Hunter: I became stronger even after I died.

Chapter 427 is too short.
The sturdiness of this shelter, built deep underground, goes without saying.

However, under the impact of Morona's release of the mind-binding wave, it was still pierced through layer by layer as if it were made of paper.

This strike was almost the unleashing of the pinnacle of power.

Even though it was blasted into an underground shelter by such a terrifying psychic wave, the Ant King only suffered minor scratches on its crown and several parts of its body.

For the ant king, such negligible damage was practically the same as being completely unharmed.

He lay on his back on the cold ground of the shelter, his eyes reflecting the ever-approaching fluorescent green light.

Now that the power of the opponent's psychic energy has been confirmed by physical experience, the attack coming from above is nothing to fear.

This situation even gave the King Ant the time to recall the countermeasures Morrow had used to beat him to this point.

"From the very beginning, he planned to bring me here."

The Ant King sensed a clear scheme in Morrow's attack and defense, and could also confirm from Morrow's reckless squandering of life energy that the other party had known about the existence of this underground space for a long time.

The fact that they went to such lengths to infiltrate him here suggests they had a specific plan.

Just as the Ant King reached a preliminary conclusion, a deceptive flying star, which was rapidly descending along the cave passage, struck him squarely.

boom!
A fluorescent green light instantly engulfed the Ant King's body, and the energy contained within exploded, causing a surging shockwave that swept across the entire space like a burst dam.

The energy-driven shockwave slammed the Ant King into the crumbling ground like a solid iron fist.

Until the energy of the explosion dissipated, a large number of small stones fell from the sky to the ground, and the dust and smoke that were stirred up had nowhere to go, spreading around like mist.

The ant king remained unharmed, except that his body was embedded in the ground.

Moro's gaze pierced through the billowing smoke and dust, settling on the Ant King's unchanging, extraordinary aura.

Two waves of powerful, brick-like attacks failed to produce any real effect.

This shows just how exaggerated the Ant King's display of power and defense is.

Despite being mentally prepared, Moro still couldn't help but feel helpless after verifying it himself.

Keep in mind that his current level is Lv.97, just a few steps away from the pinnacle of humanity.

This also shows that even if the level is raised to Lv.100, it will probably be difficult to shake the Ant King's defense.

The more fatal problem is that the Chimera Ant King only needs one direct hit to kill any human ability user.

It is only because Netero possesses the Hundred Styles of Kannon that he was able to fight the Chimera Ant King to a standstill in a direct confrontation.

Other enhancement-type Pokémon wouldn't even be able to withstand a single blow from the King Ant, let alone engage in a head-on confrontation.

Of course, cheating is a different story.

"Only conditional abilities like 'Sparks Spread Like Wildfire' can deal with monsters like the Ant King."

If the numerical difference is too large, then a mechanism should be used to compensate for it.

The Wildfire technique can bypass the defenses that even the Hundred Styles of Guanyin cannot overcome, and directly cause fatal damage to the Ant King's soul.

The only difference is that stringent constraints must be met.

"Starred... Sacrifice".

After fulfilling the prerequisites for starting the "Spark" attack, Moro directly sacrificed the star.

He had already used up some of his potential energy in order to create an advantage for his teammates and now to drive the Ant King into the underground shelter.

Since conventional methods cannot break through the Ant King's defenses, the faster the Spark Spreads, the more effectively every bit of potential energy can be used.

As Moro sacrificed the star, a cluster of eerie blue flames suddenly appeared on the King Ant's left arm.

This time, I didn't get areas like the forehead and chest that are harder to ignite, so my luck was relatively average.

While luck can sometimes play a role, it is always hard power that determines victory or defeat.

After activating his Spark Inferno ability, Moreo no longer used "emission-type attacks" to suppress the Chimera Ant King. Instead, he leaped down without hesitation, plummeting straight towards the underground shelter.

In theory, he could use the ranged offensive capabilities of his Emission type to completely suppress the Ant King while gradually igniting sparks in other areas.

But the reality is—

Human beings' potential capacity alone is simply insufficient to support such extravagant tactics.

Unless he possesses a bottomless potential for magnanimity like Yupi.

Or perhaps he reduced the conversion rate of Emission-type attacks, and the Chimera Ant King lay in the pit without resistance, as if he had lost his mind.

That's impossible, of course.

Faced with the Ant King, whose offensive desires are extremely strong, the only way to ensure the achievement of the "spark spreads like wildfire" ability is through direct confrontation.

