Picked the wrong opponent?
Don't joke around... Shaiapouf's gaze turned icy.
To counter Morrow's Shooting Star lock ability, he had gone to great lengths.
Now, his entire ability system had undergone a qualitative transformation, and he could summon a large number of sacrificial pawns from the central chamber at any time, completely making up for his lack of offensive power in direct combat.
So whether it was a head-on confrontation or a more cautious battle of attrition, he was fully confident.
No, he was certain of victory!
Some battles were decided from the very beginning.
Shaiapouf was sure of this, and his slightly furrowed brows quickly relaxed.
He had no interest in wasting time on conversation and immediately controlled the sacrificial pawns, who had already begun burning through their life force, to charge once more toward Morrow, who had retreated a hundred meters away.
If the sacrificial pawns' explosive power alone couldn't deal substantial damage to Morrow in direct combat...
Then he would leverage the advantage of numbers, using an overwhelming swarm tactic to exhaust Morrow to death.
This was his offense.
If Morrow tried to attack him during defensive gaps...
He could rely on his current ability system to effortlessly evade fatal damage.
Without even expending much energy.
This was his defense.
He could attack when advancing and defend when retreating.
Losing was nearly impossible!
Shaiapouf's overwhelming confidence was unmistakably evident in his aura.
Facing the ferocious charge of the sacrificial pawns, Morrow slowly wiped the last trace of a smile from his face and refocused his mind on the battle.
Deceptive Shooting Star. While retreating to create distance, Morrow condensed a fluorescent green Shooting Star and tossed it into the sky behind him.
The Deceptive Shooting Star's rebound mechanism increased its power.
Although the rebound took at least a second, the boost in power was often necessary.
For instance, against these puppet-like beings in their explosive state, only an enhanced power could ensure the skill's area-of-effect lethality.
The fluorescent green Shooting Star soared into the air, illuminating the gloomy sky shrouded by rolling dark clouds.
Star Rain. Light as a feather, Morrow glided backward while flicking a Star-Marked Divine Script coin toward the sacrificial pawns ahead.
Clink.
The coin shot straight through the gap between two sacrificial pawns.
Guided by the Star Mark's lock, the Deceptive Shooting Star in the sky plummeted diagonally, splitting like a fiery meteor in an instant and raining down upon the fearless sacrificial pawns.
Facing the descending Shooting Star · Star Rain, the sacrificial pawns showed no reaction, their eyes seemingly fixed only on Morrow as their target.
This was one of the most common drawbacks of Manipulation abilities.
When the number of controlled targets increased, precision couldn't be guaranteed, and in most cases, only a simple command could be implanted.
At this moment, Shaiapouf's command for the sacrificial pawns was to destroy Morrow.
Thus, in the sacrificial pawns' behavioral logic, there was only the relentless drive to attack Morrow, with no awareness of defense or countering attacks.
Boom, boom, boom...
The Star Rain landed unimpeded on the sacrificial pawns, triggering a chain of violent explosions.
In an instant, the dozen or so sacrificial pawns at the forefront were sent flying.
The energy unleashed by the Shooting Stars tore through their bodies like an invisible hand, ripping them into pieces. Yet more sacrificial pawns trampled over the scattered corpses, charging through the aftermath of explosions as they continued their assault toward Morrow.
Shaiapouf hovered mid-air with a flutter of his wings, watching the scene unfold without a change in expression.
A single wave of attacks had already overturned over a dozen sacrificial pawns, equivalent to losing over a dozen minuscule, cell-based clones in that instant.
But this outcome was precisely what he had hoped for.
To him, the more ferocious Morrow's attacks, the faster his aura amount would be depleted.
In contrast, the supply of sacrificial pawns in the central courtyard was virtually limitless.
"You haven't paused for even a moment. Let's see... just how long you can keep this up."
Shaiapouf crossed his arms, looking down at Morrow, who was on the verge of being completely surrounded by the swarm of sacrificial pawns.
He wasn't foolish enough to attack head-on with only one group of pawns.
With an overwhelming numerical advantage, forming an encirclement was the tactic with the highest strategic value.
Moreover, Shaiapouf knew that from the moment Morrow had attacked the palace alone to now, when he was cooperating with other humans to strike again, he had been using his ability almost nonstop.
Given Morrow's current state, if he continued to unleash such fierce attacks against the sacrificial pawns, he wouldn't be able to hold out for long.
