No Mercy
There was no suspense at all.
Oboro didn't even struggle as he dispatched the enemy. In a flash, his figure appeared beside Korudo, while behind him, a winged Chimera Ant crashed to the ground, its corpse splattering blood across the forest floor. The fallen soul dissipated into the air along with wisps of black mist.
With a satisfied smile, Oboro gazed at the ant nests rising from the ground between the gaps in the distant treetops. He began walking forward deliberately, his aura rippling around him with each step.
Meanwhile, inside the ant nest, division leaders who opposed Korudo's cautious approach had gathered to finalize their ambitious plans. They were ready to abandon their territory and invade the human world, dividing up regions to avoid territorial disputes among themselves.
"The entire Mitne Federation area should be partitioned carefully," one suggested, as they debated which countries to target and where each would establish their dominion.
Some division leaders were forming alliances. The lion Chimera Ant Haga had invited the leopard Kido to join forces, but was swiftly rejected. Kido preferred solitude and freedom to collaborative conquest.
Haga shrugged off the rejection with indifference. In truth, these division commanders had always found cooperation difficult they had only been united by their shared service to the Queen. Now that she was dying, those constraints were dissolving.
Their knowledge of the human world remained limited to NGL and the Mitne Federation, information painstakingly gathered by the penguin Chimera Ant Peggy, who had been collecting books and intelligence from human settlements.
"In that case I'll leave first," Haga announced with a confident smile. "I hope you'll all still be alive next time we meet. Although humans are weak, there are some special ones with Nen abilities. Be careful not to get caught!" The lion departed with his two captains in tow, his arrogance unmistakable.
"Hehe" The scorpion Chimera Ant Zazan sneered. "You should worry about yourself" She sauntered away with enchanting steps, heading for another passage leading out of the nest.
Seeing this, several other division commanders also prepared to depart. Unlike troublemakers like Haga and Zazan, most were less rebellious they simply recognized the futility of remaining. Many also hoped to trace memories of their human past lives that had begun awakening within them.
The chameleon Mereon was one such ant, driven by fragments of human memory.
The group of ants scattered like startled birds then froze simultaneously. In an instant, all the division commanders' expressions shifted to shock, their gazes locked in the same direction.
In another cave, several division commanders who had been tending to the Queen also trembled and looked back in alarm.
An indescribable aura was floating through the caves from outside the nest.
The enemy is coming! This thought flashed through the minds of all the division commanders.
Incomparably powerful!
It's a human!
"This aura it's him!" The red panda standing beside Peggy gasped in shock. "The man who killed Neferpitou!"
Outside the ant nest, Oboro summoned his ghost fog, and countless souls scattered through the air, claiming the spirits of every ant that dared attack him. His Hatsu was devastatingly efficient.
If not for the fog obscuring visibility, one would see teams of ants pouring from every hole in the nest, darkening the sky as they searched frantically for the intruder. But the thick mist blanketed such a vast area that the ants stumbled blindly, unable to locate Oboro's position.
Any ant that encountered a ghost died instantly. This made Oboro's infiltration of the nest effortless no ant could approach him.
Oboro deployed his Ten and Ren with masterful control. His "circle" of aura, accompanied by gentle mist, swept through every cave and underground space, penetrating every hole in the nest. The mist and souls extended like tentacles into the complex structure, illuminating the entire network in Oboro's mind like a map suddenly brought to light. No ant could hide, no ant could escape.
"Huh? Trying to run?"
Shortly after entering the nest, Oboro paused and gazed up at the stone wall above him. Then his figure transformed into a flash of lightning, pursuing his prey through the labyrinthine passages with incredible speed.
Lion Haga and his two captains were running for their lives through the winding cave system.
"Is it him? Why is he here? Wasn't this human seriously injured by Neferpitou and driven away long ago?" Haga panted, his voice tight with fear as the scenery blurred past.
"Who knows" Dragonfly Frata replied, equally bewildered.
All ants within the nest had received the Queen's desperate command: gather every ant, including the division commanders, and work together to resist the invader.
