Dark Grief

Countless enormous petals appeared out of thin air around Meruem, wrapping him inside. Then, petal after petal gradually faded from vivid colors to withered yellow, shriveled away, and finally turned to ash.

"This is my strongest move. Even if he doesn't die, he'll be badly injured. Cough, cough." A trace of Fresh Blood trickled from the corner of Long-Haired Man Xiedi's mouth. Though it was only a trace, it was his heart's blood—the blood from around his heart. It was obvious that the move had also dealt tremendous damage to him. Half of his originally black long hair had somehow turned white, while wrinkles that only appeared on the elderly slowly surfaced on his hands. It was a move that wounded the enemy for a thousand while harming himself for eight hundred. Unless he had no other choice, Xiedi would never have used it. Meruem's existence was simply too unsolvable.

"Were you talking about me? That move really gave me a fright just now. But unfortunately, while it was quite powerful, I neither died nor suffered serious injuries." Meruem's vigorous voice made Xiedi's expression turn exceptionally ugly. It was a slap to the face, delivered point-blank. Why could even a move that consumed his own life force not cause any real harm to this monster? Why?

"Still, it really was a pretty good move. It actually made my skin a little dry and peeled off quite a few layers of dead skin." Meruem appeared in the air before descending to the ground. Just as he said, there was no visible injury anywhere on his body. As for whether dead skin was truly falling off while Meruem rubbed his hands together, no one could say.

Only dry skin and peeling dead skin? Chairman Netero had been fighting a monster like this before? What Five Great Nen Users? I really am still too young. Saying I would surpass you was far too premature.

Xiedi closed his eyes as though resigning himself to fate, wearing the posture of a man waiting for death. But even if he refused to accept it, there was nothing he could do. He no longer had even a shred of strength left. Even standing up had become difficult.

"Father, it looks like this mission is probably going to fail." Silva, also panting heavily, spoke to Zeno beside him. The two of them were only in slightly better condition than Xiedi. After all, they had not expended their life force; they had merely exhausted too much stamina and Nen.

"Damn it, how can I die here?!" Beyond refused to accept it as he tried to force himself to stand, but his condition was truly terrible. "I still have to go to the Dark Continent. I still have to witness this vast world. How can I fall here so easily?"

Meruem looked down upon them. Unlike Lofikis, he had no intention of letting these people go. Some people had to pay the price for their actions. As for whether Killua would later ask Yalujia to grant a wish and avenge his grandfather and father, Meruem had no way of knowing. In any case, he would have left this world by then. The countdown to his departure had begun, and as long as nothing too unexpected happened, there was nothing for him to worry about.

"This feeling of controlling other people's lives and deaths isn't bad. All right, enough playing. It's time to deal with you. Those little bugs who came with you are all quite strong. I don't want the subordinates I worked so hard to gather to be completely wiped out. Some of them may have their own little schemes, but they are still my subordinates." Meruem grinned wickedly at the others as the Guanyin Statue behind him emerged once more.

But at that moment, countless strange currents of Nen suddenly appeared throughout East Gorteau Palace. They shared one common trait: every one of them gave Meruem an extremely eerie feeling, and all of them were exceptionally powerful.

"What is this?" That makes no sense. I had clearly sensed the space around me earlier. If anyone else infiltrated the area, I should have detected them immediately. And when did so many experts emerge in the Hunter World? Though each aura was weaker than Silva's and the others', they were not weaker by much. From what he could sense, there were at least twenty such experts. If these people clashed with his subordinates, then aside from Pouf and Youpi, everyone—including the Anbu Twelve Stars—would definitely be wiped out. Though the Squad Leaders and Squad Captains had become much stronger than before, there had simply not been enough time. They could not compare to veteran Nen Users with extensive experience.

"Haha, they've finally made their move." Xiedi lay on the ground and spoke weakly. This was one of their trump cards: Phantom Beast Hunters and Demon Beast Hunters. For this operation, the leaders of various nations had gathered Nen experts from across the continent and selected twenty of them. Every one of their Nen abilities was specialized for dealing with nonhuman creatures such as Demon Beasts and Phantom Beasts. This was another sub-plan beyond their Decapitation Plan, called the Chimera Ant Extermination Plan. The timing was just somewhat off. Logically, they should have acted while Xiedi and the others were fighting Meruem, using them to stall Meruem while exterminating the other Chimera Ants. After all, the bait and infiltration plans carried out by Morel, Illumi, and the others did not include many powerful fighters. They had more than enough ability to protect themselves, but killing the Chimera Ants coming to reinforce their allies was basically impossible. But with these twenty super experts joining in, the results would be different. They were professionals at dealing with Demon Beasts. Chimera Ants also fell under the category of Demon Beasts, though they were intelligent Demon Beasts. Even the Ferocious Fox, one of the Hunter Exam examiners, was a type of intelligent Demon Beast, albeit only a low-level one.

