Of the four-piece set taken from the royal tomb, the compass, the waterskin, and the armor were all functional tools.
Only the hilt was a true killing weapon.
Morrow had two ways to activate the hilt.
One was to place the hilt in the Wolf Spirit's Nen space and let it charge naturally over time.
The other was to directly infuse it with Tree Rings energy.
In terms of properties, an attack converted from Tree Rings energy was undoubtedly more powerful.
In the recent exchange, Morrow had pierced the God of Death with a Palm Blade.
But the God of Death's subsequent reaction was enough to show that ordinary Nen attacks were likely of little effect against him.
This outcome had less to do with the strength of the Nen and more to do with the mechanics at play.
So, as the God of Death grew careless in his triumph, Morrow thought of the Tree Rings energy.
And the hilt's existence happened to allow him to directly convert Tree Rings energy into lethal power.
Thus, the jet-black blade cleaved the God of Death in two, slicing through his arrogant posture that placed him above all living beings.
"This... How is this possible!?"
Feeling the energy within him rapidly draining away, the God of Death's tone was tinged with genuine horror for the first time.
This time, it was no longer a cat-and-mouse game of teasing and theatrics.
The power of death contained within the Tree Rings energy had truly touched the foundation of his existence, posing a fatal threat.
Morrow gripped the hilt tightly. The surface of the jet-black blade rippled like a turbulent current, emitting an extremely dangerous aura.
If the armor activated by Tree Rings energy had clad Morrow in the sturdiest of defenses... then the hilt in his hand at this moment was the sharpest weapon in the human world.
It was also the only thing in humanity's current predicament that could truly threaten the God of Death.
Morrow had confirmed this point after swinging the first strike.
Ignoring the God of Death's horrified and bewildered reaction, Morrow flipped his wrist, and the blade immediately slashed down vertically.
A jet-black blade aura flashed and vanished.
The God of Death's body was subsequently cut into four pieces, scattered on the ground.
He had not yet perished.
But he was not far from it.
His bisected eyes stared fixedly at the surging jet-black blade in Morrow's hand.
"Mere human Nen... could never harm me..."
His voice was broken, a mixture of horror, confusion, and indignation. "What in the world is that? Why could it sever my Entropy Fire..."
Morrow rotated the hilt, pointing the tip downward, and pinned the God of Death's shattered eyeball. "The Entropy Fire of the Pillars of Creation?" he said calmly. "My 'partner' once said something similar. It believes that I am Entropy Fire itself."
"Wha...t!?"
Before his final consciousness was swallowed by darkness, an incredulous light erupted in the God of Death's eyes.
Entropy Fire itself?
That was the ultimate concept symbolizing the cycle of energy, something that existed more in ancient legends.
Perhaps it did exist at the end of time on the Dark Continent.
But... how could it possibly appear in a human?
The God of Death's consciousness fluctuated violently on the verge of dissipating, but as the end drew near, his chaotic thoughts strangely calmed.
"Do you think... this is the end?"
The last glimmer of light remaining in his eyes was still locked onto Morrow.
Morrow withdrew the blade, watching expressionlessly as the God of Death's body began to dissipate inch by inch.
"Tsz, tss..."
Before completely fading into nothingness, the God of Death struggled to squeeze out his last words: "My power does not end with 'death'!"
Before his voice had even faded, his body suddenly erupted with a ring of pure gray energy. Like a silent firework, it swept over Morrow's body, grazed Morena not far away, and passed over the cars, corpses, and various buildings on the long street.
Everything touched by the gray halo was instantly turned into flying ash.
In just two or three seconds, nearly everything within a radius of several kilometers was utterly reduced to nothingness after "death."
A massive, circular wasteland abruptly appeared in the center of the city.
Such a terrifying ability once again deeply shook all the Nen users who were watching this battle.
However, upon the wasteland, Morrow and Morena were safe and sound.
Morrow was protected by the armor, or perhaps he benefited from the Entropy Bird's luck.
Regardless, the God of Death's final self-destruction failed to harm him in the slightest.
As for why Morena was unharmed, it was because the God of Death had excluded her from the range of his death energy.
"Heh, what a terrifying ability."
Morrow glanced around at the scene of universal Decay.
The ability's effect and power were so astonishing that it wouldn't have been out of the question for him to deliberately expend a rewind chance to replicate it.
