Scorching Heat Beyond Touch X Long Needle Shatters Silver Armor

The first thing is the suffocating heat.

The air itself was violently distorted under the high temperature.

Meruem was able to hold out for a while thanks to his Nen Aura and strong physique.

But the primal fear that had been lurking deep within him before now made him extremely angry.

He is the Ant King, destined to become a king.

There should be no fear, and one should never back down because of fear.

"You are a threat—I will grant you your death, a fate you have earned yourself."

The Ant King spoke in a deep voice, the killing intent in his voice no longer concealed.

If someone makes you feel threatened or that death is imminent, then they should not remain in this world.

Even if he thought Kevin was very useful, it didn't matter.

"As compensation, I will devour you piece by piece, leaving you with everything you have."

At this point.

Meruem fully revealed his naked killing intent.

Let's begin this real battle, one where we kill the enemy.

Kevin did not respond to the Ant King's words.

He was enveloped in dazzling golden flames, which were essentially a part of the Phoenix within his body.

The Phoenix, a bird from the Dark Continent, possesses the ability to be reborn from the ashes.

But it is ultimately a type of bird, and for insects, this bird, which is almost at the top of the food chain, is a natural enemy.

Even Chimera Ant like the Ant King have this primal fear etched deep into their genes.

The reason Kevin hadn't used the Phoenix's power in any of his previous battles was simply because that power didn't belong to him.

Although the Phoenix nested in his body, it borrowed a portion of his mental energy to rest.

But in essence, the heat of this power is uncontrollable.

Uncontrolled heat, just like unleashing its full potential and generating high temperatures, can become a harmful force that harms both oneself and others.

But now, facing such an enemy, the greater the power, the better, even if it's out of control, it doesn't matter.

"Call out--!"

A sharp, piercing sound as it cuts through the air.

The golden Flowing Light tore through the air and hurtled towards Meruem in the blink of an eye.

Wow, so fast!

Meruem's eyes widened suddenly; he hadn't expected Kevin to increase his speed to this extent in an instant.

This is already a speed comparable to his.

A scorching heat rushed towards them, the intense heat seeming to instantly roast the Ant King's body into dust.

The golden flames, like a nimble whip, were bound, paused the moment they approached, revealed themselves, and then lashed out fiercely.

Caught completely off guard, the Ant King was struck head-on.

He could have dodged it, but his injuries slowed him down.

The scalding heat struck his chest squarely.

Along with that came a powerful force, and he was instantly sent flying.

He quickly adjusted his posture in mid-air, steadied himself somewhat awkwardly, and landed on the broken stone pillar.

Looking at my wounds.

The area was charred black, and there was a clear dent from being whipped out.

Pain!

Besides having taken the full force of Netero's final blow, he once again felt the sharp pain of his injury.

You cannot use your own body to collide with it.

Even he couldn't withstand such high temperatures.

To collide with something with one's own flesh is like touching a red-hot iron ball with an unguarded hand.

He immediately adjusted his strategy.

To launch an attack without touching the target.

The Nen ability he had previously Plunder from Netero resurfaced.

He relies on the extension of his Nen Aura to fight, although this will reduce his power.

He pushed his palms forward forcefully.

The golden Flowing Light that was rushing towards them was forcefully blasted away, thus preventing the opponent from getting closer.

Then, his body followed closely, and he pushed off forward with force.

He stretched out his fist in mid-air and swung it fiercely downwards.

The phantom of Plunder Chimera Ant swung its limbs, and the extended attack landed heavily on Kevin, slamming him to the ground.

Its power is certainly no match for Netero's Hundred-Type Guanyin, since it lacks his insights.

So he kept punching.

He kept swinging his fist wildly at the spot where Kevin had been hit.

Bang bang bang!

Wave after wave of reverberation, continuous and unending.

The entire Palace was shaking violently.

Based on this battle, it seems unlikely that this Palace will survive.

Only after attacking a hundred times did the Ant King stop, looking at the deep dent in the center where it had been hit.

Golden flames erupted once more, but Kevin acted as if nothing had happened, casually brushing off his silver scales and swaggering out.

Like water off a duck's back.

It's completely useless!

The Silver Scales on its body provided a more formidable defense than a tortoise shell.

The Ant King, who had never experienced such emotions since birth, felt a strong sense of pent-up frustration.

This feeling angered and frustrated him, intensifying his desire to kill Kevin.

Watching this scene from a distance, Netero was quite amused.

Enveloped in golden flames, he couldn't get close at all, but even with the Nen ability Plunder, he couldn't pose a threat to his opponent.

The entire battle stalled here.

Wrong.

Meruem keenly sensed something was amiss.

He was very confident in his eyesight; that high temperature, that heat, and the golden flames were all designed to deplete the opponent's spiritual energy.

Moreover, the consumption is definitely not low.

Even if Kevin had previously said that his strength was enough to wear him down to death, it shouldn't have been such a waste.

