"Hunter… I will never let you slip away from me."
The voice was Darkness's, altered with a shifting tone.
Germain remained cautious. He drew out the "Deep Sea Badge."
Dark clouds, raging winds, piercing lightning, and torrential rain all answered his summons, gathering rapidly in that area.
The already blood-red sky, dyed by the "Crimson Blood Moon," now carried an even more apocalyptic atmosphere.
"Darkness" remained unmoved as it opened three beast-like mouths, and from the depths, black bullets erupted continuously—thump, thump, thump!
The black bullets fired like machine-gun rounds, their sheer number overwhelming, like a violent rainstorm.
Wherever they swept across the ground, they carved deep scars into the earth.
The bullets surged in wild, unpredictable directions, yet eventually, each traced strange arcs, locking onto Germain.
The black robe draped over Germain fluttered wildly as countless shadowy hems shot outward.
Soft and flexible, they shivered in the fierce wind, then instantly hardened into thick, shield-like layers, standing firm in front of him.
As the black bullets came, muffled rumbles echoed through the rolling clouds, and countless bolts of lightning crashed down.
They pierced the black bullets like silver forks, impaling them onto the earth, and detonated together.
Boom—boom—boom!
Amid the dust rising to half the height of the mountains from the chain explosions, countless black bullets still bypassed the lightning's deadly web.
But soon, they were swept up by the raging winds and torrential rain, caught in the spiraling tornado, and flung one by one toward the sky or the earth.
In the end, only a dozen or so black bullets survived.
They all slammed against the ever-shifting black shields and exploded midair.
Boom—boom—boom!
"Darkness" crouched low, observing the spectacle of fire and debris filling the sky and ground.
It was grand and overwhelming, yet not a single strike managed to hit Germain.
A fierce scowl crossed its face as a sudden sense of wrongness struck.
Instincts screamed danger, and "Darkness" swiftly darted to the side.
Boom—
A colossal scythe descended, riding the symphony of blood-red skies, dark clouds, explosions, and raging winds and rain.
The massive "Burial Blade" failed to strike "Darkness," but it left a deep trench carved into the ground.
The entire forest was split in two, like a giant broccoli cut in half.
The "Burial Blade" rose and retracted slightly, yet its strike was almost instantaneous, sweeping horizontally across!
This time, Darkness couldn't evade. It could only suddenly expand its black aura, making itself resemble a massive, grotesque black tumor.
Boom—
The "Burial Blade" struck the black tumor but failed to cut it through.
Instead, it simply swept the tumor across the distance, ultimately launching it like a golf ball into the air.
The black mass slammed heavily onto the ground, rolling several times before finally dispersing and reshaping into the two-meter-tall demon that had been Darkness.
It had completely lost its initial elegance, scrambling up from the ground in disarray.
Just as it was about to move, it realized its limbs were bound. Looking down, it saw four blood-red tendrils crawling up from the earth!
Darkness tore the tendrils apart with ease.
Yet it did not feel relief, for as it surveyed its surroundings, it realized it had fallen into a trap.
All around, the landscape had transformed into grotesque flesh monsters, forming a terrifying army that wriggled and crawled toward it.
This area had once been influenced by the power of Flesh and Blood.
At that time, the flesh monsters had nearly overrun the ancient labyrinthine castle, but the arrival of Germain had ruined their plan entirely.
Even after Flesh and Blood fell, its influence had not entirely vanished, leaving behind most of the grotesque, fleshy traits.
This, in fact, was advantageous for the nearby Botanical Weapon Brions, which thrived on parasitizing flesh.
At this moment, the masterpieces left by Flesh and Blood had become a perfect tool for Germain, who possessed the Flesh Badge!
These flesh monsters could not deal a fatal blow to Darkness, but they were more than enough to create serious trouble.
It felt as though it had sunk into a swamp with no visible end, struggling to take even a single step.
He should not have brought "Hunter" here, to a territory that already belongs almost entirely to "Hunter"…
Darkness would have to pay the price for its arrogance.
Meanwhile, Germain's arrogance gave him the courage to launch a mad assault against the oldest of the demigods.
Winning was never part of his thought process.
Unable to locate Germain, Darkness saw the "Burial Blade" expanding and shrinking wildly, sweeping in a relentless storm of strikes!
Boom, boom, boom—
Air-to-ground bombardments came in relentless waves. Darkness was suppressed, unable to rise, while being entangled by the flesh monsters on the ground.
Its entire body was continuously battered and desecrated, finally pushing Darkness past the point of endurance.
He would never die in such a pitiful, pathetic state!
Then, cornered and pushed to the brink, he suddenly contracted—shrinking to the size of a single fingernail—only to expand again with terrifying speed before Germain could launch his next attack!
Buzz—
A silent, black radiance spread rapidly, like the gaping mouth of an abyss, devouring everything it touched.
Flesh monsters, flashing lightning, gusting winds, pouring rain, rolling clouds… everything was swallowed by the darkness, silenced utterly.
Every attack Germain unleashed was nullified.
And Germain himself had fallen into the "Abyss of Darkness," slowly losing sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste…
The "Burial Blade" in his hand and the countless badges slipped away without him noticing, drifting to who-knows-where.
He could touch nothing—or perhaps he did, but felt nothing.
All he knew was that he was floating, and the weightless sensation would soon vanish.
His limbs no longer obeyed him. Soon, he felt certain that losing the ability to think was only a matter of time.
Countless negative emotions pierced the fragile, paper-thin defenses of his mind, sinking into his bones and thoughts.
Pressure accumulated. In a single breath, a dark crown appeared above Germain's head.
It had been a long time since he wore such a thorny, dark crown. For a moment, he felt like the weak version of himself he once was.
Yet, the pressure did not relent.
It continued to build, filling him like water flooding his nose and throat, seeking to consume every corner of his being.
If this went on, he would collapse and die, body and soul both undone.
*******
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