In a desolate corner of the wasteland where no living thing stirred, two beings possessing vitality far beyond the framework of humanity finally collided.
The instant Gon and Meruem clashed, the energy that neither could successfully use to destroy the other bled into the earth, pulverizing the ground beneath them. Both wore predatory grins as they shoved against one another, their eyes locked. As if by unspoken agreement, they broke the clinch, preferring a brutal trade of strikes over grappling.
The distance between them was an extreme infight—a range that even professional martial arts experts, let alone typical Nen users, would have found suicidally close.
Ordinarily, a fight between Gon—whose movements were being polished daily by facing the world's finest masters—and Meruem—who had only "collected" the experiences of a few—should have ended quickly. But it did not.
"Hahaha! To think a human exists who can actually trade blows with me head-on!!"
Meruem's combat skill didn't just rival Gon's; it threatened to overtake it. A spectacular brawl erupted, a storm of fists where neither could land a decisive blow. Meruem lacked years of direct combat experience, but he more than compensated for it with an abnormal intellect honed by his daily matches of Gungi.
His mind processed millions of high-speed simulations, granting him a level of foresight that rivaled actual precognition. These simulations provided Meruem with "experience" as if he had already fought the battles in reality; his tactical reading allowed him to predict Gon's next move after only a few exchanges.
To meet the demands of such a brilliant mind, Meruem's transcendent physical stats and his Hatsu, Absolute Mastery: I Think, Therefore I Am King, realized every action with flawless precision.
It was the strongest slugfest in history: a creature less than a year old versus a boy in his early teens. After a long deadlock, Gon was the first to show his hand.
"Muscle or Aura? Perfect Communication!!"
The aura that had been overflowing from Gon's body was suddenly compressed inward. Simultaneously, his physical capabilities were drastically enhanced. Though he lost a degree of technical finesse, the sheer power he gained was more than enough to compensate. Gon's strike shattered Meruem's guard—the pinnacle of Chimera Ant durability—and dealt genuine damage.
"You still have more?! Are you truly human?!"
Meruem used Absolute Mastery to shift his style, focusing on technique over raw power. He began to parry and redirect Gon's onslaught by a hair's breadth—strikes that were now powerful enough to crack the earth and cause the very air to explode.
(To force a King into relying on technical skill... this is exactly why this match has meaning! This is why you are worth devouring!!)
Meruem continued to slip Gon's attacks, failing to make even a single error in his defense. Gon's fists were always on the verge of connecting, yet that tiny gap remained unbridgeable. Just as Gon considered playing another card, Meruem's tail—previously used only for balance—whipped around. It coiled around Gon's punching arm, and using a principle similar to Aikido, Meruem added his own momentum to the throw, launching Gon away.
"Gh—?!"
Gon was hurled at a velocity far exceeding what a human should be capable of reaching. Caught in a deliberate spin that prevented him from regaining his footing, he was slammed horizontally into a rock wall.
Even then, Gon burst through the rubble virtually unscathed, only to find Meruem already standing before him, fist cocked.
"Kahaha!!"
"Tch!!"
Meruem unleashed a savage barrage, venting his frustration in a series of breathless strikes. Gon held his guard as he was driven back into the rock, Meruem's relentless assault burying him deeper. Finally, Meruem followed him in, the sound of the cliff face collapsing echoing through the wasteland. Seconds later, both erupted from the opposite side of the mountain—a fifty-meter thick wall of stone—in a shower of debris.
"You still stand?! Your resilience is absurd!"
"I've been training!" Gon shouted, shaking off his hesitation. He took a familiar stance—one that, to those who knew him, was a literal death sentence.
"First comes Rock...!"
Ordinarily, an opponent would hesitate when faced with such an overwhelming surge of aura. Meruem did not. He charged straight at Gon.
"Jan... Ken...!"
(I have already mastered your range!) Meruem thought. (I will decide whether to block or parry once I see the strike!)
In that infinitesimal second before he entered Gon's reach, Meruem's instincts screamed a warning.
"King Shield!!"
Using a technique he had stolen from a plate-manifesting Nen user and customized for himself, Meruem manifested a hexagonal, honeycomb-structured shield of high-density aura.
"SCISSORS!!"
The wall—which could have remained unmarred by tank shells—was sliced clean through. A horizontal crack appeared across Meruem's chest as he stood just outside Gon's perceived reach.
"Round two...!"
Meruem attempted to retreat and regain his posture as Gon stepped in further. What he saw was an anomaly: a fist launched from a distance that shouldn't have been able to reach him, yet it didn't stop. It kept coming.
"ROCK!!!"
Having dislocated his own joints to artificially extend his reach, Gon's fist slammed into the center of Meruem's chest. The impact pulverized Meruem's exoskeleton and sent him careening back into the rock wall.
Gon had injured himself by forcing his muscles to stretch while keeping them soft, but the feedback in his fist confirmed he had dealt significant damage. However, Meruem stepped out of the dust as if the hit hadn't even winded him. He spat out a mouthful of blood and grinned ferociously.
"Magnificent. I never expected you to actually crack it."
Fractures were spreading across Meruem's body, centered on the point where Gon's fist had landed.
"A strike that surpassed my 'Invincible Exoskeleton'... I offer you my respect for that power."
The cracks spread across his entire body, including his face. With a dry, brittle sound, the shards of his armor fell away all at once.
"The armor that protected me also hindered my movement. It is gone now. From here on, I shall face you with my true strength."
Emerging from beneath the shattered shell was a more human-looking Meruem, his hair flowing in the wind. The "armor" that had served as both a defense and a limiter was gone; his liberated flesh pulsed, and an even greater deluge of aura erupted from his exposed nodes.
"Witness. This is my true power."
