At that moment, three figures slowly approached.
The Ant King lifted his head to look, and all the division leaders turned their gazes as well.
Neferpitou, Menthuthuyoupi, and Shaiapouf walked forward until they stood before the King. All three dropped to one knee, their attitudes filled with deep reverence—entirely different from how they had addressed the Queen.
"Respected King," they said. "We have already prepared your meal. From this moment on, we three will be your most loyal subordinates. We will obtain anything you desire, and we will fulfill all of your wishes. Whatever you require, command us without hesitation."
The King tilted his chin slightly. "Lead the way."
"Yes, King!"
The three Royal Guards walked ahead, and the King followed behind them at a steady pace.
In terms of stature, the King's body was not especially large; even Neferpitou, the smallest of the three Guards, stood taller. But the aura he radiated was the strongest of all—an aura that made one's heart pound in terror with a single glance, dreadful to the extreme, like a creature that should not exist in this world.
Only after the King and his Guards walked far off did the division leaders snap out of their daze.
"Terrifying."
"Far too terrifying."
"Unimaginable."
"They don't even seem like our kind at all. What are we supposed to do now? Where should we go from here?"
Before the King's birth, they had all looked forward to it—imagining that once he emerged, he would lead the Chimera Ants to conquest, to dominance, to the slaughter of those hateful humans beyond their nest. The Ants would become the absolute rulers of this land, of this entire world, and with their expansion the division leaders own positions and power would rise as well.
That was their expectation. But no one had foreseen that after the King's birth, the situation would be like this. The Queen was gravely injured, dying, because of the King's premature emergence. Two division leaders had been casually killed by him. When the King looked at them, it was the same way Chimera Ants looked at humans—not as people, but as insects.
He had even eaten part of a Penguin Ant's corpse.
The King felt no sense of kinship with the others. Neither did the Guards. Not even the Queen earned their recognition. Once the King was born, the Guards acknowledged only him.
Colt's mind echoed with Neferpitou's earlier words: "Now that the King has been born, the Queen is useless. Trash. Garbage. Not worth saving."
Yet Neferpitou clearly possessed the ability to heal the Queen. It would not have taken much time or effort, and yet Neferpitou had not done it.
"Why?" Colt's eyes filled with disbelief. "No, the Queen must be saved. Whatever it takes, we must keep her alive. There has to be hope."
He rushed forward quickly, and the other division leaders gathered around as well.
Elsewhere, the moment the King was born, that dreadful aura was felt not only inside the nest but also by those outside.
Suddenly, a strange pressure spread, enveloping the surrounding area as if space itself had solidified. Birds on the branches froze. Insects in the grass stilled. Creatures in the sky halted mid-flight. Worms beneath the soil ceased their writhing. All stopped moving, paralyzed in fear.
Ron, Netero, Morel, and Knov all turned toward the nest, gazing intently.
Ron quietly measured the aura. "Strong. Incredibly strong. This is not the strength of any being born on the human continent. Stronger than Oster, than the master of Heaven's Arena, than Rosgell, than my great-grandfather, than Ging Freecss, even stronger than Netero—and by a wide margin.
So this is the King."
His gaze shifted to Netero. Would Netero allow the King to leave and occupy the Republic of East Gorteau, as in the original course of events? Would he let countless people there die? Or would he act now?
Morel and Knov also looked at Netero, but the Chairman said nothing. His silence revealed his stance: he would not make a move yet. The King would still go to East Gorteau.
Ron drew back his gaze. Since Netero chose not to strike, he would not take action on his own. For one, he did not know what plan Netero had in mind. For another, he was acutely aware of his own limits. With his current power, he had no means of fighting both the King and the three Royal Guards at once. To attack now would mean certain death.
Ron did not mind helping innocents when he could do so easily. But to risk his life—to knowingly throw himself into certain death—to save others, that was something he could not do.
........
...
.
Neferpitou, Shaiapouf, and Youpi led the King to the highest point of the nest, where a pavilion had been built. A table and a chair were set there, and several lumps of flesh lay on the table. These morsels were prepared from a mixture of human flesh, beasts, and even certain fruits from plants. The Royal Guards had tried, within their abilities, to make them more palatable.
The King picked one up and ate it. In the next instant, his brow furrowed. "Disgusting."
Neferpitou tensed immediately. "The food doesn't suit your taste, my King?"
"The flavor is too bland."
"Perhaps it is because no seasonings were added? The conditions here are limited."
"No. It isn't a matter of seasoning," the King said. "Back in that one's womb, I tasted a kind of food. It was delicious—rich and fragrant. I miss it greatly."
"I understand. What you tasted must have been from a special kind of human."
"Special human?"
"Yes. Among humans there exists a rare kind they call Nen users. They wield an energy called Nen and are much stronger than ordinary humans. They have already killed many Chimera Ants. Those are the ones you tasted."
"Where can I find them?"
"Please follow us, my King. Those special humans exist elsewhere. Around here there are few, and most have already been hunted down."
As Pouf spoke, he could not help but glance back in the direction where Ron and the others had been.