"Wing's aura suddenly weakened," Kurapika said, genuinely surprised.
Shizuku's expression shifted to sudden understanding. "Enhancers really do have simple minds."
An obvious wave of exhaustion washed over Wing. He couldn't help but gasp slightly.
He steadied himself and said, "Did you develop this move specifically for this match? The purpose is to reduce the disadvantage caused by the gap in our aura capacity. But what if neither of us chooses to cancel the ball? Will it keep growing indefinitely, or will it completely crush one of us first?"
And another question: if the ball expanded to the point of crushing one of them, would it disappear?
Or would there be some kind of bug?
Because the person who caught the ball no longer exists, so it keeps returning to the other person's hands due to violations, doubling, doubling, doubling forever...
Whoosh. Liam raised his hand. Another Nen ball emerged from his palm. The number inside was a fresh "100."
"Let's talk after we finish?"
He smiled and threw the new ball toward Wing.
Wing nodded and moved to intercept.
After catching the ball, Wing didn't throw it directly at Liam. Instead, he lobbed it high in a parabolic arc.
As expected, Liam glanced up reflexively.
Wing stomped down, kicked up a chunk of masonry from the broken ring, and sent the massive stone slab flying between them to block line of sight.
Using the visual blind spot, Wing ducked to one side, only to find Liam had also vanished.
The slab was still tumbling through the air. Wing moved fast, circling around it, but Liam was nowhere to be seen. He looked down and spotted Liam's feet on the opposite side.
From the perspective of bystanders like Shizuku, Kurapika, the audience and the referee, Wing was playing a game of ring-around-the-rosie with Fighter Smith using a flying stone slab. And they were circling so fast it almost turned into afterimages, pausing sporadically.
Wing was shocked internally. I didn't sense him using En. Is it purely excellent sensory awareness?
I definitely suppressed my footsteps!
But Shizuku suddenly glanced at Jaku in her hand. The bird was staring straight at the ring. The look in its eyes wasn't Jaku's usual expression at all. It was more like Liam himself.
Are you stupid? My code name is Tendō!
With Jaku's eyes as his proxy, Liam could clearly see the situation on stage. Wing wanted to distract his vision, but he was overthinking it.
At that moment, as the stone slab flew past, Wing struck.
Liam met the attack. The collision between them sent ripples through the stone slab, shattering it into fragments mid-air.
The ball overhead reached its apex and began falling.
Wing's aura was still abundant. The Ken around his body hadn't weakened. The power of his strikes had become heavier and more forceful than at the beginning, even compared to when the battle had been at its peak intensity.
It became increasingly difficult for Liam to create distance.
He jumped high, snatched the falling ball first, and hurled it toward Wing on the ring.
Wing didn't want to let the ball double to "800" and return to Liam's hands after a failed catch, so he chose to take it head-on.
After catching it, the number had quietly changed to "800."
Wing smiled slightly, grabbed the ball, and threw it toward Liam who was falling through mid-air.
Liam couldn't dodge. He braced himself to catch it. Boom!
The ball slammed into him with force definitely exceeding "800." Wing had used Shu to wrap additional aura around the sphere!
Liam caught the ball against his chest, flipped, and landed at the edge of the ring.
The referee shouted, "Excellent attack! Fighter Wing adds one point! The score is 5-2!"
The number inside changed to "1600."
Liam threw the ball again.
The moment it left his hand, he curled his fingers to charge power. He aimed at either Wing or the ball and fired the instant Wing got close to the sphere.
Wing didn't want to catch a "3200" ball. After catching it, he also had to deal with Liam's spirit-gun shot. His white shirt tore. Whether from the explosion or a graze, a bloody streak appeared.
Even with Wing's strength, he genuinely felt tired.
The ball that had transformed into "3200" was clenched tightly in his hand.
At this moment—whether it was Wing and Liam on stage, or Kurapika, Shizuku, and the other 200th floor fighters watching who'd grasped the mechanics—everyone vaguely understood the match had reached its most critical point. If the ball's power doubled again to "6400," even if both fighters were at peak condition, they definitely couldn't defend against it. Let alone now.
The winner would definitely be decided in the next round!
But the question remained: could Liam catch this "3200" before it became "6400"?
Wing threw the ball brazenly. The sphere with "3200" inside spun rapidly and shot toward Liam like a cannonball.
If you choose to catch it, you'll likely be seriously injured!
If you choose to dodge, the ball returns to Wing's hand with its power doubled to "6400."
This technique was developed just for this kind of opportunity!
Liam gave a low shout, squeezing the aura in his body and releasing it. Long-term training had paid off. Even in his current exhausted state, he could perfectly maintain thick Ken. And the ball's trajectory was too easy to predict. Liam used Ryu, distributing more aura to his front.
The ball hit Liam's arms like a cannonball. Liam spat blood on the spot.
The ring beneath his feet carved out two parallel furrows as Liam barely stopped at the edge.
The ball in his arms stopped spinning. Wisps of steam rose from it. Liam's chest looked slightly concave, showing the fierce impact.
