For Kang, the sudden appearance of Moro was an unexpected and pleasant surprise.
Without Moro's intervention, Kang wouldn't have faced personal danger, but he would have been delayed in the Nen space.
And at that moment, every second counted. The safety of his client, Safu, depended on it.
With just a glance at the situation, Kang shifted his focus to Safu in the room and, following Moro's suggestion, left Moore for Moro to deal with.
Before making this decision, Kang had a brief moment of hesitation.
After all, he had fought Moore before. Leaving aside the tricky mechanisms of Moore's Nen ability, his mastery of techniques like Flow in close combat clearly showed he wasn't weak.
However, Kang quickly dismissed his worries upon considering Moore's current condition—both of his arms were useless. Trusting Moro, he decided to let him handle Moore.
For Moore, however, Moro's sudden arrival wasn't just a surprise; it was an absolute disaster.
Moore had meticulously planned everything, even putting his life on the line, just to trap Kang in the Nen space for as long as possible.
When the plan was progressing smoothly, Moore's only thought was to trap Kang for as long as possible.
Even one more minute would help. If not a minute, then at least thirty extra seconds...
With this mindset and resolve, Moore had been ready to die contentedly after fulfilling his purpose.
But all of this was destroyed by Moro's sudden arrival!!!
Anger, frustration, disbelief...
These emotions twisted together like a tangled thread, distorting Moore's face.
He had been prepared to embrace death after proving his value. It was supposed to end that way!
"You... deserve to die!"
Moore's bloodshot eyes burned with rage. The lighthearted attitude he'd shown earlier was gone, replaced by a fierce desperation.
At this point, stopping Kang was already a lost cause.
Even killing Moro seemed impossible.
His Nen aura was rapidly dissipating. In just another second, he would be forcibly thrown into Zetsu.
This was the penalty for failing Time of Cicada Molt.
Moro noticed that Moore's aura had receded completely in just two seconds. His first thought was that Moore's Nen ability had a restrictive backlash.
It was the only logical explanation.
When Moore's aura finally vanished completely, the words "unexpected windfall" flashed through Moro's mind.
"Looks like I came at the right time."
Ignoring Moore's murderous gaze, twisted with fury, Moro calmly raised his hand and formed a Nen orb the size of a ping-pong ball.
To Moro, anyone capable of standing their ground against a combat specialist from the Twelve Zodiac Hunters couldn't be weak. Such a foe could bring an enormous amount of experience points.
Moore, now in Zetsu, had no aura left to reinforce his body. Though he couldn't see Moro's Nen orb, he instinctively sensed danger.
"Die!!!"
Having lost everything, Moore launched himself into a final, desperate charge.
With his arms hanging uselessly at his sides, his face twisted in anger, he charged at Moro like a vengeful ghost.
Moro's response was a casual toss of the Nen orb.
The orb, which would have been negligible to Moore in his prime, now felt like a crushing mountain bearing down on him.
Splat!
The Nen orb struck Moore's head, and the sheer force caused his skull to explode instantly.
With a heavy thud, his lifeless, headless body collapsed to the ground.
Moro maintained his throwing posture for a moment before glancing at the back of his hand.
Lv.7 → Lv.18
The sudden surge in levels left Moro momentarily stunned.
Level 18 already?
Before he could fully process this, the aura surrounding his body visibly grew stronger, expanding slightly outward.
This was the tangible reward of his skyrocketing levels.
Moro's eyes widened slowly. Not only had his visible aura strengthened, but his overall potential aura reserves had increased noticeably.
Before the upgrade, he could sustain intense combat for roughly five minutes.
Now…
At least ten minutes.
"Is this considered a lucky break?"
Feeling the changes from his level-up, Moro glanced at the headless corpse on the ground in surprise.
For a single enemy to take him from Level 7 to Level 18, the potential strength of this Nen user must have been extraordinary.
But the exact answer was unknowable now.
What was clear was that, at his previous level, Moro would never have been able to defeat this Nen user in a direct fight.
This realization only strengthened Moro's sense that he had stumbled onto a fortunate opportunity.
But after a moment of reflection, Moro reminded himself:
His success wasn't purely luck.
He had earned this outcome through a series of deliberate actions.
If he hadn't rushed to the cockpit immediately...
If he hadn't noticed the clues despite the lack of information...
If he hadn't decisively followed Kang to this location...
He wouldn't have broken the divine symbol along the way, nor would he be standing here to reap the rewards now.
While luck had played a role, it was his choices that brought him here.
Moro clenched his fist tightly, savoring the thrill of his level-up.
An 11-level jump would save him an enormous amount of training time.
But just as Moro was celebrating, the headless corpse on the ground began emitting a dark, ominous aura.
"Hmm?"
Moro immediately noticed and turned to face it.
From the corpse's mangled neck rose a wisp of black Nen, floating like a will-o'-the-wisp and radiating a sinister energy.
"A post-mortem Nen ability..."
Moro's pupils narrowed as Moore's twisted, rage-filled face flashed through his mind.
Extreme emotional turmoil or obsession could cause a Nen user to leave behind residual Nen after death, driven by their lingering will.
This post-mortem Nen ability often targeted the killer.
It was Moro's first time encountering such a phenomenon. Watching the black wisp approach like a ghostly flame, he felt an overwhelming sense of danger.
Having no prior experience dealing with such occurrences, Moro's thoughts turned to the clock tattoo on the back of his hand.
If the tattoo could absorb the residual Nen from Nen-imbued objects, perhaps it could absorb post-mortem Nen as well?
With no other options, Moro decided he would have to try if avoidance wasn't possible.
But before he could act, the black flame suddenly veered away from Moro, heading straight for the room where Kang had gone.
Moro turned his head, watching as the post-mortem Nen streaked toward the room, a strange emotion stirring within him.
Throughout both life and death, he had felt Moore's murderous intent directed at him.
Logically, the post-mortem Nen should have sought to drag him down to the grave as well.
Yet its target was clearly elsewhere—the room where the princess was located.
In an instant, Moro understood. He looked at Moore's headless corpse with a complicated expression.
More than unleashing his final rage, Moore prioritized his original mission.
What kind of obsession does it take to make such a choice…
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Powerstones?
20 Advance Chapters: patreon.com/milezen