Hunter: I became stronger even after I died.

Chapter 400 The Ant King Makes His Move
What scale powder is the power of the spring of love? What king of flies!

If they can't even handle a mere human, what use are these abilities?

Useless.

It's completely useless.

Ultimately, it's all because—

You're a complete and utter piece of trash, Pouf!

The more distorted the expression on Xiao Yapuf's face became, the more intense the emotions churning within him grew.

He couldn't bear being suppressed by a human, and he couldn't accept that his pathetic appearance might disappoint the Ant King.

Overwhelmed by extreme shame and anger stemming from this grave dereliction of duty, he involuntarily began to self-destruct in his heart.

He acknowledged his incompetence while frantically contemplating how to atone for his sins.

There is only one way.

Change the status quo!

The first step is to develop capabilities that are better suited for real-world combat.

Then, before the "King" notices this, fight a brilliant comeback!
"Time is running out... but the 'King' may not be interested in the attackers, and is more likely to focus on improving his chess skills after the game is over."

"So there's still a chance..."

Even so, I will treat every second from now on as if it were my last, and fight with all my might!

The ferocious and crazed look on Xiao Yapuf's face suddenly faded, replaced by a layer of cold determination.

Every single one of his brain cells was highly active at that moment.

All of this was done to acquire the ability to rival Moro in the shortest possible time.

The reason why Owlapf deduced that the Ant King would not immediately pay attention to the attackers was based on the King's extreme focus on the military chess game these past few days.

This inference is based on some evidence.

Therefore, it is not entirely self-comfort.

However, not wanting to disappoint the king, Xiao Yapu completely overlooked a more important factor.

Or rather,

It was a factor he was unwilling to acknowledge deep down.

That factor is the wheat that awakens "thought" on the chessboard.

In order to remember the ingenious chess moves that kept emerging after the awakening of consciousness, Xiaomai needed to go back to her room to set up the chess pieces, and she also needed a quiet environment.

of course.

Wheat, who always regarded himself as nothing, would never ask a question even if he heard a deafening explosion.

She would be afraid and confused.

But in the end, they will just silently endure it.

Like a speck of dust, she only does what she is supposed to do.

But the ant king already regarded wheat as an important guest.

In order for Xiaomai to be able to memorize the moves by setting up the chessboard without any distractions, he naturally had to create an absolutely quiet environment for her as the host.

Wheat paid no attention to the explosion outside the palace, and the Ant King did not offer any explanation.

He walked toward the gate without hesitation.

"king!"

Neferpitou grasped the King Ant's intentions in the shortest time, but because the "healing of the severed arm" process was still ongoing, she couldn't help but shout it out.

However, the King Ant didn't even glance at her.

"Stay here."

This forceful response, with its clear intent, silenced Neferbitt's subsequent words.

next to.

Oyapuf's clone also witnessed the entire process.

From realizing that the King Ant might not immediately pay attention to the attackers, to making up his mind to change the status quo and taking action.

It all happened in just a second.

Now, Xiao Yapuf felt that his "deduction" was ridiculous, and his face turned ashen in an instant.

The king wanted to end the farce himself.

It wasn't to satisfy the desire to hunt, nor to personally harvest a delicacy.

It was for that lowly human being.

This possibility was not unexpected for Xiao Yapu.

He just...

They just don't want to admit it.

Unwilling to acknowledge that the supreme king would care about and be concerned with a lowly human being.

Outside the palace.

Shayapuf's true form was ashen-faced, tears streaming down his face.

This bizarre reaction, which occurred within a second and resembled a Sichuan opera face-changing act, naturally caught Moro's attention.

But before Moro could figure out the reason, the terrifying aura suddenly emanating from the huge balcony on the second floor of the palace gave him the answer directly.

It's the Ant King.

Moro's eyes flickered slightly. With the "Lightning Strike Power" in his hand, he calmly and composedly looked up at the source of the terrifying aura.

The robust ant king, with a crown-like head, strode to the edge of the balcony and looked down at Moro, who was located at the edge of the courtyard.

Their gazes met in mid-air.

The Ant King saw composure in Morrow.

It was a kind of composure that completely disregarded life and death.

Moro saw arrogance in the Ant King.

It is a kind of pride that stands at the pinnacle of life, integrating the cutting-edge achievements of all species.

The Ant King does not possess the ability to generate Scale Powder.

