This was a premeditated ambush.
As he was sent flying backward, Omokage instantly realized this fact.
Although he had managed to block the opponent's Palm Blade with his reflexes, the ensuing Nen bullet struck him squarely in a relatively weak spot of his aura defense.
Once the balance between offense and defense was disrupted, direct damage was inevitable.
The Nen bullet forced Omokage to cough up a mouthful of blood, the pain twisting his features almost beyond recognition.
Yet he stubbornly resisted the assault of pain on his consciousness and, in the critical moment of being sent flying, immediately formulated a countermeasure.
I need to summon the Feitan Puppet, the one with the strongest restraining ability, to cut off the opponent's pursuit rhythm...
Omokage made his decision, his eyes glowing red.
—--
At the same time.
On the long street, the Feitan Puppet, gripping a thin sword, suddenly distorted and vanished in a flash of red light.
Hisoka, witnessing this, narrowed his eyes slightly and glanced meaningfully at Omokage, who had been keeping to the rear.
—--
Inside the one-way passage, Omokage plummeted from midair and crashed heavily onto the concrete road with a dull thud.
But the red light that had shot from his eyes had already manifested the Feitan Puppet in front of him.
At this moment.
Morrow strode toward Omokage, not even bothering to look back as he casually swatted away the Shooting Stars flying toward him, meant more as a distraction, shattering them into scattered stardust.
However, the sudden appearance of the Feitan Puppet disrupted Morrow's intention to press his advantage.
A handcrafted doll that can be summoned and dismissed at will, just like a Conjurer's ability... Truly, Specialists defy all logic. My own ability has been leaning toward Manipulation so far, but who knows? Maybe I'll get the chance to shift to Specialist in the future.
Seeing the Feitan Puppet appear out of nowhere, Morrow inwardly marveled at the prowess of Specialization, feeling an inevitable tinge of longing for it.
Normally, only conjured objects could achieve such seamless remote summoning and dismissal.
Yet the inherent complexity of Specialist abilities could shatter such conventional understanding to some extent.
His gaze swept over the hollow eyes of the Feitan Puppet. The hatred Morrow had accumulated through countless Death Replays didn't extend to a mere doll.
But of all people, it had to be Feitan.
It seemed this man heavily relied on Feitan's rapid assault capabilities, even disregarding Hisoka's reaction on the other side.
Perfect. This would serve as a test for the newly developed Starlight Convergence...
Morrow halted his steps, his expression calm.
Seeing that Morrow made no further moves, the Feitan Puppet stood motionless, sword in hand.
Its orders were to block Morrow's pursuit, but constrained by the framework of its ability, even if it retained some of the original's aggressive instincts, it couldn't act on its own desires.
"Cough... cough..."
Omokage raised a hand to cover the blood seeping from his mouth. Seeing Morrow and the Feitan Puppet locked in a standoff, he struggled to his feet, swaying as if he might collapse at any moment.
If not for Hisoka eliminating the Uvogin Puppet earlier, allowing him to recover a third of his aura output...
He might have already been taken down by this bastard in front of him.
"Why... cough... why attack me?"
Omokage lowered his hand, revealing his bloodied mouth, his gaze at Morrow laced with anger. Listening to Omokage's questioning, Morrow couldn't be bothered to respond and abruptly unleashed his maximum aura output.
In an instant, all his aura nodes opened wide. The abundant, radiant aura surged like a turbulent river, sharp and visible to the naked eye amidst the turbulence.
An overwhelming battle intent was conveyed directly to Omokage through the aura.
Bastard, damn bastard!
Just seeing the sudden eruption of Morrow's aura, Omokage couldn't help but think of Hisoka on the other side.
The same, exactly the same.
These two bastards he encountered tonight weren't attacking him out of some personal grudge!
And that was precisely what made it so infuriating.
It made him feel like some unlucky fool caught in a senseless disaster!
"Kill him!"
