Chapter 753 Terrifying Truth

Never had he imagined he would fall into such a predicament...

Pouf stared at the human before him, who is gripping a razor-sharp black sword.

Intellect, tactics, ability-

Which part had gone wrong?

By all logic, he should be the stronger one, the one with the advantage!

So why was he losing ground with every step?

Having always been in control since his birth, Pouf now, in the face of continuous retreat, was finally forced to truly understand the extent of Moses's strength, and he found himself unable to keep the quicksand slipping through his fingers.

Holding sand in your hands was never easy, and once the smallest gap opened, there was no retrieving what was lost.

That was the reality of Nen Combat.

While there was always the possibility of a turnaround, the first move was a crucial factor in determining victory or defeat.

The reason for Pouf's downfall was not because of the gap in hardware, but because of the loss in the 'initial choice'.

On top of that,

It was his arrogance, born from his sense of superiority, that had led Pouf to make the wrong decisions.

But in fact, this outcome had a touch of inevitability.

His personality, duty, instincts, and even his genetics...

All of these factors contributed to his current unfavorable situation.

From the moment he tried to intercept Moses from the skies, the wheels of fate had already turned.

In the end, it was the opponent who defined weakness and strength.

Every time Moses landed a hit during his attack, it was devastating but not lethal. He could only reduce Pouf's strength by reducing the number of cells.

But that was more than enough.

From the perspective of the Chimera Ant extermination team's mission objectives, Moses had already exceeded expectations.

'The situation is clear now.'

With another strike severing a portion of Pouf's body, Moses remained cautious. He didn't overextend himself, and firmly kept the pace of battle in his control.

After achieving the desired results in the battle, there was no need to give the enemy even a sliver of opportunity.

'But... will it be in time?'

Moses stole a quick glance toward the central hall of the palace, and a hint of worry flashed in his eyes.

He didn't believe Netero stood a chance against the King.

He could only hope Netero held out for a bit longer.

At least long enough until their team can get rid at least one of their Royal Guards first.

After slightly suppressing his worries, Moses still had the focus to monitor the other battlefields even amid his duel.

Sensing the fierce Aura fluctuations coming from the central hall, his gaze suddenly shifted toward the front yard.

There were also huge noises coming from the other side all the time, and it can be seen that the battle there was also extremely fierce.

He couldn't be sure whether Morel and the others could suppress Youpi in time, or better yet, kill him outright.

With the help of two assassins from the Zoldyck Family, this kind of thing is actually not impossible.

However, the commissions that Zeno and Silva accepted were for containment, and it was basically impossible to ask them to fight to the death.

Moses withdrew his gaze and his thoughts turned slightly.

When Pouf saw that Moses still had the leeway to pay attention to the situation in other battlefields, his face became more and more distorted.

At times like this, he knew he had to calm down.

Even if he couldn't stay calm, he must keep his mentality normal.

Otherwise, his existence would become utterly useless.

'That human in the central hall poses no threat to the King. But I... I must find a way to deal with the one in front of me.'

Pouf had a hard time suppressing the boiling emotions in his heart.

But-

Having lost so many of his advantages, he couldn't think of a way to deal with Moses for a while.

The opponent's mobility is too strong...

And he also has very strong offensive means.

Even just defending was exhausting, let alone launching a counterattack.

'Damn it, my ability can't threaten him at all...'

Pouf's eyes grew darker.

Although he has tried his best to adapt, it seems that he can't change anything.

…

On the other side.

The palace's front yard.

Morel and his group tried their best and finally allowed Knuckle to successfully activate his Nen Ability, Hakoware, a minute ago.

The effect and principle of this Nen Ability can be simply described as loan sharking.

As long as Knuckle landed a hit, he could forcibly 'lend' his own Aura to the target, and no consent was needed.

Then, when his Aura is successfully lent to the target, every ten seconds, the interest would increase by 10% of the original loan amount.

That meant, given enough time, the compounding interest would cause the total debt to surpass the opponent's Potential Aura, forcing them into a 30-day state of Zetsu, which is complete Aura nullification.

In other words-

After successfully activating Hakoware, all Knuckle had to do was stay within 50 meters of Youpi, and then wait for the interest on the loan amount to compound to the point where Youpi goes bankrupt.

At that time, he can easily end the battle.

With Morel's smoke soldiers, and the Emission-Type attacks of Zeno and Silva, this tactic was perfectly feasible.

However...

As the battle dragged on, Knuckle soon discovered a terrifying truth.

With his rich experience and intuition, Knuckle estimated that the red monster they were fighting had at least ten times Morel's Potential Aura.

If converted into numerical value, it is about 700,000 Aura...

The staggering figure shocked Knuckle to his core.

But thanks to his strong mentality, he was not affected by this terrible fact in the battle and lost his will to fight.

The battle there remained wild and chaotic.

Potclean's presence had hit a nerve in Youpi, causing him to gradually become furious.

Although anger can take away reason, it can also make people burst out with more terrifying power than usual.

And Youpi… is simply the best among them.

In his fury, he lashed out like a berserker, attacking the Chimera Ant extermination team with overwhelming aggression.

It was like facing a red-eyed bull, as any slip could end in annihilation.

'At this rate, it'll take at least another fifteen minutes before this monster finally goes bankrupt...'