Chapter Summaries

Joey and the other groups fought through the Hundred Ghosts as the old man opened the laboratory door. A mysterious elderly man emerged, and Ging identified him as Nurarihyon, also known as the Foreign God.

• The old man approached the laboratory door, but Franklin opened fire after a Kakin Personal Guard blocked his way, setting off a battle between the Phantom Troupe, Kakin, and the other groups.
• Shizuku used her vacuum cleaner to steal Benjamin’s backpack while Chrollo and the Phantom Troupe turned against Kakin.
• The Cat of Reincarnation sacrificed its tails to shield the old man, while the Hunter Association and Beyond’s Team tried to keep him from reaching the door alone.
• Hundred Ghosts monsters attacked the advancing groups, but Brion tore them apart, and Benjamin and Chrollo followed the others toward the laboratory.
• The old man opened the laboratory door, and an elderly man in robes emerged as the monsters cheered; Ging identified him as Nurarihyon, the Foreign God.

Joey and the others entered the laboratory as Nurarihyon transformed the Brions into trees and the monsters outside attacked. Inside, teams fought over Wood Wraith research while Illumi’s arrival escalated the battle, and Mizaistom obtained the information with a Red Card.

• Nurarihyon evaded the Brions’ attacks, drained them, and turned them into trees bearing the faces of monsters they had killed.
• Joey, the Hunter Association, Beyond’s Team, the Kakin Team, and the other groups entered the laboratory and discovered a floating seedling identified as Experimental Subject No. 001, Wood Wraith.
• The Brions completed their transformation and released monsters, which rushed the laboratory as Joey sent Sheer Heart Attack Chariots against them.
• Chrollo and Mizaistom raced to seize the research, and Mizaistom used a Red Card to send the Puppet Girl outside among the monsters.
• Illumi appeared and attacked indiscriminately, but Dwun used Reflection to redirect Illumi’s Pins while Mizaistom took the information.

Joey read the Laboratory documents and learned that the plant was Wood Wraith, a tree that housed and restored souls but had also spawned soul-eating monsters and Brion. The documents revealed that the researchers ultimately sealed Wood Wraith away after Brion devastated the city, while the people gathered in the Laboratory remained wary of one another and the plant.

• Mizaistom gave the documents to Cheadle, who invited anyone able to read God Script to examine them, and Piyon photographed the pages for Joey.
• Benjamin held back after a Nen Bullet warned him away from the documents, while he regretted cooperating with Brion's followers and losing his backpack to Chrollo.
• Joey read that the Laboratory's experiments with World Tree seeds produced many unusual plants, and that the tree outside the Ancient City, Wood Wraith, could shelter and restore souls.
• Joey learned that Wood Wraith's growth brought soul-devouring monsters and that the flying dragons had been made to fight them.
• Joey read that Wood Wraith later released drifting fluff that created Brion and caused mass deaths, and that the researchers eventually sealed the tree away.

Joey learned that the Brion and wandering souls were tied to Wood Wraith and the World Tree, then decided to use Dwun’s spatial storage device to take Wood Wraith’s sealed apparatus. A Nen-enhanced grenade exploded at the entrance, and more round objects appeared inside the Laboratory.

• Joey read that Wood Wraith’s roots produced Brion containing the souls of people who died in the Ancient City, and concluded that the statues were manifestations of those souls.
• Joey learned that mutated Brion became small Wood Wraiths that spawned monsters to recover Wood Wraith’s severed upper half.
• Joey judged that the gathered factions would not give up on Wood Wraith and decided to try taking its sealing apparatus with Dwun’s spatial storage device.
• Joey let two Heartbreaker Chariots move away from the entrance, but a Nen-enhanced grenade exploded there and blasted the Chariots and monsters aside.
• More round objects appeared inside the Laboratory through a Nen ability.

Joey and his companions escaped the smoke-filled laboratory as Wood Wraith was released and began expanding. Outside, Nurarihyon summoned the fire ghosts of the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade, which charged toward Wood Wraith.

