Tenfold Scissors Shatter the Barrier, the Prince Appears

The shaking stopped.

The violent twisting and roaring inside the chest cavity cut off abruptly, as though an invisible hand had seized it by the throat.

The walls of flesh no longer trembled.

The bloody wind inside the cavity slowly died down. Only the five companions' ragged breathing echoed through the vast beast's body.

Gon pushed himself up from the ground, his arms still numb. That last tremor had been terrifying. It felt as though something outside had punched the giant elephant with all its might, warping even the space inside its body.

"How is it?" Killua shook out his numb wrist, his catlike eyes sweeping the chamber. "Is this thing... dead?"

Pale blue scanning light shone from Genos's eyes as data raced across his vision.

A few seconds later, he spoke, disbelief edging into his voice.

"Vital signs intact. Heartbeat weak. Brain waves deeply suppressed."

"It isn't dead."

"It's just... unconscious."

Silence fell over them.

Kurapika's chain trembled faintly. Leorio opened his mouth, but no words came out.

A level-forty-eight Ancient Beast.

Someone had knocked it unconscious with one punch?

"You've got to be kidding..." Leorio swallowed hard. "What level of monster is that guy out there?"

No one answered.

The answer was too frightening. The strength needed to punch a beast of this level into a paralyzed stupor lay beyond anything they could comprehend.

Gon took a deep breath and forced down his shock.

This was no time to dwell on it.

He raised his head and fixed his gaze once more on the Gem Meat floating at the center of the chest cavity.

The translucent meat glowed softly in the dim chamber. Its facets looked like perfectly cut gems, refracting streams of rainbow light. Even from a distance, he could feel the immense life energy within it.