Even as the Extermination Team schemed against Pouf—
Pouf, too, was calculating.
The moment his clones began to move, several Chimera Ant soldiers appeared atop the grand staircase of the throne hall's second floor.
Each of them accompanied by a fluttering Mini-Pouf.
These four soldiers were the only Chimera Ants still stationed in the palace.
They weren't worth much—Pouf knew that.
But if they could create even the smallest distraction,
draw even a moment of attention…
Then their lives were well spent.
He didn't care if they rebelled, like Leol did.
As long as they followed the clones to the battlefield, they were tools.
Expendable.
While the clones attacked, Pouf's real body moved—
splitting into three separate forms.
One streaked toward Joey.
The other two hurtled toward Kite.
As if from the start, his true aim had always been to eliminate the strongest member of the team.
But Kite wasn't fooled.
His sharp eyes flicked to Palm's crystal orb—
And he understood immediately.
Joey wasn't the target. Nor was he.
The clones were a feint, a smokescreen—
The real targets were the weak links: Palm and Ikalgo.
Take them out.
Cut off their intel.
Break the team's counterplay potential before it even begins.
A brilliant tactic.
Kite stepped forward, placing himself in front of Palm.
Between her and the incoming threat.
Palm was far more critical to their current strategy than Ikalgo.
And besides, he had seen the aura surging from Killua—
He would be moving to support Ikalgo soon.
At the same time—
the four soldier Ants who had just stepped onto the second floor prepared to attack the humans before them.
But Welfin, among them, felt something off.
An instinct.
A primal twinge of danger.
He dropped to the ground and lunged forward just as a floating fist ripped past his shoulder.
There was no pain.
But when he turned to look—
His shoulder was gone.
A concave crater of black aura remained where flesh used to be.
That was someone's ability.
Even stranger: he could still feel his missing arm.
"Who attacked me?! Answer me! Why is my shoulder missing?! What is your ability?!"
Welfin roared.
But as he shouted, he saw another soldier Ant beside him—
Half their head was missing.
Still alive, technically—
but not for long.
Near them, the lobster-like Ant, Brovuda, had just finished a roll, dodging something unseen.
He raised his massive claw.
Nen energy condensed, ready to fire.
"You're outta luck, grilled shrimp!"
The voice appeared beside him.
Shrill. Taunting.
Brovuda flinched—
His stalk eyes darting sideways to see a familiar rotund skull-shaped battle tank rolling toward him.
He redirected his shot.
A massive Nen shell fired at the tank—
but before it could hit,
Boom!
The tank exploded.
Smoke and shrapnel flared.
Brovuda was blasted off his feet.
But the sound hadn't stopped.
Creaking metal treads tore through the smoke—
and the tank came charging back, aiming to run Brovuda down.
Nearby, Welfin and the final soldier Ant hesitated.
But Welfin's timer had reached zero.
Eggman—his ability—launched from his back with a shriek, flying toward Shoot.
The final soldier Ant widened his eyes in confusion.
In the instant his attention flicked to the tank—
A floating hand sliced through his chest.
A hole opened where his heart should be.
From rage to confusion to silence.
He crumpled, collapsing alongside the one with the half-missing head.
And finally—
Shoot's figure stepped into view, having just shattered one of Pouf's clones.
Welfin wasn't afraid.
He stared at Shoot's body, at the twitching skin where something moved beneath it.
Eggman had hit him.
Which meant—
This was his battlefield now.
The thought had barely formed when—
Clank. Clank.
The tank collided with Welfin's hind legs.
Boom!
A detonation erupted—
Killer Queen's piercing strike detonated at point blank.
Shoot felt the foreign presence under his skin fade.
Welfin was gone.
The tank rotated, engines growling, and rolled toward Brovuda's battered body.
Too slow.
So Shoot directed two of his floating hands to attack Brovuda directly.
The battle with Pouf?
Never his job.
After all—Ikalgo was in possession of Flutter's corpse.
The moment he entered the hall, he had released the Dragonfly, surveilling everything.
Every move—every summon—every soldier Pouf pulled in…
Had been seen.
So dispatching the soldier Ants had been left to Shoot and Joey.
As soon as Killer Queen was deployed,
Joey would naturally release his Piercing Bombs—
The sneak attacks would follow.
Only one thing hadn't gone as planned:
Killer Queen had touched a clone, not the real Pouf.
Somehow, Pouf had sensed it.
The moment contact occurred, he sacrificed that clone entirely—
cut it off before Joey's detonation could chain back to the main body.
It hadn't worked like it had with Leol.
But why?
Had he figured it out?
That a single touch, even on a clone, could trace the signal back to his true body?
Joey's curiosity wouldn't go unanswered.
Because now, the real Pouf—
intercepted by Kite moments ago—
tore away from the battle.
He abandoned the clone that was doomed to explode,
threw his other bodies to intercept Kite—
And lunged for Joey.
"You! It's YOU!"
His voice seethed with hatred.
He flew, eyes burning—
But something stood in his way.
A pink elephant, swinging its trunk.
BOOM.
Pouf's attack tore it apart, sending gore and meat flying—
But Joey was already gone.
And now—
Kite was behind him.
Gun raised.
Nen swirling.
Bang!
The bullet shredded Pouf's torso.
But what spilled out…
Was empty.
A shell.
Pouf had split again—just before the shot connected.
"Caution," Palm warned, eyes glued to her crystal.
"His true body's still in there. About the size of a bee!"
Zzzt.
A silver streak—Killua—ripped through the shell.
He had torn through the weakened clones, too fast to be caught.
And now—
A single bee-sized Pouf emerged, desperately feeding off the remaining clones to regain mass.
Too slow.
Kite's weapon shifted into a blazing katana.
Slash!
Flames erupted across the blade,
engulfing the tiny Pouf in an instant.
The remaining clones froze.
Then—
shattered.
The air filled with fading scales, drifting to the ground.
Joey walked up beside Kite, Komugi safe in his arms.
"Kite. Palm?"
Kite didn't drop his stance.
His blade still burned.
Palm peered into the blackened crystal.
Then smiled.
"He's dead. He's dead."
Kite nodded.
"Shoot—get the Exorcist—"
He stopped.
Because at that moment—
Kirin, the Exorcist who'd consumed Terpsichora, let out a final gasp.
Her belly burst open.
From inside—
A pitch-black puppeteer emerged.
It slithered free, threads of Nen launching outward—
And pierced Kirin's corpse, locking into the muscles.
Kirin rose.
Her eyes glassy.
Hands pressed together.
She leapt.
And in a blur—
Held out a severed head the entire team recognized.