• Joey used his Nen and Weather Report to counter the smoke bombs and attack the monsters, while Ida repelled burning attackers with a Greed Island card.
• Ging emerged from the smoke and led Joey, List, Elena, Ida, and Dwun toward the doorway as battles raged inside the laboratory.
• Wood Wraith was released in a powerful explosion and began expanding, while Ging carried a mysterious object from the laboratory.
• Joey and his companions fought their way outside using the robot, Nen attacks, and Dwun's Greed Island cards as Brion trees withered and sent life energy toward Wood Wraith.
• Nurarihyon summoned Shiranui and other flame-bearing ghosts, including Hōōbi, Seirōbi, Inmoraki, and Hōkō, and they charged toward Wood Wraith.

Joey, Ging, Dwun, and the others escaped the monster horde with Accompany and fled through the tank area to a staircase suspended in darkness. After discovering the surrounding vacuum and crushing gravity, they put on spacesuits and began their ascent, with Ging walking the stairs while the others floated beside him.

• Ging ordered a breakout, and Dwun used Accompany and challenger rings to carry the group past the monster blockade to the Tank Storage Area.
• Joey, Ging, Dwun, and List discussed possible explanations for the vast space and continued running as monsters pursued them through the tanks.
• The group reached the tank area's edge, where a staircase rose through darkness toward a distant light and the pursuing monsters would not follow.
• Joey tested the darkness and found that it caused a bird to burst apart, while a monkey stepping onto the stairs was crushed by the gravity.
• The Weather Nen Beast created spacesuits with oxygen tanks, and Joey tested one by sending a Gold Experience bird into the darkness.
• Ging removed his spacesuit and stepped onto the Gravity Staircase with ropes tied to the others, who floated beside him in their suits.

Joey and his companions escaped the isolated island through a light gate and emerged in a vast station in Dragon Pond District, where they were pursued by pale Nen-wielding staff. Meanwhile, Brion and monsters poured into the Ancient City, triggering a sprawling battle that culminated in a whale-like creature striking a gigantic shadowy beast.

• Joey and his companions floated up to the light gate, where Ging completed his exhausting climb of the Gravity Staircase and the group entered after Dwun and the suited bird.
• The group emerged in an orderly station filled with trains, machinery, monsters, and Light-Absorbing Monsters, and Ging used a map to identify their location as Dragon Pond District.
• Ging led the group toward the station exit, but uniformed, pale-faced staff with Nen rushed after them, and Joey recognized them as resembling the weapons he had seen before.
• At the Wood Wraith's roots, trees transformed into Brion, which Flying Dragons carried west, while ugly monsters poured into the Ancient City.
• Spectral figures possessed statues to fight the invading monsters, Crocodile Monsters charged in on motorcycles, and opposing Flying Dragons battled across the city.
• A gigantic shadowy creature tried to dive through the clouds above the city, but a whale-like monster appeared and struck it with its tail.

Joey and his companions left the underground station as the injured Black Dragon flew toward the city center and the Wood Wraith broke free of the Tower. They pursued the dragon, but awakened statues attacked them, and the Tower’s collapse unleashed a storm of debris behind them.

• Joey and the others heard the Black Dragon roar in anger and another distant voice answer as tremors shook the underground station.
• Joey’s group emerged into daylight, saw the injured Black Dragon flying toward the city center, and followed it while the Weapons trailed them.
• The Wood Wraith burst out beneath the Tower as Flying Dragons and bicolor Brion converged on it, while other Monsters rushed toward the battle.
• Joey and his companions spotted Beyond’s team, then continued toward the city center as the Hunter Association’s team remained out of sight.
• A giant stone monkey and other awakened statues attacked Joey’s group, while the Wood Wraith shattered the Tower and sent enormous debris flying.

Joey and his companions raced to the city square’s center, where they found a life-giving green sphere guarded by a barrier and a withered Willow Tree. After the Black Dragon broke the barrier and clashed with the Giant Whale, Beyond's Team entered an opening in the tree, while Joey’s group faced the Willow Tree’s attack.

