Prophecy X The Final Battle Begins
It was nearing midnight.
All was silent, save for the whispering mountain wind in the forest, which carried with it a chilly, desolate feeling.
Apart from the necessary sentry patrols, everyone in the camp was already fast asleep in their tents, making the most of every minute to conserve their energy.
A great battle could break out at any moment without warning, and they must maintain abundant energy and peak Nen Aura level at critical moments to deal with those terrifyingly powerful enemies.
However, Kevin was unusually absent today and did not return to his tent to rest.
In this tense moment when a great battle was imminent and the air seemed to freeze, he remained alone, sitting silently on the edge of the cold, steep cliff, as if blending into the deep night.
Their gaze was fixed on the blurry outline of the Royal Palace in the distance, as if waiting for some signal.
Time slipped away silently.
Until a bright, full moon hung high in the dark sky, its cool, watery moonlight poured down, coating the entire mountain forest with a layer of silver frost.
"Beep beep----"
His cell phone suddenly emitted two short, clear beeps, abruptly breaking the silence of the night.
Kevin seemed to snap out of his long reverie, his chest rising and falling slightly as he exhaled a deep breath.
He took his phone out of his pocket, the screen glowing softly, illuminating his sharply defined profile.
The information displayed on the screen was concise, consisting of only a few lines of text.
Arranged in a unique format—it comes from the crucial Prophecy Poem of Nion Nosra.
Faced with the impending ultimate battle that would determine the lives of countless people, even a cautious Kevin could not afford to overlook the strategic value of Nion's almost supernatural prophetic abilities.
This Prophecy Poem is one of his true trump cards, hidden deep within his heart.
It's past midnight.
Today is the beginning of a new month.
According to the pattern of Prophecy Poem, this decisive battle will surely come to a close within this first week.
With the poems from the following three weeks serving as a benchmark and a buffer against risk, the information obtained this time should be detailed enough to provide him with crucial guidance.
Kevin held his breath, carefully examining each word of the obscure verses on his phone screen that seemed to contain the trajectory of fate.
Analyzing and interpreting Prophecy Poem is already second nature to Kevin, who is extremely experienced.
Moreover, to ensure the battle scenario was as detailed and thorough as possible, he made an exception this time by providing Nion with crucial information on six individuals for her prediction:
He himself, Melusina, Netero, Morel, Buhaci, Kite.
Representatives of the core members of each combat team are included in the prophecy to ensure that key moments of the entire operational plan are reflected in the Prophecy Poem.
Furthermore, those members who have not yet participated in this prophecy can serve as a "safety net" option for subsequent supplementary prophecies if necessary.
If the first round of Prophecy Poem reveals any ominous signs or points to a fatal future, then the entire battle plan will need to be adjusted accordingly immediately.
When implementing the revised plan, it is necessary to have the core members who have not yet made Prophecy Poem make another round of prophecies.
Based on Kevin's profound experience using Nion's abilities multiple times in the past.
Generally speaking, this cross-verification of Prophecy Poem in two rounds can almost completely avoid most of the dangerous traps in the plan that could lead to death.
This can at least reduce the risk of death to a minimum and keep it under control.
Kevin rarely uses such a large-scale prophetic resource to conduct such a deep dive into fate for a single event—this can be said to be the first time in his life.
The deeper his understanding of the origins of the Nen ability system, the clearer he became of the power and unpredictability of prophetic abilities.
And the heavy, unseen costs that may be lurking behind it.
Such costs often accumulate and pile up silently and imperceptibly.
Therefore, the more significant the event, the more restrained Kevin becomes in using the power of prophecy, and he has almost completely shelved it for the past two years.
At this moment, he had carefully analyzed the part of the Prophecy Poem that concerned him.
Kevin nodded knowingly and slowly, his tense lips finally seeming to relax.
The content of his Prophecy Poem provided very clear information.
The preceding paragraphs proclaim victory, while the following paragraphs symbolize Honor.
The combined meaning is self-evident.
After reading all the poems related to himself, Kevin turned to the next one.
The next poem is Melusina's Prophecy Poem.