But with just a glance, he could tell from the flow of Nen that Morrow and Komugi shared the same trait.

That is the rigorous training that humanity undergoes in order to make great strides in a certain field.

despite this……

The King Ant still made the judgment that Moro was easily defeated.

He then withdrew his gaze from the insects and turned to look at Owl Yapf, who was suspended in mid-air with a deathly pale face.

He didn't investigate further, assuming that Puff's reaction was simply due to being caught in a fierce battle.

Noticing the Ant King's gaze, Owlapf quickly composed himself and descended to land on the balcony.

He knelt on one knee, placed his right hand on his chest, and said, "Your Majesty, please give me some more time..."

He tried to seize a chance to redeem himself, but before he could finish speaking, the Ant King interrupted him directly: "I want to do it myself."

After saying this, the Ant King inexplicably recalled the chess game he had just played with Wheat.

The desperate gamble of the Hinin was a desperate attempt to save the shogi players behind him, with the intention of sacrificing himself, and then focusing on the final odds of victory.

That was the will of a subject to die for his lord, and it was a sacrifice that was only natural.

But back then...

If the shogi player is also willing to take risks for his subjects, is there still a possibility of reversing the game?
The Ant King's mind raced with various chess moves, but he quickly suppressed these thoughts.

The more important thing now is to deal with the intruders in the courtyard and give Wheat a quiet environment.

After that, we just need to wait for the wheat to digest those moves before we can start playing again.

He wanted to see what changes the subtle shift in his thinking would bring to the next game.

King Ant...

I'm really looking forward to it.

Therefore, under this intense anticipation, even though the King Ant noticed that Shayapouf wanted to report some information, he did not pay any attention to it.

He just wanted to play another game with Xiaomai as soon as possible and didn't want to waste time on such trivial matters.

All the Ant King did was muster all his strength and charge forward at Morrow, who was located at the edge of the courtyard.

That sharp and aggressive aura seemed to say that no matter what methods you use, they will be meaningless.

The ant king is incredibly fast. So fast that the naked eye can only catch a fleeting afterimage.

When Morrow made eye contact with the Ant King, he had already prepared a response.

He gathered most of his Nen energy in his right foot.

This maneuver allows him to attack at any time and also unleash his speed when retreating.

So when the King Ant mobilized all his strength, Moro, who was prepared in advance, responded accordingly.

In an instant, he used both hands and feet, and with his energy flowing at high speed, he used the abilities of "Deceptive Flying Star" and "Flying Star Leap" almost simultaneously.

He threw out a fluorescent green projectile, which flew towards the sky diagonally behind him.

at the same time.

Most of the manifest energy that had been gathered in his right foot beforehand was injected directly into the ground through the sole of his foot, and a cross-shaped star appeared where Moro stood.

After activating both abilities at top speed, Moro then leaped back slightly.

Such a backward leap could not possibly outpace the attack speed of the King Ant.

This was simply a necessary measure that Morrow had to take at this moment in order to gain that meager amount of room to maneuver.

"Starlight Convergence"

As he leaped into the air, Moro's Nen energy shattered into dazzling starlight, flowing forward like a galaxy.

With his exceptional skill, Moro was able to use three abilities smoothly in a very short time.

The Ant King then flew in, smashing through the countless starlight in the sky with unparalleled force.

There were no tricks, just a relentless, straight-line assault.

The condensed starlight transmitted the Ant King's action information into Moro's head, and also provided calculation results for the hit rate of "Star Leap".

It's a perfect score!

This result could be described as a lucky guess.

At least Morrow did plan this star jump with anticipation.

However, faced with the Ant King's unreasonable and forceful attack, Morrow simply did not have the extra time to stay on the scene and witness the result of the "Star Leap".

Under pressure, he had no choice but to immediately use his "Blitzkrieg" ability.

Swish!
Morona's body, which had leaped into the air, vanished into thin air.

next moment,
It then revealed its form atop the flying star, which was hovering a hundred meters away.

At the same time, a dazzling star shot out from the cross-shaped starlight on the ground.

The Ant King itself was attacking in a straight line towards the original location of Morrow, so it would naturally pass through the launch location of the Star Leap.

Just as the starlight convergence had predicted, the shooting star, which erupted from the ground like volcanic lava, struck the Ant King directly as he passed by.

"Boom!"

The moment the flying star touched the Ant King's body, the energy contained within it suddenly erupted.

