Stellar Collapse, ghostly blue flames erupted abruptly.
Neferpitou's soul was torn from her body, consumed like the very matter that fuels a star's burning core, instantly cremated in the stellar flames.
The next moment, searing pain that penetrated deep into her soul overwhelmed her consciousness.
What... is this ability...?
Amidst the agony of her soul being burned to ashes inch by inch, she clearly recognized the impending outcome.
Yet even in this excruciating pain that felt like her consciousness was being shattered by countless hammers, there wasn't a trace of fear toward death in her heart.
Only one thought remained crystal clear.
Would Morrow's existence and the effects of this ability pose a threat to the King?
Until her final moment, this absolutely loyal Royal Guard poured all her will into her one and only King.
Enduring the pain emanating from the depths of her soul, she lowered her head to look at Morrow before her, not concealing the intense bloodlust in her eyes.
Eliminate this human.
Absolutely!
Those eyes, capable of conveying bloodlust even in spirit form, clearly transmitted this obsession.
"You can't kill anyone with just a look."
Morrow calmly met Neferpitou's blood-filled gaze, exhaled softly, and spoke in a composed tone.
This was the third Royal Guard.
When he originally developed the Stellar Collapse ability, it was intended to target Youpi, to obtain that crucial upgrade experience that would allow him to delve deeper into this extermination battle.
He had succeeded.
All along, he had maintained a clear mindset, always aware of what he needed most at any given moment, never naively taking things for granted.
Nevertheless, he hadn't expected this Nen ability carefully prepared for Youpi would ultimately become his weapon for successively eliminating three Royal Guards.
But now, he only cared about one question.
Could Neferpitou, like Shaiapouf, generate a powerful Post-Mortem Will after death?
Thinking this, Morrow deliberately infused his gaze toward Neferpitou with a hint of looking down on an ant.
At this moment.
Neferpitou's desire to eliminate Morrow had reached its peak.
However, unlike Shaiapouf who was fortunate enough to use his largest clone to reduce the process of his soul being burned, she had to endure this hellfire-like agony until the last shred of her consciousness was completely consumed, before she could leave this obsession in the world.
—--
At the edge of the battlefield.
Morrow... did it.
Morel witnessed this scene, his heart a mix of complex emotions, unsure whether it was relief or sorrow.
To prevent this catastrophe that could destroy humanity, his disciples and close friends had sacrificed themselves one after another.
Now, with the fall of the final Royal Guard, and no need to worry about Chairman Netero's battle, this extermination campaign could finally be concluded.
Perhaps now wasn't the time to wallow in grief.
Maybe it was better to face it with a smile, offering the most beautiful flowers and the finest wine at the graves of his disciples and friends.
Morel tilted his head back slightly, letting the rain wash over his face.
But just then, the trembling voice of Knov came through the Surveillance Paper Doll, interrupting Morel's thoughts.
"Morel, bring Morrow back immediately!"
Huh?
Hearing Knov's tense and panicked voice, Morel's heart tightened as he asked, "What happened?"
"The King isn't dead... that monster survived the Poor Man's Rose explosion! He's heading back to the palace at incredible speed!"
As he spoke, Knov's tone grew noticeably more urgent: "In any case, your battle there is over. Return immediately!"
The scene of Morrow burning Neferpitou's soul with ghostly blue flames...
Those inside the Hide and Seek could see it clearly too.
But just moments earlier, they had witnessed through the crystal ball Chairman Netero's death in battle and the final moments of the Poor Man's Rose explosion.
To confirm whether the King had perished, they shifted their perspective to follow him.
When the light from the explosion faded, they were shocked to discover the King still alive.
Even more unsettling was how the King's originally broken, charred body was gradually recovering through some unknown power.
And the restored King immediately began racing toward the palace.
That's why Knov immediately contacted Morel using the Surveillance Paper Doll.
The reason he didn't contact Morrow directly was because Morrow was at the most critical moment in his confrontation with Neferpitou. Even now, at the final stage, they couldn't afford the slightest distraction.
"He survived the Poor Man's Rose explosion?!"
Hearing Knov's words, Morel could hardly believe his ears.
How could any living being survive such destructive force?
"But the Rose carries poison."
As shock gripped him, Morel suddenly remembered this fact and forced himself to calm down. "Even if the King survived, the toxins will eventually claim his life."
"Of course I know that."