The golden flames significantly increased the opponent's threat level and greatly enhanced their speed.

However, the speed of use and the ability to react are two completely different things.

Although Kevin was faster, his reaction time was clearly not keeping up.

When the opponent rushed towards him earlier, he made a noticeable pause before launching his attack.

That pause was the time it took him to react.

He cannot launch a smooth attack at high speed because his reaction speed cannot keep up with his movement speed.

His speed was only barely comparable to his own, thanks to the golden flames.

He himself was only hit by the opponent in that brief moment because he was seriously injured.

Once they realized what was happening, they easily created distance, making it impossible for the opponent to engage in close combat, no matter how fast they were.

But that's all.

The other party couldn't do anything to him anyway, and similarly, as long as the silver scales were attached to his body, he couldn't do anything to the other party either.

What is the significance of those golden flames?

Does this unnecessarily increase consumption?

Those silver scales must have a weakness.

First, blunt force and impact are ineffective.

Faced with an extremely solid object, like a tortoise shell.

Therefore, blunt force and impact are absolutely useful.

But the opponent's scales, like the skin of the body, are soft and very resilient.

Based on the feel of my previous attacks, I'm more likely to spread my attacks from one place to all directions.

It ensures that every part of the body bears the damage, and also reduces the amount of damage received to some extent.

With the Ant King's keen eyesight, he saw through the reason why Kevin's scales were so strong during their brief exchange.

So unless his strength is great enough to smash Kevin to pieces with one punch, the damage from his attacks will be spread out and reduced.

But clearly, no matter what he did, his strength couldn't possibly reach such an exaggerated level.

So it's Sharp Strike?

No, this kind of soft armor-like structure should also be highly resistant to this.

Thrust?

Focus your sharp attack on a single point, breaking through it in the instant before it can disperse its force.

Is it possible?

Even the slightest injury is a breakthrough; even the loss of a single scale is a breakthrough point.

Once you realize this, then you must act on it.

And indeed, if he wanted to do that, the first thing he would have to face was the scorching flames that enveloped him, flames that stubbornly resisted his attacks.

The intense heat over his body was so intense that even if Kevin couldn't react in time, he would still be burned if he touched the flames.

After all, the temperature is constant, and he can't possibly attack during a break in the high temperature.

So, is this its hidden purpose?

The true weakness is hidden within seemingly ferocious attacks.

He kept analyzing the situation and concluded that this was the most likely scenario.

While Meruem was deep in thought, his external activities continued unabated.

He learned from Netero's method, using this extended attack to continuously widen the distance between himself and Kevin.

That's all.

The battle between the two actually turned into a long tug-of-war.

One tries to get closer, the other tries to get away.

It kept pulling and tugging like that.

It wasn't until Kevin frowned and noticed something was wrong that things started to go wrong.

The Ant King's tail has actually grown back?

However, with each powerful attack, the Ant King would even bleed from the corner of its mouth due to the recoil from its own force.

It can't be because the Ant King abandoned his arrogance and started deceiving during the battle, can it?

Even in the midst of such a battle, Kevin was not so oblivious as to not be able to see his opponent's condition.

The Ant King was still seriously injured at this time.

However, he focused his physical recovery on his tail.

The previously severed tail has recovered, and the needle-like sharp part has also grown back.

Are you curious?

Meruem asked, his tail swaying dangerously behind him, its needle-like tip pointing directly at Kevin.

Before Kevin could reply, Meruem revealed a sinister, murderous grin.

"Now, I'm going to remove your shell."

The pent-up frustration in my body seemed to have been released.

His body suddenly lunged forward, and the afterimage behind him was fully revealed.

Although this Nen ability was obtained from Netero, its usage is completely different from Netero's.

Because there was no gratitude, no will, this was not some invisible attack.

If you use "Condensation" in battle, you can vaguely see it.

With a sudden thrust of his arms forward, the extended Nen Aura attack struck Kevin heavily, slamming him violently to the ground.

Meanwhile, the Ant King nimbly leaped into the air and waved his hands repeatedly at Kevin below.

One palm after another pressed down fiercely.

A dense barrage of palm strikes pressed down on Kevin, rendering him unable to move, like a torrential downpour.

However, it did not cause any damage to it at all, only creating this kind of suppression effect.

With each strike, the Ant King's body began to fall, getting closer and closer to Kevin.

From a distance, Netero witnessed the entire event from an observer's perspective.

He roughly understood what the Ant King wanted to do.

What's the point of this?

He didn't understand.

Could it be that the Ant King also learned something new?

While under suppression, the golden flames on Kevin's body were temporarily dispersed.

After all, that thing was also a solid made of Nen Aura.

Without the golden flames, the high temperature still exists, but it's not enough to burn a limb the instant it touches.

The Ant King's body suddenly plummeted downwards.

The palm continued to slap, but this time it had landed in the right spot, and the tail, which had been gathering power for a long time, thrust forward like lightning without hesitation.

