Chapter 17: Meteor

The car was severely crumpled by the violent impact, its hood nearly fused with the trunk of a tree by the roadside.

Thick white smoke billowed from the twisted, deformed engine compartment, with faint flickers of flame visible within.

Twelve hundred meters away, on a slope along the road, a man in camouflage lay prone, a sniper rifle mounted before him.

"Continue."

A cold voice echoed in the sniper's earpiece.

Upon hearing the order, the sniper aimed at the mangled vehicle, half-shrouded in dense smoke. He locked his sights onto the estimated position of the driver's seat based on intuition, then pulled the trigger.

A crisp snap followed.

A long, pointed bullet shot from the silencer, trailing a fleeting streak of fire as it tore through the night, striking the smoke-covered car with precision.

Then came another shot, and another, and another...

The sniper worked the bolt and fired until the magazine was empty. Obscured by the smoke, he relied entirely on experience to pinpoint his target. Yet, as long as the target remained trapped in the driver's seat, he felt absolute confidence in his shots.

After emptying his rifle, he immediately began to reload. He did not fire again, opting instead to observe the burning wreck and the surrounding area through his scope while awaiting further orders.

*BOOM—*

Suddenly, the car exploded.

Flames surged into the sky, pushing the billowing smoke higher. A wave of heat flattened the surrounding grass.

Behind a large tree a few meters away, Moro leaned against the trunk, his eyes cold. He was covered in dirt and grime. Fortunately, the defensive effect of his Nen had protected him; when he used brute force to smash through the passenger door amidst the smoke, he hadn't been scratched by the sharp metal or glass shards.

He had dashed into the woods under the cover of darkness, using one of the large trees as a shield while waiting for the sniper’s next move. The sniper’s continuous firing at the car had confirmed that his current cover was temporarily safe. However, he dared not move recklessly, lest he reveal his position to the sniper.

Moro calmed his racing heart.

"What was that just now?"

Reflecting on the near-death experience, a flicker of shock crossed his eyes. When the bullet tore through the night, he had sensed the scent of death. Before the windshield shattered, a spark of intuition had flared in his mind. Acting on pure instinct, he had tilted his head, narrowly avoiding the lethal shot.

He knew that with his current level of Nen, even if he could utilize "Gyo" in time to bolster his local defenses, he could not withstand a sniper rifle. Furthermore, in such a sudden ambush, he could never react faster than the bullet. In that situation, the only way to survive was to dodge.

Ultimately, it came down to his hardware. His current peak aura capacity and the intensity of his "Ren" were insufficient to face a high-powered firearm like a sniper rifle.

If his hardware were strong enough, he could withstand a sniper rifle even without using "Gyo" to reinforce his defense. Thus, for Moro, he would rather face a Nen user at close range than deal with the long-distance threat of a sniper. In a sense, a sniper was more difficult to contend with than someone like Zazan.

It was frustrating, but it was reality.

Moro reached up and touched his earlobe—it was bleeding. If not for that split-second sense of danger...

Moro exhaled, pushing down his astonishment as his expression turned solemn.

"If I don't eliminate that sniper..."

The constant threat of being targeted would severely limit his mobility. If there were other enemies, he would be in even greater danger. The only good news was that there appeared to be only one sniper. If there were a second, he would be lucky to escape with his life.

"At least a thousand meters away..."

The sniper's decision to fire continuously, seemingly unconcerned about revealing his position, had presented Moro with an opportunity. However, even with the location known, how to close the distance remained a difficult problem. The greater the distance, the higher the risk.

If he chose to retreat to avoid the fight without knowing the enemy's maximum range, he would be exposing his back. If there were multiple attackers, any choice could lead to a more dangerous situation. This was the most troublesome aspect.

Before dealing with the sniper, it was more important to determine the number of attackers. If possible, pinpointing their locations would be better. Only then could he decide whether to advance or retreat with confidence.

That was the standard way of thinking—but Moro had another option.

Confirming the number of attackers and tracking them would take time. In his current situation, every passing second increased the unknown risks. The worst-case scenario was that the sniper would reposition and continue to exert pressure from the shadows.

Therefore, rather than confirming information in a stalemate, Moro preferred to attempt a swift kill. And he could not afford a moment of hesitation. He had to capitalize on the sniper's "confidence" in repeatedly firing—before that confidence vanished—and use the established location to eliminate the threat with a thunderous blow.

"I only have one chance."

Moro closed his eyes, constructing a series of linear trajectories in his mind: the distribution of the surrounding trees, the burning car, the undulating road, and the hillside in the distance...

He eliminated every obstacle on the straight path one by one, searching for a viable trajectory.

A few seconds later, Moro opened his eyes, his pupils shimmering with Nen.

"Deceptive Flying Star."

He raised his hand, adjusting the angle. Bright Nen gathered in his palm, condensing into a fist-sized orb of light.

*Whoosh—*

The star shot forth, passing through the branches and leaves, and hovered in mid-air a hundred meters away.

At the same time, Moro dashed out from behind the tree, standing at a pre-calculated spot. He watched as the Flying Star expanded and flew back toward him.

As the star reached his face, Moro sidestepped at the very last second.

The light from the Flying Star flashed past his eyes and, like a meteor, streaked through the gaps in the nearby woods toward the distant sniper.

The second stage of the Deceptive Flying Star—the "Swallow Return."

While granting the vow-based effect of doubled speed and power, it carried a corresponding restriction: it would cause equal damage to Moro himself. With this premise, as Moro timed his dodge to avoid the returning star...

Under the influence of the restriction, the Swallow Return would break free from the limit of its original "flight distance," and its power would not decay over distance until it struck an obstacle.

Moro utilized the mechanics of the restriction to push the range of the Flying Star beyond the initial hundred-meter limit.

In an instant—

Like a streak of light, it aimed directly at the target a kilometer away.

On the distant hillside, the sniper noticed Moro suddenly revealing his position. He quickly locked in, controlled his breathing, and pressed the trigger.

"Huh!?"

Just as the sniper was about to fire, his scope was suddenly filled with a blinding light.

"What... the...?!"

The sniper looked up abruptly.

The next moment, the hillside exploded. The violent impact, carrying sand and stone, swallowed the sniper. In a single glance, the sniper was blasted backward, his body torn to shreds like a rag doll, dead before he hit the ground.

In another location, a man with a sinister expression stared fixedly at the explosion, his face filled with disbelief. He had seen the Nen projectile, which had flown a thousand meters like a meteor.

"From that distance... how could it still have such power?"

He removed his static-filled earpiece, his shock turning into hesitation as he looked toward Moro’s position. Emission-type Nen users were better at projecting their aura, but even so, maintaining such power and stability over such a long distance was no easy feat.

The sinister man hesitated, wondering whether he should continue to close in.