CHAPTER 209: DEPARTURE FOR THE DARK CONTINENT!

Facing the oncoming aura of death, Marshadow suddenly opened its mouth and swallowed it like cotton candy.

In an instant, it devoured everything clean.

With a sudden stomp on the ground, an even deeper black aura surged towards the shadow like chains of darkness, binding it tightly.

The next moment, the elongated shadow was torn to shreds and the enemy suffered backlash, vomiting a mouthful of blood.

At the same time, powerful waves of aura erupted from the shadows of the five newly arrived Nen Users.

Sinister, shadowy figures emerged behind them, striking at their backs in an instant and piercing right through!

Ghost-type move—Shadow Sneak!

Gaping holes appeared in their bodies, their internal organs utterly destroyed—there was no chance of their survival.

Pride’s expression twisted in shock.

This entire sequence had been far too fast!

His meticulously laid plans were as flimsy as paper, offering no resistance at all!

Before he could even react, dazzling white light erupted around them.

Each pulse of energy was overwhelmingly powerful!

Lucario’s fists gathered silvery-white aura, each fist like a falling meteor.

Swinging through the air, they scattered flickering specks of light—yet beneath this dazzling display lay boundless killing intent.

Steel-type move—Meteor Mash!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Lucario moved like a phantom and in mere moments, a large group had fallen—until only Pride remained.

"Pride, Wrath and the others have been waiting for you. Go join them."

Akira’s calm voice rang clearly in Pride’s ears as Lucario’s radiant fist rapidly expanded in his vision.

Normally, Pride could have blocked this strike.

After all, Pride and Lucario were both S- rank in strength.

But he didn’t.

He simply stood there, unmoving.

Even if he blocked this punch... what then?

Pride had already realized the insurmountable gap between himself and Akira.

A gap he could never hope to close.

Perhaps death was a form of release.

At least he wouldn’t have to live in fear anymore.

BOOM!!

A blinding white light flashed as the fist, carrying the force of a falling comet, struck Pride with devastating force.

A deafening explosion erupted!

To ensure a one-hit kill, Lucario had even used Swords Dance, amplifying its power further.

Thus, Pride—who had no will to resist—was instantly reduced to nothing.

The unstoppable Meteor Mash continued downward, smashing into the ground and carving out a colossal crater!

The villa collapsed in an instant, its entire foundation shattered by Lucario’s blow.

Countless debris and dust surged outward like a tidal wave.

It looked as if a comet had crashed straight into the estate.

Following Wrath, Envy, Greed, and Gluttony, Sloth, Lust and Pride now joined them—reunited in the afterlife.

Thus, The Seven Deadly Sins were completely annihilated!

After eliminating this group, Lucario gained another massive sum of exp—most of it provided by Pride.

With the experience gained from the previous battle with Menthuthuyoupi, Lucario officially advanced from S- rank to S rank.

*****

Over the next week, several major events occurred consecutively across the world.

First, news spread about the death of Pride, one of the Ten Dons.

Not just Pride, but also Lust and Sloth, fellow members of the Seven Deadly Sins.

Even their most loyal subordinates were completely wiped out.

As the top leaders of the world’s underworld, the Ten Dons held considerable status, so this sudden news immediately drew significant attention.

After all, such actions were a direct slap to their faces!

However, after investigations by the remaining nine dons, the origins of the perpetrators came to light.

And these individuals had backgrounds deeper than one could imagine!

First was the secret unit of V5!

This was a force that V5 almost never deployed, yet they had appeared this time—just to eliminate Pride.

This inevitably sent a chill down the spines of the others.

Could it be that V5 was preparing to take action against the underworld?

Faced with the colossal entity that was V5, the global underworld had little means to fight back.

If this was truly aimed at them, they could only await their doom.

But that didn’t make sense, did it?

There was no conflict of interest between them; in fact, they had more of a cooperative relationship, with the underworld often handling dirty work for V5.

Before they could even figure out V5’s motives, they discovered another key figure involved in the incident.

This person was also considered the mastermind behind the entire event—

The ’World Strongest’ and the ’New Chairman of the Hunter Association’, Akira!

The history between Akira and the Seven Deadly Sins was well-known, so it wasn’t surprising that he would target Pride.

But after so much time had passed, just as people were beginning to forget the past, Akira had taken action again.

And this time, he had appeared alongside V5.

Upon realizing their enemies were V5 and Akira, the remaining Ten Dons abandoned their earlier bravado.

