A fluorescent green meteor streaking toward the Chimera Ant Nest.
Neferpitou had envisioned this scene countless times in her mind.
She had always believed that Morrow's Shooting Star was the humans' ultimate attack capable of threatening the Chimera Ant Queen.
And the Shooting Star's descent from high altitude fell perfectly within her defensive predictions.
Though its power seemed noticeably stronger this time, giving her slight pause.
But all that mattered was blocking it.
Before that fluorescent green meteor could get any closer!
Neferpitou's red pupils contracted into dangerously sharp pinpoints as she immediately dispelled her En.
The crimson aura that had been irregularly spreading outward like an amoeba was instantly retracted to cover her body.
Boom!
Entering full combat readiness, she violently pushed off the ground with both feet, shattering the platform beneath her.
Amidst flying debris, her figure transformed into a ferocious crimson streak as she fearlessly charged toward the descending fluorescent green Shooting Star!
However, Neferpitou had made a mistake.
A miscalculation born from experience.
She had indeed anticipated the Shooting Star's return and keenly noticed its increased power compared to before.
Yet her understanding still led her to make the same choice.
To intercept it physically.
It can be blocked.
She was certain of this.
This confidence matched her strength.
As the future Royal Guard of the King, she possessed the capital to support such arrogance.
But she had overlooked one thing.
A simple variable that could determine the battle's outcome.
She never imagined that fluorescent green meteor...
Would split apart
At the moment before impact!
Like daylight fireworks suddenly bursting, instantly transforming into hundreds of slender yet more dangerous streams of light.
Neferpitou's upward-gazing red pupils clearly reflected countless approaching green points of light.
It split...!
Her body remained in its upward-intercepting posture, her outstretched right hand that should have shattered the life energy-containing Shooting Star far from the nest.
But when that Shooting Star transformed into countless intersecting green trajectories, only a small portion could be blocked by her.
The remaining fluorescent streams slipped past her, continuing their assault toward the nest below.
This was the price of miscalculation.
If the human's attack could split from the beginning...
Why hadn't he used it when rescuing his companion?
If he had fired split Nen bullets at the nest back then,
It would have forced her to exhaust herself returning to defend, reducing the rescue operation's risk to zero.
Neferpitou's confusion was understandable.
Because all of this was exactly the future Morrow had envisioned when deciding to rescue Kite that night.
Whether it was using the Shooting Star to wear down Neferpitou's spirit, or using this split attack to initiate the general assault now.
Back when he told Neferpitou 'I can afford to gamble, but can you?'
He had already outlined this very moment.
And what Morrow was doing now was merely coloring that long-finished sketch.
High above.
Neferpitou whirled around.
Was there still time to remedy?
No, at this moment, there was no need to think.
Puppeteering. She abruptly curled and twisted mid-flight, crimson aura erupting beneath her feet as she instantly materialized the massive form of Puppeteering.
Then,
Her leg muscles bulged and tensed, delivering a powerful kick.
Boom!
Puppeteering shattered in response, scattering into countless fragments.
Using the momentum from that kick, she tore through the sky like an inverted arrow, charging straight toward the green star rain falling toward the Chimera Ant Nest.
This was Neferpitou's second mistake.
Driven by an almost instinctual panic over the Chimera Ant Queen's safety, she didn't even have time to consider whether she could remedy the situation.
In that instant, her only thought was to ensure the Queen's safety.
Thus, she had to return to the Queen's side at the fastest possible speed.
The fundamental reason prompting this decision
was her clear understanding that given the Queen's defensive capabilities, not just one of those green streaks, but even falling rock fragments could take the Queen's life.
However, she wasn't the only defensive force within the nest.
After misjudging the Shooting Star's splitting mechanism, what she should have done was reactivate her En to immediately grasp any movement in the surroundings.
Just as the Shooting Stars split and fell, the moment Neferpitou withdrew her En,
the already poised Extermination Team members shot out like arrows from all four directions... east, west, north, and south, charging straight for the ant nest.
Kite was among the charging ranks.
He looked up, watching the sky full of luminous streaks about to strike the nest, and witnessed Neferpitou's desperate response.
"When I rescued you before, I didn't use the splitting Nen bullet ability, partly because I feared accidentally harming the Queen and causing the situation to spiral out of control, and partly to save this crucial strike for when true surprise was needed."
"What disappoints me is that her mental strength far exceeds ordinary people's. Even though I intentionally let her sense the threat of long-range attacks to the nest, her aura showed no signs of weakening despite maintaining high alert for so long."
Kite's mind quickly recalled Morrow's words during their pre-battle discussion.