"That old man from earlier was far more troublesome."
As he watched Morrow overturn yet more sacrificial pawns with Deceptive Shooting Star, Shaiapouf observed coldly, his thoughts drifting inexplicably to Netero.
Back then, he had directed a horde of sacrificial pawns to swarm Netero...
But the old man had instantly identified their weakness and, with minimal aura consumption, simply flung them aside.
As a result, the sacrificial pawns had collapsed on their own due to depleted vitality, having accomplished nothing.
Compared to that unfathomably powerful old man... Seeing Morrow now, who only seemed intent on slaughtering the sacrificial pawns, Shaiapouf felt the gap between the two was truly worlds apart.
"You're the one who picked the wrong opponent."
To prevent Morrow from adopting a similar approach to the old man, Shaiapouf activated the sacrificial pawns' explosive triggers in staggered waves.
This method ensured constant pressure on Morrow while minimizing his own consumption.
With this clear battle strategy, Shaiapouf gradually pushed Morrow into a corner.
But was that truly the case?
Boom!
Shooting Star · Star Rain descended from the sky, overturning another dozen sacrificial pawns.
To ensure each attack destroyed a portion of the pawns, Morrow never grew greedy, always maintaining the "split quantity" at a level sufficient to inflict lethal damage.
Even so, the high-frequency use of Deceptive Shooting Star inevitably accelerated the depletion of his potential aura.
This was exactly the outcome Shaiapouf had hoped for.
But Shaiapouf had no idea that Morrow had already witnessed Netero's handling of the sacrificial pawns through Palm's crystal ball.
Thus, Morrow knew exactly how to deal with these explosive pawns and could even deduce key intelligence from Shaiapouf's words and actions.
So why, knowing that annihilating the pawns was the worst possible approach, did he persist in doing so?
There was no intention here to mislead Shaiapouf.
It was because of Tree Rings' upgrade mechanism.
And also because of his trump card ability, Stellar Collapse.
Exactly. The sacrificial pawns, who overdrafted their life force to temporarily elevate their aura output to its limit, significantly increased the experience Morrow could harvest.
Shaiapouf would never have imagined that his life force-driven army of sacrificial pawns instead provided Morrow with an opportunity to level up during combat.
And once Morrow leveled up, his potential aura would be restored.
Naturally, this would enhance his endurance in battle.
Even if he were accidentally injured within the encirclement, he could heal his wounds through the effect of his ability, Shooting Star · Essence Siphon.
In other words, the self-destruct army Shaiapouf exchanged his life force for was essentially preparing a dowry for Morrow.
Of course. The fundamental reason Morrow could seize this opportunity was that he had successfully broken through to Lv.90 by harvesting Youpi and numerous Chimera Ant Squadron Leaders.
It was precisely the support of high-intensity aura that ensured Morrow's lethality and endurance during his leveling process.
Lv.90 → Lv.91.
After continuously using Shooting Star · Star Rain to obliterate over two hundred sacrificial pawns, Morrow's level finally advanced by one step.
This step could be said to be the most difficult one Morrow had taken since acquiring this leveling ability.
If Shaiapouf hadn't elevated these puppets' aura output...
Morrow even suspected that, under the cold and ruthless experience decay mechanism, even if he cleared out all the Nen-using puppets in the courtyard, he might not necessarily level up.
If I had followed the original strategy, killing a weakened Shaiapouf would have only allowed me to level up about twice at most. But now...
After reaching Lv.91, Morrow calmly continued to release Shooting Star · Star Rain, obliterating the fearless sacrificial pawns before him.
He had originally prepared himself mentally for the possibility that, even after exerting great effort to kill Shaiapouf, he would only gain experience equivalent to his current level.
Unexpectedly, Shaiapouf's changes and tactical adjustments, made specifically to counter him, had instead allowed Morrow to reap more experience in this unforeseen way.
Let's maintain the current situation for now and see if I can level up two more times. The only trouble is Neferpitou's side.
Morrow's gaze swept over the endless stream of sacrificial pawns as he calmly used Astral Step to teleport out of the encirclement.
After breaking through to Lv.90, the cooldown time for Astral Step dropped directly to 30 seconds, and its aura consumption became relatively lower.
This was also why Morrow could frequently use Astral Step in this prolonged battle.
Continuously harvesting experience with Deceptive Shooting Star, adjusting his position with Astral Step, and using level-ups to ensure sustained endurance.
