The dust settled completely. The figure who had attacked Law was a leopard standing upright.
Most of its body was covered in black fur, interspersed with many white hairs that traced striking curved white patterns against the dark background.
The leopard-man's facial features held some distinctly human qualities, but overall, it retained the face of a leopard.
Its chest and abdomen were not covered in fur, revealing bulging muscles nearly ninety percent similar to human pectorals and abs.
A long tail swung behind it, making dull thwipping sounds as it moved.
That appearance... reminded Law of Cheetu.
Cheetu had been one of the Chimera Ant's Squadron Leaders, an ant fused with human and cheetah genes.
"Hand it over, and you can live." The leopard-man said, raising a hand.
A cold glint flashed in its eyes. Its sharp black claws pointed at Law from dozens of meters away as it uttered a series of incomprehensible syllables.
He was a demi-human from the Magical Beast Race. He had attacked Law to obtain the Pearl Flower's fruits and seeds.
His initial strike had been a genuine killing blow, but Law had dodged it.
Consequently, he assessed Law as a significant threat. Seizing the Pearl Flower's fruits and seeds might come at a cost, but he wouldn't back down because those items were what he needed.
So, he attempted to threaten Law into handing over the spoils without further conflict. If that failed, he was mentally prepared to fight to the death for them.
As he spoke, he released his Aura, causing a white glow to cover his body to increase the menace of his presence.
However, he seemed not to have considered the language barrier.
Law didn't understand the leopard-man's words, but judging by the gesture and tone, they were likely hostile.
Moreover, this leopard-man knew how to use Nen, and its intensity was not weak.
"I don't understand what you're saying," Law replied in the language of the Slu Tribe.
Hearing Law's words, a slight change flickered in the leopard-man's eyes. He didn't understand Law either.
Without hesitation, he launched another attack.
Abundant Aura flowed over his body, allocated precisely in split seconds… a significant portion channeled to his powerfully built legs in a proficient application of the Nen Technique, Ryu.
Whoosh!
The leopard-man instantly closed the dozens of meters between them, circling behind Law in a blur, and swung his claws at the back of Law's head.
As he swung his arm, Aura flowed seamlessly to his claws as well, the timing perfect. It seemed less like a calculated maneuver and more like a reaction driven by bestial instinct.
Unfortunately, the leopard-man seemed unaware of how to conceal the presence of his Aura. His unrestrained use instead allowed Law to perceive the flow of his Aura clearly.
Even with his eyes closed, the moment the leopard-man moved behind him, Law could have detected it.
[Instant!]
Law tracked the leopard-man's movement but didn't counterattack immediately. Instead, he used Instant to flash forward over ten meters, dodging the leopard-man's fatal claw strike.
He dodged because, in that extremely short instant, his powerful combat intuition concluded a counterattack was impossible and he could only temporarily avoid the direct assault.
After using Instant to create distance, he quickly placed the wooden box on the ground the next moment, then turned and used Shun again to return roughly to his original position.
This timing coincided perfectly with the leopard-man's recovery phase after his missed strike.
A glint flashed in Law's eyes. He thrust his sword, Shin, toward the leopard-man's forehead.
He didn't activate God Hand but instead used its blunt force mode, the blade wrapped in pure, potent Aura, intending to blast through the skull and destroy the brain within.
Unexpectedly, the leopard-man's dynamic vision was terrifyingly sharp.
It actually tracked Law's movement. As the sword thrust forward, it jerked its head back to avoid it.
Simultaneously, its thick, powerful tail, like reinforced steel, swept toward Law's head with a whooshing sound.
Law dropped into a squat, going with the momentum to dodge the sweeping tail while switching Shin's mode. The blade slashed toward the leopard-man's face and down toward its chest.
Just then, the leopard-man crossed its claws, blocking Law's sword. The swinging leopard tail also missed its target.
Clang!
Sparks flew. A piercing sound of metal collision instantly reverberated through the forest. The ground beneath their feet cracked into a spiderweb pattern.
