Chapter 9: Wherever He Goes, Post-Mortem Nen Retreats!
Studying the ink-thick Post-Mortem Nen intently, Ivan recalled what he knew about it.
Post-Mortem Nen was posthumous Hatsu.
It typically formed when someone died with excessively strong will—such as desire for revenge or refusal to accept death—causing their ordinary Aura to turn aggressive and invasive, almost like corruption.
The concept somewhat resembled zombie lore in horror films.
If humans died with lingering resentment, their corpses might reanimate as zombies.
But Post-Mortem Nen's utility far surpassed that of mere zombies.
The storyline depicted Post-Mortem Nen most prominently during Hisoka and Chrollo's duel at Heavens Arena.
The anime hadn't adapted this arc yet; it only appeared in the manga.
During the match, Chrollo turned surrounding spectators into human bombs. Though the explosions didn't kill Hisoka outright, continuous blasts depleted the oxygen.
Thus, Hisoka ultimately died from suffocation.
After Chrollo assumed Hisoka was dead, even witnessing staff remove the body, something miraculous occurred.
A Post-Mortem Nen gathered around Hisoka's heart, performing CPR—and actually revived him.
It turned out that Hisoka had left a portion of his Nen Ability at his heart before death, using his intense will to drive the Post-Mortem Nen to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation during his near-death state.
Reportedly, this was an experiment by Hisoka himself, as he wasn't entirely certain it could revive him.
At the time, Ivan couldn't help but marvel at the sheer creativity of the author, thinking how such a method could forcibly bring someone back to life.
In other words, Post-Mortem Nen could also be understood as a negative ability, contrasting with ordinary Nen.
With this realization, Ivan had a sudden inspiration. He immediately had Gardevoir stand by his side and use a skill against the Post-Mortem Nen ahead.
In the games, this skill could only be learned through a Technical Machine.
However, Pokémon born from Nen Ability would have all the skills they could master directly appear in their skill slots, ready for immediate use.
This meant that any move the Pokémon could learn could be executed.
Safeguard!
A semi-transparent sphere completely enveloped Gardevoir, as if she were encased in a giant bubble.
Simultaneously, the Post-Mortem Nen in front of Gardevoir began to churn and retreat rapidly, as if encountering a natural predator, eagerly distancing itself from her.
The Post-Mortem Nen further away remained largely unaffected.
Ivan stared at the Post-Mortem Nen, which resembled a defeated army hastily retreating, and understood.
In the Pokémon world, Safeguard's role is to prevent status conditions.
From this perspective, Post-Mortem Nen could be considered a type of status condition in a way.
With this, could he temporarily act as an exorcist?
No, more like half an exorcist.
An exorcist removes Nen effects after they've been applied to a person, while Safeguard prevents Post-Mortem Nen from affecting someone.
One is treatment, the other is prevention.
Nen processed by an exorcist should disappear entirely, whereas Safeguard drives away Post-Mortem Nen, as seen when it retreated instead of vanishing.
Ivan also realized the importance of Safeguard. If Post-Mortem Nen counts as a status condition, what if someone uses a Nen Ability that inflicts status conditions on him?
Would it be recognized as a status condition and take effect?
Though he hadn't tested it yet, his intuition told him it should work.
Wait...
If Safeguard can prevent Post-Mortem Nen, then...
Couldn't Heal Bell remove Post-Mortem Nen?!
Gardevoir could also learn Heal Bell, so Ivan directly opened the skill panel to check.
[Heal Bell: Can remove status conditions from the entire team (based on the user's subjective judgment of teammates), including but not limited to Post-Mortem Nen, curses, and other negative effects.]
Now, the title of exorcist was undeniable!
With Safeguard for prevention and Heal Bell for removal, it was a double safeguard!
No one could question his identity as an exorcist now...
If Ivan remembered correctly, in the world of Hunter x Hunter, while Nen users are far fewer compared to ordinary people, there are still a fair number of them.
Exorcists, however, are the truly rare ones!
Throughout the anime and manga, only three exorcists are mentioned!
One is Abengane who appeared in Greed Island and removed Chrollo's Nen.
Another is a rabbit-type Chimera Ant named "Hina."
The last one never made an appearance—an elderly exorcist woman working within the Hunter Association.
Such a rare talent as an exorcist is always in high demand, no matter where you go!
To experiment, Ivan had Gardevoir use Heal Bell on the Post-Mortem Nen.
The beautiful melody materialized through psychic energy, transforming into musical notes on a staff that floated forward in an undulating pattern.
When the Post-Mortem Nen encountered the notes, it melted away like snow under warm sunlight, gradually dissolving until it completely disappeared.
The area appeared as if Post-Mortem Nen had never existed there, leaving a conspicuous gap.
After a moment, the Post-Mortem Nen from behind "belatedly" moved forward to fill the vacancy.
"Gardevoir." Sensing the consumption of psychic energy within her body, Gardevoir spoke softly to Ivan beside her.
"Heal Bell consumes more energy than Safeguard, but that's to be expected."
After confirming both methods were effective, Ivan had Gardevoir cast Safeguard on him as well. Ignoring the "Danger Ahead" warning sign nearby, the two proceeded forward.
As expected, with every step Ivan took forward, the Post-Mortem Nen retreated a step back.
Moreover, this protective circle moved along with him.
Ivan and Gardevoir walked step by step deeper into Harimu Ruins.
Wherever they went, the Post-Mortem Nen scattered!