The Invaders

When the choice appeared deep within his consciousness--

It could be removed!

Once that was clear, Moyu felt a little more at ease.

He had only heard Cheadle briefly mention this so-called Price earlier, and hadn't gotten a real sense of it.

Seeing it with his own eyes now, he found it downright eerie and terrifying.

If someone told him this "power of phenomenon" came from the Dark Continent, Moyu would believe them.

Even the existence known as "Perception," which had somehow attached itself deep within his consciousness, might very well have originated from the Dark Continent.

After all, even a "Wish Machine" existed in the original story...

In any case,

Moyu now had a better idea of what to expect, and was grateful that Perception had given him a chance at Exorcism.

But before removing the Price from Hawk, he wanted to see if Arieser could do it.

If it were the Balance sealed beneath the ground, Moyu felt that even the chance at Exorcism granted by Perception would be powerless. But if it was the Price imposed on Hawk...

Since his own chance at Exorcism had worked, perhaps Arieser could manage it too.

"You'll be all right, Hawk."

Moyu supported Hawk by the arm and reassured him softly.

At his words, a smile appeared on Hawk's deeply wrinkled face.

He was supposed to be the one comforting Moyu, yet somehow he was the one receiving comfort instead.

He said nothing, only gently patting Moyu's hand.

He would protect Moyu, whatever the cost.

That was the meaning of his life.

"Let's begin now, Mr. Arieser."

A hint of hope shone in Hawk's old eyes.

Arieser silently nodded.

Before long,

they moved into the main hall.

Arieser began the Exorcism on Hawk.

He opened his ping-pong-ball-sized mouth and bit off a small piece of the Post-Mortem Nen from Hawk.

"Ugh, ugh..."

As soon as that little bite of Grudge entered his mouth, Arieser's face twisted in pain. He fell to his knees and retched uncontrollably.

Anorexic—

He resisted every bite of "food."

After finally swallowing the first bite of Grudge, Arieser's face was pale.

Seeing him struggle so badly made Hawk and Cheadle's hearts pound with worry.

Arieser's Exorcism ability was their only hope right now. If...

Hawk and Cheadle didn't dare think about it.

After recovering for a while, Arieser bit off a second piece of Grudge from Hawk.

Swallowing it was still agonizingly difficult. He retched as though he might throw up his organs at any moment.

"Is removing Post-Mortem Nen... really this difficult and painful?"

Moyu watched Arieser kneeling on the ground and retching nonstop, his eyes full of astonishment.

If even the Price imposed by Balance was this hard to remove, he couldn't imagine how difficult it would be to remove the Post-Mortem Nen on the Balance itself.

"Ugh, ugh..."

Arieser's agonized retching echoed through the main hall.

Thankfully, the Exorcist showed exceptional professionalism. Despite his excruciating pain, he kept going.

Time passed slowly.

By sunset, Arieser had lost count of how many bites of Grudge he had swallowed.

He could still continue, but he knew he had to stop.

After all, he still had to digest the Grudge he had swallowed. If he couldn't, the Price formed from that Grudge would transfer to him.

"I need time to digest it... I can only continue the Exorcism once I've finished."

Arieser slumped to the ground, exhausted.

His efforts hadn't been in vain. The signs of aging on Hawk's body had visibly diminished.

"Good."

Hawk beamed with joy.

Cheadle also saw the effects of the Exorcism, and her tense body gradually relaxed.

"Don't... celebrate too soon."

Arieser's face was blank as he spoke in a hoarse voice. "If my Anorexic Appetite can't digest this Post-Mortem Nen... then I'm not up to the task."

Hawk and Cheadle's eyes narrowed slightly at his words.

Arieser struggled to his feet, walked to a vermilion pillar, then sat with his back against it and closed his eyes to rest.

Seeing this, Hawk suggested that Arieser rest in a guest room, but got a curt refusal in response.

Until the "results of the digestion" came in, Hawk and the others could only wait nearby.

Time passed second by second.

Night fell.

Soft light filled the main hall.

Hawk, Cheadle, and Moyu each sat cross-legged on the floor, watching Arieser rest with his eyes closed.

Nobody spoke. The hall was so quiet that a pin could have been heard dropping.

"Hmm?"

Cheadle suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

"What is it?"

Hawk and Moyu immediately looked at Cheadle, while Arieser remained completely unresponsive, like a monk deep in meditation.

Cheadle looked out at the night beyond the main doors and frowned. "The Nen Threads I set up in the woods were disturbed."

"What exactly happened?"

After Cheadle had given him a thorough verbal dressing-down last time, Hawk was less optimistic now. He simply asked her to explain the situation.

Before, he would probably have asked if an animal had accidentally set them off.

"I'm not sure, but... at least eleven Nen Threads disappeared at the same time."

As she spoke, Cheadle rose to her feet.

The barely perceptible Nen Threads could only serve as an alarm. They couldn't provide any further information.

"I'll go take a look."

Cheadle prepared to check the scene.

At her words, Hawk instinctively stood up, intending to go with her.

Cheadle glanced at him and bluntly asked, "What could you possibly do in your current condition?"

"..."

Hawk was momentarily speechless, then gave a helpless smile.

"Cheadle, I'll go with you."

Moyu also stood up, wanting to go outside with Cheadle and investigate.

"No."

Cheadle refused without a moment's hesitation. Calmly, she said, "Stay here and keep an eye on Hawk and Mr. Arieser."

Without waiting for Moyu to respond, she strode out of the main hall.

As Cheadle's figure disappeared into the night, Moyu and Hawk looked at each other, then fell silent.

A moment later,

Moyu suddenly said, "I'll go get us something to eat from the kitchen."

"All right."

Hawk nodded.

Meanwhile,

Cheadle left the temple and headed into the woods.

She looked into the pitch-black forest, her expression grave.

"The last thing I wanted to happen... has happened after all."

The information provided by the Nen Threads was limited, but taken together, it was enough to reach a conclusion.

At least ten creatures had disturbed the Nen Threads. Judging by the locations of the ones disturbed afterward, they were most likely heading for the temple.

They were almost certainly intruders...

And they were very likely the group who had inherited the will of the Old Qinglin Squad and come in search of the Post-Mortem Entity.

Now that it had happened,

Cheadle wouldn't waste time blaming Hawk—that would accomplish nothing. Her only concern was how to deal with the problem.

"Medical Ledger."

Nen surged through Cheadle's hands, and a thin ledger and a fountain pen appeared out of nowhere.

The instant she activated her ability, her eyesight improved dramatically.

The forest.

An armed squad of around twenty advanced through the woods in orderly formation.

And behind the armed squad—

were four Nen users, led by Ken.