"Spurt!"
When Gelman pulled the bloodied Meat Saw from the Magic Wolf's body, he took its last breath with it.
The Meat Saw was coated in sticky blood, which ran down Gelman's right wrist, making it look as if he were wearing a dark red glove.
He had killed the Magic Wolf and absorbed its Grudge, but a lone wolf didn't seem strong enough to give Gelman anything.
Gelman shook his head. It was a shame he hadn't received "Grudge bestowal," but at least he'd confirmed that the Blunderbuss and Meat Saw were both useful.
He paused, about to leave, when he suddenly sensed something was wrong. His eyes darted around.
Pairs of scarlet eyes had lit up in the darkness on every side, densely packed and enough to make his skin crawl.
A pack of vicious, hungry Magic Wolves.
At that moment, the positions of hunter and prey seemed to have switched.
"Click!"
Gelman yanked hard on the Meat Saw's handle, separating the blade from it.
The Meat Saw grew longer, naturally increasing the range of its strikes.
It was time to try the Meat Saw's transforming slash.
The Magic Wolves lunged at him one after another.
He used Ryu, shifting the aura wrapped around his body between Ken, which protected his whole body, and Ko, which concentrated it in one spot, just in case.
At the same time, he used Shu to cover the Meat Saw in aura, making it tougher.
"Spurt! Spurt!"
Gelman began a frenzied slaughter, using both the Blunderbuss and the Meat Saw. Blood and flesh flew everywhere, turning the scene gruesome.
But there were too many Magic Wolves. One still managed to sink its sharp teeth into Gelman's arm, where he hadn't had time to defend himself with aura.
It tore away a small piece of flesh, and blood poured from the wound.
But Gelman didn't retreat. Instead, he chased after it, the agony sharpening his focus.
He swung twice, chopping down the Magic Wolf that had bitten him.
With his Blunderbuss and Meat Saw, and the obstacles provided by the dense forest, Gelman cut down the Magic Wolves one after another.
The few remaining Magic Wolves yelped in fear, turned around, and darted into the bushes, fleeing far from the monster.
Only after confirming there were no more Magic Wolves nearby did Gelman lower the Meat Saw and Blunderbuss. He let out a long breath, then began to steady his breathing.
He really shouldn't have fought so many Magic Wolves at once.
He was still getting used to this body and to Nen ability battles. He had only just begun to pick up a few tricks; when it came to fighting, he was still a novice.
His 10 points of Vitality Constitution had barely been enough to withstand the pack's assault.
On top of that, to test Nen abilities in every way, he'd used far more force than necessary in almost every attack. That had taken a heavy toll on his 12 points of Stamina Aura.
For him, using every Nen ability without restraint was still a considerable burden.
Still, despite being covered in blood, he was barely injured. Most of the blood on him belonged to the Magic Wolves.
He had killed more than twenty Magic Wolves, and at last, he had something to show for it.
The Magic Wolves' accumulated Grudge allowed Gelman to raise one "attribute" by 1 point, while his "Spiritual Vision Pressure" was forcibly increased by 1 point.
Gelman raised his Vitality Constitution by 1 point without hesitation.
Vitality Constitution: 11 Stamina Aura: 12 Spiritual Vision Pressure: 2
Well... Gelman had already had a thorough taste of how the Meat Saw and Blunderbuss performed in battle. Now it was the Lantern's turn.
Purple light flared, and a Lantern suddenly appeared at Gelman's feet.
Four hideous Messenger Imps clung to the Lantern. The words "Cooldown: 0:00" were displayed on it.
Gelman currently had only two Lanterns. One could be freely summoned and put away at will, while the other was fixed in one location.
That was a Lantern that had been there from the very beginning, and Gelman couldn't retrieve it.
The place where it stood was called the Dark Continent.
He couldn't help shifting his gaze from this land in the middle of Lake Möbius to the vast, boundless, perilous Dark Continent.
Humanity now lived in only one corner of the world. The Dark Continent was the real world.
Gelman wanted to see it for himself.
He wanted to see what the Dark Continent looked like in the still-unfinished world of Hunter x Hunter, and to discover the limits of his humanity.
Without a goal like that, if he simply followed the same rules as in his old world, then being transported here would be meaningless.
But the Dark Continent was extremely dangerous. So few people had ever returned from it, and even those who did brought back terrifying "calamities."
Even if he was determined to go, he would first have to get past the world's five great powers, V5, and then the "Guide" and the "Gatekeeper" before he could reach it.
Gelman's original self, however, had possessed a way to travel to and from the Dark Continent while bypassing V5, the Guide, and the Gatekeeper.
But when he saw that the Teleport Location was the Dark Continent, he had unhesitatingly chosen to seal the Lantern away forever and ensure no one but himself ever learned of its ability.
Gelman could understand his former self.
Most information about the Dark Continent, as well as the means of traveling to and from it, were controlled by the V5 powers, which wanted to monopolize every benefit the Dark Continent had to offer.
If the world learned of the Lantern's teleportation ability, it would bring endless trouble. That had been his former self's concern and choice.
Even so, the Lantern hadn't spared him.
It had drawn out and torn apart his soul as the price for its teleportation ability.
That was how a new soul had gotten the chance to take over the body.
The Gelman of today had made the exact opposite decision.
He set the Lantern, glowing with eerie purple light, down in the dense forest and reached out to one of the white Messenger Imps.
The little imp let out a delighted shriek and pounced on him. Its two bony hands clamped tightly around Gelman's little finger, as if afraid he might pull away.
The other three imps began to wail.
"Take me to the Dark Continent," Gelman ordered.
The Messenger Imp clutching his little finger nodded again and again.
"Voom—"
After a dazzling flash, Gelman opened his eyes. In a strange instant, he had been transported from the Lantern in the forest to a wilderness.
It had been night in the forest, but here it was daytime.
Dense clumps of weeds covered the ground. As far as he could see, there wasn't a single tree—only low hills on either side, like riverbanks.
Gelman blinked.
Was this somewhere in the Dark Continent? It looked ordinary. It didn't seem as dangerous as he'd imagined, either.
The Lantern here was glowing faintly, too. Four Messenger Imps clung to its base, though he couldn't tell whether they were the same four as before.
A line of text appeared on the Lantern: "Cooldown: 0:59." The next moment, it changed to "Cooldown: 0:58."
So that was how it worked. He had to wait one minute before using the Lantern again, and couldn't leave the Dark Continent during that time?
Gelman looked around for a while, wondering whether he should go explore and make the most of this precious opportunity. Then he sensed something amiss.
The feeling stopped him before he could take his first step.
Silence...
It had been too quiet here from the start. There was so much aura flowing around, yet the place felt like a graveyard.
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