There were no surprises.
Beyond had taken one life from each of the Zodiac Twelve.
For the Zodiacs, the truly life-or-death moment was yet to come.
Their next lives seemed to hang on Beyond's whim.
Inside the Association headquarters.
A light blue sphere of ice covered almost the entire lobby.
Phyllis leaned back in his chair, his right hand propping up his cheek, the tall hat on his head tilted like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
For a moment there, I couldn't tell if the Zodiac Twelve were all talk, or if the boss is just too strong.
Despite being outside the "refrigerator," Phyllis could monitor the frozen state of everyone inside the space at all times.
From the results, it seemed Beyond hadn't even needed to use his "one extra life" to completely thaw out the Zodiac Twelve.
Is the boss planning to kill them, or keep them around as stepping stones?
Phyllis mused with great interest, completely unconcerned that Beans was just a short distance away.
And Beans had indeed heard him.
He couldn't tell if Phyllis was saying it for his benefit.
But if what Phyllis said was true, it meant Cheadle and the others were in a precarious situation.
Cheadle and the others can't beat Beyond even when they team up...? Although not even the Chairman was Beyond's match, Cheadle and the others have the numbers advantage...
Cold sweat beaded on Beans' forehead, his heart in turmoil.
If Beyond was suddenly overcome with the intent to kill and decided to eliminate the Zodiac Twelve, who had already accepted the V5's special directive, right here, then the future of the Hunter Association would likely plunge into an unprecedented dark abyss.
At this thought, the sweat on Beans' face grew denser.
Mr. Ging... Please hurry up and get here!
Beans' only hope at this moment was Ging, who was supposed to attend the meeting but was habitually late.
He could only pray that Ging was merely late this time, not absent altogether.
Phyllis glanced at Beans' reaction and sneered.
"If prayer worked, people wouldn't be starving to death every day in the southern war-torn region of the Begerosse Union. Also, have you ever heard of the 'Dust People' of the Kukan'yu Kingdom?"
Beans froze, looking cautiously at Phyllis.
Phyllis straightened up slightly, and his crooked, tall chef's hat righted itself with the movement.
"The Dust People of the Kukan'yu Kingdom are born without a future, most of them living hand-to-mouth. I hear some of them have abandoned their original faith and turned to the missionary embrace of the Minbo Republic... Heh."
He suddenly let out a derisive laugh.
"But what's the use? Prayer won't conjure a bowl of rice for you to eat."
Beans didn't dare to respond. He vaguely sensed that the man might be the chatty type who would actively change the subject, and he was in no mood to listen to this right now.
Phyllis, however, didn't care what Beans thought and continued on his own.
"So, instead of praying here, you'd be better off thinking about how to explain this to the V5. I can also give you a little inside info: the boss doesn't actually want the Association to fall into decline. If possible, a mutually beneficial relationship would be best, of course. A pity..."
Phyllis shrugged.
"With the proud nature of that bunch of Zodiacs, a win-win situation is impossible."
"What... do you people really want?!"
Beans finally couldn't help but ask Phyllis.
Phyllis showed a look of surprise and pointed a finger at his temple.
"Is your head full of water? I admit I'm a bit of a chatterbox, but I'm not so idle as to answer a question like that. Besides..."
He glanced at the ice sphere that was continuously emitting a cold chill, then looked back at Beans.
"Even if you knew what role you'd play in this... so what? You can't change anything anyway."
"The V5 will absolutely not turn a blind eye to your actions!"
Beans didn't know what Beyond's team intended to achieve by using the Hunter Association, so he could only hope that their fear of the V5 would prevent them from acting too recklessly.
Phyllis leaned back lazily in his chair and said in a drawn-out tone, "Whatever action the V5 takes next, including having the Association deal with the boss, is meaningless. Sooner or later, they..."
"Meaning?"
A calm voice suddenly sounded beside Phyllis's ear.
"Who?!"
Phyllis jumped in shock, springing up from his chair.
When did he get so close?
There was no trace of his presence at all.
Phyllis whipped his head around to see a tall figure standing quietly in front of the ice sphere.
"Who are you?!"
The previous nonchalance on Phyllis's face vanished in an instant, replaced by focused gravity.
If this person had launched a sneak attack just now, he probably wouldn't have had time to react at all.
A chill spread through his heart at the thought.
"Mr. Morrow!"
Beans suddenly cried out in pleasant surprise, his shout indirectly answering Phyllis's question.
Morrow's gaze shifted from the ice sphere. He turned slightly to nod at Beans, then looked at the tense Phyllis.
"How could it be meaningless?"
He slowly raised his right hand and tapped lightly on the surface of the ice sphere with a bent finger.
"The act of killing Beyond will save me the trouble of looking for him. That is the meaning."
