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Chapter 466: Divine Skill Descends, Tearing the Catgirl Apart
Pitou's cloyingly sweet voice burst right beside Luffy's ear.
Luffy didn't even have time to turn his head. He felt every single hair on his neck stand on end. The chilling sensation of death had already pressed against his skin. Even though he was a single-celled organism with nerves as thick as cables, in this moment, he truly felt the call of hell.
But that fatal claw never descended.
Kuma's broad, wall-like physique had already stepped in front of Luffy. The small, round sunglasses on his face caught absolutely no light. He raised his massive hand, aiming the paw pad on his palm steadily at the lunging Pitou.
"Thrust Pad Cannon."
The air was compressed to its absolute limit. A materialized, giant paw-shaped shockwave blasted forward.
Pitou felt as if a massive mountain had slammed directly into her chest. Her proud Nen defense was as brittle as paper before this overwhelming impact. She was sent flying backward, slamming heavily into the solid rock face behind her. The rock shattered, spreading a spiderweb of deep cracks across the cliff.
Luffy fell hard onto his backside. He took greedy, ragged gulps of the acrid, scorched air, his heart hammering wildly in his chest. If Kuma hadn't intervened just now, his head would already be rolling on the ground. A profound, seething anger at his own weakness surged from the bottom of his heart.
Loose rubble rained down. Pitou extracted herself from the crater. Instead of looking sluggish from the injury, the sickly fanaticism on her face had grown even heavier. She looked like a truly rabid wildcat.
The muscles in her legs bulged bizarrely, defying basic anatomy. Purplish-black Nen materialized behind her, taking the form of a grotesque marionettist.
"Terpsichora."
Pitou's voice was hoarse and trembling with excitement. This was her ultimate killing technique, one that pushed her beyond her physical limits. The moment this state was activated, her body was completely surrendered to the Nen beast behind her, discarding all reason and pain just to tear the enemy before her into bloody shreds.
A piercing sonic boom ruptured the air. Her speed instantly broke the sound barrier, making it impossible for the naked eye to track her true body.
The dim forest was instantly flooded with afterimages. Dozens of indistinguishable phantoms flanked them from all directions, forming an airtight net of slaughter. Every single afterimage carried a fatal, tearing threat.
"Don't look down on us!" Ace roared through gritted teeth.
The iron pipe in his hands glowed cherry-red. He unreservedly channeled Teyvat's Pyro element, sending a pillar of crimson flame surging into the sky. He didn't care if she was a Royal Guard. If she wanted to touch his little brother, she had to step over his dead body first.
Sabo wasn't idle either. He wielded the broken blade he had scavenged from a Chimera Ant corpse, swinging it in a tight, impenetrable arc. A cyan Wind Vortex formed along the edge of the blade.
Wind fueled the fire. Fire amplified the wind.
The two elemental forces wove together perfectly in mid-air, expanding into a massive, searing net of wind and flame. The intense heat distorted the air, forcibly locking down all of Pitou's potential avenues of attack.
While these three kids were nothing compared to true apex predators, they weren't soft persimmons that could be casually squashed when fighting for their lives. This was the flawless teamwork they had forged with blood and sweat in Teyvat.
Faced with this wind-fire net capable of melting solid steel, Pitou showed absolutely no intention of stopping. She let out a wretched, ear-piercing yowl as purplish-black Nen enveloped her entire body. She had actually chosen to use her physical flesh to tank the elemental reaction and force her way through.
The word "retreat" did not exist in a Royal Guard's dictionary.
The sickening stench of charred flesh filled the air. The fur on Pitou's body was instantly incinerated. Large patches of her skin split open, exposing the scorched muscle beneath. The moment her green blood seeped out, it was vaporized by the extreme heat.
Yet, relying on her terrifying kinetic energy and raw Nen defense, she forcefully tore a hole through the net of flames.
The afterimages merged back into one. Her heavily burned, twisted face appeared right in Kuma's blind spot. Her claws, dripping with highly toxic Nen, aimed straight for Kuma's carotid artery.
She was only an inch away from his skin. As long as she cut it open, even this hulking giant would die right here.
Standing on the sidelines, Ivankov was so terrified he even forgot to scream. He could only watch helplessly as the claw descended.
Kuma still made no sudden movements. His small, round sunglasses reflected Pitou's bloodthirsty face, but his breathing didn't hitch for even a fraction of a second. He casually dropped the Bible tucked under his arm. His massive hands blurred as he rapidly formed a complex seal.
"Soten Kisshun. I Reject."
The calm voice echoed across the chaotic battlefield. Two streaks of golden light shot from his fingertips, weaving together in mid-air to instantly erect a semi-oval golden barrier.
Pitou's claws froze right in front of Kuma's neck. It wasn't that she had chosen to stop. She simply couldn't move.
The golden barrier forcefully stripped her of all kinetic energy. The momentum that could have shredded solid rock vanished like mud sinking into the ocean. She was pinned motionless in mid-air. Time itself seemed to stop flowing within that space.
The most unreasonable, rule-bending ability from the Bleach universe displayed its absolute dominance here. It didn't matter how vast your Nen was. It didn't matter how intense your killing intent burned. In the face of the concept of "Rejection," it was all utterly useless.
This was the god-tier skill produced by Blake's tavern. This dimensional suppression instantly reversed the tide of battle.
Pitou desperately pushed her Nen, trying to break free from this bizarre golden cage. The marionettist behind her violently yanked its strings, causing a massive reactive force to explode within the barrier.
A continuous barrage of crisp bone-snapping sounds rang out. Her limbs were forcefully broken by her own exertion within the barrier. Jagged white bone pierced through her skin, and fresh blood dripped down her ruined body.
This level of agony would have caused any living creature to suffer a mental collapse. Even a Chimera Ant's body couldn't withstand this kind of internal devastation.
But Pitou didn't scream. On her blood-smeared face, the corners of her mouth slowly curled upward, stretching all the way to the base of her ears. Her ruby eyes gleamed with pure, unadulterated madness. A spine-chilling, low chuckle squeezed out of her throat.
Looking at the twisted monster suspended in mid-air, Luffy felt his stomach churn violently. Just what kind of creature was this? Had she completely lost her sense of pain?
Ace and Sabo tightened their grips on their weapons. Even though she was completely immobilized, the suffocating malice still wrapped around their hearts like a venomous snake.
Kuma let out a soft sigh. He reached down and picked up his Bible, dusting off the cover. A creature born purely for the sake of slaughter truly had no reason to continue existing.
He raised his right hand, preparing to deliver the final blow to this rabid wildcat.
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