HxH: Apex Predator

As the commentator's voice echoed through the arena, the atmosphere was tense:

"We can see now that Warwick, after sustaining injuries, has clearly fallen into a more pronounced disadvantage. He needs to change his strategy quickly to turn the tide.

Meanwhile, Ryker continues to pressure his opponent using the same old tactics. Judging by the current situation, his strategy seems to be working.

Now the question is: will he seize the moment to aggressively pursue victory, or will he play it safe, waiting for Warwick to expose a greater weakness?"

As the live commentary unfolded, Warwick poured a significant amount of aura into his eyes, successfully seeing through Ryker's In.

With this, he managed to block all of the aura bullets. However, in order to counter Ryker's In, he had diverted even more aura to his eyes, causing his defenses in areas other than his limbs to weaken further.

At the same time, observing all this unfold, Ryker had begun piecing together a plan.

"As expected of someone so nimble. During my first barrage of aura bullets, even when I aimed at his chest, he instinctively dodged and ended up with just an arm injury.

But now I understand his ability. The aura on his limbs and teeth is undoubtedly powerful, but it seems he can't freely reallocate it."

"When he increased the aura around his eyes to see through my In, he didn't pull it from his limbs or teeth. If he could move the aura freely, even keeping it on his limbs for defense would make sense, but there's no reason the aura on his teeth wouldn't be redirected."

"This means his reinforced aura on his limbs and teeth is restricted, likely due to some kind of condition.

Judging by his overall aura level and performance, the condition is probably sacrificing the defense of other parts of his body in exchange for power."

"In short, his defensive capabilities in areas other than his limbs and teeth are even weaker than I initially estimated. And now, with the additional strain from focusing aura on his eyes, his defense must be deteriorating even more.

If that's the case, I'll reduce the power of my aura bullets slightly to conserve energy."

"Since he can now see through my In, I won't bother cloaking them anymore—it's not like he'll risk reducing his eye defenses after seeing how critical one mistake can be.

My chances of winning are already over 80%, but the key is figuring out how to kill him before he surrenders."

"If I keep using the same tactics, even with increased power and speed, it won't guarantee a fatal blow. I need to bait him into exposing a critical weakness, then finish it in one decisive move.

My own aura reserves are down to about 30%. I'll keep pressuring him and force him to use more energy. Judging by his current rate of consumption, he won't last much longer."

"If he still has any intention of winning, he'll try to close the distance. That's when I'll set a trap, adjust my aura bullets to make it seem like I'm running out of energy, and lure him into attacking.

If I'm lucky, I can make him desperate enough to focus everything on offense, leaving him open for a counterattack."

Meanwhile, Warwick felt the strain on his stamina mounting. While he wasn't completely drained yet, the pressure was palpable.

"What's going on? Is this kid's aura really not running out?

That last barrage was noticeably weaker, probably because his aura consumption is catching up to him. And of course, my increased focus on eye defense has made the rest of my body even more vulnerable."

Just as the thought crossed Warwick's mind, another wave of aura bullets came flying toward him.

This time, however, he noticed a reduction in both their number and frequency. They were no longer like a relentless machine-gun spray but resembled controlled bursts from an assault rifle.

Seeing this, Warwick smirked inwardly:

"Just as I suspected. No matter how much of a prodigy he is, his body's development is still a limiting factor.

Look at his aura bullets now—less frequent and fewer in number. That means he's barely hanging on. Even if he has some aura left, it's definitely not much."

Encouraged by this, Warwick gathered what remaining aura he could muster into his legs, using the enhanced strength to rapidly close the distance between him and Ryker. In an instant, he had halved the distance.

However, just as he was closing in, another sudden barrage of aura bullets rained down, suppressing him again.

"What the hell? How is this kid suddenly shooting faster and with more bullets again? Is he not worried about exhausting himself early?"

Warwick gritted his teeth.

"Damn it. Because of my ability's conditions, I can't freely deactivate the 'Bloodthirsty Blades' aura enhancement on my limbs and teeth during a fight. It's been draining my reserves since the start of this battle."

"Coupled with the constant aura defense and the heavy consumption from maintaining Gyo on my eyes, I'm running dangerously low on energy.

But wait… Could it be?"

Warwick's eyes widened as realization struck. He reduced the aura enhancing his eyes back to its initial level, and as expected, the eight aura bullets flying toward him remained unchanged in number.

This confirmed his suspicion:

"The cunning little bastard. After realizing I could see through his In, he stopped cloaking his attacks entirely to conserve energy."

"When I closed the distance earlier, he must have temporarily restored the barrage's strength to keep me at bay. But knowing that would drain him too quickly, he came up with this gamble.

He's betting I'd be too scared to lower my eye defenses again after getting injured once.

A bold move, but your cleverness will be your undoing, kid."

Warwick immediately redirected the aura from his eyes to his legs, boosting his speed to a level far beyond what it was before. He closed the gap to within two meters in an instant.

Ryker remained rooted in place, seemingly caught off guard by the sudden surge of speed.

"I've got him now. At this range, even if he shoots more aura bullets, my reflexes and defenses can handle it.

He might try to save a bit of aura as a trump card for a desperate final attack. But until I can strike a lethal blow, I'll keep my guard up and stay defensive.

No hesitation. In a death match like this, hesitation means defeat!"

In a flash, Warwick made his move. At the same time, Ryker's body froze for a brief moment.

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