The entire ice sphere suddenly shuddered, and intense ripples spread across its surface.
Phyllis stared intently at Morrow, cold sweat trickling down his temple, not daring to look away for even a second.
This kind of aura... Are you kidding me!
The reason for his tension wasn't the commotion Morrow caused by tapping the ice sphere, nor was it his words about killing Beyond. It was the immense, powerful aura now surging from Morrow's body, far exceeding his scope of understanding.
This was not the scale of aura a human could possess!
"A Nen space, huh."
Just then, a voice came from the doorway.
It was Ging, who had arrived a step behind Morrow.
Beans looked at Ging by the door, then at Morrow in front of the ice sphere, his panicked heart finally calming down.
In his eyes, as long as these two joined forces, there was no problem that couldn't be solved.
"Barging right into the Association. How arrogant."
Ging stepped over the threshold, hands in his pockets, and looked up at the massive, frost-wreathed ice sphere in the lobby.
Without needing any explanation from Beans, he could tell this was undoubtedly the work of Beyond's side.
To dare to strike first, coming directly to the Hunter Association to attack the Zodiac Twelve, even knowing the V5 would take action, such arrogance was indeed rare.
With the successive arrivals of Morrow and Ging, Phyllis's expression grew increasingly grave, and he inwardly cursed his bad luck.
Beans wasted no time, spilling everything that had just happened, including the details of Phyllis's ability, to the two of them as fast as he could.
Phyllis didn't dare make a move, only able to watch as Beans laid his secrets bare.
Then again, he was the one who had voluntarily revealed this ability information to the Zodiac Twelve in the first place.
After Beans finished, Phyllis suppressed the unease in his heart and said with feigned composure:
"This Nen space is indeed my ability, but I advise you not to do anything rash. If I die, it will likely continue to be maintained by the influence of 'Post-Mortem Will.' If you don't want the Zodiac Twelve to be trapped inside forever, you'd best calm down."
Isolated and helpless, Phyllis could only hope that Beyond would finish his business quickly and come out to deal with these two troublesome masters.
However, after personally experiencing the scale of Morrow's aura, Phyllis couldn't help but have a doubt: could Beyond handle a monster like this?
The doubt came as quickly as it went.
Phyllis thought of the Kakin Empire's national treasure, that regalia.
Although the scale of the aura Morrow displayed was shocking, the Kakin Empire's regalia was the most powerful existence of all.
With that thought, his confidence in Beyond and the regalia was swiftly restored.
Hearing Phyllis's words of feigned composure, Ging couldn't help but chuckle.
Post-Mortem Will?
That would be for the best.
He glanced at Morrow's profile out of the corner of his eye.
Phyllis heard Ging's laugh, not understanding why, but he didn't dare let his focus waver, still staring intently at Morrow.
Meanwhile, Morrow had learned from Beans that the effect of this Nen space was to return its trapped occupants to their initial frozen state after their first death.
This was equivalent to being immune to one death.
Putting aside the truth of this ability information for a moment.
Judging solely from the ability's effect, this Nen space was actually more advantageous for the Zodiac Twelve, who were currently fighting Beyond.
After all, Morrow had experienced Beyond's ability before and knew that his hard-to-track attacks were best suited for picking off targets one by one.
He can pull people into the Nen space at will and can also leave it at any time... This must be a Nen space ability that allows free passage in both directions.
Morrow was not misled by Phyllis's claim of being "trapped." Based solely on the information provided by Beans, he deduced the passage mechanism of this Nen space.
As for the user himself...
The instant the thought flashed through his mind, Morrow's figure abruptly vanished.
Phyllis, who had been staring intently at Morrow, tensed up the moment he saw the other man disappear into thin air. He instantly entered a state of maximum alert, preparing to counter an attack that could come from any direction.
However...
Even though he was mentally and spiritually prepared and had pushed his perception to its limit, he still couldn't keep up with Morrow's teleportation speed.
It was too fast.
So fast it was despairing.
What kind of monster is this...?!
Phyllis felt a sudden tightness in his jaw. By the time he reacted, his entire body had been lifted into the air.
Only then did he realize that Morrow had grabbed his jaw and was holding him suspended in the air.
!!
Phyllis's pupils trembled violently.
He wasn't dead yet.
But it was no different from being dead.
Or rather, the moment Morrow displayed that terrifying speed, he, as Morrow's opponent, had been reduced to an ant. An ant that could be easily crushed at any moment.
Morrow looked at him with a calm expression. With a slight exertion of force, a thick aura passed from his hand into Phyllis's body, instantly knocking him unconscious.
"I'm going in first."
Morrow, holding Phyllis, turned back to say to Ging, then strode forward and walked straight into the frost-wreathed ice sphere.