Under these circumstances, revenge was impossible—they could only pray for their own safety.

In the end, under Akira’s subtle arrangements, Earthworm replaced Pride as the new member of the Ten Dons and took over the remnants of his faction.

The other dons dared not utter a word of protest; in fact, they breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, Akira had no intention of targeting them.

Earthworm even became the de facto leader of the Ten Dons—no one dared oppose anything he proposed.

Everyone knew he represented Akira!

And so, almost imperceptibly, Akira have control of nearly entire six continents major factions.

Nations: He held sway over five of the Six Continents’ superpowers, with only Kakin remaining outside his grasp—the smaller nations were insignificant.

Civilian Sphere: As Chairman of the Hunter Association, he commanded the largest and most influential civilian organization across the Six Continents.

Underworld: By installing the fanatical Earthworm as a Ten Don, he effectively turned the global underworld into his personal domain.

He had near-total control over the forces of the Six Continents!

And all of this was built upon the foundation of his own overwhelming strength.

Without power, none of this would have been possible.

The news of the Ten Dons’ reshuffling circulated only among the upper echelons, but the next piece of information reached even the common folk.

Two members of the Hunter Association’s Twelve Zodiacs had chosen to resign!

They were "Rat" Pariston and "Boar" Ging!

Pariston, who also served as Vice-Chairman, likewise stepped down from his position.

Announced by the Hunter Association, this news quickly spread across all Six Continents.

Since the establishment of The Twelve Zodiac, this was the first time there had been a personnel change.

Soon, another announcement came from the Hunter Association.

The vice president would be held by Cheadle, the "Dog" of The Twelve Zodiac.

The new "Rat" was Kurapika from the Nostrade family.

The new "Boar" was the two-star Gourmet Hunter, Menchi.

Thus, before people could even process the news, the vice president and two members of The Twelve Zodiac were swiftly replaced.

****

Heavens Arena,

This was the 251st floor, also widely known as the domain of Akira, the champion of the Martial Arts Tournament.

After the previous battle with Jed, the 251st floor had been left in ruins.

But now, it had been completely renovated, even more luxurious and grand than before.

Akira usually rested here, occasionally visiting the Hunter Association’s office during the day before returning here at night.

In one of the spacious rooms, Akira quietly observed the girl before him.

The girl had azure-blue hair, strands of it cascading over her shoulders and a pair of emerald-green eyes devoid of light.

Her outfit was mostly pink, with a white dress and her delicate features were undeniably cute.

From her appearance, it was unmistakably look like Neon Nostrade from the Nostrade family!

But the person before Akira was not Neon herself.

’Neon’ sat cross-legged on the floor, her eyes vacant, her body involuntarily radiating a deep and eerie aura.

Dark purple Aura swirled around her, forming a grotesque and twisted "angel."

The "angel" hovered over ’Neon’ pen, guiding her hand as it wrote line after line on the paper.

This was Neon’s Nen ability—Lovely Ghostwriter!

A form of divination where four-line poems were written through automatic writing.

The subject of the divination would write their name, date of birth and blood type on the paper, and Neon would then write the prophecy on the same sheet.

Ever since Akira had first encountered Neon, he had harbored this idea.

He could simply have Ditto transform into Neon and perform a divination for him.

From its portrayal in the original story, Neon’s Nen ability was quite reliable, with a high degree of accuracy.

Moreover, it wasn’t the kind of prophecy that couldn’t be changed even if known in advance.

Currently, Akira was having Ditto transform into Neon to predict events related to his journey to the Dark Continent.

In the blink of an eye, a prophecy poem consisting of four lines was handed to Akira.

’Lovely Ghostwriter’ typically produced four to five lines, roughly corresponding to the next four to five weeks.

[A king with many subordinates embarks on a journey to an unknown continent]

[The boundless sea, filled with danger and mystery, cannot halt the king’s advance]

[The thorny ocean and colossal sea monsters shall become stepping stones for the king]

[Upon that unimaginably vast sea, a colossal spirit shall appear]

"A colossal spirit appearing, huh..."

Akira held the paper, carefully reading each line.

Since the text was brief, it was straightforward and clear.

It mostly described his experiences at sea.

Since the prophecy poem generally covered the next month’s events, it was all related to the ocean.

The earlier lines weren’t particularly noteworthy—the "king" likely referred to himself.

He and his team would set out, with the Dark Continent as their destination.

Then, they encountered many obstacles on Mobius Lake, but all were resolved.

