Chapter 59

Bak threw his weapon to pin down the shadow, while Moyu launched a surprise attack from a blind spot.

The two engaged in close combat—

In the end, Moyu decisively changed his move to withdraw, causing Bak's fully charged killing blow to miss.

This brief exchange, lasting less than three seconds, was clearly seen by Bisiji.

"That man's combat skills are quite good, and that oddly shaped weapon is probably poisoned," Bisiji said, propping her chin in her hand as she assessed Bak's level.

His excellent alertness, his immediate attack upon discovering the shadow, and his restraint in using his body to block a fatal move during close combat—

Laying the groundwork, countering, and delivering the killing blow.

His thinking during combat is not bad.

On the other hand, little brother Kester first lured the enemy with a shadow, then approached to launch a surprise attack.

If not for the enemy's extraordinary alertness, he might have secured victory with one blow.

Despite the failed surprise attack, he still knew when to cut his losses—

Upon recognizing the enemy's tactics, he immediately changed his move to withdraw, giving the enemy no chance at all.

"An ability to make shadows act independently...?"

Bisiji's eyes narrowed slightly as she muttered to herself:

"The shadow just now was the key to uncovering the enemy's killing move. It's likely a vision-sharing ability that leans towards manipulation, but the enemy's level is quite high. Little brother Kester, what will you do next? Be cautious of that weapon."

Having finished her assessment, Bisiji focused intently on the battle.

She would not reveal the slightest hint of her presence, nor did she have any intention of aiding in a moment of crisis.

She had made her stance clear to Moyu, yet Moyu still chose to engage.

This was Moyu's choice.

Before enjoying the hunt and reaping the rewards, one must bear the corresponding risks.

If the hunt fails, resulting in severe injury or death—

It can only be attributed to one's own lack of ability and poor judgment.

This is what it means to be a Hunter.

"What a strange knife."

Moyu, who had pulled back after his failed attack, controlled his shadow to look for opportunities while observing the knife in Bak's hand.

The dozen or so blades that bloomed like flower stamens seemed designed to increase the hit rate.

Moyu couldn't help but think of the poisoned dagger used by Kurogasa, the leader of the Phantom Troupe, against the two Zoldyck family experts in the Yorknew City arc.

Is it the same type?

In other words—

Those blades are likely coated with poison.

Moyu made his initial judgment.

On the other side.

Bak coldly watched the boy who had ambushed him, not forgetting to be wary of the shadow that seemed to transmit real-time images.

"Is he trying to escape..."

In the brief exchange, Bak confirmed one thing.

The sense of danger that felt like a thread wrapped around his heart did not come from the boy in front of him.

Therefore, he concluded that there was at least one more person who could pose a real threat to him, hidden from his perception.

This made Bak consider withdrawing from the fight.

In contrast, Moyu only wanted to gain experience to become stronger through this battle.

"Without knowing his Nen ability, I'll probe first."

Seeing that Bak remained unmoving, Moyu, with a quick thought, charged at Bak without hesitation.

The time he had was limited.

If Liz detected the commotion, she would definitely come as quickly as possible and order him to withdraw from the fight.

So—

He had to end the battle before Liz noticed.

"Controlling shadows, it's a combination of materialization and manipulation, right?"

Bak held his tooth blade horizontally, ready to attack, and silently analyzed as Moyu approached his attack range:

"Since it's not enhancement, I should pay more attention to the shadow from before. However, this boy hasn't noticed my true killing move yet..."

With a clear mind, Bak stood still, allowing Moyu to attack.

"Just a slight scratch is enough to end the fight with 'Parasite Infection.'"

As Moyu was about to enter his attack range, Bak prepared to respond at any moment.

If it's manipulation, then he would use a manipulation-style fighting method.

If he insists on using an enhancement-style, he'll regret it in hell.

Bak's pupils narrowed as he held his breath, waiting for the opportunity.

Moyu's body glowed with Nen as he charged, using "Dual Vision" to lock onto Bak, trying to gather crucial information from Bak's facial expressions and body movements.

Then—

Through the image transmitted by the shadow, Moyu noticed Bak's subtle action of lifting his heel.

It was a sign of an impending attack!

Without hesitation, Moyu bent his knees in a skiing motion to stop his charge, twisted his waist, and swept his leg across the ground, drawing a semicircular line.

Boom!

The Nen-imbued sweeping kick sent rectangular bricks flying like petals towards Bak.

