"Who are they? Where are you?!"
"Ronnel, he... is he okay...?"
After a long silence, Morel finally forced out the question, his voice heavy with concern.
"I have no idea."
Meleoron looked just as troubled, sighing as he spoke.
No one had an answer.
Before, they had confidence in Ronnel. But after sensing the overwhelming aura and En of the Chimera Ant King, doubt had crept into their hearts.
And so, uncertain of what the outcome would be, the group fell into another long silence.
"I just hope... he can win."
...
After Netero's earlier assault, the already devastated battleground was subjected to yet another wave of destruction.
Boom!
A human fist and a Chimera Ant's fist clashed, sending shockwaves through the ground. Cracks formed beneath them, branching out rapidly in all directions.
But before they could spread further, one of the figures was hurled backward at an even greater speed.
With a harsh grinding sound, the figure skidded to a stop.
"You're truly worthy of being the Ant King," Ronnel muttered, wiping the blood from his mouth. "This kind of power... it's beyond anything I've ever faced. 'Invincible' really might not be an exaggeration."
His right fist, still clenched, was dripping with blood.
"For a human, your strength is... acceptable."
Meruem flexed his own fist, then lifted his gaze to Ronnel, who had landed some distance away.
It was Ronnel who had been sent flying. Even so, Meruem himself had been forced to take a few steps back.
"You didn't use your full strength just now."
"Neither did you."
Ronnel suppressed the burning pain in his chest, shaking off the blood on his hand.
"You don't just start with your strongest moves right away, do you? Gotta test the waters first."
A strange smile crept onto his face as he snapped his fingers.
"Hmm?"
At that moment, Meruem's eyes narrowed slightly.
He looked down—somehow, without him noticing, his shadow had connected with Ronnel's.
No. Not just Ronnel's.
It was also linked to the shadow of the puppet in Ronnel's hand.
"A link that extends beyond the normal boundaries of a shadow... is this an ability?"
As Meruem analyzed the situation, Ronnel placed the puppet on the ground.
The moment it touched the earth, the puppet transformed, and a pale young man materialized.
It was Kaelen, a son of high standing from the V5—the same Kaelen Ronnel had eliminated before.
But now, Kaelen was merely a puppet.
"Let's test this out, shall we? Let's see if this ability can kill you."
Kaelen's ability—Watcher in the Shadow.
Effect: The user can manipulate their own shadow independently.
When their shadow links to an opponent's, both parties share sensations—touch, smell, pain, etc. If the opponent takes damage, the user does too. If one dies, so does the other.
Restriction: The shadows must be physically connected. If the opponent performs a fatal action, such as piercing their own heart, the user dies as well.
In simple terms, it was a mutual destruction ability, using shadows as the medium.
Ronnel had prepared several Kaelen puppets precisely for situations where he was up against an enemy he couldn't defeat through normal means.
Facing Meruem—the seemingly invincible Chimera Ant King—Ronnel wanted to see if this ability would work.
During their clash, Ronnel had seized the opportunity to link the puppet's shadow to Meruem's.
The price? His bloodied fist.
He doubted Meruem had expected his human opponent to execute another move in the middle of their fight.
As Meruem stood frozen, analyzing the shadow connection, the puppet—Kaelen—raised its hand without hesitation. Five fingers together, it thrust its hand deep into its own chest.
"?!"
At that instant, Meruem's body tensed.
His eyes widened slightly as dark purple blood dripped from his lips.
Raising a trembling hand, he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, then stared at it in his palm.
A faint smile formed on his lips.
"I see... A suicidal ability? Is this your trump card?"
He met Ronnel's gaze directly.
"If this were the old me, I might have actually died from that. But now..."
He clenched his fist tightly.
"After consuming my three Royal Guards—not only gaining their strength, but also their abilities—this trick no longer works."
He tapped his chest lightly with a finger.
"Even if my heart is shattered, as long as I don't die immediately and my Nen isn't depleted, I can activate my ability to reconstruct my heart—recreate a complete heart...!"
"Shaiapouf's cellular restructuring?"
Ronnel wasn't surprised. He had anticipated this.
Shaiapouf's ability allowed him to manipulate his body on a cellular level, breaking down and reconstructing himself.
Human metabolism constantly cycles—cells divide and die every moment.
If one could accelerate that process, rapidly dividing cells to form a new, fully functional heart, survival was theoretically possible.
But it required an impossible level of mastery over one's own body.
The heart's size, the exact arrangement of blood vessels, the precise volume of blood it pumps—
Any minor miscalculation could lead to failure. A mistake meant death.
Moreover, this process required immense vitality and strength. Even if the original heart was destroyed, one had to stay alive long enough to complete the reconstruction.
For an ordinary human, this was impossible.
For Meruem... it was simply another advantage he had gained.
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Fanfic is completed on patreon.com/FanficsHub (799 chapters in total)