After completing its time-reversal, the Guardian Spirit Beast reformed again.
Something that should have plunged Joey into despair instead made his eyes gleam.
Because its disappearance after activating its ability confirmed Joey's earlier hypothesis—Nasubi's Guardian Beast did have a cooldown period after using its power.
It was a Nen ability with a "skill CD"—and now, its body brimmed with black malice. Clearly, the sudden influx of resentment aura Nasubi had absorbed allowed the beast to reform and be used again.
But such regeneration had a cost—malice consumption.
Joey couldn't gauge exactly how much Nasubi had absorbed, but judging from the earlier flow toward the central device, it hadn't reached an overwhelming volume. In other words, it was finite.
Exactly—he could exhaust it.
Because so far, killing Nasubi meant dealing with that damnable time-rewinding monster.
And through that beast's power, Joey realized something else: his previous assumption that Nasubi's attack was time-based had been wrong.
Nasubi's attacks were primarily spatial in nature.
That aligned with his aura type—most likely an Emitter.
It made sense: teleporting projectiles combined with a rewind-for-a-second-chance Guardian Beast. Annoying, but not invincible.
And judging by his reactions to the button bomb, Nasubi lacked combat experience.
Otherwise, having already fallen for the trap once—sitting on that sofa—he wouldn't have triggered it again by stepping directly onto another object. Even if he didn't know the exact ability, his carelessness exposed his inexperience.
Facing someone like that—even with monstrous aura and tricky powers—wasn't that hard.
Or rather… is this all he's got?
Shrouded in fog, Joey released Nen from his body, shaping it into humanoid doubles that spread out in every direction.
For a pure Emitter, this clone-type technique wasn't difficult—just energy-intensive. It took effort to maintain illusions with consistent detail while also holding "Ken" in a combat state.
But he had no choice. Nasubi's attacks packed too much power. If they all landed in one spot, even Joey could suffer a serious injury.
Against someone with such absurd aura reserves, every offense and defense needed full readiness.
Nugui's projection hadn't vanished, but the clone keeping watch over him had been destroyed by Nasubi's earlier attack.
Joey had invested little aura in it anyway—most of it was preserved for himself.
But Nugui's lingering presence reminded Joey of a critical factor—the royal army might arrive at any moment.
Which raised a key question: was now really the time to tangle with Nasubi?
Maybe not.
Joey needed to think about leaving before the army sealed off the Coffin Zone.
If he got trapped here—even if he defeated Nasubi—he'd be a caged animal.
Besides, draining Nasubi's tremendous aura would take time. At best, he could kill him a few more times before exiting.
But that alone might be worth it.
With that decision made, Joey naturally handed another coin to Killer Queen.
If Nasubi's attack wasn't time-based but spatial, then by reading his habits, Joey could likely use the Withered Chariot to intercept those strikes.
Nasubi had attacked him twice so far.
Both times, he'd aimed at Joey's heart.
First time, Joey narrowly escaped thanks to his decoy technique.
Second time, the attack missed just enough to hit his shoulder blade instead.
Pattern detected—his next target would likely be the heart again.
Armed with this, Killer Queen positioned itself behind Joey's heart, while Weather Report blocked high.
Boom. Just as expected, the sudden strike glanced off Killer Queen's hand.
But where would the next strike land?
Even while analyzing this, Joey counterattacked.
Fog hid their vision, but the stormclouds above still crackled.
Lightning dropped toward Nasubi, while a small tornado formed and hurled mist straight at him.
But none of it made contact.
His Guardian Beast raised a hand and effortlessly dispersed the lightning, and the mini twister couldn't break through his aura shield either.
Joey had underestimated just how powerful that thing was—he'd been too focused on its rewind function.
Now, he saw the beast was a defensive juggernaut as well.
Moreover, Nasubi was getting cautious.
Anything that came near him was intercepted by the beast.
From within its shield, he continued lobbing long-range attacks at Joey.
The tide turned.
But then—Nasubi felt it.
His Guardian Beast had vanished.
Perfect.
Joey had shifted his target the moment Weather Report's attack failed. He'd been waiting to test something: if he destroyed the Guardian Beast first, then quickly killed Nasubi, would the rewind still trigger?
With that goal, he hurled an unhidden coin—no disguise, no Golden Experience—just raw destructive potential.