• Joey and his companions fought through revived statues and falling rebar as the Wood Wraith escaped its restraints and expanded across the city.
• Joey’s group reached the city center and saw a green sphere floating before a towering statue, while the Black Dragon watched and Beyond's Team approached.
• Beyond's Team used the Train Ticket's Mark to pass through a pale green barrier, prompting the Black Dragon to attack it.
• A Giant Whale struck the Black Dragon, and the barrier shattered, revealing a nearly withered Willow Tree that attacked both creatures with its branches.
• Beyond's Team slipped into an opening in the Willow Tree as Joey’s group approached, and the Hunter Association team appeared behind them.
• The Willow Tree attacked Joey and his companions as soon as they entered its range.

Joey’s group could not get past the Willow Tree, so Joey and Ging prepared to deal with the approaching deputy director instead. Joey trapped the deputy director with his abilities, but the Elder was whisked away by a Book Holder before Nurarihyon could reach him.

• Joey, Razor, and their companions failed to break through the Willow Tree’s vines, while the Wood Wraith and Hunter Association team approached.
• Joey spotted Nurarihyon, the enlarged Cat of Reincarnation, and the deputy director among the Hundred Ghosts, and he discussed a plan with Ging.
• Joey spread his En and waited for the deputy director to enter it, while continuing to absorb the dwindling Nutrient Solution.
• The deputy director sensed danger in Joey’s En but continued forward because he feared Nurarihyon more.
• Joey’s group trapped the deputy director in a sudden cave, where he received a Ring and was restrained by a mechanical hand.
• A Book Holder used a Playing Card to teleport the deputy director away just as Nurarihyon reached for him.

Joey’s group captured the Deputy Director through coordinated Nen abilities, but Nurarihyon and the pursuing monsters forced them to press onward into the cavern beneath the Willow Tree. Guided by Ging’s glowing key, they entered a hidden laboratory, where Ging revealed the Deputy Director’s immortality disease and extracted a strange sheet from his head.

• Joey, Dwun, and Ging trapped the Deputy Director in a cave with a ring and Nen cards, then sent him to List, whose robot restrained him as his body rapidly healed.
• Ging spoke with the Deputy Director, removed his head, and held it while Nurarihyon led monsters toward Joey’s group; the Hunter Association and Phantom Troupe also advanced toward the cavern.
• Joey’s group entered the cavern beneath the broken Willow Tree, followed by the Hunter Association and the monsters, while the disguised Phantom Troupe pursued them and Nurarihyon’s monsters silently surrounded them.
• Ging’s key glowed toward the northeast, leading Joey’s group across a plaza of laboratory buildings as Joey’s Nen fog spread through the area.
• Ging told Joey that the Deputy Director had immortality disease and had used longevity food and Herb to survive and heal; he then pulled a sheet covered in images from the Deputy Director’s head using a special glove.

Joey and Ging used the Deputy Director’s memories and a key to enter a hidden chamber, where they found golden fields that might contain Bartholomew and Herb. Nearby, Benjamin and Balsamilco emerged from another stone door and faced Nurarihyon, the Phantom Troupe, and a swarm of monsters.

• Joey watched the Deputy Director’s memories reveal that a changing-faced man used a key to open a door to golden fields.
• Ging identified the fields as a possible source of Longevity Rice and Herb, and the group searched for danger before approaching the matching stone door.
• Ging unlocked the door, and Joey and the others entered a small chamber with golden fields, green plants, a miniature sun, and a dilapidated hut.
• Benjamin and Balsamilco emerged from another stone door near the group’s location and encountered Nurarihyon, the Phantom Troupe, and the monsters from the Thick Fog.
• The monsters flew to nearby stone doors and began trying to corrode them open.