He did not choose the fatal spot.

The sharp, needle-like tip of the tail struck Kevin directly in the shoulder.

"Snap!"

The scales are broken!

Although it's just a tiny scale, or even just a corner of a scale.

But it's broken there!

The instant it struck, without the suppression of the palm strike, flames immediately enveloped it.

But having already hit her, Meruem, who had retracted her tail, immediately created distance.

Kevin stood up.

Frowning, he looked at his left shoulder in the rekindled golden flames.

A scale, after being broken, has a tiny gap of about millimeters in size.

Hahahaha!

In the distance, Meruem let out a hearty, cathartic laugh.

"Human, your shell is about to be completely stripped away. I, the King, will grant you your last words before you die."

In response to Meruem's words, Kevin simply stretched out his finger and nonchalantly picked at the notch.

"It's just such a small opening, you don't think it's enough to kill me, do you?"

Meruem's voice, however, calmed down, carrying a cold sarcasm.

"You humans are really stubborn."

Whether it's Netero or Kevin in front of him.

Monsters like the Armor Piercing Ant King, driven by their extreme rage and will, possess similar abilities during battle.

This is something Kevin clearly sensed.

An unprecedented sense of frustration, a frantic obsession with breaking through the armor, and a firm belief that the sharp point on his tail could achieve such an effect.

When these three elements are combined, the rudimentary form of Nen ability emerges.

But the Ant King is a monster with such a special talent.

This Nen ability naturally produced an effect.

He reasoned that the sharp point on his tail was absolutely capable of piercing the scales, a conclusion reinforced by subconscious limitations and his own strength.

Therefore, the sharp point on the tail has the effect of Armor Piercing.

Talent, capacity, will, belief.

The Ant King doesn't lack these things.

Therefore, he temporarily created this Nen ability and limited its use to the sharp part of his tail.

His talent was fully revealed when the situation in the battle truly put pressure on the Ant King.

"To use stubborn words as one's last words is utterly pathetic."

After saying this, the Ant King gave no more chances and charged forward.

They resorted to the same old trick.

They are even more skilled than before.

That's the kind of person he is.

Each strike becomes more skillful than the last.

Each movement is more efficient than the last.

That's just how he is, a monster-like existence.

Use the extended attack to disperse the flames.

Divide the time multiple times to create enough time for yourself.

He then closed the distance during this time, gathered power in his tail, and unleashed a fatal blow.

Pierce a portion of the scales.

The Ant King is still seriously injured, so he can only use this tedious and laborious method, taking it one step at a time.

Kevin had absolutely no effective means of dealing with the situation.

Just like when he saw through Netero's weakness, even after hitting him, Netero still couldn't fill the gaps in his movements and techniques in a short time.

That's human nature.

Therefore, Chimera Ant, through evolution, will inevitably surpass humans as a species.

The scales on Kevin's body began to peel off.

Several pieces have already peeled off from the shoulder.

A notch about the size of a finger has already appeared.

The tail tip protrudes once again.

This time, the sharp tail needle pierced directly through the notch and embedded itself in the flesh.

Kevin frowned and covered his bleeding wound.

Meruem quickly created distance.

Its face was filled with unrestrained laughter, and its tail was raised, with bits of flesh and blood still stuck to the tip.

Without hesitation, he stuck out his lips and licked it, eating the blood and flesh on it.

"Hahaha! How delicious!"

Ever since he ate Netero's flesh and blood, Meruem had developed a taste for it.

He craved the flesh and blood of such powerful humans with ever-growing greed.

With just a little bit, he tasted Kevin's vibrant and delicious flavor.

I want to eat it all.

The surging vitality within his flesh and blood made his cells greedy.

That's a completely different taste from Netero.

But they are equally delicious.

"There is no need to fear, I will digest everything about you, thank me for my kindness."

The Ant King spoke, and launched another attack.

He was getting impatient.

This time, it will be fatal!

Netero stood at a distance, his brow furrowed.

Kevin frowned deeply as the scales on his body peeled off.

That was almost the beginning of failure.

Did this kid really not hold back?

Could it be that golden flame we just saw?

But what's the point of hiding that?

That was a force that was inherently uncontrollable.

Meruem drew close once more.

They used the same trick again and extinguished the flames.

This time, the target is the heart.

It starts with peeling off the scales from the heart.

Little by little.

Kevin seemed helpless, like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

Until, suddenly, he made a move while under pressure!

It only takes a blink of an eye.

Kevin's skin suddenly turned red and burning hot, like a boiled shrimp!

With arms extended in a stabbing motion, it thrusts forward at speeds beyond the reach of sight.

They were so fast that the Ant King couldn't even react!

And at such a close distance, the high temperature and flames suddenly disappeared at that moment.

The fingers precisely touched various parts of his body.

There was no pain as expected.

But there are other things.

"What's this?"

Blessing