Explosions Are Art

PS: Sorry, today's update was a little late. Hand over those votes already!

"You want to fight, then I'll fight. Hundred Demons Parade!" A hundred bizarre demons appeared behind Meruem once more.

"100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva: First Hand, Second Hand, Third Hand!" Netero ignored Meruem and simply kept unleashing his signature techniques against him.

"The same move can never succeed after I've seen it once." Although Meruem had never personally faced Netero's 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva before, he thoroughly understood its techniques and movements. Netero had no idea that Meruem possessed the bug-like ability known as Gluttonous Feast. After Netero's arm had been eaten, Meruem had already mastered most of the 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva. The only move he had yet to learn was the 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva - Zeroeth Hand.

"100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva - Ninety-Ninth Hand!" Seeing that his attacks were completely ineffective, Netero could only resort to his strongest move aside from Zero Hand.

"Naive. At this point, do you really think a move like that can still work on me? I told you that you couldn't defeat me. Since that's the case, watch it again—Hyakki Yagyō - Lord of Chimi Mōryō!" The hundred demons gradually fused together, becoming a black silhouette that radiated malicious intent.

The enormous black shadow threw a punch at the Guanyin, which was continuously slamming down massive palms before it. It was an exceedingly simple punch. You could attack a hundred different ways; he only needed one punch.

That simple punch not only blocked the descending palms, but also smashed brutally into the thousand-armed Guanyin, producing a sound like a bell being struck.

"Puh." As the thousand-armed Guanyin was hit, Netero spat out a mouthful of Fresh Blood. Defeated. Defeated. The 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva he had been so proud of had actually been broken by a single straight punch.

"What kind of move was that?"

"Turning complexity into simplicity. This is the realm of a heavy sword without an edge, of great skill appearing clumsy. You probably don't understand that, so just think of it as my absolute power breaking your flashy, impractical moves." Were Netero's moves truly flashy and impractical? Of course not. Meruem said it only to undermine him. As for whether it would affect Netero's state of mind, who knew? If it shattered Netero's state of mind, wouldn't that be a profit? Still, it was true that Meruem had broken Netero's technique with absolute strength. You could have a hundred methods; he only needed one punch. Don't cower—just face it head-on! Cowards lost for a lifetime; fists striking flesh were a man's romance! Those had always been Meruem's beliefs.

"Hehehe. I never thought the strongest martial artist I'd meet in my life would be a monster. I never thought the martial artist who could defeat me would be a monster." Netero stared at his hands and muttered. "Ohohoho, I never expected that I would still encounter an opponent like you in my old age. I'm happy. Truly happy. I may not be your match, but take one more move from me. With this move, I'll break your martial path!" Netero looked at Meruem. Rather than being discouraged by the breaking of his Ninety-Ninth Hand, he burned with renewed fighting spirit.

"Interesting. Bring out whatever new tricks you have. Let this King crush your pride to pieces." The next move should be Zero Hand, right? I'm really looking forward to seeing what this move will make me feel. But after using it, it will also be your time to die, Netero. This night had dragged on long enough. It was time to finish it early.

In the original story, the Ant King had relied on his physical advantage to endure Netero's countless 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva attacks, found an opening among them, then forcibly tore off one of Netero's arms and one of his legs with the strength of his body. In other words, the battle between Netero and Meruem in the original story had fundamentally been a battle between a powerful beast and a martial artist. But the current battle between Meruem and Netero was different—it was a battle between two martial artists. Though one still overwhelmed others through brute force, their realms were different. What Netero wanted to do was use Zero Hand to break Meruem's martial realm, because compared to that beast-like battle, a martial artist had greater potential for growth. Netero believed that even if he could not win, he should at least leave a flaw in Meruem's martial realm. Only then would future generations have a chance to defeat him. The dignified Chairman of the Hunter Association was actually placing his hopes on later generations. How tragic.

"Mm!" Netero pressed his palms together. The muscles all over his body trembled continuously as streams of immense Ki moved through him, eventually gathering between his palms. Even Meruem had to admit that Netero's move truly had the potential to injure him. The Nen within those palms was astonishing.

"Hah!" With Netero's shout, the Guanyin behind him emitted a blinding radiance.

"Oh, so this is the secret of Zero Hand. It gathers all the Nen in your body to inflict damage on your opponent. Quite an all-or-nothing move. But it isn't practical at all. Every move should use seventy percent of your strength while holding thirty percent in reserve. If an all-or-nothing move like this fails, you'll fall into an irredeemable situation. And it's even draining your life force? This old man doesn't look like he wants to live. Is he planning to use a nuclear bomb as his final trump card and blow me to death? Do you think I'll let you have your way?" Meruem observed the characteristics of Zero Hand as he evaluated it, finally giving Netero a mocking smile.

