Sealing all things, and the word 'nowadays'.
The silver-haired woman's brief sentence contained truths about the past.
However, Law and his team could discern nothing from just this sentence alone.
The shock shown by the silver-haired woman and Chucu did not confuse Law.
The reason... lay with the Mender, who existed in the form of a book.
Law thought that the reason the silver-haired woman and Chucu were so sensitive was simply because the book of Nen he summoned looked very similar to the Mender's appearance, right?
Still, this gave some indication.
'They are connected to the Mender.'
'But only one guide is needed.'
Law silently prepared to attack.
To find the Mender, only one guide was necessary.
Between the silver-haired woman and Chucu, the latter was clearly the more suitable choice.
Thus, the silver-haired woman, who had arrived with hostile intent, was the enemy to be prioritized for elimination.
Faced with Law's persistent silence, the shock on the silver-haired woman's face slowly faded.
She looked thoughtfully at Law while issuing attack commands to the ten vertical-mouthed people.
The ten vertical-mouthed people received the commands and charged fiercely at Law.
Compared to the earlier hundred or so vertical-mouthed people, these freshly molded ones were a step above in both Nen and speed. However...
[Domain]
A semicircular Nen ring expanded from within Law's body.
The oncoming vertical-mouthed people stepped into the Nen ring in an instant, then seemed to be trapped in a bog, their movements immediately slowing.
Law stepped forward, vanishing from his spot, leaving behind a large clump of petrified feathers that had fallen from his body.
The next instant, Law appeared behind the ten vertical-mouthed people.
The outwardly expanded Domain Nen ring retracted into his body at that moment, and the bodies of the vertical-mouthed people, whose attack speed had been slowed by the Domain, were instantly sliced into dozens of pieces.
Then, Law used Shun, vanishing again.
The next moment, he appeared behind the silver-haired woman, swinging his blade in a slash.
The silver-haired woman had been mentally prepared. Nen exploded beneath her feet, propelling her body, instantly leaving her original spot.
After she moved away, a basin-sized black symbol, resembling a Divine Script, was revealed on the ground glowing with milky white light.
Law's slash hit nothing, and he noticed the symbol on the ground that resembled a Divine Script.
"This is...?"
Law's senses alerted him. His first reaction was to keep his distance.
But just as he was recovering his stance, a gloomy dark light rose from the black symbol. Five black chains, as if suddenly darting out from an ink painting, instantly wrapped around Law.
Then, the chains contracted like snakes, tightly binding Law's body.
'Divine Script?'
Law's expression changed slightly. He immediately summoned the White General.
Not far away, seeing the White General Law had summoned, Ging silently canceled his ability.
Once out, the White General unhesitatingly swung its blade, stabbing the tip into the black array symbol on the ground.
The blade tip precisely etched into a particular node of the black array symbol, erasing a small part, which was equivalent to prying open a gear, triggering a chain reaction.
The black chains binding Law suddenly vanished, and then the black array symbol slowly faded away, disappearing into the milky white glow.
"Just by looking once, you could immediately identify the weak point of the array spell. Hah..."
The silver-haired woman walked leisurely, like strolling in a courtyard, to a spot twenty meters in front of Law.
She faced Law, with her back to Ging and the others, placing herself in a pincer situation.
Twenty meters was also within the White General's attack range.
Law was not polite. After the White General destroyed the array spell, he immediately commanded it to strike at the silver-haired woman with lightning speed.
The silver-haired woman lightly stomped her foot, sidestepping the White General's slash.
The long blade struck the hard ground, only producing a loud noise without causing any damage.
Then, the silver-haired woman suddenly extended her right hand and pressed it on the back of the long blade.
Law's eyes narrowed slightly. With a thought, he commanded the White General to quickly withdraw the long blade, aiming to disrupt the silver-haired woman's balance.
However, the White General did not provide any action feedback, standing motionless in place.
Law frowned, instantly identifying the cause.
The White General had been petrified.
The source was... the woman's right palm pressed on the blade's back.
'Just a touch, and in such a short time, the entire White General was petrified?'
Law's heart trembled slightly. He tried to turn the petrified White General back into Nen and retract it into his body, but when he issued the mental command, there was no response.
'Even the mechanism has been petrified...?'
Law stared coldly at the silver-haired woman, who showed no intention of attacking, his eyes filled with gravity.
He no longer attempted to revert the White General into ability... instead, he directly dispelled the ability.
In an instant, countless cracks appeared on the petrified White General, and it shattered all over the ground.
Unable to retract the Nen, he could only sever the connection.
This was equivalent to Law being forced to abandon a portion of his Potential Aura the moment the White General was petrified.
This phenomenon somewhat resembled the method Law used to shave off Nen from an enemy's body.
"You, do not intend to use that book from earlier? Or perhaps, that book is not suitable for combat?"
The silver-haired woman stood leisurely in place, watching Law amidst the falling debris.
Law remained silent, with no intention of answering the silver-haired woman.
His silence deepened the silver-haired woman's displeasure.
Being constantly ignored like this was not a pleasant experience.
Suddenly, a figure attacked the back of the silver-haired woman's head… it was Coo.
In a cooperative relationship, Law's enemy was also her enemy.
Because the silver-haired woman had placed herself in a pincer position, Coo naturally would not be polite. Seeing an opportunity, she launched a sneak attack.
Coming up behind the silver-haired woman, Coo did not waste time changing forms.
She directly manipulated the silver spikes on her ears, stabbing them fiercely at the back of the silver-haired woman's head.
The silver-haired woman did not even turn around. However, a grayish-white, half-bodied White General instantly materialized behind her, hovering in mid-air.
Clang!
The White General reversed its blade, horizontally inserting it behind the silver-haired woman.
Coo's straight-stabbing silver spikes were all blocked by the long blade.
With her sneak attack thwarted, Coo did not linger in battle, quickly retreating to create distance.
Her choice was wise, for the moment she left her spot, another long blade slashed at the position she had just occupied.
"Is that not... Law's White General?"
Tonpa and the others looked in astonishment at the White General summoned by the silver-haired woman. Moreover, it was a White General wielding twin blades.
As the person involved, Law showed little reaction. He calmly observed the thin threads connecting the silver-haired woman's grayish-white White General to the clumps of light specks beneath the caltrop trees.
'The speed of creation was terrifyingly fast, comparable to the properties of materialization.'
Outside the battle, Chucu, grabbed by Biscuit, barely regained her composure.
Watching the methods used by the silver-haired woman, a strange gleam flashed in her eyes.
'That creature, indeed, was following in the Mender's footsteps.'