Following this trend, Morrow could already envision Shaiapouf's death.
The only uncertainty... was how many levels he could ultimately gain.
In any case, there were still thousands of Nen-using puppets in the courtyard waiting for Shaiapouf to "heat up" for him. He would harvest them first.
Even if the experience decay mechanism intensified further as his level increased, he could choose to swiftly kill Shaiapouf once his level dropped to the 90s.
At that time, unaffected by the experience decay mechanism, harvesting experience at the same level would guarantee at least one level-up. And so, Morrow was like an inexhaustible machine, never halting his advance no matter how many sacrificial pawns Shaiapouf deployed.
"How can he keep this up for so long?"
Watching Morrow eliminate three to four hundred sacrificial pawns within five minutes while maintaining such a high expenditure rate left Shaiapouf utterly bewildered.
In his view, Morrow had already expended a considerable amount of aura during the earlier assault on the palace. Since then, he had frequently used long-range Shooting Stars to attack the palace. This continuous drain had persisted until now; how could he possibly remain so resilient?
Just as Shaiapouf's brow furrowed once more, the sacrificial pawns finally achieved a breakthrough through their relentless assaults. After successfully encircling Morrow for the first time, they fearlessly lunged at him in suicidal explosions, leaving multiple wounds on his body. At the last moment before being overwhelmed by the swarm, Morrow narrowly used his Astral Step to teleport to safety.
"Huff... huff..."
Morrow panted lightly, feigning a mix of relief and gravity after narrowly escaping death. He then glanced at the horde of sacrificial pawns surging toward him like a tidal wave and quickly gathered aura in his palm.
"This is endless. I refuse to believe you can keep controlling so many puppets," he muttered, forming a Deceptive Shooting Star in his palm. As he looked up at Shaiapouf in the sky and delivered his defiant words, he allowed a hint of just the right amount of fatigue to show.
Seeing Morrow's reaction, Shaiapouf's furrowed brow relaxed happily, a pleased expression spreading across his face.
"Thirty seconds." A contemptuous smile curled on his handsome features as he raised his index finger toward Morrow below, uttering that sensitive number.
Morrow "cooperatively" allowed his pupils to contract slightly, revealing a subtle, almost imperceptible shock. But nothing could escape Shaiapouf's notice. Delighted by this, he savored the feeling of having everything under control.
"That's the cooldown for your teleportation ability. Once or twice might be coincidence, but you've used it exactly five times with a thirty-second interval. What does that tell you?" Shaiapouf stated calmly, brimming with confidence. "It means you can only use it once every thirty seconds. That's the limitation of your ability."
"Ridiculous."
Morrow promptly schooled his expression, masking his surprise. In response, Shaiapouf's smile grew even more disdainful.
Human intellect... truly is limited.
If only he could use his Spiritual Message ability while controlling so many puppet soldiers with his clones. How he would have loved to witness Morrow's frantic attempts to conceal his exposed secret.
The ground was already littered with countless corpses, yet the battle only intensified.
Morrow caught sight of the contemptuous smile and underlying smugness on Shaiapouf's face. As long as the other wasn't using Spiritual Message, a few wounds and competent acting were enough to prolong the time before he caught on.
Perfect.
So, who's the real Manipulator here?
"Number four hundred..."
Without paying much attention to Shaiapouf's possible mental preparations, Morrow silently counted the number of sacrificial pawns he had harvested after reaching Lv.91.
Simultaneously, he used Ponzu's Shared Window ability to monitor the battle situation on Neferpitou's side.
But the results were not optimistic.
Morel and his group were at an absolute disadvantage, with a vivid sense of standing on the edge of a cliff, at any moment at risk of being kicked by Neferpitou into the abyss of eternal damnation.
"Eight against one, and not even a slight advantage..."
Through the images appearing in the crystal ball, Morrow happened to see Neferpitou using her Terpsichora ability to effortlessly evade Kite's ultimate move, Silent Waltz.
Then, while still hovering in mid-air, she suddenly used a conjured doll as a stepping stone, launching a swift and fierce aerial assault that... Tore open a severe wound on Knuckle's abdomen, causing his intestines to spill out.
If Shaiapouf knew that Morrow still had the capacity to monitor the battle on Neferpitou's side, one could only wonder what he would think.
------------
Bonus chapter @800powerstones
Dark Continent arc started on pat