In the contestants' lounge.
Moses watched the situation in the spectator stands through the television provided in the lounge.
In the specially zoomed-in shot, he noticed that Menchi's face was full of anger, showing she was very angry.
Though he didn't know the reason why Menchi become so angry, Moses was relieved to see that Menchi still remembered to close her Aura Nodes during her outburst.
This shows that Menchi has consciously overcome some of her character flaws.
"Vortex Whip…"
Moses withdrew his gaze, muttering to himself: "It seems that he's proficient with a whip, probably Enhancer or Manipulator."
Moses is quite looking forward to this Neil, who is known as 'Vortex Whip'.
After all, this guy is a veteran who has achieved nine wins on the 200th floor, so his strength shouldn't be disappointing.
Two hours later.
Under the enthusiastic introduction by the commentator…
Moses and Neil stepped onto the ring under the gaze of the crowd.
"Mr. Neil currently maintains an impressive record of 9 wins and 3 losses. The outcome of this match is crucial to him."
Before the game started, the commentator's voice spread to every corner of the venue as usual.
Following her introduction, the audience would decide whom to bet on based on their preferences.
Judging from the current odds, Neil, who is at a crucial point, was overwhelmingly favored over Moses.
On the ring.
Moses looked at Neil in front of him.
Neil is a tall man standing over two meters, with a crew cut and a prominent scar on his brow.
His upper body was bare, proudly displaying his rock-solid, bronze-colored muscles, and he held a brown leather whip in his hand.
Moses' gaze swept over the whip.
His understanding of Neil was limited to some information he had heard before the battle.
For example, his title 'Vortex Whip' and Neil's penchant for demonstrating his strength by destroying the arena.
From this information, Moses had originally thought that Neil's whip would be the heavier iron whip, but unexpectedly, it was a soft leather whip.
'Since he liked to showcase violence…'
'Wouldn't an iron-hard whip better to demonstrate destructive power?'
A trivial question flashed through Moses' mind.
On the other side of the ring.
Neil was also sizing up Moses.
In fact, he has been paying attention to Moses for quite some time now.
Not because of Moses' strength, but to secure the most important victory for himself today by competing against Moses.
After all, compared to those contestants on the 200th floor, newcomers who have just come up to this floor are easier to deal with.
All of this was to ensure a stable tenth victory.
Yesterday, Neil was still thinking about how to get the opportunity to have a match with Moses, but he hadn't expected Moses to be so arrogant as to fill in the declaration conditions with 'available anytime'.
'What a stroke of luck.'
Neil was secretly excited.
He didn't think that a young man who only used Ten in battle would have any profound Nen skills, but in order to ensure victory, he would go all out in this battle.
"Illumi, thank you for coming."
Neal held the whip in his hand and looked at Moses with a smile.
"…"
Moses didn't respond, only patiently waiting for the match to begin.
Seeing this, Neil continued nonchalantly: "Just think of it as paying tuition. I will make you deeply understand the price of 'arrogance'."
"…"
Of course, Moses understood the meaning behind Neil's words.
It is simply that the battle declaration conditions he had filled in had provided this veteran participant with a crucial opportunity.
Otherwise, it would have been very difficult for a participant who had already won nine victories to encounter a newcomer on the arena.
Moses remained silent, listening to the commentator's clichéd introduction, thinking that Menchi would remember to place a bet.
This highly anticipated game is about to begin.
And the live broadcast of the match was already reaching various regions.
Swardani City, Hunters Association's Headquarters.
Netero sat in front of the tea table, watching Moses on the TV with interest.
As for work…
Who says you can't enjoy a leisurely afternoon tea and watch a match while on work?
Besides, with Bean here, it's totally fine for him to have afternoon tea, watch games, etc.!
What Netero didn't know was that Pariston, who usually likes to give him a hard time, was also watching the upcoming match during his working hours.
Somewhere in the sky. There is an airship flying above the sea of clouds.
In a luxurious single room, Illumi was sitting on the sofa, watching Moses on the TV with an expressionless face.
Heavens Arena.
On the ring, the referee slowly took his position.
This means that the betting warm-up period is almost over and instead the match is about to begin.
When the referee arrived at the center, Neil, who had been talking non-stop a moment ago, closed his mouth abruptly and instantly entered a fighting state.
This somewhat surprised Moses, who had always been silent.
In the spectator stands.
Killua and Menchi, who were in different positions, both focused their attention on the ring.
"Begin!"
With the referee's gesture, the battle officially commenced.
Neil took the initiative to attack.
His entire body was enveloped in a turbulent and bright Aura of Nen, and a solid layer of Nen was entwined around the whip in his hand.
"Ripple!"
Quickly closing the distance, Neil swung the whip in his hand with great force.
With a crack, the air burst.
The whip, wrapped in solid Nen, struck down towards Moses like a tentacle. Wherever it passed, the air rippled and twisted slightly like water waves.
This shows the power of this whip.
However, Moses had been prepared and managed to retreat at the last moment, narrowly avoiding the whip.
Bang!
The whip's end struck the ground, creating a large pit on the ring's floor like a heavy hammer.
"Oh oh oh!"
Seeing the destructive power of Neil's whip, the audience erupted into enthusiastic cheers.
When Killua and Menchi saw this scene, they were both taken aback.
They realized that this person named Neil was a highly offensive participant.
Not to mention Killua, even Menchi felt that she couldn't resist the whip.
'That person must be an Enhancer!'
Menchi thought to herself.
On the ring.
After Neil's whip missed, he pressed forward again, unleashing several powerful attacks at Moses in succession.
Moses retreated to avoid them.
Bang, bang, bang!
All of Neil's whip strikes missed, creating several large pits on the ring's floor, but also forcing Moses to the edge of the ring.
"You have nowhere to hide!"
Neil's gaze sharpened as he activated his Nen and swung his whip, creating a dense and impenetrable Aura in the air, pressing towards Moses like a chariot.
Seeing the situation on the ring has become one-sided, those in the audience who had bet on Neil to win were so excited that their veins popped up and they cheered loudly.
At the edge of the ring, Moses calmly watched the approaching whip net.
'So, he's not Enhancer after all.'
Moses suddenly leaned forward and his hand reached into the whip net that was stirring with dense Aura.
'Courting death.'
Seeing Moses's reckless move, Neil's face lit up with joy.
But at the next moment, Neil saw Moses's reaching right hand accurately and powerfully grab hold of the whip's tail from among the many afterimages.
As he tightened his grip on the whip, the surrounding Aura stirred by the whip suddenly dissipated.
"Wha… what?!"
The joy on Neil's face suddenly solidified, his eyes showing shock and disbelief as he looked at Moses's unharmed hand.
At the same time.
The audience who were shouting excitedly stopped abruptly, as if their throats had been squeezed shut.
'How could this be possible?!'
The visual impact left the audience speechless.
But what happened next was even more unbelievable for them.
Under their shocked gaze, Moses actually let go of the whip voluntarily.
As the person involved, Neil was even more baffled.
"You passed."
Afterward, Neil heard Moses's comment.
'What does that mean?!'
Neil stared at Moses with wide eyes.