At this critical moment of severe injury and near death, Morrow no longer had the strength to precisely control the trajectories of the dozen or so Shooting Stars.
Fortunately, the Star-Marked coins could exert a guiding effect, allowing him, in his hazy consciousness, to ensure those dozen or so Shooting Stars flew straight toward the direction where Beyond and Marione were.
This not only disrupted Beyond and Marione's countermeasures but also significantly increased Morrow's chances of escape.
Amid the dense explosions, the Shooting Stars carried Morrow rapidly upward, away from the ground.
Although Beyond and Marione witnessed this scene, they couldn't react immediately.
Because Marione, having just broken free from the golden chain's restraint, was immediately engulfed by the oncoming Shooting Stars.
As for Beyond, although he withstood the continuous explosions of the star rain with his bare flesh, the impact of the blasts still delayed him for nearly a second.
By the time he burst out of the explosion zone trailing black smoke, Morrow had already flown to a great height.
"What a pity, truly a pity!"
Beyond looked up, revealing a bold and unrestrained smile.
This man, already close to the peak of human capability, had both a cautious and ruthless side, as well as a free-spirited and unrestrained side.
Perhaps it was precisely because of these contradictory traits that he was able to transform into a Specialist on his long journey pursuing his goals.
However, the regret Beyond spoke of at this moment wasn't about Morrow's imminent escape, but rather his belief that Morrow's meticulous scheming had ultimately been in vain.
Boom!
Beyond let out a loud laugh and suddenly kicked off the ground.
The ground collapsed with a roar, exploding into a massive crater.
His figure, enveloped in Nen, transformed into a streak of white light, chasing directly after Morrow.
Just as the propulsion force acting on him was about to deplete, he actually used his Nen to condense an invisible fist force, striking himself fiercely.
Thud!
Amid the dull impact sound, Beyond was like a ball swatted away by a giant palm, abruptly accelerating a second time, closely pursuing Morrow.
In this way, he rapidly closed the distance between himself and Morrow.
—--
On the Shooting Star, Morrow endured the intense pain, looking downward.
In his gradually blurring vision, he could see Beyond chasing after him like a demon.
From their first encounter, Morrow had intuitively sensed Beyond's near-arrogant confidence, as if everything was under his control.
But it was also this very confidence that had given him the opportunity to escape.
I need to use the Shooting Stars... to knock him down...
Morrow tightly gripped the Shooting Star with one hand. Although he understood what needed to be done, he found it difficult to act.
His left hand and both legs had been crushed, and now, hanging onto the Shooting Star, he resembled a broken blood bag, continuously spraying blood downward.
With injuries of this severity, not only was it impossible to release Shooting Stars, but even concentrating his will to maintain his aura output was extremely challenging.
No good, my consciousness is fading...
Morrow's vision grew even more blurred. He only felt his body temperature gradually dropping, and even holding onto the Shooting Star was becoming difficult.
If things continued like this, forget about stopping Beyond; perhaps in another minute or two, he would lose strength and plummet to the ground.
If he couldn't quickly reach Chimera's location... then he would ultimately die at Beyond's hands.
"Roar!"
Just as Morrow was on the verge of passing out, the faint sound of Chimera's roar reached his ears.
Are we almost there...? Morrow struggled to open his eyelids, his vision darkening intermittently, barely able to make out Chimera's blurred form.
—--
High above, Chimera carried Kurapika as it plummeted from the sky, rapidly closing the distance to Morrow.
—--
At the lowest altitude, Beyond's smile faltered slightly as he witnessed this scene, noticing the Shooting Star carrying Morrow flying purposefully toward the magical beast that had turned back.
So the Nen bullet had locked onto the magical beast.
Morrow intended to use this method to escape from him and Marione.
Beyond had been absolutely confident he could shoot Morrow down, but the magical beast that should have ascended higher had turned back at this critical moment.
Was this all part of Morrow's design and prediction?
Whether yes or no, it didn't matter.
Beyond's smile vanished, his gaze turning sharp as he once again struck himself with invisible fist force.
With a dull thud, he shot toward Chimera like a meteor carrying terrifying momentum.
