On the barren mountainous terrain, the Nen of Oboro and Neferpitou created an extremely oppressive atmosphere on the battlefield.
The man and the ant fought like lightning in the wind, in a state invisible to the naked eye, completely disappearing… only the roar of their collisions could be heard, or dark figures being sent flying and crashing into the earth, creating quite a commotion.
But soon… both sides vanished again.
Neither had time to check their injuries.
The cat-woman landed from mid-air, the demon doll master still controlling her. However, as her feet touched the ground, a blood vessel in her bulging thigh muscle burst… In that brief moment, she had been continuously activating Black Daze without pause.
Whoosh!
From the ghost fog, a wisp of soul stealthily entered her body.
This caused the cat-woman's one intact eye to momentarily dim, then instantly recover.
The damage her Black Daze inflicted on the man began to weaken. On one hand, it was due to Oboro's stated reason, and on the other, it was because these souls could erode the soul… and a person's mental will.
After the soul entered her body, it was as if something had appeared in Neferpitou's brain, causing her mind to fluctuate and her consciousness to involuntarily scatter.
This was extremely fatal during a life-or-death battle!
Fortunately, her will was strong. The sea of consciousness in her mind, the body formed by her spirit, was rapidly eliminating the intruding souls… This process might only take a fraction of a second. After dealing with the specters in her consciousness, her spirit would return to her body and continue the fight.
Although it looked as if she hadn't been hit, the scattering of her will was an objective fact. Even with her lightning-fast reflexes, there would still be a momentary stiffness and daze. Oboro seized this opportunity, gaining the capital to contend with her in both offense and defense!
Because… sometimes, these souls that burrowed into the body were not just one.
Initially, humans couldn't dodge or block her Nen ability… they could hardly react.
But in such a short period, the cat-woman discovered… Oboro had begun to adapt to her rhythm.
He could barely keep up with her speed… Admittedly, this was partly due to her declining physical condition.
It had to be acknowledged that although the man was a low-level human, his talent and experience in combat were outstanding.
Bang!
Just as Neferpitou eliminated the specters in her consciousness and her eyes lit up, the ethereal mist behind her gently rippled, and a lightning-fast whip kick, resembling a battle axe, struck her cheek fiercely from behind.
The cat-woman jumped away… she could have dodged.
However… the distance she created was still within Oboro's attack range.
Instantly, the cat-woman's face began to contort, as if struck by a sledgehammer. The immense force sent her body tumbling dozens of times in mid-air while spinning and flying out.
Oboro slowly lowered his legs, his body covered in blood.
The experience of fighting the cat-woman head-on was definitely not pleasant.
Compared to the damage and hits he inflicted on her, her attack efficiency was clearly superior to his.
Logically, this kind of fight, exchanging damage for damage, was extremely disadvantageous to him, but Oboro still chose this method.
"As expected… she has a psychological shadow!"
A piece of flesh hung from Oboro's face, bleeding profusely, feeling like it could fall off at any moment. This was from being clawed by the cat-woman earlier.
Oboro looked at the ant flying away, a cold smile splitting his face.
Neferpitou had a psychological complex. If her other eye were blinded, she would surely be defeated!
Therefore, the cat-woman had been deliberately protecting her good eye…
This was Oboro's psychological warfare!
The cat-woman's body had no weaknesses, its only flaw lay in its eyes.
And once she became hesitant, her offense would inevitably become disorganized.
"Hopping on one leg, her lower limbs can no longer sustain Black Daze…" Oboro's heart stirred.
Not only the cat-woman, but he too was in a state of overload. He had pushed his breathing technique to the extreme… frantically draining his flesh and blood.
"I can last three more minutes… I must finish her within these three minutes!"
Oboro's eyes were determined.
He immediately charged towards the enemy's position.
Meanwhile, the cat-woman didn't fall to the ground. Instead, she used her terrifying body rotation to dissipate the force acting upon her. After darting a hundred meters away, she landed gracefully like a large cat. However, as her thigh landed and bore weight, another spurt of blood erupted.
Neferpitou remained unfazed. Sensing the direction of the human's leap, she sprang up like an arrow released from a bowstring. Although the drifting mist obscured her vision, it was as if nothing to her.
She crossed her arms, her sharp claws slashing, and unleashed two scarlet beams of Nen towards Oboro, who emerged from the dense fog!
Overpowered!
