The strength of the Royal Guards was like a nightmare, etched into Knov's soul.
Terrifying monsters, defying all reason, possessing immeasurable power, completely undefeatable...
Various negative perceptions stacked like blocks, building a towering structure exuding despair deep within Knov's heart.
Facing enemies of that monstrous level, how could they possibly win?
Right, it wasn't that they were too weak, but the enemies were too strong. Strong to the point where there was no chance of victory.
But no matter how he rationalized it, the mistake he had made could not be erased… unless someone could kill that monster.
When Youpi displayed an even more powerful form and effortlessly destroyed Morel's pipe, Knov's entire heart felt like a withered flower, utterly bleak.
Then, Law arrived, bringing with him a holy light that illuminated that withered flower within his heart.
'That monster wasn't invincible!'
'As long as that monster died, the price paid for my mistake could be minimized!'
'Kill that monster!'
Immobilized and barely able to speak, Knov could only scream madly in his heart.
Without a doubt, from the moment Law arrived, Youpi, who had been overwhelming Kite's team of three and Zeno, was now being soundly suppressed by Law.
Youpi's Manifested Aura was already astonishingly immense. When covering his entire body, it was akin to a Nen User gathering all their Manifested Aura for Ken. When controlling its flow, it provided defense and toughness far surpassing Ken.
If not for this, he would have been sliced into pieces long ago.
Of course, if Youpi stood still, Law could easily cleave him into a pulp with a single slash.
But Youpi wasn't a wooden stake. In such an intense battle, Law couldn't casually pour all his Manifested Aura into a single attack.
After all, no matter how strong he was, he was still human. If he rashly used Ko, other parts of his body would lack Aura Defense and could be injured even by glancing blows.
Compared to Pitou's speed and reactions, the immensely strong but relatively clumsy Youpi was easier to deal with.
However, Youpi's skin was much tougher than Pitou's.
Even then, his threat level was even lower than Pitou's.
Different types presented different difficulties.
For a warrior like Youpi, facing fast enemies left him completely defenseless, forced to rely on his powerful defense to withstand damage.
In other words, if the enemy's damage wasn't high enough, no matter their speed, it was useless. You could simply tank all the damage and exhaust the enemy to death.
But the person he encountered was Law, who is not only fast but also possessing sufficient strength and damage.
That rusted blade, seemingly ready to snap at any moment, continuously stung Youpi's nerves.
"Damn it."
Youpi had transformed from extreme rage to extreme calm, achieving a metamorphosis. But now, he felt a resurgence of that extreme rage.
'The gun is useless.'
While parrying Law's storm-like assault, Youpi altered the structure of his arm again. With a writhing motion, it transformed into a giant hammer.
Its appearance somewhat resembled the hammer-type weapon Kite had earlier conjured. The difference was that the hammer's back had several black holes.
'One solid hit is enough!'
Youpi's gaze turned cold. He swung the scythe, relying on his extreme biological instinct, executing a beautiful hooking parry that accurately blocked Law's incoming slash.
"Oh?"
Law was slightly surprised, mainly because Youpi's timing for the parry was chosen too perfectly.
It seemed that during the fight with Kite and the others, Youpi had absorbed quite a bit of experience.
As the long blade was parried, Youpi poured in strength, using brute force to pin Law in place. Simultaneously, he raised the giant hammer transformed from his other arm.
Whoosh!
The black holes at the hammer's back expelled multiple bursts of Aura, generating short, explosive force, propelling the hammer to smash against his own scythe.
The immense force transmitted through the objects was about to transfer onto Law's long blade.
"Break!"
Youpi's eyes widened with fury, flickering with savage light.
However, the anticipated scenario didn't occur. Law's long blade inexplicably vanished.
The transmitted force met empty air, and Law's figure disappeared at that moment.
Boom!
The hammer pressed the scythe, crashing heavily into the ground.
Then, Youpi stared in shock as Law stepped onto the hammer. As he looked over, he saw Law lightly leap, like a gymnast placing a hand on a vault, flipping through the air.
Only, Law's hand was pressed against his head.
In that instant, two lumps bulged on Youpi's shoulders, rapidly growing into two robust arms that grabbed towards Law's right hand.
But Law was faster. Pushing off with his palm, his entire body shot backward.
Simultaneously, Youpi felt an intense heat materialize on his forehead.
Whoosh!
A swirling, raging pillar of fire erupted without warning, engulfing his body.
Law had, after retracting Shin, with extremely fast handiwork, excised a few Chasefire Stone and placed them on Youpi's head.
In that flurry of actions, there was no time to properly channel Aura, otherwise, Law would have had more options. For example, gathering enough Aura to pierce Youpi's defense and embed the Chasefire Stone directly into his head.
The fiery pillar burned fiercely, and Youpi let out agonized screams from within.
Attempting to escape the fire, he despairingly realized the pillar moved with his movements.
Instantly, Youpi linked it to Law's hand pressing against his forehead. The heat's core emanated from his head.
Moments later, the energy within the Chasefire Stone was fully released, and the fire pillar vanished, revealing Youpi, covered in burn marks. The burns on his head were the most severe, with bone vaguely visible.
But quickly, like a snake shedding skin, the charred flesh sloughed off. Fleshy buds writhed as new tissue rapidly regenerated.
The head recovered first, followed by the body.
However, Law wasn't a fool. Having witnessed Youpi's unreasonable regeneration, would he just stand there?
He summoned Shin, used [Instant], his figure vanishing from his original spot. The next moment, he appeared to Youpi's left, deliberately pausing, giving Youpi enough time to react.
As Law anticipated, Youpi immediately channeled aura to his left arm, unceremoniously striking towards him.
'During regeneration, the distribution of Aura across his body is completely imbalanced.'
A gleam flashed in Law's eyes. Attacking from the left was merely a diversion.
As Youpi's attack arrived, Law pivoted on his foot, instantly circling to Youpi's right. He crouched low, retracting Shin, retrieving a toxin from the Kuro's space, and slapped it onto Youpi's left ankle.
Because, when swinging his left arm, the leg responsible for stability was the right one. Combined with the burns mostly being on the upper body, initiating regeneration diverted a significant amount of Aura.
The ultimate result was that the Aura distributed to Youpi's left foot was extremely thin.
Law didn't miss this opportunity, forcing the toxin into Youpi's body.
Without the aid of a blade, he could only use his bare hands.
So, he had to target the enemy's Aura-weak spots.
After injecting the toxin, Law retreated gracefully.
This was a trump card he rarely revealed.
Outside the combat zone, Kite and the others were stunned, not understanding why Law gave up such a good offensive opportunity. Even Youpi himself couldn't help showing confusion.
When Law, like a wolf, targeted his Aura's weakest point, Youpi was startled. But considering his regeneration, he thought it didn't matter.
What he didn't expect was that Law merely touched him and left. It was like having the chance to drive in a large iron nail but choosing instead to give a mosquito bite.
Law retreated over fifty meters, then turned to look at Youpi, resting his chin on his hand, an expectant look on his face.
He wanted to see the toxin's effect.
Youpi was puzzled but didn't overthink it, taking the chance to activate his regeneration, quickly healing the burns.
Over ten seconds passed. Youpi's body suddenly shuddered.
"You... what did you do?"
Youpi stared at Law in horror. Blood poured from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears like open faucets.
"You guess."
Law replied habitually.
'Poison?'
Kite and the others widened their eyes.