A fearless, head-on punch.
And with that, Moses sent the likely Enhancer, Botobai, staggering back.
With just a 52% Enhancement Correction Rate, the effect was already this remarkable.
This allowed Moses to once again verify the absolute advantage brought by Manifested Aura.
This was precisely-
What made the Chimera Ants so formidable in the past.
Now that this advantage belonged to him, it meant countless viable paths had opened up in direct combat.
Moses slowly retracted his fist, and a faint sense of emotion welled up in his heart.
"Mind if I ask… are you an Enhancer?"
Having verified the result, Moses tossed out a question, but he wasn't particularly concerned whether he'd get an answer.
Botobai was forced back over ten meters by the sudden burst of power. As he steadied himself, he heard Moses's question.
Although the nature of this fight leaned more toward a spar, Botobai had no intention of answering Moses's question. He just looked at Moses with surprise in his eyes.
'He's definitely not an Enhancer…'
With just that single exchange of punches, Botobai had gleaned a lot of information, one of which was to rule out the possibility of Moses being an Enhancer.
The reason why Moses was able to repel him in that clash just now was actually due to the difference in their Manifested Aura.
'Compared to my Manifested Aura, his Manifested Aura is at least twice as much... But how did someone so young obtain this level of strength?!'
After realizing the difference in their Manifested Aura, waves of shock surged through Botobai's mind.
But he didn't dwell on the issue and swiftly refocused on the battle.
Even though the difference in their Manifested Aura is at least twofold, the advantage of being an Enhancer lay in offensive and defensive performance.
That's right.
Botobai was indeed an Enhancer.
However, like Franklin of the Phantom Troupe, had trained a secondary Nen Category to 100%, meaning he was both an Enhancer and an Emitter.
The only difference is that Franklin's innate Nen Category is Emission, while Botobai's innate Nen Category is Enhancement.
'If his Manifested Aura is this absurd, then his Potential Aura must be similarly monstrous. I have to end this quickly...'
In an extremely brief span of time, Botobai processed all the information and formulated his strategy.
His foot crushed the stone floor as his massive body shot toward Moses like an arrow.
As a dual-attribute Nen User, Botobai could use the two Nen Categories to create at least two sets of ability systems, or even fuse the two Nen Categories together.
So it stands to reason that since he has confirmed that Moses has the advantage in Manifested Aura, and he's already been overpowered in a direct punch exchange-
Botobai should avoid close combat as much as possible and instead look for openings to strike from a distance, given his 100% Emission-Type proficiency.
But Botobai still chose close-quarters combat, despite knowing he couldn't gain a clear upper hand in direct engagements.
There are two reasons that prompted him to do this.
First, he judged that Moses's Potential Aura far surpassed his own, meaning he couldn't allow the battle to devolve into a war of attrition.
Second, he wanted Moses to grow accustomed to his close-combat style, and then seize the right moment to exploit an opening.
This was the strategy Botobai devised after swiftly analyzing the information he got, and it can be considered a common approach among veteran Nen Users.
After all, Nen Users with rich combat experience would always do their utmost to utilize every piece of information gained in battle.
For them, combat intelligence was a very crucial factor in securing victory.
Seeing Botobai charge back at him with renewed vigor, even though Moses had confirmed Botobai's Aura intensity, he still didn't materialize his Black Sword.
There was one more thing he wanted to test.
And so, under the guise of leaving himself completely open, he allowed Botobai to storm into his attack range with overwhelming momentum.
'What is he planning!?'
Moses's action undoubtedly left Botobai confused for a moment.
But in the lightning-fast exchanges of combat, there was no time to think too much.
Now that the opportunity is right before his eyes, there is no reason to let it go.
Botobai closed the distance in an instant, and his massive body casted a huge shadow over Moses.
As Botobai's bear-like body came to an abrupt halt, all the strength in his body instantly converged into his right arm, and then his fist.
Whoosh-!
A sharp tearing sound cut through the air.
A fist nearly the size of a bowling ball, wrapped in a bright and deadly Aura, shot straight toward Moses's undefended chest.
This was the largest target area, so even if Moses tried to block in haste, he wouldn't be able to cover everything, and naturally created an opening.
And what Botobai aimed to do was lock onto the first opening that appeared, and then maintain an unrelenting offensive to widen that gap until Moses's defenses crumbled.
Combat was sometimes like this.
When facing a powerful foe, it was like prying out a nail deeply embedded in wood. It cannot be done in one go.
The fist came towards his chest with extremely fierce momentum, but Moses showed no sign of defending.
Bang!
Botobai's right fist struck Moses's chest unimpeded, causing a visible shockwave of white Aura to burst out, distorting the surrounding air.
A heavy, thunderous sound reverberated across the plaza.
If one listened closely, they might catch the faint, brittle noise of something shattering, like bone fragments breaking apart.
That was the sound of Ken: Bone-Plated Armor collapsing.
The reason why Moses allowed Botobai's fist to hit his chest was precisely because of the existence of the Ken: Bone-Plated Armor.
This technique allows him to withstand the majority of an attack's force at the moment of impact.
At the same time, it gave him the perfect opportunity to counterattack after being hit.
When Botobai saw that Moses remained motionless like a rock after taking his punch, he immediately realized that something was wrong.
But no matter how fast his reflexes were, they couldn't possibly outpace Moses' prepared counter.
Because Moses had already anticipated this scenario the moment he chose to take the hit.
By using Ken: Bone-Plated Armor to block Botobai's full-force punch, Moses had essentially traded 40% of his offensive/defensive power to negate 80% of Botobai's.
In this case, Moses can use his remaining 60% to strike at Botobai's weakened 20% defense.
Without giving Botobai any chance to mobilize his Aura to defend himself, Moses suddenly took a step forward, raised his left hand to push away Botobai's right arm, and then swung his right fist to hit Botobai's chest with great force.
A tit-for-tat exchange!
The punch exploded against Botobai's torso, sending a jellyfish-shaped shockwave rippling through the air.
Botobai felt as if he had been hit by a truck. His body arched violently from the impact, as if the force had just upended his internal organs.
"Pfft-!"
A huge amount of thick blood gushed out of Botobai's mouth. Then, unable to fully disperse the force, his massive body was launched backward like a cannonball, crashing into the angel statue at the center of the plaza.
Bang!
The angel statue, that had stood here for many years. shattered instantly into fragments.
However, Botobai's flying momentum didn't stop there. His body traced a high arc through the air before plummeting into the artificial lake.
Splash!
It was as if a cannonball had struck the water, sending a towering spray into the sky.
Moses remained expressionless as he watched Botobai disappeared into the lake. While slowly retracting his arm, he manipulated his Aura to evenly cover his whole body again, and then reconstructed the Bone-Plated Armor layer within moments.
Having landed a solid hit, he didn't press the advantage.
But he still maintained enough combat awareness and swiftly restore his defenses.