If Don Freecss's first attack was Ryu, the second attack mobilizing all his Manifested Aura was Ko.
The second attack clearly hurt the giant eye monster badly, to the point that it retreated behind the clouds and did not reappear.
Not only was there no sound, even the thunder and lightning disappeared.
The clouds closed, and the churning gradually subsided.
Snowflakes fell, as if nothing had happened.
Don Freecss withdrew his Nen, leaving only a thin layer on his body again.
Having walked the Dark Continent for so many years, he deeply understood that in this environment, the most important things were not food and water, but weapons.
Humans were very small on the Dark Continent. To change their standing, they needed powerful weapons.
And the most powerful weapons could be imagination, or Nen.
Therefore, he cherished the utilization rate of every wisp of Nen, unwilling to waste it, but when necessary, he would not be stingy.
If the giant eye monster continued to transgress, that would be the time not to be stingy.
Don Freecss looked up at the cloud layer, now completely calm. After a moment, he withdrew his gaze. Without looking back at Beyond and the others, he walked straight into the blizzard.
The giant eye monster belonged to the planktonic creatures. In terms of size and ability, it should be ranked slightly above average in its species.
The reason it came to pester him was, frankly, nothing special.
Playing was one thing, wanting to eat him was another.
A creature of his size was not even fit to get stuck between the giant eye monster's teeth.
But if it actually ate him, the nutrition he contained could not be resolved in just a few bites of that big mouth.
"The next stop, is it the Ridge Mountains...?"
Don Freecss's low voice was muffled by the wind and snow.
The place he was going to was very close to the World Tree region.
Along the way, he would pass through snowy mountains, ridges, deserts, wetlands, forests, and rocky lands.
The closer to the Center, the more bizarre and changeable the climate and environment.
This side might be covered in ice and snow, while that side might be under a blazing sun, with only a thin line separating the two.
The freezing wind could not blow to that side, nor could the dry heat pressure reach this side.
This umbrella-shaped snowy mountain region was just one of the stops he passed. Encountering humans from the Six Continents here was a minor surprise.
For him, compared to encountering a large group of humans from the Six Continents, he would rather find humans who had been struggling for survival since ancient times.
After all, many years ago, he already knew that new explorers had set foot on the Dark Continent.
'Things in the fire...'
Walking through the blizzard that ordinary humans could not withstand, the line of text on the Mender's remains floated in Don Freecss's mind.
Within the ice layer area, Beyond watched Don Freecss disappear into the blizzard, unable to calm down for a long time.
As for his teammates, aside from a few like Marione and Pariston, the others showed signs of decline.
What was this feeling? It was like climbing a mountain or ascending stairs... when you desperately climbed, you found the finish line kept getting farther and farther away, as if there was no end.
The most terrifying thing was that someone constantly whispered in your ear: after you reach the finish line, there is another finish line to challenge.
Too distant, too distant to make people lose confidence.
Beyond took a deep breath. After quickly adjusting his emotions, he noticed the team's atmosphere.
As captain, he could not allow negative emotions to continue festering in the team.
Although he had also been knocked down before, he would not give up.
Courage to accept challenges, courage to strive forward.
This had always been his strength.
"Don Freecss is human, and so are we."
"What he can do, we can definitely do too."
Beyond's tone was steady and powerful, carrying some encouragement.
Everyone looked at him, clearly feeling Beyond's confidence.
'The captain intends to surpass that Don Freecss?'
'Surpass that monster...?'
But what was this confidence? They had just witnessed the existence of the inconceivable.
Beyond said nothing, walking to the icicle and reaching out his large hand, pressing it against the icicle.
With a little force, cracks split open on the icicle.
Perhaps because the icicle was damaged, the aquatic creatures below the ice layer suddenly rioted. The gazes intermingled among them were filled with icy killing intent.
They stared intently at the humans above the ice, then began ramming the ice layer.
This sudden action startled Usamen and a few others, and also made Beyond stop his next move, looking at the aquatic creatures beneath the ice, close at hand.
Countless, densely packed aquatic creatures were frantically ramming the ice layer.
But not a single sound was emitted, only the strong force transmitted through the ice layer to the soles of their feet.
Feeling the force that could make their bodies tremble, one could roughly judge how powerful the impacts were.
Yet no matter how many times per second they crashed, the ice layer beneath their feet remained as stable as a mountain, unmoved.
"Take the Mender's remains and leave here immediately."
Beyond calmly swept his gaze over the creatures under the ice, then applied force to the icicle again.
Hearing Beyond's address for the book, they knew it was one of the few pieces of information left by Don Freecss.
Crack.
Ice shavings fell from the edges of the cracks on the icicle.
As Beyond applied force again, the icicle finally completely split. Pieces of broken ice fell onto the ice layer, like gasoline poured into a fire, making the aquatic creatures under the ice even more frenzied.
Yet this ice layer, which did not appear thick, was an obstacle they could not cross.
The icicle left only a base frame, and the Mender's remains stood quietly, azure wisps of Aura slowly swirling around it, exuding a strange charm.
A glint shone in Beyond's eyes. In the past, he would not have rashly touched the book at zero distance.
But perhaps due to the stimulation brought by Law and Don Freecss, coupled with the commotion under the ice, he could not care about that now.
The urgent desire to understand more deeply drove him to reach out and touch the book.
Under everyone's watch, Beyond's hand passed through the azure wisps of Aura and gently pressed down on the book's cover.
In an instant, an extremely pure wisp of Nen was injected into his palm through the cover.
Beyond's body shook slightly, his eyelids quickly lifting.
He saw, above the book, dark shadows appear, each revealing only eyes.
In the blink of an eye, those dark shadows disappeared, replaced by a Nen Aura that stirred his nerves.
Like a traveler on the verge of despair in a desert, suddenly plunged into a cool, clear oasis.
"Let's go."
Beyond's eyes flickered. With one hand, he picked up the door-panel-sized book.
The moment he picked up the book, he saw crimson liquid rapidly seep from the edge of the fiery red bead. One drop slid out, falling onto the ice layer, immediately rising with white smoke.
Seeing this, everyone's expression changed.
Beyond quickly straightened the book, but to no avail.
The crimson liquid that had fallen on the ice layer was like sulfuric acid, corroding the ice, and the area was expanding.
"Go!"
Beyond hesitated no longer, leading his teammates towards the edge of the ice layer.
The crimson liquid was like molten rock, melting the ice layer that was blocking the aquatic creatures.
Once the ice layer was dissolved, their situation would become very dangerous.
They had already obtained the item... now they had to flee the ice layer.
Almost as soon as the Mender's remains sealed inside the icicle were taken by Beyond, like a pebble falling into a lake, creating small, not too intense ripples, it occurred in various corners of the Dark Continent.