Precisely grasping the timing, then delivering a fatal strike.
Muherr had performed at the level expected of him.
Yet this supposedly foolproof snipe was actually thwarted by Morrow.
If Morrow had merely swatted away the Emission attack he and his teammates had launched cooperatively with his bare hands, Muherr would have been shocked but could still comprehend it.
What truly left him bewildered was that Morrow not only sensed the snipe's trajectory immediately but also positioned himself accurately within an extremely short time, forcibly intercepting their certain-kill strike targeting Netero.
This was the fundamental reason Muherr instantly regarded Morrow as a monster.
So when Golem cautiously asked, "Should we retreat?" Muherr responded without hesitation.
"Retreat!"
Having witnessed the monstrous strength Morrow displayed firsthand, he was decisively resolute.
And this was an exceedingly wise decision.
The other members of Stone Wall didn't possess the visual assistance of the Eye of Foresight like Muherr, so they couldn't see what exactly had happened on the ground.
But within mere seconds, Muherr's earlier reaction and his current decisiveness in ordering a retreat were enough to indicate the severity of the situation.
Upon seeing Muherr's decision, Golem, piloting the giant robot, immediately responded, contacting the airship pilot at top speed to evacuate the current area.
Recognizing unfavorable circumstances and decisively avoiding direct confrontation, such discipline was likely why Stone Wall had managed to survive throughout the war.
However...
While Stone Wall's decision-making and execution were indeed efficient, Morrow's counterattack was even more swift and fierce.
Muherr's expression changed abruptly.
Through his visual assistance ability, he clearly saw the terrifying Nen bullet hurtling toward them like a comet.
Such terrifying targeting capability, such fearsome Emission power...
Muherr's pupils contracted as he nearly roared the command: "Golem, activate defensive form!"
Because Morrow's method of intercepting the snipe had been too shocking, Stone Wall's reactions and actions were directed toward a different outcome.
The most crucial change was that Muherr kept his gaze fixed unwaveringly on the unreasonable monster that was Morrow; even after decisively deciding to retreat, he hadn't relaxed in the slightest.
It was this action that bought him the critical reaction time.
The moment he heard Muherr's command, Golem sprang into action. The giant robot's limbs rapidly transformed amid surging Nen, shifting into shield-shaped built-in cockpits.
Without needing further instruction from Muherr, the long-time battle companions of Stone Wall swiftly leaped into the cockpits.
The hatch closed immediately, and the entire robot transformed into a giant shield resembling a satellite dish.
Inside the cockpits, the team members placed their hands on the palm prints on the control panels, skillfully channeling their Nen into them.
The entire sequence flowed as naturally as breathing, completing all preparations in an instant.
Through the Nen output of the Stone Wall members, Golem's robot surface instantly manifested a powerful Nen presence.
This was the greatest strength of cooperative abilities.
To some extent, cooperative abilities could unleash power surpassing that of the Vow and Limitation mechanism without needing to bear any cost.
However, such abilities also had their classifications. For example, the fusion of Nen abilities, a relatively typical case in the original work is the Chimera Ant siblings' ability "Death Game," which can construct a fully functional composite ability by combining Nen powers.
Another type is the more purely synergistic coordination of Nen output.
An example from the original work is the ability of the Ninth Prince of the Kakin Empire.
The core of his ability lies in the unity of will.
As long as his followers maintain a highly consistent belief with him, they can channel their Nen output into him alone.
The greater the number of followers, the more astonishing the concentrated Nen strength becomes.
Golem's robot is essentially also a synergistic coordination of Nen output, relying on the support of others to gather Nen in one place.
Now, Golem poured all the Nen gathered from everyone into defense without reservation.
Almost simultaneously, a massive Nen bullet pierced through the clouds and instantly penetrated the airship cabin.
The violent energy instantly tore apart the entire airship, and the unsuspecting people inside didn't even have time to react before they evaporated in the explosion.
Only the Stone Wall squad, who had prepared in advance, avoided being torn apart by the Nen bullet's power immediately, thanks to Golem's robot's defensive form.
Did we block it?!
The members of the Stone Wall squad, and even Muherr, were so shocked that their pupils trembled violently.
The cockpit inside the robot where they were seated shook wildly, like an airplane caught in turbulent air.
What kind of monster is this... If not for witnessing the moment the Nen bullet pierced through the airship with his auxiliary vision ability, Muherr would never have believed that such terrifying Emission power existed in the world.
Even if the entire Stone Wall squad channeled their Nen into Golem's weapon system, they could never achieve such power.
Fortunately, they had reacted in time.
In the violently shaking cockpit, the air was filled with the screech of metal and the roar of Nen energy impacts.
