"Dark Lock: God-Binding Net."
Imu sneered, its right hand already extended forward, its five fingers slightly spread as it pressed against the air.
The churning domain of darkness beneath its feet suddenly boiled!
Countless pitch-black tentacles shot out of the darkness!
Rather than flailing aimlessly, they interwove into an enormous, three-dimensional net of darkness that continually tightened as it descended over Gern!
"The Dark-Dark Fruit is a pain in capable hands..."
Gern's eyes narrowed. The Eight Desolations in his hand became a dark-purple arc of destruction, slashing through at lightning speed!
Several thick tentacles that reached him first were severed at their roots, dark energy spraying from the cuts!
But the severed tentacles did not dissipate!
Their severed front halves suddenly softened and changed shape in midair, splitting on their own
and regenerating into even more, finer secondary tentacles that continued lunging at him!
New tentacles instantly regenerated from the severed roots as well, joining the encirclement!
They could never all be cut down, and every severed one grew back!
For a time, Gern could only dart through the gaps in the tentacle network at high speed
as each swing of the Eight Desolations left a swath of tentacles severing and regenerating,
but the entire network never stopped contracting. Instead, it tightened faster and faster.
The space in which he could move shrank rapidly.
Finally, countless tentacles frantically wove together around Gern, closing into an impenetrable,
enormous spherical cage of darkness that continually contracted inward, trapping him completely at its center as it kept shrinking.
At that moment, Imu stood outside the cage, quietly "watching."
To it, this seemed like nothing more than a warm-up.
At the center of the cage.
Gern stopped his futile slashing.
He slowly lowered the Eight Desolations, resting its tip on the ground.
He drew