The grass, over half a meter tall, was severed near the tips. Not just one blade, but a large patch.
Law saw no trace of Nen, nor any physical object, yet the grass was indeed cut. Combined with the dismembered demi-human Magical Beast's corpse, he realized it was some form of invisible slashing attack.
Faced with an unseen and potentially unavoidable attack, and despite the thought that Aura alone might not be enough to defend, Law had only one choice: deploy his Domain.
He compressed his Domain into a one-meter radius, enveloping his body.
Law activated his Domain but didn't stop his forward momentum. He couldn't afford to stop, not with the calamity still pursuing him from behind.
There was no sound, no movement, but Law felt his Domain being pressed inward by over half a meter by several extremely fine lines.
They weren't actual lines, but more like intangible, razor-thin slashes that had cut directly into his Domain, nearly reaching his body.
Relieved that his Domain had blocked the attack, Law quickly glanced back at the shadow. The distance had closed considerably.
He immediately used Instant several times in succession, creating a gap of a hundred meters, while remaining wary of potential slashes from other directions.
He had almost been injured without even knowing where the attacker was.
'With our strength, can we actually cross this sea of trees?' Law couldn't help but ask himself.
So far, since arriving on the Dark Continent, they had encountered many dangers, but each time they had managed to overcome them, thanks largely to their Nen Abilities.
But after witnessing the shadow's magic-like attacks that ignored Nen Defenses, the path forward seemed incredibly harsh.
The self-doubt flashed through his mind for a moment and was gone just as quickly.
Law's gaze swept over every corner ahead, searching for traces of the other five demi-human Magical Beasts. He needed to lure the highly threatening shadow as far away as possible to reduce the chance of another encounter.
This might become a long-distance chase, a marathon of Nen.
Because of the sudden slashing attacks, Law didn't dare retract his Domain, even though it meant he couldn't push his speed to the absolute limit.
He used Instant several more times, once again increasing the distance, essentially kiting the shadow behind him.
The shadow likely didn't possess the emotions of an intelligent being.
Despite failing to catch its prey for so long, it showed no different reaction, just persistent pursuit.
After a long chase, Law finally sensed the Auras of the demi-human Magical Beasts.
'Good, found them.'
Although he had chosen a direction, this was a forest, so the chance of actually following them was low. Fortunately, he had found them.
Law glanced at the shadow behind him, then thought back to the invisible slashes that had attacked him minutes ago.
He hadn't found the attacker then, and didn't know if it was pursuing him relentlessly like the shadow.
'The fact that they didn't scatter is good news.' He thought.
He looked ahead at the group of demi-human Magical Beasts, let out a soft breath, and suddenly consumed a portion of his Aura, using Instant multiple times in quick succession.
His figure flickered several times, instantly creating distance while also positioning himself not far behind the Magical Beasts.
The five Magical Beasts immediately noticed Law, and of course, they saw the distant shadow. Their expressions changed.
"You bastard!" One Magical Beast roared with fury, intending to block Law's path, ensuring he would be devoured by the shadow.
But before the thought fully formed, Law vanished from his vision.
The next moment, he appeared ahead of their group.
The five Magical Beasts' faces filled with horror.
Law's feet touched the ground. He leaped lightly, turning in mid-air to face the five charging Magical Beasts.
His body moved like the wind, gliding swiftly through the air, his long knife held horizontally before him.
Their gazes met in the air, sparking intense sparks… one side cold and indifferent, the other terrified.
Law took a light breath, swung his sword, and slashed rapidly.
Countless Aura Slashes filled the entire airspace, pressing down towards the Magical Beasts.
Unlike a single, highly compressed Aura Slash with extreme lethality, this was a sacrifice of power and penetrative force for sheer quantity.
The former was a missile, while the latter was a machine gun.
The net of Aura Slashes was unavoidable.
Law retracted his slightly trembling arm without checking the results, turned around, and accelerated away.
Behind him, the five Magical Beasts roared, crashing into the sword net with their steel-like bodies.
Accompanied by waves of exploding shockwaves, their advance was mercilessly halted.
That brief pause was enough for the shadow to catch up.
One!
The shadow took advantage of the situation to swallow one Magical Beast, still ignoring the Aura Defense. In the blink of an eye, one Magical Beast was completely gone.
The other four Magical Beasts' nerves were stretched taut. Perhaps because the shadow was now so close, they seemed to have an epiphany, suddenly scattering in different directions.
Law, now at a safe distance, saw this.
He switched Shin to his left hand, held his breath, and released an Aura Slash towards each of the four directions.
The four Aura Slashes landed sequentially ahead of the Magical Beasts' paths. The resulting shockwaves from their explosions knocked the Magical Beasts off course.
This precise harassment allowed the shadow to easily devour another Magical Beast, then immediately pursue the next closest one.
Law's two consecutive disruptions directly pushed the Magical Beasts into hell. It was ruthless.
His cold gaze swept over the remaining Magical Beasts before he turned and left without looking back.
Within moments, desperate roars echoed from behind, then fell silent.
Law took the Grass Jelly from his inner pocket, tore off a tiny fragment, crushed it, and infused it into his right arm to heal the strain from using that Aura Slash Net.
'This should be far enough,' Law thought after running another distance and stopping. He looked back at the now silent forest behind him.
"Hmm?"
Several powerful, condensed Aura Fluctuations, brimming with strong vitality, came from ahead.
'More demi-human Magical Beasts?' Law frowned in thought.
He considered it, then looked at the sparsely distributed giant trees.
He kicked off the ground, leaping into the air towards the branches of a giant tree.
Reaching a branch a hundred meters high, he used Sky Walk to move towards another giant tree, heading in the direction of the Aura Fluctuations.
After traveling less than a kilometer, Law stopped on a giant tree, looking at the scene in the clearing ahead, his eyelids slowly lifting.
The gaps between the trees were large, creating extensive open areas. But these clearings weren't filled with various plants… instead, there were numerous wooden frame structures.
Three or four wooden poles were casually assembled into frames. Hanging from each frame was the skeleton of a creature.
A quick scan revealed at least several thousand skeletal remains of various sizes, mostly larger creatures.
In the spaces between these bone frames, Law saw over a hundred demi-human Magical Beasts of different appearances actually processing hunted prey.
He even saw numerous roasting racks and pot-like objects suspended over fires.
Law was stunned. He then noticed that near the bone frames, at the base of the giant trees, there were small openings in the many roots exposed above ground.
'Is this... the settlement of the demi-human Magical Beasts? Is that why those five were fleeing in this direction?' Law thought silently.
It was a pity this wasn't a human settlement. And humans lacked the ability to establish a settlement within this tree sea.