"Huh?!"

In the split second with no time to think, Bak was slightly startled and instinctively charged forward to meet the flying bricks.

Just a slight scratch, even a graze, would do.

Then he would activate "Parasite Infection" to deepen the wound and the poison's effect, and decisively escape, far from the lingering sense of danger.

Bak's initial plan led him to charge forward in this obstructed vision situation.

Crack, crack—

Rushing forward with brute force, Bak shattered the bricks, closed the distance, and swung his tooth blade at Moyu.

Pay for your reckless action of closing the distance.

Cold intent flashed in Bak's eyes.

The poison-coated, flower-like blades glinted in the night, slicing towards Moyu's chest.

"If I had a disguise ability, I wouldn't have to take such risks..."

In a flash, a thought crossed Moyu's mind.

Facing Bak's attack, he knew the strange weapon might be coated with poison, but he had no intention of retreating to avoid close combat.

At least, he had to engage in one move.

Moyu's eyes flickered, and he suddenly crouched, letting the strange weapon slice over his head.

"Too inexperienced."

Bak's eyes gleamed, and he retracted his blade, preparing to stab Moyu's chest again.

But at that moment—

With a sharp sound, a street lamp crashed towards Bak's outstretched arm.

It was the shadow man's move.

Bak's eyebrows furrowed, and he immediately stopped his attack.

It wasn't the falling street lamp he was wary of, but the shadow man who fell with it.

The shadow man, glowing with bright Nen, leaped from the top of the street lamp and pounced on Bak like a flying squirrel.

At the same time,

Moyu, crouching, charged forward to attack Bak.

This was a double attack.

Clang!

The street lamp hit the ground with a loud noise.

Bak ignored the shadow man diving from above and threw his tooth blade at Moyu.

Whoosh—

The tooth blade flew through the air towards Moyu.

Moyu's pupils dilated, and he barely managed to dodge the flying tooth blade by sidestepping.

The shadow man, falling from above, punched Bak's head.

Bak sneered, and his wrist spun rapidly, using the thrown tooth blade like a yo-yo to create a powerful circular wind that enveloped both the shadow man and Moyu.

Moyu, maintaining his distance, quickly retreated from the attack range, but the shadow man, with no ground to stand on in mid-air, was helpless.

For a moment, Moyu considered switching the shadow man to a two-dimensional form to avoid the attack and then switch back to a three-dimensional form to attack Bak's lower body upon landing.

But he held back—

Swoosh!

The shadow man, unable to touch Bak, was torn away by the rapidly spinning tooth blade and sent flying.

Despite using most of his Nen to defend, the intense pain from the impact made Moyu's body tremble, and he let out a muffled groan.

On the second floor of the law firm,

"Amazing, amazing."

Bisiji, who was watching the battle, was thoroughly entertained and paid no attention to Liz's reaction as she approached.

The noise and Nen fluctuations from the battle could not be hidden from Liz.

So,

When the street lamp hit the ground, Liz and the injured Sambica quickly came to the second-floor window, the most open vantage point, where Bisiji was watching the battle.

"Mo... Kester?!"

Seeing Moyu fighting a Nen user, Liz's face changed instantly.

Sambica, leaning against the wall, slightly panting, her only exposed black eye reflected the scene on the sidewalk.

"It's the remaining Nen user..."

She recognized the opponent and muttered to herself.

Liz, worried about Moyu's safety, took two steps forward to open the window and jump out.

"Little brother Kester seems to have a hidden move. If you jump out and disturb his fun, he might throw a tantrum and run away," Bisiji reminded Liz, still focused on the battle.

Liz abruptly stopped her attempt to open the window, turned her head to Bisiji, and frowned, saying, "In terms of martial arts and Nen, Kester is inferior to the opponent."

"That's because you didn't see the earlier exchange," Bisiji raised an eyebrow, glancing at Liz, and asked, "How much do you know about little brother Kester's abilities?"

"..."

Liz was silent for a moment and then said, "I only know he learned Nen less than a month ago. Although he is talented, he lacks experience."

"But can others tell he's only been learning for a month if you don't say so?"

Bisiji's eyes gleamed, and she said with an expectant tone, "This little brother Kester is a natural martial artist. If he follows Kito, it would be a waste of his talent."

"..."

Liz's eyes turned cold, and she violently opened the window.

She wouldn't entrust Moyu's safety to Bisiji's judgment.

In contrast, Sambica looked at Moyu with disbelief.