Kevin's brow furrowed slightly when his gaze fell upon the contents of Melusina's Prophecy Poem.
It doesn't foreshadow Melusina's failure or injury, but rather the imagery and metaphors expressed in the poem seem somewhat strange.
It does not refer to a definite victory or joy.
"Is it a hidden danger?"
Kevin muttered to himself, his fingertips unconsciously tracing the cold edge of his phone.
The poem seems to express that Melusina will eventually win, but beneath the glory of this victory, the seeds of some unknown hidden dangers are quietly sown.
"It seems we need to pay special attention to this."
Kevin immediately became vigilant, etching this point firmly into his mind.
A few days later.
"Beep beep."
Almost at the same moment, a communication notification sound came from Morel's cell phone inside his tent in the distance.
When he opened his heavy, sturdy, specially made mobile phone and saw the brief message on the screen...
His rugged face instantly turned incredibly serious.
"What's wrong? Is it information about Killua and his men? Have they reached the outer rendezvous point?"
Nobu habitually adjusted his glasses and asked in a flat voice.
The main reason why Morel's two apprentices were not in the Extermination Team was that, although their abilities were previously...
The clearing phase is very suitable for dealing with swarms of Chimeric Ant soldiers.
However, when the plan evolved into a siege targeting the core of the Royal Palace, their capabilities proved somewhat inadequate and ill-suited to the task.
Simply put, these two are far from being strong enough to face the terrifying existence of the Royal Guards they are about to confront.
After Morel had a deep understanding of and personally experienced the strength of the guards, he realized with absolute certainty that his two disciples were simply not qualified to participate in a battle of this level.
Forcing your way in will only lead to your death.
While their Nen ability can indeed be useful in specific situations, their significance is greatly diminished in a tough battle that requires head-on confrontation and direct breakthrough.
Because they will be facing an absolute gap in strength.
Therefore, both of them were previously assigned to delay the nearest civilian team that had been ordered to join the campaign, thus diverting the pressure.
According to the plan, they should be heading towards the Royal Palace now, but their purpose is not to participate in the main attack, but to provide support and clean up the surrounding area.
To everyone's surprise, Morel slammed his phone shut and shook his head vigorously.
"No, it's a notification from the Chairman." His voice was low and serious.
Upon hearing this, Nobu's already pale face instantly tightened.
"How long?" Nobu's voice carried a barely perceptible urgency.
"Tonight, at midnight. The operation begins."
Morel spoke clearly, word by word.
The brief instruction spread rapidly, like a pebble thrown into a calm lake.
The emergency assembly notice was quickly relayed through communications, waking the camp from its slumber like a powder keg with its fuse lit.
With tense yet determined expressions, everyone quickly assembled once again in the open space in the center of the camp.
"Tonight at midnight is the final attack time agreed upon by the Chairman!"
Morel's eyes blazed as he scanned the faces, some young, some weathered, and his voice boomed with power, "Everyone, please make your final preparations! The decisive battle is just around the corner!"
The crowd responded in unison, creating a heavy and somber atmosphere.
All necessary tactical simulations, material preparations, and capability adjustments have been completed; now all that remains is to await that decisive moment.
In these final hours, time seemed to stretch out, each minute and second filled with a suffocating sense of length, silently testing everyone's nerves.
11:55
Above the Royal Palace, at the top of the clouds.
A gigantic winged monster resembling an oriental dragon silently sliced through the cold air.
It hovered above the thick clouds, its enormous body appearing and disappearing in the moonlight, like a mythical creature descending to earth, with the Royal Palace directly below it, resembling a lurking behemoth.
On the broad back of this majestic Nen Beast, two rather old men stood facing the wind.
We're almost there.
One of the elderly men, with a long beard and a shrewd face, said in a deep voice.
"Um.
The one who responded to him was Netero, the Chairman the Hunter Association.
He simply responded, but his gaze, like a sharp probe, pierced through the churning sea of clouds below, locking firmly onto the somber Palace, his eyes burning with a long-dormant Fighting Spirit.
Zeno Zoldyck Family, Ki's grandfather, is still active in the assassin world, but he has significantly reduced the frequency of accepting missions.
