Toji slowly stood up from the ruins, clutching the black blade. He casually patted off the dust and debris clinging to his body, gazed in the direction Yuu had left, and muttered in a low voice:
"Gone, huh..."
Sensing Yuu's aura disappear, Toji's expression and tone showed a hint of disappointment. Clearly, his soaring fighting spirit hadn't subsided yet.
With that, Toji rewrapped the bandages from his arm around the black blade. Only when the dark aura on the blade was completely contained did Doron approach him.
Looking at the black marks covering Toji's skin beneath his tattered clothes, Doron couldn't help but be surprised... In the past, when Toji used this blade, a few strikes were enough to finish off an opponent.
But from the looks of it, Toji must have swung it at least a hundred times in the battle just now, putting his full strength into every strike... Yet even so, that white-haired guy handled it with ease.
"Catch!" Toji suddenly spoke.
Saying that, he tossed the cursed blade nonchalantly towards Doron.
Doron caught the cursed blade casually, then frowned and said to Toji:
"Using it like that, even you won't be able to wield this blade many times... Be careful in the future."
"Heh, I know that. Stop bossing me around."
Toji responded with an unfriendly tone, then smiled: "Besides, asking me to hold back against a guy like that... you really think highly of me."
"Aren't you afraid of death?" Doron asked.
"Those afraid of death ran away long ago." Toji looked back and asked: "Do you think I'm that kind of guy?"
Hearing this, Doron smiled: "True."
Although he had known Toji for less than a year, having been partners for so long, he understood his character quite well.
Aside from being a bit sloppy, somewhat unreliable, and constantly coming back with a mountain of debt, he didn't have many flaws.
At least in terms of assassination, Toji was the elite of the elite. As long as the money was right, his work efficiency was pretty good.
"Time to go." Doron said.
"The commotion you two caused just now was too big. Quite a few decent Nen users are heading this way. To avoid unnecessary trouble... let's end the operation here for now."
"Although you don't have any identity information on record, making it hard for those guys to trace you no matter what... don't forget, there are abilities among Nen users that can lock onto your location through certain means."
"Anyway, don't be careless."
"Got it." Toji said indifferently, waving his hand casually, and reminded him: "Remember to wire the medical fees and remuneration to my account before today ends."
"I'm going on vacation."
As soon as he finished speaking, Toji left first.
...
On the other side.
Yuu took Kurapika to a nearby hospital. After paying the medical fees, he arranged for him to be hospitalized for treatment.
Fortunately, not much 'Nen' was drained. With a little rest and adjustment, his body would soon recover to its original state, though he might be a bit weak for a short time.
Looking at Kurapika on the hospital bed, Yuu couldn't help but wonder where Toji got that cursed blade...
During his travels these days, he had also heard of some similar eerie objects.
For example, the 'Dark Sonata' that brings disaster upon hearing it, the 'Scroll of Bliss' that traps the viewer in a beautiful dream until death, and so on.
And Toji's cursed blade, which strengthens by devouring life energy, was clearly like those rumored artifacts on the market, most likely products from the hands of mysterious existences in the Dark Continent.
After all, with the limits of the human species, even with the enhancement of Post-Mortem Nen, it was impossible to carve such weird and complex patterns on a blade.
Ultimately, this technique of using 'Nen' to imprint patterns with special functions...
Was itself a skill humans learned from ruins around the world and mysterious artifacts brought back from the Dark Continent.
"No wonder this technique is named 'Divine Script'." Yuu thought silently.
After confirming Kurapika was fine, he left the hospital and found a place with internet access.
Then he logged into the Hunter website and searched for keywords related to that black blade.
A few minutes later...
He indeed found relevant information.
It was an intelligence piece titled "The Life-Sucking Black Cursed Blade."
However, to view it, he first needed to pay 50 million Jenny.
Yuu didn't think much and chose to wire the money to the website. Soon, a white light flashed in front of the monitor, emitting Nen that wrapped him inside.
When he came to his senses, Yuu was already in a bar completely made of Nen, and the bartender from the website's homepage stood before him like a real person.
Since it wasn't his first time entering, Yuu didn't have any special feelings, unlike the first time when he lamented "the wonder of Nen" or something.
Confirming Yuu entered the bar, the bartender smiled and said:
"Please listen carefully next."
"Regarding that 'Life-Sucking Black Cursed Blade', it is a treasure produced from a famous ruin in the east of the Yorbian continent eight hundred years ago."
"Origin unknown, creator unknown, and no corresponding record for the blade's name.
Only that a scholar once studied this cursed blade, killed almost all his colleagues with it, and shouted the name 'Yell' before dying.
So this blade was later named 'Blade of the Demon Yell' by subsequent scholars."
"This blade was once collected in the National Museum of the Saherta United States, but was stolen ten years ago and its whereabouts are unknown to this day..."
As for the subsequent intelligence, it was all about the characteristics of the cursed blade, similar to Yuu's guess... simply put, it devours the life energy of the wielder and even the attack target to strengthen itself.
In addition, judging from the intelligence just now, that blade obviously possesses self-awareness or life, capable of controlling others.
Perhaps throughout history, only a guy like Toji could use it so freely...
"However, it's amazing he could get such a weapon..." Yuu thought to himself, feeling there were many implications behind it.
But, it was none of his business anyway.
...
After witnessing Toji's cursed blade, Yuu developed a strong interest in the technique of "Divine Script".
After all, whether it's the Hunter website or a huge game like 'Greed Island', the technique of "Divine Script" is inevitably used in their operation.
Coincidentally, there was relevant information on the Hunter website.
Yuu also took the opportunity to learn about it.
The principle wasn't complicated, but the complexity of the patterns required high precision in controlling 'Nen', Nen volume, concentration, and energy from the Nen user.
However, now the Cursed Energy and Nen in Yuu's body have completely merged into one.
With the blessing of the Six Eyes, his control over Nen is extremely precise. As for energy... he can also rely on the Reverse Cursed Technique to constantly repair his brain.
The only trouble was the speed of inscription.
Neither too fast nor too slow.
...
Arriving on top of an unmanned high-rise building.
Yuu copied the patterns collected. After several attempts, they all failed due to uneven copying speed, which seemed related to the retention time of 'Nen' on the object.
To make the "Divine Script" last longer, more massive Nen must be injected.
Unknowingly, Yuu tried all the way until dawn the next day.
"Takes more time than I imagined."
Yuu silently looked at the patterns carved all over the wall and sighed in his heart.
However, he didn't intend to give up.
After all, learning "Divine Script" would be of great help for going to the Dark Continent in the future.
...