Liam groaned. Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth again. He grinned. The gaps between his teeth were full of blood.
The number inside the ball quietly changed to "6400."
He absolutely cannot throw this shot again!
Wing rushed over decisively to grapple Liam.
Splat! They collided head-on. Blood from Liam's mouth splashed across Wing's face and white shirt.
"You're seriously injured. This is far enough. Better to give up!"
Wing clamped down tightly on Liam's wrist holding the "6400" ball.
"We've come this far. How can I give up?" Liam looked at the blood droplets splattered on Wing's cheek and resisted the urge to manipulate them into a pentagram in front of everyone and control Wing for an easy victory. The Star Mark on his neck continued delivering healing energy. The injuries on Liam's chest and internal wounds were constantly repairing. He struggled to wrestle with Wing, trying to break free from the grip.
Wing restrained Liam tightly. They crashed to the ground.
In the blink of an eye, it changed from striking combat to ground grappling.
Boom! They wrestled and rolled. The masonry floor of the arena shattered like a spiderweb.
Boom! Boom! Boom! As they struggled and grappled on the ground, there weren't many intact spaces left in the entire ring.
The referee wasn't on stage from the beginning. He was providing commentary from the sidelines.
Who's pinned? Who has the advantage?
The referee's vision was limited. He remained reserved and didn't speak arbitrarily.
As long as this ball connects, it's definitely game over!
Kurapika, watching the battle, couldn't help but clench his fists.
The aura outlines on both fighters wrestling on the shattered arena floor had visibly deteriorated. Less perfect, less solid than at the start. Fluctuating now. Shrinking considerably.
Shizuku's expression remained unchanged, like an emotionless observer.
In truth, watching this far, she was certain Liam would win.
Slight sweat appeared on Wing's forehead as he tried his best to suppress Liam.
He couldn't possibly touch the ball Liam was holding. Who knew if Liam could use just one or two fingers to launch the sphere at him?
The "6400" ball began flashing red.
As long as he suppressed him for a moment longer... Wing stared closely at the ball whose red light flashed faster and faster. But suddenly he felt Liam, pinned beneath him, burst out with tremendous force.
The Star Mark on his neck continued activating. After Liam gave it the order to explode with full strength, the mark carried out the command meticulously, regardless of how exhausted Liam's body was or what kind of load the forced explosion would place on him. The stunned Wing was flipped over.
Liam grabbed the ball with his right hand, spun around, and hurled it toward Wing.
After being overturned, Wing knew he could neither hesitate nor hold back. After planting one foot, he shouted, clenched his right fist, and for the first time unleashed his full power. A punch comparable to Ko swung toward Liam.
Blood gradually covered half of Wing's face and stained his glasses red.
Kurapika's eyes began glowing scarlet.
Shizuku looked up into the air.
A severed arm reflected in the lens. The severed hand was spinning mid-air, still clutching the ball that continued flashing red light.
While Wing stood stunned, Liam's broken right arm—bleeding profusely—suddenly stopped bleeding on its own.
He grinned and circled behind Wing, locking Wing in place with one and a half arms.
Could it be?!
Wing was shocked. He looked up. Liam's severed arm was floating in the air!
The arm seemed wrapped in a sphere of aura. The ball was still gripped in its hand!
It can work like that? Kurapika looked mildly surprised.
During the referee's passionate commentary, the entire audience couldn't help but hold their breath.
Under everyone's gaze, the severed hand mid-air seemed alive. It gripped the ball and threw it toward the ring.
The flashing red sphere rushed toward Wing.
Wing knew this was coming. He tried desperately to twist free, but Liam hugged him tightly from behind. Breaking free in time was genuinely difficult.
"Smith won," Tetsuro murmured in the audience.
"Two monsters," other 200th floor fighters couldn't help but swallow. Their hands and feet went cold.
"Don't die," Liam said, still imprisoning Wing.
"Ken!" Wing roared. His short hair seemed to stand on end.
No time to hesitate. He gave up breaking free from Liam's restraints and chose to flow his aura. He completely abandoned defense behind him and concentrated everything forward.
Almost simultaneously, the "6400" ball arrived and struck like a meteorite.
The atmosphere in the entire fighting venue seemed to shake.
Everyone could clearly see Liam and Wing, locked together on stage, get hit head-on by some invisible shell falling from the sky. They were knocked backward and flew out of bounds.
Wing, who took the hit directly, spat blood on the spot. The shirt on his chest exploded into shreds. His glasses flew off somewhere.
After Wing rolled several times, he took one hard look at Liam hanging on the edge of the ring, then tilted his head and lost consciousness.
Snap. The severed arm fell from mid-air, bounced a few times on the broken ring, and rolled to Shizuku's feet.
"KO! Fighter Wing has lost the ability to fight! Fighter Smith reversed the match and won!" the referee announced passionately. Then he turned to Shizuku on stage. "Excuse me, are you—"
Shizuku ignored the referee, picked up Liam's severed arm, walked over, knelt down, and handed the bloody limb to him.