Directly at the beast.
Just like before, the beast defended itself with those grotesque multi-jointed arms. Its writhing body and obscene tongue were practically meaningless.
That exact defense gave Joey the perfect opening.
As one long hand gripped the coin—
Killer Queen's thumb pressed down.
Vaporized.
The Guardian Beast disintegrated in an instant.
That moment, a water jet shot from a puddle toward Nasubi. Mid-flight, it froze into a sharpened ice spike, coated in layered Nen.
Still mid-cast, Nasubi realized the beast was gone.
He couldn't see it—but the falling lightning and incoming wind told him what had happened.
It was too late.
The ice spike hit his chest—and a series of follow-up jets drove it deep into his heart.
Then—the eerie beast reappeared.
Its eyes flashed red—and vanished again.
But the moment it showed up, Nasubi's body began to rewind.
The ice spike retracted slowly.
Time reversed until it fired from the puddle again—undoing the damage.
Another water blast surged at him—but this time, a massive dark Nen orb intercepted it midair, exploding and shattering the spike.
Black smoke spiraled—his Guardian Beast returned again.
But from afar, Joey noticed something—Nasubi's aura had dropped slightly.
Back when he consumed the orb from the urn monster, he had more Nen.
So Joey's theory was correct.
Every death and resurrection of the Guardian Beast consumed a chunk of Nasubi's own aura.
After all, that beast fed on its host's Nen.
His user had grown wary—but the beast, with no will of its own, wasn't smart enough to act cautiously.
When it reappeared, Nasubi paused.
He realized—though his abilities were powerful, the opponent's weren't weak either.
He'd landed the first few blows, but had lost ground ever since.
Now, he felt like he was dancing to Joey's rhythm.
Continuing the fight might be unwise.
Joey was just one man.
All Nasubi had to do was stall him—once the royal army arrived under Nugui's lead, Joey would be cornered.
There was no need to risk it.
This man is a monster.
Nasubi, inwardly, gave Joey high marks.
He'd also seen the coin before the beast's destruction. And the button he'd stepped on. He now had a rough idea of Joey's ability.
So he entered full defense mode, eyes locked on anything flying his way.
Joey frowned.
If Nasubi kept attacking, Joey could bait the Guardian Beast again and again.
But now—Nasubi had turtled up. And worse, he likely figured out the First Bomb's trigger mechanism.
Continued attacks would yield diminishing returns.
Time to leave.
With that, Joey changed tactics.
Fog still raged, concealing his true form. Storms harassed Nasubi, but now a new clone emerged.
It remained stationary, while Joey bolted toward the walls of the Coffin Zone.
The clone produced a coin and flicked it toward Nasubi.
Nasubi's Nen orbs blasted the coin midair—but that meant he didn't target the distant energy signatures flanking the room.
At the wall, Killer Queen pressed its palm.
BOOM. First Bomb activated—leaving a circular hole.
And outside the hole, Joey froze.
This was… the third deck's lookout platform.
He knew this place well—he'd been here with Morena before.
Stacked shipping container-style rooms. Panoramic views of the sea.
It was the perfect place to hide something like the Coffin Zone.
Joey had always assumed it was on Deck 1 or 2—somewhere in the core ship—but apparently, he'd been wrong.
Even more concerning—armed royal guards were stationed outside.
Joey couldn't tell how many were Nen users, so he didn't hesitate.
Weather Report lifted him on white clouds while Mirage bent the light around him.
He vanished the moment he appeared.
There was a large door between Decks 2 and 3.
With unrest already spreading in the lower decks, it hadn't been opened for some time.
And with the army's limited manpower down here, Joey estimated the upper deck soldiers wouldn't arrive for another 3 to 5 minutes.
Plenty of time to escape.
Within three seconds of Joey's departure, the clone was shredded.
Clearly—Nasubi realized he was gone.
But the moment he chose to defend, the outcome was sealed.
This entire fight—Nasubi was left with one conclusion.
Toyed with.
He'd been strung along by Joey from start to finish—and then watched him walk away.
BOOM.
Nasubi kicked down a steel wall of the container.
But his En couldn't sense Joey at all.
As he stood there, nearby royal soldiers began collapsing.
Black mist drifted from their bodies—Nasubi opened his mouth wide and devoured it all without hesitation.
(End of Chapter)