About five minutes ago.
Pitou had targeted Pokkle and the others.
In order to avoid the possibility of accidentally killing Pokkle and the others, Pitou deliberately restrained a significant portion of her life force.
This operation caused her presence to diminish considerably.
However, Ponzu's bees caught Moses's attention, and then Moses, relying on the danger perception he had honed in the Dark Continent, vaguely sensed Pitou's Aura.
Thus began the intense battle between Moses and Pitou that lasted several minutes.
The violent clashes and the frequent bursts of powerful Auras.
Not only did Morel and Knov, who were lagging behind, notice this, but Netero, who was far ahead, also sensed it.
When Netero turned back, he happened to encounter Pitou, who had been beaten away by Moses.
The moment he confirmed the other party was a Chimera Ant, Netero attacked.
A dazzling golden light was accompanied by a vertical palm strike, which blasted Pitou into the ground.
However, this strike from the 100-Type Guanyin not only failed to inflict damage but didn't even hinder Pitou's escape speed.
'It's really tough...'
Netero sighed in his heart.
However-
From the moment he saw Pitou's Manifested Aura, this result was within Netero's expectations.
[100-Type Guanyin: Second Hand]
Clasping his hands together, Netero struck again.
A golden pillar instantly hit the fleeing Pitou.
Boom!
Pitou was slammed into the ground once more.
The powerful impact shattered the surrounding ground.
'So fast!'
There was a look of astonishment in Pitou's eyes, but another golden light soon entered her vision.
[100-Type Guanyin: Third Hand]
Without even a chance to stand up, Pitou's relatively petite body was covered by the golden palm in the next instant, pressing her even deeper into the ground.
Her momentum to escape was brutally halted.
And the merciful palm of the Guanyin showed no signs of stopping.
As if intending to send Pitou straight to the eighteenth layer of hell, the palm strikes rained down like a storm.
Boom, boom, boom…
Dust filled the air, and fragments of bedrock shot out in all directions.
The golden light accompanying each strike of the 100-Type Guanyin always pierced through the dust with the most ferocious intensity, slamming into Pitou.
Under the relentless barrage of impacts, Pitou's back began to show visible injuries.
However-
They weren't fatal.
But at this moment, Pitou was now filled with anxiety.
Not because of the rapid, continuous palm strikes pressing down on her, but because the 'possibility' she had been worried about had become a reality.
'A stronger human had appeared...'
'Their mastery of 'life energy' had reached an unimaginably profound level.'
'Humans are not weak!'
'Humanity…'
'Would threaten the unborn King!'
With her absolute loyalty, Pitou had never cared about her own safety.
Her thoughts were always focused on the Queen in the nest and the most important King growing in her belly.
Thus, she absolutely could not be held here!
Even if she was severely injured, even if she only had one leg left...
She absolutely, absolutely had to return to the nest faster than the humans!
To ensure the 'King' could be born safely, she had to bring back this crucial information and defend against any threat these humans posed!
Perhaps 'time' had compressed at some point.
Before Netero's tenth palm strike landed, countless thoughts flashed through Pitou's mind, but the time was so brief that her nerves hadn't even registered the pain.
Then-
As Netero's tenth palm strike landed,
a certain moment arrived.
Earlier, when using her Puppeteer ability to control herself and break free from Moses's control, Pitou had realized that this method lacked the effectiveness she desired.
At that time, a seed had already been planted in her heart.
Later, during her intense battle with Moses, Pitou had personally experienced that miraculous level of mastery...
This made her deeply aware of a certain kind of extensibility that was different from 'life force'.
It was also Moses who showed her the possibility that 'the strength of life force cannot directly determine victory or defeat'.
At that time, her heart yearned even more for a certain idea that existed in the future.
Finally, at this very moment-
The overwhelming desire to return to the nest at all costs instantly became the nourishment for that 'seed'.
It wasn't for the will to survive but rather a protective, loyal heart that had been bound to her soul since birth, so strong that even death had to take three steps back.
Thus,
Pitou's 'third ability' was born amidst the chaotic palm strikes of the 100-Type Guanyin.
[Terpsichora]
Amidst the dust and golden light, a red demon-like silhouette suddenly appeared, enveloping the immobilized Pitou.
The moment this red silhouette manifested, it released an Aura that sent chills down everyone's spines.
Morel and Knov couldn't see the trajectory of the 100-Type Guanyin's attacks, but they could see the red silhouette enveloping Pitou.
From this red silhouette, they first froze, then felt an intense sense of danger.
'It's a Nen Ability…'
Morel and Knov, who had witnessed the intense battle between Moses and Pitou from the sidelines, had never seen Pitou use a Nen Ability from start to finish.
Therefore, they had concluded that Pitou was essentially an Enhancer with terrifying Manifested Aura, and her advantage in speed was enough to render them helpless.
Now, seeing Pitou showing signs of using a 'Nen ability', it completely overturned their previous understanding and judgment.
'This is the worst type of enemy.'
As their thoughts raced, Morel and Knov shared the same realization.
Unparalleled speed combined with Manifested Aura far beyond the norm.
This type of enemy was a nightmare for strategic fighters.
Compared to the turbulent emotions of Morel and Knov, Moses remained expressionless.
'She grew in adversity... no, she grew ahead of time.'
A cold killing intent flashed through Moses's mind. The moment the red silhouette appeared, he immediately dismissed the black sword and conjured a shadow blade in his palm.
Crackle, crackle-
A long, thin, lightning-like Aura flickered across the shadow blade.
Moses's gaze was locked on the spot where the 100-Type Guanyin's palm strikes were descending.
Swoosh-
In the golden light, Pitou, who had been taking a beating, suddenly flew backward in a drawn-bow posture, as if an invisible hand had roughly yanked her away.
Due to the change in position and her body being in mid-air...
The golden palm of the 100-Type Guanyin, descending with a strike, brushed past Pitou's eyes.
It seemed to miss, but the fingertips still grazed Pitou's foot.
This strike sent Pitou's body, which is already in mid-air, to spin wildly.
But in this state, Pitou suddenly stretched out her hand and slapped the ground.
Bang!
As the ground cracked, Pitou's body spun like a high-speed top as it flew toward the nest.
At this moment-
A streak of black lightning appeared beside Pitou.
Their speeds were almost identical, so much so that they briefly appeared to be flying side by side.
That black streak of light was the shadow blade Moses had launched using Super Speed.
[Shadow Shift]
The shadow blade flickered, and in an instant, it transformed into Moses, which is now holding the black sword.
Pitou, who had thought she had escaped the 100-Type Guanyin, never expected Moses to appear within attack range in such a manner.
Even less did she expect that Moses, who had just teleported here, could instantly target the weak point in her Aura.
Her peripheral vision had just caught a glimpse of him when a sharp blade light filled her eyes.
The blade's light precisely pierced through the numerous afterimages of her spinning body, and its endpoint was exactly Pitou's ankle.
With a barely audible sound, a circular stream of blood spurted out from Pitou's already injured ankle.
Immediately after, her entire foot detached from her wildly spinning body and shot off in some direction.