The two batches of humans that the Gatekeeper Clan paid close attention to were Don Freecss, who had been on the Dark Continent for hundreds of years, and Law's group, who landed on the Dark Continent a few years ago.
Between the two, the Gatekeeper clan focused more on Don.
Because Don was the most special human in the history of expeditions. Using the Longevity Food Nitro Rice and the Herb for All-illnesses, he had been active on the Dark Continent for centuries.
Although Don had always been well-behaved, never committing any out-of-line actions, and one could even say he was a 'traveler' strictly adhering to the rules, the Gatekeeper Clan's first target for action was still Don Freecss.
The result was a crushing defeat. But the Gatekeeper Clan actually clearly understood that Don Freecss was a relatively stable 'threat'.
Now, the actions displayed by Law made Ancient Claw and the other magical beasts realize Law was a 'threat' that required more attention compared to Don Freecss.
Ancient Claw clutched the cross-shaped object in his hand, his eyes coldly fixed on the Calamity covering the sky, furious that Law, a mere outsider, dared to act so recklessly.
Filled with rage and exuding icy killing intent, he completely didn't consider that this Calamity was the one he had forced upon Law back then.
The worm-like branches that drilled out from the ink sphere suddenly transformed into dense tree roots anchored in soil, targeting Ancient Claw directly. The other magical beasts, after Ancient Claw's shout, decisively retreated.
They knew the object in Ancient Claw's hand could subdue the attacking Wither.
It was also a coincidence. Law named the plant Calamity [Wither], and the Gatekeeper clan also called it Wither… a Calamity that could treat all things as nutrients, reproducing and growing wildly.
Seeing the highly dangerous Wither rushing towards them, Ancient Claw threw out the object in his hand… Ten Horns.
The object named [Ten Horns] resembled star anise in color and appearance.
The difference was, star anise had eight segments, while the Ten Horns in Ancient Claw's hand only had four segments, forming a cross shape, about the size of an adult's palm. A stem about three fingers long extended from the center, with a transparent sphere the size of a thumbnail at the very tip.
Ten Horns left his hand, flying like a dart towards the overwhelming Withering. Like a magnet, it attracted the continuously lengthening and thickening branches, akin to a wormhole, sucking all incoming branches into the central circle.
The volumes of the two were disproportionate. However, no matter how long or thick Withering grew, it was invariably sucked into Ten Horns' belly.
Only, no matter how many Wither's branches were sucked in, the palm-sized Ten Horns showed no change in volume. If there was any change, it was that the transparent sphere at the tip of the stem was injected with a bit of black liquid.
'Is that thing the bane of Wither?'
Law watched Ten Horns firmly suppressing Wither's spread and growth, a gleam flashing in his eyes. Immediately, he stepped on air, leaving a series of sonic booms as his body turned into a lightning bolt, charging towards Wither and Ancient Claw.
As guessed, since Ancient Claw dared to use the highly dangerous Wither to eliminate him back then, it meant Ancient Claw had methods to control Wither.
To verify this, and to achieve a diversion effect-
Law threw Wither at Ancient Claw, and Ancient Claw, as he expected, used a countermeasure.
'Then I... won't hold back!'
In the blink of an eye, Law's first thought wasn't to attack Ancient Claw taking advantage of the situation, but to charge towards the entangled Wither and Ten Horns.
Since Ten Horns was a tool to control Wither, how could Law miss it? It was a more reliable control method than sealing it into his left arm.
At this moment, Wither didn't even have time to bloom before it was about to be completely absorbed by Ten Horns.
Ancient Claw noticed Law's movement, ferocious light flashing in his eyes, instantly understanding what Law wanted to do.
Immediately, a large amount of Aura surged onto his hands. He stomped, collapsing the building's floor, his figure shooting towards Law, who was charging at Wither and Ten Horns.
Dried Ten Horns was Wither's bane. No matter how much Wither's vegetation area expanded, a single dried Ten Horns could turn a mature Wither into a juvenile seed form, then compress it into the transparent sphere at the tip of the stem.
No matter how lush Wither grew or how many ink flowers bloomed before being sucked in, once inside Ten Horns, the next time released, it would only be a liquid seed.
Ancient Claw didn't know how much Law understood about Ten Horns. However, any normal person seeing Ten Horns continuously sucking Wither into its belly would guess what was happening.
Actions like Law's were undoubtedly to control Ten Horns, thereby controlling the suppressed Wither.
Ancient Claw wouldn't let Law succeed.
Thus, after Law moved, Ancient Claw followed. He was closest to Ten Horns and couldn't let Law approach easily. Moreover, he wanted to kill Law on the spot while Law was trying to seize Ten Horns.
Both sides had their own thoughts. In the sky, only a few branches of Withering remained, while Ten Horns stood firm as a mountain. The transparent sphere at the tip of the stem had been filled with black liquid.
