The essence of Nen exorcism can generally be summarized into four steps:
Identify the target → Use the ability → Transfer to oneself → Purify and transcend.
The first two stages correspond to the exorcism ability.
The latter two stages correspond to the exorcism strength.
The former tests the exorcist's insight and judgment.
The latter tests the exorcist's skill and risk tolerance.
The reason Kanzai and Nenze were so astonished was because they only saw the first three steps, failing to recognize the risks and costs Morrow bore when purifying the Post-Mortem Will.
Conventionally, no matter how powerful an exorcist is, they must first endure the negative effects brought by the Nen when removing and purifying Post-Mortem Will.
In other words, when an exorcist transfers Post-Mortem Will onto themselves, their body will exhibit obvious abnormalities.
For example, the pitch-black carbonized substance on Kanzai's body.
This is a manifestation of Post-Mortem Will's power and the price the exorcist must pay.
Yet Morrow's performance completely defied this norm.
When transferring the Post-Mortem Will, he not only showed no negative symptoms but effortlessly purified it entirely.
Could it really be because the Post-Mortem Will was too weak?
Impossible.
If the Post-Mortem Will had truly been that feeble, Nenze wouldn't have failed to even complete the second step when exorcising ordinary people earlier.
Moreover, the Post-Mortem Will on Kanzai was far stronger than that of an average person, yet Morrow handled it with ease. This clearly couldn't be explained by mere "weakness."
One thing was certain: Morrow's ability had surpassed the scope of conventional exorcists.
Kanzai quickly checked his body, confirming that the Post-Mortem Will attached to him was completely gone.
Then he looked at Morrow's utterly unaffected body and asked in shock, "Morrow, are you… really okay?"
Beside him, Nenze had even used Gyo to inspect Morrow's body but found no trace of Post-Mortem Will, not even a single black thread.
This proved that the Post-Mortem Will had indeed been fully purified.
Otherwise, there should have been thin black Nen threads.
Overwhelmed by astonishment, Nenze felt a surge of intense curiosity.
How had this young man before him accomplished this?
As a fellow exorcist, Nenze knew better than to pry into another exorcist's ability secrets, so he forcibly suppressed his curiosity.
"I'm fine."
Morrow observed Kanzai and Nenze's reactions, finding them slightly odd.
As he had said, the Post-Mortem Will attached to Kanzai wasn't particularly strong by any measure.
If another exorcist skilled in removing Post-Mortem Will had been here, they could have done the same, right?
If Morrow remembered correctly, since his death he had encountered four types of Post-Mortem Will.
The first was the Post-Mortem Will left behind by the attacker on the airship, driven by intense loyalty. It didn't seek revenge against Morrow, the perpetrator, but instead strove to complete its master's mission even in death.
The second was the ancient corpse emitting Post-Mortem Will in the laboratory at the border of the Kukan'yu Kingdom. The Essence Siphon power of Shooting Star had been granted by the Post-Mortem Will on that corpse.
The third was the Executioner's Blade seen at the Yorknew Auction. When absorbing its power, Morrow was forced to experience the resentment and fury of those who had been beheaded. The fourth type was the Post-Mortem Will of Orion, a severe psychiatric patient, which also happened to be the most powerful Post-Mortem Will Morrow had encountered so far.
In comparison, the Post-Mortem Will attached to Kanzai was so weak that Morrow didn't even sense the slightest emotional residue from it, let alone any surge in energy.
This clearly demonstrated how insignificant the strength of this Post-Mortem Will truly was.
Logically speaking, such a weak Post-Mortem Will...
Morrow grew increasingly puzzled. He raised his gaze to Kanzai and asked, "With your level of vitality and aura, you shouldn't have been affected by something like this."
"..."
Kanzai's lips twitched. Though he knew Morrow's words carried no hidden meaning, he couldn't help but feel like they implied, You're just too weak, huh?
Nearby, Nenze had initially wanted to seize the opportunity to ask about Morrow's Nen exorcism ability but ultimately held back.
Meanwhile, Kanzai was eager to learn how Morrow had managed it, as this directly concerned their next course of action.
"Morrow, if we're talking about Post-Mortem Wills of this level, what's the maximum you can handle?" Kanzai asked.
"Any amount is fine."
Morrow answered without hesitation.
Both Kanzai and Nenze were startled by this response, instinctively exchanging glances.
