A hundred meters wasn't too far.
When the Masked Man flew towards them like a ghostly shadow, Sanbica was stunned.
'Was the virus ineffective?'
Before a complete question could form in her mind, Menchi was already rushing towards the Masked Man again.
Clang!
Her kitchen knives struck up and down against the nails the Masked Man slashed at her, sending out a burst of dazzling sparks.
A force far greater than her own pressed down on her wrists through the blades.
The wounds she had just treated were squeezed open again, bleeding.
Menchi gritted her teeth, her brows furrowed.
At this moment, she didn't have time to ponder why Sanbica's virus had failed.
Just resisting the Masked Man's attacks placed a tremendous burden on her.
If this continued, her hands might be crippled.
Despite this concern, Menchi had to grit her teeth and continue.
Because Menchi responded promptly, Saccho and the others had enough time to react, all watching the Masked Man with gravity.
Cheadle noticed the commotion from the rear and quickly rushed over, then saw the Masked Man entangled in battle with Menchi.
'A monster...'
As a doctor within the team, Cheadle was well aware of the potency of Sanbica's virus.
But this unknown, masked species had developed a therapeutic antibody in the fight against a fatal virus?
Seeing Menchi locked in a difficult battle, Cheadle and the others nearby quickly moved to assist. However, their attacks, like Menchi's, landed on the Masked Man without causing any pain or effect.
This absolute disparity was enough to instill despair.
After all, they weren't primary combat members either.
Pyon's Nen Ability was for identifying ancient texts, unrelated to combat.
Saccho's Nen Ability was for eliminating negative emotions and could also soothe or erode an enemy's fighting spirit, but he had already tried… his ability was useless against the Masked Man.
Cheadle's Nen Ability used the four diagnostic methods of observation, listening, questioning, and palpation to forcibly put a target into a state of Zetsu.
However, her Nen Ability required a foundation of known prerequisites.
Just like a doctor, without sufficient medical knowledge, even after completing the Four Diagnostic steps, she wouldn't know the patient's illness.
For Cheadle, the Masked Man was a purely unknown entity, exceeding the upper limits of her knowledge. So even as she silently gathered information about the Masked Man, she hadn't met the conditions to activate her ability.
To put it another way, their direct combat abilities were even weaker than Menchi's.
Thus, the assistance they could provide was extremely limited, especially against an enemy as hard as the Masked Man… they were at a loss.
If even Ko, which concentrates one's entire Manifested Aura, couldn't break his defense, what other methods were there?
Crack!
A bone-snapping sound suddenly echoed in the area.
Followed by Menchi's scream.
Her right arm was broken by a sudden knee strike from the Masked Man, causing the entire arm to bend in the opposite 'L' shape. Pale bone even pierced through the skin, exposed to the air along with blood.
During the fight, the Masked Man had only used the nails on his hands.
Thus, his knee strike, as if he had suddenly mastered martial arts, caught Menchi completely off guard.
Fortunately, Menchi had trained under Linne for a while. At the critical moment, using Soft Palm techniques, she pushed herself away from the Masked Man.
Otherwise, the Masked Man's next move would have been enough to take her head.
Although she created distance in time, the cost was losing her balance.
In this situation, if the Masked Man insisted on pursuing, Menchi would definitely be finished.
Strangely, the Masked Man didn't pursue. Instead... he attacked Sanbica?
Seeing this, Menchi's heart skipped a beat, momentarily forgetting her own situation and the pain from her right arm.
When she realized, it was because Ginta had timely helped dissipate the impact force.
Menchi was stunned for a moment, then jumped down from Ginta, enduring the pain, and asked, "Your injuries?"
"Severe, but not fatal. I can still fight, barely," Ginta's face was slightly pale. He glanced at Menchi's gruesome injury where bone pierced the skin and said gravely, "The Chairman is handling most of the pressure of the breakthrough, so this enemy..."
Before he could finish, a rough voice interjected: "This enemy must be dealt with by us."
The speaker was Dafifi.
He charged forward, blocking the path in front of Sanbica.
Seeing Dafifi step forward, Sanbica's heart, which had almost jumped into her throat, slowly settled back down.
"Sanbica, we'll leave the follow-up to you."
After throwing out this sentence, Dafifi actively advanced towards the Masked Man.
Sanbica understood the meaning of those words.
Within the field, only her virus had shown clear effects on the Masked Man.
Although it was unclear how the Masked Man dealt with the Skytail virus, it was definitely effective at first.
In other words, Dafifi and the others would create opportunities for Sanbica to control the virus and invade the Masked Man's body again.
Dafifi met the Masked Man, suddenly crouched low, dodging the slashing claws, then extended his hands, precisely seizing the Masked Man's wrists.
Suddenly, Dafifi's body swelled a full circle. Blue veins bulged on his arms, and waves of visible force rippled rapidly over his muscles.
Even his cheeks and forehead had thick, finger-sized veins throbbing.
At that moment, he poured all his strength into controlling the Masked Man.
If possible, he also wanted to crush the Masked Man's wrists.
But...
It was like an arm-wrestling match.
Forget crushing the Masked Man's wrists… the hands he held were slowly pressing towards his own face.
At close range, even through the mask, Dafifi could feel the Masked Man's cold gaze.
'Where does this guy's strength come from?!'
Incredulity flashed in Dafifi's eyes.
He had already used Nen to amplify his strength, yet it was still no match for this tall, thin, bamboo-like Masked Man.
No wonder the Zodiacs couldn't hold him off. No wonder he had been redirected to the rear of the team.
While Dafifi and the Masked Man were locked in a stalemate, Cheadle rushed to Menchi's side to treat her injuries. Ginta, arriving with his own injuries, moved behind the Masked Man.
If there was anyone in the field who could pose a threat to the Masked Man, it was probably him, Dafifi, and Sanbica.
Fighting while injured was actually a very unwise action.
But manpower was stretched incredibly thin. Just defending against the onslaught of copper mechanical lifeforms required over half the members to form a defensive line.
If not for Netero holding under immense pressure, with the Masked Man acting as a spoiler, the Association team would have been overwhelmed long ago.
Taking advantage of Dafifi barely restraining the Masked Man, Ginta moved behind him. Ignoring the risk of his wounds reopening, he channeled all his strength and Aura into his fist and struck the back of the Masked Man's head.
Direct hit!
Thud!
A dull sound rang out, traveling through the passage to a great distance.
Beyond's team, currently breaking through, heard this sound.
Law's group, efficiently delving deeper into the underground ruins, also heard this sound.