Roar—
In the pitch-black night, the once-quiet forest erupted into chaos.
The blazing campfire was swept aside, sending sparks flying into the air, igniting dry bushes and tangled grass.
A sea of fire began to spread.
Within minutes of battle, Pariston could only watch helplessly as the members of the exploration team fell one after another — collapsing, struggling, dying.
"Sailor."
"Bowl-cut."
"Chef."
"Mecha-man."
"Mechanical Doll."
Behind each nickname stood a comrade Pariston had carefully selected and smuggled into the expedition as part of the Association's specialists.
He had them endure in silence, waiting for the day they could reveal themselves — waiting to unveil their true identities.
It was all for the sake of this journey into the Dark Continent.
And along the way, they had indeed proven themselves useful.
But this place...
This was the end.
Their final destination.
Their graves.
Among the five, "Mechanical Doll" was the most powerful — even stronger than Pariston himself.
And yet, she perished alongside "Mecha-man," both consumed by the searing flames of the Flame Demon Dragon.
Those ferocious flames melted the armor that fused technology with Nen, obliterating them effortlessly.
There was no defense against it.
Even so, these five former Association Hunters had taken the lives of two dragons with them.
It was a result Pariston found... acceptable.
He didn't mourn their deaths.
He believed they died with purpose.
He wasn't even concerned about his own survival.
He had never cared about such things.
Now, only Beyond, Pariston, and Saiyu remained alive.
And they were surrounded.
Four dragons encircled them.
Beyond had no choice but to face the strongest of them — the Flame Demon Dragon — in a one-on-one battle.
While Pariston and Saiyu had to deal with the remaining three, caught in a deadly pincer attack.
It was a scenario with no chance of victory.
A hopeless situation.
Even though Saiyu unleashed all the strength he had kept hidden during his time with the Zodiacs, it only managed to delay the inevitable.
His three Nen monkeys — Blind Monkey, Deaf Monkey, Silent Monkey — muddled the dragon's senses.
For Enhancer-type creatures, abilities like this had a profound effect, since they heavily relied on their sensory perception.
Saiyu took advantage of this brief confusion, trying to finish the enemy off with his Ruyi Staff.
However, the dragon's scales were far too thick.
The Ruyi Staff couldn't even scratch them. At best, he could aim to blind those vertical pupils.
Saiyu was nearing the end of the road. He had already pushed himself to the limit.
Pariston, watching all of this unfold, found it strangely fascinating. In this desperate moment, instead of fear or panic, a small smile crept onto his face.
He reached up and gently placed a hand over his chest, feeling the rhythm of his heartbeat.
There was a strange pull — a deep impulse and desire growing inside him.
"Don't even think about it!"
Saiyu, still trying to disorient the dragons, caught Pariston's subtle movement out of the corner of his eye and shouted.
"It's not even close to a point where we should go down together! Don't drag me into one of your games just because you think it'll be fun!"
His voice was laced with fear — not just of the dragons, but of Pariston too.
Because Saiyu knew full well that Pariston would absolutely do something like that.
Pariston let out a malicious laugh. "Is that so?"
"Stop joking around! Pariston, use your Nen ability! Think of a real solution! Don't just jump straight to your final move!"
Saiyu's tone was desperate. His injuries had built up to the point where he could barely stand, and he had no patience left for Pariston's twisted sense of humor.
What a shame.
Pariston licked his lips.
If I were to detonate the Poor Man's Rose I've embedded in my heart right now…
Everyone would be shocked out of their minds.
To hold back from such a temptation… it's just too painful.
How could anyone possibly resist pushing a detonation switch that's right in front of them?
"Move it!"
Saiyu shouted again, his voice strained, one of his hands drenched in blood.
If it weren't for the three Nen beasts he had summoned with his ability disrupting the dragons' perception…
He would've already been their next meal.
"Fine, fine."
Pariston lowered his arm and activated his Nen ability.
"Specialist Type: Cursed Twin Dolls!"
Two female dolls materialized before them.
Each cradled a small gift box—one red, one black—both tied neatly with butterfly ribbons.
"Choose," Pariston said, opening his arms toward Saiyu.
"Pick one as your gift. Then give the other to me."
"Damn it!" Saiyu cursed under his breath.
"Can't you just tell me which one I'm supposed to pick?"
He'd seen Pariston use this ability several times before.
But the contents inside the boxes were always different.
There was no discernible pattern.
Saiyu had no choice but to rely on pure guesswork—
And that made him extremely uneasy.
Pariston raised a finger to his lips.
"That won't do. Vows and Limitations bind me to silence in this matter. If I say too much, the effect weakens significantly."
"Damn you… then I'll choose the red box!"
"You've chosen… wisely," Pariston said with narrowed eyes.
With a wave of his hand, the ribbon on the red box loosened on its own.
Inside lay a single arrow.
With a sharp whoosh, it launched itself—
Striking one of Saiyu's Nen beasts, Silent Monkey, right in midair.
It froze instantly, suspended and completely immobilized.
Saiyu was startled and turned sharply to glare at Pariston.
"You won't be able to use the power of 'Silent Monkey' for a while."
Pariston smiled as a black box opened in his hand.
"In return…"
A wave of black smoke surged from the box and wrapped around Pariston's body.
"...I will become a vengeful spirit that can shift between physical and intangible form."
His body twisted violently.
Then, just as he said, he began to fade—his form turning translucent.
He became like a wisp of smoke, swirling upward before diving into the body of one of the massive dragons hovering above.
Pupupupu—
With a series of strange, muffled sounds, Pariston materialized inside the dragon's chest cavity.
He immediately went on a rampage—ripping apart the beast's heart, lungs, liver, and every vital organ in his path.
The dragon let out a pitiful howl.
Then it collapsed all at once, like a mountain crashing to the earth, raising a massive cloud of dust on impact.
Pariston emerged once more, now back in his vengeful spirit form, crawling out from the corpse of the beast.
He glanced at the remaining two dragons.
"Now then… which one of you should I deal with next?"
But the time limit had arrived.
Saiyu felt his ability 'Silent Monkey' unlock once more, and Pariston lost the power of his ghostly form, returning to his physical body and falling back to the ground.
"What a shame," Pariston said casually to Saiyu.
"In about one minute, I can open the box again."
Saiyu gripped his Ruyi Staff tightly, the three monkeys hovering behind him like loyal shadows.
His face was tense as he stared at the two remaining dragons.
"Fine, fine, fine. Then I'll survive this one minute and show you."
Because 'Silent Monkey' had been sealed earlier, the two dragons had regained their voices.
Enraged by the death of their kin, they roared at Pariston and Saiyu below.
The air trembled with the sheer force of their fury.
The battle between two humans and two dragons was far from over.
Yet, on another part of the battlefield…
The victor had already been decided.
*******
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