And Morrow's predictions about how Neferpitou might react to the assault were now unfolding before them.
Kite gained a deeper understanding of Morrow's formidable nature.
The chaotic situation Neferpitou displayed allowed the Extermination Team to advance easily toward the nest.
As the team members watched, the star rain-like Nen bullets finally began piercing through the towering ant nest constructed from feces and clay.
Boom!
The next instant, deafening explosions filled the air.
The nest's peak, struck first by the Nen bullets, exploded violently, countless fragments mixed with smoke and dust erupting upward.
Then, chain explosions spread wildly from the top downward.
The nest's structure groaned under the relentless, fierce shockwaves.
In moments, numerous walls cracked and crumbled.
Debris scattered like torrential rain in all directions as the nest's intricate network of passages collapsed one after another.
Countless worker ants, caught off guard, were either killed instantly by the blasts or buried alive under collapsing tunnels.
Even the peons resting during shift changes, if too close to the explosion zones, were blown apart on the spot.
Only the Officers and Squadron Leaders who had learned Nen possessed sufficient defense to withstand these penetrating attacks that triggered intense explosions within the nest.
But the Queen could not. Therefore, the instant the first split Nen bullet struck the Chimera Ant Nest, Youpi, who was guarding nearby, immediately reacted.
He was the only one among the Royal Guard who was not fused with human genes but rather integrated with the genes of a magical beast.
Perhaps because of this, his wild intuition could sometimes outpace the thinking humans excelled at.
He wasted almost no time.
The moment danger approached the Chimera Ant Queen, the purest thought of a guard arose within him.
I am a shield.
A shield that would block all harm and threats for the Queen.
Thus, Youpi almost skipped the thinking stage entirely, directly manipulating his body to transform his hands into wing-like structures and charging toward the Queen at the fastest speed.
He intended to overlap and close these wings, firmly protecting the Queen within them.
But something unexpected happened.
Just as Youpi's wings were about to close around the Queen, who was startled by the explosion,
A faint sound, like a bubble popping, abruptly echoed in the air not far from the Queen.
Pop.
The sound appeared and vanished in an instant.
The Queen had disappeared into thin air, right before Youpi's eyes…
Swoosh.
The spread wings finally closed,
but they only enveloped a void of empty air.
Youpi froze.
For a moment, he couldn't comprehend what had happened, nor could he engage in any thought regarding the Queen's sudden disappearance.
It wasn't until the shockwave of the explosion spread and countless chunks of mud rained down upon him.
An extremely ferocious expression abruptly surfaced on Youpi's face.
Countless dark, linear wrinkles suddenly covered his features, making him look exceptionally menacing, his bloodlust surging violently.
Though he didn't understand why the Queen had vanished, he unhesitatingly attributed the cause to the enemies attacking the Nest.
—--
Meanwhile.
The Chimera Ant Nest was already on the verge of collapse under the intense bombardment.
Shaiapouf, also deep within the Nest, though trusting in Youpi's strength, remained concerned about the King growing within the Queen's womb.
Reason told him that what he should do now was to go confirm the situation with Neferpitou, who was stationed outside.
Yet, his worry for the yet-unborn King led him to take irrational action.
Facing collapsing walls and flying debris, he flew at full speed through the intricate tunnels, striving to reach the Queen's side as quickly as possible.
The explosions continued.
The entire Nest trembled violently, like a giant powder keg ignited from within, shuddering under the unending blasts.
The stirred Officers and Squadron Leaders also confirmed the fact that enemies had attacked.
Out of loyalty to the Queen, they too immediately moved toward her location.
When the explosions finally ceased.
The entire Chimera Ant Nest was on the brink of collapse, with over half of its complex internal tunnels already collapsed.
Neferpitou, who entered through a hole in the top of the ruined Nest, and Shaiapouf, who was rushing toward the Queen's location, almost simultaneously sensed Youpi's brutal bloodlust.
In that instant, both Neferpitou and Shaiapouf felt a sense of unease.
To confirm the situation with their own eyes, they dared not delay even for a moment.
Soon, they arrived from different directions and saw Youpi, his entire body radiating intense bloodlust.
"What happened? Where is the Queen?"
Shaiapouf asked urgently, his face full of anxiety.
Neferpitou, a step slower, swallowed her words and looked at Youpi with some tension. Until this moment, the fact of her severe dereliction of duty bred an indescribable restlessness within her.
"She vanished, right before my eyes... disappeared into thin air."
Facing Shaiapouf's inquiry, Youpi swiftly replied.
Immediately after, he abruptly charged toward the wall and threw a punch.
Boom!
