Chapter 184: Link and Combat
One guard looked like a lion-hybrid, while the other leaned more toward a primate.
As they emerged from the shadows of the Great Trees, they simultaneously dropped to one knee beside the green Ant King.
"You are strong," the King said, his telepathic voice directed solely at Ronin. He showed absolute indifference toward the charred remains of his mother.
Ronin dispelled the Susanoo.
He carefully analyzed the King's presence. It was potent, but not overwhelming. He didn't feel that soul-crushing weight he had expected from a King-tier organism.
He's manageable, Ronin concluded, his pulse steadying.
Ronin didn't know the exact cause of this lower power scaling, but looking at the ruins and the charred Queen, the pieces of the puzzle began to click together.
The Queen's final words provided the missing link.
The Kurta Clan hadn't been coming here for "Trials." They had been the Wardens. For a thousand years, they had locked this sub-level down specifically to suppress and cull the Chimera Ant colony.
But that cycle had been broken centuries ago.
According to the ruin's records, the Kurta diaspora that settled here had been wiped out by the "Vortex Curse." As the Wardens died off, the suppressed ants finally had room to breathe.
Then, the grave robbers arrived and breached the seal.
A previous expedition had entered the hollow and reached the Queen's chamber. That team had been consumed, granting the colony its first taste of Nen.
This was the catalyst for the birth of the current King and his guards.
However, the ants had been in a rush. Unlike the NGL colony, which had months of access to a diverse ecosystem and thousands of humans, the Mahavi Queen only had a handful of explorers and a single biological source: the giant spiders.
In the NGL, the Queen maximized Phagogenesis by mixing genes from dozens of species, resulting in the god-like Meruem.
Here, the diet was restricted. The genetic pool was shallow. The result was a "Low-Budget" King—born too early, with a limited biological foundation.
The timing also explained the spider riot. The Queen had redoubled the harvest once she consumed the first Nen-user, exhausting the local spider population to fuel the King's development.
But one question remained: Why didn't the Kurta ancestors just wipe the ants out?
Ronin didn't believe that a clan powerful enough to bottle up a Chimera Ant colony for a millennium lacked the means to incinerate a few Nen-less insects. There must have been a purpose for keeping the colony "simmering" in the depths.
His gaze drifted past the King to the three most significant objects in the room:
The Golden Throne.
The two Great Trees sitting in the background.
The spatial rift behind the trees that led to the cavern ceiling.
He didn't know the ancestors' plan, but he knew what he had to do. The ants had awakened to Nen. They were no longer a controlled nuisance; they were a threat to the surface.
Isolation was no longer an option. Extermination was the only path.
Even if killing the colony triggered an unforeseen consequence, Ronin would deal with it when it happened.
Footsteps echoed from the tunnel.
Benket and his survivors arrived, their eyes widening at the sight of the Golden Throne.
Even a single piece of that chair would be worth a life's earnings. And the two living trees behind it? Priceless biological artifacts.
But their greed was checked by the three monsters standing in their way.
Benket looked at the King, then at the guards. None of them felt weaker than the serpent he had barely survived.
He looked toward Ronin.
If we coordinate... if my men take the heat... can this kid end them like he ended the snake?
Before Benket could speak, Ronin's voice rang out.
"Alliance. I take the King. You handle the guards. Until these ants are dead, consider the spiders our allies. They want the nest back too."
Ronin didn't wait for a reply. He locked his gaze and aura onto the green King.
The newborn King was not ignorant. He had been conscious within the womb for days, absorbing energy and data. He had felt the danger the moment the "Interception" barrier was breached.
He had abandoned his mother without a second thought to face the intruders at full strength.
The boy in front of him was dangerous. The black fire smelled like extinction.
The King didn't care for provocations, but he wouldn't tolerate a challenge to his territory.
He channeled aura into his fists. In a flash, he vanished.
Ronin slammed his palms into the ground. A wall of earth rose between them.
The King plowed through the barrier like it was wet paper. But behind the wall, a cloud of black fire was already waiting.
Simultaneously, Ronin's arm encased itself in dense rock. Assisted by the Weighted Boulder Jutsu, he swung his fist through the flames, aiming for the King's head.
The fire began to shrink, the paradox triggering.
But Ronin's left eye flared. Amenotokotachi.
The spatial compression halted. The stasis field locked the coordinates, holding the fire at full size.
The King, however, hadn't been caught in the lock. He blurred backward, avoiding the stasis zone, and swept his hand through the air.
He didn't punch. He released a massive, high-pressure sphere of pure Nen—an Emitter blast that roared toward Ronin.
He's adaptive, Ronin thought. He's not just a brawler; he's a caster too.
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