Benjamin and Balsamilco submitted to Nurarihyon as monsters attacked the plaza’s stone doors and buildings, while Chrollo looked for an opening to betray him. Beyond’s Team reached the plaza in God Script uniforms with keys, the Hunter Association hurried after Ging, and Joey’s group discovered Bartholomew and the Herb that could cure all illnesses beyond a stone door.

• Nurarihyon’s presence terrified Benjamin until Balsamilco fell to his knees, and Benjamin also surrendered.
• Gyuki rammed a stone door, but it healed and severed its horns; continued monster attacks gradually weakened the defenses as God Script appeared.
• Chrollo watched Nurarihyon, kept hold of the Backpack, and waited for a chance to defect after suspecting Nurarihyon protected those who submitted to him.
• Beyond’s Team approached in God Script uniforms carrying keys, let the Hunter Association pass, and concealed that they had escaped the brand’s influence.
• Cheadle concluded that Ging had used a key to enter an alternate space and led the Hunter Association to search for where Dwun’s mark disappeared.
• Joey and the others found Bartholomew and the Herb that could cure all illnesses in a thatched hut containing an underground laboratory.

Joey and his team found seven Herb plants and a large supply of Longevity Rice in the Laboratory, then waited as Ging and Dwun studied its records. Outside, Nurarihyon watched the trapped groups and his hidden monsters influence Benjamin and Balsamilco, while Chrollo searched for a chance to escape.

• Ging gave each of the seven teammates one Herb, and the group agreed that he would keep the Longevity Rice until they could divide it later.
• Ging and Dwun began deciphering the Laboratory records while Elena and Ida sorted its specimens and List guarded Joey and Razor in the Upper Tier.
• Joey sensed the Nutrient Solution stop working, then Killer Queen returned to him with more Life Energy and Joey lost consciousness.
• Nurarihyon watched Gyuki attack the stone door and monitored the Hunter Association members as monsters broke into the building.
• Benjamin grew increasingly resentful under a hidden monster's influence, while Balsamilco remained unaware that a monster was covering his eyes.
• Chrollo recognized that hidden monsters were influencing Benjamin and Balsamilco, failed to locate the one sent after him, and decided to wait for an opening to flee.

Joey recovered from his awakening and worked to control his greatly increased Nen while Ging explained the Fields, the Herb, and the Ancient City’s strange treasures. The group learned that the Herb could cure illness, but they still needed to resolve the threat of the Scarecrow and find a way out of the sealed space.

• Nurarihyon realized the building’s defenses were feeding energy to the stone gate, ordered his monsters to withdraw, and sent them to help Gyuki attack it.
• Joey woke with a greatly increased aura capacity, then spent several hours regaining control of his Nen.
• Ging told Joey that the Herb could be eaten to cure illness and handed him records to review.
• Ging revealed that the sun and moon were the Ancient City’s most advanced technology, though they could not be obtained from within the Fields.
• Ging explained that the Scarecrow represented Immortality Disease and that the Herb did not erase the effects of the disease after curing it.
• Joey finished studying the Herb records and took out his Herb to eat.

Joey and List ate the Herb, then the group prepared to escape the Thatched Hut through the dangerous fields. Joey discovered his En now reached the boundaries of the space, and his hummingbirds began scouting a route as a snake attacked the first one.

• Joey and List ate their Herbs, while the others kept theirs for later.
• Joey and Ging led the group out of the Thatched Hut, with List carrying the unconscious Razor on a robot and Dwun guarding the rear.
• Joey spread his En to the space's boundaries, two thousand meters away, and told the group what he had sensed.
• Dwun and List proposed using Joey's expanded En to support a future game across the Imaginary Continent, but Joey said they first needed to survive and explore the Dark Continent.
• Joey reported that his En did not provoke the scarecrow and detected Long-Lived Species throughout the fields, so he sent Gold Experience hummingbirds ahead to scout.
• A snake sprang from the paddy and dragged down the first hummingbird, prompting the Heartbreaker Attack Chariot to pursue it.