Law walked through the air, but Ancient Claw's body shot like a cannonball, extremely fast.
"That's not a great choice."
Law sneered, stepped on empty air, and shot upwards, leaving Ancient Claw's trajectory as he flew past.
Thus, they passed by each other, one above, one below.
With [Sky Walk], Law could walk in the sky and freely change direction in mid-air where there was nothing to push off.
So, the reckless Ancient Claw had actually made a bad move… at least, that's what Law thought.
But soon, Law retracted his previous thought.
The sound of air tearing from behind made Law immediately realize Ancient Claw's move had a follow-up… it wasn't a thoughtless, reckless act.
Law looked back to see Ancient Claw's ferocious expression, continuously swinging his arms to slap the air, creating shockwave ripples.
'He actually used such crude and direct method to keep himself airborne and change direction.'
On a building rooftop hundreds of meters away, Giles saw Ancient Claw's method, his expression changing involuntarily. He subconsciously glanced at the staff in his hand, a chill rising from his heart.
'Was this possible...?'
In the air, seeing Ancient Claw pursuing him, Law's expression remained unchanged. He insisted on charging towards Ten Horns, which was about to completely absorb Wither.
At this moment, Law was actually closer to Ten Horns, while Ancient Claw, after his failed attack, had passed Law and was now farther from Ten Horns.
In this situation, clearly Law would reach Ten Horns first, thus completely controlling Wither.
But...
Ancient Claw, chasing from behind, suddenly snarled with a ferocious laugh, "Your foothold is the air, right?"
Before his words finished, Ancient Claw swung his arms. Visible claw marks slashed across the sky, tearing through the airspace ahead up to where Law was.
Losing the support of air, Law's footing gave way. His body suddenly tilted, losing balance and falling towards the ground.
Simultaneously, Ancient Claw didn't stop swinging his arms. Instead, he slapped backwards, propelling his body like an arrow towards Law.
"You're dead!"
Ancient Claw's eyes held only Law, who couldn't control his balance and was wobbling.
He crossed the short distance, arriving behind Law, reaching out directly for Law's head.
Since Law's back was to Ancient Claw, Ancient Claw never saw Law's expression, which is as calm as water.
In an instant, the Nen flowing over Law's body surged like water to the soles of his feet, instantly forming White General's form. The place Law's feet contacted was the tip of White General's long blade.
The moment White General was conjured, it raised its arm, lifting Law, who stood on the blade's tip, upwards.
Simultaneously, the conjured White General fell towards the ground, while Ancient Claw, with his right hand extended forward for a thrust, thus passed between the ascending Law and the descending White General.
"Tch."
The attack missed. Ancient Claw simply left Law behind, heading towards Ten Horns, which had completely absorbed Wither into its sphere.
There would be many chances to kill Law, but the chance to retrieve Ten Horns was only this once.
However, the descending White General instantly dissolved into Nen.
Law didn't reclaim the Nen constituting White General but directly abandoned it, leaving that considerable amount of Nen as ownerless energy dispersing in the air.
Therefore, in the next instant, Law summoned White General again, appearing above and behind Ancient Claw.
Ancient Claw, flying forward, saw the dazzling white light coming from behind. His mind trembled slightly as he quickly turned to check, seeing a sharp Nen Blade entering his vision.
The White General summoned by Law, the moment it conjured, slashed at Ancient Claw.
With the blade's length, it naturally couldn't catch up to Ancient Claw flying forward, but the energy blade shooting from the blade body could catch up.
Ancient Claw's previous attack wasn't meticulously planned, but it had some calculation. However, it was dodged by Law's exquisite response.
At that time, Ancient Claw didn't feel regret but also completely didn't anticipate Law's counterattack after dodging his fatal strike would come so quickly.
It was as if, before dodging, he had already considered how to counterattack.
"Damn it!"
The Aura Blade reached his body. Ancient Claw had no room to dodge, only time to gather Nen to his back.
Boom!
The Aura Blade struck Ancient Claw's back. The force, heavy as a thousand catties, acted on his whole body, making him plummet towards the ground, smashing through a building's rooftop floor into the dark building interior.
Giles and the others, temporarily watching, and the other magical beasts, who had retreated a distance for safety, all looked at this scene in surprise.
Immediately, the magical beasts saw Law take a few steps, then grasp Ten Horns, which had absorbed Wither. Their hearts shook, thinking, 'This is bad.'
"Everything has its natural enemy..."
Law smiled, looking at the black sphere at the tip of Ten Horns' stem. He had personally witnessed how this sphere, only thumbnail-sized, gradually turned black.
To be precise, the liquid Wither was sucked into this sphere, dyeing it black.
'Is it storage or digestion? I'll have Sheila appraise it later, it should get a result.'