The crossed claws were wrapped in a dense concentration of Aura, successfully blocking Law's Shin.
'Fast reactions,' Law mentally noted.
He wasn't referring to the physical block itself, but to the incredible speed of the Aura Allocation… a terrifyingly efficient use of Ryu.
'Was it a response driven purely by bestial instinct upon sensing danger?'
If it hadn't allocated sufficient Aura to its claws in that split second, Law's strike would have definitely sliced through them and likely cut the leopard-person in two.
Of course, this was also possible due to the leopard-man's total Manifested Aura, which seemed several times greater than a human's upper limit.
'However...'
Law's free left hand suddenly clamped onto the knife handle. He unleashed his full strength, instantly driving the leopard-man's body completely into the cracked ground.
At that moment, a flash of killing intent passed through Law's eyes.
He had no intention of trying to extract information from this highly threatening leopard-man.
Eliminating it here was the optimal outcome.
Just as Law prepared to press his advantage with a killing move, the leopard-man, embedded in the ground, suddenly erupted with a massive surge of Aura.
It conjured exaggeratedly large, jagged sharp claws over its arms and hands. Numerous sharp, single claws sprouted instantly, interlocking like fangs, presenting an extremely ferocious appearance.
The suddenly extended, conjured claws forced Law to disengage and retreat.
'Conjurer,' Law realized, his mind slightly shaken.
He had initially assumed the Magical Beast Race of the Dark Continent only understood basic Nen Techniques. He hadn't expected them to develop advanced Nen Abilities specific to their type.
Retreating to create distance, Law activated his own Nen Ability, and a jade-white humanoid phantom manifested behind him.
Then, Law swung his sword, aiming a powerful downward chop at the leopard-man still on the ground.
The jade-white humanoid phantom's massive blade moved in sync, falling in the blink of an eye.
Boom!
A large gouge appeared in the ground where the blade struck, but the leopard-man was already outside the impact zone.
As the sword fell, it had simply rolled away. Using its numerous conjured claws, it directly sliced through the earth, propelling itself out of the way.
In that moment, rolling was its only viable option, as being embedded made rising to dodge too slow.
Without the conjured claws to cut through the ground, it couldn't have escaped so quickly.
The leopard-man quickly got back on its feet. Its limbs were now augmented by the conjured claws, which seemed fused to its flesh.
Its face was full of ferocity. Its eyes flicked briefly toward the wooden box not far away, but it still chose to charge at Law again.
Law's jade-white humanoid phantom struck down with several consecutive blows, forcing the leopard-man into a steady retreat, deflecting and dodging desperately.
After several exchanges, the leopard-man found itself in increasingly perilous situations, narrowly avoiding each of Law's strikes.
Noting the leopard-man's speed and reactions seemed even sharper now, Law frowned. He realized the jade-white humanoid phantom could disrupt the leopard-man's offensive momentum but couldn't land a solid hit.
It wasn't a complete technique yet, and there was a slight lag in synchronization.
However, from the exchange, he gauged his own strength. He felt one hundred percent confident he could finish off the leopard-man.
Law prepared to dismiss the jade-white humanoid phantom and overwhelm the leopard-man with close-quarters combat enhanced by precise Nen Techniques.
'So powerful. Can't win. Will die,' The leopard-man thought, staring warily at the jade-white humanoid phantom behind Law.
Every offensive move he tried was completely broken, deepening his sense of impending doom.
He realized that prolonging the fight would likely lead to his death. Although he hated to admit it, he followed his survival instinct.
He took one last, longing glance at the wooden box, then turned and fled. His speed was lightning-fast, and in a mere instant, he was already far away, disappearing into the forest.
Seeing the leopard-man suddenly turn and run, Law was momentarily startled. He had no intention of pursuing, and simply watched silently in the direction the leopard-man had fled.
He contemplated that if he could harden his heart sufficiently, he could use a creature like that leopard-man as a stepping stone to become stronger… that is... by devouring it.