The big-bellied Magical Beast probably died without understanding what happened. The black cloth wiped out half of its body, then halted abruptly in mid-air.
A black thread extended from its form, touching the ground vertically.
After halting, it suddenly flipped over, covering the other half of the big-bellied Magical Beast's body.
As if by magic, the big-bellied Magical Beast covered by the black cloth suddenly vanished. The black cloth then turned into a patch of black shadow on the ground.
Law was the closest to the shadow.
Seeing this scene that defied common sense, his pupils contracted sharply.
He also recognized the shadow as the culprit that had devoured a massive number of cockroaches that day.
'It completely ignores Aura Defense,' Law thought, a chill running down his spine.
He saw the shadow slither across the ground towards him.
With the big-bellied Magical Beast's fate as a warning, Law didn't dare let the shadow touch him.
He leaped into the air.
The shadow reached beneath Law, its form undergoing a qualitative change, transforming from a shadow into a viscous, mud-like substance.
It shot upwards, its speed like a fleeting shadow, arriving before Law's eyes in the blink of an eye.
"So fast." Law's expression changed slightly. He performed a bicycle kick, his feet seemingly stepping on air, his body falling straight towards the ground, avoiding the shadow's attack.
The viscous shadow missed, instantly exploding like fireworks into numerous black, elongated strips that shot downwards, closely pursuing Law.
From the big-bellied Magical Beast being devoured by the shadow to the shadow shifting its attack to Law, it had only been about two seconds.
Unwilling to engage further with this bizarre shadow, Law headed straight for the six remaining demi-human Magical Beasts upon landing, shouting, "Biscuit, prepare to retreat!"
Biscuit also saw the shadow, her face full of gravity.
The once menacing Magical Beasts now had no semblance of their previous murderous presence. They resembled frightened children, turning and fleeing.
Their decisive action suggested they understood the shadow's power all too well.
Law quickly assessed the situation, gestured to Biscuit, and then pursued the fleeing Magical Beasts.
His plan was to divert the disaster towards them.
Even if it failed, he needed to lure the shadow away from this location. Otherwise, given the shadow's sudden burst of speed, even Biscuit couldn't escape it… probably only he could.
Seeing Law's action, Biscuit ignored the Magical Beast trapped in the ground, changed direction, and headed towards Tonpa and the others' position.
The battle that had just begun had now turned into a chase.
The strip-like shadows landed and coalesced back into one, pursuing Law relentlessly.
To create distance, Law used [Instant] to cross dozens of meters whenever the shadow was about to touch him.
"How do I shake it off?" Law wondered as he fled, also keeping an eye on Biscuit and the others' movements.
Suddenly, he headed towards a Magical Beast that had just climbed out of the ground.
The Magical Beast, still confused, saw Law charging towards it. It didn't hold back, instantly unleashing its Aura.
Law, immersed in the overwhelming Aura, ignored the Magical Beast ahead and glanced back at the shadow biting close at a twenty-meter distance.
He calculated the distance silently, then kicked off the ground, jumping into the air.
The shadow detached from the ground, seemingly intending to repeat its tactic, solidifying its form to leap into the air and pursue Law.
But just as its form rose less than half a meter, it suddenly abandoned the near for the far, turning to attack the Magical Beast surging with turbulent Aura.
Law, still in the air, saw this, his eyes flickering slightly as he thought of something.
He carefully memorized Biscuit and the others' location and the direction the six demi-human Magical Beasts were fleeing.
He didn't take the opportunity to escape while the shadow was distracted. Instead, he watched the encounter between the shadow and that Magical Beast.
The Magical Beast, seeing the shadow, instantly deflated its soaring momentum, letting out a series of unintelligible cries of fear.
All its Aura was without hesitation allocated to its legs as it turned to flee.
However, the shadow was faster. It pounced directly onto the Magical Beast and, again like magic, when the shadow covered the Magical Beast, it seemed to cover empty air.
In less than a second, the Magical Beast vanished without a trace.
After erasing that Magical Beast, the shadow set its sights on Law, still in mid-air.
'That level of Aura Defense... even Shin might not be able to cut through it.' Law thought, his expression extremely grave.
Without further thought, he turned and headed in the direction the remaining six demi-human Magical Beasts had fled.
The Magical Beast that had been vanished in a second had concentrated all its Manifested Aura into its legs. Yet the shadow completely ignored the Aura's existence and simply swallowed it whole.
It was important to remember that the Manifested Aura released by the demi-human Magical Beasts was several times greater than the limit of a human Nen User. If even they couldn't defend against it, no human Nen User could.
Moreover, that Magical Beast had been fully prepared, yet its first reaction upon seeing the shadow was to turn and run.
This meant the Magical Beast knew the shadow's power and had no means to stop it. Its only option was escape.
It was simply... an utter catastrophe.
Law's concentration was at its peak. He had to glance back at the shadow frequently. A single misstep could mean falling into an abyss.
Biscuit regrouped with Kuro and the others, watching worriedly as Law and the shadow disappeared from view.
"That thing..." Tonpa's voice trembled slightly.
Bruna stood on Tonpa's shoulder, her jet-black eyes filled with deep concern as she looked in the direction Law had gone.
Kuro glanced around the now deathly silent surroundings, then looked at Biscuit, "Do we wait for Law here?"
"This place isn't safe," Biscuit said, frowning slightly. She stated it was unsafe but didn't suggest temporarily relocating because she was worried about getting separated from Law.
Kuro seemed to understand Biscuit's concern, "I know what you're worried about. Don't worry. Although I hate to admit it, I am Law's Nen Beast after all. I can track his location."
Biscuit couldn't help but look at Kuro. She made a snap decision, "Let's go."
Without any hesitation, they left the area.
A few minutes later, an hourglass-shaped creature emerged from a bush, making a click-clack sound as it moved.
It moved about aimlessly. Whenever a creature approached it, they all turned into black sand and scattered on the ground.
Elsewhere, Law was closely pursued by the shadow. Suddenly, he saw a corpse lying on the ground ahead… one of the demi-human Magical Beasts, its body cut into three pieces.
Seeing the corpse, a flicker of surprise passed over Law's face.
Initially, when the nine Magical Beasts had appeared, their Auras erupted, exuding an immensely powerful presence, as if they were one of the overlords of this tree sea.
But in reality, both the shadow and this corpse on the ground indicated that the demi-human Magical Beasts faced the risk of death at any time within the forest.
This suggested that the defensive power constructed by Nen was practically paper-thin against certain existences in the Dark Continent.
Otherwise, with the demi-human Magical Beasts' crisis instinct driven Ryu, how could they die so easily?
It was unclear how that Magical Beast had died. It clearly possessed such strong Aura and physical strength, so it should have had at least some defensive capability.
The corpse was a warning sign.
Law didn't see the other demi-human Magical Beasts, but he mentally prepared for disasters ahead and calamities behind, raising his alertness to the highest level.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, Law saw the grass and leaves ahead silently sever. A cold chill shot up his spine.