After Kalluto warned Kurapika, his gaze remained fixed on the battlefield.
Too fast...
He couldn't see anything at all.
Kalluto's small face was filled with solemn tension.
Earlier, he had stubbornly insisted on joining the fight, only to be firmly rejected by Morrow.
Morrow was right.
That speed…
With my current strength, I wouldn't last a single exchange.
Kalluto took a deep breath, his mind replaying the brief but intense clash between Morrow and Feitan.
Fierce. Short-lived.
Yet it loomed like an insurmountable mountain.
I want to see the final moment!
Kalluto bit his lip lightly.
Before confronting Feitan, Morrow had sternly warned him not to linger at the scene for too long, not even outside the battlefield.
The reason was simple: their enemy possessed large-scale attack abilities and terrifying speed.
If they stubbornly stayed to watch, they would only become a burden to Morrow.
After all, there was no guarantee that Feitan wouldn't suddenly target them.
More importantly, staying far from the battlefield could still provide Morrow with some support.
With that in mind, Kalluto forcibly suppressed his desire to witness the fight.
Rather than indulging his own curiosity, he absolutely could not hinder Morrow.
"Hey."
Kalluto called out to Kurapika again, his tone cold. "Don't get in Morrow's way. Come with me."
"..."
Kurapika was severely injured, and the overuse of his Scarlet Eyes had pushed his mind to its limits.
Yet his sharp instincts remained. Though he didn't fully understand Feitan's abilities, he could deduce the possibility of Feitan suddenly targeting him mid-battle.
Without a word, Kurapika dragged his heavy footsteps toward Kalluto, glancing back at Morrow as he did.
Morrow seemed to sense his gaze and turned to meet it.
Even from a distance, the exhaustion and pain were evident on Kurapika's body.
In that brief exchange of looks, Morrow showed no reaction, only calmly averted his eyes and refocused on Feitan.
As for Kurapika silently seeking out Feitan on his own…
Morrow was surprised, but also felt a faint trace of lingering unease.
He truly hadn't expected Kurapika to target Feitan.
The Chain Jail's ability to force Phantom Troupe members into Zetsu was indeed a trump card with absolute specialization.
But the prerequisite for this ability was ensuring the Chain Jail could accurately bind its target.
That was why, in the original timeline, Kurapika had chosen Uvogin as his first target.
On one hand, Uvogin was the type to charge headfirst, if asked why he didn't dodge, he'd simply say it was because he wasn't afraid.
On the other hand, Uvogin possessed the greatest physical strength, making him the perfect test subject to confirm the Chain Jail's restraining power.
Given the Chain Jail's limitations, if Uvogin was the most suitable target, then Feitan, the fastest, was the least suitable.
That was what puzzled Morrow.
But he quickly realized the issue.
In the original timeline, Kurapika had been able to single out Uvogin so precisely because Hisoka had leaked some of the Phantom Troupe's abilities…
Morrow shook his head slightly, dismissing the thought.
The fact that he had arrived in time was enough.
Today, he would definitively resolve the Death Threshold.
All the meticulous planning up until now had been to ensure success at this very moment.
"Shooting Star · Gemini." Morrow raised his arm, swiftly gathering a large amount of aura in his palm.
He didn't believe the split Star Rain alone could take down Feitan, so he began stockpiling aura in advance.
At the same time.
As the explosions subsided, Feitan's fully defensive posture gradually became visible, his body curled up as much as possible.
Even so, his black coat was torn in multiple places, and traces of blood lingered at the corner of his mouth. Though he didn't seem seriously injured, he looked rather disheveled.
"Trash."
Rage surged in Feitan's heart, yet his face remained as cold as ice.
His sinister gaze pierced through the rain, locking onto Morrow.
Then, he switched his rapier to his right hand and abruptly kicked off the ground, his entire body shooting toward Morrow like a blur too fast for the naked eye to follow.
As for the aura Morrow had gathered in his palm, Feitan paid it no mind.
Because the speed he had painstakingly honed was the bane of Emission-type Nen users.
The moment Feitan moved, Morrow unleashed the aura output in his palm...
Not a single Nen bullet, but a meteor shower of them.
Morrow, relying on information he knew from the original work, fully believed that Feitan could effortlessly dodge a single Nen bullet.
There was no way it would hit.
So the offensive method Morrow used for interference or cover was always the split Star Rain Nen Bullets.
