A blinding Nen wave swept past like a raging tide.
Beyond was violently blasted away by the impact.
After the searing light dissipated, his body skipped across the lake's surface like a broken stone before finally crashing onto the shore, slamming heavily into the trunk of a giant tree.
Crack!
Amidst a shower of splintered wood, he pierced through the trunk and smashed hard into another towering ancient tree behind it before finally coming to a stop.
Now deeply embedded in the tree, his body looked as if it had been slashed by a thousand invisible blades, covered in countless lacerations from which blood gushed like a fountain.
If not for the fact that the ability mechanism of "Nothing External to the Mind" could operate under any condition and guarantee the ability's strength, the initial wave of impact that broke through his defense would have normally been enough to make it difficult for a Nen user to maintain their subsequent abilities.
It was precisely because of this mechanism of Nothing External to the Mind that Beyond did not suffer a "fatal" injury.
However, the wounds he sustained from this one blow were already extremely severe, not far from the brink of death.
The only thing worth noting was... unless Beyond's willpower collapsed, even on the verge of death, he could potentially launch a desperate counterattack with Nothing External to the Mind.
Yet, this sliver of a possibility was almost meaningless in front of an Emitter.
Whether it was the probing at the beginning of the battle or the current stage that required a finishing blow, an Emitter could calmly complete all these actions from a safe distance.
Due to the rather unique mechanism of Nothing External to the Mind, Morrow had been unable to confirm the detailed information of Beyond's ability during the fight, and naturally had no way of knowing about the activation mechanism that was unaffected by his condition.
But even in his ignorance of this, and while holding an absolute advantage, Morrow still gave Beyond no opportunity to exploit.
Guided by Terpsichora's Nen strings, he landed steadily on the shore. From a distance, he raised his right hand directly toward Beyond, who was embedded in the tree.
The light of Nen once again gathered in his palm.
He intended to use the most typical Emission-style method to push Beyond step by step into the abyss of death.
Beyond's body was stuck in the tree trunk. Despite his severe injuries, he could use the power of Nothing External to the Mind to free himself at any moment.
He just didn't act immediately.
His purpose was to wait for Morrow's next move, to find an opportunity to launch a desperate counterattack.
However, Morrow was too cautious, leveraging the long-range advantage of an Emitter to its fullest, revealing no openings.
No chance of winning at all...
Still embedded in the tree, Beyond spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground.
Death was close at hand, yet he felt not a shred of fear. Instead, he was calmly calculating whether he would have a chance to defeat Morrow if the duel could be replayed.
The answer quickly emerged.
Absolutely impossible.
This wasn't just due to the absolute disparity in hard power like aura output, but also because his "Nothing External to the Mind" was completely ineffective against Morrow.
What's more, he could see that Morrow was the type to do his utmost to avoid mistakes in a heated battle.
Once this type of opponent gained an advantage, it was incredibly difficult to turn the tables.
Simply put, Morrow's strength could crush him at any moment.
So if there was another chance to fight, he would never face Morrow in a one-on-one duel again.
The best arrangement would be for him and his entire team to gang up on Morrow.
Unfortunately, the Stone Wall team, tasked with firepower output, had been killed by Morrow in East Gorteau... Beyond's thoughts raced. Thinking of the situation he was about to face, his gaze couldn't help but turn grave.
He still had a sliver of a chance to escape.
But his next move might not let him survive, and could even endanger his teammate in the rear, Sawa.
"Twin Flower Crossing."
This was Sawa's Specialization ability, which possessed the effects of transferring and sharing damage.
The damage-sharing effect allowed her, upon meeting certain conditions, to plant an invisible Flower Seed in a target.
When the target sustained a fatal injury, the Flower Seed would bloom, thereby activating the ability.
Once the ability was activated, Sawa had to bear the Limitation of a Community of Fate, sharing the fatal damage with the target.
She had previously used this ability to plant a Flower Seed in the Kakin fourth prince Tserriednich.
It was the existence of this Flower Seed that had saved Tserriednich, who should have died in the assassination attempt.
But the greatest risk of this ability lay in sharing fatal damage.
Taking Tserriednich as an example, if he, as an ordinary person, took a powerful blow from a Nen user, then when the damage overflowed severely, Sawa, who had to share the damage with him, could potentially die on the spot from the massive transfer of damage.
