At the same time, countless silver lights detached from their bodies, like bullets piercing through the black rain of resentment, flying up into the sky and toward Germain.
Germain gained power from these dense silver lights... but it was still not enough—far from enough.
Holding the Burial Blade, he tore through the curtains of vengeful spirits, finally reaching a position just a few hundred meters away from that fat baby-faced figure.
The Curse of Resentment finally opened the eyes it had kept narrowed all this time. Inside was complete darkness, with no pupils at all, making it even more terrifying.
It grinned at Germain—a mocking smile, treating Germain's advance as a mad moth flying into the fire.
At that moment, Germain truly had no chance of winning.
But this battle was different from before. He had no room to retreat.
Then, in the next moment, the room to maneuver appeared.
The world shifted, bringing new possibilities.
High above Curse of Resentment, in the vast rolling black clouds, a sudden light flickered as bright as daylight, followed by the deep rumble of thunder.
A wild wind, rushing like a galloping horse, howled fiercely.
Rain battered down, pounding like drums, and a roar echoed from the clouds!
Curse of Resentment turned his head quickly, realizing what was happening, a mix of shock and fury filling him.
All the divine power originally aimed at the Germain before him suddenly shifted direction, the focus now pointed straight toward the sky.
"His two crises both stem from unforgivable betrayals. Last time it was flesh and blood; this time, it's the deep sea."
"When a violent storm interrupted that ritual, forcing him to be born early, he realized he had fallen into a trap. But it was too late — he could only drag his broken body forward."
"Yet, the deep sea still came, striking when he was at his weakest, when all his apostles had perished..."
Majestic water tornadoes surged one after another from the rolling black clouds, piercing toward Curse of Resentment like countless long spears.
Curse of Resentment fought back with all his might, summoning nearly every wisp of vengeful mist to counter the assault.
Boom—
Everything exploded in the air!
On this land, a strange scene formed, stitched together from three utterly different parts—
A sky raging with wind and rain, a floating battlefield shrouded in resentful mist, and a tranquil horizon under a full moon.
Lightning flashed and thunder roared as divine powers clashed. The ripples of Nen energy spread wildly, shaking Germain in the air until he was almost blown away.
Germain drifted like a lone boat tossed by stormy waves!
Struggling to steady himself, he didn't retreat. Instead, clutching his Burial Blade and flapping his silver-white wings, he silently hovered at the edge of this divine war.
The explosive waves of energy surged layer after layer, each one more intense than the last.
Germain was thrown back a good distance with every strike, struggling to steady himself each time.
He couldn't clearly see the exact moves exchanged in this divine battle—only the piercing screams of vengeful spirits and the furious roars of wild winds and thunder.
Soon, Germain realized that the Curse of Resentment had fallen behind and was likely severely injured.
His Hunter badge, however, suddenly regained its old speed of absorbing cursed energy at this close range to Curse of Resentment!
The Hunter badge greedily sucked in Curse of Resentment's power, granting Germain an unimaginable advantage at this moment.
Then came a deafening, almost mournful sound from the core of the divine battle.
"The fractured Curse of Resentment is no match for the deep sea forces long waiting to strike from above. The outcome is decided."
"Though it neither dies nor perishes, it hasn't had nearly a thousand years to plan and lie dormant like this. Now, everything is settled..."
Boom—
The terrifying blast deafened Germain instantly. The Burial Blade in his hand and the silver wings on his back vanished without a trace!
He felt an overwhelming force slam down from the sky, pressing him hard.
Involuntarily, he became like an arrow, hurtling with a roar and crashing fiercely into the ground, shattering a vast area of earth.
The waves of energy spreading from above continued to ravage the already battered land for a long time after.
After fighting many fierce enemies for so long, Germain finally succumbed to unconsciousness.
He wasn't sure how much time had passed before he faintly heard a familiar voice calling out and felt his body being shaken.
He opened his eyes and saw two faces.
One belonged to Shizuku, and the other, unexpectedly yet unsurprisingly, was Sanbica.
Shizuku's face looked a little battered. Her short black hair was smeared with mud, but she didn't bother cleaning it off—she had rushed here looking for Germain, who had been knocked down here.
After the God War ended, everyone present had lost consciousness due to the widespread shockwave.
Only after a long time did people begin to wake up one by one.
Still shaken and unsettled, Shizuku, Bisky, Ging, and the others remembered Germain, so they set out together to find him in this area.
They soon found Germain, who was still unconscious, lying deep in a crater caused by the blast.
Germain had been too close to the explosion, suffering the heaviest impact both mentally and physically, which explained why he hadn't woken yet.
At that moment, reinforcements sent from the fortress arrived—medical teams led by Cheadle, Sanbica, Knov, and Palm.
Cheadle and Sanbica were the core members, while Knov and Palm mainly helped with rapid arrival to the scene.
As soon as they arrived, without asking questions, they immediately began treating everyone's injuries—especially Germain, whose care was personally handled by Sanbica.
Besides that, some survivors inside the Ten-Thousand Man's Cave were also rescued.
All of them showed similar aftereffects from attacks by Manipulation-type Nen abilities.
Their memories of the terrifying events before were mostly missing or had been altered.
To make it easier for Sanbica to treat him, Shizuku held Germain in her arms, letting him rest his head on her stomach and thighs.
When Germain woke up and opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Shizuku and Sanbica.
Shizuku visibly let out a breath of relief, then bent down and tightly hugged Germain's head.
She held that position for quite a while before finally letting go.
Sanbica stood nearby, carefully and softly asking, "Germain, do you feel any discomfort anywhere?"
Germain climbed up from Shizuku's thighs.
He stretched his body slightly and didn't feel any unbearable pain.
Even relying only on his own healing ability, his body would recover quickly.
So he shook his head.
"I'm fine now. Thank you both for taking care of me."
As Germain thanked them, he looked up at the sky.
The full moon on the horizon had long disappeared, replaced by a crescent moon hanging in the night sky.
Besides that, the violent storm had vanished without a trace, and the howling black mist filled with resentment had completely dissipated.
Even more shocking, the distant castle had collapsed, leaving behind only twisted stone pillars reaching up to the sky.
The divine battle had ended, and everything felt like a fleeting dream.
Yet, this was not a dream.
Because he could feel it — the gift given to him when the Hunter Badge absorbed the Curse of Resentment power up close.
Germain conjured it in the palm of his hand. It was a fragment, flattened like a Seed Urn.
"The Curse of Resentment Badge: You will be able to see souls that have not completely dissipated, learn secrets about these souls, communicate with them, and even summon and manifest their remnants to fight alongside you."
This was Germain's second badge, obtained after the Hunter Badge.
At the same time, news of Germain's awakening quickly spread through the temporary camp, and many figures approached under the glow of the lantern pillars.
Netero, Ging, Bisky, Morel, and Mizaistom, among others, gathered around.
No one knew who started it first, but someone began clapping, and soon applause filled the air.
This was their sincere praise, amazement, and gratitude for Germain's performance this time.
Without Germain, they simply couldn't have defeated that terrifying enemy. Instead, they all would have been wiped out right here.
It was Germain's presence that prolonged the deadly stalemate, allowing a stronger force to intervene—this was what saved everyone from certain death.
All of this was inseparable from Germain, which is why they praised, marveled, and expressed their gratitude.
They were truly shaken and directly realized that Germain had reached a terrifying level of combat power far beyond their own reach.
At this moment, the core members of the Hunter Association finally understood the constant fussing Netero had made about Germain over the past two months.
It was true, but also outdated.
Germain was not only the strongest in the Six Continents at present but very likely had already witnessed the pinnacle of this world's power.
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