Since the Shooting Star's "destination" was Chimera itself, knocking Chimera down would achieve the same outcome.
—--
On Chimera's back, Kurapika's face flushed with anger upon seeing Morrow's miserable state, crimson light seeping from the edges of his pupils.
"Dowsing Chain"
Struggling to suppress his rage toward Beyond, he flicked his wrist to extend the chains, accurately wrapping them around Morrow's arm from mid-air.
Feeling the chains binding his arm, Morrow immediately released the Shooting Star.
Freed from Morrow's weight, the Shooting Star accelerated instantly, reaching Chimera in the blink of an eye.
Crack!
Chimera's bud-shaped tail whipped through the air, shattering the Shooting Star into scattered points of light.
Simultaneously, it abruptly halted mid-air, wings beating as it prepared to ascend higher.
Kurapika steadied himself, drawing inspiration from Hisoka's ability to utilize Conjuration properties, directly retracting the chains to pull Morrow back to his side more quickly.
At that very moment, Beyond had already closed within attack range.
His eyes gleamed with dangerous light.
This time, he didn't direct the "attack" at himself, but targeted Chimera's head instead.
Driven by Beyond's willpower, the invisible fist force existed outside reality's space, yet instantly appeared before Chimera's bird-like head.
Space distorted slightly.
Chimera's car-sized head suddenly suffered a heavy blow, exploding into a mist of blood.
The slender neck that should have supported the head, seemingly still feeling the agony of the explosion, spasmed and trembled continuously.
Yet, even with its head shattered into bloody mist, Chimera continued flapping its fleshy wings, climbing toward higher altitudes.
Hey now...
Beyond showed astonishment at this sight, despite his vast experience.
No one knew where magical beasts came from.
What was certain was that magical beasts typically possessed astonishing vitality.
But even with such vitality, when the head housing consciousness was destroyed, it should die quickly.
Would probably make good drinking snacks.
Beyond marveled at Chimera's bizarre vitality, completely unconcerned about Nen consumption, as another invisible fist force propelled him toward Chimera.
If one strike wasn't enough, he'd simply deliver a second!
—--
On Chimera's back, Kurapika was about to immediately treat Morrow's injuries when he saw Chimera's head suddenly shatter into nothingness, causing his heart to jolt violently.
Fortunately, Chimera's flight remained unaffected.
Kurapika hadn't expected Chimera's vitality to be so tenacious, but if Beyond continued closing in like this, there was no guarantee Chimera could withstand a second attack.
As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Kurapika suddenly saw Chimera position its bud-shaped tail horizontally in front of them.
'...'
It couldn't perceive Beyond's attacks at all.
Yet even with its head destroyed and basic cognitive functions lost... its instincts knew how to protect Morrow and Kurapika.
Thus it used the hardest part of its body, the tail, as a shield before them.
Kurapika instantly understood Chimera's intent, his eyes gradually widening.
"Dowsing Chain"
Suppressing his rage immediately, he calmed down and formulated a countermeasure, manipulating the Dowsing Chain to wrap around the base of Chimera's bud-shaped tail tumor.
Though they had no opportunity for communication, and unlike Morrow who shared a soul-deep connection with Chimera... at this very moment, Kurapika and Chimera shared the same thought and resolve.
To protect the person most precious to them.
So even without words, through a single action's exchange, they instantly understood each other.
The Dowsing Chain possessed automatic target-seeking capabilities, fundamentally similar to Morrow's Starlight Convergence.
After all, this ability's creation was originally influenced by Morrow's impact on Kurapika.
By utilizing this mechanism, the chain could directly indicate the attack trajectory for Chimera's tail.
Beyond hadn't anticipated Kurapika devising such a targeted countermeasure in such brief time.
Merely following his predetermined assault, he entered attack range again, gathering formless fist energy to strike Chimera directly and precisely.
But this time, the Dowsing Chain vibrated with metallic resonance, detecting the power drifting outside reality's space.
It immediately tugged Chimera's tail, positioning it ahead across the trajectory where the attack would materialize.
Aided by Kurapika's chain, Chimera's bud-shaped tail suddenly bloomed open, revealing spiral-packed dense teeth.
