3 Hunting The Strong.(2)

By the time the large cursed spirit stopped moving, they were already out of the city, well into the mountains of the prefecture.

WHOOSH!

It emerged from the ground in a cluster of branches with leaves falling slowly around it as it waited for Meruem to arrive.

Unbeknownst to him...

"You've finally stopped."

The large spirit looked up in surprise to see Meruem crouching on a tree above him, looking down at him with annoyance plastered across his face.

Meruem jumped off the tree and landed a few feet in front of the spirit, ready for the ensuing battle.

"Before we fight, cursed spirit, can I ask you why? We cursed spirits should stick together against the sorcerers. Especially since we're the true humans."

Meruem's indifferent expression didn't change as he heard this. Even though this cursed spirit was more intelligent than the last, striking up a friendly conversation with prey wasn't something he was interested in.

"Why? Because I'm hungry and you're strong. Devouring you should satisfy me for a little while."

The larger spirit said nothing as sharp branches started growing out of the ground behind it, eventually making a small field of them around itself.

"Then, I, Hanami, shall teach you a lesson."

BOOM!

A countless amount of giant roots shot out of the ground at Meruem with incredible speed, causing the latter to be pushed back through the forest covered mountains.

As he was being pushed back, Meruem guarded his face from the incoming onslaught with both arms.

Its power was outstanding.

"This must be his cursed technique. The ability to control the plants around him? No it's..."

WHOOSH!

Meruem dislodged himself from the front of the roots and started jumping through them with incredible agility, dodging any of them that got close to him.

In the next move, he pierced the wall of roots with a high powered kick and escaped it, using the momentum to jump into the air.

The moment he did, he saw Hanami standing on the roots, looking up at him calmly.

"Just as I thought. He isn't controlling the surrounding plants, these plants are made from his cursed energy. All I need to do is get close to him and this battle is over."

With a few swift swipes of his hand, Hanami sent multiple brown thorns at Meruem, who was still stuck in midair.

The latter deflected most of them with his tail but one managed to pierce his arm, much to his surprise.

"Even with my durability, this still managed to get through me? Hm..."

As he fell to the ground, Meruem grabbed the thorn and snatched it out, much to Hanami's chagrin.

'It pierced his shell but it didn't go deep enough to sprout. I need to be more accurate.'

Much to Meruem's surprise, Hanami suddenly rushed towards him while shooting multiple clusters of wooden balls.

Of course, just like everything else, Meruem used his incredible agility to dodge as he likewise rushed towards Hanami.

Giving up such a chance would be foolish.

WHOOSH!

The balls suddenly exploded when they passed Meruem, sending out a multitude of sharp branches towards him.

But he didn't falter or give up his chase.

The moment they got close to each other and Meruem tried to land a kick, Hanami suddenly dodged while grabbing Meruem by the leg.

With all his strength, Hanami threw Meruem back towards the forest and prepared to chase after him.

Or so he thought.

Before Hanami even noticed it, the arm he used to throw Meruem was completely gone.

"Huh? When did he-"

Meruem didn't waste any time as immediately pierced Hanami's chest with his arm and bisected the spirit with no mercy.

Unfortunately, that wasn't enough.

Meruem suddenly felt a punch hit his face as he was sent flying back through multiple trees.

"Urghh..."

The blow stunned him decently well, but Meruem recovered from it almost immediately as he pushed himself up from a fallen tree.

"Even though he was injured to such a degree, he still has such strength...I would expect nothing less."

By the time Meruem fully recovered, Hanami had almost completely healed from the damage inflicted to him.

There was something Meruem had been taking notice of this entire fight.

Hanami had only been fighting with one hand.

His other hand had been wrapped up in some kind of cloth which almost made it look as if it was missing.

But now...

Meruem saw Hanami extend his arm out of the cloth wrap, revealing a darkened version of his normal arm with a giant rose on it's shoulder.

While it was surprising, Meruem didn't falter at this sight.

Purple cursed energy surged over his body as he slowly walked towards Hanami, his eyes locked on his opponents regenerating body.

The only thing left was the arm Meruem initially ripped off, which had just started regenerating.

