Law spent an hour mastering his newly developed Nen Ability, which is a combination of Manipulation, Emission, and his own God Hand ability. It allowed him to ascend midair without any foothold, enabling continued upward movement.
Through repeated trial and error, he did expend a significant amount of Aura, but the results were worth it.
He rushed out of the underground cavern like a rocket, reaching a height of hundreds of meters. By the time the artificial creatures even began to react, he had already burst out of the cave and risen into the sky.
This aerial stepping technique resembled Moon Step from One Piece, but the principles behind it were different. Unlike Moon Step, Law's move required the consumption of Aura, and its range and flexibility were far more limited. It likely wouldn't match Moon Step in sustained maneuverability.
He'd discovered this during the training.
If he wanted to move at high speed, it is extremely difficult to change direction and it is also difficult to use it freely. While at slower speeds, it was still manageable, like catching a strong gust of wind to shift slightly sideways.
However, for straight-line movement, the speed could be quite impressive.
The artificial creatures possessed a certain sensitivity to Aura. The moment Law unleashed a burst of Aura midair, they picked up on it.
But before they could fully register what was happening, he had already shot out of the cavern.
Law was in the air, hovering above the heads of the ten artificial creatures. He quickly glanced at the appearance of the monsters, then concentrated his Aura and pushed his body to the side, away from the cave opening.
He'd just managed to leap out, and there was no way he was going to fall back in.
'Ten at once, huh… Well, let's give it a try.'
The thought passed silently through his mind, and even before he hit the ground, the artificial creatures below sprang into the air, leaping straight at him.
Using their physical strength to strike prey was a typical tactic for magical beasts. When paired with Aura, they could easily tear apart ordinary Nen Users.
The first to approach Law was a creature with razor-sharp claws. It lunged at him head-on and swung its claws at him without any hesitation.
Law intended to use that strike to break through the encirclement. He simply raised his sword and lightly blocked the claw, letting the force fling him through the air in a graceful arc toward the ground.
The remaining nine creatures naturally missed their mark.
Law broke away from the battle circle and landed firmly on the ground. Looking at the creatures falling from the sky one after another, he took the initiative and charged straight at them.
Thirty minutes later, on the same flattened ground that had been leveled by an explosion the night before, scattered beast limbs still twitched in their final struggles.
The power of the God Hand granted them the capacity to cling to life, but Sanbica's virus was already eating away at their bodies. Within ten minutes, they would all be dead.
Law could quickly dispatch one, two, even three or four of these beasts in a short amount of time. But once the number reached ten, things got much more complicated.
These artificial creatures were far from weak. So being surrounded by them, even a single misstep could lead to serious injury.
That's why Law had to spend a full half hour and also consumed a lot of Aura, just to take them down without a scratch.
After marking this location in his memory, Law turned and left, leaving behind ten mutilated creatures whose bodies had been severed into pieces. Slowly, under the virus's effects, they began to die.
His next move was to deal with the prison problem, and only after that would he investigate the truth behind the tens of thousands of corpses.
However, although Law did not feel tired when facing ten creatures at the same time for the first time, the drastic consumption of his Aura made him realize that he could not solve this problem in a short time.
The enemy still had more artificial creatures. Even if he managed to pull them out one by one, it will still be a drawn-out war of attrition.
Just like now, Law, who has dealt with ten artificial creatures, must wait until his Aura is restored before he can continue to cause trouble.
As the artificial magical beasts began to die off, Dove, who is situated far on the other side, immediately sensed it, and his face instantly darkened.
'Even if the explosion didn't kill him, it should have seriously injured him. But he still had the strength to deal with the ten artificial creatures who stayed behind?'
A cold gleam flashed in Dove's eyes. He bit down on his lip so hard blood began to seep out, 'Those were ten full artificial creatures… was even a combined assault from them not enough to stop that brat?'
After two days and two nights of searching, not only did they fail to find Sambica, but they also lost twenty artificial creatures. Together with the five flying artificial creatures who were killed by the lake, the total number of artificial creatures killed by Law had reached twenty-five.
It had taken nearly a decade to craft a force of 106 elite artificial creatures using the Surprise Box, and yet, in just three days, a full fifth of them had already been lost.
'Could it be that after the Seirin Group was wiped out, the number of powerful Nen Users in the Hunter Association hadn't decreased, but increased instead? Was that why even a brat who didn't look like he was of age could be so powerful?'
'If that was the case, then using 106 artificial creatures and a batch of biochemical weapons to wipe out the Hunter Association and overthrow a country… was it all just a delusional dream?'
Thinking of this, a look of disillusionment flashed across Dove's face.
They had come this far, driven by hatred, walking the path of vengeance… only to be ambushed by a wild card before they'd even begun their revenge. If another such ambush occurred, the plan they'd spent over a decade preparing could be crushed before it even launched.
Dove's unusual expression quickly drew the attention of his nearby companions.
Noticing the gazes of his companions, Dove quickly adjusted his mood, took a deep breath, then looked at them and calmly announced: "Just now, all the ten artificial creatures left there were all killed."
As soon as he said that, the core members' faces changed. They had thought that threat had been dealt with, but unexpectedly, the enemy not only did not die, but also wiped out ten more of their artificial creatures.
And this wasn't just a small scouting team, but a five plus five formation!
It must be known that they're not a flying species with relatively weak combat power, but a land species whose frontal combat strength is comparable to that of a war machine!
However, the brat with the sword had taken down all ten on his own.
This meant that from now on, it would take at least ten or more artificial soldiers working in unison to even stand a chance against him.
Unbelievable...
The 21 core members had each endured hardships to make it this far. None of them considered themselves weak.
But at most, they could each take on two ground-type artificial creatures at once, and even then, the difference between fighting two and three was massive.
If facing two, any one of them could kill the artificial creatures as long as they spent some time, but if facing three, they'd be instantly overwhelmed, let alone ten.
"It is undeniable that the brat with the sword is very strong, stronger than any of us, and I don't know how many people as strong as him there are in the Hunter Association."
Dove looked cold and solemn as he looked around at his companions in the forest. He then said in a deep voice, "Although we've lost twenty-five artificial creatures, it also made me understand one thing."
The remaining artificial creatures were still conducting a sweeping search across the nearby mountains.
In the forest, the remnants of the Seirin Group all looked at their leader solemnly, waiting for his conclusion.
"Before the plan begins… he must die here!"
Dove spoke the words through gritted teeth, his voice filled with killing intent.
One of their plan's targets was the Association, and they always have to go against the core Nen Users of the association. Dove felt that Law might very well be one of them.
Which meant, right here, right now, they needed to go all-in, throw every chip on the table, and strike him down with overwhelming force.
Dove had changed his mind. He had decided to temporarily give up the search for Sanbica and instead concentrate all their power on eliminating Law, the troublesome wild card.
At the same time, Law's display of strength had planted seeds of doubt about the future of their mission.
In Dove's strategy, the biochemical were to be deployed recklessly, without concern for casualties. The artificial creatures were reserved for taking on the Hunter Association, with fifty of them specifically allocated to confront Netero.
He didn't think that Law would be stronger than Netero, but if there were many Nen Users as strong as Law, then even a hundred artificial creatures wouldn't be enough!
With that, hesitation crept into Dove's heart.
Should he continue amassing strength… or gamble everything on a single throw of the dice?