Squad Leader vs. the Troupe (Second Update)

PS: As promised, here's the second update. Hand over those recommendations~!

That's all.

"Ooh, interesting, interesting! Still so weak, but who would've thought Zazan could transform like that! (°?°)? But she turned out so ugly." Cheetu, who had nearly fallen asleep watching the two fight after finishing his popcorn, perked up when Zazan began transforming. "Too bad that while her body has grown stronger, her Nen hasn't changed much. She can't defeat that Shorty like this. That Shorty hasn't even used his unique Nen yet. What could it be? I'm really curious! (｀?ω?′)"

"She's full of openings." The very moment Zazan finished transforming was also Feitan's best chance to launch an attack. As a top-class assassin, Feitan naturally would not let such an opportunity slip by.

"I won't kindly let this chance pass." Feitan circled behind Zazan again. This time, he held a sharp dagger in his hand. As long as he brought it down on Zazan's head, even her hardened body would not be able to block an attack infused with Nen.

But ideals were beautiful. Reality, however...

It wasn't just Zazan's body that had changed. Her reflexes had also improved tremendously. Furthermore, Chimera Ants had an exceptionally sharp sense for Nen. Zazan had completely grasped Feitan's movements. All she had to do now was wait for him to get a little closer before easily killing him.

"!!!" However, Feitan's five senses were also extremely sharp. At the same instant, he sensed that something was wrong and swiftly retreated.

"Hmph, don't think I'll let you off so easily." Zazan swung a palm fiercely toward Feitan. Substantial Nen rapidly struck Feitan while he was still in midair, hitting him with a powerful Nen blast.

"Feitan wanted to attack her using Ko, but it unexpectedly became an opening," Phinks said. Since Zazan transformed, every member of the Troupe had become serious. It wasn't just Feitan—any one of them would be injured by an attack of that level.

"I didn't expect her to know how to use Nen. It seems this Queen isn't so simple after all," Shalnark analyzed.

"Cough, cough." Feitan got up from the ground, but the attack had dealt heavy damage to his body. The clothes on his upper body had been completely destroyed, and Fresh Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. He must have suffered serious internal injuries.

"Hehehe, you think that was an opening? Let me tell you, this form of mine has no openings at all." Zazan laughed smugly. In her eyes, once she had transformed into this form, victory was already in her grasp.

"Say, aren't we going to help him?" Kalluto, sensing that the opponent's strength was no longer something he could handle, asked the others.

"Hm? Why would we?" Phinks said. "Didn't I say so? This is a competition. If Feitan gets knocked down, the next person goes up."

"Then who's next?" Shizuku asked. "We'll go by the order we arrived," Shalnark said. "Then that means me," Phinks said.

"Hold on, I took her down at the same time as you, didn't I?" Bonolenov said. "You idiot, I waited for you to finish fighting," Phinks said. "Well, well, let's decide it with a coin toss," Shalnark said.

This was the so-called spirit of Bushido? How boring. Still, the order was quickly decided. After Feitan was defeated, Bonolenov would go next, followed by Phinks.

At that moment, Feitan took a heavy hit from Zazan head-on, and his entire arm twisted at an unnatural angle.

"Hahaha, that hurt, didn't it? Feitan, want Bonolenov to take over for you?" Phinks began mocking him. After all, the closer the Troupe members were, the more they liked seeing each other suffer.

"Tch, damn it. Getting carried away, are you?" Feitan's eyes disappeared beneath his hair as Nen gathered around his entire body.

"!! Uh-oh! This kid's pulling out the big move. He really can't take a joke. Let's go, or we'll get caught up in it." Phinks directed that last sentence at Kalluto. The others had already started moving.

"?" Kalluto did not understand.

"Once that guy gets angry, he'll use his ability without caring about his surroundings." "Last time, I only wanted to take a look, but I almost got killed."

"Let's go. His ability has a wide attack range. If we get caught in this attack, we'll die," Phinks explained to Tek again.

"Ooh, that Shorty seems to be getting serious! What kind of ability will it be? I can't wait! (^?ω?^)" Cheetu displayed the intense curiosity of a feline. After all, leopards were also part of the cat family. Still, his confidence was as strong as ever.

Standing in the center, Feitan had somehow suddenly put on a strange outfit. It was unusual clothing marked by an inverted cross, like something from a cult.

"Nani? When did that Shorty change clothes?" These wild Squad Leaders were only beginners when it came to using Nen—or rather, they had merely learned Nen. Most of them could not even use Hatsu, a Nen technique.

"Still, this kid seems a lot stronger than before. Is it because of those clothes?" Seeing that Feitan did not move, Zazan made no unnecessary moves either. Yet once Feitan finished chanting that long incantation, Zazan's time would come. If she had been an experienced Nen User, she would either have fled or rushed forward long ago to interrupt Feitan.

"I return the pain to you." Feitan's chant was nearing its end. "Become scorching hot!!!" A ball of light the size of a basketball flew out from that strange outfit.

"Unforgivable one! Be scorched by the sun!" The ball of light erupted with tremendous light and heat as it rose into the air. The temperature was already close to that of the sun's surface.