The concentrated force of his fist instantly blasted a large hole through the entire wall, yet it didn't even shake the structure of the Chimera Ant Nest.
"It must be the enemy using some ability to teleport the Queen away!"
Youpi, radiating a terrifying bloodlust, tossed these words over his shoulder at Neferpitou and Shaiapouf before leaping out through the hole.
The Queen... suddenly vanished?
Shaiapouf also immediately considered the power of Nen.
Though equally unsettled by the Queen's safety, he didn't jump to the conclusion that it was the enemy's doing like Youpi did.
His reasoning was... if the opponent truly had the capability to bypass Youpi's vigilance and even teleport the Queen right in front of him, why would they go through all the trouble of launching an attack?
Despite Shaiapouf's deduction, the brief few seconds when Neferpitou retracted her En at the critical moment still cast a shadow of uncertainty over this conclusion.
Neferpitou, of course, was aware of this as well.
Her anxiety and urgency from the dereliction of duty grew even more intense.
If it weren't for needing to reach the Chimera Ant Queen's side as quickly as possible by breaking through the wall, she should have actually reactivated her En.
Though regretting her earlier decision, to verify Youpi's claim...
"En."
Neferpitou immediately released her En.
That crimson, mist-like aura spread out from her as the center, covering the entire Chimera Ant Nest in an instant.
In just a second or two,
she confirmed that the Queen was truly no longer within the nest.
"Neferpitou."
Shaiapouf's scales drifted toward Neferpitou. By reading her emotions, he knew the result of the En scan without needing to ask, and he immediately stated expressionlessly, "Do I need to tell you what to do next?"
'...'
Neferpitou didn't respond. Instead, she pushed off the ground and rushed toward the hole Youpi had made.
With no certainty about who had teleported the Queen or whether she was safe now,
the priority was to subdue the humans attacking the nest to confirm whether the Queen's sudden disappearance was related to them.
Shaiapouf watched as Neferpitou left the nest.
He was worried that Youpi, with his lack of restraint, might kill all the humans assaulting the nest.
So, Neferpitou was needed to ensure there were some survivors for interrogation.
"If it wasn't the enemy, then who could it be?"
Shaiapouf's eyes turned cold as he headed toward the top of the nest.
Simultaneously,
he split off a swarm of fly-sized clones, urging them to mobilize the existing Squadron Leaders and Officers and other combat forces throughout the nest.
—--
Outside the nest.
The moment Youpi leaped out of the hole, he saw two humans who had already closed in on the nest.
These two humans were Morel and Shoot.
Seeing this, Youpi didn't hesitate in the slightest, nor did he engage in the usual probing phase common in Nen battles.
His shoulders directly bulged and transformed, sprouting four slender, clawed arms.
This seemed to be an ability derived from his magical beast genes.
With four additional arms, Youpi descended from above, crashing to the ground like a cannonball.
Boom!
Dust billowed and swirled.
Youpi's figure pierced through the smoke and dust, arriving before Morel and Shoot in an instant. His multiple arms swept through the air like whips with fierce ferocity.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Morel and Shoot were immediately bisected at the waist, transforming into white smoke and vanishing the next moment.
The real Morel and Shoot, who had been hiding, were both startled upon witnessing this scene.
This was absolutely...
A true monster!
But at that moment, another dark figure descended from the sky, landing steadily before Youpi.
The newcomer was none other than Morrow, who had initially launched the attack on the Chimera Ant Nest from high altitude.
According to the battle plan, the task of restraining Youpi fell to him.
So, upon noticing Youpi's movements, he immediately landed to intercept.
Youpi had just glanced at the dissipating white smoke when Morrow's arrival caught his attention.
Swish, swish, swish...!
Without any hesitation, multiple whip-like arms imbued with terrifying force abruptly enveloped Morrow.
So straightforward... leaving me no room to refuse.
Morrow's expression remained calm as the Nen around him suddenly shattered, transforming into a sky full of starlight.
Whip shadows interlaced like a net as they assaulted him.
Utilizing his Biological Mutation ability, he continuously dodged, then dodged again...
The high-frequency onslaught allowed him to swiftly meet the conditions for the second stage of his ability, the condensation of starlight.
In an instant, the starlight abruptly transformed into golden chains, tightly restraining Youpi's crimson, burly body.
Huh!?
Seeing these golden chains appear without warning, Youpi couldn't help but freeze.
The next moment,
the golden chains suddenly shattered at a speed faster than his thoughts.
Meanwhile, Morrow had already seized the opportunity to retreat, quickly creating distance.
Star Mark, instant lock.
"What a ferocious guy..."
"But Morrow succeeded so quickly!"
Morel and Shoot exchanged a glance.