Meruem stepped forward and was in front of Gon instantly. He threw a punch devoid of technique—a strike of pure, unadulterated strength. Gon reacted, throwing his own fist to meet it. This time, Meruem was not pushed back. A massive shockwave rippled out, and both were repelled by the force of the collision.
"Even like this, I cannot overwhelm you with simple strength. 'One against ten thousand,' 'Peerless Might'... no words are sufficient for your power."
Meruem used his "King Shields" manifested in mid-air as platforms, leaping off them to strike from above. Gon's reactions lagged behind Meruem's three-dimensional movement; he was launched into the air and subjected to a relentless pummeling from every direction.
It lasted only a few seconds, but Gon was hit hundreds of times before being slammed into the ground, creating a massive crater.
"...Tell me, how many times must you surprise me? Are you truly human?"
Meruem repeated the question for the hundredth time. In the center of the crater, Gon sat curled into a perfect, reinforced sphere of muscle.
"You aren't just tensing your muscles," Meruem observed. "You are performing complex manipulations at the points of impact to disperse the shock. You feel like a solid block of rubber. Compared to this, my exoskeleton was a fragile toy. It is an Absolute Defense."
Gon uncurled from his "Muscle Ball" and stood up. He was almost entirely undamaged, but he looked at Meruem with a grimace. Meruem matched his expression.
(If he keeps moving like that, I can't hit him, even if I can block,) Gon thought. (And I think he has more stamina than me. This is bad.)
(It's meaningless to land a hundred hits if they deal no damage,) Meruem mused. (Yet a single hit from him would be fatal. How to proceed?)
Gon searched for a way to hit a target as fast as Killua. Meruem searched for a way to penetrate a defense tougher than his own peak durability. It was a stalemate—a situation neither of them liked, given the battle raging elsewhere and their own pride.
A momentary silence fell over the crater that had been echoing with thunder. Deciding that hitting was better than thinking, Gon charged again. His onslaught moved further away from anything "human"—he began to unnaturally extend his arms and legs to keep up the pressure.
Meruem handled the increased speed with his own heightened physicals, parrying everything while landing counters. The fight was returning to a stalemate until Meruem—using his Gungi-trained understanding of collateral damage—shifted his strategy.
"Hmph!"
"—?!"
Instead of parrying, Meruem intentionally took one of Gon's punches. His arm buckled under the force, but he used the mangled limb to entangle Gon, locking him in place.
"Gah!!"
With Gon immobilized, Meruem's sharp fangs sank into Gon's thick forearm, tearing away a massive chunk of flesh.
"Ugh—?!"
Gon wrenched his arm free and retreated, immediately using Muscle Savings Withdrawal to replenish the lost mass. Across the field, Meruem's cheeks were bulging as he chewed.
(What... what incredible meat! When I struck it, it was as hard as stone, yet now it is as tender as a newborn! A single bite, yet it yielded as much mass as a whole calf. I taste no fat, no dripping blood... but the quality of the aura is divine!!)
Meruem swallowed, leaving not a single shred of flesh or drop of aura. His Hatsu, Tyrant's Overrun, activated partially. He absorbed a portion of Gon's aura and, more importantly, the combat experience he had been lacking.
"Such dense experience... such potent aura. It is not for me to judge, but for your age, you have achieved the impossible."
The supreme quality of the meal allowed Meruem to evolve once again. He underwent an explosive growth spurt, his power reaching a new tier.
"But what a waste. It is impossible for me to obtain the Hatsu that allowed you to reach this strength."
From the fragments of experience he had consumed, Meruem understood Gon's core ability: Glory to Muscle: Might is Right. It was an ability of peerless strength in direct combat, but it was fundamentally incompatible with Meruem's Absolute Mastery.
"My ability maintains my mind and body in a state of absolute perfection. Your path—the 'Ultimate' achieved by discarding 'Perfection'—is a logic that exists outside my world."
Meruem's Absolute Mastery allowed him to manipulate himself into a state where he had a 100% mastery of all Nen categories—a superior version of the Emperor Time. Because of this, he could not use an ability like Gon's, which required dropping several categories to 0% to fuel his physical growth.
"I cannot take your core ability, but your flesh, your experience, and your aura are more than enough. I look forward to seeing what heights I reach once I have taken all of you."
Meruem felt a flicker of loneliness knowing he had surpassed Gon with a single bite, but his pride as a King and the effects of Absolute Mastery pushed those emotions deep into his subconscious.
Gon, too, understood the gap. His path to victory had effectively vanished. Yet his spirit did not break. He flared his aura, determined to struggle until the final second.
Meruem's fist blew past Gon's guard and slammed into his face with the force of a falling star.
For the first time since learning his Hatsu, Gon was subjected to the violence of physical stats superior to his own. He was kicked and punched more brutally than he had been by Uvogin. His body was a mass of bruises and blood, but his eyes did not dim. Instead, they burned with an even brighter light.
(...What a strong heart. So strong that his body and aura seem like mere trifles. You, like Komugi... perhaps you are another opponent I cannot truly defeat.)
Meruem recognized Gon's worth. Out of respect, he decided to end it with everything he had—even though it meant the end of a lifelong rival. For himself, for the future of his kind, and for the promise he made to Komugi, Meruem raised his hand for the finishing blow.
At that moment—
Hundred-Type Guanyin: 10th Palm.
A shockwave from outside Meruem's range and outside his perception slammed into him, blowing him away.
"...What? You defeated my subordinates this quickly?"
Meruem looked up. Far in the sky, a Nen dragon was soaring toward them. Standing atop the dragon's head, his presence massive and immovable, was Isaac Netero.
The pinnacle of the Hunter Association had joined the battlefield.
***
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