Chapter 5: The Lantern That Overcomes All Obstacles
Puff!
Germain ripped the blood-soaked butcher's saw from the demon wolf's corpse, tearing out its final breath.
The saw, sticky with black-red blood, clung to his right wrist like a dark crimson glove.
He had slain the demon wolf and absorbed its resentment yet its malice had been too weak to offer much power in return.
Shaking his head, Germain sighed. It was unfortunate not to have received a new Gift of Resentment, but at least the experiment proved the usefulness of both the musket and the butcher's saw.
He was just about to leave when a strange feeling crawled up his spine. He looked around.
Pairs of scarlet eyes gleamed in the dark densely packed, eerie, and unblinking.
A whole pack of ravenous demon wolves.
At that instant, hunter and prey seemed to have switched places.
Crack!
Germain gripped the handle of his saw tightly. With a violent twist, blade and hilt separated the saw extending fully, lengthening his reach.
Time to test the transform-cut mode of the weapon.
The wolves lunged one after another.
He employed the Flow technique to shift the defensive state of his aura between full-body hardness and localized toughness as precaution.
At the same time, he used Shu, coating the butcher's saw with aura to enhance its cutting power.
Puff! Puff!
The clearing erupted into chaos.
Germain unleashed a frenzy of steel and fire, cleaving and firing in tandem. Blood sprayed, flesh scattered the night became a storm of gore.
Yet the wolves were too many. One managed to bite into Germain's left arm, tearing a chunk of flesh where his aura defense hadn't reached in time.
Pain flared hot, sharp but instead of retreating, Germain pressed forward.
The agony sharpened his focus.
With two swift slashes, he cut down the wolf that bit him.
Musket in one hand, butcher's saw in the other, Germain turned the dense forest itself into his ally, cutting down the pack one by one.
When the last few wolves realized the monster they had provoked, they howled in terror and fled, disappearing into the dark brush.
Only after confirming their retreat did Germain lower his weapons and exhale deeply.
He shouldn't have fought so many at once.
He was still adjusting to this body still learning to fight with Nen. A beginner, in truth.
His 10 points of Vitality had barely been enough to withstand their siege.
And since he'd used excessive aura output to test his attacks, his 12 points of Endurance had dropped drastically.
Using all of his Nen techniques without restraint was still a heavy burden on him.
Yet despite being drenched in blood, most of it wasn't his own.
He had killed more than twenty demon wolves enough to reap their lingering hatred.
That hatred crystallized into energy, raising his attributes.
Mmm… The butcher's saw and musket had proven their worth. Now it was time to test the lantern.
A faint violet light shimmered and suddenly, a lantern appeared at Germain's feet.
Four grotesque Messenger Imps clung to its sides, their eyes glowing as the inscription on the glass read:
Cooldown Countdown: 0:00.
Germain possessed only two lanterns one portable, and one bound to a fixed location.
The fixed lantern had existed since the beginning. He couldn't retrieve or relocate it.
Its name: The Dark Continent.
He couldn't help but glance toward its image projected within the Möbius Lake a boundless, dangerous expanse.
Humanity lived only in a corner of the world. The Dark Continent was the true world.
Germain wanted to go there.
He wanted to see what the Dark Continent looked like within the unfinished universe of Hunter x Hunter and test his own human limits.
Without that goal, his journey bound by the laws of his world would be meaningless.
But the Dark Continent was lethally dangerous. Few who went ever returned, and those who did often carried Calamities back with them.
Even if someone dared to go, they would first need to surpass the five world powers of V5, and then the levels of the Guide and Guardian, before reaching the true frontier.
The original Germain had once possessed a method of traveling directly to and from the Dark Continent bypassing the V5, Guides, and Guardians altogether.
But upon realizing his destination, he had sealed the lantern hiding its teleportation abilities from everyone but himself.
The current Germain understood why.
The V5 controlled nearly all intelligence and travel routes to the Continent, seeking to monopolize every possible gain.
The original Germain had feared the implications of his lantern's teleportation power and sealed it for good reason.
Yet, even sealed, the lantern had refused to let him go.
It had extracted and destroyed his soul as the price for its power
and that sacrifice allowed a new soul to take its place.
That was how the current Germain had inherited it.
Now, standing in the dark forest, he chose the opposite path.
He placed the glowing violet lantern on the ground.
One of the pale-white Messenger Imps scuttled forward, staring up at him.
Germain extended his pinky finger.
The imp let out a startled cry, lunging forward and clutching his finger tightly, as if afraid he might pull away.
The other three imps whimpered quietly.
Take me to the Dark Continent, Germain commanded.
The imp gripping his finger nodded rapidly.
Buzz!
A blinding flash engulfed everything.
When Germain opened his eyes again, he was standing in a vast, open field.
The forest was gone. It was daylight now.
Tall, tangled weeds stretched beneath his boots no trees, only shallow hills on both sides like ancient riverbeds.
He blinked.
Was this… the Dark Continent?
It looked almost normal not as terrifying as the legends claimed.
The lantern beside him flickered dimly. Four Messenger Imps clung to it, though he couldn't tell if they were the same four from before.
New text glowed across the glass:
Cooldown Time: 0:59
Cooldown Time: 0:58
So one minute until the lantern could be used again. During that time, it would be impossible to return.
Germain took a few cautious steps, debating whether to explore and make use of this precious chance.
Then, something made him stop.
Silence.
It was too quiet here.
The air was heavy still as if the land itself were holding its breath.
A place like a graveyard.
(End of Chapter)