The pain of his twisted arm did nothing to stop Germain's thoughts, nor did it hinder his movements.
The "Burial Blade" swung at a slanted angle, swift as a crescent moon tearing through the night, and with a sharp hiss, it carved a terrifying wound across Darkness's body.
Darkness only gave the wound a fleeting glance before throwing himself back into combat with Germain.
At the same time, Germain's broken arm began to rotate backward unnaturally, torn flesh and skin splitting open as the wound rapidly healed.
With a single slash, his body was restored as if he had never been injured at all.
In the distance, the Lantern Teleportation Point ignited, sending out brilliant beams of light that spread in all directions, before retracting and clashing against the surrounding darkness.
Like Darkness, Germain also possessed the ability to harvest the power of nearby life forms and make it his own.
This did not surprise Darkness.
Silent and unyielding, he raised the Great Demon Sword and struck down three times in succession, each swing faster and heavier than the last.
Boom. Boom. Boom—
Germain, gripping the Burial Blade, clashed head-on with Darkness.
The ground beneath them was crushed into countless fragments, rubble leaping and shattering endlessly, without pause.
A low, eerie laugh escaped.
"Hoho… perhaps we should change locations…"
In that instant, the strange pocket watch in Darkness's left hand trembled again, releasing ripples that spread across space.
A pitch-black curtain fell in an instant, swallowing both demi-gods into its depths.
Hands in his pockets, Ging stood in the courtyard of the ancient labyrinth castle, his gaze fixed on the herd of Moose Centaurs.
They bent their four legs, lowering their heavy bodies, eyes closed in prayer.
The Moose Centaurs were worshipping the Blood-Red Waning Moon hanging high in the heavens—the god of faith their tribe had revered for centuries.
Now, for the first time, it seemed that their prayers were finally answered.
They believed that the appearance of the Blood-Red Waning Moon was a divine response to their centuries of devotion and faith…
Ging had no intention of trying to persuade them otherwise.
Words would never work.
Only when something truly happened would they learn, once and for all, what it meant to be "awake."
He only hoped that the price of such an awakening would not be too heavy.
Within the ancient labyrinth castle, the Moose Centaurs were not the only ones gazing upward.
The professional Hunters and V6 operatives stationed here also turned their eyes to the Blood-Red Waning Moon, each reacting in their own way.
Bisky had already spoken many comforting words, but the effect was minimal.
Ging turned his head to the side.
"Knov, still nothing?"
"No." Knov crouched low to the ground, palm pressed against the earth, yet no response came. His tone was heavy.
"My ability, Four-Dimensional Apartment, has been completely sealed."
"It seems all Nen abilities related to 'space' have been suppressed."
The towering Morel added his voice, pointing toward Shoot not far away.
Shoot was also attempting to use his Dark Hotel, targeting a captured specimen for research—a strange bioweapon known as the Botanical Weapon, Brion.
But no matter how much damage he inflicted, he could not extract a single fragment from it.
"It's begun." Bisky placed her hands on her hips.
"Germain has already engaged in battle with the Darkness."
"And we are powerless to intervene," Morel concluded grimly.
"Not necessarily powerless."
Ging's gaze traveled to the towering spire in the distance.
The pillar of light had never ceased.
It continued radiating with an almost magical influence, enveloping every living creature within the ancient labyrinth.
"As long as that light hasn't gone out, it means the Nen gathered from us is still flowing—still supporting Germain."
The others listened to Ging's words and silently nodded.
Now, with Kite and some others having returned to the New Continent, Ging, Bisky, Morel, and Knov were the four pillars here—the "Four Giants."
Of course, it was Ging who stood at the center, the others following his lead.
Together, they made the major decisions concerning the labyrinth, including negotiations with the demi-human tribes.
After that harrowing battle with the Demigod, Flesh, more than half of the demi-humans chose to leave.
The rest remained to carve out new lives here.
The Moose Centaurs were among those who stayed.
Ging and the others never forced them to abandon their faith, unless it directly endangered the lives of everyone.
And then—
Truly without warning, each of them sensed a disturbing ripple.
It came so swiftly that none had time to give a warning.
From the direction of the blood-red stone pillars of the labyrinth, two figures suddenly burst forth!
Before anyone could even make out their forms, the crash of their collision echoed through the air, exploding like thunder.
Boom—
The ground trembled as if the heavens themselves were collapsing.
A terrifying shockwave ripped through the labyrinth.
Entire rows of stone pillars shattered into rubble, and the aftermath surged forward like a tidal wave of blood, shaking the colossal ancient castle to its core.
Ging, Bisky, Morel, and Knov all felt their chests tighten under the crushing pressure.
Their mouths went dry.
Not a single syllable could leave their throats.
They could only stare blankly in the direction of the explosion.
It was them.
It had to be them.
The battlefield had shifted here.
There was no way this ancient labyrinth could withstand the wrath of two demi-gods locked in battle.
Walls, towers, and entire halls were crumbling apart, each section of the fortress swallowed by destruction.
But this was nothing new.
Before arriving here, Germain and the entity known only as "Darkness" had already ravaged gray deserts, steep mountain ranges, swampy rainforests, and the western coast again and again—turning landscapes into wastelands.
Germain no longer fought with calm composure.
He had already burned through the powers of the "Sonata of Darkness"—flute, harp, and violin alike.
He had even sacrificed the "Collector's Head" and invoked "The Crawling of the Deformed Limp Stalker" three separate times.
Yet none of it had been enough to deal a decisive blow to Darkness.
*******
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