Oboro, due to his explosive high speed and being in mid-air, couldn't change direction easily… he was about to collide with Neferpitou's attack.
This ant's combat wildness and instincts were simply monstrous.
Within the ghost fog, Oboro could perceive everything happening within the mist. He could clearly 'see' the cat-woman's movements, but… even so, it was difficult to cope. Because the moment he saw, the attack had already arrived; Neferpitou's speed was too fast!
Even with such injuries!
With this move, the cat-woman intended to kill Oboro once more!
Although her subsequent injuries to Oboro had also recovered somewhat… her speed had slowed considerably. This made Neferpitou instantly realize that Oboro's Nen ability had limitations and couldn't bring him back from the dead again!
Several souls took advantage of this gap and burrowed into the cat-woman's body.
But it had no effect on her movements or will…
Her eyes held extreme killing intent!
She chose to temporarily ignore the souls eroding her consciousness and instead focus on heavily wounding Oboro, the 'manipulator,' in his main body!
She was also analyzing… and calculating, summarizing the optimal combat strategy.
"Die!"
Neferpitou shouted.
In her opinion, Oboro absolutely could not dodge this attack.
She had endured the damage of souls eroding her body.
But in the next second, the human she was about to tear apart with her claws suddenly… disappeared.
It wasn't voluntary movement.
Because in this combat situation, humans were absolutely incapable of doing this!
Nen ability!
The cat-woman's expression changed.
Oboro used Flash…
His trump cards and killing moves were too numerous!
These… were all intentionally hidden, to be used for maximum effect at critical moments.
As the saying goes… don't let the opponent gather information; fight with your brain.
This was not like his previous overwhelming victories; a moment of carelessness could lead to death…
Oboro appeared out of thin air above the cat-woman, twisted his waist, exhaled hot air, his arms suddenly enlarged, and his bulging muscles showed granite-like textures. "Too weak…"
He murmured.
His fist, carrying immense force, crushed the air and slammed heavily onto Neferpitou's crown!
The cat-woman's skull finally made a crisp cracking sound at this moment.
Blood gushed from her forehead, and her entire body, like a nail, plunged into the ground.
Dense cracks spread across the ground like a spiderweb, followed by the collapse of soil within a hundred-meter radius, and the ground level dropped.
Reached the limit!
A hint of joy flashed in Oboro's eyes.
Finally… finally he could inflict damage on Neferpitou with pure physical strength, not just by using Nen.
Black Daze had caused Neferpitou's physical body to collapse…
"Mhm?"
Suddenly, Oboro's brow furrowed.
He discovered a tail had wrapped around his waist, pulling him down with her.
This was Flash… a displacement that crossed space without any warning or movement trace!
"Although I couldn't react in time, I could still counterattack the moment I was attacked…" Oboro was startled, and then fell into the dirt with Neferpitou. The force transmitted by the cat's tail was extremely powerful, instantly pulling Oboro close.
Couldn't break free…
Couldn't dodge!
As soon as this thought arose.
Oboro's arms, held in front of him, were instantly mangled… flesh and bone pulverized into dust.
Oboro also saw below, the cat-woman's triumphant, ferocious smile.
Swish.
Oboro's joints trembled, his body shrank by a circle in an instant, and he broke free from the cat's tail's restraint, leaping away in a stride.
"Hahahaha…"
A moment later, in the depression created by their fight, the demon doll master behind Neferpitou disappeared. She deactivated her Nen ability, slowly pushed away the dirt on her body, and slowly stood up, laughing happily.
With a wave of her hand, the resulting force dispersed the dust and mist again.
Her steps were somewhat unsteady, and blood continuously flowed from her forehead, but she seemed indifferent, looking instead at the man opposite her.
At this moment, Oboro was armless.
"Your Nen ability… is very interesting, seems quite complex and diverse…"
"How did you do it?"
"As far as I know, human Nen ability development is limited in many aspects. First, the type of ability, then the transformation of Nen attributes, fusion, including brain capacity… The use of multiple abilities requires extraordinary brain capacity. I've studied human brains… they are no match for ours… and absolutely cannot achieve your level. Even I probably can't… Is there a trick to it?"
The cat-woman extended a finger, touched her lips, and asked sincerely.
As if genuinely seeking advice.
The scales of victory tilted towards her again.
Even if the human could use the same ability again, it would have no effect on her.
Without arms, Oboro was like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.