"Ah!! So hot!!!" Zazan's body was burned the moment it came into contact with that searing light! No, more accurately, her entire body was as though it had caught fire. "My throat... I can't breathe."

"No, I have to run!" Zazan had completely lost any desire to continue fighting Feitan. She only wanted to escape that terrifying sphere of light. Unfortunately, Feitan would not let her leave so easily. No matter where Zazan tried to move, Feitan stayed close beside her, while that enormous ball of light relentlessly shone down on her. Every drop of fluid in Zazan's body rapidly evaporated. Before long, she would die of dehydration—or be dried into jerky.

"Ugh, so hot. Damn it! What a powerful technique! The King was right. Humans may look weak, but the Nen abilities they create are enough to kill us." Although he was still some distance away from the two, Feitan's "sun" had a terrifyingly wide area of effect. Cheetu happened to be within its attack range as well. "Oh dear, oh dear. If I don't act now, Zazan will be finished. This is the first task the King gave me. I don't want to mess it up." Cheetu charged toward Zazan, who was about to become dried meat, at extreme speed. He was so fast that even Feitan, who prided himself on speed, failed to react.

"Who's there?!" As Cheetu moved, Feitan sensed his Nen. Its strength was not much weaker than his own—perhaps Feitan's was even slightly inferior. When had Meteor City produced someone this strong? The earlier battle had made Feitan subconsciously assume that the ants basically could not use Nen. Since he was in Meteor City, it was reasonable for him to interpret Cheetu's Nen as belonging to a powerful Nen User born there. Yet he would never have imagined that its owner was actually an ant.

"Pfft." With a soft sound, the scorching "little sun" in the sky vanished.

"The fuel ran out? That makes no sense." Feitan stared at where the "little sun" had disappeared and muttered in confusion. "Wait, something's wrong. Someone like her couldn't possibly have been burned to ashes." Feitan stared fixedly at where Zazan had been, but that spot was now completely empty. "Someone rescued the Queen from under my attack? Could it be the owner of that Nen just now?" Feitan immediately assumed a defensive stance, using Ren to gather Nen around his body. This was the best form of all-around defense. Against someone with that kind of speed, Feitan was not confident he could kill them.

"Come out! I saw you!" Feitan shouted instinctively, but regretted it as soon as the words left his mouth. What kind of idiot would be baited out by such a line?

"Well, well, well ("▔□▔)/, I didn't expect to be discovered. I thought I'd hidden myself quite well~ Hey there, little brother~ Can you tell me how you found me?" Unexpectedly, there really was such an idiot. Cheetu, who had been hiding in the shadows, swaggered out with Zazan's body slung over his shoulder.

"." Feitan said nothing.

"Y-you idiot. He didn't discover you at all, and you actually believed his nonsense." Zazan spoke weakly. At this point, she probably only had half her life left.

"Eh~ (?Д?≡?д?)!? Is that how it was?" Cheetu wore a complete WTF expression.

"I didn't expect there to be another ant." Feitan was naturally not the only one to sense Cheetu's Nen. The remaining five members of the Troupe rushed over as soon as they noticed it.

"Did you come to save the Queen?" Shalnark was the first to speak as he looked at Cheetu.

"Queen? What Queen? Where is she?" Cheetu looked around curiously. He even thought the Chimera Ant Queen might not have died, or perhaps had somehow come back to life.

"Uh, isn't she the one on your shoulder?" Shalnark pointed at Zazan on Cheetu's shoulder.

"Σ(?д?;)" Cheetu first wore an expression that screamed what the hell, then burst out laughing. "Pfft, 2333333333, hahahaha! Y-you're saying she's the Queen?" Cheetu pointed at Zazan, then at Shalnark, laughing so hard he was practically about to roll around on the ground.

Meanwhile, the Troupe all wore the expressions of baffled onlookers. Shalnark even awkwardly scratched his cheek. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Hey, hey, Zazan, he says you're the Queen." Cheetu finally managed to stop laughing and patted Zazan on his shoulder. The only response he received was Zazan's weak groan. This was humiliating beyond belief. If Cheetu found out she had proclaimed herself Queen and then gotten beaten into this state, he would probably mock her for the rest of her life.

"Enough nonsense. Looks like you want to take that woman away?" Feitan, who already had a bad temper, finally exploded. He had already used his big move, yet the other party was completely unharmed. And because of that Scorpion Woman, he was now covered in injuries. Most importantly, they had been ignoring him from the very beginning. They were courting death.

"I don't really want to save her. We did work together before, though. But the King ordered me to save her and bring him back. So... please move aside." Cheetu said with an unconcerned expression.

"The King?" It seemed these ants had another extraordinary existence among them. The Troupe members were no fools, and they quickly picked up quite a bit of information from Idiot Leopard's words.

"You caused a huge mess in Meteor City, and now you want to take the main culprit away? Things aren't that cheap," said Phinks, whose temper was as explosive as gunpowder. Meteor City was home to Phinks and the rest of the Troupe, after all.

"Oh? (⊙o⊙) Oh? Then let's give it a try." Cheetu's eyes sharpened as well. There were many powerful people here. If he was careless, perhaps even he would be left behind.