Ponzu had previously sent out some bees to search for Hunters with strong Aura.
Now, one of the bees had finally found a target that met Ponzu's requirements.
To be more precise, it had accidentally encountered Moses and Netero, who were moving at high speed through the forest.
Hearing the distinctive buzzing of the bee, Netero didn't stop, but Moses realized something and abruptly halted, then looked toward the bee not far away.
In that brief moment, Netero's figure had already disappeared deep into the forest, leaving no chance for Moses to call him back.
Moses felt a bit speechless, but since he didn't need to worry about Netero's safety, he just turned his attention to the bee, which seemed to have a clear purpose.
Then, he noticed a small, inconspicuous note tied to the bee's leg.
'Is it Ponzu's bee...?'
Moses raised his eyebrows slightly, and the image of Ponzu, with whom he had had some contact during the Hunter Exam, flashed through his mind.
The bee, carrying Ponzu's orders, saw Moses stop and quickly flew over.
Seeing this, Moses extended his right hand, and the bee landed steadily on his palm.
Moses untied the note and opened it, revealing the word 'HELP' written in large, shaky letters.
From this, it was clear that the person who had written this was in a state of panic.
"…"
Moses held the note, then looked in a specific direction in the forest.
Earlier, when he noticed the bee, he had faintly sensed a trace of danger coming from that direction.
It was very faint...
Like a fleeting glimmer of light.
If it weren't for the significant evolution of his danger perception after his journey to the Dark Continent, and if the bee hadn't caused him to stop, Moses might have overlooked that faint, flickering sense of danger.
'Should I wait here for Morel and the others, or...'
Moses hesitated over whether to investigate the source of the dangerous Aura.
After thinking for a few moments, Moses finally decided to go and see what was happening.
With his Shadow Shift and Shadow World, his margin for error was the highest in the entire team.
With that in mind, Moses pushed off the ground and ran toward the direction of the dangerous aura.
…
Somewhere in the forest.
Ponzu was running like mad, her head down.
Just now, Pitou's sudden pause to ponder the direction of her abilities had given Ponzu enough time to escape.
Afterwards, using her [Bee Decoy] Ability, she had briefly delayed Pitou's pursuit.
With these advantages combined, Ponzu felt like she could see a glimmer of hope for survival.
'As long as I can escape from the range of that En...'
Ponzu's eyes were filled with terror.
Her assumption was correct.
But she still didn't understand Pitou's abilities well enough.
Pitou's Manifested Aura, which is several times stronger than a human's, was her most obvious trait. But even without that, her physical abilities and perception were also extraordinary.
So much so that she didn't even need to use En, as Pitou could track Ponzu's movements just by her hearing.
A sudden gust of wind swept through the dense forest.
Pitou turned into a blur, darting swiftly between the towering trees.
In just a few seconds, Pitou caught sight of Ponzu's fleeing figure.
'Creating a decoy by manipulating bees... that's an interesting ability too.'
Pitou stepped into the range where she could attack Ponzu.
But she didn't strike immediately, giving Ponzu enough time to react.
The reason she didn't attack right away-
wasn't actually because of some 'cat playing with a mouse' mentality.
The main reason was that her mission for this trip was already complete.
Now, she is purely driven by curiosity and want to get more information about Nen Abilities from Ponzu.
Ponzu had no idea what Pitou was thinking.
Feeling the terrifying Aura so close, her face turned pale in an instant.
As a support-type Hunter, she lacked strong offensive capabilities and didn't even have the courage to fight back at this moment. All she could do was continue running in a state of mental blankness.
Pitou still didn't attack but instead stared at Ponzu's hat.
"Your…"
Pitou started to speak but suddenly stopped.
"Meow?"
She seemed to sense something, and at this moment, she directly ignored Ponzu's existence and turned her body sideways to look in a different direction.
Under her intense focus, a figure emerged from the shadows.
It was Moses, who had followed the sense of danger.
'One of the Royal Guards...'
Seeing Pitou's relaxed and casual posture, Moses's eyes narrowed, and he immediately assumed a combat stance.
Before arriving, he had already condensed his Ken: Bone-Plated Armor in advance.
But whether it could withstand Pitou's attacks was still unknown.
'Speaking of which...'
'What's her name again?'
Moses looked at Pitou in silence.
The latter was also looking at Moses.
Their gazes met in mid-air, and the atmosphere in the area gradually shifted.
Meanwhile, Ponzu, whose mind had gone blank, finally noticed Moses's arrival.
'It's him…!'
When Ponzu saw Moses suddenly appear, her emotions directly soared from hell to heaven. She was so surprised that she almost cried.
She didn't know if Moses could handle the monster, but at least he had brought her hope.
On the battlefield.
Pitou no longer paid attention to Ponzu's existence, and all her thoughts were focused on Moses at this moment.
"I can sense it... you're stronger than the human I encountered last time."
Staring at the Aura flowing around Moses's body, Pitou's red eyes gleamed with a bright light.
She had thought it would be difficult to encounter another human as strong as Kite in such a short time, but she hadn't expected to find someone even stronger here.
'This trip was worth it!'
This phrase suddenly flashed through Pitou's mind.
But before she could fully savor the excitement welling up in her heart, a shadow, whose presence erased by In, appeared behind her.
[Mimicry: Shadow Clone]
The shadow, which had arrived silently, instantly transformed into a shadow clone.
"Meow?"
The fluctuation of life force that appeared without warning stimulated Pitou so much that her fur stood up instantly.
Almost instinctively, she didn't try to deal with the unknown life force behind her but instead pushed off the ground, dashing forward to create distance.
However, just as she moved more than ten meters away, Moses, who is now holding a black sword, appeared in her path.
After taking his position, Moses swung his sword at Pitou.
A sharp blade light suddenly flashed through the air.
Pitou's cat-like eyes narrowed sharply, but she reacted in time and moved sideways at high speed to avoid the slashing sword.
The sword hit the air.
Moses quickly twisted his wrist, and the tip of the black sword pointed at Pitou from a relatively strange angle as she had just completed her dodge.
'What is he trying to do?!'
In that split second, Pitou felt that her understanding was limited and couldn't discern Moses's motives or reasons for such an action.
Just as doubts flashed through her mind, the black sword tip that was calibrated towards her suddenly seemed to grow larger in her vision.
[Super Speed: As I Will It]
The black sword suddenly extended, wrapped in surging arc-like Aura, and in an instant, it pierced Pitou's forehead.
In that moment-
Several long and turbulent arcs of Aura suddenly burst out from the center of Pitou's forehead, followed by a visible shockwave.
Moses's gaze was as sharp as a sword, locking onto Pitou's eyes, which were filled with astonishment, amidst the surging arc-like Aura.
The next moment…
Under the force of the attack, Pitou was sent flying backward.
Or rather, she was pushed back by the continuously extending black sword, crashing through tree after tree, creating a massive commotion.
…
Not far away.
Seeing this, Ponzu's eyes widened in shock and disbelief.
She couldn't see how Moses had done it, nor did she have the mental capacity to delve into the intricacies of the technique.
At this moment, aside from her shock, she was filled with questions.
'In the face of that overwhelming evil Aura that defies common sense...'
'What kind of mindset and willpower would allow someone to remain so composed?'
'In the face of such a clear disparity in Manifested Aura...'
'Is there really a chance of winning?'