Upon seeing this scene from the balcony, Xiao Yapufu's expression changed drastically.

This is by no means because they underestimated the strength of the Ant King.

It was merely a natural reaction of concern from Xiao Yapufu, given his status as a direct bodyguard.

next moment.

Amidst the violent explosion, the Ant King's figure burst forth from the blast.

Moro had already used his lightning strike to retreat to the flying star a hundred meters away, and the Ant King, who was flying over the exploding flying star, naturally missed his target.

But there were no visible injuries on his strong body.

Even the explosion caused by the flying star couldn't stop his offensive momentum.

It was as if, during his charge, he had merely knocked apart a soft, powerless ball of cotton.

Standing on the flying star, Moro felt somewhat helpless upon seeing this result, and also felt empathy for Netero.

He's just now unable to cause any damage with his flying star attack.

When Netero fought the King Ant, he used ninety-nine palm strikes, but he still couldn't break through the King Ant's defense.

The feeling must be one of helplessness.

"Even with only one arm, there is no chance of winning."

In just one direct confrontation, Moro was able to personally experience the enormous gap between races.

To describe this gap in two simple sentences, it would be...

Even if Moro concentrated all his manifested energy into one point to attack the Ant King, who didn't need to defend himself, the result would definitely be no real damage whatsoever.

The King Ant doesn't need to deliberately concentrate some of his manifested energy in one place, yet he can easily break through Morrow's defense, which concentrates all of his manifested energy in one place.

So let's not even talk about the odds of winning.

The battle requirement of "not being hit even once by the Ant King" is something that normal people cannot do.

The only way to truly defeat such a monster is to meet the conditions of the "Spark Spreads Like Wildfire" mechanic.

In other words, without being hit by the ant king even once, you need to launch at least 360 effective attacks on a total of six specific areas on the ant king's body.

Only in this way can the conditions for the "Spark Spreads Like Wildfire" ability be met, allowing the Ant King to be instantly killed.

But how could such a thing be possible?

Unless he also knows the Hundred Forms of Guanyin, he won't be able to ignite even one spark, let alone six.

"Dealing with the King Ant is Netero's mission, why am I thinking about these things..."

Moro lowered his eyelids, quickly stopping his inexplicable thoughts. Instead of looking at the Ant King, he quickly scanned the palace.

He's probably planning to slip away, so he's a little worried about Nob's situation.

In the central courtyard.

The Ant King's attack missed, so he looked up at Moro, who was standing on the flying star.

He felt no fighting spirit at the moment, so he naturally understood Moro's next move.

Therefore, after regaining his footing, he did not launch a second attack on Moro outside the palace.

Under his gaze, devoid of any emotion, the hovering star, having ended its flight, immediately carried Moro away into the distance.

The ant king was not surprised by the result and turned to stride toward the palace.

He is now completely absorbed in military chess, to the point of neglecting sleep and meals.

It could be said that the arrival of wheat indirectly prevented the ant king from potentially gaining a surge in strength through excessive eating during this period.

A shooting star streaked across the dark sky.

Seeing that the Ant King and his personal guards showed no intention of giving chase, Moro did not jump down immediately.

The cooldown for Blitzkrieg is 30 seconds.

Therefore, he would never do anything risky before his Flash Strike was off cooldown.

"Give me a little more time, and I should be able to kill Xiao Yapuf."

Standing on the flying star, Moro thought to himself.

Although they missed an opportunity to kill Shayapov, the battle weakened Shayapov by a third.

In other words, as long as Netero arrives quickly enough...

We can still find an opportunity to deal with Xiao Yapufu at that time.

In contrast, preventing Neferpitou from treating the King Ant's arm is the most important task.

Moro's next plan was to use the star's locking ability to continuously interfere with Neferbitt's healing abilities with remote flying stars.

After leaving the palace, Moreau waited for Nob to arrive at the pre-arranged location.

Probably a few minutes later.

A four-dimensional apartment passage suddenly appeared on the ground in front of Moro.

Immediately afterwards, Nob's listless face emerged from the dark passage.

It seems that Nob confirmed Moro's current situation through Pum's crystal ball ability, so he wasn't surprised at all.

There was something strange in the way he looked at Moro.

Just a few minutes ago.

Nob and his teammates saw through the crystal ball that Morrow dared to test the Ant King.

But what shocked Nob even more was the result of Morrow's complete suppression of Shayapouf in the battle.

(End of this chapter)