First, clasping palms together, then striking… this was the initial motion for the 100-Type Guanyin's attacks.
After so many exchanges, the King deeply understood this. So he didn't believe Netero could pull off any more tricks. The subsequent attacks would also be much easier.
Taking his life within a minute might even be an overestimation.
Perhaps just thirty seconds, or even ten seconds, and he could deliver a fatal blow to Netero.
The King's judgment wasn't entirely correct, but it wasn't wrong either.
Even without clasping palms, Netero could still strike, but the power and accuracy would drop significantly.
So, the moment he lost his left arm, Netero had no choice but to use his final trump card at the fastest speed possible.
Without both hands, prayer could still continue.
So-called prayer was an act of the heart. When the heart accurately depicted a form, the image would transform into thought, and thought would ultimately bear fruit.
Netero raised a single palm. Surging Aura erupted from within.
"This will be... my final attack!"
[100-Type Guanyin: Zero Hand!]
A golden Guanyin suddenly manifested behind the King. Its dazzling golden light enveloped the King's back.
Giving the King no room to react, regardless of whether he accepted it, the Guanyin bent forward, separating two palms, enveloping the King's body within them.
In that instant, Netero's face was covered in a black, malevolent Aura. His raised palm lowered four fingers, leaving only the middle finger upright. Then, he gathered all the Aura in his body.
Without holding back, truly squeezing out every last bit of aura, he poured it all into the Guanyin's gaping mouth, forming a dazzling, star-like energy sphere.
Intense killing intent radiated from the sphere, even penetrating the Guanyin's palm-garments, reaching the King's nerves.
Immediately after, the Guanyin, as if roaring, released the accumulated energy sphere in one go, forming an incredibly terrifying Aura Beam that blasted the palm-garments.
Almost instantly, the palm-garments disintegrated. All the energy crashed onto the King.
Boom!
High-density Aura concentrated on a single point, instantly dissolving a large crater.
The resulting shockwave kicked up countless dust, instantly covering the entire area and swallowing the King.
This attack, expending all his Aura, left Netero powerless to sit on the ground. His body withered instantly, like an ancient tree long dead, as if that were his true form.
"Hah... hah..."
Netero lowered his head, breathing heavily. His body had become emaciated, yet it felt as heavy as carrying a mountain.
Dust swept by the wind nearly pushed his collapsing body to the ground.
'Did I kill him?'
Harboring this doubt, after a brief silence, sharp footsteps suddenly emerged from the still-settling dust.
Hearing those footsteps, Netero's black eyes, which had lost all luster, instantly filled with an aura of death.
'Even Guanyin Zero Hand...'
He watched the King emerge from the dust. The King's robust body surface showed wear almost everywhere.
Compared to the countless palm strikes before, this Zero Form had indeed inflicted substantial damage on the King, but it wasn't fatal.
Realizing this, Netero seemed to lower his head powerlessly, his eyelids shadowed.
His technique broken, expending all his strength still couldn't kill the King. He had lost, utterly defeated.
[If I had met this Ant King a few decades earlier...]
Netero's mind held no such thoughts, nor any trace of regret.
It was like exerting full effort to climb a mountain, then seeing the desired view. Then, he thought of life's end.
Afterwards, whether the King killed him or he ended himself, it would be the same result.
"A move that can be called the pinnacle of an individual."
The King walked out of the dust, standing calmly over ten meters in front of Netero, not immediately killing him.
In his view, Netero's current state didn't even deserve the title of enemy. That tree-like body made him lose the desire to even strike.
However, he would still strike and kill Netero now.
After all, that was the true end of a battle.
"To show respect, I will end you myself." The King said this.
"Hehehe..."
Hearing the King, Netero suddenly chuckled softly, then raised his eyes, staring fixedly at the King.
Those lifeless black eyes held a deep, unfathomable malice, causing the King's body to involuntarily shudder.
Clearly turned into an old man waiting for death, yet now, he gave the King a sense of threat far surpassing the previous move.
He didn't know what Netero intended, but intuition told him he must leave here quickly, not directly kill this old man.
Netero raised his hand, index and middle fingers together.
'If there is a hell, let us meet there...'
He only needed to pierce his heart, detonating the Rose implanted within, to drag the King down into hell with him.
That was Netero's contingency plan. From the very start, whether the King won or lost, death was inevitable.
Finger-like dry twigs aimed unhesitatingly at his own chest.
At that moment, a figure suddenly appeared beside Netero, reaching out to carefully grasp Netero's withered, bamboo-like wrist, afraid even a bit more force would snap it.
As this person stopped Netero's action, the King's sense of crisis, like countless spiderwebs covering his body, instantly dissipated completely.
Yet, a lingering palpitation remained.
The King instinctively retreated to create distance, then looked at the human who had come to stop Netero… it was Law.
'So, had Pitou died?'
With his right hand restrained, Netero was momentarily stunned.
His failing gaze followed that arm to the person beside him… Law.
Netero remained silent for a moment, then questioned in a lifeless tone, "Do you know... what you are doing?"
"I know." Law replied.
"Then... are you trying to make me... a sinner?" Netero's chest rose and fell slightly. Even with a weak voice, the anger within was audible.
If they couldn't resolve the King here, the consequences could be endless.
But Law's interference rendered the contingency plan void.
Law didn't respond immediately, silently taking out Grass Jelly, crushing and sprinkling it onto Netero's body.
With Netero's current body, like a candle in the wind, Grass Jelly couldn't cure or restore, only keep him alive.
"I just don't want you to die here. Besides, if Linne found out I stood by and watched you die..."
Law took a few steps, arriving in front of Netero, thus exposing his back to the King.
"In short, I'll handle what comes next."
As soon as the words fell, under Netero's complex gaze, Law activated his Nen Ability, reaching into Netero's body and extracting the Rose bomb, which is about the size of a C4 charge.
Then, facing Netero, back to the King, he inserted the Rose into his own body.
"This way, you can rest assured, right?" Law smiled faintly.