When Meruem attacked, he left the rain trail behind. When Law counterattacked, he slashed out an Aura Slash that split the rain curtain.
It was that Aura Slash that gave Meruem a sense of crisis, and it was unavoidable.
Thus, Meruem decisively opened his palm, forcibly gripping the incoming Aura Slash.
With a sound like shattering glass, the Aura Slash exploded in his palm, mercilessly halting Meruem's momentum and pushing his body back.
However, Meruem didn't lose balance, landing steadily. His right palm now bore a shallow cut, blood seeping out.
At that moment, Meruem felt a strange sensation.
This was merely an Aura Slash that scratched his palm's surface, yet at that moment, it gave him a dangerous feeling… a contradiction hard to describe in words.
Just like the slowness and extremity of Netero's clasped palms, the slash from Law seemed not particularly powerful but contained a dangerous element that couldn't be underestimated.
No time to identify the contradiction, no time to ponder the feeling.
The moment Meruem steadied himself, a figure crashed through the rain curtain. On the rusted long blade, coiled a white light that couldn't be ignored.
The thought of blocking it and quickly counterattacking arose but was inexplicably extinguished instantly… a needle-like sense of crisis.
'Can't take it head-on?'
Meruem's brows slightly furrowed, a hint of self-questioning puzzlement. At this moment, the long blade split the rain curtain, chopping down overhead. With no time to think, he chose a short hop backward, avoiding the rusted blade's imposing force.
'Compared to the high hit rate after blocking then attacking, avoiding first then countering has a lower hit rate.'
'But that lingering sense of crisis forces me to choose avoidance.'
'Meaning, when that rusted blade strikes, I can only avoid then counter?'
'Like the move 'Swallow Leaving the Nest'...'
The so-called [Swallow Leaving the Nest] was a Gungi move where the left fortress and right bow formed a pincer attack, forcing the opponent into defensive retreat instead of active offense.
Splash!
Meruem's heel kicked into the shallow puddle, exploding into a jellyfish-shaped splash of water.
Immediately after, the front of his foot pressed hard into the ground, gathering strength, his entire body surging forward.
He followed his judgment: avoid first, then counterattack.
His right arm, covered in abundant life energy, shot forward like a spear past the descending rusted blade, aiming to pierce Law's head.
At that moment, the White General manifested from behind Law, its massive long blade slashing head-on at Meruem.
In that instant, the conjured long blade felt more like a baseball bat, unable to cut Meruem, only sending him flying.
'The same technique...?'
Meruem's mind conjured the image of the golden Guanyin.
He flew backward, shattering countless raindrops, then heavily embedded into the rocky mountain. Moments later, the mountain's surface cracked extensively, large rock fragments tumbling down to the ground, splashing water.
When fighting Netero, after being struck flying by a palm, Meruem could immediately adjust posture to counterattack. But being struck flying by the White General's blade, he couldn't do that.
The reason was, the White General's slash that hit Meruem wasn't just a simple strike… it carried an accompanying Aura Slash shot forth.
That Aura Slash suppressed Meruem, preventing him from freely adjusting his posture mid-air.
With Meruem pressed into the mountain by the Aura Slash and vision lost, out of caution, Law didn't recklessly pursue, merely standing still watching the extensively collapsed mountain.
Fighting Pitou gave Law a rough reference: the White General's slashes couldn't break Meruem's defense. Only Shin, imbued with God Hand's Ability, could cut through their defense.
'Against the King, even if I get a chance to remove his right arm, I can't let my guard down for a moment.' Law thought silently as rain continuously slid down his face.
The current Meruem lacked one arm. If only God Hand's ability could break the King's defense, then a one-hit kill was impossible… they had to proceed gradually.
Therefore, Law's goal wasn't to behead Meruem but the lower-risk option: the arm, then the legs, finally the finishing blow.
Boom!
At that moment, the rocky mountain suddenly cracked open. Even with torrential rain, it stirred up dust.
Meruem shot out like a dragon from the dust, from high to low, directly charging at Law's location.
Law's expression was stern. Shin was held diagonally at his side, the blade tip not far from the ground.
"Hmm?"
Accurately capturing Meruem's falling trajectory, he concluded it wasn't aimed at himself.
'One meter, or two meters?'
In an extremely brief moment, Law judged Meruem's landing point was between one to two meters in front of him.
With this judgment as foundation, his combat thoughts rapidly churned, urgently needing to discern Meruem's next move in a short time.
Boom!
A thunderclap suddenly roared from the clouds.
Meruem landed, stirring up rainwater and rock fragments, splashing towards Law.
This was Meruem's motive for choosing that landing point.
Law calmly retreated two steps. Following past combat habits, he would habitually open his Domain to block these rock fragments and rain that could burst an ordinary person's head. But he didn't.
The reason was simply because the opponent was Meruem. So, Law would rather endure rock fragment damage than weaken the defense covering his body.
Letting the rocks strike him, Law's gaze fixed intently on Meruem's movements, not leaving for a moment.
Seeing this, Meruem's foot pressed against the ground, his speed instantly exploding forth.
He didn't expect such smokescreen tricks to be effective. Ultimately, it was still a frontal assault.
Watching Meruem attack, Law seemed to see the shadow of the Royal Guards.
Essentially similar to Pitou and Youpi… no martial arts-like moves, no techniques, just utilizing speed and physical fitness for the most direct, brutal attacks.
But... something was different.
Law swung his blade towards the head-on attacking Meruem but subconsciously held back some force.
Facing Law's incoming rusted blade, the tail behind Meruem suddenly slapped the ground, forcibly altering his trajectory, stepping to the right and dodging this slash.
One slash missed. Meruem's chosen direction was the dead angle after Law's swing.
'As expected...'
Law's heart skipped a beat. He summoned the backup White General, slashing towards Meruem on the right.
But Meruem, having suffered once, was prepared. In ultra-high-speed motion, he once again swung his tail.
This time, it wasn't slapping the ground to change direction but directly blocking the White General's incoming slash. Simultaneously, he extended his right hand, aiming to directly take Law's head.
That was a quite precise decision, also determining the White General's attack posed no threat. So, he didn't choose to use his tail to change direction again but took the White General head-on.
Thus, there was ample attack space.
Unfortunately, the Shin Law had subconsciously held back was already returning to defense the moment Meruem used his tail to block the White General's blade.
Therefore, at that moment with high success probability, the intense sense of crisis made Meruem abandon the attack.
Unable to know if this choice was correct, Meruem simply followed his instinct.
This choice also made this brief exchange end with both sides separating.
…
The smallest room in the Hide-and-Seek space.
Nique's body was wrapped in Aura. One hand covered his left eye, while the other held grass, occasionally stuffing it into his mouth, then chewing with relish.
Zooming in, one would be surprised to find his right eye's pupil reflected the scene of the King and Law fighting.