But at this critical moment, who would follow the Queen's orders? Haga and the others had already heard her dying gasps. The only way to survive was to escape.
'There are so many ants,' Haga thought desperately. 'He can't kill us all. If we stagger our escape, some will survive. Maybe we three will be blessed by luck'
Just as hope flickered within him, Haga's thick mane suddenly stood on end a stress response characteristic of felines. Despite running at an astonishing speed, his lower body sank as his feet slid through the mud. His claws dug deep into the wall as he skidded to a halt.
The cave was trembling.
His features contorted with terror as footsteps echoed from ahead, followed by wisps of black fog.
The passage fell deathly quiet, but each approaching footstep landed like a hammer blow to the hearts of the three ants.
After a moment, they saw a figure emerging from the darkness, one hand casually stroking the gravel along the wall as he walked.
Haga wanted to turn and flee, but found himself frozen with dread.
"Where are you going in such a hurry?" Oboro appeared from the shadows, his lips curving into a slight smile as he regarded the three ants.
"How did he find this place?!" Haga's mind raced frantically.
The alarm had just sounded! The ant nest was a vast, complex maze of tunnels. How had the human found them so quickly? Were there no ants capable of slowing him down?
"I know where the Queen is! I can take you there!" the lion blurted out desperately.
He was betraying his Queen.
"Hmm no need," Oboro replied with a casual shake of his head.
In a desperate gambit, Haga grabbed his two subordinates who hadn't yet reacted and hurled them toward Oboro like sandbags. Frata and Shilin were caught completely off-guard by their commander's betrayal.
After throwing his captains, Haga spun around and sprinted back the way they had come, not even glancing behind him.
But before he'd covered ten meters, Oboro appeared before him like a ghost, walking leisurely past as if they'd merely crossed paths on a stroll. Impossibly, Haga hadn't even noticed that his body had been cleaved in two at the waist during that passing moment.
This caused Haga's upper and lower body to separate, his torso still suspended in the air in mid-sprint.
"Too fast How can humans become so powerful to reach this level" A second later, Haga finally detected the scent of blood saturating the air. He realized with dawning horror that the blood wasn't just from Frata and Shilin it was his own.
He was already dead, his consciousness just hadn't caught up to this fact.
The lion's golden pupils trembled as realization dawned. His severed body crashed to the ground as Oboro walked away without a backward glance.
In less than half a minute, Oboro systematically hunted down several division commanders, one after another. These ants had been specifically marked in his mind.
No one could escape.
The Chimera Ant Neferpitou had unwittingly gifted Oboro more than just enhanced aura and combat power. Those two points of armor seemed to have fundamentally changed his body, breaking through the stagnant bottleneck in his physical development. Oboro theorized that the armor's relation to physical defense had strengthened his flesh and blood vitality. As his body grew stronger, it naturally underwent transformation.
Though subtle, these changes might be enough to elevate his comprehensive attributes from third-level to fourth-level superhuman status.
This was merely his hypothesis the system had provided no definitive answer.
Another benefit: Neferpitou had possessed not only a soul, but also black fog. Oboro's attack range now exceeded 100 meters, though the effect of the black fog wasn't as potent as the armor enhancement. After all, he had primarily been developing his Hatsu based on Thresh's abilities.
Due to limited energy, he had shelved Senna's passive skills, leaving them unstudied for now. The resulting effect was naturally somewhat diminished.
"Ahhhhhh!"
In a cave, the beautiful division commander Scorpion Zazan retreated under Oboro's relentless advance until her back hit the wall. The cave connected to no other passages she had unknowingly trapped herself in a dead end.
But true to the inherent ferocity of Chimera Ants, even facing certain death, Zazan refused to accept her fate.
She glared at the smiling man, let out a roar, and severed her own tail. Her body began to transform, bulging and contorting as her voice deepened from feminine to bestial. Her expanding form radiated violence and intimidation, her aura erupting with astonishing intensity.
"Not bad" Oboro commented with an appreciative smile.
Among the division commanders, Zazan's fighting ability ranked near the top. Her primary advantage was exceptional physical strength in the canonical timeline, even the Phantom Troupe member Feitan had struggled to damage her until he unleashed his ultimate Nen ability.
