Battles on All Sides

P.S.: Today's update ╭(╯ε╰)╮ Hand over your votes-------!--

"Oh ho ho ho, I never expected us to meet again like this." Netero still spoke in that carefree tone upon seeing Jed, as if he were chatting with an old friend. Jed had indeed been his friend—his closest friend, once.

"Hmph, you know? I've wanted to see you for a long time, because I've been dying to tear you to pieces." Jed spoke equally casually, despite the bone-chilling words.

"Do you really hate me that much?"

"Hate you? No, what I hate is the entire Hunter Association. It's filled with greed, currying favor with those in power in the major nations while utterly disregarding the lives of ordinary people. Everything it does is for selfish gain. An organization like that would be better off disappearing sooner rather than later."

"So that's why you did this? You took control of Heaven's Arena and used the entire audience as hostages to threaten us. What exactly is your purpose?" Netero's smile gradually vanished. The Jed before him was no longer the Jed he had once known. The old Jed might have done things in underhanded ways at times, but he would never have stooped so low as to threaten others with ordinary people's lives.

"Of course it's to see you, then capture you and use you to force the Hunter Association to make the Dark Notebook public! Let the world see your ugly, dark side! Let the world see exactly what you've done!" Jed grinned, madness gleaming in his black eyes with their golden pupils.

"When all was said and done, you were merely satisfying your own selfish desires. Aren't you doing the very same thing now? You're a Hunter too, doing exactly what the Hunters you despise do. Besides, do you really think the Association would agree to reveal the Dark Notebook just because you held me hostage? That thing was sealed away, along with the you from back then." There was a trace of self-mockery in Netero's words. Was his life really that valuable? Would the Hunter Association and the various nations truly expose the Dark Notebook, which recorded the history of their dark dealings, for his sake? What a joke. How could that be possible? Those people would do anything to conceal their crimes. Besides, he was not that important. They did not care who became Chairman of the Hunter Association, so long as that person did not oppose them. Otherwise, he would not have had a "Rose" implanted here. At that moment, Netero touched his chest, where a deadly weapon was buried—Poor Man's Rose.

"You really are as annoyingly long-winded as ever. I'm definitely going to teach you a harsh lesson, Netero." Jed leaped into the air first and charged at Netero. His speed and power were astonishing. As an Enhancement Type, martial arts truly were his strongest weapon.

"Teach me a lesson? That depends on whether you have what it takes. Let's continue that battle that never had a victor! You couldn't beat me decades ago, and you still won't be able to beat me now." Netero reacted at the exact instant Jed attacked. If one ignored his face, Netero's body was as strong as that of a man in his prime.

As their battle began, the entire building shook from the force spilling over from their clash. Was this the legendary building quake?

Hunter Association Chairman VS Dark Shadow Leader

"That Nen... is it the Chairman?! Who is he fighting? How could someone possess such tremendous power? Unbelievable." At the same time, every Nen User in Heaven's Arena sensed the two powerful, destructive auras.

"Saving the hostages comes first. Chairman Netero will definitely win! He's an absurdly powerful monster who's lived for countless years!" Although Morel was deeply worried about Netero's safety, he said something entirely different aloud. He could not afford to lose his composure now.

"Watch out!" Sensing something suddenly, Morel held his enormous smoking pipe horizontally before him. It blocked a massive blue fireball hurtling toward them head-on, though the impact forced Morel back half a step.

"Well, well, look what I found. Hunters." A lazy yet arrogant voice sounded from ahead of them.

"Who's there?" The four Hunters immediately went on guard. Judging by that earlier attack, their opponent was no weakling.

"You came to our territory, and you're asking who I am? What a joke. Don't you think so, Lord Aureole?" Evil Spirit, with his blue Mohawk, stepped out from the shadows. Beside him stood a monster with a lion's head, dressed in casual clothes. One of the Dark Shadow Three Giants—Evil Spirit—and the trio of Squad Leaders—Aureole—had arrived.

Whether it was a fated confrontation or something else, Aureole, who had died at Morel's hands in the original story, faced him once again in the battle for Heaven's Arena. This time, however, Aureole might not die. His strength was now more than twice what it had once been.

"Chimera Ants! How is that possible? How could there be Chimera Ants here?" Morel's eyes widened in shock. He had initially thought there were only the three people listed in the intelligence reports. Though they were not weak, the group on his side should have had no trouble taking them down, which was why he had allowed Yin Hu to leave. Whether Yin Hu stayed or not made little difference; the rest of them could handle it. But he had never imagined Chimera Ants would appear here. Morel, who had fought Chimera Ants many times, knew clearly that while he was not weak, he might not gain any advantage in a direct confrontation with a monster at the Squad Leader level. Worse, the situation was unclear. Jed had actually allied himself with Chimera Ants. Whether enemies above the Squad Leader level were also here remained unknown. This was truly troublesome. Even someone with Knuckle's level of spatial escape ability had gone in and never returned when investigating the Ant King's palace. Their side knew virtually nothing about the enemy. How many Squad Leaders had come? Was the Ant King here as well? No, he had to get this information out.

"Morel, what exactly is that monster? It surprised you this much—was it an enemy from the past?" The Two-Star Bounty Hunter immediately noticed Morel's unusual reaction and asked.

"You all know that Chairman Netero was injured, right?" Morel pondered for a moment before deciding to tell them. Although the upper ranks knew about the Chimera Ants, none of them possessed intelligence as complete as his.

"You mean the Chairman's arm being broken? Don't tell me you're saying that guy did it? Impossible. He feels strong, but he's definitely nowhere near Chairman Netero's level." The Gourmet Hunter from the secondary building spoke up. Though Aureole had grown much stronger, there was still a vast gap between him and Netero.

"Not that guy—the King of their race. You know about the Chimera Ants, right? That race mentioned on television and in the Association's documents." Morel continued.

"The recent major incident with magical beasts eating people? Was that caused by these Chimera Ants?" The muscular man seemed to recall something.

"This wasn't some magical beast incident. The Chimera Ants are a race from the Dark Continent. A few months ago, they occupied NGL and gave birth to an incredibly terrifying monster—the King of their race. Chairman Netero was injured because their Ant King attacked him. That Ant King only needed one move. The only reason we came back alive was because he had no intention of killing us." Morel revealed a fact that shocked all three Star Hunters.

"How is that possible? How could the Chairman fail to withstand even a single move from his opponent?"

"So that was what happened? It's truly hard to believe." The Two-Star Bounty Hunter spoke slowly. Chairman Netero, a symbol of invincibility, had actually been defeated. Was there anything harder to accept than that? Then the Bounty Hunter seemed to remember something, and his face changed drastically.

"Don't tell me that Ant King is here too?"

"That's exactly what I'm worried about. If the Ant King is here, we probably don't stand even the slightest chance of winning." Morel said with difficulty.

"You've been whispering among yourselves this whole time. What are you whispering about? Don't worry, the King isn't here. Even if he were, he wouldn't deign to act against weaklings like you. We Squad Leaders are enough." Aureole sounded somewhat impatient. The King's orders were to kill everyone who had invaded this building. Earlier, he had sensed a fairly strong person encounter Zazan. If he ate a delicacy of that caliber, his strength should increase further.

The three Squad Leaders did not care about Meruem's so-called rule against eating humans. As long as they were not discovered, it would be fine.

"Good, that guy isn't here. Then these Chimera Ants who joined Jed should be the ones that scattered across various places earlier. Reports said those guys had already been wiped out, but I didn't expect a few to remain here. No, it's also possible that they were acting on the Ant King's orders. But if the Ant King isn't here, why send these Squad Leaders here to die? He should know these Squad Leaders are no match for the Chairman at all. Or does he believe Jed can defeat the Chairman? Hmm, Jed's strength really isn't inferior to the Chairman's. That's possible." Based on the intelligence at hand, Morel quickly reached several conclusions, and they were already very close to the truth.

"Evil Spirit, you handle one. Leave the other three to me." Aureole spoke confidently. His strength had increased greatly, and he had not yet had a proper fight. He would let these humans witness Lord Aureole's power. Tremble, humans! Though the lessons Meruem and Jed had given him had tempered his excessive confidence somewhat, he still underestimated these humans, who had originally been weaker than him. Yet facing three Star Hunters at once, unless they were utter frauds, even a powerful member of the Zodiac Twelve would not dare make such arrogant claims.

As for the three Squad Leaders, they had followed Jed all along due to Meruem's orders. At first, the Dark Shadow Three Giants and the three Squad Leaders had disliked each other on sight. But after the Hunters' extermination campaign, worship of the strong had also become a guiding principle for the Dark Shadow Tribe. Thus, the relationship between the Squad Leaders and the Three Giants gradually eased. Among them, Aureole and Evil Spirit got along best. The reason was simple: Evil Spirit was straightforward and easy to fool.