And we must never waste even the slightest bit of our potential energy.

According to the game, Moro needs to ensure that every bit of magic power consumed is effective in order to kill the final boss before running out of magic power.

But there is one crucial condition...

Moro landed steadily in the spacious underground shelter, his psychic power shattering into countless starlight, while a red phantom appeared above his shoulders.

At this moment, the ant king leaped out of the deep pit, kicking up a large amount of gravel.

He glanced at the rootless flame that had suddenly appeared on his left arm, devoid of any temperature, then his gaze swept over the dense starlight connected by thin red lines around him, finally settling on Moro's face.

"Your advantage should lie in mid-to-long-range suppression, so why did you deliberately interrupt your offensive and even give up this advantage?"

From reading books to immersing himself in chess, this process thoroughly stimulated the Ant King's learning ability, which also made him subconsciously think about everything he saw, in order to seek the underlying logic and answers.

This habit of exploring the essence of things has long been integrated into his every judgment during the game.

Faced with the King of Ants' question, which was utterly meaningless in a life-or-death battle, Morrow naturally remained silent.

Why give up this advantage?
Of course, it's all for the sake of winning this life-or-death battle.

Moro calmly looked at the Ant King, whose magnanimity was as imposing as a towering firework.

The conditions for achieving "a single spark can start a prairie fire" are so demanding that, on the one hand, it is impossible to obtain a precise number of ignitions after the ability is activated.

This requires Moro to gradually figure out and calculate amidst the fierce battles.

On the other hand, the gradual ignition of sparks, a phenomenon that usually arouses the vigilance of the target.

And the goal is to understand the essence of the ability to spread like wildfire based on the phenomenon of the ability.

Therefore, in order to overcome these difficulties, Moro had no choice but to abandon the advantage of the Emission type and instead adopt a high-intensity close-range combat approach.

The advantage of doing this is that he can keep track of, and even control, the number of times each spark zone accumulates.

Just like when he used a wildfire to solve Neferpitou's problem, he needed to ensure that the number of times other sparks were ignited had reached a critical point before igniting the second spark.

This significantly reduces the amount of time and effort required to achieve the desired outcome, thereby greatly increasing the probability of meeting the requirements.

However, it's not surprising that the King Ant would be puzzled by this approach.

He simply didn't know the purpose of Spark of Fire: to provide Moro with a viable alternative when facing enemies that even "Enhanced Flying Star" couldn't defeat, allowing him to carve out a chance of victory. This is also why the prerequisite for Spark of Fire is implanting a star marker, followed by an attack using a deceptive flying star.

Only by aligning with the underlying logic of ability and integrating the clearly defined needs into the mechanism of vows and constraints can the power of "thought" be truly and fully unleashed.

Moro consistently adhered to this principle.

Even though the upgrade bonus of "Love Practice" granted by "Annual Ring Imprint" can greatly reduce the difficulty of developing Nen abilities.

He will still build his abilities based on the compatibility of his own Nen attribute, rather than pursuing unrealistic fantasies.

This is the fundamental reason why he can always effectively utilize the tactical value of his Nen ability.

Now, Ant King's hardware strength surpasses any of its previous formidable opponents.

However, given Morrow's already comprehensive power system, the Chimera Ant King's strength is essentially no different from that of the powerful enemies he has encountered in the past.

Moro remained silent, only channeling his intense fighting spirit into his aura.

Seeing that Moro had no intention of answering the question, the Ant King did not press the matter. Under the surging aura, he adopted an offensive stance.

Swish-!
With a sharp sound like willow branches piercing the air, the Ant King moved suddenly and rushed in front of Morrow in the blink of an eye.

Without any skill whatsoever, the thick, knuckled hand, infused with immense spiritual energy, pierced straight towards Moro's chest.

For a perfect creature like the ant king, forged by plundering countless genes, hunting and attacking are always simple and brutal methods.

That is to tear the prey apart from the front with absolute force.

The Ant King's swift attack smashed through the dense starlight around it, which also stirred up many of the thought strings of Blackie's Dance, causing them to tense up and tremble, controlling Moro to leap backward and sideways, creating ample space for evasion.

The hand that was heading straight for him naturally missed its target.

But in the next instant, the stinger behind the King Ant attacked like a venomous snake, aiming for Morrow's neck.

However, the starlight that had condensed was scattered throughout the nearby space, and as soon as the Ant King's tail showed signs of exerting force, Morrow read the information.