Omokage's face twisted as he gave the order, revealing a mouthful of blood-stained teeth.
The moment his words fell, the Feitan Puppet responded instantly. With a faint sound, its figure blurred into an afterimage, its slender sword gleaming as it thrust straight toward Morrow.
Under the flickering, dim yellow light, murderous intent was laid bare.
The surging aura around Morrow abruptly condensed before exploding outward into a dazzling array of starlight.
Starlight Convergence
The aura shattered into countless brilliant points of light, swirling within a five-meter radius around Morrow like a galaxy.
At the center of this stellar formation, Morrow was enveloped in a thin layer of aura, his figure reflecting the radiance of the surrounding starlight.
Feitan shot forward like a sharp blade piercing into the sea of shimmering stars.
In an instant, the flowing starlight was violently scattered.
Yet, like neurons, each point of light that was touched rapidly received, processed, and transmitted information.
The trajectory of the enemy's attack manifested in Morrow's mind, as if...
A single path in a vast constellation.
Morrow's eyes flashed as he took a step forward, sidestepping slightly.
Feitan, who had disrupted the starlight, passed right by Morrow's side.
But almost in the same second, Feitan, having missed his initial strike, displayed astonishing physical coordination, planting his feet before pivoting and slashing at Morrow in a seamless follow-up.
At this moment, Morrow was still turned sideways, his gaze not on Feitan but fixed firmly on Omokage ahead, savoring an indescribable...
Pleasure?
No, a cruder word was needed.
Thrill.
More visceral and intense than anything he'd felt in the Heavens Arena ring.
Like dancing on the edge of a blade, letting the pressure of death seep into every cell of his body.
But he couldn't let the overwhelming presence of death stir any emotional fluctuations...
Because even the slightest shift in emotion would cause Starlight Convergence to collapse.
This was a Limitation rooted in the mind.
Yet for Morrow, who had relived countless Death Replays, it was hardly a Limitation at all.
In fact, it was the existence of Death Replay that had given birth to this ability.
Morrow savored the emotional feedback from his new ability before crouching slightly, tilting his head down to evade Feitan's slash aimed at his neck.
Sshhk.
A few strands of hair drifted into the air, like stray willow catkins intruding upon the sea of stars.
Feitan's horizontal slash missed, but his wrist twisted, redirecting the blade into an angled slash toward Morrow's shoulder, once again disrupting the celestial river. Morrow's bent knees naturally exerted force, propelling his body forward abruptly and narrowly avoiding Feitan's diagonal slash.
The hollow eye sockets of the Feitan Puppet seemed to ripple with movement, but its assault didn't falter. It stepped forward, driving its rapier straight toward Morrow.
Yet Morrow sidestepped in the opposite direction, allowing Feitan's rapier to sweep past his front.
Four lightning-fast strikes; all missed.
The Feitan Puppet failed to notice that as each of its thrusts found empty air, the surrounding motes of starlight had quietly attached themselves to its body.
Just as its left hand swiftly steadied its sword-wielding right wrist, preparing to slash horizontally toward Morrow's chest, these clinging starlight particles faintly coalesced into chains of stars, freezing its body in an instant.
Morrow glanced sideways at the Feitan Puppet now bound by shimmering star chains across its form.
The counter-ability's control effect couldn't suppress the target's aura, and its duration depended on the disparity in aura strength.
But against a Feitan Puppet with only half of Omokage's aura output, it was more than enough.
Morrow, still turned sideways, reached out parallel to the rapier and clamped down on the Feitan Puppet's neck.
Simultaneously, the phantom star chains covering the puppet's body swirled like a flowing galaxy, converging at its heart to form a cross-shaped starburst.
This mark, resembling a sniper's crosshair, granted Morrow's Shooting Stars a locking capability.
This also meant that even Morrow's Deceptive Shooting Star...
Could utilize this mechanism, after the rebound's power doubled, it would then lock onto the target bearing the Star Mark.
