The black disc flew steadily through the air, its area roughly the size of five soccer fields.
If shrunk countless times, its overall appearance resembled a black stone in the game of Go.
The Magical Beast flying towards the black disc was more than twice the size of the disc.
It was a bird-shaped Magical Beast with a cockscomb and a pitch-black, sharp, long beak.
The black disc and the bird-shaped Magical Beast each flew towards the other... neither showed any sign of yielding.
Measured by the difference in size, one would expect the black disc to be more sensible and actively take evasive action.
After all, the difference was like that between a small car and a large truck.
The black disc, being the small car, would normally swerve to avoid an oncoming truck.
But that wasn't the case.
Heading towards the oncoming bird-shaped Magical Beast, the black disc not only failed to slow down or change direction but even seemed to accelerate.
On the surface around the black disc were numerous small vents.
The wind force erupting from these vents converged to provide the power that carried the black disc.
The black disc thus collided with the oncoming bird-shaped Magical Beast.
And the bird-shaped beast was no pushover. Although the black disc didn't look like food, it didn't mind knocking it down.
The beast's neck was long, like an ostrich's. It pulled its head back, gathering strength.
It intended to peck the black disc in front of it down with one strike.
Whoosh!
The beast's neck suddenly shot forward, driving its black, sharp beak to strike the black disc.
However, the anticipated result of knocking the black disc down did not happen. Instead, the beak was shattered by the rebounding force.
The residual force spread to the beast's neck. In an instant, countless wounds tore open along its long neck, and blood spurted from each wound.
The black disc thus drove the neck straight into the beast's body.
Without even a dying cry, the bird-shaped Magical Beast lost its life and fell towards the ground.
A deluge of blood poured down like torrential rain.
It was truly a case of smashing an egg with a rock.
Only, the black disc was the rock, and the much larger bird-shaped Magical Beast was the egg.
After ramming the beast into the ground, the black disc continued forward, its trajectory unchanged.
On the black disc's surface, only the wind vents of unknown aperture were visible... it was difficult to find any entrances or exits.
This black disc was the vehicle of the Masked Man's race.
Made from an alloy of various metals, coupled with the powerful force provided by the Core Energy, even flying Magical Beasts several times larger than the black disc could hardly bring it down or destroy it.
Except for the airspace around the World Tree, the black disc could basically travel unhindered through most of the Dark Continent's airspace.
Inside the black disc was a rather spacious area.
No passages, no separated rooms. It contained solely a pure, vast interior space.
Unlike the exterior, the interior of the black disc was a bright white.
However, the walls, as well as the floor, had straight, square black patterns.
They were spread throughout the only vast interior space of the black disc, like breathing lights, sometimes dim, sometimes glowing, bearing a high resemblance to the patterns of the ancient labyrinth city.
On the walls were numerous horizontal partitions set in, either fully enclosed on all four sides or open on three sides, forming semi-enclosed spaces.
Otherwise, there were few other things inside. Besides the terrifyingly ample space, the only things visible were the numerous thin, gaunt humanoids wearing white masks.
The mask on each humanoid's face was printed with a different pattern.
Some were insects, some were animals, and even birds and fish.
The patterns were all different, and their detailed designs had subtle differences from conventional flora and fauna.
Besides this difference, each humanoid's body type was also different.
They looked like patients with severe anorexia... there was no thinnest, only thinner.
On a patch of ground where the black patterns were extremely dense, about a dozen of the most gaunt, thin Masked Mans formed a circle.
The ground where they stood displayed an image of the area below the black disc. At a glance, it seemed as if they were standing on a pane of transparent glass.
But in reality, the bottom of the black disc consisted of numerous air vents, not a sheet of transparent glass.
One of the dozen or so Masked Mans had numerous red dots on his stick-thin arm, exposed to the air.
He raised his arm, holding it before his eyes.
The other Masked Mans around him looked at his arm.
Then, one of the red dots slowly detached from his arm, like a bubble rising in water, floating up into the sky.
Seeing the red dot rise, the Masked Man's mask cracked open at two eye slits, revealing a hint of red light within.
"Death Pattern."
He said this.
After a moment, he added, "Sacred Land."
Finally, he said, "Mender."
The Masked Mans nearby watched him in silence. Those further away, even those on the partitions, also watched him from afar.
After that, there wasn't a single sound.
The black disc thus flew steadily into the distance.
In that direction lay the underground ruins.
...
Underground Ruins.
Buildings were scattered sparsely around. With the bronze mechanical lifeforms gone, the place felt much emptier.
A wisp of twisting black smoke slowly drifted into the ruins.
Seeming to move with the wind, it wandered aimlessly above the ruins.
If someone familiar with Kuro's ability were here, they would surely think this black smoke was Kuro transformed.
The ruins covered a very large area. Given the black smoke's drifting speed, it wouldn't be able to circle the entire ruins in a short time.
And the black smoke clearly had no intention of circling the ruins. After drifting for a while, it slowly descended and landed on a low building.
A single black vertical pupil abruptly appeared within the black smoke, quietly gazing at the barren ruins ahead.
This was Coo of the Gatekeeper Clan, also an undying elder of the clan, arguably its strongest member.
She stood here silently, as if waiting for something.
Inside the underground ruins, the Scarecrow, shredded by firepower, restored itself in an instant.
"This is the type I hate the most," Golem's voice came from within the cockpit.
"If we can't kill something like this, might as well stuff it in Hornby's refrigerator."
"That's not funny at all."
The group stared at the Scarecrow at the other end of the passage.
A palpable murderous intent rushed towards them, demonstrating intense hostility.
"Say, we didn't actively provoke him, did we? Why does it feel like we're his sworn enemies?"
"Who knows."
Just then, the Scarecrow moved again.
A crow the size of a palm emerged from its body, and a flock flew towards Beyond and his group.
Watching the approaching crow flock, aside from Golem, no one else moved.
Golem's gun barrel, extended forward, spat flames once more. Nen Bullets intertwined as they flew, easily shredding the crows, then bombarded the Scarecrow, tearing it to shreds again.
A moment later, the clothing gathered once more, restoring the Scarecrow.
This time, Golem didn't wait for the Scarecrow to move. Another volley of Nen Bullets directly shredded it again.
This cycle repeated itself about ten times before Golem ceased fire.
Yet, the Scarecrow still regenerated.
"What now?" Golem asked.
No one spoke... they were also pondering this question.
Just then, fine scratches suddenly appeared on the surface of Golem's cockpit. The three Emission-type team members standing on the power-output platform, in utter silence, split into over a dozen pieces, spilling onto the platform.
'What happened?'