The situation Beyond now faced was that Morrow's next, super-powerful blow could completely blast him into smithereens.
And the massive overflow of damage would absolutely cause Sawa's instantaneous death.
So, for Beyond to grasp a thread of hope in this desperate situation, he could only... control the amount of damage he was about to take.
It had to reach a fatal level, but the damage value couldn't overflow by too much.
And if he was too cautious, causing the damage to be insufficiently fatal, then Twin Flower Crossing's Flower Seed wouldn't trigger, and he might lose consciousness due to his severe injuries.
In that case, he would basically just bleed out and slowly die.
That also wouldn't trigger the Flower Seed.
My consciousness... is starting to blur...
Beyond's eyelids drooped slightly as he struggled to look at the terrifying Nen pressure gradually taking shape in the distance.
That guy... even though it was just a finishing blow, not only was he so cautious as to not reveal any openings, but he was also pouring such a vast amount of aura into this final strike, as if he wanted to grind his bones to dust.
Fortunately, even with his body and mind severely wounded, the release and operation of Nothing External to the Mind remained unaffected.
As long as he was conscious, he could, just as he did at the beginning, construct an energy barrier sufficient to hold off Morrow for a moment.
The reason he had been blasted here with one hit earlier was mostly because of Morrow's treacherous, "torpedo-like" strike, which had torn a huge gash directly through his defensive barrier.
But now, seeing Morrow accumulate his aura to this extent, he didn't have to worry about the other party repeating the same trick.
It was just that... the stronger this blow, the lower the margin for error in the life-or-death gamble he had to take next.
On the shore, Morrow held his right arm out flat. A massive Nen bullet, several meters in diameter, was forming in front of his palm.
As he gathered his aura, his gaze remained locked on Beyond, who was deeply embedded in the tree trunk, not missing the slightest movement.
What surprised him slightly was... although Beyond's injuries were extremely grave, his aura had not weakened as much as expected.
This was enough to show that Beyond's spirit and will had been tempered to some extraordinary realm.
He was indeed worthy of being a man who had endured and prepared for decades just to challenge the Dark Continent again.
Morrow's eyes were calm as the giant Nen bullet in front of his palm was suddenly released.
A sharp hum echoed through the air.
The Nen bullet, once released, was like a meteorite, plowing a deep trench through the forest as it shot unstoppably toward Beyond.
Beyond's eyes were instantly filled with that world-destroying light.
Truly... awe-inspiring destructive power.
It was hard to imagine that this was an attack a human could unleash.
As an opponent, at this moment, he actually felt a trace of sincere admiration for Morrow.
But he still forced himself to focus, and in the instant before the Nen bullet struck, he deployed an energy barrier in front of him.
Then, relying on his rich combat intuition, he proactively weakened a part of the barrier's strength.
The next moment, the violent Nen wave completely annihilated the entire towering ancient tree.
And Beyond's risky gamble allowed him, at the moment of impact, to successfully trigger the Flower Seed Sawa had left on him.
A bright red flower bud bloomed out of thin air, gently enveloping his heavily injured, near-death body.
When the aftershocks of the Nen wave dissipated, where the forest had once stood, only a hideous, deep trench and a few scattered, fluttering red petals remained.
—--
Kakin Empire.
Inside a Japanese-style building.
Sawa, dressed in a kimono with her hair in a spiral bun, was kneeling on a tatami mat.
In front of her was a low table.
On it were sake, cups, and a plate of dried meat jerky.
This was the combination Beyond often had when he had a small drink.
And she, Sawa, would always sit beside Beyond, filling every cup for the great man who stood tall in her heart.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, Sawa's expression tensed. She instantly sensed that the Flower Seed on Beyond had been triggered.
Just as worry began to rise in her heart, the damage-sharing mechanism of Twin Flower Crossing activated.
Pshhh...!
Without any warning, hundreds of jets of blood spurted from all over Sawa's body.
Blood splattered, instantly dyeing the tatami mats, paper doors, and walls red.
Someone... could actually injure Lord Beyond to this extent...
Instantly turned into a person of blood, Sawa's eyes widened in disbelief, filled with shock.
As the person closest to Beyond, she knew full well that "Nothing External to the Mind" possessed a formidable defensive ability.