Joey and his companions explored the Longevity Rice Paddy as Nurarihyon and his monsters entered the laboratory and unleashed chaos among its long-lived creatures. With the group discovered and the monsters pressing behind them, Joey sent hummingbirds into a vast desert where his En could not reach.

• Joey watched a venomous snake repel a Skeleton Chariot with corrosive venom before fleeing into the rice field.
• Nurarihyon shattered a stone door, entered the laboratory, and sent his monsters into the rice field while he headed toward the Thatched Hut.
• Joey and his companions defended themselves from the panicked long-lived species behind a barrier, then continued toward the edge of the space.
• Nurarihyon's monsters poured into the fields, clashing with the long-lived species as Joey's group hurried onward.
• Joey's group reached a vast desert where his En vanished, and he sent hummingbirds ahead while monsters approached from behind.

Joey and his companions entered a vast, abandoned laboratory hidden beyond the desert and discovered it had been used to create the Hundred Ghosts. Meanwhile, Nurarihyon pursued Beyond's Team into a dangerous battlefield, where his enormous En revealed that they were nearby but concealed from detection.

• Joey and Ging sent Nen beasts and Gold Experience creations ahead as the group explored the laboratory and found records showing that researchers had created monsters by combining plants, animals, and Nen.
• Joey's group collected documents and supplies, avoided opening dangerous specimen chambers, and continued toward the laboratory's core as they realized the Hundred Ghosts might spread across the Dark Continent.
• Nurarihyon learned that many of his pursuing subordinates had died, but turned toward another stone gate after hearing that someone had found what he sought.
• Nurarihyon entered an ancient test battlefield, transformed into a powerful middle-aged form, and spread his En across several thousand meters to search for the intruders.
• Beyond's Team sensed Nurarihyon's immense En and realized that leaving the battlefield would be difficult while he searched for them.

Joey and the others searched archive-like laboratories beside a sealed door while the Hunter Association fled hostile plants and monsters beyond the stone gate. The Association reached a town inhabited by long-lived people, and as its members explored, Nurarihyon’s pursuing yokai began arriving.

• Joey, Ging, and Dwun opened two sealed archive rooms and began examining their records and instruments.
• The Hunter Association fought through fields of screaming blue plants and suicidal monsters, then reached a walled town whose people welcomed them.
• Piyon used her Simultaneous Translator to help Cheadle and Botobai learn that the townspeople had been trapped there for generations and were losing farmland to the spreading plants.
• Town residents used foul-smelling smoke to lure the pursuing monsters into detonating, then brought the Hunters inside and answered their questions.
• Cheadle and the others sensed that many townspeople were powerful and possibly centuries old, and Mizaistom suspected Longevity Rice explained their lifespans.
• As the Hunters explored the town under watch, a woman and then more women and flying human heads appeared outside the gates.

The town chief confirmed the stone gate had shattered and led the townspeople into the Blue Fields, while the Hunter Association and Phantom Troupe explored the newly opened spaces. As Brion forces closed in on the city and a three-way standoff formed outside the cavern, Joey uncovered records linking the Dark Continent’s great creatures to the Ancient City’s research on the World Tree and an Ancient Dragon.

• The town chief recognized the released monsters, ordered the townspeople to flee to Laboratory 17, and later led them through the Blue Fields after confirming the gate was broken.
• The Hunter Association let the townspeople leave and began exploring the Small Town, while the Phantom Troupe entered a golden space and chose to risk its gradual Goldification in hopes of discovering how to create gold.
• Benjamin and Balsamilco entered a desolate space with monsters following them, both nearly drained of vitality.
• The Wood Wraith stopped expanding as Brion Trees spread around it, while Black Dragon-like monsters and Flying Dragons gathered near the Black Dragon and Giant Whale outside the cavern.
• Brion forces advanced through the city as its remaining defenders fought back, and Joey studied records revealing that the Black Dragon, Sky Whale, and Giant Eyeballs had been created through research into the Ancient Dragon and World Tree.