The red light shuned erratically, and the foot bone suddenly moved.
First once, then twice, then three times...
As the red light stabilized, the foot bone's movements grew larger.
However, the foot bone was caught in a branch fork, making it difficult to break free no matter how it moved, looking quite comical from a distance.
This foot bone was a remnant of the Skeleton. In a sense, the fingernail-sized red light was the Skeleton's soul.
As a true undead, the Skeleton had a hidden survival technique.
Before being purged by the Mender, he had left some phosphorescent powder under the foot bone, a seed of life.
Now that he was safe, the powder had ignited into a ghost flame, his life source.
Before implementing this plan, he had not been fully confident and could only resign himself to fate.
Looking at the result, although his current state was pathetic, at least he had survived.
The Skeleton, currently just a foot bone, struggled free from the branch and fell onto the hard ground.
Fortunately, he usually paid attention to calcium intake (bone health). Even as just a foot bone, falling directly from the tree onto the ground caused no damage.
'This place is all rocks... the prospects are bleak.'
The foot bone was full of worry. In this forest made almost entirely of rock, he truly didn't know where to find bones to replenish his calcium (to grow).
Without calcium (bone material), his body could never be restored.
In his current state, whether he could even leave the Forest of Medusa was uncertain.
'Regardless, the most important thing is to survive.'
The foot bone dispelled his worries, showing a strong will to live.
'Huh? I can't hear anything at all, and my field of vision is terrible. No choice, I'll just have to take it one step at a time. If I can find other body parts...'
After the red light completely stabilized, the foot bone hopped away from its spot.
Surviving the Mender was something he could brag about for a lifetime.
Thinking of this, the foot bone, i.e., the Skeleton, felt so proud he nearly bent his foot bone backwards and broke it.
Meanwhile, the Mender's corpse made the silver-haired woman aware of the dire situation.
No matter how unwilling she was to believe it, the fact was before her eyes.
'The Mender had been defeated by these humans...'
After assessing the situation, the silver-haired woman instantly lost her will to fight. Her previous intentions of trying to take the book from Law were now extinguished without even a trace of ash.
At this moment, her only thought was how to escape.
Not far away, Chucu stood on the ground, silently gazing at the Mender's appallingly mutilated body.
Her situation was the same as the silver-haired woman's, but she didn't seem to think much about what to do next. Simply put, she lacked the silver-haired woman's sense of crisis.
Law and the silver-haired woman were in a standoff, while Chucu looked like an outsider, appearing quite calm.
Ging's stamina and Nen were severely depleted, and he was silently recovering.
"Law, what do you plan to do?"
"Dispose of her."
Law glanced at Kuro in the distance.
Before dealing with the silver-haired woman, Law wanted a convenient weapon. Although Shin was gone, he still had the Nyoi Bo.
But now, he couldn't count on Kuro to deliver it.
Thinking this, a thought suddenly crossed Law's mind.
'Shin had been swallowed by a spatial crack and was surely shattered. I could try to materialize it directly.'
Thinking it, he did it. Law gathered his Nen, concentrating it on his slightly raised right hand.
This action directly agitated the silver-haired woman.
Law ignored her, attempting to infuse his imagination into the Nen, not forcing it, letting it flow naturally like when he materialized the White General.
Then, he failed.
The Nen gathering on his right hand trembled violently, showing instability.
Law shook his head slightly, thinking he wasn't an ancient human nor the Mender... he couldn't just imagine something and materialize it.
Temporarily shelving this unrealistic idea, Law stabilized the unstable Nen, then looked up at the silver-haired woman.
With no more light fragments fluttering around, he didn't need to expend Nen and energy to resist their erosion. For Law, this regained a geographical advantage.
'Not using a weapon was fine...'
Law opened his Aura Nodes to their maximum, allowing Nen to flow from his body, covering him stably and quietly.
Battle intent and killing intent mixed together, merging into the Aura he emitted.
The silver-haired woman instinctively stepped back, her face full of gravity as she watched Law, who had entered combat mode. Her intent to retreat was evident.
If not for the Mender's fate before her eyes, no matter how powerful and sharp Law's Aura was, she would not have backed down to seize that book.
Seeing the silver-haired woman's reluctance to fight, Law had no intention of letting her go.
In his eyes, enemies were enemies, regardless of gender.
Shun!
Law initiated the attack, his body vanishing from its spot.
The silver-haired woman no longer hesitated. She waved her hand, releasing streaks of Divine Script, while retreating rapidly.
She was very crafty, willing to increase her retreat distance to drag the aggro towards Chucu.
Yes, she detoured slightly, retreating towards Chucu and the Mender's corpse.
When Shun's teleportation distance ended, Law's figure reappeared, already surrounded by several streaks of Divine Script.
Black chains shot out from the Divine Script arrays, binding towards Law, who had just stopped. The timing and positioning of the chains were so precise it was mind-numbing.
Outside the battle zone, Ging watched this scene with grave eyes, having to admit that the silver-haired woman was indeed quite capable.
Facing the fan-formation black chains flying towards him, Law extracted black Nen and coated his hands with it.
Then, he suddenly swung his hands, tearing apart the incoming black chains, including the Divine Script themselves.
Just as the black chains began to disintegrate and before the Divine Script arrays had completely faded, Law's figure had already vanished into the air, passing through the chains and arrays.
The silver-haired woman's expression changed dramatically. The black Nen that had flashed briefly on Law's hands gave her a strong sense of crisis.
'That was...?'
Her heart racing, the silver-haired woman forced her speed, already at its limit, even higher, and then arrived at the location of Chucu and the Mender's corpse.
"Why are you coming this way!?"
Chucu's crimson eyes widened wide, glaring slightly at the silver-haired woman for bringing the fight here.
'Idiot.'
The silver-haired woman's lips moved silently. Ignoring Chucu's questioning gaze, she kicked off the ground and leaped past Chucu and the Mender's corpse.
Before passing, the silver-haired woman hurriedly glanced at the Mender's corpse, a deep, irresolvable dread flashing in the depths of her eyes.
'Damn humans... huh?'
Without any warning of danger, the human suddenly appeared before her eyes.
A streak of black Nen was instantly reflected in her pupils.