"Seems like you're finally getting serious. You said your name was Hanami, right spirit? For landing a blow on me, your name will be remembered. "

Hanami clenched his newly formed fist, causing a surge of cursed energy to flow over his body.

"Your arrogance knows no bounds."

Hanami placed his darkened left arm on the ground and started sucking up cursed energy from the nearby plants into the rose on his shoulder.

It was clear that he was preparing to launch a big attack.

"Domain Expansion: Ceremonial-"

WHOOSH!

All Hanami heard was a sudden breeze.

One moment he was preparing to use his domain expansion, in the next, he was flying through the forest with such force that it seemed like a truck hit him head on.

'D-did he get even faster?'

Hanami couldn't even register what was going on as Meruem kicked him away.

But his opponent didn't stop there.

Meruem clasped his hands and raised his head, mouth wide open, as he performed his cursed technique for the first time.

'Domain Expansion: Lair Of The Beast King!'

A completely black, tar-like substance surged out of his mouth, and formed a pool of darkness in a 100 meter radius around himself.

The bloodcurdling sounds of bones being crushed, screams, teeth chattering and beasts howling could be heard emanating from the deepest depths of the darkness.

Hanami saw this scene just as he finished recovering from the attack by Meruem. As much as he wanted to retaliate, his senses told him to avoid the black substance at all cost.

'What is that technique? I have to stop him before it's fully deployed!'

BOOOM!

Hanami sent a giant torrent of roots at Meruem, hoping to stop his attack.

It was like everything was in slow motion as Hanami used all his might to get the roots closer to Meruem.

But unfortunately, it was too late.

The black liquid suddenly surged back onto Meruem's body, seeping into every nook and cranny of it.

His entire body had become a silhouette of darkness within a few milliseconds.

The roots phased through his now liquid like body as he split apart from Hanami's rapid attack.

'I can still sense him, but now he feels...different. It's not just him, it feels like several versions of him. Could it just be some copies of himself made from that dark liquid?'

Hanami couldn't put his finger on what was going on at this moment.

Things had taken a drastic turn.

Hanami stood on his roots and scanned the forest around him, looking for any sign of Meruem.

"Hm!"

That's when he felt a hand grab his foot from between the roots.

Hanami tried to escape but the 'hand' suddenly turned into a net of the black tar-like substance, grabbing onto all parts of his body.

"Hah!"

Hanami tried to get the substance off by summoning more roots around himself but they just sunk into the substance as if it was a bottomless abyss.

It only took a few seconds for the substance to completely cover Hanami, dragging the spirit into it's vicious maws.

Hanami tried to fight as much as possible but he couldn't. The deed was already done.

In the pit of darkness, he heard nothing.

But he felt everything.

His body slowly being eaten.

His mind being corroded and absorbed.

His spirit being consumed.

Hanami could feel everything. See his body being devoured by mouth filled with sharp fangs. Those were the only visible features he could make out.

He couldn't even access his cursed energy. It was being absorbed at an alarming rate.

With this considered, Hanami was defeated.

Outside of the darkness, in the forest, Meruem was just standing there watching Hanami's roots fade into nothing since they no longer had a supply of cursed energy.

The sounds of something being eaten came from his body but if anyone were to look to him, he looked the exact same as before.

The only thing that changed...well, was his existence.

"What a strange technique. I can't even deactivate it."

Meruem's cursed technique, Lair Of The Beast King, was just a domain expansion. There was no initial technique.

But his domain expansion was a bit different.

There was no barrier present nor was there a binding vow enabling the technique to go barrierless.

It wasn't superimposed on the world around him. Instead, the domain expansion was superimposed on himself, his entire existence. It wasn't something that could he turned off.

As a result, the cursed energy cost for the technique's upkeep was low, making it manageable for now.

In essence, Lair Of The Beast King was a technique that allowed it's user to become chaos itself. Meruem's body could now be likened to a primordial sea where creatures he devoured would be stored and kept for later use.

That's all that Meruem knew about his technique for now.

Anything else had to be discovered as time went on.

Just as Meruem was about to sit down and ponder on the technique, a certain voice assailed his ear from a spot behind a nearby tree.

"Oh? It's over already? Was I too late?"