And this lock was directional.
The compound application of abilities had ironically transformed what should have been a detrimental Limitation into a component that enhanced damage within the ability system.
Now, if Morrow wished, he could unleash maximum-intensity Deceptive Shooting Stars in a carpet-bombing assault on the Feitan Puppet.
But there was no need. Instead, Morrow wanted to test another possibility.
Morrow retracted Starlight Convergence, the outward radiance of starlight abruptly condensing back onto his body, returning to its most primal aura form.
Then, Morrow's hand clenched violently, crushing the Feitan Puppet's neck.
After all, it was just a counterfeit.
With a crisp sound, hard fragments scattered as the Feitan Puppet's head separated from its body, tumbling to the ground.
Hiss...
A dark red aura streamed from the broken puppet, flying straight toward Omokage.
At this moment, Omokage's pupils trembled as he watched Morrow crush the Feitan Puppet with one hand.
Only when the aura housed within the puppet returned to him did he react, and suddenly notice...
What's this?
Omokage glanced down at his chest, where a glaring cross-shaped Star Mark stood out.
This mark had previously appeared on the Feitan Puppet.
Transferred over already...?
Before he could ponder further, to defend against Morrow's impending attack, Omokage activated his Soul Puppet ability again. Amid a crimson glow, he summoned a burly, eye-bearing doll.
Morrow leveled his arm, a massive fluorescent green Nen bullet coalescing in his palm. His eyes fixed on Omokage as he stated calmly, "You made a bad move."
Too reliant on his dolls, Omokage had failed to reinforce his own defenses when the Star Mark appeared. Instead, he'd followed instinctive judgment, summoning yet another puppet for protection. This meant Omokage had allocated at least another third of his aura output, on top of the Emission doll on Hisoka's side...
His defenses were critically lacking.
Meanwhile, the phenomenon of the Star Mark's transfer dispelled Morrow's concerns.
From now on, he wouldn't have to worry about this ability being countered by tactics like Nen Beasts.
"Deceptive Shooting Star."
Morrow suddenly raised his hand, the fluorescent green Nen bullet in his palm soaring upward like a rocket.
Then, without another glance at Omokage, Morrow turned and walked away.
Huh? What is he... cough cough... Posturing? No, he has no reason to... So what exactly...
Cold sweat dripped down Omokage's face as he stared wide-eyed at Morrow's retreating figure.
Moments later.
Omokage abruptly noticed a fluorescent green glow illuminating the space before him.
His head jerked upward, pupils reflecting the shape of a Shooting Star.
The next instant.
That single Shooting Star suddenly split apart, scattering like fireworks before converging back toward him, tracing brilliant arcs across the sky.
"Block the attack!"
Omokage shouted hoarsely.
The clearly Enhancement doll obeyed, its burly frame intercepting the incoming Shooting Star Cluster that resembled a meteor shower.
Yet the numerous Shooting Stars seemed sentient, effortlessly weaving around the Enhancement doll.
"Wha... what...?!"
Omokage's expression twisted in shock.
Then he was engulfed by the Shooting Stars.
—--
On the long street.
Hisoka casually sidestepped the Emission attacks shaped like arrows, their intensity and precision noticeably diminished.
Originally, he had planned to strike directly at the heart of the formation to eliminate Omokage, who was hiding behind the battle lines.
But when the Feitan Puppet vanished into thin air, he sensed something amiss.
After effortlessly evading the attacks, Hisoka didn't counter. Instead, he strode purposefully in one direction.
Whether it was intuition or some fleeting insight, he couldn't say.
Hisoka paid no mind to the incoming follow-up attacks.
Then...
The long-armed doll he had deliberately ignored, along with Omokage who had been positioned at the rear, suddenly dispersed their aura and collapsed lifelessly to the ground.
"Interesting."
The corners of Hisoka's eyes curved into an exaggerated arc, his contracted pupils trembling uncontrollably.