Blazing crimson light ignited from within the dental depths.
The next blink, magma erupted from the spiral orifice like a scarlet ribbon, surging toward Beyond.
In truth, this magma spray was Chimera's attempt to block Beyond's formless attacks.
However, Beyond's will-based attacks only manifested in reality moments before impact.
Consequently, the magma missed the attack existing outside reality, instead shooting directly toward Beyond due to his "straight-line" Limitation.
When Beyond's attack materialized, Chimera's bud-shaped tail immediately followed its head's fate, inexplicably exploding into bloody mist mid-air.
Simultaneously, the scorching magma struck Beyond directly. Only at this moment did Beyond understand why Kurapika had wrapped his chains around Chimera's tail.
This kid... isn't half bad either!
Propelled downward by the scorching magma, Beyond's slightly astonished gaze seemed to pierce through the crimson flames before him, directed at Kurapika and Morrow on Chimera's back.
However... don't think you can escape so easily!
Beyond actually endured the magma's scorching heat, mustering astonishing willpower to channel his entire body's aura, then pointed remotely toward Kurapika and Morrow on Chimera's back.
Although this aura power of his wasn't as formidable as the Chimera Ant Royal Guards in the original work, capable of extending over great distances, at least for now, he could activate this aura power to cross the vertical distance between them in an extremely brief moment.
—--
On Chimera's back, Kurapika and Morrow suddenly felt the arrival of Beyond's aura power.
This largely momentum-based force pressed down on them like a mountain, both physically and mentally.
Though Kurapika's level was far inferior to Morrow's, his condition remained intact, allowing him to barely withstand Beyond's malicious aura.
But Morrow couldn't manage it.
In his critically weakened state, when Beyond's malicious aura struck, his already faltering consciousness instantly shattered as if crushed by a violent hand.
Facing this brutal erosion of malicious aura, Morrow immediately understood Beyond's intention.
The other party was attempting to use this final malicious aura to see if it could directly destroy his brain functions.
Unable to construct a Nen defense in his current state, though not quite entering Zetsu, Morrow struggled to maintain even the most basic Ten.
Now eroded by Beyond's malicious aura, his consciousness indeed suffered tremendous impact.
"Holy Chain"
At that moment, Kurapika's chains wrapped around Morrow's body, immediately radiating the most intense, concentrated green glow.
Without the slightest concern for "lifespan consumption," Kurapika held only one thought in his heart: to protect Morrow's life and heal him completely.
His Holy Chain, at this critical juncture, helped Morrow resist Beyond's malicious aura attack.
Nevertheless, Morrow could hold on no longer, his consciousness swallowed by darkness.
Whoosh...
The cold wind howled at high altitude.
Chimera flapped its wings with all its might, carrying Kurapika and Morrow toward higher skies.
Its life, too, began counting down.
But it didn't stop. White steam started emerging from various parts of its massive body.
As the steam appeared, its form gradually melted and shrank like a burning candle.
—--
Under the night sky, in the wilderness, scorching magma propelled Beyond crashing heavily into the ground, triggering a violent explosion.
Marione, witnessing this from afar, hurried toward Beyond's condition-unknown form.
When she approached, the air was thick with pungent sulfur, and Beyond strode out from the heat-distorted atmosphere.
Severe burns marked his face and various parts of his body.
But he seemed oblivious, tilting his head to gaze at the night sky.
From his position, Chimera's figure had already vanished from sight.
"What a pity."
Beyond uttered another sigh of regret.
This time, he was lamenting Morrow's impending death. After all, if Morrow accepted his proposal to have his memories altered, they might still have the opportunity to "travel together" on the future path of exploring the Dark Continent.
Because once Netero died, Pariston, the vice chairman he had preemptively placed within the Hunter Association, could legitimately take over the association by leveraging the influence he had built over years of operation.
By then, not only the Kakin Empire but even the Hunter Association would fall under his control.
What a pity about Morrow, such a rare talent...
Even if he miraculously survived, his mind would likely be destroyed by him.
What Beyond didn't know was... Kurapika possessed a powerful healing ability.