In the sky, on the ground, and in the water.
All three fronts moved at once.
Amidst the towering vegetation at the edge of the marsh, groups of three or four strangely-shaped people rushed from different directions toward the central lake.
They charged with a do-or-die resolve.
In the lake, a gigantic black hand burst from the water, shooting straight for the Chimera in the sky with overwhelming force.
It was simply too massive.
The mere act of it rising from the water stirred up monstrous waves, and in the blink of an eye, it was directly beneath the Chimera.
Faced with this sudden assault, the Chimera was struck with terror. It beat its wings furiously, trying to gain altitude and escape the giant black hand's grasp.
However, the arm extending from the lake seemed endless, continuing to ascend at a terrifying speed as if it would pierce through the clouds high above.
The Chimera's sudden, violent climb nearly threw everyone off its back. Fortunately, the gaps between its scales helped them hold on.
But now, the dripping, giant black hand was drawing ever closer, bringing with it a suffocating pressure, like an entire mountain bearing down on them.
Everyone's heart pounded in their chest, and they almost forgot to breathe.
At this critical moment, Morrow's gaze sharpened, and his aura erupted.
Under the astonished eyes of Biscuit and the others, he deliberately let go of the scales and shot down toward the giant hand like a reverse-fired arrow.
Just then, the countless black, enoki-mushroom-like objects covering the hand's surface inexplicably transformed into innumerable, twisted, small black hands that rapidly extended toward the Chimera.
They were called 'small hands,' but each one was thicker than a human body.
Their sheer number was staggering, like the fur on some creature's hide, swarming toward them from all directions.
Before leaping off the Chimera, Morrow had planned to use the explosive shockwave of a Nen bullet to give the creature a boost. He would then use Astral Step to teleport back onto its back.
But after he jumped, he never imagined that the surface of the giant black hand would erupt with such a dense swarm of smaller hands.
"Starlight Convergence・Cosmic Choreography!"
In a flash, the aura around Morrow shattered into a sky full of stars.
Countless red threads, like the strings of a master puppeteer that never miss, connected to every single star, linking together all possible evasion routes.
As the Starlight Convergence enveloped the overwhelming tide of small black hands, a massive amount of information instantly flooded the control core of Terpsichora. It guided Morrow's body into a spinning flight, allowing him to weave perilously through the gaps between the countless arms.
The next moment, something even more unexpected happened.
The activation condition for Starlight Convergence actually triggered.
Innumerable golden chains materialized out of thin air, like streaks of golden lightning, instantly spreading to the very end of the giant black hand at an unimaginable speed.
This rate of expansion was likely a direct feedback of the Nen ability's mechanics, a manifestation of its rules. The golden chains were designed to appear instantly and bind a target when their conditions were met.
Previously, the targets had always been human, so the visual effect of the chains materializing and wrapping around them was nothing special.
But now, as they acted upon this giant black hand, the countless golden tracks spreading across it in an instant created an utterly breathtaking spectacle.
The people on the Chimera's back, as well as the strange humans dashing across the water toward the lake, all revealed expressions of incredulous shock the moment they saw the countless golden tracks spreading over the giant black hand.
"Gurgle...!!!"
The group of bizarrely-shaped humans looked as if they had witnessed a miracle. Their eyes, already protruding like a chameleon's, now seemed about to pop out of their sockets.
High above, Morrow himself hadn't expected Starlight Convergence to actually work on this giant black hand.
He had never imagined that the mechanics of Nen were so vast.
It was as if, in that moment, it could even transcend the borders of the Dark Continent.
It was no wonder Morrow felt this way.
The number and length of the golden chains were far beyond what his potential aura could support. Even ten thousand of him couldn't have possibly managed it.
Yet, in the instant he activated the ability, he had only consumed a 'normal' amount of potential aura.
And the power and mechanics of Nen had still answered him.
While the golden chains held the giant black hand and the swarm of smaller hands fast, the Chimera seized the fleeting opportunity. It quickly corrected its crucial flight posture and then accelerated sharply, flying higher.
Seeing the Chimera escape danger, Morrow wasted no more time and immediately activated Astral Step.
Swish!
His figure instantly appeared a hundred meters higher in the sky. Suspended by the threads of Terpsichora, his body hung steadily in mid-air.
