With skin like dried tree bark and a skeletal frame, Eriselle's physical condition made him appear malnourished.
However, Eriselle had a striking feature…
an exceptionally large mouth that almost spanned his entire face when opened.
Now, driven by the use of Nen, Eriselle's large mouth began to gradually shrink.
"The Appetite of Anorexic."
This was Eriselle's Exorcism ability.
He had to 'consume' the Nen from the subject through eating. In this process, his mouth would visibly shrink due to the Nen's effect.
Moreover, during this process, the amount Nen consumed with each bite was fixed, which was why his mouth shrank.
In addition…
The process of consuming Nen was as torturous as severe anorexia eating food for him.
And after consuming the Nen, he had to deal with the problem of 'digestion'.
If he couldn't completely digest the consumed Nen, the threat posed by that Nen would be directly transferred onto him.
This is the essence of his exorcism.
It's risky and a challenging process.
This is why there are so few Nen Exorcists, not only due to the talent required, but also because of the difficulties of exorcism work.
If given a choice, whether to become a powerful combat-oriented psychic or a supporting Nen Exorcist in a situation where either option was available, most people would definitely lean towards the former.
A moment later, the flow of Nen around Eriselle's body stopped, and his widely opened mouth has shrunk to the size of a ping pong ball.
Seeing this scene, Moses, Hawk, and Cheadle had varied expressions.
Eriselle slowly looked at Hawk, not saying a word but expressing his meaning with his eyes.
Hawk seemed to understand and, without saying anything, walked to the edge of the release pond under everyone's watchful eyes.
Seeing Hawk approaching the release pond, Moses's pupils slightly contracted.
After hearing Cheadle's narration and understanding the situation, he had subtly touched Hawk's body earlier, but he didn't sense the presence of Post-mortem Nen.
He had found it odd at first, but now it seemed like—
Hawk must have used some method to seal the cost harbored within him, along with the Post-Mortem Artifact, at the bottom of the release pond.
Facing the watchful eyes of the others, Hawk subconsciously clenched his fists.
Whether they live or die, it all depends on this moment.
He adjusted his breathing, and immediately used his ability to let the 'Rat Jewel' come out of its seal.
Whoosh!
A gust of wind suddenly rose, causing ripples on the surface of the release pond.
In mid-air, a small dot glowing with the sheen of Nen appeared. At the first glance, this dot expanded rapidly, becoming the size of a grindstone, resembling a circular abyss.
In the center of this abyss, a shimmering green light gradually manifested into an arrow symbol.
'That's Hawk's Nen beast ability…'
Moses observed the floating arrow symbol in the black abyss.
The Nen beast system is arguably the most complex and challenging type of Nen ability to master.
It required using Aura as a foundation, materializing various forms of 'pseudo-living entities', and then endow these entities with abilities.
Hawk's Nen beast leaned towards spatial abilities, which reminded Moses of Knov's 'Hide and Seek' ability from the original work.
"Rat Jewel."
Hawk shouted towards the abyss.
The arrow inside the black abyss suddenly emitted a bright green light.
Soon after, a round figure emerged from the light, which is none other than Hawk's Nen beast, Rat Jewel.
It jumped out of the black abyss and landed directly next to Hawk.
Hawk squatted down, patting Rat Jewel's head, then looked at its tail, where there was an expression made of Aura.
Half a month ago, it displayed an angry expression, but now, it had transformed into a mentally exhausted one.
"Rat Jewel, release it… Huh?"
Just as Hawk was about to command Rat Jewel to release the cost, a massive Nen suddenly surged from the floating black abyss above the release pond.
Flowing strands of black resentment poured out from the abyss, writhing and clawing like menacing vines.
Upon closer inspection, within the depths of these resentment streams, a tilted scale stood tall. The extreme and terrifying malice continuously emanated from this scale.
This concentrated malice formed an aura that seemed to materialize into dense black threads, raining down like a heavy storm on everyone present.
Moses and Cheadle's expressions changed, both simultaneously releasing their Nen to the maximum extent to shield themselves.
On the other hand, Eriselle, who had prepared for exorcism, could only stare with wide eyes at the Post-Mortem Nen trying to force itself out of the black abyss. An expression of horror uncontrollably appeared on his withered face.
"Rat Jewel!!!"
Hawk abruptly stood up, his eyes trembling violently.
Rat Jewel, standing beside him, sharply turned its gaze towards the floating black abyss in mid-air.
The previously green arrow within instantly turned red.
"No Passage Allowed."
The black resentment, as if wanting to flood out like a torrent, was suddenly pulled into the black abyss by an irresistible force.
The oppressive aura inside the area disappeared instantly.
"Chirp!"
Rat Jewel squeaked, and the floating black abyss turned into a dot and vanished.
After closing the passage, Rat Jewel sat on the ground, and the expression on its tail became even more drained and weak.
"The aura… it's different from before. Could it be… a growth type?!"
Cheadle's forehead was dripping with cold sweat, she's clearly shaken by the force of the Post-Mortem Nen from a moment ago.
As a Nen user, she had the power to resist it, at least to some extent.
But what she considered was the threat this Post-Mortem Nen posed to ordinary people.
If this Nen were allowed to spread unchecked, it was likely…
Wherever it went, people who didn't understand Nen would wither like dried leaves under the influence of the resentment, rotting away into ashes.
This was now a calamity-level existence!
Moses was equally baffled at this moment.
Compared to the resentment he saw that night, it was not on the same level!
Or perhaps, the resentment he saw that night was just a small part of it.
'Can the Exorcism ability bestowed by 'Perception' truly eliminate this Post-Mortem Nen?'
Having personally experienced the oppressive aura conjured by the resentment, Moses began to doubt.
He couldn't even be certain what would happen after he touched that Post-Mortem Nen directly.
"With that level of Post-Mortem Nen… I can't possibly consume it, and even if I could, I definitely can't digest it!!!"
Eriselle's zombie-like face now displayed a rich expression, mostly conveying horror.
Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Hawk spoke.
"Mr. Eriselle, you got the 'object' wrong."
He then pointed at the spherical expression constructed with Aura on Rat Jewel's tail and said solemnly, "That is the actual target of your exorcism."
"Huh?!"
Eriselle's expression froze.
…
In the distance, on a mountain road.
Several cars were speeding along the road.
"Hmm?"
Inside one of the cars, Ken, who is sitting in the passenger seat, suddenly looked towards the direction of the temple, his narrow eyes slightly squinted.
"Incredible, truly incredible…"