The lightning Nen bullet struck a merman creature, immediately forcing it into a rigid, stunned state as it crashed into the water. The scattered electricity spread outward, affecting several other merman creatures nearby.
Buhara took down one with a single palm strike each, while Ron eliminated one per Nen bullet. In Koshiro's hands appeared a massive broadsword, and each swing could cleave a merman creature cleanly in half.
Sally, however, still lacked the raw strength—her bullets could not pierce the creature's defence unless she targeted vital weak points, so in the latter half of the fight, she focused solely on support: finishing off heavily injured enemies or drawing aggro to relieve pressure from the others.
The merman creatures failed to gain the upper hand and the group from Gourmet Paradise was indeed stronger in raw power, but the sea was the creature's natural domain, and that advantage showed. The ocean surface grew murky with blood, deep crimson spreading out in clouds that carried a putrid stench.
The Fallen One furrowed his brows. "You do have some strength," he muttered. "At this rate, who knows how long it'll take before I can finish you all off... You little pests..." He then sneered coldly. "Enough. Since that's how it is, I'll act personally."
He turned toward one squad's location, and a rising aura began to radiate from his body. A mass of pitch-black aura materialized in the Fallen One's palm. Ron quickly noticed that this aura closely resembled the corrosive Nen bullets he produced through the Six-Harmony Sphere—perhaps a similar ability, though clearly of greater strength.
However, before the Fallen One could make his move, the leaders of the three squads all acted at once. Menchi gripped her cursed silver coin tightly and flung it hard toward the Fallen One. The other two squad leaders followed suit. As the coins approached, they seemed to accelerate unnaturally, as if drawn by some unseen force.
The Fallen One attempted to evade, but it was useless. These cursed silver coins were no longer being manually controlled by Menchi and the others; they appeared to have a will of their own, capable of autonomous tracking. Even as the Fallen One shifted positions, the three coins relentlessly pursued him.
Puchi—!
Puchi!
Puchi!
One after another, the three coins embedded themselves into his body, triggering an intense burst of light that exploded outward from within the Fallen One, forcefully interrupting his attack and suppressing his aura. Though it didn't plunge him fully into Zetsu, it did prevent him from launching any meaningful offence.
But the cost was steep—Menchi and the other two began to feel their aura being drained continuously as the coins imposed their binding effect. This was the trade-off: the Fallen One was immobilized, but only the merman creatures were now able to attack. His face darkened with rage.
"Linne!" he roared, his voice guttural and furious. "You've gone so far just to kill me?"
"Even throwing your own life away?"
"You went to this extent?!"
He could no longer intervene and could only watch as the merman creatures clashed with Ron and the others. The transformation of the cursed coins had caught him off guard. When he saw the squads find his position, he had suspected Linne had tampered with the coins. But he hadn't imagined Linne would go this far.
Because this wasn't something that could be done lightly.
Tampering with cursed coins in this way created a massive burden. Even using just a single reversed-contract cursed coin would bring Linne extreme side effects. Now, with all three reversed and deployed to such a degree, it was very likely that the consequences would be fatal. Even if it didn't kill her on the spot, it would drastically shorten her lifespan.
The Fallen One couldn't understand why Linne would go to such lengths. That was what made him most furious.
"Hurry—we can't hold out for long," Menchi urged. "We need to kill all these merman creatures here and now, otherwise we won't have a chance at victory."
Judging from the aura alone, Menchi could tell the Fallen One was strong—though just how strong was still unclear. But once she began channeling aura into the cursed coins and binding him, she could feel it clearly: the Fallen One's strength was far beyond that of ordinary Nen users. They were not even on the same level.
"Ten minutes! At most, the three of us can hold him for ten minutes!" Menchi called out.
Everyone immediately began accelerating their efforts to kill the merman creatures. Ron channeled more aura into the Six-Harmony Sphere, launching lightning Nen bullets continuously—not aiming for specific targets, but instead attacking in wide arcs to limit the enemy's movements and create openings for the others to eliminate them more easily. Their efficiency increased significantly.
The Fallen One's gaze shifted to Ron. The entire nearby sea area was engulfed in lightning. The merman creatures were completely on the back foot, and their numbers were rapidly declining.
Suddenly—
Boom!
A massive wave of aura burst violently from the Fallen One's body. One of the cursed silver coins was forcibly expelled from within his flesh. Then the second. Then the third. All three were pushed out.
In an instant, the restraining effect from Menchi and the others was broken. At the same time, they suffered violent backlash.
Puah!
Menchi coughed up a mouthful of blood that splattered across the deck, and the other two squad leaders were in the same state.
But Ron noticed something crucial: the Fallen One had paid a price for this as well. His body showed signs of rupture. In the next moment—
Crack!
A sound of splitting and tearing rang out.
The Fallen One… split open.
Literally.
He split down the middle. One half of his body remained a youthful man; the other had withered into a desiccated corpse. The missing parts were filled in by a black, shadowy mass, just barely forming a humanoid shape.
This appearance triggered a strong sense of familiarity in Ron's mind. During the Rosgell incident, he had witnessed something similar when the revived Rosgell had taken form. The resemblance to the Fallen One's current state was undeniable.
The Fallen One's aura weakened slightly—but his numbers had increased. And more importantly, he had broken free from the cursed coin's seal. The situation had shifted once more, this time in favor of the Fallen One and against those from Gourmet Paradise.