"It's fine. It's okay. I still have another ally."
Then, he looked at the "Leper," who had indeed proven reliable. He had withstood Germain's strike and was still standing tall, imposing and proud.
The "Flagellant" felt a rush of joy in his heart. He stepped forward, ready to help, but suddenly heard a few clanging noises, something falling to the ground.
He looked down, and his expression changed drastically.
What had fallen to the ground were the decapitated broken sword of the "Leper" and the mask that had covered his twisted, pale face, disfigured by leprosy.
As blood spilled, Germain pushed the standing corpse of the "Leper" aside. It fell lightly to the ground.
Thud—
The black flames began to burn.
The "Flagellant" was shocked and turned pale.
In terms of combat strength, the "Leper" was definitely above him.
He had already prepared mentally, planning to rely on the "Leper" as the main force. He would assist with his healing abilities and use his blood-draining abilities to weaken Germain.
This had been the battle plan from the start.
But plans never go as expected.
The "Leper" couldn't last two rounds against that black-robed man?
Now, how am I supposed to deal with him alone?
Germain was undoubtedly the strongest among these humans, there was no doubt about that. So, from the very beginning, "The False One" had planned how to deal with him.
They had considered psychological factors.
The "Flagellant" and the many "False Ones" here were all based on templates from memories of people that Germain had sealed away deep within his mind.
Because, in most cases, the things buried deep within one's heart are the untouchable past—memories that one cannot bear to recall, the weaknesses of a person.
To target these weaknesses, to uncover the secrets buried deep in his heart, to break his mental defenses, this familiar method would naturally be used.
But, unfortunately, even with the power of the "Twin-Tailed Snake: Hellbell," it wasn't enough to break through the deepest secrets of the black-robed man.
If it had, perhaps they could have done more.
However, under normal circumstances, this should have been enough.
The templates they had placed deep within should have been of people who were once very important to Germain.
But when Germain saw them, why was he so unmoved, showing no mercy, and striking without hesitation?
What they wanted was to see Germain's defenses break.
However, they didn't get the moment they were hoping for. The "Flagellant" watched as two of his companions fell in the blink of an eye, leaving him alone. He was about to break down himself.
The "Flagellant" and the "False Ones" would probably never truly understand human thought, let alone Germain, who was an anomaly among humans.
Germain had kept the "Flagellant" and the others as secrets because both the "Dark Dungeon" and the "Blood Source Curse" were the foundation of his Nen abilities.
Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have shared this with anyone, not even with his closest companion, Shizuku.
That didn't mean he liked the characters from the "Dark Dungeon." The reason he kept them hidden wasn't necessarily out of deep affection.
In fact, most of the time, he hated these characters.
The "False Ones" mimicking the appearance of these heroic characters awakened too many painful memories deep inside Germain, bringing back too many unpleasant scenes.
Heh.
Now, he finally has the opportunity to personally punish these game characters who give him high blood pressure!
From the very beginning, there was no way he would show mercy!
The "Twin-Tailed Snake: Hellbell" and "False Ones" had a shallow, hasty understanding of human memory, and that led them to misinterpret everything.
In the blink of an eye, the "Flagellant" was the only one left holding the battle.
He shouted in despair towards Germain, swinging his iron cudgel and the chains he had as weapons, only to have them all destroyed by the sacred moonlight greatsword!
Boom—
The weapons shattered, and the "Flagellant" flew like a torn sack, crashing headfirst into the muddy ground, motionless.
After a while, black flames began to burn his corpse.
Germain turned to look at the others and saw that Ging, Bisky, and Shizuku had also finished their battles and were already cleaning up the battlefield.
The enemies they defeated were "Grave Robbers" wielding pickaxes and daggers, and "Bounty Hunters" armed with axes and hooks.
They made a rather coordinated grave robbing duo, but now they were all nothing but the souls of Ging, Bisky, and Shizuku's fallen enemies.
Many "Twin-Tailed Snake: Hellbell" creatures were perched on the branches and bushes, hissing at the four of them. But they dared not approach, nor did they end their lives.
Ging picked up his tattered felt hat that had fallen during the battle, placed it back on his head, and said:
"The good news is, as long as they don't commit suicide, there won't be a large batch of 'False Ones' produced."
"The bad news is, they're not stopping us or committing suicide, so the swamp must be ahead, and their leader is already preparing for us."
Germain asked about everyone's injuries, especially about Shizuku who had been poisoned earlier.
Shizuku shook her head and answered:
"I'm fine, 'Blinky' sucked out all the toxins for me as soon as possible. The needle was just for safety's sake."
This was what Germain had said before—no matter if it worked or not, always take a needle in case of emergency; after all, it didn't hurt much.
Shizuku kept that in mind and followed through.
Germain gently touched her warm hand, then composed himself and said to everyone:
"We may be approaching the swamp we've been searching for. Prepare yourselves mentally, as we probably won't have a chance to stop and rest along the way."
"Heh." Bisky, now back to his petite form, placed his hands on his hips and smiled. "Don't worry, this isn't our first time going through this kind of battle."
Shizuku clenched her fists and nodded, looking as if she was cheering herself up, or perhaps trying to motivate Germain and the others.
With that, Germain didn't say more. The four of them continued their journey through the rain forest.
This time, the "Twin-Tailed Snake: Hellbell" creatures still watched them closely, but they showed no signs of stopping them.
They proceeded smoothly for the most part.
However, at this point, they appropriately slowed their pace to allow time to recover the Nen energy they had lost earlier.
Walking through the distorted forest, where the trees' branches twisted like claws, the further they went in this direction, the more they encountered dead branches and leaves.
The trunks were withered and gray, as if scorched by a great fire.
The weeds were yellowed, the flowers white, and with a bit more walking, the ground began to look barren.
But when they finally emerged from the decaying forest, they were met with a vast area of lush green, almost as though they had stepped into a completely different land.
There were dense patches of weeds and reeds, as well as small puddles reflecting light like mirrors, with countless indistinguishable algae scattered around.
This, without a doubt, was the swamp they had been searching for over the past few days.
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