Mull's post-mortem Nen flew toward the room.
Moro didn't know what consequences would follow, nor did he intend to find out.
He had rushed over here, and conveniently helped Kanzai solve a problem, all for the purpose of utilizing Kanzai's strength to ensure the airship could land safely afterward.
The two had a common goal.
The prerequisite was that Kanzai could free himself.
Moro looked at the open door of the room.
From his angle, he couldn't see the situation inside the room.
But he could feel the fluctuating auras colliding.
"Should I follow them in..."
Moro's heart stirred.
The Nen user he had just killed had sent his level soaring.
If he could pick up another one, Moro felt it wouldn't matter whether he went to the Kukkan-yu Kingdom later or not.
Just as Moro was contemplating, the room was undergoing a fierce surge.
Mull had staked his life to confine Kanzai in the Nen space, and his partner, Aida, had forced her way into the room by breaking through the ceiling.
However, there was still an Enhancer bodyguard beside the Third Princess...
It was difficult for Aida to defeat an Enhancer in under a minute, but if she was given just one more minute, it would be no problem.
And so it was.
Just as Kanzai rushed back into the room, Talia, who was protecting Saffu, was already severely wounded and in imminent danger.
This moment had arrived exactly two minutes ago.
"Mull..."
Aida's peripheral vision caught Kanzai rushing into the room, and she understood that Mull had sacrificed his life.
If he could have only bought her an extra five seconds...
But there were no "if only's."
However, the mission must be completed!
She and Mull had prepared a final measure from the beginning to ensure mission completion.
For her and Mull, though, the best outcome was to complete the mission and still save their lives, so they could continue to serve the Prince.
But in the current situation...
Aida felt no sadness or regret, only an unwavering determination to charge forward.
In a flash, she abandoned the extravagant hope of preserving her life, instead pouring all her obsession into "completing the mission."
Then, ignoring the rapidly attacking Kanzai, she lunged toward Saffu, who was shielded behind Talia.
And Talia, though severely wounded and about to fall, possessed a resolve and will comparable to Mull and Aida.
Driven by the fierce obsession to protect Saffu even unto death, Talia unhesitatingly confronted Aida, intending to use the last vestiges of her life to buy crucial time for Kanzai to arrive with backup.
"Hold on for three more seconds, no, two seconds will do..."
Talia had no fear of death.
Her only thought was to endure until Kanzai could take over her bodyguard duty.
Must, must endure.
Only this way can Saffu's life be protected!!!
Talia, in her severely injured state, unleashed an even greater surge of Nen.
She saw the situation getting better.
But the next sight that followed filled her with astonishment and deep despair.
It was the brief flash of blinding light generated by an explosion.
The opponent...
Had high explosives!
That's right, Aida had calmly detonated the explosives strapped to her body at the very end.
This was the final card she and Mull had brought onto the airship by replacing staff members.
Since they couldn't save their lives, they would fearlessly flip the table.
The blinding light flashed and vanished, immediately followed by a shockwave wrapped in searing flames, which instantly engulfed Aida, Talia, and Saffu.
Kanzai, who was charging straight ahead, his face contorted with horror, barely managed to raise his left arm to shield his face before being thrown back by the incoming explosion shockwave.
At the same time.
Moro, in the lounge area, heard the deafening explosion, then saw the aftershock of the blast surging out of the room like a long dragon, rushing straight towards the lounge along the corridor.
This not-so-long distance gave Moro enough reaction time.
Almost simultaneously with the explosion, Moro's eyes changed.
He rolled over and leaped behind a sofa, squatting down to shield his whole body with Nen while propping the sofa up in front of him.
Boom—
The explosion shockwave turned the entire lounge area upside down.
When the commotion ceased, easily flammable items like the carpet around were ablaze.
Moro stood up from behind the sofa, looking at the utter mess.
His pupils were trembling, and a sense of relief arose in his heart.
And the feeling of imbalance coming from under his feet was proclaiming the severity of the situation.
The airship was likely to crash due to this explosion...
Moro first felt a deep sense of dread, then looked toward the corridor ahead.
He saw Kanzai lying on the floor, with multiple scorched areas on his body, his injuries unknown.
Inside the room.
After the violent explosion, the entire room was shattered, filled with flames and thick smoke everywhere.
In one corner.
Talia's body was a bloody mess; she had lost all signs of life.
But a faint moan could be heard indistinctly from beneath her.
In the final moments as the explosion swept in, Talia ultimately defended her duty to the death, successfully protecting Saffu's life as she had wished.
But before Talia collapsed, she only noticed Kanzai's return, and did not see a cluster of post-mortem Nen flying in the air.
In the enemy camp, there were also people with extremely powerful obsession and will.
The post-mortem Nen originating from Mull, in the form of a will-o'-the-wisp, passed through the flames and thick smoke, flying with a clear target toward the area beneath Talia's corpse.
The next second.
Saffu's weak voice abruptly stopped.
In the corridor outside the room.
Kanzai shook his head and got up.
Ignoring his injuries, he rushed into the room, pushing against the billowing smoke.
He quickly found Talia in the corner of the room, as well as Saffu crushed beneath her.
Both were dead...
Kanzai's face was grim.
"My apologies."
Muttering to the corpses, Kanzai glanced at the tilting floor, clenched his fist, turned, and swiftly left the room that was about to be enveloped in thick smoke.
Returning to the corridor, Kanzai immediately saw Moro standing in the lounge area.
He ran over and asked, "What is your name?"
"Moro."
Watching Kanzai rush out of the room again, Moro generally guessed the reason.
He wondered who Kanzai was protecting, that they could attract such strong Nen users, and ultimately resort to flipping the table.
It gave no room for survival.
Kanzai came up to Moro, glanced at the headless corpse that had been thrown further away, and then looked at Moro.
"Moro, is it? You must recognize me, right?"
"..."
Moro inwardly sighed at Kanzai's sharpness, nodded, and offered a compliment:
"One of the Hunter Association's Twelve Zodiacs? It's hard not to recognize you."
"Then I won't bother with an introduction. Now, come with me to find the captain."
Ignoring the compliment in Moro's words, Kanzai saw the consequences of the explosion, and his first thought was to find the captain and make the airship emergency land as quickly as possible.
Moro stood rooted to the spot and sighed:
"That's precisely why I came to find you."
"What do you mean?"
Kanzai was puzzled.
Moro briefly explained the situation inside the cockpit.
Kanzai's face grew even darker upon hearing this.
Creak—!
A piercing sound came from ahead, and the airship swayed and tilted back and forth.
Moro stabilized himself and said:
"This explosion... might force that Manipulation-type user to emergency land the airship."
As soon as he finished speaking, the floor suddenly tilted sharply again.
They could clearly feel the airship listing at a very dangerous angle.
It seemed about to crash...
Moro and Kanzai exchanged glances, both seeing the seriousness in the other's eyes.
(End of this Chapter)
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