"I'll take this move head-on and see what you can do to me." Meruem crossed his arms and wrapped himself in Nen—Ren. It was an application of Nen that increased defensive power in all directions. Meruem was no fool. He had said he would take the move head-on, not that he would use his body to withstand it bare-handed.

"100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva." The enormous Guanyin statue wrapped Meruem within its hands, while Meruem merely watched in silence.

"Zero Hand!! Haaah!" The huge Guanyin statue slowly opened its mouth toward Meruem, who was enclosed within its hands. Its mouth opened wider and wider, and a beam containing terrifying destructive power engulfed Meruem. Then the earth shook and the mountains quaked. Under the beam's assault, the entire Heaven's Arena began to collapse continuously.

"This is bad! Get out of here! What kind of monsters are fighting on the top floor? The Nen from earlier is simply not something humans should possess." The Nen Users still fighting within Heaven's Arena all abandoned their opponents and prepared to flee. What a joke. With the combat power of the people upstairs, even if everyone here joined forces and went up, they would only be serving themselves up to die.

"Damn it! I actually failed to kill that guy!" A red figure with enormously bulging muscles grumbled continuously. Beside him lay only a smoking pipe crushed to pieces in rage and three corpses. The three were the other members of Morel's team. Morel, the strongest of the four, had luckily escaped, though he had still suffered grave injuries. The owner of that red figure was Youpi, the strongest member of the Royal Guards. Beside him stood an exceptionally respectful Lion—Aureole. Aureole had completely lost his former arrogance. All that remained was willing submission. He had thought that after strengthening himself, he had become incomparably powerful, yet one overwhelmingly strong expert after another had appeared. Only now did he finally understand the gap between himself, the King, and the Royal Guards. Before absolute power, there was only submission or death. Aureole did not want to die. Only now did he realize how insignificant his strength was.

"This building looks like it's about to collapse. Let's call it a day, Kanzai. We're leaving." After seeing the spreading cracks across the ground and walls, Botobai Gigante spoke to Gudo and Zazan. Neither objected. Though they were confident, they were not so sure that they could survive inside such a collapsing building. However, ever since Botobai Gigante had arrived, the group had barely fought. Since the situation was unclear, no one had made any rash moves. They had only exchanged several probing feints.

With a boom, Heaven's Arena finally could not hold out any longer and began to collapse. By then, all the Nen Users inside had already evacuated. The only ones who had not left were likely the remaining ordinary spectators. When immortals fought, mortals suffered.

After the entire building collapsed, the battle's aftermath affected an area several hundred meters around it. Other than Heaven's Arena at the center, which had suffered severe damage, the surrounding areas were relatively fine. Almost no one had died. It was only a pity that Heaven's Arena, a world-class fighting venue with hundreds of years of history, finally met its end today.

"Huff... huff..." Amid the ruins at the center of the former Heaven's Arena stood an elderly figure as withered as dead wood, gasping for breath. Judging from his clothing, he could vaguely be identified as Netero, the Chairman of the Hunter Association. But the Chairman who loved joking around and refused to act his age was gone. All that remained was an aged body at the end of its life, with only a few breaths left before the oil ran dry. His eyes no longer possessed their former sharpness and spirit, leaving only emptiness and lifelessness. If not for his ceaseless gasps, one might have thought he was merely a dried mummy.

"Hehe... hahahaha." At that moment, a hand stretched out from the building's rubble. Then a young man in tattered clothing crawled out. He had numerous abrasions, but they did not appear serious. He looked somewhat bedraggled, yet compared to Netero's miserable state, it was nothing. The young man was Meruem. Regrettably, Netero's life-sacrificing strike had not caused him any substantial damage. "Wonderful! Wonderful! It's been so long since I've felt this wonderful. So long since I've been able to communicate with someone through fist against fist like this."

"Netero, regrettably, even the blow you paid for with your life could not harm me. And I have already learned your 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva. Regrettably, the technique you spent years, perhaps even decades, researching and cultivating has quite decent power—but now it belongs to me."

Damn ant. Even Zero Hand could not do anything to him. There's only that method left. But I'm sorry to the residents nearby. Still, your sacrifice will be worthwhile. Killing this monster will make it all worthwhile. This fellow is simply... too dangerous.

"Meruem, Ant King, do not underestimate humanity too much." Netero's smile became unusually dark and eerie. It was another kind of confidence. Yes, he was smiling. Netero, whose vital essence had been drained until not a drop remained and who could only barely cling to life, actually looked at Meruem as though he were already a dead man.