Chapter 147: Dancing Little Bug
Terpsichora.
This was the Nen Ability Neferpitou unleashed during full-combat mode, relying purely on instinct. From activation to attack execution, the entire process took less than 0.1 seconds.
The moment the ability activated, a ghostly silhouette materialized behind her, and she herself flickered like a phantom to appear directly before Mord.
Yet within that 0.1-second interval, Cat Girl Neferpitou clearly heard Mord's words.
"This reunion method was specially prepared for you. Satisfied, little kitten?"
Her attack halted three feet from Mord's chest. She hadn't seen him move—it was as if he hadn't moved at all.
A blinding sword glare erupted. The ghostly shadow behind the cat girl dissipated like mist under scorching sunlight. Her eyes widened, not even given time to gasp before her body was sent flying backward.
This was the result of Mord's training sessions with Netero.
BOOM!
The cat girl crashed heavily into an empty plaza beneath the palace, creating a massive impact crater amidst billowing dust.
Inside the palace, Youpi detected the aura of Dragon Dive and instinctively looked upward.
Simultaneously, the extermination team led by Morel and Kite emerged from the fourth-dimensional space beside the staircase, rushing madly toward the upper floors.
The moment Kite emerged, he confirmed that Neferpitou's En wasn't covering the area. However, Youpi standing midway on the first-floor staircase was completely beyond their expectations.
Among the countless simulations the extermination team had conducted, no one had ever proposed this scenario.
But Kite was Kite after all. Almost instantly upon seeing Youpi, he calmed himself.
Youpi reacted similarly, equally shocked by the sudden appearance of the extermination team members before him.
"Who are they? Where did they come from?"
For Youpi, unsolvable puzzles weren't worth pondering.
He had only one mission: protect the King.
Youpi's body immediately began mutating, sprouting six additional arms while his frame expanded dramatically.
Kite almost simultaneously summoned Crazy Slots.
Just as both sides stood poised for imminent battle, a tremendous explosion echoed from the palace above, sending countless debris raining down.
The indiscriminate attacks of Dragon Dive had pierced through the royal palace, reaching the first floor.
"This is Grandpa's Dragon Dive? Could the Chairman's friend be..." Killua looked up, even he—the only one who knew the answer—momentarily stunned by the realization.
The shock experienced by those unaware was even greater.
Youpi seized this opportunity, using his fists to completely demolish the staircase leading to the second floor.
BOOM!
They must not be allowed to approach the King!
...
Amid violent tremors and the thundering collapse of the main staircase,
Outside the palace, Shaiapouf spread his wings, frantically weaving through countless meteor-like dragon arrows as he madly raced toward the throne room.
"Your Majesty!"
"YOUR MAJESTY!!"
But when he reached the throne room, he found it empty.
Confronted with the deserted throne room,
Pouf suddenly began to laugh.
"What a wretched state! At such a crucial moment, I couldn't even remain by the King's side. What kind of Royal Guard am I?"
Pouf's laughter grew increasingly louder.
Until finally, it bordered on madness.
At this moment, Shaiapouf's heart was shattered.
"Useless Pouf, you simply refuse to admit it. You don't want the King to care too much about that woman. You don't want the supreme King to concern himself with a lowly human, to actively go to her room."
Even before heading to the throne hall, Pouf had already vaguely sensed that the King of Ants might be with Komugi. The reason he felt unworthy of being a Royal Guard wasn't because he didn't know the King's whereabouts.
But because he knew perfectly well yet wasn't at that location.
Instead, he came to this throne hall!
Clearly, Shaiapouf's humanity was overwhelming his ant nature at this moment.
When Dragon Dive descended, he faced a choice.
Should he go to Cheadle, or continue to the throne palace?
His Royal Guard instincts meant he wouldn't even need to think about protecting the King—under normal circumstances, having deduced the King went to Cheadle, he would have rushed there immediately.
But his human self generated personal desires.
He preferred to serve the King of Ants who wished to rule the world.
Pouf ultimately chose his self, marking his liberation from bestial control, yet not completely.
The Royal Guard's sense of mission and the fact of his betrayal against the King were tearing his heart apart.
This was why he became so tormented, so deranged.
Meanwhile, in another battlefield separate from Youpi's fight with the extermination team...
Neferpitou rose from the rubble.
Her first instinct wasn't to confront Mord, but to use En to quickly locate the King's position.
She also detected Netero and Zeno—the King was in extreme danger.
The Royal Guard's nature dictated that when the King was threatened, they would immediately rush to his location.
The next instant, Neferpitou dropped to all fours, curling her body into her original beast form. Her steel-like legs expanded to an exaggerated degree.
BOOM!
The ground beneath her shattered instantly as Cat Girl Neferpitou transformed into a streak of light flying toward Cheadle where the King was.
Mord merely glanced indifferently before using Zetsu to conceal all his aura, heading toward the throne palace.
As Neferpitou raced toward the King at her maximum speed, she suddenly sensed an overwhelming negative energy, like regretful spirits.
This was the King's state of mind that Neferpitou detected en route to Cheadle—meaning at this moment, the King's emitted aura contained not even a trace of vigilance.
This situation was utterly disastrous.
Upon reaching Cheadle, Neferpitou felt as if time had frozen. The featureless King of Ants was cradling a severely injured girl in his arms.
This sent Neferpitou's heart into turmoil.
In that moment, she clearly sensed the King's spirit hanging by a thread.
Like Shaiapouf, Neferpitou understood Komugi's importance.
They knew the King's self-awareness existed because of Komugi—it was Komugi who had awakened the part of the King beyond his racial mission.
However, Shaiapouf had no need for the King of Ants to possess such superfluous selfhood.
Yet the human part within Neferpitou sought precisely to protect this very self of the King.
In a way, the two were destined to stand in opposition.
Neferpitou knew that Komugi was equivalent to the King's soul—and at this moment, Komugi (the King's soul) was on the verge of death.
If Shaiapouf learned of this, he would likely dance with joy.
And in fact, at this very moment, he was indeed dancing.