Standing on the path toward the future,
Morrow habitually contemplated each step before him, sinking deep into long-term planning.
But before developing Starlight Convergence, he had never envisioned a place for Rhythm Echo in his plans.
Now, it seemed...
Meeting Kalluto might just be the luckiest thing that had happened to him since his death rewind.
Rhythm Echo
In an instant, Morrow's figure became ghostly.
Biscuit's fist followed, striking only an afterimage.
Yet the residual force of her punch weighed on Morrow's shoulders like a thousand-pound boulder.
Even in her loli form, Biscuit could exude an overwhelming sense of pressure when launching an attack.
Morrow felt it keenly and decisively retreated, trailing a series of afterimages.
To win, he needed to plant the Star Mark.
Even if he lost, he could still extract valuable information.
Either way, he wouldn't lose, nor would he have to worry about being beaten to death…
And he could even experience that suffocating sensation of being crushed by overwhelming strength.
On the road to becoming stronger, could there be anything more fulfilling than this?
The curve of Morrow's lips grew increasingly pronounced.
"Are you… laughing?"
Biscuit was slightly taken aback but pressed her advantage without mercy. Her footwork shifted seamlessly, her strikes sharp and relentless. In less than three moves, she had Morrow backed to the edge of the cliff.
If not for the combined use of Starlight Convergence and Rhythm Echo, Morrow's combat skills alone would have left him in a far worse position.
Now, he was merely forced to the edge; as long as he didn't fall, there was still a chance.
Morrow's mentality was as unshakable as bedrock, his focus absolute as he evaded every one of Biscuit's strikes.
The storm-like exchange of offense and defense left Kastro and Calista on the sidelines utterly stunned.
"What is this…!?"
They couldn't even follow Biscuit's punches, let alone Morrow's footwork.
All they could see were the lingering trails of aura left in the air.
Only now did they realize just how formidable Biscuit truly was.
So strong that her martial prowess alone was enough to push their master to the brink.
On the arena,
Morrow was like a lone boat in a raging storm, teetering on the verge of capsizing at any moment.
The good news was that he held out until the moment of star chain's creation.
That meant the conditions for planting the Star Mark had been met.
Instantly, scattered points of starlight coalesced into golden chains, binding Biscuit's body.
Morrow had intended to seize this moment to catch his breath.
But the instant he took a single step back, the golden chains shattered.
The gap in their strength was simply too vast.
So vast that the chains' restraint lasted practically no time at all.
And that very fact proved that Starlight Convergence's ability had accurately read the true power within Biscuit's current form.
It was too fair.
So fair that, under the premise of its reading ability, it would only act based on what it detected.
Thus, the chains' restraining strength was calibrated to Biscuit's muscle form.
As the chains shattered abruptly, Morrow's heart jolted.
Fortunately, he had never relied too heavily on their restraining power from the start.
So he reacted swiftly, sidestepping Biscuit's punch at the critical moment.
But the chains' failure meant Morrow couldn't use them to create distance, nor could he leverage the Star Mark to execute his tactics. In other words, planting the Star Mark was meaningless.
At this moment, Morrow couldn't help but wonder if Biscuit was aware of this.
If Biscuit could instantly see through even the ability of Starlight Convergence, then she was simply inhuman.
Lacking sufficient information, Biscuit naturally couldn't immediately decipher the mechanism behind the Star Mark in Starlight Convergence.
But the moment she saw Morrow retreating to face the Deceptive Shooting Stars while still maintaining the outwardly projected Starlight Convergence, she roughly guessed that the Starlight Convergence had an effect similar to a "perception ability."
That was why Morrow dared to turn his back on so many Deceptive Shooting Stars.
This speculation was confirmed during the ensuing high-intensity battle.
However, Biscuit hadn't anticipated the subsequent extensions of the ability, Star Chain and Star Mark.
Even so, Biscuit still had the ability to assess the situation.
One thing was certain.
Whether it was breaking free from the Star Chain or the floating starlight points around her coalescing into Star Marks on her body, none of it could stop her next offensive.
More importantly, even if Star Marks appeared on her, she didn't have to worry about suffering "direct" harm.
The reasoning?
Of course, it was because she hadn't inflicted any substantial damage on Morrow so far.
Yet the Star Marks had still formed under these circumstances.
This proved that the Star Marks didn't possess a direct lethality effect.
By nature, as long as an ability existed within the Nen System, whether active or passive, it would fundamentally be influenced by the mechanisms of Vow and Limitation.
The only differences lay in their strength and depth.
Thus, much of an ability's information could actually be traced through clues.
In other words, the richer one's Nen knowledge, the easier it became to analyze the mechanics of various abilities with minimal information.
If there was one person in the original story who best exemplified this ability, it was undoubtedly Kurapika during the Succession War arc.
Now, it was Biscuit, standing before Morrow.
She gave him no breathing room at all. Relying on her vast Nen knowledge and experience, she suppressed him from start to finish, driving him step by step into a corner.
Was there still a chance?
Morrow's peripheral vision suddenly caught a glimpse of Biscuit's frilly skirt, and a flash of inspiration struck him; he had a way to counterattack.
Without hesitation, he abruptly stopped.
In an instant, his feet seemed to take root in the ground, anchoring his body firmly in place.
Biscuit narrowed her eyes but didn't hold back. Seizing the opportunity, she thrust a Piercing Palm toward Morrow's abdomen.
Whoosh!
Her seemingly delicate, pale palm pushed forward, generating a visible white aura current.
But this time, Morrow didn't retreat.
To reclaim his aura output as quickly as possible, he resorted to his usual method, directly abandoning the aura sustaining Starlight Convergence.
In the blink of an eye, the Starlight Convergence surrounding him like a dazzling galaxy vanished.
At the same time, his body erupted with aura as turbulent as a raging current.
The next moment.
Morrow's eyes sharpened as he blocked Biscuit's Piercing Palm with the back of his right hand.
Boom!
Aura clashed violently, and a powerful impact surged against Morrow's hand.
But thanks to the indestructible effect of the Tree Rings tattoo, he barely managed to block the Piercing Palm. Then, with a forceful push, he forced Biscuit to retract her arm. At the same time, without waiting for Biscuit to follow up with another attack, Morrow kicked upward with his left foot, instantly sending a Shooting Star shooting from his toes to strike the hem of Biscuit's frilly skirt.
Immediately, propelled by the force of the Shooting Star, the entire skirt flipped upward, wrapping around Biscuit's seemingly delicate upper body.
"Huh?!"
Biscuit's vision suddenly darkened, she never expected Morrow to use such a dirty trick.
And when Morrow had deliberately practiced shooting Shooting Stars with his feet, he never imagined he'd use it in this situation.
You're the one who refused to change clothes.
Can't blame me for this.
Thinking as much, Morrow didn't hesitate to deliver a punch to Biscuit.
Thud.
The blow landed squarely on her body.
With the dull sound of flesh colliding violently, Biscuit's feet plowed through the ground as she slid backward over ten meters.
"Cough..."
A cough escaped from within the upturned princess dress.
Along with a barely noticeable, anger-laced panting.
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Bonus chapter 40 power stones.
You can check out Cyberpunk: Beginning in 2071 it's my new work.