The setting sun sank below the shattered edge of the horizon, and the smoke filling the sky lingered without dispersing.
The entire expanse of land was scarred and desolate. Following the high-intensity fierce battle, the ground split into densely packed gullies, charred soil mixed with rubble littered the wilderness, fractured trees jutted diagonally into the earth, and the broken branches still radiated a faint aura of calamity.
The cataclysmic battle that had lasted for a long time finally came to a complete end, yet there was not the slightest atmosphere of relaxation on the battlefield.
All the hunters halted their rest, standing around in twos and threes as their gazes swept constantly across the field, repeatedly searching for some important figure.
The suicide-bombing crisis Gang had unleashed moments before, one capable of obliterating a hundred-li expanse of land, had been successfully neutralized. Having narrowly escaped death, everyone should have breathed a sigh of relief.
Yet at this moment, a thin layer of eerie unease pressed upon the bottom of everyone's heart.
A person was missing.
The one person who should least likely have vanished into thin air.
Piles of rubble, downed woodlands, the temporary zone in the rear for tending to the wounded—the crowd swept their gazes back and forth countless times, thoroughly checking every corner. Figures were scattered throughout their field of vision; Association hunters, Zodiac members, and Gon's group were all present.
Only that iconic bald head had vanished without a trace, as though he had never appeared on this battlefield at all.
Ginta raised a foot and kicked a scorching charred stone by his leg. The rubble landed with a crisp sound, breaking the brief silence. He knitted his brows tightly together, a worst-case guess inexplicably welling up in his heart.
"The aftermath of Gang's suicide blast