"You all have to die."
The young Fallen stood still, scanning the battlefield with cold, sweeping eyes.
Everyone's expression grew tense.
Kaizen assessed the current state of the enemy.
A moment later, he stepped forward.
"I'll handle the mummy," he said. "Leave the young one to the rest of you. One of them is enough for me."
Buhara quickly looked over.
"Kaizen, are you sure? If you're uncertain, don't force it. This is our Gourmet Paradise at stake—you're free to pull back if necessary."
Kaizen shrugged. "I'll be fine. Just make sure the other half doesn't interfere."
"Alright. I'll hold it off with everything I've got," Buhara said with a firm nod.
Kaizen raised his hand—and in a flash, a figure appeared beside him.
It was Natsu.
He crouched, then launched himself with a thunderous kick that rocked the hull.
Ripples spread across the sea in concentric circles.
Twin flames ignited in Natsu's palms. He brought them together, fusing them into one glowing, golden flame.
"Flame of the Fire Dragon!"
He hurled the blazing orb toward the Fallen.
Boom!
The sea roared as the blast landed. Water exploded into the sky in massive sheets, drenching everything for hundreds of meters around.
Even the Gourmet Paradise team, positioned 120 meters away, was caught in the surge.
Waves swallowed the deck, and a mutilated mermaid monster corpse was flung into the air, smashing into the surface and bursting into pieces.
The two parts of the Fallen were separated.
...
But the assault wasn't over.
Natsu clapped his hands.
"Position swap!"
With a flash of power, the mummy's body was instantly relocated—flung several hundred meters away.
Now, surrounding the mummy were three figures: Kaizen, Natsu, and Uchiha Sasuke.
Kaizen and his two nen beasts all stood calmly atop the ocean, using aura to walk on water—just like the mummy Fallen.
The mummy stared at Kaizen, eyes seething with loathing.
But it said nothing—only growled from deep in its throat, low and guttural.
"Ho... Ho..."
There was no humanity left in that gaze.
The mummy and its counterpart had lost their human traits—now more monster than man.
Yet even in its twisted form, the mummy could still recognize Kaizen's true self.
The moment its position was shifted, it lunged straight for him.
Kaizen raised a hand.
"Frost Bomb!"
A sphere of freezing energy shot forward, slamming into the mummy.
In an instant, it froze over—locked in solid ice, merging with the sea below.
Though the mummy quickly shattered the ice, Kaizen was faster.
"Exploding Bomb!"
The second attack hit dead-on, blasting the mummy back violently.
...
At the same time, Natsu and Sasuke moved in.
"Thunder!"
"Roar of the Dragon!"
Both attacks collided with the mummy one after another.
Kaizen used the opening to draw the Rotten Knife from his waist.
He infused it with aura.
The blade shimmered—then flew toward the mummy.
A moment later, pale worm eggs began to appear on the mummy's body.
Crack!
White maggots burst forth, crawling across the flesh, digging in.
They gorged on the mummy's aura, devouring it with ravenous hunger.
The scene was grotesque—the body looked like a corpse left buried for years, now decaying rapidly.
A mummified shell, writhing with parasites.
Even against three-on-one odds, the mummy Fallen held its ground.
Even split in half, with its Nen and aura divided, it was a top-tier A-rank opponent.
Kaizen estimated that if the Fallen succeeded in merging its two halves, it would break into S-rank territory.
That was the real goal of the Cursed Silver Coin Project—a perfect fusion.
But for now, divided, they were each A-rank—albeit at the peak.
Still, Kaizen wasn't weak either.
With his two Nen beasts, position-swapping, the Rotten Knife, and long-range lightning attacks, he had a full suite of countermeasures.
He had the mummy completely restrained.
The longer the fight dragged on, the more maggots covered the mummy, the more aura it lost.
The tide was turning in Kaizen's favor.
The mummy Fallen grew more agitated by the second.
...
Meanwhile, the Young Fallen sensed the shift.
Its assault on Buhara and the others became even more savage.
Six B-rank Nen users were doing their best to hold the line.
But Menchi and her two teammates had already been taken out—crippled by the backlash of the cursed coins.
The situation was rapidly becoming critical.
Tessia darted through the field, weaving and circling, launching a pitch-black sphere at the young Fallen.
Shizuku stood beside Sally, fighting off the remaining mermaid monsters.
But things in Gourmet Paradise were only getting worse.
Seeing this, one of the squad leaders gritted his teeth.
He was their only A-rank Gourmet Hunter.
Though the backlash of the cursed coins had weakened him as well, he was in better shape than Menchi.
He could still fight.
Without hesitation, he charged straight at the young Fallen.
The Fallen, already agitated by the mummy's failing side, exploded with fury at this new threat.
"Get lost!"
With a roar, the young Fallen sent the A-rank hunter flying.
Then, in a blur, it appeared behind another Gourmet Hunter.
Its aura twisted violently.
A wave of black energy surged outward, engulfing its victim.
The hunter's face went slack—then contorted in rage.
His body trembled uncontrollably, like something had taken over...
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Fanfic is completed on patreon.com/FanficsHub (1047 chapters in total)