"Hmph, aren't you celebrating a little too early? Do you think I don't exist? As the King of the Chimera Ants, would I possibly stand by and watch my beloved subordinates be slaughtered by you? After I deal with them, I'll deal with—pfft!" Something like a sharp sword ignored Meruem's powerful flesh and easily pierced into his back.

"Who?!" The intense pain in his back made Meruem feel faint. Someone had actually broken through his defenses and injured him, and the thing embedded in his body was no ordinary sword. The pain was like being stabbed, amplified tenfold. Even someone as powerful as him could not endure it for the moment.

Drip. Drip. Purple blood continuously flowed from the wound.

"King!" Pitou's first reaction upon seeing Meruem injured was to rush over immediately, but just as she moved, she found that her body could not move at all.

"Damn it, that freak!"

"Young miss, I told you already. You only need to stand here and watch the young man perform." The Bearded Uncle's frivolous, somewhat flippant voice rang out. At some point, a black magician's hat had appeared on his head.

"You panicked. This old one finally found an opening!" An aged voice sounded from behind Meruem. The attacker was none other than Maha Zoldyck, who had been missing from the beginning.

"At every moment, even while you were fighting this old one's grandchildren and the others, you maintained considerable vigilance. This old one had no opportunity to strike. I never expected that just as this old one was about to abandon the mission, you would reveal an opening for the sake of several subordinates. Does a monster like you actually have feelings?"

"Monster this, monster that. That's what I hate about you people."

Though injured, Meruem refused to show weakness. I really was too young. Wouldn't it have been better to finish these people off earlier?

Why did I have to keep dragging things out here, showing off and acting tough? Fine, I thought I was about to leave this world anyway, so I figured everything was secure.

Now I've capsized in the gutter, huh? There's only one word for it: trash! Still, luckily I'm only injured. I haven't been overturned yet. There's still a chance.

"Stop struggling, monster. This old one may have failed once in battle against Netero, but that does not mean this old one is much weaker than him. Netero may not have been able to kill you, but that does not mean this old one cannot." Maha, dressed like a youth despite his ET-like head, pulled out the strange sword in his hand and spoke calmly.

"A true assassin waits in the darkness to deliver a fatal blow to his enemy. Unfortunately, that Nen ability you mentioned earlier, the one capable of ignoring another person's defenses, is precisely the ability this old one possesses. Though this old one is astonished by your vitality—you survived after taking one strike from this old one's sword—you must die today!"

"It hurts so much. What kind of bizarre move is this? A curse? Even after the sword was pulled out, my body still hurts terribly. It's even worse than before." Meruem's muscles contracted violently. Though the blood flowing from his wound had stopped,

the pain at the wound had not diminished at all. Instead, it was growing increasingly severe. Meruem's body was somewhat similar to Superman's, though it was a weakened version. It could basically ignore most physical attacks. But against special attacks or magical attacks, there was not much he could do. It was not as though he had no resistance at all like an ordinary person, but his defensive ability was not particularly strong either.

"Give up, monster. This sword is called Dark, and it is my Nen ability. Once this sword pierces someone's body, a special mark called Dark Grief appears at the wound. Dark Grief spreads over time until it covers the entire body. Though until now, anyone struck by this sword has died immediately. Do you remember Jed? He once died by this sword."

"Back then, Netero only survived under my hand because I did not use it. Just wait for death, monster. You do not have much time left."

"I didn't expect Grandfather would still need to act. Hehe. Such a powerful monster still ended up dying at the hands of our Zoldyck Family." Zeno weakly propped up half his body and spoke with some self-mockery.

"So what? You think victory is already in your grasp? Before I die, I will definitely kill every last one of you!" Madness flashed in Meruem's eyes. This time, he was prepared to risk his life.

This is the first time I've been in such a miserable state since coming to the Hunter World! I may have been careless, but this is unforgivable!

Please provide the text you would like me to translate or revise. I am ready to process it according to your instructions.

PS2: The Hunter arc is almost over, but I did plant some foreshadowing in it. We'll see whether I fill it in later.