaiapouf deduced that the King wouldn't immediately focus on the attacker based on the King's extreme concentration on Gungi over the past few days.
This inference had some basis.
Therefore, it wasn't entirely self-consolation.
However, in his desire not to disappoint the King, Shaiapouf completely overlooked a more crucial factor.
Or rather, it was a factor he was unwilling to acknowledge deep down.
And that factor was Komugi, who had awakened Nen at the game board.
To memorize the endless stream of exquisite moves that emerged after awakening Nen, Komugi needed to return to her room to set up the board and required a quiet environment.
Of course.
Komugi, who always viewed herself as insignificant, would never ask questions even if she heard deafening explosions.
She would be afraid and confused.
But in the end, she would endure silently.
Like a speck of dust, she would only do what she ought to do.
But the King already regarded Komugi as an important guest.
To allow Komugi to memorize those moves through board setup without distractions, he naturally had to create an absolutely quiet environment for her as her host.
Since Komugi didn't inquire about the explosions outside the palace, the King didn't offer an explanation.
He strode toward the main entrance without hesitation.
"King!"
Neferpitou grasped the King's intention at top speed, but since the 'broken arm treatment' process was still ongoing, she couldn't help shouting out.
Yet the King didn't even glance at her.
"Stay here."
This clear, forceful response cut off Neferpitou's subsequent words.
Nearby.
Shaiapouf's clone witnessed the entire process.
From realizing the King might not immediately focus on the attacker, to resolving to change the situation and taking action.
It all happened in barely a second. Now, Shaiapouf found his own 'deduction' utterly laughable, and his face instantly turned ashen.
The King intended to personally end this farce.
Not to satisfy some hunting desire, nor to personally reap a rare delicacy.
But for that lowly human.
This possibility was not something Shaiapouf had failed to anticipate.
He simply...
Refused to acknowledge it.
Refused to acknowledge that the supreme King would actually care about and concern himself with an inferior human.
—--
Outside the palace.
Shaiapouf's true body wore a deathly pale expression, allowing tears to stream down freely.
This bizarre, almost Sichuan opera face-changing-like reaction within a second naturally caught Morrow's attention.
But before Morrow could figure out the reason, the terrifying aura suddenly emanating from the large balcony on the palace's second floor essentially gave him the answer directly.
It was the King.
Morrow's eyes flickered slightly. With the power of 'Astral Step' in hand, he calmly and composedly looked up toward the source of the terrifying aura.
He saw the King, with his robust physique and crown-shaped head, stride to the edge of the balcony, looking down imperiously at Morrow standing at the periphery of the central courtyard.
Their gazes met mid-air.
The King saw composure in Morrow.
A composure that completely disregarded life and death.
Morrow saw arrogance in the King.
An arrogance born from standing at the pinnacle of life, embodying the finest achievements of all species.
The King did not possess the ability of Linfen Nai Aiquan.
But with just one glance, he could discern through the flow of aura that Morrow and Komugi shared the same trait.
That was the result of humanity's relentless tempering to advance boldly in a particular field.
Even so...
The King naturally judged Morrow as vulnerable.
He then withdrew his gaze from the insect and turned to look at Shaiapouf, who was hovering mid-air with an ashen face.
He did not delve deeper, simply assuming Pouf's reaction was due to being locked in a difficult battle.
Noticing the King's gaze upon him, Shaiapouf quickly collected himself, descended, and landed on the balcony.
He knelt on one knee, right hand over his chest, and said, "My King, please grant me a little more time..."
He tried to seize an opportunity to atone for his failure, but before he could finish, the King directly interrupted him: "I will handle this myself."
After saying this, the King inexplicably recalled the earlier game of Gungi he had played with Komugi.
The desperate Flying Ninja, with the resolve of a death warrior, fought to secure a sliver of hope for the General behind it, aiming for a final chance at victory.
That was the will of a subject dying for their lord, a natural sacrifice.
But at that time...
If the General were also willing to take risks for its subjects, could the game have still turned around?
Various chess strategies flashed through the King's mind, but he quickly suppressed these thoughts.
What mattered now was dealing with the intruder in the central courtyard to provide Komugi with a quiet environment.
Afterward, once Komugi had digested those moves, they could resume their game.
Then, he wanted to see what kind of change this subtle shift in thinking could bring to the 'next game.'
The King...
Felt intensely expectant.
Thus, under this strong sense of anticipation, even though the King noticed Shaiapouf's reaction as if he had something to report, he had no intention of paying it any mind. Only wishing to quickly play another game with Komugi, he had no desire to waste time on such trivial matters.
What the King did was simply muster all his strength and charge relentlessly toward Morrow at the edge of the courtyard.
That razor-sharp aura seemed to declare that no matter what tricks you had, they would be meaningless.
The King was extremely fast.
So fast that the naked eye could only capture a blur.
And Morrow, having met the King's gaze, had already prepared his response in advance.
He gathered most of his aura in his right foot.
This allowed him to attack at any moment or burst forth with speed when retreating.
Thus, the moment the King mustered all his strength, Morrow, already prepared, responded accordingly.
In an instant, using both hands and feet, with his aura flowing at high speed, he almost simultaneously activated the abilities 'Deceptive Shooting Star' and 'Insidious Shooting Star.'
A fluorescent green shooting star was thrown by him, arcing toward the sky diagonally behind.
At the same time.
The majority of his pre-gathered aura output in his right foot was channeled directly into the ground through his sole, and a stellar cross emerged from where Morrow stood.
After activating both abilities at top speed, Morrow immediately made a light backward leap.
Of course, this backward leap couldn't outpace the King's assault.
It was merely a necessary move for Morrow to seize even the slightest reaction space.
'Starlight Convergence'
While leaping backward and suspended in mid-air, the aura around Morrow shattered into brilliant starlight, flowing forward like a galaxy.