Muherr thought that, with Golem's defensive form, they had successfully blocked Morrow's terrifying attack, and a sense of relief washed over him.
But he failed to notice...
Through the cockpit communication system, he could hear the rapid breathing and confirmation sounds of the other team members, but Golem's voice was conspicuously absent.
By the time he noticed this, it was too late to ask about Golem's condition. Cracks suddenly appeared on the sealed cockpit walls.
Blinding light squeezed through the cracks, illuminating the entire cramped cockpit.
Muherr froze, overcome by a sense of absurdity.
How could it not hold...?
This was a defensive form powered by the entire team's strength. Damn monster!!
The next instant, the intense light flooded in, engulfing his body and consciousness completely.
Boom!
A blazing fireball lit up above the clouds. As the explosion occurred, a visible shockwave tore through the thick clouds like a giant wheel, carving out a massive hole.
The ensuing airwave spread outward, causing other airships in the nearby airspace to sway violently in the turbulence.
—--
In the Vice Chairman's office of the Hunter Association building...
Buzz–
The screen of a mobile phone lying flat on the desk lit up, displaying a new notification. "Golem and Muherr's team failed... they were completely wiped out by the enemy..."
Pariston's gaze swept across the information on the screen. Despite his extraordinary composure, he couldn't help feeling shaken at this moment, a trace of astonishment appearing between his brows.
According to his orders, the Stone Wall team had every advantage, timing, terrain, and numerical superiority, along with the absolute initiative of a surprise attack...
Even if the assassination failed, in his estimation, they should have been able to withdraw completely without suffering any losses.
After all, the Extermination Team was fully engaged in dealing with the Chimera Ant threat.
Under such high-pressure combat conditions, they would find it extremely difficult to spare attention to guard against sneak attacks, let alone instantly locate and execute such precise and lethal counterattacks.
Yet the reality was...
Despite holding absolute advantage, the Stone Wall team not only failed but was completely eliminated in an instant.
"..."
Pariston lowered his head to stare at his phone screen.
He had always been someone who never calculated gains and losses, nor cared about winning or losing.
So whether Muherr and the others succeeded or failed, Pariston's heart wouldn't fluctuate in the slightest.
But now, he vaguely felt that he might have made a bad move.
Making him unusually concerned about the outcome.
—--
On the wasteland outside East Gorteau Palace.
After releasing that massive Nen bullet, Morrow didn't even glance at the result before turning around directly.
His gaze passed over Netero's figure, looking ahead.
The torrent of Nen energy erupting from the 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva's mouth poured down like a celestial river, completely engulfing Neferpitou.
Under the continuous impact of this immense energy, Neferpitou couldn't even curl her body, forced to let the Nen waves tear at her flesh and grind away her life force.
Intense pain flooded through her entire body like tides, every breath becoming difficult and burning.
Morrow stood silently behind, watching as the Nen waves, brilliant as stars, gradually stripped away Neferpitou's vitality inch by inch.
"..."
During this silence, his gaze shifted to look at Netero before him.
With the release of "Zero Hand," Netero's body was rapidly withering, like ancient wood losing all moisture, visibly withering into a dead branch before their eyes.
Morrow simply watched silently.
From the moment he arrived on the scene, the outcome of this battle against Neferpitou had already been decided.
There was no need to use Zero Hand; with just the two of them joining forces, they could ensure Neferpitou's death.
Yet Netero still resolutely revealed the Zero Hand.
In that instant, even without any verbal exchange between them, Morrow could directly sense Netero's determination.
It was the final dignity of a martial artist, the ultimate fulfillment of the path he had pursued throughout his life.
That's why Morrow didn't intervene to stop it, giving Netero the utmost respect.
Now, watching Netero's gradually withering body, Morrow still didn't intervene, simply standing in place waiting for the outcome.
He wasn't actually certain whether he needed to kill Neferpitou or simply absorb the Post-Mortem Nen she would leave behind to remove the Death Threshold from the back of his hand.
He also wasn't certain whether Netero's all-out attack with his entire Nen output could end Neferpitou's life here and now.
But before the extermination operation began, from the moment he decided to deal with the King, he had already prepared to use one reset to clear the Death Threshold. To this end, he even utilized money and connections to prepare objects imbued with Post-Mortem Nen in advance.
And just now, by absorbing the King's Post-Mortem Will, the Etude of Love ability imprinted by Tree Rings broke through its original level framework.
When Morrow saw the level leap to Lv.101, for a brief moment, the thought of actively rewinding once to strive for breaking through to Lv.110 flashed through his mind.
It couldn't be blamed on him for having such an idea, as it was difficult for beings at the human level to provide substantial experience for Tree Rings.
