Gardevoir and Gengar both wore barriers as well, and they moved naturally beside Larry, completely unaffected by the ominous pressure around them.
The instant they stepped in, Larry felt something shift in his consciousness, a new bar appeared in his mind, signaling a strange and possibly dangerous process had begun. Still, none of them panicked. Instead of focusing on the death aura, they turned their attention to the cave's interior walls.
"These stone walls… yeah, something's definitely off," Ging muttered as he studied the patterns etched into the rock. "Otherwise, V5 wouldn't have been unable to get in."
He kept his voice low, instinctively wary of attracting anything that might be lurking nearby.
From what he had heard, V5 didn't just try to enter through the front. They'd attempted to dig another way in, drilling from a different angle to bypass the cave's defenses. It didn't work.
No matter how they tried, the rock wouldn't break. Even powerful Nen users couldn't leave so much as a scratch on it. Now, seeing it up close, Ging realized the answer might be right in front of them, those strange patterns on the walls were likely the key.
Larry stared at them, eyes narrowing as a sense of familiarity stirred in his memory. He had seen symbols like these before.
"These... these are divine texts," Pyon said quietly, her expression turning serious as she examined the carvings. The weight of her voice made it clear, this wasn't just decoration..
As a hunter specializing in ancient texts, Pyon had some knowledge when it came to things like Divine script. Even without using Nen, she could confidently identify the carvings on the stone wall. "These are definitely Divine script," she said firmly.
"Divine script, huh…" Ging muttered, his brows furrowed at first before relaxing slightly. Their appearance only confirmed what he had started to suspect, this place wasn't ordinary. In fact, it just became far more complicated.
The presence of Divine script meant one thing, a connection to the Dark Continent. 'Divine script... that's it.' As Larry listened to the two, the memory finally clicked into place. That was why the pattern had seemed familiar.
In the original book, there was a similar set of markings on the blade used by Dalzollene, a weapon that had been enhanced by Divine script. The text offered rare, powerful effects, though not much was ever revealed about them.
In general, Divine script were ancient symbols, each carrying unique powers. They were likely created by humans who once lived on the Dark Continent before migration to the Six Continents.
The ones carved into Dalzollene's blade had probably granted sharpness or cutting power. If Larry had to guess, the characters on the cave's stone wall were tied to its incredible durability.
For Ging and Pyon, these Divine script were of huge importance, a rare find that could help unravel forgotten mysteries. But for Larry, what truly caught his attention wasn't the carvings. It was the overwhelming, seemingly endless waves of death aura filling the cave.
A faint flash of white light suddenly broke through the darkness, drawing the eyes of Ging and Pyon away from the carvings. In an instant, a new Pokémon appeared beside Larry, a small, dark-purple creature holding a gleaming ruby nearly half its size.
A new nen beast? Ging and Pyon both had the same thought, watching curiously. Pyon, in particular, seemed to understand what Larry was planning.
Mega Sableye and Gengar, the two nen beasts, shared a silent connection. Without a word from Larry, they began working together, drawing in the surrounding death aura. It was like a scene from nature, waves of blackened energy rushing toward them like swallows returning to the nest.
The aura split into two currents. One stream flowed directly into Gengar's gaping mouth. The other surged into the ruby held by Mega Sableye. Unlike Gengar, Mega Sableye didn't devour with its body. Instead, it used the jewel embedded in its palm, an extension of the gemstone once buried in its chest during super evolution.
Within moments, the massive aura that filled the cave was being consumed, purified by the two Nen beasts. Larry stood calmly between them, quietly watching the process. He could feel the experience points flowing in like a tide.
'This place is a goldmine,' he thought, almost grinning. What most people avoided like a curse, Larry welcomed with open arms. For others, death aura was lethal, but to him, it was nothing short of treasure.
"…What…" Ging muttered under his breath, eyes twitching slightly at the sight in front of him. He was struggling to find the words. Death aura of this intensity should've been beyond control, but Larry's nen beasts were devouring it.
And these weren't just thought beasts. They were something more.
Even Pyon, who had seen them in action before, was taken aback. She managed to stay composed, but her surprise was obvious.
Suddenly, Ging's expression changed. His sharp gaze turned toward the dim, distant end of the cave. Something was stirring in the shadows. "…Something's coming," he said, voice low.
The activity caused by Gengar and Mega Sableye must have drawn attention, something in the darkness had noticed them. 'What kind of creature lives in a place like this?'
Ging's lips curled into a faint smile, a spark of excitement lighting up his eyes. The unknown thrilled him, always had. A radiant aura flared to life in his hands as his heart pounded with anticipation. He lived for novelty, for mystery, for challenges no one had faced before.
That hunger to explore the unknown was exactly why he was so obsessed with the Dark Continent.
There was hardly anything left in the known six continents that could stir his blood anymore. Only rare relics tied to the Dark Continent still managed to ignite that fire in him.
It was one of the main reasons he'd become a relic hunter in the first place. Sadly, most traces of the Dark Continent had long been blocked or sealed away by the V5. What remained could be roughly split into three categories:
The first were relics, some ancient artifacts that carried lingering traces of that forbidden land.
The second were disasters, specifically, the five great calamities that had once been brought back.
And the third were bizarre items, strange tools or weapons hidden in ruins, suspected to have originated from the Dark Continent itself.
Ging, with his obsession for everything tied to that mysterious land, immediately went on alert the moment he sensed something unusual ahead. His instincts flared, sharpened, but right after, a rush of excitement surged through him.
The thrill of facing something unknown. But what emerged from the depths of the cave caught even him off guard.
Several figures appeared in the distance, stumbling forward through the shadows. As they drew closer, the three men could finally make out their appearance.
Their clothing was torn and filthy, but it was still clear they were explorers, probably ones who had entered not long ago. The most disturbing detail, however, was their heads.
Their heads were no longer human.