Under the watchful eyes of Ging and Beans, Morrow's body submerged directly into the ice sphere, leaving only ripples spreading across its surface.
"I'll go take a look too, see what's going on."
Ging waved to Beans and strode straight toward the ice sphere.
—--
At this very moment.
Inside the Nen space.
Under Beyond's powerful onslaught, the Zodiac Twelve, despite giving it their all, were still unable to turn the tide of defeat.
Strictly speaking, having died here once, they no longer had the qualifications to confront Beyond head-on.
If they insisted on not compromising, the price they would pay next would be true death.
But the Zodiac Twelve still did not back down, nor did they have any intention of compromising.
They were prepared to die.
The reason for such resolve was not complicated.
It was simply because Beyond had killed Chairman Netero, whom they respected.
During the fight, Beyond had also sensed this. He decisively gave up on the plan for mutual benefit with the Association and instead decided to use the Hunter Association as a stepping stone for his future explorations.
Since that was the case, he would kill half of them first.
"Have you decided how you want to die?"
Beyond's aura flared to its fullest, the Sword of Good Omens in his hand wreathed in an extremely ominous, dense energy.
On the field, every member of the Zodiac Twelve had a tense expression, steeling themselves for the true life-or-death battle to come.
But the outcome of their previous exchange had already made them clearly aware of the gap between themselves and Beyond.
It was a despairing gap, with almost no chance of victory in sight.
Even so, they would choose to meet death on their feet.
Just as the two sides were about to clash again, an aura as dazzling and brilliant as the sun invaded this space without any warning.
Whether it was Beyond or the grimly prepared Zodiacs, their expressions all changed upon feeling the power that swept over them like a tsunami.
"This aura...!"
Both sides looked toward the source of the aura almost simultaneously.
At the edge of the light blue space, the ripples were slowly dissipating. Morrow walked in from there, casually dragging the unconscious Phyllis in his hand.
Seeing Morrow appear with such an astonishing aura, the members of the Zodiac Twelve couldn't hide their shock.
Only Gel let out a soft sigh of relief, the usual coldness in her eyes melting away slightly.
Why had Morrow suddenly appeared here...
Gel had no desire to dwell on it. She only knew that since Morrow was here, there was no longer anything to worry about.
Beyond looked at Morrow, a flicker of surprise in his eyes, but he quickly regained his composure.
The scale of aura the other man was displaying did indeed surprise him.
However, he had the regalia, the Sword of Good Omens. He could deal with them all at once.
Among the Zodiac Twelve, Horse Saccho's eyes widened as he stared at Morrow's sun-like, dazzling aura. He instantly understood that the hope of resolving this crisis lay with Morrow, who had just intervened.
"Beyond's ability is..."
His first reaction was to give Morrow the information. However, he had just started to speak when Beyond's Nothing External to the Mind arrived before him in a flash.
This attack was stronger and more filled with bloodlust than before.
Only now had Beyond truly decided to kill.
This made the power of his attack far surpass any of the previous ones.
Saccho couldn't see the trajectory of Nothing External to the Mind, but he could feel the bloodlust washing over him. His pupils contracted sharply.
In the nick of time, Morrow blinked over, appearing in front of Saccho.
A crimson aura flared on his shoulders, the form of Terpsichora faintly visible.
As he appeared, he shot a hand forward, precisely gripping Beyond's formless Nen attack, which had been condensed from will.
Then, his palm suddenly clenched with force.
The formless Nen attack, which only revealed its shape at the final moment, was crushed by Morrow's raw strength. It disintegrated into streams of visible aura that dissipated from his palm.
"Beyond, are you that afraid of me learning your 'ability information'?"
Morrow's eyes were calm as he said coolly, "Well, now you don't have to worry about such a trivial little thing anymore."
Whether there was more specific information or not was completely unimportant.
Because that formless attack was already useless against him.
This was the meaning Morrow conveyed through his actions and words.
Beyond looked at the streams of aura dissipating from Morrow's palm. He had considered that the current Morrow might be able to dodge or block an attack from Nothing External to the Mind.
He just never expected...
that Morrow would catch it with his bare hand and crush it.
Hey, hey, is that even possible!?
The unforeseen scene left Beyond utterly shaken. He didn't even have the spare mental capacity to process the taunt in Morrow's words about his sudden killing blow aimed at Saccho.
Botobai Gigante, Mizaistom, Ginta, and the other Zodiacs, who had been beaten down by Beyond's Nothing External to the Mind, were all stunned to see Morrow crush an ability of that nature.
Never mind how Morrow perceived and located an invisible attack...
The mere act of crushing it with his bare hand was beyond their comprehension.
Saccho looked at Morrow, who had blocked the fatal blow for him, and murmured, "So strong..."