This time, he was invited by Netero with a large sum of money to come and provide assistance.
Moreover, the assistance requested was not his primary profession of "assassination," but rather something outside of killing—using his unique Nen ability for battlefield control and surprise attack support.
Zeno watched Netero beside him, feeling the long-lost, restrained yet powerful aura emanating from the other, like Volcano about to erupt, and his heart couldn't help but stir.
This old man's aura—it's been a long time since I've seen it.
He remained silent for a while, but more than that, he sighed with unspeakable emotion.
How old is Netero?
He is at least over 100 years old.
Even when Zeno himself was just a tiny baby, Netero already looked like a venerable old man.
Now he himself is old and gray-haired, but Netero still maintains the appearance of an old man with white hair and a youthful face.
But the undisguised aura of peak power emanating from Netero at this moment was something I hadn't felt in a long time.
Only at such close range can one exclaim without hesitation:
Netero, he's a monster beyond reason.
It's hard to imagine how he could maintain such a near-peak fighting condition for so many years.
It's even harder to imagine what kind of unparalleled, domineering presence he must have had when he was truly young, in his golden age when his fighting prowess was at its peak.
A few minutes later.
The Flying Dragon hovered precisely in the designated airspace directly above the Royal Palace.
"We've arrived." Zeno's voice was calm and even.
The moment the words left their mouths, the two of them, without the slightest hesitation, leaped off the dragon's back like two arrows released from a bow!
A surge of immense Nen Aura erupted forth, completely enveloping their bodies. Like two giant Nen Aura bombs falling from the sky, they tore through the air and plummeted towards the sparsely lit Royal Palace below with a terrifying whistling sound!
Below.
The spacious central square in front of the Royal Palace.
Neferpitou sat quietly atop the cold top of the tallest stone tower, like a stone sculpture, its tail gently patting the stone surface intermittently.
Suddenly, her amber cat-like eyes, which gleamed eerily in the darkness, widened sharply.
It was as if they had caught an extremely faint, indescribable disturbance in the air.
She suddenly raised her head, her sharp gaze piercing through the darkness, locking onto the deep night sky above.
She didn't see the enemy with her naked eye, nor did she sense any clear intruder's presence using her Nen Aura abilities.
But she was absolutely certain that she "senses" it—a deep-seated, instinctive sense of crisis stemming from the apex predator.
Her eyes were fixed intently on the seemingly empty sky, her pupils contracted to slits, and her entire body tensed subtly, like a wildcat on high alert, sensing a deadly threat.
"Enemy."
Neferpitou forced out a low syllable from deep in his throat, his tone resolute.
A frantic, almost beast-like intuition, emanating from the depths of my blood, was issuing a warning.
Although there was no concrete evidence, she was convinced that the enemy had arrived.
Has the final battle finally begun?
Humanity is about to launch a full-scale attack!
Moreover, it came from the sky!
Almost instinctively, Neferpitou's enormous "circle," large enough to cover the entire Royal Palace and surrounding area...
It suddenly began to contract wildly inward.
The strands of Nen Aura that were originally evenly distributed like a spider web were now being pulled by an invisible giant hand, converging and compressing at an astonishing speed toward the center point—her own location.
"Boom!"
It was as if an invisible explosion resounded at the level of Nen Aura.
All the concentrated Nen, like the Volcano I remember just erupting, or a torrent of Nen Aura flowing upstream, burst violently into the deep night sky above.
In an instant, it condensed into a massive pillar of Nen Aura with an astonishing diameter that stretched to the heavens and the earth.
This concentrated and compressed Nen Aura caused its detection range and penetrating power to surge instantly, sweeping across the sky like a searchlight.
If Melusina or someone familiar with Kevin's fighting style were present at this moment, they would definitely be shocked immediately.
This technique of compressing the "circle" to increase the detection range is exactly the same as Kevin's usual method.
And that is indeed the case.
This was an ability that Neferpitou instantly grasped and mastered after witnessing Kevin's battle while they were still in the Chimeric Ant nest, thanks to his amazing talent.
For someone like her, who is naturally gifted at handling irregular "circles," mastering this skill is almost as natural as breathing.