With his masterful Hatsu, Morrow smoothly executed three abilities in an extremely short time.
Meanwhile, the King lunged forward, crashing through the scattered starlight in the air with overwhelming force.
No tricks, just a relentless, straight-line assault.
'Starlight Convergence' fed the King's movement data into Morrow's mind and calculated the hit probability for 'Insidious Shooting Star.'
It would hit!
This result could be called a lucky coincidence.
At least Morrow had indeed set up this 'Insidious Shooting Star' with the intent to predict.
However, faced with the King's unreasonable onslaught, Morrow had no extra time to stay and witness the outcome of 'Insidious Shooting Star.'
Under pressure, he had to immediately use the 'Astral Step' ability.
Whoosh!
Morrow's body, leaping backward into mid-air, vanished into thin air.
The next instant, he reappeared on the suspended shooting star a hundred meters away.
Simultaneously, a dazzling shooting star shot out from the stellar cross on the ground.
And since the King was charging straight toward Morrow's original position, he naturally passed through the launch point of 'Insidious Shooting Star.'
Thus, just as 'Starlight Convergence' had calculated, the shooting star, erupting from the ground like volcanic magma, struck the King directly as he passed by.
Boom!
The moment the shooting star touched the King's body, the energy within it exploded violently.
Watching from the balcony, Shaiapouf's face instantly changed dramatically.
This wasn't due to underestimating the King's strength.
It was merely a natural reaction of concern stemming from his role as a Royal Guard.
The next instant.
Amid the intense explosion, the King's figure shot out fiercely from within the violent blast. Morrow had already retreated a hundred meters away onto a Shooting Star using 'Astral Step.' The King, who had leaped over the Shooting Star explosion, naturally ended up striking empty air.
Yet not a single wound could be seen on his robust body.
Even the explosion caused by the Shooting Star had failed to hinder his offensive momentum.
It was as if he had merely brushed aside a soft, powerless wad of cotton during his charge.
Standing atop the Shooting Star, Morrow felt a sense of helplessness upon seeing this outcome, and he developed a sense of empathy for Netero.
After all, he had merely fired one Shooting Star that failed to inflict any damage.
Whereas when Netero had fought the King, he had even unleashed ninety-nine strikes, yet still couldn't breach the King's defenses.
The taste of such futility must have been profoundly disheartening.
Even with just one arm, there's no chance of victory.
After just one direct confrontation, Morrow could viscerally feel the vast gap between their races.
To describe this disparity in simple terms:
Even if Morrow concentrated his entire aura output into a single point to attack the King, who didn't even need to consciously defend, the result would undoubtedly be zero substantive damage.
Conversely, the King didn't need to focus any portion of his aura output to easily shatter Morrow's defenses, even when Morrow concentrated all his aura into one point.
So, forget about any chance of victory.
Merely the battle requirement of 'not getting hit even once by the King' was something no ordinary person could achieve.
To truly defeat such a monster, the only way was to fulfill the conditions for 'Stellar Collapse.'
That is, while avoiding every single hit from the King, land at least 360 effective strikes on six specific areas of the King's body.
Only by achieving this could the ability conditions for 'Stellar Collapse' be met, instantly obliterating the King.
But how could such a thing be possible?
Unless he also possessed the 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva, he wouldn't even be able to ignite one Accretion Charge, let alone all six.
Dealing with the King is Netero's task. Why am I even thinking about this...
Morrow lowered his eyelids, swiftly cutting off these inexplicable thoughts. Instead of looking at the King, he quickly scanned the palace.
He was preparing to make his escape now, so he was somewhat worried about Knov's situation.
—--
In the courtyard.
Having missed his pounce, the King looked up at Morrow standing on the Shooting Star.
Sensing not a shred of fighting intent from Morrow, he immediately understood Morrow's next move.
So after steadying himself, he didn't launch a second assault toward Morrow outside the palace.
Under his utterly placid gaze, the Shooting Star, having finished its hover, promptly carried Morrow away into the distance.
The King wasn't surprised by this outcome. He turned and strode back into the palace.
Currently, his mind was wholly consumed by Gungi, to the point of forgetting sleep and food.
It could be said that Komugi's arrival had indirectly prevented the King from potentially boosting his power significantly during this period by consuming large quantities of food.
The Shooting Star traced a luminous trail across the gloomy sky.
Seeing that neither the King nor the Royal Guards showed any intention to pursue, Morrow still didn't jump down immediately.
'Astral Step' had a cooldown of 30 seconds.
Therefore, until 'Astral Step' was ready again, he would absolutely not take any risks.
If I had a bit more time, I could probably have killed Shaiapouf.
Standing on the Shooting Star, Morrow thought to himself. Although they missed an opportunity to eliminate Shaiapouf, this confrontation had weakened one-third of his power.
This meant that as long as Netero arrived quickly enough...
There would still be chances to deal with Shaiapouf later.
In comparison, the most critical task was preventing Neferpitou from treating the King's arm.
Morrow's subsequent plan involved using the Star Mark's locking ability to continuously disrupt Neferpitou's healing with long-range Shooting Stars.
After leaving the palace, Morrow waited at the predetermined location for Knov to rendezvous.
—--
After approximately a few minutes.
A 'Hide and Seek' portal suddenly materialized on the ground before Morrow.
Following this, Knov's haggard face emerged from the dark portal.
Having likely confirmed Morrow's status through Palm's crystal ball ability, Knov showed no surprise.
Yet his gaze toward Morrow carried a peculiar nuance.
Just minutes earlier.
Knov and other teammates had witnessed through the crystal ball how Morrow dared to test the King's capabilities.
But what shocked Knov even more was Morrow's complete suppression of Shaiapouf in their battle.