"This..." Nenze finally couldn't hold back anymore. "How do you do it? I'm also an Exorcist, though I'm not skilled in removing Post-Mortem Nen, I'm well aware of the difficulty involved..."
Before Morrow could respond, Nenze quickly added, "You don't have to answer if you don't want to. I understand."
Morrow glanced at Kanzai. Judging from their reactions, it seemed that even exorcising a Post-Mortem Will of this level was considered an extraordinary feat.
Were they surprised by the "zero risk" aspect?
After a brief thought, Morrow turned to Nenze and calmly explained, "There's no reason not to say. I've established a Vow and Limitation, my ability can only exorcise Post-Mortem Nen. Because of this restriction, my Nen exorcism ability becomes far more effective when dealing with Post-Mortem Wills."
"So that's how it is...!"
Nenze's eyes slowly widened in realization.
An exorcism ability exclusively for Post-Mortem Nen.
Such an approach was extremely rare among Exorcists.
Even if someone had such an idea, whether they could actually achieve it was another matter entirely.
Most Exorcists tended to develop abilities specialized in exorcising "living Nen," as it carried lower risks and had broader applications compared to Post-Mortem Nen.
Moreover, due to the limitations of Nen capacity, many Exorcists found it difficult to expand their abilities to include Post-Mortem Nen after developing techniques for living Nen.
Of course, some Exorcists used Vows and Limitations to gain partial effectiveness against Post-Mortem Nen while maintaining their ability to exorcise living Nen.
However, the more common approach was to specialize in methods that could seal or suppress Post-Mortem Nen.
This was the path Nenze had chosen, and the same went for Sanbica's master.
More importantly, in most cases, opportunities to exorcise living Nen were far more frequent, making it a steadier and more lucrative business.
Coupled with the higher risks involved in exorcising Post-Mortem Nen, Nenze found it hard to imagine someone deliberately developing an ability solely for that purpose, let alone establishing a Vow and Limitation for it.
Thus, when he heard Morrow had taken such a vow, he couldn't help but feel a surge of respect.
Morrow, however, remained unaware of Nenze's thoughts. The Vow and Limitation he mentioned earlier were just to make it easier for them to accept the phenomenon, so it wouldn't seem too shocking.
Ignoring Nenze's reaction, Morrow turned to Kanzai and asked, "A Post-Mortem Will of this level shouldn't trouble you so much, right? What exactly happened?"
"It's a short story, but..."
Kanzai quickly adjusted his mood, sighing as soon as he began speaking.
Morrow and Nenze hesitated to speak.
But Kanzai, oblivious, continued, "Do you remember the interview clip of the Third Princess of Kukan'yu Kingdom we saw on TV a few months ago?"
"I remember."
Morrow nodded slightly.
At the time, when the princess appeared on TV after supposedly dying, his first thought was of a body double.
And it was precisely to uncover the truth behind this that Kanzai insisted on venturing deep into the Kukan'yu Kingdom.
Kanzai said gravely, "She... truly came back from the dead."
"..."
Morrow remained calm, waiting for Kanzai's explanation.
But Kanzai didn't continue. Instead, he stared at Morrow.
Morrow asked, puzzled, "What's wrong? Go on."
"You're not even a little surprised???"
Kanzai widened his eyes, his tone disbelieving. "Coming back from the dead, damn it! Even though Nen is full of possibilities, resurrection is still unimaginable. How can you react like this after hearing such a thing?!"
"..."
Morrow was momentarily speechless, then deadpanned, "How unbelievable. There's actually an ability in this world that can bring people back from the dead."
Not to mention the Cat's Name ability from the original work, which could revive on the spot...
Still, without witnessing such an ability firsthand, a Nen user would indeed struggle to imagine it possible.
Seeing Morrow's half-hearted reaction, Kanzai clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Perhaps Morrow's display of Nen exorcism ability was so overpowering that Kanzai now felt much more at ease.
Or maybe the heavy pressure he'd accumulated over this period had dissipated along with the disappearance of the blackened, carbonized substance on his body.
In his view, even if Morrow couldn't completely resolve his current predicament, this level of Nen exorcism ability alone could minimize the risks to the lowest possible extent.
Compared to being utterly helpless before, this was already the best outcome.
Kanzai continued, "After investigating and finally figuring it out, even though I didn't understand how the Third Princess did it, I no longer had any intention of pursuing the matter further..."
His initial goal had only been to uncover the truth behind the Third Princess's appearance on TV.
