From the moment Pariston 'understood the reason', whether he died here or not no longer mattered.
What mattered was ensuring that the 'one who could decide to set sail' and the 'one who could steer the ship' remained unshaken.
For that, he was willing to shoulder the blame for Netero's assassination.
And he also believed that-
If Beyond learned of his death, he would know exactly what to do next.
Moses stared at Pariston, who had remained composed from start to finish, and said expressionlessly, "Enough of the idle chatter."
Before the words had fully left his mouth, an overwhelming aura erupted from Moses's body.
Crack- Crack-
The invisible pressure surged outward, causing the pixelated tiles beneath them to fracture with spiderweb-like fissures.
This level of presence and intimidation was completely different from when he had faced Ging.
One could say...
This was Moses at full power.
The reason for the difference is that Moses at that time did not put any killing intent into his Aura.
Pariston felt the crushing weight of Moses's Aura, and the calm in his eyes finally wavered, replaced by visible shock.
'So strong-'
'I've never seen such overwhelming pressure before...'
Experiencing Moses' true power up close sent waves of astonishment through Pariston's mind.
He was stunned not only by the terrifying Aura Moses was unleashing at this time, but also by how Moses's strength had undergone such a drastic transformation in such a short time.
Every piece of intelligence he had previously gathered about Moses's abilities instantly became meaningless at this moment.
Moses released his Aura wantonly and looked forward. He could clearly see the surprise in Pariston's eyes, and the Black Sword in his hand had already switched to Nen Tool Mode.
The surging Aura around Moses abruptly condensed-
And then, with a single motion, he slashed through the air toward Pariston.
The blade's arc distorted the very air in its path.
The next moment-
Moses had already appeared more than ten meters behind Pariston, maintaining the posture of swinging his sword.
It was also at this time that Pariston's body finally 'reacted' and a crimson arc of blood erupted from his left shoulder, spraying into the air.
"Huh-?!"
The moment he realized he had been cut, Pariston's pupils contracted to the extreme.
'The effect of my ability to stay out of trouble...'
'Did it not activate?'
A flicker of doubt passed through Pariston's mind.
His Nen Ability, [Rational Cunningness], allowed him to gain the effect of 'staying out of trouble' after fulfilling multiple conditions.
The conversation just now allowed Pariston to gather enough information to activate this ability directly.
And the effect of this ability can also dilute his existence.
As long as he has no murderous intent or hostility towards Moses, the ability effect of 'staying out of trouble' can protect him from Moses's attacks.
More precisely-
It was Moses's attack intention that would unconsciously ignore his existence.
However, even though the ability was activated, Moses's attack still hurt him.
It was as if-
The effect of the ability had somehow shifted from 'making attacks unconsciously ignore him' to 'making attacks unconsciously shift from vital areas to non-lethal ones'.
'Is it that the difference in the amount of Manifested Aura affects the accuracy of the ability after it is activated, or...'
'Was there another ability interfering with 'staying out of trouble'?'
But Pariston had no time to dwell on it.
So the doubt flashed through his mind and vanished just as quickly.
When using the ability, [Reasonable Cunningness], he had to maintain absolute rationality.
At this time-
Moses slowly turned around and looked at Pariston, whose left shoulder was bleeding, and said thoughtfully: "It seems... that Nen Clone Ability is not yours."
The moment his slash struck Pariston, Moses had sensed something was off.
His initial slash had been aimed at Pariston's abdomen, but somehow, the moment his sword slashed Pariston's left shoulder, Moses realized that he had cut the wrong place.
For someone with Moses's level of precision, such a low-level mistake was impossible.
In addition, the faint sense of 'wrongness' at the moment of impact told him it had to be one of Pariston's Nen Abilities at work.
Based on this speculation, and considering that Pariston has not used his Nen Clone, it is enough to draw a conclusion.
The suspected Nen Clone Ability that had saved Pariston from a fatal disaster in that building was most likely not Pariston's, but someone else's.
Pariston did not react at all when he heard Moses's sharp deduction.
Seeing that Pariston was unwilling to respond, Moses didn't care at all.
He turned his gaze to the wound on Pariston's left shoulder. He could see the black tendrils spreading from it. Then, he thought to himself, 'If misaligned attacks can't land on vital spots… then that's even better.'
Then, Moses swung his sword at Pariston again.
It's still indescribably fast.
Even though Pariston consciously gathered more Aura on his 'non-vital parts' for defense, he was still injured by the Black Sword in Moses's hand and suffered a second wound.
Splurt!
Blood sprayed into the air before splattering onto the pixelated floor, staining the black-and-white grid red.
Moses's second slash was still aimed at Pariston's abdomen.
But when the sword landed, it hit Pariston's right shoulder.
'As expected, the attack, which was redirected due to some ability, would not hit Pariston's vital area.'
'But that's a good thing.'
Moses thought to himself.
His original idea was to kill Pariston directly, but now, he has changed it to let Pariston be affected by his Kyoka Suigetsu.
As his thoughts spun, Moses launched his third attack.
Splurt!
The strike was still pointed at the abdomen, and without any surprise, it didn't hit the target and instead created a wound on Pariston's thigh.
Pariston glanced at the blood arcing through the air from the corner of his eye, and a feeling of powerlessness suddenly emerged in his heart.
Even though he realized that the ability of 'staying out of it' could only transfer the attacks from Moses to 'non-vital areas', and even though he had strengthened the Aura Defense at these 'non-vital areas' in advance, he still couldn't withstand Moses' strikes.
The gap in their offensive and defensive capabilities are completely on a different level...
It is this huge gap that makes Pariston feel powerless.
The fourth slash, the fifth slash...
Pariston couldn't resist Moses's attack at all, and the bleeding wounds on his body gradually increased.
This results in an increase in the growth rate of black tendrils.
In just a few seconds-
The Eye of Sight began sprouting on Pariston's body.
"This Nen Space... is actually the type that allows free entry and exit."
"But you are too confident and never even realized."
Just before his consciousness faded, Pariston vaguely heard Moses' voice, which is completely devoid of emotion.