The monsters lurking in the forest had completely cut off their presence. It was the state of 'Zetsu', as defined in the Four Major Principles. It is said that wild beasts, in the process of surviving in nature, learn how to erase their presence through this 'Zetsu' without anyone teaching them. Perhaps for them, this is a natural skill that requires no definition by humans.
I hadn't been attacked yet, but the encirclement continued. If I hadn't seen through them with 'Union', I wouldn't have even noticed they were lurking. In fact, hunting in this silence seemed to be their true area of expertise.
At this rate, I was helpless. Making up my mind, I opened my item bag. I fumbled for what was inside.
My hands were shaking pathetically. Just the act of opening the bag was difficult due to the tremors. No matter how much I tried to feign calmness, I couldn't hide it. If they felt like it, I would be dead in an instant.
The performance of Nen abilities reflects the user's psychological state vividly. If you are confident, your aura becomes powerful and fitting; naturally, if you are timid, it weakens. This difference appears more significantly in those placed in a disadvantageous position. It is important to maintain mental stability without swinging between joy and sorrow, regardless of the battle situation.
I didn't have the spirit left to overcome this adversity right now. In a withered mental state, I couldn't demonstrate my abilities properly. That was why the first thing I tackled was physical and mental recovery.
I took the 'Soul Stone' out of the bag and let the main body lick it. The torrent of aura gushing from the body surface swelled to several times its normal size. Receiving the powerful energy of life welling up from within, my spirit was inspired, pushed by the surge. I managed to recover somewhat.
I immediately diverted the rapidly increased aura to repairing Quinn. I needed to fix Quinn's injuries as soon as possible. That was the top priority. While treating her, I thought about the next move.
Currently, the enemy wasn't moving. They seemed to be observing us. To me, they were a threat, but to them, I must also be an entity worthy of caution. In fact, their kin had been killed. Against an opponent using unknown abilities, they hesitated to make a careless move.
However, the moment they decided to go on the offensive, this stalemate would easily collapse. We had no means to resist that sonic attack. Therefore, engaging them in combat was not an option.
I had to run. But if I showed such an opening, I would undoubtedly be attacked. If they didn't intend to do that from the start, they wouldn't have surrounded me.
I had to create an opportunity to escape somehow. Before worrying about whether I could outrun them, that was the first step. How to deceive the enemy's eyes? I looked around.
That was when I noticed an anomaly. In the place where the monster I had just killed used to be, a large cactus pole had formed. A red succulent plant was growing, using the Withered Tree Human—who had fallen after being hit by the 'Erosion Machine Bullet'—as an axis.
I had never seen such a change before. A target shot by the 'Erosion Machine Bullet' is invaded by poison and dies. They die from the poison before the virus can proliferate. But there was a point I had questioned for some time. What would happen if an enemy resistant to my poison received this attack?
The phenomenon occurring before my eyes was the very answer. The sight of the creature being parasitized by the red cactus, being swallowed and incorporated, was the manifestation of the virus becoming fulminant. In other words, it indicated that the monster inside was still emitting life energy; it was still alive.
It was still alive after receiving that many bullets and a deadly poison attack. I was more shocked by witnessing the enemy's tough vitality than by the virus turning fulminant.
The change didn't end there. The cactus, having sucked up nutrients and grown large, formed an organ looking like a bud. The flower began to open. Like a work of art carved from a single rough stone, a glittering jewel flower bloomed in profusion.
Then, from the center of the flower in full bloom, something flew out. It was a small bullet. A viral cyst. An infected host in the fulminant stage scatters cyst bullets from an exit port. In the case of my virus, that exit port seemed to look like a flower.
The cactus with the blooming flower began shooting bullets in all directions. Since it was completely rooted in the ground, it only served as a fixed turret. Being able to release a massive amount of ammo was fine, but it was indiscriminate. It even started shooting at me.
However, for the Withered Tree Humans, that attack became a trigger for psychological agitation. Their comrade had been changed into an unknown form and started a baffling indiscriminate attack. That shouldn't have been something they could overlook either.
As if to represent that agitation, the hidden enemies evacuated from their spots all at once, simultaneous with the gunfire.
Now.
The perfect opportunity to shift to escape. I made Quinn run.
They were watching my power. I had the combat power to defeat their kind. I was able to show off that power and let them know I was at least somewhat of a threat. That was why the enemy, despite their numbers, hid cautiously and observed us.
If I started running now, maybe they wouldn't chase me? That faint hope vanished immediately.