As for how she had come back from the dead, while he was curious, the weight on his mind had already lifted, so he naturally didn't want to invest more time and effort into it.
All he sought was peace of mind.
"But just as I was about to leave Kukan'yu, the Third Princess sent someone to find me. She must have noticed my investigation by then."
Kanzai lowered his gaze and said solemnly, "Yet she didn't give me any trouble. She simply requested a meeting in a very casual manner. But I refused at the time. Strangely, she seemed to anticipate my reaction and had her subordinate relay a single message."
"Oh?"
Hearing this, Morrow grew somewhat curious. Nenze also seemed to have never heard Kanzai mention these things before, staring intently at him.
Under their gazes, Kanzai slowly explained, "She said that the reason I could master the ability to revive after death was all thanks to you..."
"And you just took the bait?"
Morrow naturally followed up.
Hearing this, Kanzai immediately bared his teeth in annoyance. "Don't use words like 'took the bait', it makes me sound stupid. Be reasonable, if it were you, would you have turned a blind eye to it?"
"No."
Morrow replied swiftly.
Kanzai wore an expression that said, "See, you'd do the same," only to hear Morrow's next words.
"I definitely wouldn't turn a blind eye to such bait."
"Huh?"
Hearing Morrow's heavily emphasized phrasing, Kanzai suddenly sensed something off but couldn't pinpoint why, furrowing his brow.
Beside them, Nenze sighed silently and reminded, "Kanzai, what you meant to say was 'turn a blind eye'."
"What?"
Kanzai didn't catch on at first, but after recalling Morrow's odd response earlier, it finally clicked.
You're mocking me!!
(▼皿▼#)
A vein bulged on Kanzai's forehead as he glared fiercely at Morrow.
Unfazed, Morrow asked, "What happened next?"
"Tch."
Kanzai gradually eased his fierce expression and sighed. "Then I accepted the invitation. The Third Princess wasn't standoffish, or rather, she was... exceptionally confident. She outright revealed her ability to revive from death."
As he spoke, Kanzai recalled the image of the Third Princess.
Her confidence wasn't born from the belief that she could conquer death.
Rather, it was a personality trait that stemmed naturally from the depths of her soul.
People like her were born to be Specialization types.
"The ability that allowed her to revive from death was the harp solo movement of the Sonata of Darkness. I know nothing about music, but I've heard of the Sonata of Darkness. I just never imagined it could have such an ability."
While recounting this, Kanzai noticed Morrow's unusual reaction.
"Seems you've heard of the Sonata of Darkness too."
"Rumors, mostly."
Suppressing his surprise, Morrow asked, "An ability like reviving from death must come at a tremendous cost, right?"
"Exactly."
Kanzai wasn't the least bit surprised that Morrow had guessed this.
From the moment he first met Morrow, he'd realized how sharp the man was.
Had Morrow known what Kanzai was thinking, he might have objected.
His ability to foresee the immense risks tied to the Sonata of Darkness as a mystical artifact was largely based on his knowledge of the original music Hunter Melody's experience.
If he remembered correctly, Melody had encountered the flute solo version.
But even without that reference, Kanzai's Post-Mortem Will phenomenon alone would have been enough to hint at it.
It just went to show that while Kanzai could be a bit dim at times, his combat prowess was astonishingly the opposite.
"So..."
Morrow looked at Kanzai and asked, "The Post-Mortem Will I removed was part of the cost of that revival ability?"
"Right."
Kanzai nodded quickly and continued, "I'm not sure how the Third Princess transferred the cost, but there are still many people like me being eroded by this ominous power. They don't understand Nen and could die at any moment. That's where I need your help."
"Removing the Post-Mortem Will from those people? I'd be glad to help. But isn't the key issue the root cause?"
Morrow analyzed calmly, "From your description, we can basically conclude that the ability of the harp solo movement likely also relies on Post-Mortem Will. So as long as we remove it, we can solve the problem completely."
"That's true, but..."
Kanzai's expression turned serious upon hearing this. "Morrow, can you actually do it?"
Morrow flashed a confident smile and answered without hesitation, "Absolutely no problem."
"..."
Kanzai slowly widened his eyes, infected by Morrow's confidence.
Only now did he finally relax and laugh, sighing with emotion, "You kid... you're truly remarkable."
"Let's go. First, we'll deal with the Post-Mortem Will attached to those ordinary people."
Morrow stood up.
Although the energy provided by the carbonization phenomenon wasn't much, when accumulated in quantity it was still something to look forward to.