Bang!
Before Zazan could attack, Oboro casually extracted an arm from his pocket and swung it through the air. Instantly, the left half of Zazan's body shattered as if struck by an armored vehicle. Her skeleton and flesh exploded into pieces, her massive form smashing into the cave wall with devastating force. The impact caused the cave to collapse, limestone fragments raining down as Oboro turned and walked away unhurriedly.
The Queen's chamber was filled with terror.
The remaining division commanders, led by Penguin Peggy, stood rigidly at attention, their eyes fixed on the cave entrance. The dying Queen had sensed the disappearance of several division commanders' auras.
Oboro had entered the nest alone and killed countless ants. Ordinary soldier ants had their souls extracted by his ghosts, while the division commanders fell to his direct attacks. Yet his clothes remained pristinely clean, without even a speck of dust upon them.
He stepped into the heart of the ant nest and gazed upon the disemboweled Queen lying on the floor, surrounded by her remaining commanders.
Werewolf Wilfin, giant shrimp Brobuta, penguin Peggy, and chameleon Mereon stood alongside various soldier captains the Oroso siblings, the dart-shooting twins who would eventually fall to Killua in the original timeline, and owl Holo.
Some had initially tried to flee but returned after receiving the Queen's desperate summons. Others had realized that escape was futile and decided that strength in numbers offered their best chance at survival.
Either way, the entire remaining combat force of the ant colony now stood before Oboro.
About twenty of them in all.
The strange, oppressive black fog surrounding Oboro's figure filled the ants' vision. Their eyes reflected fear, awe, and surrender. When the enemy materialized before them, the impact shattered their resolve, leaving them in despair.
The aura emanating from this single human was enough to break their spirits, paralyzing even the desire to fight. This pressure felt eerily similar to that of the Ant King who had departed not long ago.
"Are you all waiting for me?" Oboro raised an eyebrow and asked with mock politeness.
Dead silence filled the cave.
"Sir" Penguin Peggy finally swallowed nervously, waddled forward awkwardly, and knelt directly before Oboro. Uncertain how to address this human, she could only use a respectful title. "We admit defeat. We deserve punishment for our crimes against humanity. We will accept any consequences. We only ask we hope you might spare our lives."
"Humans are compassionate beings who abhor war. Unlike us we can serve humans and provide all manner of assistance."
"Our King has just left he will certainly impact the human world"
Peggy kept her head bowed as she pleaded sincerely.
Oboro listened quietly until she finished, then spoke: "You bow to humans not because you feel guilty or have suddenly realized your mistakes. It's simply because we're stronger than you. What makes you submit isn't human kindness, but the 'weapons' we wield."
Peggy broke into a cold sweat at these words. They stuck in her throat like a fishbone.
"And humans may be compassionate but I don't count among them."
Negotiation failed.
After these words, the black fog swirling behind Oboro suddenly expanded, surging outward like a tidal wave. The entire cave plunged into darkness.
Malevolent ghosts darted through the shadows, their screams and roars echoing throughout the chamber. The space had been transformed into a vision of purgatory.
Ant bodies fell one after another, division commanders included. Mereon attempted to use his In to slip away unnoticed, but Oboro knew his abilities intimately. The ghost fog filled every corner of the space, making 'God's Alibi' impossible to evade.
Among the fallen ants were some who might have assisted the Hunter Association against the Ant King in the original timeline, but Oboro had no intention of sparing them. With Neferpitou missing from the King's side, the Association would have fewer potential allies, increasing the challenge they would face.
Oboro noted that the octopus Ikalgo, who would have formed a friendship with Killua, was absent from the nest. Perhaps he had never been there to begin with.
"Humanity your doomsday approaches. My child will become the ruler of your world. He"
Through the fog, Oboro approached the dying Queen. Though she couldn't speak aloud, he sensed her mental projections a final signal sent before death.
Her mission was complete.
"Don't flaunt your ignorance before me," Oboro said expressionlessly.
Then he brought his foot down hard, crushing the Queen's head with merciless finality.