Although she was severely injured, Oboro had fundamentally lost his combat capability…
"This is my secret… I can't just tell you, can I?"
Oboro smiled faintly.
There was no choice; he had the system.
For each of his Nen abilities, after he had an idea and framework, the development method and evolutionary process were all intelligently evolved by the system, ensuring a basic success rate… Most importantly, it optimized unnecessary additional items for various Nen abilities, removed redundant associated 'brain burdens,' and performed brief storage, effectively expanding his brain capacity.
Another point was… after reaching his peak and finding it difficult to break through further, realizing that the focus should shift to Nen ability development, Oboro had made some preparations.
He had performed a minor 'surgery' on his brain.
Dubbed 'Capacity Sharing,' it was an ability.
But it wasn't his own.
"It doesn't matter…"
The cat-woman wagged her tail. "You don't want to say it now, but after you die, I'll know anyway."
"It hurts, doesn't it?"
Oboro looked at her forcing a smile and suddenly spoke.
Neferpitou's expression sank.
"Even if you delayed for a few seconds and then eliminated the souls that invaded your brain, the damage they caused to your soul is indelible… To kill me, you chose to pay with a part of your soul's injury… Very foolish."
Oboro said calmly.
"But… I won in the end."
Neferpitou walked step by step. "Your name is Oboro, right? I'll remember your name…"
"Are you deliberately stalling for time, trying to use that ability to recover from your injuries?"
"It's useless~"
The cat-woman's words already carried the air of a victor.
"Are you sure… you won?"
Oboro met her gaze, his eyes cold.
As he spoke, the surrounding space suddenly froze, as if time had stopped.
At this moment, not only did the cat-woman stand frozen like a statue, but even the wind and particles in the air were 'fixed.'
Oboro saw a beam of light emanating from himself, connecting to a shadow along the path he had taken – his own shadow.
And at this moment, his shadow was mimicking his previous actions, slowly advancing…
Right behind the cat-woman.
Before his arms were blown off…
This was the first time Oboro had used this Nen ability.
Ekko's ultimate R skill, Chronowarp.
In this state, he couldn't attack the cat-woman, but could only follow the temporal tether, rewind… return!
To a previous point in time.
As he walked step by step towards his temporal shadow, his pair of severed arms at the shoulders instantly regenerated.
That's right, regenerated, not regrown!
Furthermore, his injuries were also healing, a built-in healing effect of the skill.
When his main body merged with the shadow, time seemed to return to normal, and everything became vibrant again… transitioning from pause to play.
Oboro disappeared before Neferpitou. In her eyes, it was like the earlier Flash, suddenly and inexplicably appearing behind her out of nowhere.
The cat-woman immediately prepared to turn and counterattack.
But an invisible, wave-like fluctuation instantly swept towards her.
Its power was akin to a missile detonating before her eyes.
Neferpitou was heavily struck and sent flying directly.
Chronowarp was an area-of-effect damage skill.
Perhaps it couldn't inflict massive damage on Neferpitou in her normal state, but for her at this moment, such an unexpected attack was enough to leave her unable to defend.
And Oboro, seizing the opportunity, sprinted and rapidly moved to Neferpitou's side as she was about to land.
Seeing her still struggling, Oboro's large hand suddenly clamped onto Neferpitou's head.
His current state was much better than the cat-woman's!
"Once the soul is lost, the consequences are… severe…"
Oboro said indifferently.
Her skull grasped, the cat-woman's pupils contracted, and she raised her claws to stab Oboro's hand.
But the man remained unyielding.
Immediately after, the cat-woman's face turned pale… Her intuition suddenly told her she was going to die!
Suddenly, the nearby ghost fog surged, contracting and condensing, like rolling waves of the sea, finally manifesting a tall, mysterious figure shrouded in mist behind Oboro.
Countless ghosts swirled around this figure, howling, appearing particularly excited.
And this figure was none other than Thresh, holding the Lantern of the Rigel!
Two green beams of light shot from Oboro's eyes, and simultaneously, the arm holding the cat-woman's head began to turn into a soul.
Igniting ghost fire…
"Your soul, I accept it…"
"Welcome to… hell."
With that said, the dense ghosts swirling in the sky above instantly plummeted downwards.
Like thousands of streaks of light, they poured into Neferpitou's body.
"Ahhhh!!!"
Under the night sky.
The piercing and desperate screams of a certain creature echoed.
The sound reached the heavens.
____________________
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