Knov responded rapidly: "But the poison takes time to take effect. At the King's current speed, he'll reach the palace in about one minute. As a precaution, you must return to Hide and Seek immediately."
"Understood. I'll head to the nearest portal with Morrow right away."
Morel had no time to process the fact of Chairman Netero's defeat, immediately turning to quickly approach Morrow in the arena.
Poor Man's Rose...
More terrifying than its explosive power was its inhuman, contagious poison.
This was the fundamental reason why international organizations strictly prohibited this military weapon.
—--
Meanwhile.
Above the rolling, wave-like black clouds, the night sky remained clear as water.
Several airships marked with the Hunter Association emblem circled above the cloud layer.
This airship fleet had been dispatched by Pariston. They hadn't participated in the extermination battle, instead observing the situation's development from start to finish.
In this biological disaster caused by the Chimera Ants, Beyond and Pariston had only sought two outcomes.
One was Netero's departure, which would lift the Limitation Netero had placed on Beyond prohibiting him from challenging the Dark Continent.
The other was using the spread of the Chimera Ant species to let the world directly encounter everything related to the Dark Continent.
This powerful direct impact was far more effective than any "public education" and could gradually awaken humanity's desire for "new frontiers."
Now, both objectives had been achieved.
And judging by the process and results, it could be considered absolutely perfect. At the cost of Chairman Netero's sacrifice, along with the full efforts of the Extermination Team, the most threatening King and Royal Guards were successfully eliminated in their cradle.
In this way, the Hunter Association managed to atone for its mistakes, avoiding potential suppression or even dissolution by V5 due to the failed commission.
—--
Far away in the Hunter Association office, Pariston sincerely offered a few rounds of applause upon learning this outcome.
Even though...
The previous failure in suppressing the Chimera Ant soldiers had been orchestrated by him.
"It seems we won't need to clean up the mess anymore. But since we've come all this way, we shouldn't return empty-handed, right?"
Pariston stopped clapping, interlocked his fingers, and gently rested them against his chin.
He seemed to be communicating with someone, or perhaps multiple people, far away, relying on some ability.
"Cut the nonsense. Just tell us what to do."
A slightly hoarse voice echoed clearly in the air, its source unknown.
Pariston's eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled. "My, my, what's gotten into you today, Mr. Muherr? A bit impatient, aren't we? Did you eat something bad?"
"Could you stop beating around the bush, Pariston?"
Muherr's voice resonated again, noticeably more forceful:
"I do trust your ability, but Strigon's 'Eye of Foresight' isn't providing real-time information for you. Relying solely on verbal descriptions, even you would struggle to fully control the situation, wouldn't you?"
"Ah, thank you for your trust, Mr. Muherr."
Faced with skepticism, Pariston maintained his sunny smile and cut to the chase without further delay.
"Then, I'll trouble you to thoroughly inspect the battlefield after the mission. See if there are any well-preserved flesh eggs. If so, please retrieve all of them."
"No problem."
As a top-tier mercenary, Muherr agreed immediately but reminded him, "If there are no further instructions, I'll cut the communication now. The next contact will be after the mission concludes."
"Mm, so there's one last instruction."
Pariston smiled.
Far away on the airship, Muherr's lips twitched. He sighed silently and asked seriously, "Go on."
"Kill Morrow."
Pariston's tone remained as gentle as ever.
"Received."
Muherr responded curtly.
However, as a member of Beyond's Dark Continent exploration team, he couldn't resist asking before ending the communication:
"According to the information from the 'Eye of Foresight,' this guy was the absolute hero of this extermination incident. Is sniping him Beyond's idea or your own judgment?"
"Heh, showing curiosity beyond the instructions is quite unlike your style, Mr. Muherr."
Pariston didn't answer his question directly.
Muherr understood the implication and stopped pressing, cleanly severing the ability-established communication.
—--
In the Hunter Association office.
Pariston lowered his eyelids and murmured softly, "A bit of both, I suppose. As for the motive... this person is just too dangerous."
His gaze fell, lingering on a sticky note on the desk.
Morrow's name was written on it, decisively crossed out with a clear red line.
He managed to escape from the combined efforts of Beyond and Marione and made Beyond misjudge that he was certainly dead. This in itself was enough to prove Morrow's strength.
Perhaps back in Kakin, Beyond had merely intended to casually eliminate this unstable factor that could potentially affect his plans.
