After Conrad decided there was no longer any reason to continue, the fight lost its meaning for him.
He had already seen enough.
Anisa's ability was complete and dangerous under the right conditions.
It was the kind of Nen that punished recklessness.
Conrad understood it.
There was no need to think further about Anisa, her weapons, or her plan.
The gap between them was no longer about talent or creativity. It was fundamental.
Conrad could not help but think.
"Maybe what I feel is the reason why Phantom Troupe members felt when they were fighting against the Shadow Beasts or hunting the Heil-Ly Family members."
"In a sense, both of these groups of Nen users, one group just has a lot of experience and too much of a Nen mastery; they do not seem to be scared of the abilities of the enemy."
Conrad nodded at what he thought and then went on.
She relied on her ability to bridge weaknesses.
He relied on mastery of nen and also his physical capability.
That difference in mindset alone decided the outcome.
"Good," Conrad thought quietly.
He stepped back once,
There was no killing intent in his aura.
Then he spoke, his voice clear and even.
"I'll tell you why you've already lost."
Anisa smirked, though tension flickered in her eyes.
She kept moving.
She knew the situation was bad.
If Conrad refused to attack with killing intent, the Black Revolver was useless.
If she failed to mark him properly with the Red Dagger, the ability could not reach its final stage.
Which meant only one option remained.
Close combat.
It was irrational.
She knew it.
Charging someone faster and stronger, someone who had been controlling the entire pace, made little sense.
But she had no other choice.
In a strange way, Anisa herself began to feel it from within.
This no longer felt like a real battle.
It felt like she was being examined and observed.
She felt that Conrad was using her to train and did not take her seriously from the start.
That is why he never had a killing intent, which blocked her ability, as the ability itself was a counteractive ability with the prerequisite of "killing intent" from the enemy or the opponent.
Conrad stepped closer while she thought.
Anisa reacted instantly, slashing with the Red Dagger.
Conrad pulled back just enough for the blade to miss, the edge cutting nothing but air.
He did not counter.
And then he smirked.
It was small.
Almost unnoticeable.
But Anisa saw it.
For a fraction of a second, confusion crossed her mind.
"Why…?"
She never finished the thought.
A massive impact struck her from behind.
It felt like being hit by a sledgehammer made of pure force.
The blow landed on the left side of her back, just behind the ribs.
A small hole formed in the arena floor as she was launched forward, her body skidding and tumbling before coming to a stop.
The blood started dripping on the ground from the wound.
Pain exploded through her body.
Not life-threatening for a Nen user.
But more than enough to finish a battle.
At this point, such an injury in a real life-and-death scenario would mean that Anisa had no way to fight back, and the battle is no longer a battle but an execution.
Her weapons dissolved as her concentration broke.
Conrad stood several meters away, one of his orbs slowly drifting back into position near his shoulder, its surface faintly warm.
"It seems like when a concentration and ability to keep themselves in check vanish, a conjurer loses the ability to keep the object or the thing they conjured existing."
"It is good knowledge, also in line with Hisoka telling Kastro that mental stability is really important if one wants to keep their conjured figure or object from ceasing to exist."
Conrad also believed he did the right thing by not trying to conjure the orbs; not to mention, as a real conjurer and manipulator, it would be almost impossible for him to keep the orbs existent if he got injured and his mental stability was compromised.
Of course, such a thing may be blocked by the "Black Ring—State of Calm," but he did not want to risk it.
Anisa lay on the ground, chest rising and falling heavily.
She understood immediately what had happened.
He had ended the fight the moment he chose to.
Slowly, she raised one hand.
"I give up," she said, turning her head slightly toward the referee.
The referee nodded without hesitation.
"The winner is Conrad."
The announcement echoed through the arena.
She hadn't lost because her ability was weak.
She had lost because her opponent was simply on a different level in terms of Nen mastery and everything she knew of.
If the pure difference in absolute power is too much, experience and other things do not matter in a direct confrontation.
Conrad turned away, already deactivating State of Calm.
It had been enough.
And that, to him, was the point.