If one were to assign professional roles to the three Royal Guards, it would be as follows:
Assassin: Pitou
Mage: Pouf
Warrior: Youpi
Positioned as a warrior, Youpi naturally possessed high HP, thick skin, and immense strength.
Although Youpi did not have Pitou's speed, he leveraged his own strengths to render Kite's team of three unable to land a decisive blow.
At the very beginning of the battle, Youpi had been somewhat distracted, allowing Kite to seize an opportunity and slice off three of his petal-like tentacles.
However, after that, no matter how they coordinated, they found it difficult to harm Youpi again.
The tentacles and the numerous compound eyes on his head granted Youpi an ability similar to a fly's compound vision. Thus, even when surrounded by numerous smoke soldiers, he appeared composed and at ease.
Moreover, he didn't believe the smoke soldiers could actually hurt him… he simply disliked being hit.
Bam!
A smoke soldier blown out by Morel was lightly brushed by Youpi's elongated arm and instantly dispersed like white smoke blown away by a fan, vanishing completely.
Although composed of smoke, their core was a condensed mass of Manifested Aura, giving the soldiers basic solidity. Yet, a mere brush was enough to destroy them.
Even without Morel's explicit reminder, Kite and Knov understood that the enemy's attacks were extremely powerful. With defense capabilities not specialized in Enhancement like theirs, if hit squarely even once...
Fortunately, the opponent's speed was not fast.
"What, you only know how to dodge?"
The fully transformed Youpi roared. The six arms growing from his shoulders stretched like elongated rubber, sweeping towards Kite and Morel, who were hidden among the smoke soldiers.
With a gust of forceful wind, the smoke soldiers, unable to dodge in time, were easily swept away.
His posture somewhat resembled that of a certain magical beast species from the Dark Continent with shape-shifting abilities, but in terms of presence and sheer violence, Youpi far surpassed that species.
"Tch, smoke again?"
Repeatedly sweeping away, all he found was smoke.
In Youpi's compound eyes, there were dozens of Kites and Morels with identical appearances.
The ability to shape smoke into human forms and replicate identical faces and builds… this usage stirred a trace of irritation in Youpi, but also a peculiar feeling.
'This thing called Nen is truly deep.'
Youpi thought about the profundity of Nen Abilities as he swept away smoke soldiers with his hands.
Like Pouf's cloning ability, like Pitou's puppet ability, as well as the opponent's numerous transforming weapons, and the ability to manipulate smoke.
Compared to them, his own ability was monotonous, merely the simple mobilization of life energy for attacks.
'Anyway, being able to kill them is enough!'
With this thought, Youpi erupted with a violent Aura, accelerating the speed at which he destroyed the smoke soldiers.
Faced with Youpi's overwhelmingly superior strength, Kite and Morel could only temporarily avoid direct confrontation, all while working to create a single opportunity.
If they could just let Knov use [Scream] on Youpi's head, this suppressed battle would end immediately.
Smoke soldiers were destroyed, but Morel would always blow out new ones immediately. Kite would frequently change weapons, disrupting Youpi's concentration.
Unable to find any opening to attack, the extermination team was heavily suppressed by Youpi. It was only due to Morel's smoke soldier strategy that the overwhelmingly one-sided battle fell into a stalemate.
However, Morel's stamina and mental energy were rapidly depleting. If this continued, it probably wouldn't last more than ten minutes...
'We must create an opening for Knov to attack within the limited time.'
Morel gritted his teeth.
Kite was also seeking an opportunity to attack. He had cycled through three weapons: the gun, the magic wand, and the scythe. Although used effectively, the damage was still limited.
'The best weapon is the gun.'
Kite thought, and once again summoned Crazy Slots.
'Haha, what will it be this time?'
Crazy Slots laughed, then the numbers in its mouth rapidly cycled, finally stopping on '7'.
After drawing the number, Crazy Slots mocked, "Tsk tsk, you drew the short straw this time!"
As soon as the words fell, the clown transformed into a heavy mallet, its cumbersome form emanating a heavy presence.
Kite gripped the mallet's handle, a deep furrow appearing on his forehead.
The mallet was heavy and clumsy. For this current battle, there was no worse weapon than this.
Kite sighed softly. If he didn't use it properly, the mallet wouldn't disappear. But recklessly using the mallet for close-range attacks against Youpi could backfire, hindered by the mallet's own clumsiness.
However, he was not fighting alone.
The weapon change allowed Youpi to instantly locate the real body.
His gaze turned cold, and he lunged forward, pressing towards Kite.
"Smoke Screen!"
Morel provided timely support, manipulating nearby smoke soldiers to transform directly into a smoke screen, covering the area where Kite was.
As the smoke screen spread, Kite immediately concealed his aura. Since Youpi was not using In, both Kite and Morel could easily locate Youpi's position within the smoke.
Kite circled around to Youpi's right side.
"Here!"
Youpi, however, judged Kite's position based on the flow of the smoke, but his attack landed on the left side.
But it's a misjudgment!
Boom!
Under the force of the impact, the ground cracked.
Simultaneously, taking advantage of the smoke cover, Kite swung the mallet and slammed it heavily onto Youpi's head.
With a dull thud, some blood sprayed into the air.
Youpi's massive figure was sent flying backward, landing and rolling several times before stopping.
After using the mallet, Kite did not hesitate to cancel the ability and used it again, this time conjuring the scythe.
'Still didn't come out? Never mind, the scythe will work too. As long as I can lure the enemy to the cylinder tower, then cut off the top part... Time left, one minute and five seconds.'
Kite watched Youpi stand up again in such a short time, his expression grave.
The heavy impact characteristic of the mallet, plus hitting the head... yet the enemy could stand up so quickly, and the injury didn't seem severe at all.
Morel, among the smoke soldiers, also showed a grim expression.
He had manipulated the flow of the smoke screen to create the illusion of Kite moving left, while stabilizing the smoke flow on the right, causing Youpi to make an incorrect judgment, allowing Kite to land a direct hit on Youpi. But the effect didn't seem significant.
'We can only rely on Knov's Scream now...'
Morel's grip on his smoke pipe tightened, his knuckles turning white.
Youpi stood up, suddenly throwing his head back and roaring.
He felt rage.
To put it bluntly, Youpi, not adept at complex thought, still hadn't realized that the root cause trapping his hands and feet was that smoke pipe.
If Pouf were here, he would undoubtedly try to first remove Morel's smoke pipe, rather than waste energy dealing with the smoke soldiers and being led around by the nose.
In his enraged state, Youpi began attacking recklessly, regardless of consequences.
Not considering Aura Consumption at all, nor needing to, he charged forward...
That furious Aura imposed even deeper pressure on Kite and Morel.
Inside the Hide-and-Seek space.
Knov's hand holding the key was trembling slightly.
"Can I do this?"
He whispered to himself, biting his lip. Perhaps even he hadn't noticed, his voice was trembling too.
"I... can I do this?!"
Another self-question, revealing Knov's inner fear.
After getting close to Youpi's intense, palpable Aura and strength, Knov witnessed the true terror of the Royal Guards. They were utter monsters!
And now, the team was placing their hope on him. It was immense pressure!
He had to open the door and emerge when the building debris fell towards Youpi, then use [Scream] to erase the enemy's head.
But... could he do it?