Ughhh—
A massive, wall-like mask of malice let out a furious roar.
It surged in from all directions, overwhelming and unstoppable—rushing straight at Germain!
Its every move carried one clear intent: to shred his spirit and tear apart his body!
Buzz—
Germain's mind and will merged as one. A stark, black-and-white Contempt Armor cloaked his body. Upon his head sat a Greedy Antler Helmet.
From his body, ethereal hands of Nen rose into the air, gripping every weapon in his arsenal.
A Cleaver, a Firearm, a spiral cane, Tachi Thousand Shadows, the Sacred Moonlight Sword, a thunder warhammer, twin rings…
An overwhelming Nen of a true champion erupted from him.
With a thunderous clang, the Sacred Moonlight Sword struck the ground—
Blades of azure light shot forth like countless arrows!
Buzz, buzz, buzz—
The oppressive masks of malice that had just surged toward him—
Crumbled like termite-eaten walls, shattered by the sacred blue arrows!
Crack, crack, crack—
Masks exploded, smoke billowed!
Germain twisted the Dark Ring on his finger—
Black mist poured out from his body, layer upon layer, cloaking and obscuring his form.
He twisted the Ring of Thunder on another finger—
Sparks of lightning flickered and crackled, dancing like blue butterflies around his fingertips.
The Son of Defamation, and the black snake with sharp vertical pupils, stared into the fog—
But even with piercing eyes, they couldn't see through the swirling smoke.
No matter how sharp their senses,
They couldn't grasp everything in just a few heartbeats.
So—
Fwoosh—
The black mist opened in one direction—like curtains being ripped aside—
And Germain leapt out from within!
The Thunder Warhammer swung up high, guiding the lightning that wrapped around his entire body like a web.
All the current surged into one point, forming a massive, dazzling ball of light that came crashing down like a meteor—aimed straight at the Black Snake of Defamation!
Boom—
The thunderball struck the snake's body with brutal force!
The snake's scales caved in deeply where it hit. Lightning scattered and cracked loudly. The stench of scorched flesh drifted through the air.
The Black Snake of Defamation hissed in agony.
Its head lowered, and with its vertical pupils, it saw in shock—its proud, hardened scales had been pierced by the lightning ball. Flesh and blood were torn underneath!
That one strike, filled with all of Germain's thunderous power, had dealt a devastating blow to the monster.
But Germain had leapt in close to ensure the hit landed—he was now within striking range of the snake.
Here, he could smell the snake's foul breath, hear the disturbing sounds of scales scraping and its massive body squirming.
If Germain could injure the snake from here, it also meant he'd willingly entered its deadly zone.
Exactly what the Black Snake of Defamation wanted.
Hsss—
With a piercing screech, Germain turned his head—and saw the snake's gaping, blood-red maw wide open.
But those razor-sharp, hooked fangs didn't lunge for his body—there was still some distance between them.
Yet in that same instant, a formless burst exploded from the snake's throat—erasing that distance in a blink!
Boom—
A wave of killing intent charged forward, roaring like a flood, swallowing Germain whole in an instant.
It was like a blast of Nen—a cannon of malice—that hurled him straight to the ground!
Buzz, buzz, buzz—
The overwhelming bloodlust tore into Germain's mind—it felt like his brain was splitting open, as if it were growing multiple separate minds all at once.
Countless memories surged into his head—memories that didn't belong to him, but to those who had died here before.
Beasts. Sub-humans. Humans. All kinds of creatures.
Joy. Rage. Sorrow. Ecstasy. Every kind of emotion, flooding in waves.
The sheer flood of information—and the agony that felt like split personalities fighting inside him—was far beyond the torment of any time he'd unleashed his Dark Crown before!
Even for him, in that brief instant, the strings of calm and reason trembled wildly—on the verge of snapping.
If not for the Contempt Armor he wore, and the silver-white halo above his head, he might've already lost his mind.
Even so, he still briefly lost control of his body, like all resistance had vanished—slammed into the swamp by a hammering surge of killing intent!
Pffft—
The spot where he fell happened to be soft, muddy ground.
Quickly, the thick, black sludge swallowed up his entire face.
Germain sank into darkness.