But at this point, there was no meaning in considering such things.
Morrow shook his head slightly and cut off the continuous supply of Tree Rings energy to the hilt.
The jet-black blade, which had been surging with a dangerous aura, vanished abruptly.
I used up about 40% of my Tree Rings energy... a bit of a loss.
He casually returned the hilt to the Wolf Spirit Space.
Next...
Morrow turned and looked at Morena, who was still standing in the same spot.
The God of Death had been completely dealt with.
This meant Morena had lost her greatest support.
In this situation, the most rational choice to survive would be to flee as fast as possible.
But Morena didn't move an inch.
Because she knew it was pointless.
The others who had witnessed the entire battle felt their emotions rise and fall like a rollercoaster.
At first, seeing Morrow gain the upper hand, they were filled with confidence and anticipation.
But then they discovered it was just a show put on by the God of Death, who was enjoying his cat-and-mouse game.
Just when they thought the situation with the God of Death had become unsolvable, the tables turned in an instant.
Morrow had used only two strikes to grievously wound the God of Death with his terrifying ability.
And in the end, the God of Death's dying explosion had such horrifying power.
But what was even more terrifying... was probably Morrow, who stood unharmed amidst the effects of an ability that brought death and Decay to all things.
The Association members, led by Cheadle, finally let their taut nerves relax completely upon seeing this result.
Even some of the Nen users from the V5 and the International Permit Agencies couldn't help but feel a sense of relief.
After all, when the nest is overturned, how can any egg remain intact?
The Nen they were so proud of was useless against the God of Death.
If the God of Death couldn't be dealt with, everyone present would sooner or later be consumed by this calamity.
Now, the God of Death had been eliminated by Morrow.
This was undoubtedly something for everyone to rejoice about.
However, after their initial excitement, the V5 officials found their apprehension toward the God of Death quietly shifting onto Morrow.
Because the power Morrow displayed was even more terrifying than the God of Death's, they had to start considering what kind of impact Morrow's very existence would have on the international situation, and even on the V5 itself.
In their eyes, Morrow had already become a one-of-a-kind strategic weapon.
Whichever country gained Morrow's support would receive an immeasurable advantage in military operations.
The implications behind this needed no further explanation.
Upon the wasteland, Morrow walked toward Morena.
Morena took no substantive action, merely remaining where she was, watching him approach with an indifferent expression.
But upon closer inspection, one could still catch a trace of helplessness in her deep eyes.
And, hidden very deep within, a thorough disappointment.
"I thought... the God of Death from the Dark Continent was one of a kind."
As Morrow came to a stop not far in front of her, Morena let out a rare sigh. "He could bring death and destruction, leading me to believe this was the guidance of fate."
During the long years of torment, she had once thought that sighing, a physiological act representing lament, was meaningless.
Only by carrying out one's will and taking action was the sole path to changing the status quo.
But now, she seemed to understand.
In a human's most helpless moment, sighing was perhaps the only thing one could do before giving up the struggle.
Morrow stood still nearby, a complex look flashing in his eyes.
After the first rewind, he had stood at a crossroads in his life, determined to have no more involvement with Morena.
However, the upgraded Contagion, With Etude of Love that had been imprinted along with the rewind seemed to foretell that even if he tried his best to avoid it, his and Morena's paths would still cross in the future.
He just hadn't expected that Morena would be reborn from Chimera Ant incident, walk this far, and even join forces with a calamity from the Dark Continent.
If he didn't possess the ability to deal with the God of Death, Morena might have truly joined forces with the calamity and completely destroyed the human world.
Seeing Morrow remain silent, Morena said, "But fate was no match for a variable like you. Heh... how absurd."
"Have you said all you want to say?"
Morrow raised his right hand, and a dangerous and astonishing light of aura began to gather in his palm.
Its intensity was something that even the racial talents of Chimera Ants would find hard to match.
Yet Morena paid no mind to the surging aura.
She fell silent for a moment before slowly asking: "When we first met, I asked you a question. Did that question have another answer?"
That was in the black-market clinic on the Kakin border, the place where Morena first met Morrow.
At that time, upon seeing Morrow up close, a strange sense of familiarity had suddenly washed over her.
