When the gap in hardware is eliminated, the superiority of software becomes the deciding factor in victory.
Moses proved this with facts.
He did not use any Nen Abilities, but only relied on his Manifested Aura, which is now not inferior to that of the King's, and coupled it with a more refined and advanced mastery of Ryu, to easily rip off the King's extended right arm.
And in the process, no one else could even detect any Aura movement or surge...
It was as if all the crashing waves and surging undercurrents had been drawn into some bottomless darkness. It was clearly real, but it was impossible to trace.
Pouf and Youpi finally reacted and looked at the deep-blue blood scattering through the air. Their voices contained shock, anger, worry and other emotions.
At this moment, the King was slightly stunned, but he followed his instinct and retreated fiercely, instantly widening the distance between himself and Moses.
Tap-
A sudden burst of wind swept across the rubble-strewn ground, kicking up dust and debris.
Then, the King's feet seemed to materialize in midair before slamming into the dust-laden earth, stabilizing his form.
He had retreated to where he originally stood. His behavior demonstrated Moses's terrifying strength at the moment.
Drip... drip...
Blood flowed from the King's severed arm, trailing along the violently torn muscle before dripping downward. Each droplet punched through the low-hanging dust clouds like falling bullets.
Moses held the King's severed arm with one hand.
After successfully pulling off that defensive counter, there was no ridicule or amusement in his eyes as he followed the King's retreat trajectory. Instead, there's a hint of surprise.
He was surprised that the King would instinctively recoil from him out of fear, and he was also surprised that his Nen, which had become stronger through death, could now produce such devastating power.
For a long time, Moses has been accustomed to using smaller strength to win in Nen Combat. In order to defeat strong enemies, he always uses tactics in battle to create even the tiniest opening he could strike.
But now, even without using shadow clones to 'divert' the enemy's Manifested Aura, he could dominate a frontal battle purely through mastery of Nen Techniques.
This kind of combat experience gave Moses an unrealistic feeling, and he couldn't help but feel...
That this power he now wielded... might only be temporary.
Like sand cupped in his palms, he could hold it, but he couldn't stop it from slipping through his fingers.
Moses wasn't sure, but he didn't think much about it.
However, during this brief moment of his thoughts, he finally realized that his Soul Echo had disappeared.
'So that was the price…'
Moses wasn't surprised that his ability had vanished.
In the past, when he experienced the Swamp Man incident, he had already deeply realized the strong presence of Vows and Limitations in the entire Nen System.
So much so that even though he received Davidson's memories, the instigator, in order to solve the Swamp Man incident, as well as the structural system and detailed information about [Swamp Man] ability, he had never once considered of replicating it.
The most fundamental reason is because of Vows and Limitations.
It is this kind of cognition that runs through the whole process that makes Moses feel that the power he currently possesses is not permanent.
But regardless of what happens later, that is a matter for the future.
Right now,
All he needed to do was killing the King here and now.
Moses looked up at the King and casually threw away his severed arm.
Then, he mobilized his Aura that emitted a hazy dark halo, and a black sword conjured in his hand.
Soul Echo was gone.
But abilities such as the Black Sword, Kyoka Suigetsu, Superspeed System, and Nyoi-Bo System are still there.
Moses slowly raised the black sword and held it horizontally in front of him, then looked calmly at the King, who had lost an arm.
In his vision, he could already see the black tendrils beginning to rapidly grow and spread across the King's body.
Under normal circumstances...
The black tendrils he had planted earlier would've dissipated upon his death.
But after Moses died, the black mycelium that had once been suppressed by the King's Aura… didn't vanish.
And yet, the tendrils hadn't grown stronger due to Moses's death either.
It had simply remained on the King's body, and entered a dormant state.
But when Moses returned from death, the sudden surge in his Manifested Aura made the black tendrils, that had stopped for a long time, to finally show signs of growth, and the growing speed was also decent.
Especially at this moment-
The black tendrils were spreading through the King's body like a slow, steady stream.
From this, it can also be seen that Moses's previous attack caused the Ant King's emotions to be in turmoil, causing the black tendrils to grow very quickly.
However, Moses is not too concerned about the growth status of the black tendrils now.
Or rather, he didn't need to wait for Kyoka Suigetsu to activate.
Considering that the King might still get stronger by devouring Youpi, Moses now only wants to kill the King as quickly as possible.
He gripped the black sword tightly, lightly pressed the tip of his toe into the ground, and released a burst of concentrated Aura beneath his feet.
Sshh-
With a barely audible sound, Moses vanished on the spot air, leaving only a small circle of dust ripples in its place.
The next moment,
The King's eyes shifted slightly. He seemed to catch a glimpse of Moses's trajectory and reacted immediately. Using his movement ability that was comparable to teleportation, his figure vanished as well.
But then, just a moment later, the King's figure suddenly reappeared over the empty ruin.
Along with him came a visible white shockwave bursting from his shoulder.
The King had been struck by a powerful strike and flew away the moment he revealed his figure.
Just one second before,
It was as if both of them had vanished into a pocket of void, locked in a battle no one could see.
The King had barely dodged Moses's first slash.
However, due to the missing right arm, the King's body was slightly unbalanced when he dodged the attack, revealing a nearly imperceptible opening.
However, relying on his more powerful and sophisticated Ryu and amazing control accuracy, Moses seized this small flaw in that situation. He reversed the blade in an instant and slammed its blunt side into the King's shoulder blade.
But that was just the beginning-
After landing that hit, before he even fully revealed his figure, Moses burst out with an incredibly astonishing speed under the power of Emission-Type Aura.
He actually caught up with the flying King, and wanted to kill the King in mid-air at this speed.
But the King wasn't some helpless punching bag. Driven by a sense of overwhelming danger, he adjusted his posture slightly using his tail, then whipped it around toward the pursuing Moses.
Faced with the King's response, instead of backing down, Moses took the tail strike head-on with his arm, just to land his own hit. Then, the black sword cleaved straight toward the King.
Sshhkk-
In that brief yet brutal exchange, more dark-blue blood splattered from midair.
Along with the dark blue blood, the King's other arm also fell to the ground.
Too fast…
Fast in every sense.
So fast that the entire clash ended in a blink.
So fast that even Youpi and Pouf, though staring on Moses the whole time, couldn't follow the fight between him and the King.
Inside the Fourth-Dimensional Apartment-
After accepting the fact that her crystal ball suddenly exploded, Palm finally thought of using her ability again, and subconsciously chose the King as her target.
Then, in a burst of bright Nen, a crystal ball held by an ugly mermaid statue appeared in front of everyone.
Palm let a drop of blood fall, and the picture quickly appeared in the clear and transparent crystal ball.
Then, everyone saw the King with both arms severed on the crystal ball.
'What in the world…'
'Just happened?!'
Everyone watching was completely stunned. Their minds froze on the spot.