Chapter 82 Purpose × Rules × Imminent Death
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Stones rose from the altar, forming stone statues that grasped various weapons.
Control System.
Haze gave the elder no time to act. He sprinted forward and leapt.
With a flick of his hand, the statues aligned to block him; they swung their weapons and attacked.
A persistent, unnatural chill washed over him. Haze intended to end the fight quickly.
Using his shoulder as a shield, he charged the statues with martial techniques. With a deafening crash, several statues shattered, sending a shower of rubble and opening a gap in the stone wall formation.
The elder tried to retreat, manipulating the stones to push him back… but Haze's acceleration was so fierce that he was instantly before him. A powerful punch!
Haze drove a fist through the elder's chest. Bones cracked and the man flew, smashing into a nearby pillar.
Several human-sized stone figures attacked from behind and tried to stab Haze with spears, but they all crumbled… to no avail.
The elder collapsed to the ground, coughing up blood. Before he could rise, Haze—having cleared away the stone figures—pounced on him.
A rain of punches battered the elder, not allowing him a single breath.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Bricks under their feet exploded. The elder stumbled and struggled to defend himself, but his combat skill and telekinetic experience were limited; he was no match for Haze. He managed only to use telekinesis to shield himself. Within seconds half his body sank into a shallow pit, and cracks spidered across the surrounding stone pillars. Another loud blast, and the thick pillars toppled, collapsing into massive debris. Haze withdrew his hands and leapt back.
The elder was struck by the falling rocks and buried beneath the rubble.
The telekinesis-controlled stone figures disintegrated instantly.
Haze frowned. So weak! Whether judged by Nen, experience, or physical strength… he was only marginally stronger than an average Nen user. Why, then, did he feel threatened?
"He should be dead…," Haze murmured, preparing to dig the elder out.
Hundreds of blows had shattered the elder's Nen defenses—his body was mangled and bleeding heavily. He had apparently lost consciousness; his Nen had faded… In that state, being crushed by several huge stones left no hope of survival.
He should have been reduced to pulp...
But Haze halted as he took a step forward.
He watched the rubble that had buried the elder levitate again, reforming into a giant several meters tall.
The stone figures that had disintegrated behind it had reassembled and regenerated.
"He's not dead?" Haze's pupils contracted.
How was that possible…? He shouldn't have survived. He wouldn't have made such a gross miscalculation.
As rocks scattered and flew, Haze saw his opponent slowly rise from the pit. The elder, hair disheveled, was a bloody figure. His body was dented and studded with broken fragments that creaked and healed instantly. All were mortal wounds!
"His mind has strengthened!" Haze felt something off.
Could it be an insect? Was the elder infested?
Yet the other man had not lost independent thought… the blood-splattered eyes gazing at him were emotionless.
They were filled with a will that judged him.
"Again!"
A chill ran through Haze.
Above, the palm of the gigantic stone statue slammed into the ground with terrifying force.
That single strike shattered the altar with a deafening roar.
But it missed its mark. Using his agility, Haze increased his speed, zigzagged, and with a precise thrust pierced his target's forehead like a blade.
This time, half a fingertip lodged in the elder's brow! Haze kicked the stiffened elder aside and snatched the ritual skull.
The giant stone figure and the smaller ones disintegrated again…
Haze didn't relax—and, indeed, the figure that had fallen rose once more… the wound in his forehead gone. Creaks sounded from all around. Haze followed the noise and saw more stones transform into puppets controlled by the elder's telekinesis… The multi-meter giant tore out several intact pillars with a punch, and the fallen stones began reassembling. In a dozen seconds, three more giants rose, their heads nearly touching the dome.
His power had multiplied several times… His Nen seemed stronger still… How had he resurrected? This was definitely not posthumous Nen… It was an ability, not his natural Nen… Haze's mind raced. "Did someone apply a Nen effect to him? There are other Bozwa who use Nen…" "Is there someone else with a special skill?"
"No…"
"Maybe the lethal damage needed to be total—must be completely destroyed, like a parasite."
"With each resurrection, his abilities leap qualitatively…"
A flood of stone figures descended once more. Haze had no time to deliberate; he acted immediately—attacking the elder again.
This time the attack was harder. First, the stone figures moved with more fluidity, almost like flesh and bone. Second, the elder seemed to have suddenly mastered an advanced Nen technique, able to counterattack and dodge.
With increased strength, his reaction speed matched Haze's completely…
But the gap remained… To avoid complications Haze chose Precision and Domination. The runes he'd used earlier couldn't be activated, but these two trees still offered runes that boosted damage. He focused on combat runes.
