Chapter 184 Shut Your Mouth!
" Haze!"
"Open your eyes and look clearly at this fake world!"
"Neither you nor I should be chained here by humanity's so-called rules!"
Beyond roared.
As the enormous sword spun in his hand, a storm tore through the area.
The surrounding mist was blown away by the aura of his blade, rising toward the sky and erasing the thick fog along with the ghostly figures… leaving Haze, who had been hidden inside, completely exposed.
With Haze's Nen, the sea of mist he released covered a massive area.
Even though he didn't need to spend that much Nen to fight Byand, the mist still extended at least two to three hundred meters in radius.
And yet, with a single swing of that sword, Beyond generated a gale strong enough to sweep the green fog upward.
What kind of power was this?
His physical abilities were stronger than Netero's… stronger than Haze's!
Of course without that level of vitality, how could he have survived the Dark Continent?
In an instant, a thought flashed through Haze's mind.
What shook him even more was what stood behind the man raising his blade:
A massive black figure born from Byand's Nen and spiritual will towered behind him.
The shadow's silhouette was identical to his.
Every movement was perfectly synchronized.
The colossal figure, its face obscured, stood tall like a god.
It reminded Haze of:
Netero's 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva.
Including Ju-On Jade, all three shared a similar structure.
This was a manifestation-type Nen ability, tied to advanced development but that wasn't the whole story.
To form such an avatar, the user needed unimaginably vast Nen reserves.
Only then came the ability's structure, its developmental strategy, its control…
But the most crucial element was spirit.
This giant wasn't simply a mass of Nen
its very existence applied spiritual pressure strong enough to induce hallucinations.
It was the peak of personal will.
Nen incarnated.
Quantity, intensity, and spiritual dominance
All three were indispensable.
Without them, this manifestation could never exist.
Boom!
A violent gust tore through the battlefield, blasting Haze's short hair and striking his face.
But Byande had already advanced through Haze's attack, standing beneath the looming shadow with a ferocious smile.
Haze had seen that smile before
On the Chairman.
Back then, to perfect his abilities, Netero and Byande had trained day and night in the mountains
until the old man had finally snapped.
Now, Byande looked exactly like Netero.
For a moment, their figures overlapped in Haze's eyes.
No wonder he was of the old man's lineage.
Byande's aura felt to Haze like…
pure domination.
Overwhelming dominance.
Not like Netero's, whose immense power still carried compassion.
No Byande was like a tyrant from an ancient age.
A despot.
A flood of thoughts surged through Haze's mind
It all happened too fast!
The moment the words fell, Byande's sword cut down.
A terrifying blade of light that seemed to tear the sky filled Haze's entire vision
Even with all his mobility, he couldn't dodge.
Instinct and countless battles guided Haze.
In that split second
the only thing he could do was raise an arm to block.
And that was exactly what he did.
Compared to the massive sword of light before him, his arm looked pathetically small; forget an arm his whole body looked like it would be shredded.
Haze instantly concentrated his aura into his palm, unleashing a long-unused body-tempering technique, syncing it with his breathing.
His internal energy surged!
Boom!
But before his palm even made contact with the sword strike, the fabric of his pants shredded apart.
Haze's lower body sank, and the force of the sword pushed his entire body backward, sliding him across the ground.
When the physical sword finally collided with his bare hand, it was like a superconductor exploding. The sound echoed throughout the entire palace.
In a flash of blinding white light, Haze's suit disintegrated into strips reduced to dust.
Only a few scraps of fabric remained
making him look like a beggar.
His flesh and bone strength… surpass the old man's, and even my own.
But in terms of Nen mastery, he's still beneath Netero.
Haze had just reached this conclusion when the sword's force flung him over a hundred meters, sending him crashing into the nearby National Assembly building.
Debris rained down, dust filled the air.
A shocking scene unfolded:
The grand building tens of meters tall, lined with stone pillars and a statue of King Naspi's gray head carved in lavish detail
its thick walls were shattered by a single swing, nearly a third of the structure collapsing.
All the windows shattered.
And Haze lay buried under the rubble.
"With bare hands?"
Byande remained in his sword stance, his eyes shining with excitement.
It was the first time anyone dared block his strike barehanded.
Even Netero wouldn't have done that
he would've used the 100-Type Guanyin to deflect it.
"Is he too slow to react? That must be it…"
Byande's smile widened.
Blood still dripped from Haze's earlier strike
but the wound wasn't serious to him.
He knew that slash alone couldn't kill Haze.
If that was all Haze could do, he would never have earned Netero's caution
nor Pariston's concern.
Suddenly, a shadow appeared behind Byande without warning.
It was Haze.
His clothes were in tatters, blood dripping everywhere.
On the arm he'd raised to block the sword, a deep wound showed
as though the strike had nearly severed the limb.
But since he raised the arm just fine, the injury hadn't impaired his movement.
Byande's expression remained calm.
Haze had appeared at such close range without any warning
even he hadn't noticed.
Clearly, it was some kind of spatial ability.
Teleportation.
"What are you… so proud of?"
Haze extended one hand.
With the other bent at the elbow he pulled back like a compressed spring.
He slowly raised his cold gaze, staring at the back of Byande's neck
the man hadn't turned in time
and asked in an icy voice.
His eyes widened in fury, pupils dilating
A cross-shaped weak point suddenly appeared on Byande's body.
Waiting to be struck.
"Unlimited Acupressure!"
Haze's right hand stiffened like a blade.
His breathing technique intensified.
His body temperature soared, flushing his face red as white steam escaped his lips
With a whispered incantation, his finger shot forward like a bee's sting
piercing toward the back of Byande's neck.
If it hit, Byande would undoubtedly die!
Unfortunately, his opponent wasn't some pushover.
He was a powerhouse with the strength and skill to rival Haze
one of humanity's greatest hunters.
Just in time, Byande shifted his position forward
creating a distance of only a few micrometers
just enough to turn and block.
The precision was terrifying.
Supreme micro-control.
A profound state.
Just like when the Chimera Ant King Meruem observed Netero
he saw the old man bring his hands together before every attack…
What seemed like a slow movement to Meruem was still something he couldn't surpass in speed, no matter how hard he tried.
Until countless attempts later
he finally found the hidden blind spot and tore off Netero's leg.
Now, Beyond's approach was the same as Netero's.
A technique refined through countless trials.
A transcendent skill.
A state of perfect harmony between being, mind, and breath.
The pinnacle of human martial arts.
Haze's attack range only applied to basic attacks
pure strikes without special techniques.
Using an ability like this rendered that limitation meaningless.
Since that was the case…
Beyond couldn't dodge either.
Because Haze's combat skills and martial mastery
were also at their peak.
This was something Beyond had not expected.
He could only lift an arm hastily
Haze's fingers, slicing through his Nen like tofu, pierced his flesh and left a hole.
Immediately, Byande leapt backward.
He looked down at his bleeding arm, then at Haze
bursting into loud laughter.
"Impressive!"
"Your wounds are much lighter than I expected…
Nen defense alone couldn't withstand my strike just now, and your physical body isn't much stronger than mine.
How did you do it?"
Haze looked miserable.
Far worse than Byande.
Barely clothed, one hand bleeding profusely, skin torn open.
"You'll understand after you die," Haze replied coldly.
As soon as he finished speaking, Byande suddenly jolted
as if electrocuted.
His muscles spasmed and trembled.
"I… can't move."
His expression changed slightly.
He looked again at the arm Haze had stabbed.
"It started… from this wound?
Half my body is paralyzed… I feel nothing…
even my aura flow is disrupted…
This is…"
(End of chapter)