Could someone who had only learned Nen for less than a month have such a stable Nen technique foundation?

Sambica was amazed beyond words.

She remembered when she first learned "Wrapping," any distraction would cause the state to collapse, let alone the more difficult "Enhancement."

In her view, learning "Wrapping" or "Enhancement" wasn't the hard part; the real challenge was maintaining a stable state of "Wrapping" and "Enhancement" at all times.

It took her about half a month to maintain "Wrapping" in any situation, barely meeting the combat requirements.

Otherwise, if a hit during combat caused "Wrapping" to collapse due to pain, it would be equivalent to a death sentence.

Reaching that level in half a month, her Nen instructor praised her talent at the time.

But now—

Beyond her understanding, there existed an even more incomprehensible monster.

Sambica silently gazed at Moyu.

In the battle arena,

"Pretty tough."

Unable to cut the shadow man in half, Bak was surprised and deduced that the boy had invested a lot of Nen into the shadow puppet.

Ultimately, it was a waste of energy.

After confirming the shadow man was flying away, Bak pursued, swinging his tooth blade towards Moyu.

Moyu stepped back and used the same tactic, sweeping his leg to send bricks flying.

Instantly,

The bricks flew towards Bak.

"Out of tricks, huh."

Bak stepped forward, shattering all the flying bricks, then gripped the tooth blade's handle and cut through the flying debris, aiming for Moyu's body.

At such close range, with his martial arts advantage,

There was no reason for the blade to miss.

However—

Just as the tooth blade was about to hit Moyu, perhaps due to Moyu's hasty dodge, he fell backward.

This allowed him to narrowly avoid Bak's attack.

"Checkmate!"

Seeing Moyu lose balance and fall, Bak saw his opportunity and swung his tooth blade at Moyu's bent knee.

He didn't need to hit a vital spot; a cut on Moyu's knee would suffice.

This would also allow him to avoid exposing too many weaknesses during his attack.

The game was over!

At that moment, Bak was even thinking about his escape route.

Moyu, however, just looked up, facing Bak's attack.

He was already prepared.

"Soul Resonance"

"Release!"

The shadow man, which had been thrown away, instantly disappeared, along with the remaining Nen.

As the ability was released, a shadow appeared in front of Moyu.

"Disguise!"

The shadow, returning at a speed that defied time, was infused with a large amount of Nen by Moyu.

In an instant—

The shadow man, now in a physical form, passed through Bak's pants, circled behind him, and struck Bak's head with an open palm.

At that moment, Bak had most of his Nen focused on his attack, distributed mainly in his limbs.

Even if he reacted at the last moment, he didn't have the refined "Flow" to counter the shadow man's sudden attack.

"You little brat...!!!"

Bak's heart skipped a beat.

For him, the last chance was to cut Moyu.

But Moyu's fall and bent knee were a feint, based on the judgment that the weapon was poisoned.

Since it was a feint to lure the enemy, he had already planned to dodge the attack.

Moyu just straightened his legs, and Bak's last hope of a hit missed.

"!!!"

Bak's pupils dilated, and then his head was struck by the shadow man.

A dull thud.

The sudden dizziness made his vision black out, and he collapsed to the ground, drained of strength.

Moyu quickly got up and ordered the shadow man to deliver a rapid series of blows to Bak's head.

Oh, oh, oh...!

Thud, thud, thud...!

Until all the Nen infused in the shadow man was exhausted, he finally stopped.

Bak was now barely alive.

"Completely drained, not a drop left. Draining potential Nen is indeed more satisfying in a real, intense battle."

Moyu looked at the motionless Bak on the ground, feeling satisfied.

Not far away,

Liz, who had just jumped down from the building to help, was completely stunned by the sudden end of the battle.

On the second floor of the law firm,

Sambica's eyes widened, amazed by Moyu's instant counterattack.

So strong, really so strong...!

By the standards of less than a month, Sambica was amazed by Moyu's displayed strength.

"Great, this performance exceeded my expectations, but..."

Bisiji, propping her chin, suddenly became curious.

After all, lacking experience?

That was Liz's original words.

But to Bisiji, Moyu's performance didn't seem like that of someone lacking experience...

On the ground, scattered with brick debris,

Moyu saw Liz standing there, and thought that since the enemy was already dealt with, everything else was irrelevant.

"Your outstanding performance in battle has earned admiration. Your Vow effect +1"

Huh!