So, in that situation, she had asked a question she shouldn't have: "Is this the first time we've met?"
Morrow's answer at the time was: "Yes."
At this moment, she didn't understand why she was bringing it up again.
Perhaps it was because, after the dust had settled, nothing mattered anymore.
Hearing Morena's words, Morrow's memories surfaced. He naturally remembered this as well.
"Yes."
This time, Morrow gave the same answer, but its meaning was completely different.
A strange look appeared in Morena's eyes, but it quickly returned to silence.
"I see..."
Her voice was as soft as a sigh.
Morrow said no more, flicking a finger to send out a Nen wave compressed to its absolute limit.
The condensed light pierced through her forehead.
This was probably the closest thing to a dignified death that Morrow could grant her.
Morena fell backward, her body hitting the ground with a dull thud.
The hole in her forehead was round and clean, but the tenacious life force she was born with as a Chimera Ant prevented her from dying instantly.
She lay with her eyes open, her pupils reflecting a small patch of clear blue sky and the slowly drifting white clouds.
But she couldn't appreciate it.
In her long life, ugliness and stench had filled every corner of her being, leaving no space for so-called beautiful things.
"..."
She was silent.
Even as her life was about to burn out, she didn't actually feel a sense of release.
What remained in her chest was, in the end, only a thick, undissolvable indignation.
But ultimately, she still didn't activate the death energy the God of Death had left inside her.
Was it because she was unwilling, or did she feel that such a mutually destructive tactic was meaningless against Morrow?
Even she herself didn't understand.
Let's just consider it... the last bit of dignity they could leave each other.
Holding onto this inexplicable sentiment, the last light in Morena's eyes silently extinguished.
Morrow glanced down at the level insignia representing the Contagion, With Etude of Love on the back of his hand, then his gaze fell upon Morena's corpse.
Suddenly, a thick, black death aura rose from Morena's body.
"In the end... you're still unwilling to accept it, aren't you, Morena."
Looking at the Post-Mortem Nen that was as tangible as a physical object, Morrow murmured, then reached out his right hand and firmly crushed the mass of death aura in his palm.
He didn't need concrete evidence to conclude that those Meteor City cyborgs with high aura output levels must have all received Morena's Contagion, With Etude of Love.
So if he allowed this Post-Mortem Nen to be born and persist... the aura output levels of the modified humans still running rampant around the world would likely be affected, leading to a significant increase.
Moreover, the God of Death's last words about his power not ending still needed to be verified.
If that ability to easily strip away life still resided within the residents of Meteor City, it would ultimately be a hidden danger.
Regardless, Morrow would not give this Post-Mortem Nen any chance to escape.
He closed his five fingers, completely absorbing it.
The next moment, in the conscious space of surging black water, Morena looked down at the black ripples spreading from beneath her bare feet, her expression slightly dazed.
The ripples reflected too many things she had never known.
A moment later, she slowly raised her head and looked at Morrow, who had appeared out of thin air before her.
"You killed Nasubi Hui Guo Rou?"
"Yes."
"And you took Kakin's sacred treasure?"
"Yes."
"Will... Kakin fall?"
"Probably."
"..."
After a brief silence, Morena smiled without a sound and stomped her foot hard on the black water.
The slowly spreading ripples suddenly transformed into a vortex.
"If another world existed... what would we be like?"
The vortex grew deeper and wider.
Morrow said calmly, "I wouldn't deny your will to live, so I would leave. I'd stay far away from you."
"I see."
Her voice was again as soft as a sigh.
"The God of Death's 'ability' is still around. And a week ago, he set up a countermeasure against the Gatekeeper. He probably wants to destroy the Wall that keeps the calamities out of the six continents."
After proactively revealing this information, Morena paused.
"Finally, a gift for you. Consider it... a thank you."
She turned around, no longer looking at Morrow, and let her body slowly sink into the black vortex.
By sinking voluntarily like this, the negative energy of her Post-Mortem Nen would not become a burden to Morrow.
Morrow watched her back as she gradually submerged into the water, hesitating for a moment. "It might be too late, but I've always wanted to say thank you."
"The person you want to thank isn't me."
Morena's voice was calm.
Finally, she disappeared completely beneath the black water's surface under Morrow's gaze.
With her departure, Morrow received the gift.
It was the ability of Immortality.