"Youpi's aura reserve is massive. If we can't hit him and lend him more Nen, this fight could drag on for a long time."
On the outskirts of the smoke field, Knuckle and Meleoron materialized before Morel and Knov.
Knuckle gave a quick report, while Meleoron panted, gasping for breath.
The pressure Youpi exerted was overwhelming.
Meleoron had originally thought he could hold his breath for two minutes.
But the moment he got close to Youpi, every second felt like an eternity.
When Youpi suddenly burst forward to attack Morel,
Meleoron had tapped Knuckle on the shoulder—
Their agreed-upon signal for "I'm gonna run out of air."
Luckily, Morel had already released the smoke screen.
As Knuckle slipped back inside, and Meleoron disengaged God's Accomplice for a few seconds,
Morel's smoke soldiers arrived just in time to cover their retreat.
Now gulping down fresh air, Meleoron felt alive again.
The combat strength of the Royal Guards had far exceeded his expectations—
especially when Youpi used En.
It was enough to send chills down his spine.
God's Accomplice was not invincible.
Its true strength was in being unknown.
The moment the enemy figured it out, the ability would become worthless.
And with Meleoron only possessing the power of a grunt Chimera Ant,
if Youpi started firing off indiscriminate area attacks,
he'd be the first to die.
"Take it slow," said Morel calmly.
"Our job was always to stall him. Once Joey's done, he'll come help, and we'll crush Youpi together."
Morel was the picture of composure.
Rock-solid.
Honestly, the opening phase of this operation had gone far smoother than anyone expected.
Morel himself was still in good condition.
If it were just smoke soldiers fighting Youpi, he could probably keep the battle going for an hour or two.
And with Potclean latched onto Youpi, that would be more than enough to bankrupt him.
In fact, from the start, they had considered a quick-execution strategy for Youpi—
but it needed Joey's cooperation.
His Killer Queen's First Bomb was ideal against brute-force Enhancement Types like Youpi.
All Joey had to do was infuse the First Bomb into a projectile.
If Youpi touched it—boom.
That alone could weaken him drastically or even kill him outright.
But Joey had shifted into Specialization after treating that girl,
so coordinating this now was a bit trickier.
His aura bullets weren't particularly strong to begin with,
and now with his current Nen type, the power had dropped even further.
If they weren't disguised with the right cover,
no sane opponent would touch something that screamed "trap."
Fortunately—
Morel's smoke was the perfect camouflage.
As for Meleoron?
Once the First Bomb was placed onto a Nen projectile,
it would no longer benefit from God's Accomplice.
It would be visible.
That's why they'd never considered pairing Joey with Meleoron in the first place.
Now with Youpi stuck in the smoke,
they just had to wait for the throne room battle to end.
Then everyone could converge and dogpile him.
No one was worried about the throne room fight.
Not with Kite leading the charge.
And with most of Pouf's abilities exposed, victory was a matter of time.
If Morel and Knov hadn't trusted their comrades, they wouldn't have left.
And Knov wasn't just playing backup either.
As Morel talked about "stalling," Knov was already setting up 4D Mansion portals,
linking one entrance to the mist cloud.
Clearly, the real plan was to trap Youpi inside the mansion once the timing was right.
Plus, with Potclean steadily climbing—
This whole setup was solid. Rock-solid.
Just as Knuckle was about to speak again, Morel suddenly raised a hand, eyes serious.
A wave of smoke soldiers rushed forward, forming a shield in front of the group.
BOOM!
An earth-shaking blast erupted inside the smoke.
Youpi exploded!
The radius of Morel's smoke field was 200 meters,
the ideal zone for controlling his soldiers.
But Youpi's blast easily exceeded that—
engulfing not just the interior, but even the four outside observers.
The smoke was dispelled instantly, and over 70 smoke soldiers were vaporized in a flash.
Thanks to Morel's quick reaction,
the three behind the shield remained mostly unharmed.
Knuckle even yanked Meleoron back,
sheltering him while activating God's Accomplice again.
Knov's hands parted.
A dimensional rift tore open.
The Window Opens sliced upward.
"Youpi!" Knov heard the grunt just as a void opened beneath the Royal Guard—
It was the entrance to the 4D Mansion.
Morel appeared behind Youpi, smoke pipe in hand, swinging downward to smash him into the space.
But—
Youpi's back exploded with muscular blades, piercing toward Morel like living spears.
At the same time, two massive wings spread from Youpi's human back,
and with a single beat, he began hovering above the portal's entrance.
Morel had no choice but to parry with his pipe,
deflecting the attack but missing his chance to knock Youpi into the rift.
Then—
A barrage of invisible punches struck Youpi.
Knuckle was back.
With Meleoron's cover, he had landed multiple hits.
Even under God's Accomplice, Youpi sensed something was wrong—
his aura had increased slightly.
That shouldn't happen.
Glancing at Potclean's rapidly increasing number,
Youpi had a realization.
He released En—
but sensed nothing.
Yet he'd seen four people outside the smoke moments ago.
Now only two?
Someone was invisible.
"So… we've got a sneaky little rat hiding somewhere."
His voice dropped like a guillotine.
His shoulder-face swelled again.
BOOM!
Centered on Youpi, another massive explosion burst forth.
Knuckle had already pulled Meleoron back—
but the blast was too fast.
Though Knuckle shielded him, Meleoron couldn't hold his breath.
The moment he gasped—
Their presence was revealed.
Youpi grinned.
But before he could act—
Three Morels and three Knovs appeared, surrounding him.
Six figures launched simultaneous attacks.
Youpi wasn't worried about Morel's illusions.
They hit hard, sure—
but nothing fatal.
Knov, though, was a different threat.
One strike from that blade could ignore all defense and cut straight into the body.
He couldn't let Knov get close.
So—
Youpi transformed again.
His body inflated grotesquely,
covered in snarling faces.
Yet Morel and Knov didn't back off.
In a massive explosion,
all six attackers were blown apart—
revealed as smoke constructs.
That meant:
When Youpi shot an explosion toward Knuckle,
Knov had already switched with a clone during a subtle moment of retreat.
Impressive.
These guys were better than they looked.
Youpi had noticed a slight pause in Knov's movements earlier.
That must've been the moment of the swap.
He hadn't seen Knov's feet—
Morel's smoke had concealed it.
They were using smoke and teleportation in tandem.
He began piecing it together.
These smoke clones must exist inside the dimensional space,
which meant that if he were to be shoved inside—
It could be a trap.
He must not get pulled into the 4D Mansion.
At best, he'd be stuck.
At worst, an ambush awaited.
Just as that thought clicked—
a portal opened under his feet again.
Knov emerged with a sudden strike—
Window Opens slicing upward—
Severing Youpi's legs.
But Youpi just grinned.
Those severed limbs?
Swelled grotesquely midair.
He had a theory:
If rage could be stored—
why not store it in his dismembered parts?
BOOM!
Before the legs even hit the ground, they exploded beside Knov.