Just as the Chimera Ants within the city were being completely wiped out, the battle between Gon, Killua, and Bihorn in the outskirts was reaching its conclusion.
Despite Bihorn possessing three times the aura capacity of the two protagonists, and boasting the greatest strength and endurance of any Squadron Leader due to a mixture of superior genetic traits, second only to the Royal Guard Menthuthuyoupi, he was paying a heavy price for his initial arrogance.
Driven by a cruel and conceited nature, he hadn't taken Gon seriously at the start. In several exchanges of raw, physical blows, he had easily sent the boy crashing to the ground.
However, the tide of battle shifted unexpectedly once Killua joined the fray.
Now, Bihorn was covered from head to toe in a dense network of bruises, contusions, and scorched patches of skin from electrical burns. His blood-red eyes glared as steam puffed rhythmically from his nostrils, his every fiber screaming to tear these two brats into pieces.
Killua and Gon were in no better shape.
Gon, who had been handling the frontal assault, had a severely fractured arm. He stood hunched over, mouth agape, gasping for air.
There was no helping it. In a battle between two Enhancers, physical constitution and aura volume are the deciding factors. Experience and technique rarely bridge the gap between win and loss. Unless one develops a specialized ability like Chairman Netero's 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva, the weak simply do not overcome the strong in a head-on clash.
"Dammit! Allen was right, a Squadron Leader is on a completely different level than the soldier ants or Officers. He's way too hard to deal with," Killua complained, fighting back the rising tide of fear within him.
For some reason, whenever he faced an overwhelmingly powerful opponent, an indescribable dread would well up inside him. This fear would rapidly seize his brain, forcing his body to act against his will, compelling him to turn and run. If the person fighting beside him weren't his best friend, he was certain he would have abandoned them and retreated long ago.
"Killua, are you okay?" Gon asked, noticing his friend's abnormal reaction.
Killua shook his head quickly. "No. I'm fine. Just a little tired, that's all."
"Keep it up! Just a little longer! We're almost ready to take him down!" Gon encouraged him with a bright, sun-like smile.
Even with a broken arm, his fighting spirit remained high, and his optimism unshaken. He felt no fear of the strong, nor did he hate the enemy who had nearly killed him. His motive was singular and pure: to win the battle.
As the saying goes, the most terrifying person is one who is simple and obsessed. They don't care about the price of failure or how others might be affected; their mind is entirely consumed by the goal.
"Yeah! Got it!" Killua nodded, forcing his terror down.
Seeing the two brats ignoring him to share a moment of camaraderie, Bihorn's rage boiled over. He let out an indignant roar. "Fine! You've succeeded in making me angry! The game ends now! I'm going to show you my full strength, let you feel what true despair is like!"
As he uttered the final word, he hunched over, concentrating all his aura into the two hardened horns atop his head.
In less than a second, he charged forward like a high-speed locomotive. The sheer momentum made it clear that a head-on collision was suicidal.
"Gon! Get out of the way!"
The needle hidden inside Killua's head began to throb again, screaming at him to avoid the clash.
But Gon didn't share that instinct. He clenched his fist, focusing his power for a Jajanken strike to block the charge.
"No! Stop it!"
Amidst Killua's frantic scream, the two collided.
BOOM!
A powerful shockwave created a localized cyclone, sending dirt and gravel flying. When the dust settled, Gon's fist and arm had been completely impaled by the sharp horn. He fell to his knees, his face a mask of disbelief.
"Hahahaha! Die!" Bihorn laughed cruelly, swinging a finishing blow.
Thud!
Gon was sent airborne, spraying crimson blood. he flew over ten meters before slamming into a rock, where he lay face-down and motionless.
"I'll... I'll kill you! I'M GOING TO BUTCHER YOU!!!!!!"
Dominating by absolute fury, Killua's aura erupted several times stronger than usual. The sheer force of his intent physically forced the needle out of his brain.
In that moment, however, he didn't care why such an object had been in his head. Instantly, the Zoldyck family's most gifted child transmuted his aura into a blinding white glare of electricity.
Before Bihorn could even register what was happening, he realized his right arm was gone. It had been severed cleanly, leaving a massive, spurting wound.
"How... how is this possible..."
The Squadron Leader couldn't believe his eyes. But the agonizing pain served as a constant reminder that this was reality, not a nightmare.
"Next, I'm going to cut off your limbs one by one. I'll make you die slowly in fear and despair," Killua said, his face shadowed, his eyes reflecting a darkness that made the skin crawl.
Terrified by this sudden transformation, Bihorn immediately tried to flee. But the moment he turned, the pain struck again. This time, a leg was severed.
As everyone knows, you cannot run on one leg. He couldn't even maintain his balance.
In the span of two seconds, his remaining limbs were sliced off at speeds the eye couldn't track. Blood geysered from his arteries; without immediate treatment, he would soon die from hemorrhagic shock.
Just as Killua prepared to twist off the ant's head to avenge his friend, a deafening crash echoed from the distance. A figure burst from the woods, piercing through Bihorn's chest in an instant.
It was Allen, fresh from the city.
He ignored the gluttonous Red Dragon (Vaelstrasz) as it materialized to burn the ant into a cocoon and devour it. Instead, he looked at the dying Gon nearby and frowned. "What happened here?"
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! It's all my fault! Please save Gon! You have to have a way, right?"
Killua, still in his Godspeed state, flickered to his friend's side and held him, his face full of desperate pleading.
"To be injured this badly... it seems you treated my warnings as mere background noise."
Allen shot Killua a stern look but immediately produced a Healing Potion and poured it down Gon's throat. Simultaneously, he used Nen Stitches to reattach the mangled arms.
A few seconds later, Gon was pulled back from the brink of death.
Seeing his best friend's breathing and heartbeat stabilize, Killua finally burst into tears of relief. He bowed deeply. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"
"I have more important things to do and no time to settle accounts with you two right now. But remember, you owe me an explanation!"
With that, Allen remounted the Red Dragon and took to the skies once more, heading for the next site of the invasion.
As the only person with high-speed mobility, he had to suppress the situation before the civilian death toll exceeded a certain limit. Otherwise, the Association and Chairman Netero would face immense political and public pressure.
As for the reckless behavior of these two protagonists... that could wait. After all, if the Zoldyck family and Ging weren't worrying about them, there was no reason for him, an outsider, to lose sleep over it.
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