The dark red gauntlet was slammed into the enemy's torso. The shockwave vibrated the air. A definite sensation of shattering the enemy's armor. The giant insect sank into the ground while kicking up dust. Quinn utilized the recoil of the punch to blow herself backward, landing outside the hole.
Then, without a moment's delay, we began our retreat. Erasing our presence with In, we ran from the spot. Already, several presences were approaching us. I had no leeway to engage with the monsters gathering after sniffing out the disturbance. If I misjudged the time to withdraw, I would lose my life.
On the verge of leaving, I glanced in the direction where the antlion had been. Only the traces of the mortar-shaped nest remained there. The enemy's figure was nowhere to be seen. It was after the bastard had fled underground. Inflicting that much damage means it probably won't chase us anymore, but I feel slightly regretful that I couldn't finish it off.
The new technique 'Juu' is certainly powerful. It can hammer out an enhancement rate that can never be drawn out with Quinn's original specs. However, it consumes a corresponding amount of aura. This technique is not simply gathering aura with Gyo. To be exact, it is a technique that instantaneously increases the Manifest Aura Amount (AOP).
I said grandiose things like new technique and whatnot, but actually, the same thing can be reproduced with an Enhancer's Hatsu. The limit value for the amount (AOP) that can convert internal aura to attack/defense power at once is determined by the individual; with that maximum value as 100, one distributes it appropriately to parts of the body, but Enhancers can increase this AOP via Hatsu (Special Moves). Raising the enhancement rate to attack/defense 120 or 130 is possible.
I am somehow reproducing that by utilizing 'Mental Synchronization' and applied techniques, but originally, it is not a technique a Manipulator can do. Exchanging aura with others is impossible without a special Hatsu, and exchanging attack/defense power on top of that shouldn't be possible. Because it is a technique constructed that forcibly, there was a strain.
Using 'Juu' places an extreme load on the flesh. It could be called a natural price since I am applying reinforcement beyond my limits. The burden on the spirit pores is particularly large. Due to the unreasonable movement of attack/defense power, the spirit pores, which are passages for aura, become tattered. In the case of Enhancers, they likely use it without issues because they are reinforcing the spirit pores themselves.
This is the reason why I have Quinn use 'Juu' instead of the main body. Once, when the main body tried using 'Juu', I was assaulted by pain as if the muscle fibers of my whole body had torn. My spirit pores became useless for a while, and I ended up living in Zetsu for about a week. It's a miracle I didn't die.
The same phenomenon occurs when Quinn uses it. Intense pain runs through her to the point of losing consciousness, and her flesh and spirit pores are damaged. However, Quinn, being a Nen puppet, can repair wounds by the user—the main body—sending aura into her. She uses 'Juu' while fixing the body faster than it breaks. Honestly, the aura required for this repair is enormous, and I have to allocate a value of aura that far surpasses the portion used for Quinn's reinforcement to healing wounds. It was not a technique that could be overused, physically or mentally.
And despite being a special move mastered after using such roundabout means, it didn't reach the point of finishing off the enemy. Even against the antlion, a small fry that would be counted among the bottom in the ecosystem of these woods, the power only amounted to dealing an effective blow.
Raw flesh, raw physical ability not even reinforced by aura. That alone is overwhelmingly strong. It was a difference isolated from Quinn, a human.
Technically, I think I could defeat it if I used 'Sacrificial Cradle'. The power of that technique alone is aberrant. However, it was too large a price to use just to defeat a single enemy in front of me. I would have absolutely no spare power to fight the enemies surging in afterward.
I didn't particularly revise the Vow for this ability. Rather, if the power drops by making it vague, that's exactly what I want. That's how poor the usability is. No matter how much I concentrate, the egg consumption exceeds 500. It's an amount where the main body dies if used twice. The price of this technique will likely never get any lighter than this. I created this ability with the thought of a 'One-Hit Kill'. It's not that 'I gained high power because I consume more than half my eggs in a Vow,' but closer to the sensation that 'I am sacrificing more than half my eggs to obtain high power.' The approach to death is fundamentally different from 'Idolatry'.
Currently, the balance of aura required for Quinn's operation is quite tight. Presence concealment via In, enemy searching via Kyou, other minimum physical reinforcements, and on top of that, if entering combat, I must also consider the use of 'Juu'. I manage somehow by fully utilizing 1000 eggs, making eggs that have run out of aura use Zetsu to strive for recovery, and resting them in shifts. If I use 'Sacrificial Cradle' and the remaining number of eggs is halved, I will absolutely run short of aura. Until the number of eggs recovers, I have no choice but to give up on operating Quinn and spend time in Zetsu. If Quinn dies in that state, I will take further damage of 333 or more eggs. It is damage in a realm where it wouldn't be strange for the main body to die.
A roar echoing from the distance reached my ears as I ran through the forest. Near where I was fighting just moments ago, giant somethings are colliding. Monsters I couldn't possibly match as I am now are building an ecosystem as a matter of course, unfolding a fierce competition for survival. I can only hold my breath and let them pass at their feet.
If I didn't possess a human heart, I might not have been frightened by the giant shadows crossing overhead. Truly an ant. I was an existence equivalent to a bug.