Deep within the swamp, he sank further and further, like a drowning man.
Thankfully, he regained his senses swiftly, halting the downward force caused by that murderous pressure—curling up like a baby inside a womb.
In the next moment, he spread his limbs wide.
An explosive surge of aura burst forth from his body, piercing straight upward!
Boom—
The bubbling swamp mud blasted open with a deafening roar!
Moss and reeds shot out, tangled with the scorching rain, then fell chaotically under gravity's pull.
A towering column of aura pierced out of the ground—then bent like a siphoning tube, arcing over like a bridge and stabbing into another patch of swamp not far away.
Like being drawn through a siphon, Germain's body was pulled along the arc, flying through the air—then landed gracefully onto the swamp surface guided by the aura's path, standing firm.
The massive aura tunnel faded.
Germain gave his body a shake, and with a faint hum, large chunks of mud fell away from his Contempt Armor and the Greedy Antler Helmet he wore.
He looked up—only to see the Black Snake of Defamation lowering its head, using its forked tongue to lick its wounds.
The Black Snake of Defamation looked over, surprised, having heard the explosion just now.
It hadn't expected this man to endure that concentrated burst of murderous hatred.
That had been a crystallized mass of malice, collected over a long time.
And not only had he survived it—
He'd regained his footing, and stood before it once more, ready to fight.
To the enemies that Black Snake of Defamation had faced before, this opponent was among the rarest of the rare.
What kind of monster is this guy?!
That small-looking body—at least from the Black snake's point of view—was hiding a power no less terrifying than its own?
It had been a long time since the Black snake had encountered someone who could go toe-to-toe with it...
At that moment, Germain's brows were tightly furrowed.
Because he saw it—
The massive wound left by his Thunder Warhammer, which the Black snake had been licking, was healing!
And healing fast—
New flesh wriggled and filled the gap, blood flowed and clotted, and the wound was regenerating at an incredible rate, all in perfect order.
He reached out with Nen to sense it, and used his eyes to confirm—soon he spotted the clue.
On the coiled, enormous body of the Black snake, among the nine dark, swollen sacs, the last two had turned completely transparent—
As if all the black energy inside had been drained in one breath.
So this was the key.
While slowly circling the Black snake through the uneven marshland, Germain kept thinking even in the face of this extreme situation.
Two sacs were now empty. That meant something.
What two major events just happened?
Obviously—
One was that surge of killing intent from the snake's bloody maw.
The other was that insane, rapid regeneration of its flesh...
Germain quickly remembered:
Back when he advanced to the rank of Champion Nen User, he'd discarded the traditional Nen aura "slots."
If those nine black sacs worked like those Nen slots...
Then the Black snake could still unleash seven more "Killing Intent Bursts" and "Super Regenerations."
And maybe, just maybe, it could even store more Nen...
As soon as that thought crossed his mind, Germain saw the Black snake's next move—exactly as he predicted.
It reared back and let out a piercing scream toward the sky,
The dark mist swirling around its body like a black hole began to pull everything in with terrifying force.
But it wasn't pulling in matter.
It was absorbing killing intent.
All the bloodlust spilled across this swamp during the ongoing battle.
It reached even farther—
To the deathly aura gathering around the nest of the Twin-Tailed snakes Hellbell.
And farther still—
Drawing in every lingering murderous thought scattered across the entire rainforest!
At their core, everything here… is Nen.
Countless waves of malicious Nen traveled through the ground, flowing into the swamp, gathering at its center — the very place where the longevity plant Nitrolomy grows.
These twisted thoughts nourished them, helping them grow stronger.
And the Black Snake of Defamation was feeding on the malice that gathered over the swamp.
In its two translucent cysts, the one closer to its snake head suddenly filled with black mist.
Thin strands twisted together, like ink being poured into clear water.
It wouldn't take long before that cyst filled completely — and then, it would move on to the next.
Veteran fighter Germain quickly realized what was coming, and took immediate action to stop it.
In a life-or-death fight like this, you don't always need solid proof to make a decision.
You won't always get perfect evidence. There are always missing pieces.
What he needed to trust… was himself. His instincts. His abilities. His experience.
And the belief he's forged again and again — by surviving the edge of death.
********
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