Below, the golden chains that had been wrapped around the giant black hand suddenly shattered inch by inch, dissolving into a shower of fine golden light that scattered in the air.
Freed from the chains' restraint, the giant black hand seemed to still sense Morrow and the Chimera. Its stalled offensive surged anew.
Only this time, its target was no longer the Chimera, but Morrow, whose aura in the sky was far more intense.
This was likely because the aura output erupting from Morrow made his life signature far exceed the Chimera's.
Watching the giant black hand and its countless smaller hands swarm toward him again, Morrow remained unhurried. The two Shooting Stars at his feet suddenly detonated, using the impact to propel him even higher.
However, he didn't use this chance to quickly return to the Chimera's back. Instead, after creating some distance, he once again hovered in the air, calmly looking down at the black hand that showed no sign of giving up the chase.
"If even the second stage of Starlight Convergence can be triggered, then..."
A bold, almost insane idea surfaced in Morrow's mind.
Under these circumstances, he wanted to confirm if his ability, Stellar Collapse, could work on the behemoth below.
If it could, then he would have another option the next time he encountered such a situation.
"Deceptive Shooting Star."
Morrow's decisiveness was absolute. The moment the thought appeared, he put it into action. The aura surging from his body rapidly gathered in his palm.
The condition to activate Stellar Collapse was to use Starlight Convergence to plant a star mark on the target. Then, he had to attack the marked target with a Deceptive Shooting Star.
Once this step was completed, he could choose to sacrifice the star mark, officially activating the effects of Stellar Collapse and igniting an Accretion Charge anywhere on the target.
On the Chimera's back, the rest of the team was still wondering why Morrow wasn't returning. Then they saw him assume an offensive stance against the giant black hand, and their hearts trembled even more.
"Could Morrow be planning to..."
Even though the effectiveness of the golden chains had truly astonished them, that phenomenon could still be explained by the mechanics and rules of Nen abilities.
But what Morrow was trying to do now was clearly to destroy the behemoth below with a Nen bullet.
How could that possibly be done?
Even if Morrow's Emission attack was incredibly powerful, given the sheer size of the giant black hand, he would be lucky to blast off one of its fingers even if he drained all his potential aura.
Under the team's incredulous gaze, Morrow finished gathering his aura and threw the Deceptive Shooting Star in his hand.
A fluorescent green stream of light shot straight down toward the palm of the giant black hand.
Everywhere it passed, the small black hands disintegrated into ash from the energy's impact. The Shooting Star tore a path through the dense arms and finally struck the giant hand's palm.
Boom!
The energy contained within it exploded violently. The intense blast made the entire giant black hand tremble, leaving a distinct, circular scar on its palm.
Compared to the total area of the palm, this scar was clearly insignificant.
Morrow, however, paid it no mind. With a thought, he directly sacrificed the star mark on the giant black hand.
In an instant, the star mark dissipated, replaced by a mass of ghostly blue Accretion Charge, which rose from the giant hand's middle finger.
The size of the Accretion Charge was comparable to the finger itself.
Because the Accretion Charge had no damaging properties, the giant black hand had no direct reaction to its appearance. Even if it possessed some degree of intelligence, as long as the Accretion Charge caused it no harm, it would likely pay it no heed.
"Even the scale of the Accretion Charge is this astonishing..."
Watching the massive Accretion Charge burn fiercely on the middle finger, a glint of light flashed in Morrow's eyes.
Although he couldn't determine the exact locations of the other six ignition points on the giant black hand, the fact that the Accretion Charge was so large meant that the qualifying ignition zones were also very large.
This also meant that the difficulty of successfully igniting all the Accretion Charges would be far lower than expected.
Morrow immediately gathered aura in his palm, quickly forming another Deceptive Shooting Star.
"Shooting Star · Star Rain!"
The fluorescent green Shooting Star burst from Morrow's palm, splitting into countless fine, sharp points of light that rained down like a sudden squall, blanketing the giant black hand below.
Under Morrow's conscious control, this storm of Nen waves concentrated its bombardment on the hand's other four fingers.
Tssssss!
The Star Rain easily pierced through the countless small black hands blocking its path, continuously striking the giant hand's fingers.
