It was clear that Allen was not the type to stand idly by and watch an ally die, especially since Hisoka was currently a member of his small team. He spent a few seconds using his abilities to pull the magician back from the brink of death.
"A healthy body truly is the best! My thanks!"
Hisoka stretched his limbs briefly, quickly refocusing his gaze on the butterfly-man in the distance. Due to the presence of the gargantuan Ragnaros, Pouf dared not split himself into bee-sized fragments; the swirling flames and rising heat would have incinerated his miniature forms in an instant.
At this moment, Pouf was attempting to use his flight advantage to bypass the chaos and rush to the King's side to protect him. Unfortunately, Allen had no intention of letting Shaiapouf interrupt Chairman Netero's final duel. He tossed Komugi to Hisoka and instantly activated his ability—Aura Burst.
He launched into the sky like a cannonball.
"It's you?!"
Pouf had already saturated the air with his scales, allowing him to sense his opponent's approach instantly. He immediately shifted into a defensive stance.
The next second...
BOOM!
A massive explosion echoed through the sky! Without any surprise, Pouf was struck directly out of the air, falling with a heavy splash into the searing lava below.
"DIE, INSECT!"
Ragnaros seized the opportunity, raising the flaming warhammer high and slamming it down with crushing force.
CRASH!
The impact sent molten rock flying in every direction. The sheer, terrifying power of the strike caused even the other two Royal Guards to look over in alarm.
Just as many assumed Pouf had been finished, he suddenly leaped out of the lava. He tumbled repeatedly across the ground, only stopping once he had smothered the flames clinging to his body. As the black smoke dissipated, he revealed horrific burns covering his frame. His magnificent butterfly wings had been scorched away by the Firelord's attack, and his once elegant, handsome face was now a disfigured mask of charred flesh.
"As expected of a Royal Guard. Any other Chimera Ant would have been reduced to ash within seconds of falling in," Allen praised sincerely.
That wasn't ordinary magma; it was a part of Ragnaros's body, transmuted from a massive quantity of Allen's own Aura. Even Allen wasn't sure how severe the burns would be if he were to fall in himself.
"For the King... you truly are the greatest threat," Pouf spat through gritted teeth.
"And what do you plan to do about it? Kill me? Or rather, do you even have the power to do so?" Allen asked with a smile, slowly closing the distance. "Come. Let us stake all of our Nen to end this."
"Whether I have the power or not, I will drag you to hell with me!"
With that final roar, Pouf's Aura erupted with staggering intensity. He launched a desperate, all-out charge. But just as Allen raised his fist to deliver a crushing counterblow, Pouf suddenly split into two clones, flanking him from both sides to strike simultaneously.
"A clone tactic? Interesting. Let's see what tricks you have left."
With reflexes and explosive speed that transcended human limits, Allen effortlessly evaded the pincer attack. Simultaneously, he masked his Transmutation-type Aura, using the moment they brushed past each other to inject it directly into the butterfly-man's lungs.
"Hm? What did you just do?" Pouf questioned, his eyes full of suspicion.
Through the scales dispersed in the air, he could read the emotions and mental state of his target to deduce their thoughts. Just now, he had detected an abnormal fluctuation from this dangerous human.
"Nothing much. I just sent a bit of Aura into your lungs. By the way, can you withstand temperatures below negative 190 degrees Celsius?" A malicious grin spread across Allen's face.
The question was entirely rhetorical. No biological lung could survive temperatures below negative 50 degrees, let alone the ultra-low temperature of negative 190. To be precise, the lungs are the most fragile and delicate organs of most organisms. The higher an organism's demand for oxygen, the greater the tension in the alveoli and the thinner the capillary walls must be to facilitate rapid gas exchange.
Unfortunately, the Chimera Ants were exactly the kind of creatures that required massive amounts of oxygen to maintain their survival and high-intensity movements.
"What?!!"
Pouf undoubtedly read the lethal threat in the message and immediately tried to use his senses to check his chest cavity. But before he could act, a piercing chill and agonizing pain erupted from his lungs. Both clones began to cough uncontrollably.
Within seconds, he was spitting out shards of ice along with fragments of trachea and alveoli mixed with black blood clots. This was a wound that could not be repaired by his reconstruction abilities. Splitting and recombining only redistributed existing cells and organs; it could not regrow destroyed tissue.
This meant that if his lungs were shattered, he would be unable to breathe even if he shrank to the size of a bee.
Looking down at the kneeling butterfly-man, Allen glanced at his watch and reminded him casually: "You can't breathe anymore. In five minutes at most, your brain will suffer from oxygen deprivation. You'll lose consciousness, slip into shock, and finally die."
"Cough... cough cough..."
Struggling through the violent coughing fits, Pouf forced his two clones to stand, his eyes gleaming with a savage, unyielding light. "Even if I die! I will cause you enough harm before I go!"
He instantly split himself into hundreds of bee-sized fragments, swarming toward Allen's eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.
"Trying to make me blind, deaf, and mute? Naive!"
A massive amount of Aura gathered in Allen's fist.
Big Bang Impact!
BOOM!
Over ninety percent of the mini-Poufs were annihilated in a single strike. The greatest weakness of this splitting ability was that the Nen defense dropped drastically, making it impossible to withstand a powerful frontal assault.
Just as Allen thought he was finished, he felt a momentary, flickering blur in his vision. Although it lasted only a fraction of a second, it triggered his internal alarm. Before he could process what had happened, his Hunter Class Template's health bar instantly dropped by a full 1,000 points.
Looking closely, he saw the remaining ten percent of the Poufs had converged and reached his side, attempting to drive a sharp dagger into his temple. In fact, it had already struck once.
"Hypnosis? You used your hypnosis on me?"
Allen batted away the dagger and gripped the opponent by the neck.
"Damn it... did I fail in the end..." Despair and intense indignation filled Pouf's eyes.
Allen shook his head gently. "No. You succeeded. Or rather, you very nearly did. It's just that my body is a bit... special. I didn't expect your scale hypnosis to be so potent, to be able to influence a person's thoughts and perceptions so subtly that they'd ignore what's happening right in front of them. Even I was caught off guard for a moment. Now, let me give you a few pieces of advice regarding your ability... because I can't wait to devour you and plunder all your Aura and power."