In an instant, dense Nen bullets poured toward Feitan like a roaring downpour.
Yet, if a single Nen bullet couldn't hit Feitan, then numerous split bullets wouldn't have enough lethality either.
Feitan, without slowing down, slashed apart the many small Nen bullets closing in on him, then simply passed through the barrage's coverage and stepped once more into range to attack Morrow.
"Being short has its perks; reduces the hit area by a third."
Before activating Starlight Convergence, Morrow's mocking words inevitably reached Feitan's keen ears.
Feitan's expression didn't change, but the fury in his heart only grew.
And that was exactly the effect Morrow wanted.
He considered Feitan's "speed" to be the most troublesome aspect, but he wouldn't overlook the threat posed by his "Nen ability."
Especially since he wasn't sure about the effects of Feitan's other abilities beyond "Rising Sun's Scorching", those that hadn't been shown in the original work.
So, to limit the "possibility of abilities" to Feitan only using "Rising Sun," Morrow had to provoke Feitan as much as possible.
Because he speculated that Feitan's Transmuter ability was framed and fueled by "emotion."
Thus, as long as Feitan was trapped in a cage of rage, he wouldn't have to worry about other unknown abilities.
That was why he seized every opportunity to mock Feitan.
At the same time, enraging Feitan would somewhat increase the frequency of his furious attacks, thereby improving the efficiency of implanting Star Marks.
Sometimes, problems that could be solved with just the mind didn't need action.
Starlight Convergence
The aura around Morrow shattered once more into dazzling starlight.
Feitan's attack followed immediately.
Unsurprisingly, Morrow dodged.
The bone-and-muscle training at Heavens Arena, the accelerated Nen techniques in the Unexplored Land.
Combined with Starlight's ability to read and integrate information, it was already enough to handle Feitan's speed-based assaults. The next step was to plant the Star Mark on Feitan before he noticed the weakness of Starlight Convergence.
His speed is truly terrifying. I even feel... my eyes are interfering with my judgment.
Facing Feitan's rapid assaults, even with the enhancement of his starlight ability, Morrow could viscerally sense the immense threat emanating from Feitan.
Because the faster the opponent, the higher the likelihood of breaking through the Starlight Convergence.
If it was breached, it would mean Morrow's death in the next instant.
Yet it was precisely this life-or-deiss price, one misstep meaning death, that granted Morrow the capability to match Feitan's speed.
The condition for victory must be built upon the premise of being able to counter Feitan's speed.
Before this battle began, Morrow had firmly believed this.
And now, the reality before him proved his judgment correct.
Thus, certain outcomes could be foreseen in advance.
There was no need to calculate how many times Feitan had swung his blade...
Morrow suddenly closed his eyes.
At this moment,
Feitan, who wanted nothing more than to cleave Morrow in half with a single strike, as well as Kalluto and Kurapika, who kept glancing back every few steps outside the combat zone, all witnessed this scene.
He actually...
closed his eyes?!
Both Kurapika and Kalluto wore expressions of disbelief.
Feitan, meanwhile, was momentarily stunned before a surge of rage at being underestimated flooded his mind.
In that instant, his only thought was to slice Morrow's face into countless pieces.
Thus, his rapier, imbued with tangible fury, struck relentlessly at Morrow's vital points without holding back.
Despite his anger, Feitan's attacks remained sharp and deadly.
Yet against Morrow's Starlight Convergence ability, they always fell just short.
Slash after slash missed...
Just a hair's breadth away.
Only a fraction.
But that fraction was the distance between life and death.
Even with his eyes closed, Morrow prevented Feitan from turning his fantasy of carving him into pieces into reality.
For Morrow, one thing was certain:
Feitan's "attack speed" was completely excessive.
The extension ability of Starlight Convergence was activated based on the difference in aura output between both parties, determining the number of attacks that needed to be evaded.
When facing any opponent, Morrow always had to consider this "number."
Only against Feitan did this concern become irrelevant.
Provoked into fury, Feitan, like the speed of his sword strikes and footwork, unwittingly fulfilled Morrow's requirements at the fastest possible pace.
After evading an uncounted number of attacks, Morrow abruptly opened his eyes.
The next moment,
the countless starlight points that had quietly attached themselves to Feitan transformed without warning into golden chains, brutally pinning Feitan in place.