"Die!"
Minutes later, Haze struck a stone man trying to block him. A hand emerged from the floating dust and grabbed the elder attempting to move.
It seized him by the neck and twisted—tearing off his head and shredding his body.
The subterranean void quieted.
Haze panted, staring at the elder's corpse… Then a scene made his skin crawl.
A piece of flesh and blood suddenly expanded like rapidly spreading spores, morphing into a tumor… Haze attacked at once, fingertips carrying immense force like a dancing blade, tearing the writhing flesh into shreds.
But when he turned, the other half of the corpse had already completed its growth—meat and bone fully regenerated… The elder had been resurrected.
"Immortal?" Haze was stunned.
The Bozwa elder before him radiated power rivaling his own.
The whole underground space trembled, debris piled up and transformed into puppets controlled by the enemy. They were too many to count…
Haze also observed the skin of the stone figures peeling away, revealing facial features and more defined limbs. The thoughts driving each stone figure… were extraordinarily powerful.
"Retreat!"
Haze considered withdrawal.
His body reacted instantly, becoming a black streak that cut through gaps between the stone puppets, heading for the cave entrance where Kanji stood.
But halfway there, a sharp spear pierced his eye, forcing him to stop. He looked to see a stone figure holding a spear blocking his path!
It looked human—and the newly formed eyes on its face seemed to detect him…
A chill crawled from Haze's soles to his nape.
He paused, then changed direction, running elsewhere.
But just as he had gained ground, a huge hand fell from above and stopped him, almost hitting him head-on.
Far off, Kanji stood at the cave mouth, pale as death.
Her legs trembled…
She didn't know whether to run or stay. She had seen Haze kill the elder again and again, only for him to resurrect stronger each time. The underground space was not huge, but not small—Haze could easily jump less than two hundred meters.
Yet now, like a grasshopper, he was constantly interrupted by stone puppets; the space to evade narrowed ever more. He was about to be completely surrounded.
Kanji clenched her fist and turned to run.
Her eyes—previously fixed on the passage—found Hisoka…
She had to locate him quickly, or… the captain might be dead!
An instant later, a roar sounded.
The Bozwa elder controlled the stone puppets, destroying and sealing every entrance and exit.
"Your companions have abandoned you…," the elder said, looking at Haze, now surrounded by the puppets, trapped like a turtle in a jar.
Haze threw the ritual skull he'd held as if it were trash, his expression calm.
"You can resurrect… thanks to the sacrifices. The rules of sacrifice require a member of your tribe to take your place in death. In other words, once all the Bozwa away from here die, you can no longer resurrect… And each time you resurrect, your strength doubles… because the ritual has granted you certain abilities."
Haze breathed in deeply. "Although I deduced this is a ritual, the rules and truths I can discern are only a fragment, not the whole."
The surrounding stone figures, under the elder's control, did not attack again.
In his eyes, Haze was already damned.
"The rules of a ritual are born with a purpose. All rules serve that purpose… Achieving that purpose is the only thing that matters. I'm surprised you, an outsider, could perceive this." The elder spoke calmly. "The purpose of this ritual is to keep the last member of our tribe alive—come what may. Even if hundreds remain, when the ritual ends only one will survive… Therefore, we will not initiate the ritual unless absolutely necessary."
"There are two Origin Worms, a mother and a daughter. The daughter is responsible for division and evolution, and the other…" "You ate the other. The daughter and the mother have different missions and effects… The connection between sacrifice and resurrection, including the traits of your evolving power, is the mother's intrinsic value. She grants you this—not parasitism, but integration. During the ritual, the protection you receive is absolute! Consuming the mother means being chosen as the last surviving lineage of the tribe." Before the other could finish, Haze said coldly, "Honestly… if not for our position and mission, I'd personally side with you… But now I suddenly feel… killing you wouldn't be such a big thing…"
"Shouldn't the queen bee be given to someone younger? After the ceremony… can you continue the lineage? At your age, bearing children would be difficult, no?" Haze said sarcastically.
"I am the tribe's leader. I possess the deepest, most comprehensive knowledge about our origins and history. Only I can pass this heritage to future generations without loss…" the elder replied in a resonant voice. "Is it so hard to admit you want to survive? It's normal to have such selfish thoughts… Don't make excuses. I myself am a liar… So whether you lie or not, I know…" Suddenly, Haze felt pity for the Bozwa who had died.
Haze's words seemed to part the elder's veil, enraging him. "Think only of yourself!"
(End of Chapter)
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