I felt a presence tracking me from behind at tremendous speed. It was a speed I couldn't have outrun if I hadn't been doping with the 'Soul Stone'. By raising my leg strength with an enhancement rate exceeding the body's limiter, I was barely evenly matched.
A sensation of muscle fibers tearing ran through me with every step. I ran while forcibly healing it with aura repair. It was a rough technique possible only because my recovery power was also boosted by the stone's effect.
The speed was almost equal. However, we weren't running under equal conditions. The relationship of pursuer and pursued worked disadvantageously for the latter simply by its nature.
It is difficult to run at full speed in the environment of a dense forest with poor visibility and footing. The one running in front must find a passable path and clear untrodden ground, but the one chasing from behind only has to follow that trail.
I was tormented by the overwhelming pressure closing in from behind. The violence of numbers—one against many—spurred it on. Utilizing 'Thinking Operation', I sorted visual information and ran a route with as little loss as possible.
But it still wasn't enough. I lacked the speed to shake them off. Finally, a jarring scream echoed from behind.
Aaaaaaaaa—!
The air vibrated with a buzz. It was a sonic attack. There was no way to dodge it. Quinn's insides were shaken.
I concentrated all my nerves to ascertain the enemy's attack. I shaved down the divided consciousness used for running Quinn to the minimum and subdivided the collective network to detect abnormalities inside the body.
Through the process of being attacked many times before, I had grasped the signs. Minute vibrations converged on the targeted location, followed by an explosion. If I didn't miss that slight trembling, I could sense where I was being targeted in advance.
The vibrations gathered at one point. That place was... Quinn's heart. In the next instant, the pulse of life would explode and stop.
"...Tch!"
If I hadn't taken any measures, Quinn would be dead by now, and the main body would have followed the same fate not long after.
I managed to prevent the attack before the heart was destroyed. What I did wasn't that difficult. At the moment the enemy's attack came, I "lowered" the enhancement rate of the heart using 'Ryu'.
Their voices easily destroyed human bodies toughened by aura. However, that didn't mean they were simply slamming sound energy created by high volume. It wasn't a usage of power like rupturing eardrums with a loud voice.
I predicted that this was an attack via 'Resonance'. There is a phenomenon where sound with a specific frequency acts on other substances to amplify vibration. Objects have a vibration value at which they tremble most easily. If one utilizes this, it is possible to break a glass just with a voice without using Nen abilities, and it can be explained physically.
However, that doesn't mean it's possible to resonate and destroy an entire human organ, which isn't a single material like a glass cup. But the Dark Continent is an environment that deviates from common sense, making it possible.
Anyway, the enemy was emitting a voice aiming for the 'frequency most likely to destroy' our organs. In that case, I just had to change the durability of the targeted point right before the sound's tuning aligned. If the durability changes, the frequency value required for resonance changes with it.
There was no guarantee this countermeasure would succeed, but I verified the effect in a trial by fire. In front of this sonic attack, no matter how much I increased the body's durability with aura, it was meaningless. It was truly a defense-ignoring piercing attack. Conversely, even if I hadn't reinforced with aura at all, the result would be the same.
The crucial part was the fluctuation of the enhancement rate. And it wasn't enough to just perform 'Ryu' blindly. I thought from the start they weren't straightforward opponents, but I understood it after blocking that last blow. Their true worth wasn't the scream itself, but the high level of their tuning technique.
'Ryu' that simply stirred aura around inside the body aimlessly couldn't fully prevent the resonance. The enemies would respond to that change and tune the frequency accordingly. I had to read the enemy's aim accurately and change the durability just before the resonance destruction occurred.
Aaaaaa
Aaaaaa
Aaaaaaaaaaaa
Voices echoed from behind Quinn, from the front, from the side, from all directions. Their aim was likely to make us hallucinate that reinforcements were gathering from multiple directions by echoing their voices. In reality, there was only the group approaching from the rear.
The Withered Tree Humans, who originally didn't know the art of reinforcing physical ability with aura, could use 'Zetsu' without any demerits. A merciless hunt, chasing prey with echoing voices while completely cutting off their presence.
Professionals of resonance destruction, possessing terrifying running speed and a vitality that disregarded poison. I was searching for the enemy's location with 'Union', but normally, discovery would be difficult unless one could use a wide-range 'En'. And even if they were discovered, whether one could deal with them was a separate issue.
The reason I managed to keep running without dying was largely that the enemy's attack had a range limit. Sound energy attenuates the further it gets from the source. To cause resonance, it seemed necessary to get reasonably close to the target.