After completing a fluid and ferocious assault, Morrow's figure ascended once more, then immediately launched a second wave of attacks.
Soon, another storm of Nen waves poured down on the giant hand's five fingers.
To Morrow's surprise, after just two rounds of dense attacks, enormous ghostly blue flames ignited on the giant hand's four other fingers one after another.
Five Accretion Charges, ignited with such ease.
The giant black hand, however, was like a massive elephant bitten by a mosquito, completely unaware and utterly defenseless.
It didn't even realize that utter annihilation was about to befall it.
This was one of the more insidious traits of Stellar Collapse; during the gradual ignition of the Accretion Charges, it wouldn't trigger any danger warnings for beings like the giant black hand.
This was because although the ghostly blue flames burned fiercely, they were so illusory that they lacked even a hint of heat, as if they were mere phantoms projected onto reality.
At this very moment, with all five fingers burning with Accretion Charges, the remaining two key areas were likely on the palm, wrist, or arm.
Morrow continued to increase the distance while gathering aura, preparing for the next round of attacks.
No matter where the remaining two areas were, as long as the Nen bullets split densely enough, igniting the Accretion Charges was only a matter of time.
Therefore, Stellar Collapse was viable!
This certainty flowed with his thoughts, infusing the sky full of Shooting Stars.
The next instant, a meteor shower rained down once more.
In the sky, higher than the meteors, Morrow stood quietly with his head bowed, watching the star rain fall ceaselessly upon the giant hand's palm and wrist.
Soon, the sixth mass of ghostly blue Accretion Charge rose from the giant hand's palm.
This scene was witnessed by everyone on the team.
What was once considered an impossible fantasy, with the successive ignition of one giant Accretion Charge after another, the impossible seemed about to become possible.
And the giant black hand, its focus still locked on its prey, was completely oblivious to the impending doom.
If it were to retract its arm back into the lake now, Morrow would certainly be unable to ignite the final Accretion Charge.
Unfortunately, the Accretion Charges were astonishingly large but completely harmless, so how could they possibly trigger the giant hand's sense of crisis?
Morrow mercilessly gathered the final wave of Shooting Stars, aiming straight for the center of the giant's arm.
Since there was no reaction at the wrist, the seventh Accretion Charge was probably on the arm.
As a continuous stream of explosions erupted, the seventh mass of ghostly blue Accretion Charge ignited in response.
The moment the Accretion Charge lit up, the relentlessly pursuing giant black hand froze abruptly, as if time had been frozen at that instant.
The seven Accretion Charges instantly blazed up, surging along the arm to converge, merging above the fingertips into a single, incomparably massive ghostly blue flame.
Deep within the flame's core, the scorched 'soul' gradually took form.
It was not in the shape of the giant hand, but rather what looked like a ring connected by black ropes, with a distinct eyeball suspended in the center, trembling silently back and forth.
Clearly, the burning from the Accretion Charge was causing it indescribable pain.
Perhaps in its immeasurably long life, it had never had such an experience.
This was the first time, and also the last.
The ring-and-eyeball, which appeared rather small compared to the massive hand, was quickly incinerated in the ghostly blue flames, turning to nothingness.
Immediately after, the lifeless giant hand, like a collapsing celestial pillar, toppled toward the earth with a deafening roar.
BOOM!!!
Accompanied by a sky-shattering boom, the impact of the giant black hand hitting the ground was like a powerful earthquake.
As far as the eye could see, the earth instantly cracked, and the entire marshland was thrown into colossal waves.
The group of strange people rushing toward the lake had never imagined that the giant hand they regarded as a calamity would have its life so easily taken by a being just as minuscule as they were.
Their bodies were swept up by the sky-high waves and tossed into the air, but the shock in their hearts was far more intense than the trembling of the earth.
Just as the bizarre horrors of the Dark Continent never cared for human feelings, only bringing forth existences that would subvert their 'cognition,' now, with the fall of the giant hand, for this group of people who needed to procure 'clean water' from the dangerous waters, Morrow's existence, and what he had done, was also an existence that could completely subvert and tear apart the boundaries of their cognition.
An existence like a god.
And Biscuit and the others, were their hearts not also filled with an indescribable shock?