Yet the damage shared with her now was so horrific... she was certain this was not something the severely weakened Netero could have done.
Then who on earth... possessed such terrifying destructive power?
"Lord... Beyond..."
She had no time to think further. As her vision blurred, she looked at the bright red flower bud that had appeared out of thin air in front of her.
That was the effect of Twin Flower Crossing; while sharing the damage, it could directly transfer the protected person over.
But she could no longer wait for the flower bud to bloom, nor could she see Beyond one last time.
Using her last ounce of strength, Sawa grabbed the sake bottle from the low table and threw it against the wall.
Clang!
The sound of shattering echoed.
After this act, the light in her eyes extinguished, and her slender body fell limply into the pool of blood.
At the same time, the sound of urgent footsteps came from the corridor outside, and the bright red flower bud in the quiet room bloomed and then withered.
In just one or two seconds, a blood-soaked Beyond was revealed from within.
But under the effect of Twin Flower Crossing, he had fallen into a deep coma, barely clinging to life.
The footsteps outside approached rapidly, from far to near.
Clatter.
Someone forcefully slid open the paper door and immediately saw Beyond and Sawa, both covered in blood, their life status unknown.
The people who heard the noise and rushed to the scene first were all members of Beyond's team.
Among them was Pekotero, the team's healer.
His figure was like a dwarf's, no different from a child's.
He usually liked to lick a lollipop, and the hat on his head was adorned with white balls of varying sizes.
"Pekotero, heal them, quickly!"
An urgent reminder sounded by his ear, and Pekotero, who had been shocked by the scene before him, quickly snapped back to his senses.
He directly threw away his beloved lollipop and rushed to Beyond, who was closer to the door.
So serious.
Looking up close, Pekotero's round, black eyes couldn't help but tremble a few times.
In his memory, this was the first time he had ever seen Beyond in such a miserable state.
Without time for further thought, Pekotero activated all his Nen, raised his hand, and plucked the largest white ball from his hat, then stuck it onto Beyond's chest.
A vortex of Nen immediately appeared from the white ball.
Then, the white ball seemed to have absorbed some kind of nutrient, swelling at a visible rate and gradually turning into a Mushroom.
If one were to carefully observe Beyond's body now, they would find that the dense wounds beneath his blood-soaked skin had already stopped bleeding.
Many wounds were even gradually healing.
But soon, the Mushroom that had transformed from the white ball suddenly stopped growing.
"The injuries are too severe. Even the largest 'Mushroom' can't absorb all the damage at once..."
Pekotero thought of the price to pay after the treatment was over, but he couldn't worry about that right now.
He suddenly clenched his jaw, plucked another white ball from his hat, and placed it on Beyond's body.
Then, without looking at the second white ball, he turned around, wanting to check on Sawa's condition.
But his companion, who had come with him, had already finished the check and was now slowly raising his head.
"Sawa... she's not breathing."
The man's face was ashen, his voice low.
Sawa's Specialization ability was undoubtedly the most precious and important asset of the entire team.
He never expected it to suddenly end like this.
Pekotero's lips trembled slightly. Looking at Sawa's gruesome injuries, he murmured, "Isn't Netero's condition already very poor... How could he possibly still have such terrifying strength?"
"Although it's not clear what exactly happened..." the man standing beside Sawa's body said in a deep voice, "I don't believe Netero did this. In his current state, he's absolutely no match for the boss, let alone injuring the boss to this extent."
"If it wasn't Netero... then who else has such terrifying strength?"
Pekotero's expression was uncertain.
His companion cast his gaze toward Beyond, who was being treated by the white balls, and said, "We'll know when the boss wakes up and we ask him. It's just... Sawa is dead."
"..."
Pekotero fell silent.
Sawa's importance was far more than just her Specialization ability, which brought great help to the entire team.
In Beyond's heart, her very existence held an irreplaceable weight.
Now Sawa was dead.
Pekotero and the others could almost foresee Beyond's furious reaction.
—--
In the ravaged forest.
Morrow looked at the spot where the bright red petals had just disappeared.
He has quite a few tricks up his sleeve.
Thinking of Beyond's horrific injuries, it was hard to say whether he would survive.
-------------
Bonus chapter @1750powerstones!