Only existences like the King and the Royal Guards could offer enough experience points for leveling up.
Moreover, the King had the ability to resurrect after death. Although the Nen output level after resurrection was far inferior to the King's original level, it still allowed him to rise from Lv.100 to Lv.101, effectively giving him an extra chance to farm experience.
Furthermore, if he started over, with the Lv.101 level, he could strategically rearrange things to maximize experience gains and extract Post-Mortem Nen energy from the King and the Royal Guards once more.
In this way, it was highly likely that he could complete his leveling plan while accumulating another chance to rewind.
The only issue was that the number of Tree Rings was limited, which made it difficult for Morrow to decisively make a choice when faced with trade-offs.
The only certainty was...
Whether to rewind or not, both outcomes were acceptable to Morrow at this point.
Now, waiting for the end of the 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva's Zero Hand felt somewhat like making a decision by flipping a coin.
As his thoughts raced, Morrow gathered aura in his eyes, his gaze sharp as he looked toward the battle situation on Morel's side.
With their coordinated joint efforts, Morel and the others unsurprisingly gained the upper hand.
After all, Shaiapouf's ability type lacked lethality, unlike Youpi and Neferpitou, who could bring suffocating pressure in direct combat.
However, Shaiapouf's ability had another troublesome aspect: he was extremely difficult to kill.
Morel and the others should be fine.
Morrow withdrew his gaze.
Based on his assessment of the battle situation, Morel and the others might not be able to kill Shaiapouf definitively in a short time, but there was little need to worry about casualties.
In essence, that battle was also a war of attrition.
With Morel and the others holding an absolute numerical advantage, coupled with Shaiapouf lacking the ability to break through their formation, the odds of victory were largely on their side.
Morrow shifted his gaze back to Neferpitou.
Under his watchful eyes, Netero's "Zero Hand" finally reached its conclusion.
The dazzling light gradually dimmed, and the surging Nen waves weakened and dissipated.
As the last wisp of aura was exhausted, the 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva turned into countless golden specks, silently vanishing into the air.
The billowing clouds of dust were pushed aside by the residual shockwaves, revealing a massive crater.
At the bottom of the crater, Neferpitou lay with her flesh mangled and blood seeping from multiple wounds.
She barely managed to cling to the crater floor. Though she had survived the energy blast of "Zero Hand," she was severely injured, temporarily unable to move, and her consciousness was on the verge of fading.
I...can't fall here...I must kill that human... Neferpitou's face was pressed against the dry soil, the bloodlust overflowing not diminishing in the slightest despite her severe injuries.
She still had Terpsichora, which could manipulate her critically wounded body to continue attacking, though this might worsen her injuries and lead to immediate death...
Above the crater.
Netero's figure was gaunt as withered wood, swaying unsteadily as he approached the edge of the crater and looked down at Neferpitou at the bottom.
Despite being so severely injured, she could still maintain such spiritual intensity.
Netero's eye sockets were sunken, so dark it was hard to discern his pupils.
He silently sensed the aura emanating from Neferpitou's gravely wounded body, lost in thought.
Morrow approached nearby, condensing a Nen sphere in his palm while glancing sideways at Netero's profile.
Netero noticed Morrow's questioning gaze and slowly nodded.
Faintly, Morrow seemed to hear a sigh.
Without saying a word, he launched the compressed Nen bullet.
With a sharp whistling sound, the fist-sized Nen bullet directly pierced through the back of Neferpitou's head.
「Lv.101→Lv.103」
The absorbed experience value directly leveled Morrow up by two.
But Morrow didn't check the back of his hand, because a powerful Post-Mortem Will suddenly manifested from Neferpitou's corpse in the crater.
Manipulation-oriented abilities, reinforced by emotions and personality, indeed easily leave behind Post-Mortem Will.
Morrow wasn't surprised by this.
It was just that Neferpitou's Post-Mortem Nen formed unusually quickly, reflecting the urgency in all her actions.
Netero watched as the Post-Mortem Nen instantly transformed into Terpsichora's puppet, connected to Neferpitou's corpse by numerous Nen strings. The corner of his mouth twitched weakly, as if in a bitter smile.
He roughly understood this scene was due to the Royal Guard's loyalty.
So even if his Zero Hand could kill Neferpitou...
He still couldn't handle the subsequent Post-Mortem Nen.
With complex emotions, Netero then saw Morrow blink to the bottom of the crater and reach out to grasp the Post-Mortem Will powerful enough to make most Nen users tremble.
Like absolute suppression from a natural predator, this Post-Mortem Will was completely subdued by Morrow before it could even manifest.
Netero silently watched Morrow's figure.
In every aspect...
Absolute strength.
------------------------
Bonus chapter @2850