Chapter 501 Surprised?

With the mobility of the right shadow clone affected, the left shadow clone came to Illumi's side unimpeded.

'Not planning to regroup and strike?'

Illumi was slightly surprised. He thought that Moses would use up some of his Aura to repair the injuries of his shadow clone in order to maximize the advantage in numbers.

Unexpectedly, Moses not only did not do so, but also let the shadow clone on the left attack alone.

But this is also the situation that Illumi wanted.

The shadow clone on the left slightly bent his elbow and aimed a punch at Illumi's temple.

Illumi didn't make any attempt to dodge. Instead, he raised his arm and forcefully blocked the punch.

Bang.

Accompanied by a muffled sound, a blast of Aura surged from the clash, spreading outward.

With a cold, unwavering gaze, Illumi blocked the shadow clone's punch with one hand, while his other hand formed a blade and sliced upward in an arc, suddenly piercing the left shadow clone's chest.

Puff-

The piercing strike from his hand instantly shattered the left clone like a bubble, its fragments dispersing into the air.

"…"

Illumi looked at the scattered fragments of the shadow clone without changing his expression.

He thought he had seen through the shadow clone's weaknesses, which was why he could defeat one of them so easily.

This was the downside of splitting the Manifested Aura.

Aside from the real body, even the strength and Aura of the Nen Clones must be divided into two, which means that the Manifested Aura that the Nen Clones can mobilize is only one-third of the main body, or even less.

With the understanding that the shadow clones had limited strength, Illumi found the pressure of attack and defense greatly alleviated.

With more substantial Manifested Aura at his disposal, Illumi could not only block the shadow clones' attacks but also retain enough Aura to launch his own counterattacks.

Having said that-

It was also because Illumi's combat skills surpassed Moses's that he could achieve such results.

Having destroyed the left shadow clone, Illumi seized the momentum and charged toward the right shadow clone, whose thigh had been injured.

Adhering to the strategy of attrition battle, if he could continue trading a small amount of Aura to deplete one of Moses's clones at a time, then victory would be within reach.

At the forest's edge-

Moses stepped into the woods, watching as one-half of his shadow returned to his side like a phantom.

Once a shadow clone was shattered, it had to first return to him in its two-dimensional shadow form before it could be re-conjured.

'So you're aiming for an attrition battle...'

Moses smiled faintly. Through the brief exchanges, he naturally saw through Illumi's intentions.

If he engaged in the fight himself, he would risk giving Illumi the chance for a 'one-hit kill'.

But if he didn't join, the strength of his shadow clones alone wouldn't be enough to defeat Illumi. Instead, they'd keep getting destroyed under Illumi's attacks, depleting Moses's Potential Aura in an endless cycle of re-conjuration.

From Illumi's perspective, he could freely adapt his tactics based on the 'timing' and 'situation'.

The capital that supports this strategy lies in Illumi's superior combat and Nen skills, as well as his total Potential Aura built up through a lifetime of training.

'If that's what you want…'

Moses saw through Illumi's plan, but he was unfazed.

He had no intention of personally stepping in.

It wasn't because he was overconfident, but because he wanted to use Illumi to verify the actual effect of the Divine Script.

Soul Echo!

As bright Nen surged, a fully restored shadow clone appeared in front of Moses.

The newly-formed shadow clone wasted no time, kicking off and darting back into the forest.

At the same time-

Illumi attacked the right shadow clone, who is now struggling to move due to its injured leg.

Seeing Illumi charging at him without hesitation, the right shadow clone pushed off with one leg, retreating swiftly in an attempt to put distance between them.

'Did you notice that...'

Illumi looked at the right shadow clone retreating violently with an expressionless face.

This act of prudence was a stark contrast to the aggressive approach the shadow clone had shown earlier.

The cause was clearly the destruction of the left shadow clone.

Illumi was mentally prepared for Moses to retract the shadow clone, but at the same time, he did not give up the opportunity to destroy the shadow clone.

He flashed forward and caught up with the right shadow clone, who was attempting to create distance.

Seeing Illumi approaching, the right shadow clone had no choice but to stop and suddenly turned, thrusting its palm at Illumi's face.

Illumi sidestepped, his movements leaving a series of afterimages.

The right shadow clone's palm strike passed through one of the afterimages.

However, rather than seizing this chance to counterattack, Illumi took two steps back and, with a flick of his wrist, threw two beaded needles over his shoulder.

The newly-reformed left shadow clone had just arrived on the scene, and it happened to be on the attack trajectory of the two bead needles.

It originally wanted to ambush Illumi.

However, Illumi decisively gave up an excellent opportunity to counterattack and instead redirected his focus to this reappearing clone.

Thud thud!

Caught off guard, the two beaded needles embedded themselves in the left shadow clone's thighs, and the Nen-charged impact blasted a bowl-sized hole in its leg.

Suffering such a severe blow, the left shadow clone's body suddenly lost balance.

Illumi took a step forward and used his right hand as a palm knife to slice horizontally through the left clone's head.

Without waiting for it to disintegrate, he turned back to attack the right shadow clone, which had been injured by the beaded needle from the beginning.

Why hadn't he capitalized on the earlier counterattack?

Because he knew he could easily finish off the right shadow clone with its damaged leg at any time.

Under this pretense, he could switch targets whenever Moses expected him to strike, keeping his opponent guessing.

It was this wealth of combat experience that allowed Illumi to destroy two of Moses's shadow clones in such rapid succession.

Now-

Illumi is about to defeat Moses's third shadow clone.

In this battle, the advantage had clearly shifted to his side.

'The third one.'

Illumi stepped forward and, with superior combat prowess, slashed the immobilized right clone's head.

Pfft-

The headless right clone instantly disintegrated.

However-

As the shadow clone dissipated, a slightly flat piece of wood appeared in mid-air.

The surface of the wood is inscribed with dense, obscure symbols.

Then-

These densely packed symbols suddenly glowed with the unique light of Nen.

"This is…?!"

Illumi was slightly surprised.

At the next moment, a surge of Nen wave burst forth from the glowing symbols and struck Illumi directly.

Before Illumi could even grasp what was happening, he was blown away by the Nen wave.

Suddenly, blood was splattered in the air.

"Surprised?"

Moses smiled faintly, his hands in his pockets.

Hisoka and Satotz, who were watching the battle from the dark, were both surprised when they saw this scene.

'What's going on?'

Alongside their shock, Hisoka and Satotz shared a sense of curiosity.