But times had changed. Pariston was certain that Beyond still gravely misjudged the level of threat Morrow posed.
Therefore, to completely resolve this potential threat, the present moment was an opportunity not to be missed.
—--
Aboard the airship.
After ending the call with Pariston, Muherr in military uniform tilted his head to glance at the five-to-six-meter-tall robot beside him.
"Golem, you heard everything."
"Mhm."
A response laced with static came from the robot's cockpit.
Muherr placed a hand on his hip and asked, "The target is a tough one, but he should be in poor condition right now. Are you confident?"
"You should be asking yourself that."
Golem responded gravely.
Simultaneously, a surge of abundant and powerful Nen gathered at his empty left shoulder, materializing out of thin air into a brand-new mechanical weapon arm.
The joint between the arm and shoulder was a technologically advanced cockpit, and mounted prominently in front of the hatch was a sniper rifle with an exceptionally long barrel.
Stone Wall; this was a legendary mercenary unit famed for achieving zero casualties in the renowned Lubo War.
Muherr and Golem were members of this unit, though they had since been recruited by Beyond and would become part of the future team heading to the Dark Continent.
Within the team, Stone Wall's role was to serve as the core of firepower suppression in frontal combat.
Beyond, drawing from his extensive experience exploring the Dark Continent, had assembled a team where, besides requiring individual strength to meet standards, he placed greater emphasis on each member's professional expertise in their respective duties.
Thus, the team included combat units like Stone Wall with exceptional coordinated combat abilities, as well as specialists covering key functions such as reconnaissance, healing, and transportation.
The fact that Pariston dispatched Stone Wall to handle the cleanup also somewhat reflected Beyond's intentions.
This man, determined to challenge the Dark Continent, certainly hoped to formally initiate his plans, but he also didn't want to exert too much force and risk the Hunter Association being held accountable by V5 afterward, potentially facing dissolution.
After all, in his future plans, the Hunter Association was both an important stepping stone and a competitor that could journey to the Dark Continent together.
Such an entity could collapse later, but not now.
Muherr leaped onto the weapon cockpit materialized by Golem, resting the astonishingly long-barreled sniper rifle against his shoulder.
"Even with the assistance of Strigon's 'Eye of Foresight' and the ammunition support from Likke and the others, I'm not entirely confident about sniping a target on the ground through the cloud cover."
Regarding the upcoming sniping mission, Muherr truly lacked confidence.
Golem said seriously, "That's your problem."
"Tch."
Muherr rolled his eyes.
—--
In the palace courtyard.
Neferpitou's soul was completely incinerated to nothing.
「Lv.94 → Lv.96」
With her death, the Tree Rings absorbed the experience, directly causing Morrow to level up twice in a row.
His nearly depleted potential aura was replenished as a result, and the Ten that was on the verge of collapsing finally stabilized.
Only two levels...
Morrow was slightly surprised by this outcome. Even with the increasingly potent experience decay mechanism, the level of a Royal Guard shouldn't only provide such limited improvement.
The only explanation was that Level 100 likely represented the maximum limit of human talent.
Now, every level he gained was equivalent to forcibly expanding his innate talent ceiling through external means.
This was precisely why leveling up became so astonishingly difficult as he approached the human limit.
Simply put, in terms of the growth ceiling determined by innate talent, Morrow at Level 96 had already surpassed the maximum limit Beyond could achieve at Level 95.
This also meant...
From this point onward, leveling up wasn't so much about increasing aura output as it was about gradually elevating Morrow's originally unremarkable talent ceiling.
From this perspective, Nen abilities were truly extraordinary; as long as one fulfilled the incredibly difficult Limitation conditions, even elevating one's innate talent ceiling could be achieved.
Morrow's train of thought didn't last long before he sensed a surge of Post-Mortem Nen.
Extremely powerful, it emerged from Neferpitou's corpse, manifesting as a black and red phantom.
It was Terpsichora.
It's here.
Morrow's eyebrows twitched slightly.
This was more like it; how could just a glare kill someone? Actual action was needed.
Morrow looked with anticipation at the gathering black and red phantom.
In contrast to his calmness, Morel, who was approaching the area, immediately changed his expression upon seeing Neferpitou's powerful Post-Mortem Nen.
Post-Mortem Will...!
Even from such a distance, Morel could feel the immense power of Neferpitou's Post-Mortem Nen, causing chills to run down his entire body.
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Bonus chapter @ 250powerstones