The White Smoke Font gave no information, but Law wasn't anxious. He happily stored Ten Horns in Kuro's space.
He wasn't sure yet whether the Wither sucked into the tip sphere would be digested by Ten Horns or simply stored.
However, whether digested or stored, Law felt it didn't matter. After all, Wither's existence was too troublesome. Even with high controllability, it was like playing with fire, and the slightest mistake could have unimaginable consequences.
On a rooftop not far below, three magical beasts glared fiercely at Law hovering high in the air.
"Shoot him down!"
The three magical beasts didn't hesitate, kicking off the ground, turning into three streaks of light, charging directly at Law.
They had no aerial abilities, only relying on jumping power to attack Law. But they also saw clearly how Law managed to hover in the air, knowing that action consumed considerable Nen.
Most crucially, while hovering, most Nen needed to be concentrated below the thighs. Doing so would greatly weaken the defense of the upper body.
'This is the weakness!' The magical beasts thought.
Law calmly watched the three magical beasts coming from below, having no intention to attack. He simply stepped on air steps upwards, avoiding the three magical beasts' aerial assault.
Compared to Law, who moved freely in the air, the three magical beasts' control over the air domain was basically zero. After their jumping attacks missed, they could only frustratingly fall to the ground.
Law thus lightly stepped in the air, coldly looking down at the three descending magical beasts.
With most Nen controlled below the thighs, enabling free movement and direction changes in the air, the upper body's defense and attack power would be greatly reduced.
For this reason, Law didn't take the opportunity to summon White General to attack the three magical beasts, because dispersed Nen would also greatly reduce White General's strength, and the magical beasts were thick-skinned and tough, so attacks were meaningless.
In other words... the Aura Blade that struck Ancient Claw's back earlier didn't actually cause much damage to Ancient Claw.
Law thought this, shifting his gaze from the three magical beasts to the black hole smashed open by Ancient Claw.
The intelligence Giles revealed contained the characteristic of Ancient Claw's astonishing defense.
With Giles's offensive power, he ranked among the best in the human world. But according to him, his attacks on Ancient Claw caused no damage at all.
'Occupying the air domain, I can remain undefeated, but it's also difficult to kill the magical beasts.' Law pondered.
Simply put, as long as he stayed in the air, it would be a stalemate with the attacking magical beasts.
However, he didn't want a stalemate… he wanted to eliminate these obstructive magical beasts.
Just then, a roar of fury came from inside the building whose ceiling Ancient Claw had smashed through.
Immediately after, a loud explosion rang, and the rooftop floor shattered into countless stone fragments, flying into the air.
Ancient Claw shot out from amidst the rubble. The Nen enveloping his body flared like flames, continuously writhing. His gorilla face bore a twisted expression of fury.
He landed on a still-intact rooftop, ignoring the stone fragments falling from the sky and hitting him, looking up directly at Law high in the air. With immense anger, he roared, "I'll pull out your bones alive, inch by inch..."
Before Ancient Claw's furious words finished, a massive sword aura suddenly entered his field of vision… Law had summoned White General and released an Aura Slash at him.
Boom!
The Aura Slash, lacking sharp characteristics, couldn't pierce Ancient Claw's skin but could shatter the ground under his feet.
Amidst the dust, Ancient Claw lost his balance. Leaving only a long, angry trailing sound, he fell again into the dark building interior.
"Idiot."
Law coldly glanced at the dusty rooftop, then headed towards where Ging and the others were.
He had no interest in knowing the level of Ancient Claw's current fury.
Now, he held the power of life and death… Ten Horns.
Eliminating the magical beasts on the scene was only a matter of time.
…
In a certain labyrinth building, pitch-black darkness. Dozens of narrow eye slits emitting faint light thus entered the sight of the three soldiers.
Facing the unknown, the three soldiers trembled, not daring to move recklessly, only staring blankly at the dozens of eye slits.
'What ghostly thing could it be?'
'Why didn't it attack us?'
Miscellaneous thoughts all surfaced at this moment.
The strange behavior made Kincaid sense something unusual. He wasn't a Nen User and couldn't see the eye slits revealed after being covered by En.
Just as he grew vigilant and prepared to ask, a loud explosion came from outside the building, startling all five present.
Faintly, they felt dust falling from the ceiling.
The crew-cut soldier releasing En, startled, couldn't maintain En any longer. Without the glow covered by En, the dozens of eye slits revealed in the darkness also disappeared.
But that scene was already engraved in the three soldiers' minds.
"Wh-What was that?" The soldier carrying Norman asked in the lightest voice of his life.
The crew-cut soldier's lips moved, wanting to cry but having no tears. He whispered, "I was scared. I didn't control En to extend further forward, so I only brushed the surface. Apart from being smooth, I couldn't determine what it was."
"..."