What piqued his curiosity the most was the last line.

A colossal spirit?!

Others might not understand what "spirit" referred to, but Akira knew it likely meant a Pokemon.

Surely, it couldn’t be referring to the nature spirits from Western fantasy tales, right?

As for colossal Pokemons, there were many possibilities—after all, numerous Pokemon were massive in size.

Casually tucking the prophecy poem into his shadow, Akira stepped through the nearby light gate.

A week had passed—it was time to set off.

*****

At the northeastern corner of the Federation of Ochima.

This place was very close to the Azian Continent, where the Kakin Empire was located.

At a deserted harbor here, a medium-sized ship was conspicuously docked, its appearance unlike any ordinary vessel.

The ship had undergone highly professional modifications, with every part crafted from top-tier materials.

It was also equipped with radar for detection.

Not only was it incredibly fast, but it also excelled in defensive capabilities and other aspects.

Inside, the ship had numerous rooms to accommodate people, as well as ample space for storing food and supplies.

If it weren’t for the fact that larger ships posed greater dangers, Beyond would have outright commissioned a massive vessel for the journey.

Even so, this ship was quite extraordinary.

Compared to the many ordinary wooden sailboats found across the six continents, this ship was like a modern marvel.

The wooden sailboats were like primitive relics from ancient times.

The gap between the two was nothing short of astonishing.

Aside from the ship, a group of people had gathered at the harbor, seemingly waiting for something.

’Crunch!’

"I never imagined my wish to go to the Dark Continent would come true so soon."

"I thought I’d have to wait forever."

Ging held a bright green fruit in his hand, took a bite, leaving clear teeth marks and then spoke.

Standing at this harbor, his excitement felt almost tangible, like little sprites bouncing around inside him.

They kept urging him to board the ship quickly.

He couldn’t wait to lay eyes on that mysterious continent he had yearned for all these years!

"Indeed, we really should thank Chairman Akira. Otherwise, someone might never have gotten the chance to visit the Dark Continent."

Pariston wore a warm smile on his face while subtly mocking Ging.

"Are you upset because I became the team’s third-in-command?" Ging shot back, refusing to back down.

Pariston’s smile faltered for a moment before returning to normal as he said softly.

"What are you talking about? The position of third-in-command has always been mine, not yours."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Ging and Pariston locked eyes—one feigning indifference, the other feigning amusement.

If their gazes could materialize, the explosion between them would likely rival that of a missile.

For a moment, hardly anyone wanted to stay near the two, as the pressure between them was overwhelming.

After leaving the office that day, Ging had gone to the team’s headquarters to vie for the position of third-in-command.

At first, he made no progress—after all, compared to Ging, they were more familiar with Pariston.

But once he offered double the money, some immediately switched sides and began calling him the third-in-command.

Thus, lured by Ging’s wealth, about half of the team acknowledged him as the third-in-command.

Most of them were mercenaries.

They had taken on this mission because Beyond had offered a hefty sum, but switching sides wasn’t so simple.

These mercenaries valued trust between themselves and their employers above all else and wouldn’t easily break their word.

It wasn’t until Ging transferred the money to the Nowell Foundation that they finally relented.

The Nowell Foundation was specifically established for the orphans of mercenaries.

At present, Ging and Pariston were locked in a stalemate, neither willing to yield to the other.

Akira paid them no mind—these two were merely "playing" around.

"Hmm?"

"Seems like he’s arrived."

Beyond and Ging turned their heads in the same direction simultaneously.

These two were the strongest in the group aside from Akira and thus the quickest to react.

The others, though slightly weaker, caught on half a beat later and also turned to look in that direction.

Without exception, every one of them was a top-tier expert!

After all, venturing into the Dark Continent was no joke—anyone lacking sufficient strength would leave their life there.

Every single person here was a powerhouse in their own right, and now they had all gathered in one place.

The number of people heading to the Dark Continent couldn’t be too large, as a bigger group would attract greater danger.

By Beyond’s assessment, this current number was optimal—around twenty to thirty people.

This size could meet all necessary requirements while keeping the danger level within a manageable range.

Akira’s figure slowly emerged from the glowing portal, with Meowth following closely behind.

After scanning the assembled group, Akira nodded in satisfaction and finally spoke the words everyone had been waiting for.

"Let’s set off for that mysterious continent!"

"Destination—the Dark Continent!!"

-----------------------------

Read 50 Chapters ahead and support me on patreon.

patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator