Fall

PS: Can you guys not see the images I posted? Why can I see them myself? 00

"Have you lost your mind?" Jed-san shouted.

"No, he hasn't lost his mind. I'm afraid he's acting on the commission of those leaders." By now, Netero was gradually regaining his clarity, and with a little thought, he understood. His old friend Jed had likely been used by the Ant King—or perhaps even he himself was part of the scheme. First, he used Jed's thirst for revenge to stir up a massive commotion. Then, Netero was captured in a moment of carelessness, and Jed threatened the world: if the Dark Notebook wasn't made public, he would execute Netero. The leaders naturally refused to trade, but because of Jed's strength, they couldn't eliminate him either—after all, even Netero, the Chairman of the Hunter Association, had been taken down. When the leaders were in chaos, Meruem would appear at just the right moment. If he could eliminate Jed and resolve the crisis, the leaders would surely trust him. No, it probably wasn't just about eliminating Jed—Netero was on his kill list too. To the outside world, he'd just claim he arrived too late, that Jed broke his word and killed Netero first. Then, by feigning weakness, he'd ask the leaders for a little living space for the Chimera Ants, offering the Dark Continent's data as a bargaining chip. Those greedy leaders would likely agree—they'd been coveting the Dark Continent for ages. That way, the Hunter Association would have no excuse to openly attack them. And after Netero's death, only Morel would truly understand the horror of these monsters. Netero's earlier proposal to exterminate the Chimera Ants would probably be rejected. What a terrifyingly cunning mind. The only thing Netero couldn't figure out was: how was Meruem so certain that he would be captured by Jed?

If Meruem knew what Netero was thinking, he would have told him: he'd watched the anime, he knew what Jed's backup plan was, and that's why he set it up this way.

But unfortunately, no matter how sharp the scheme, it was just an insect's trick. It seemed he was going to die here tonight, no matter what. The only pity was for the ordinary people of this city. Ant King Meruem, tonight I'll show you the malice of humanity—something your ants can never withstand.

"You damn bastard, you dared to use me." Jed wasn't stupid; he quickly grasped Meruem's plan. He'd been used by this damn monster. Jed roared at Meruem in fury.

"There's no such thing as using or not using, is there? Even if I hadn't come to you, you were going to do this anyway, weren't you? The winner takes all, and the loser is nothing—it's that simple. Your goal is to kill Netero, and so is mine. How about this? Submit to me, and you can still kill Netero yourself." Jed's strength was impressive, and if possible, Meruem genuinely wanted to recruit him into his ranks. After all, the Chimera Ants still had too few high-level combatants. Counting them up, there were only himself, Pitou, Pouf, and Youpi. The Squad Leaders and the Anbu Twelve Stars were only decent—they couldn't serve as top-tier fighters.

"Don't even think about it, you damn monster!" Jed refused outright, and at this moment, his hatred for Meruem burned like fire. Meruem's idea was nice enough—if Jed would give up on publishing the Dark Notebook and abandon his revenge, even if only temporarily, since Meruem had no intention of being a lapdog for those leaders. But unfortunately, Jed had his pride, the pride of a martial artist. He could never bow to anyone, especially not to someone who had fooled and used him. He was no coward afraid of death.

"Ah, well, negotiations have broken down. Then I'll just have to kill you all." Meruem wore an expression of "I expected as much," then said casually. His confident tone made it sound like a trivial matter. And in truth, it was close to that. Against two injured people, if Meruem couldn't kill them, that would be the real miracle. Even if they weren't injured, Meruem could still take them both down. Of course, that was assuming there was no nuclear bomb involved.

"Are you kidding me? I won't let you have your way. Asura, connect me to the network—I want the whole world to see this live broadcast!" Jed gritted his teeth and glared at Meruem as he gave the order. Was this a last-ditch effort? Since you ruined my plan, I'll ruin yours.

But unfortunately, Jed received no reply from Asura.

"Asura! Did you hear my order? Asura! Damn it!" Jed shouted in rage.

At that moment, in the surveillance room of Heaven's Arena, Asura, one of Jed's Dark Shadow Three Giants, lay collapsed in a pool of blood. Beside him stood a man with wings sprouting from his back—Pouf, one of the Ant King's Royal Guards.

"Sorry, but to keep certain people from getting in the way, my loyal subordinate has already taken care of some matters. My apologies, Jed-san, your hopes have been dashed. I told you, today you all die." Meruem bared his gleaming white teeth and smiled at the two.

"Purgatory, release Netero now! Damn it! I never thought I'd choose to ally with you! But if we join forces, there's still a sliver of hope. Purgatory, I command you! Release Netero!" Seeing Meruem's movements, Jed had already lost his composure. Having fought Meruem before, he knew all too well how terrifying the enemy's strength was. Even if he were uninjured, let alone now, he'd have little chance of victory even at his peak. His only hope was to team up with Netero. Otherwise, there truly was no hope at all, because he understood that Meruem absolutely had the power to kill them.

But strangely, Purgatory, one of the Dark Shadow Three Giants, didn't undo the black chains upon hearing Jed's command. She just stared blankly at the ground.

"Purgatory! I command you to release Netero!" Thinking she hadn't heard him, Jed repeated the order.

Netero looked at Purgatory, then at Meruem, who stood nearby watching the show with amusement, and understood.

"Jed, don't bother. I'm afraid... this subordinate of yours has already—"

"Purgatory has betrayed you! Hahaha!" Before Netero could finish, Meruem cut him off.

"How is that possible? Why?" Jed's mental state was starting to crack.

"Because you have no idea what your subordinates really want! Do you think everyone only cares about revenge? What can you give them? Did you really bring them hope? No! You only brought them destruction. The Shadow Clan has only a few hundred members left. Instead of finding them a stable life to carry on their lineage, you've led them straight into the abyss. Do you really think everyone would follow you to their doom? Jed, don't treat everyone like fools! Maybe they want revenge too! Maybe they want to kill the enemies who destroyed their homes! But that's not all they want! Most of them just want a safe place to live in peace! They know they can't get revenge, and they know the most important thing is for their race to survive! Because I will bring them a world without suffering, without sorrow, without harm—a world where everyone is happy, peaceful, and equal!" Meruem's words struck Jed's heart like sharp swords.

"Does such a world really exist?" Netero murmured.

"You bastards all deserve to die! Don't forget, you can only follow me, because your lives are in my hands! You signed a contract with Resentment Aura, and now I'll make you traitors all die!" In his rage, Jed grabbed a handful of blue, life-filled flames and crushed them viciously. Those were the flames of the Shadow Clan members who had signed contracts with him—in other words, Jed held their lives in his grasp.

But even after crushing the flames, the shackles on Netero didn't loosen. And though Purgatory's life force diminished greatly the moment the flames were crushed, she didn't die.

"How is that possible? Why aren't you dead?"

"Too bad, Jed! First, let me thank you! The Shadow members who didn't betray you—you just killed them all yourself." Meruem spoke as if recounting something delightful, and indeed, it was. "The ones who betrayed you—or rather, the ones loyal to me—are perfectly fine. I would have had trouble breaking their contracts with you, but now you've done it all yourself. It hurt them a little, but it saved me a lot of time."

"Resentment Aura isn't something only you can use! I learned this level of technique after seeing it once. And look closely—though it seems similar, this isn't the Resentment Aura you bestowed!"

Jed followed Meruem's gaze. On Purgatory's head, a small, plump, golden-glowing bug had appeared, clinging to her scalp. The Resentment Aura on Purgatory had vanished, replaced by her own Nen. But as it gathered at her crown, the chubby bug masked its true nature.

"No! Damn it! I'll kill you, you bastard! Hundred Ghosts Curse—Rakshasa! " Jed's eyes had lost their pupils, now pitch black. Blinded by rage, he had completely lost his reason. His only thought was to kill Meruem.

"Don't, Jed! You're no match for him!" Netero shouted. He knew full well that Jed couldn't beat Meruem. If Jed could take down Purgatory and free him, the two of them might have a chance together. But Jed had chosen the stupidest path—fighting Meruem alone.

"Blinded by rage, huh? Hmph, then die. Let me show you one last time—my improved version of your Hundred Ghosts Curse."

"Hyakki Yagyō—Lord of Chimi Mōryō! "