The enemy's strength far exceeded expectations.
At such times, the most rational course of action was to flee immediately.
Thus, despite the pressure from his superiors, the gloomy youth, after an internal struggle, decided to retreat for now.
Tonight's ambush could simply be treated as an intelligence-gathering mission...
With this reasoning, the gloomy youth named Vaughn convinced himself.
His battle intent ebbed away like a receding tide as he turned to flee.
Choosing to avoid a fight when faced with an opponent one deemed unbeatable was nothing to be ashamed of.
Only by staying alive could the hands of the clock continue moving forward.
And only by staying alive could one earn the chance for a "next time."
Seeing Vaughn flee, a peculiar glint flashed in Morrow's eyes.
But now that things had come to this, with his budding battle intent already ignited, how could he simply let Vaughn escape? Keeping his guard up, he gave chase at full speed.
—--
About three hundred meters.
As he pursued, Morrow visually estimated the distance between them.
It was far, but not a problem.
"Deceptive Shooting Star."
While sprinting, Morrow fired two Shooting Stars backward without even glancing behind him, his gaze fixed firmly on Vaughn ahead.
The training principles he had ingrained now proved their worth.
Adjusting his trajectory, Morrow relied on instinct to time his evasion perfectly, effortlessly dodging the two Shooting Stars that came at him from behind.
Whoosh, whoosh.
With sharp whistles cutting through the air, the two Shooting Stars overtook Morrow, streaking straight toward Vaughn.
Having already witnessed the long-range striking power of the Shooting Stars, Vaughn was prepared.
As the two projectiles closed in, he narrowly dodged them, watching as they carved two trails through the night before slamming into a boulder on the wild terrain.
Boom!
In an instant, the energy contained within the Shooting Stars erupted, shattering the seemingly solid rock into fragments.
But Vaughn's evasion had unavoidably slowed his retreat.
At the same time, he glimpsed Morrow's unwavering determination to keep him from escaping.
Thus, when the fight became unavoidable, fleeing only became the worst possible choice.
Cursing under his breath, Vaughn quickly adjusted his mindset, steeling himself for battle.
Yet even as he shifted from avoidance to engagement, he didn't immediately halt his retreat.
As the distance between them continued to shrink, Vaughn deliberately left his back exposed to Morrow, baiting out several more Shooting Stars meant to intercept him.
This move somewhat depleted Morrow's potential aura.
It was hard to say whether such a high-risk gamble would yield any advantage...
But if Vaughn had understood the mechanics of Morrow's Shooting Stars, he would never have taken such a risk.
Because the unique two-stage power amplification of the Shooting Stars meant that for every one unit of aura consumed, it delivered two units of output.
Thus, the aura Morrow expended on pursuit wasn't as costly as Vaughn had assumed.
Under these circumstances, Vaughn's rhythm was inevitably disrupted as he dodged the incoming projectiles.
And in that moment, a flaw emerged.
Creating openings, then striking them:That was the outcome Morrow wanted to see.
His current Hatsu couldn't sustain a seamless offensive rhythm, but he had another weapon at his disposal.
Seeing Vaughn's aura distribution thrown off balance by the Shooting Star assault and his running gait losing rhythm, Morrow decisively drew his pistol.
Marksmanship was something honed by countless bullets.
And in this world, as long as you had enough money, ammunition was never in short supply.
Morrow had both wealth and drive, so his aim was excellent.
Bang… bang!
Morrow raised the gun and emptied the magazine in an instant, filling the gap where Shooting Star had left Vaughn no room to recover.
In the blink of an eye, the bullets, propelled by heat and spinning at high velocity, traveled sixty to seventy meters straight toward Vaughn's weak points.
Faced with this sudden barrage, Vaughn's pupils contracted sharply. He halted abruptly and spun around.
"Hearth!"
Ability activated!
A flickering fireplace manifested over Vaughn's abdomen as he redistributed his remaining aura output to his front.
Twelve bullets arrived as expected.
Ssshh!
Blood sprayed from Vaughn's cheek, shoulder, and thigh as bullets grazed him.
The remaining rounds either missed entirely or plunged into the fireplace on his stomach.
Whoosh!
Those bullets instantly acted as fuel, causing the flames in the hearth to surge violently into a roaring fire.
Though not overwhelmingly intense, the blaze visibly boosted Vaughn's aura output.
"Now!"
Empowered by his ability, Vaughn seized the moment, kicking off the ground and charging straight at Morrow.
From stopping to block the bullets to suddenly switching to offense, the entire transition took barely a second.
But even in that brief window, Morrow had clearly observed the changes in Vaughn.
The conjured hearth, the fire flaring up after consuming bullets, the marked increase in aura output:These overt clues pointed to one answer.
A Nen ability that converted damage into buffs!
And judging by the fire's behavior, the enhancement likely had a time limit.
Realizing this, Morrow immediately shifted his focus from offense to defense.
Fast reaction…
Vaughn was startled by Morrow's quick adjustment, but his assault didn't falter.
With his temporarily heightened explosive power, he closed the distance to Morrow in an instant.
Then, Vaughn threw a straight punch at Morrow's face.
Morrow discarded the pistol and blocked with a horizontal arm.
At the same moment, Vaughn stepped in, driving an uppercut toward Morrow's chin from below.
Unable to fully defend, Morrow retreated with a backward step, narrowly avoiding the rising strike.
But Vaughn pressed his advantage as Morrow staggered back, pivoting his hips and lashing out with a kick to Morrow's abdomen.
Thud!
The impact sent Morrow flying.
Even under Vaughn's overwhelming pressure, Morrow remained composed.
Once the flames in the hearth weakened, that would be his moment to counterattack… He knew full well that playing it safe was the most prudent choice.
Yet he couldn't bring himself to just defend rigidly.
That would be too inflexible.
Midair, Morrow's thoughts shifted, and he acted on them.
Before landing, he endured the pain and fired two Shooting Stars from his hands toward Vaughn.
Then, as Vaughn focused on those two projectiles, Morrow kicked a third, no larger than a marble, from his heel behind him before landing steadily.
A risky hidden move in a round where he should have just defended...
The Morrow from before Death Rewind, with his lack of combat experience, would never have made such a choice.
But now, repeated battles were filling the gaps in his skills like nourishing soil.
This was the most crucial, and most important, first step in the growth of his combat ability.