In truth, had Feitan paid attention, he would have noticed that with every missed strike, a faint speck of starlight had clung to him.
This phenomenon was one of Starlight Convergence's weaknesses; it subtly alerted the enemy to its mechanics.
However,
the sunlight obscured by thick clouds and the curtain-like rain helped Morrow conceal this flaw.
But the most critical factor was Feitan's rage, which drove him to focus solely on how to slice Morrow apart.
A man who bases his ability on "emotion" can never truly control those emotions... That is your downfall.
Morrow's thoughts swirled with insights and realizations.
He and Feitan were like spear and shield, representing two extremes.
Feitan's ability was fueled by intense emotions, akin to a spear of lightning speed.
His own, however, was rooted in rationality and calmness, like an unyielding shield as steady as a great river.
Nen, this power...
It grew stronger with heightened emotions, yet also became more resilient with tranquility.
It was truly difficult to say which of the two was superior.
With a peculiar sensation, Morrow stepped forward, raising his hand toward Feitan, who was bound by golden chains.
In terms of aura output, he was a level below Feitan, so the golden chains couldn't forcibly restrain him for long.
To buy more time for gathering aura, he had to push Feitan far enough away before the chains shattered.
"Tiger Head."
A tiger-shaped aura abruptly condensed in Morrow's palm, silently roaring as it lunged for Feitan's face.
Though bound by the golden chains, Feitan could still freely manipulate his aura.
Facing Morrow's strike, Feitan relied on his mastery of Ryu, swiftly reinforcing his defense with concentrated aura at the point of impact.
Boom.
Tiger Head slammed heavily into Feitan's face, the impact resonating like spring thunder.
Precisely as Morrow had calculated, the golden chains shattered the moment Feitan was struck.
Freed from the restraints, Feitan was sent flying by the force of Tiger Head, his body skimming low across the ground, smashing through the dense tombstones of the graveyard before crashing hard into the thick perimeter wall.
Morrow's gaze followed Feitan's trajectory.
Through repeated use of Starlight Convergence, he had mastered how to mask the moment and position of Star Mark generation on an enemy by timing his attacks with the chains' collapse.
Ultimately.
A Limitation was an inseparable part of an ability's tactical framework.
Mitigating its drawbacks, or even turning them to one's advantage, was a fundamental skill for any Nen master.
Morrow raised his hand, gathering aura.
A vast amount of aura obeyed his will, converging in his palm.
"Deceptive Shooting Star."
A fluorescent green glow illuminated the surrounding rain.
It ascended, expanded, then plummeted straight down toward Feitan, embedded in the wall.
Like a comet, brilliant and deadly.
Kalluto and Kurapika, who had already retreated from the graveyard, naturally saw the falling Shooting Star.
Under their watch, it struck the ground and exploded with a deafening roar.
A violent surge of energy erupted skyward, followed by a shockwave that brutally parted the dense rain, reaching Kurapika and Kalluto in an instant.
Their hair and clothes were whipped up by the mist-laden blast, their eyes reflecting the turbulent aftermath.
This comet-like devastation was the unique beauty of Emission.
Inside the graveyard.
As the energy dissipated and faded, half the cemetery was instantly riddled with destruction, the ground littered with shattered remnants of tombstones, like the silent lament of the dead.
Morrow quickly glanced at the Tree Rings on the back of his hand. Even without checking the level indicator, he knew Feitan hadn't died from that attack; there was no increase in his aura output.
Even with the doubled rebound power, it still wasn't enough to finish him in one strike... Morrow shifted his gaze toward the billowing dust that surged into the rain-filled sky, suddenly sensing an immense, malevolent aura emanating from within.
So that's how it is.
Feeling the intensity of that aura skyrocket, Morrow instantly understood the reason.
It was Feitan's ability.
Fueled by the power of his rage, he could unleash an aura output far greater than usual.
This phenomenon typically only manifested in Enhancers, the most iconic example in the original work being Gon.
Simply put, it was a power surge.
Except Feitan achieved this through his ability.
The dust, untouched by the rain, was abruptly swept away and dispersed under the overwhelming force of Feitan's aura.
Then, Feitan emerged, clad in bizarre attire, his entire body radiating an imposing and formidable aura.
"Kuzu."
An obscure, incomprehensible syllable escaped Feitan's lips.
It meant "trash."