As expected, under Kuroko Mai's lead, Moro jumped back again first, widening the distance.

The queen ant's stinger struck empty air.

Meanwhile, as Morrow leaped backward, he swung his palm at the Ant King from a distance, unleashing a burst of energy that struck the Ant King's left leg, which was about to take a forward step.

There was a soft snap.

The energy palm burst like a balloon, only causing slight ripples on the Ant King's manifested energy.

The result was naturally no damage, and it did not stop the King Ant from taking a step.

With a burst of power after stomping his left foot on the ground, the Ant King charged towards Morrow once again, and his right arm, which had just been retracted, stretched out again like a spring.

But at that moment, Moro struck the Ant King's right hand with another energy palm strike.

Both attacks precisely targeted the Ant King's movements as he exerted force.

But the Ant King's defense was too strong; two attacks failed to cause any resistance whatsoever.

But this is also a false impression that Moro wants to create.

He wanted to make the Ant King have the preconceived notion that "the other side wants to hinder my offensive," thereby making him overlook the true intention hidden beneath this seemingly ineffective obstruction.

The Ant King didn't take it seriously at all, smashing the energy palm with his powerful body and once again delivering an oppressive attack to Moro.

This straightforward offensive, at this stage, is unlikely to pose a threat or even put pressure on Moro, who possesses "Starlight Condensation - Black Spot Dance".

With a casual dodge, Moro easily dodged the Ant King's attack, and still had the strength to unleash another palm strike at the Ant King.

The attack still struck the limbs where the King Ant was just beginning to show signs of exerting force, and still failed to cause any damage or hinder the King Ant's offensive momentum.

However, it quietly accumulated the number of times a spark could be ignited.

The King Ant could clearly sense Morrow's attempt to slow down his attack, and naturally assumed that Morrow needed to complete the "energy accumulation" step in order to increase the power of his attack.

Therefore, in order to completely thwart Moro's intentions, the King Ant's offensive became increasingly rapid.

However, none of his powerful attacks landed on Moro.

Even when Morrow was dodging his attacks, he always managed to seize the opportunity to launch a counterattack.

"His reactions were swift, precise, and flawless... like playing a game of 'rapid chess' that requires no thought, yet he was able to make every move with perfect accuracy."

In the blink of an eye, dozens of rounds of combat ensued, yet the Ant King was unable to touch Morrow even slightly.

"The reason we were able to do this..."

The Ant King glanced quickly at the star-like dots connected by thin red lines around him, then looked expressionlessly at the red phantom above Morrow's shoulders.

During the intense exchange just now, he tried attacking the red phantom and the thought string, intending to disrupt Moro's "rapid chess state" in this way.

However, neither the red phantom nor the thought string is in a state of being selectable, and they are completely unafraid of interference from external forces.

"In that case..."

A glint of cold light flashed in the Ant King's eyes as he muttered to himself, "I will remember every move you make by relying on those thought strings."

The experience and lessons learned from playing chess allowed the Ant King to quickly find a way to break the deadlock.

By simply remembering the connection between the tension and the trembling of the strings, one can anticipate Moro's body movements in advance.

This allows you to gain the upper hand and increase the probability of your attack hitting its target.

The changes in the King Ant's thinking during the battle were not hidden from Morrow's eyes at all.

In this confrontation, the Ant King, focused solely on increasing the intensity of his attack, was completely unaware of...

His control over life energy is too intuitive; his intentions are always revealed faster in the flow of energy than in physical movements.

"Too short-sighted... In a sense, you are easier to deal with now than Neferpitou."

Moro noticed the Ant King's tactics, but made no attempt to use "Invisibility" to eliminate Kuroko Mai's desire to exist.

Because it's meaningless.

Moreover, he could tell that the Ant King was a typical offensive fighter with an extremely strong desire to attack.

Therefore, even when thinking at the tactical level, the subconscious focus is on conforming to the offensive tone, without realizing the real problem.

For example, after Neferpitou's attack failed, he quickly realized that the flow of Nen had exposed his attack intentions and trajectory.

The King Ant, with its strong desire to attack, only considered how to penetrate Morrow's hiding space more quickly and accurately.

“I’m not Netero.”

In the new round of offense and defense, Moro muttered to himself.

The King Ant, with his straightforward fighting style that allows him to have an extremely high margin for error, managed to carve a crack in Netero's Hundred Style Guanyin.

But that won't work for him.

(End of this chapter)