The Squad Leaders' Battle

PS: I said I'd update tonight, so I'll update tonight. Today's votes have been great, and if possible, there'll be another chapter tonight.

Also, it's not that I'm not working hard—I have a job. I'm not unemployed or a student, so how could I keep typing all the time?

That's all.

"Ah, why isn't there anyone here? So boring!" The Phantom Troupe wandered through the Council Building occupied by the ants as though they were on a group outing. Their relaxed manner showed that they did not take the ants that had been giving Meteor City such headaches seriously at all. Perhaps, in their eyes, the ants were roughly on the same level as that Shadow Beasts Squad they had dealt with before.

"Does this mean we can just go in wherever we want?" The Troupe stopped before several branching corridors ahead.

"I'll go this way." Shizuku pointed at one of the passages.

"Then I'll go this way," Feitan said.

"Huh? Are we splitting up?" Kalluto, dressed in a kimono, asked doubtfully.

"Of course. Let's see who kills the Queen first." Feitan spoke with murderous intent. Zazan was nothing more than a dish on his plate in his eyes. Although Feitan was indeed very strong, such carelessness was unwise.

"You have abilities you don't want us to know about too, right? Anyway, just kill Buddha if you meet Buddha, kill God if you meet God. If you defeat the Queen, it wouldn't be impossible for you to become acting leader." Phinks said. Clearly, he did not take the ants seriously either.

"Understood." Kalluto answered succinctly, though no one knew what he was thinking.

"Begin." In an instant, the Troupe split into six teams and headed down the various passages. As expected of the Phantom Troupe. One really wondered whether they would still be this relaxed if they faced the Royal Guards, or even the King.

"They've split up." Aniki-Face Spider, a spider with the face of a macho older brother, lay atop the web above Zazan.

"Are they strong?" Zazan asked.

"Yes, very strong. From the footsteps transmitted through my web, I can tell these people are no ordinary opponents." Aniki-Face Spider spoke, though a strange flush had appeared on his face. Seeing an Aniki-Face Spider blush was so bizarre it was disgusting.

"Then you should go too."

"But if I go, there'll be no one left to protect Her Majesty the Queen."

"Hehehehe, I'll be fine. Rather than worry about me, go capture the enemies quickly. I'm counting on you, Pike."

"No, no, no. I, Pike, have dedicated even my body and soul to Lady Za-Za-Za-Zazan." Spider-man Pike's tone was disgusting, and his expression was equally nauseating. Still, he was quite loyal to Zazan.

"I'm leaving." After saying that, Pike crawled along his web toward one of the Troupe members.

"Fine, in that case, I..." After Pike left, Zazan rose to her feet as well. Judging by the surging fighting spirit around her, she wanted to fight the Troupe members too.

"A mother's greatest misfortune is not understanding the joy of battle." With that, she headed toward another Troupe member.

At this point, the Troupe members encountered their respective opponents—the Squad Captains of Zazan's Chimera Ant Squad Leader force.

Pufferfish Squad Captain VS Bonolenov—Gorilla Squad Captain VS Phinks—Pike VS Shizuku—Kalluto VS Beetle Ant—Shalnark VS Dung Beetle Squad Captain—Feitan VS Zazan.

"Ooh, ooh, ooh, they're going to fight! ε=ε=(ノ≧?≦)ノ They're going to fight~~" The yellow figure that had been crouching atop an unknown pillar had somehow obtained a bag of popcorn. He ate while excitedly watching Zazan and Feitan below. Yet neither of the two below seemed to notice him. Squad Captain-level battles were simply too boring for the yellow figure, especially these Squad Captains who had not undergone Nen training and fought solely with their physical bodies.

"Where is the Queen?" Feitan asked coldly in his uniquely hoarse voice. His opponent was the new owner of this building—Chimera Ant Squad Leader Zazan.

"Hehehe, be happy. She's right in front of you." Zazan gave Feitan a seductive smile, but Feitan had no interest in it.

"You?" With dead fish eyes, he glanced disdainfully at Zazan. "That joke isn't funny at all." At the same time, he crooked the fingers of his right hand at her. "Come on. Let's finish this quickly."

"A joke? You think this is a joke?" Zazan's expression turned terrifying. Zazan was angry, and the consequences were severe. "I don't know where your confidence comes from, Shorty."

"Seeking death!" For Feitan, the word "shorty" had already struck his Achilles' heel, especially with "little" placed before it.

Feitan suddenly lunged and slashed at Zazan, but she leaped backward and avoided it. Only the skirt on Zazan's body was shredded to pieces.

"So fast." "Not bad reflexes."

"Not bad, boy. I'm getting a little interested in you." Zazan licked her sexy lips seductively.

"I have no interest in you."

Veins bulged on her forehead. "How unlovable, you little brat."

"Ahh, both of them are so slow. _(:3"∠)_" The dark figure crouched on the stone pillar yawned as he watched Feitan and Zazan exchange attacks, complaining as he did so. To be honest, neither of them was slow. At the very least, several Troupe members could not reach such speeds. But the observer was a master who specialized in speed, and he had also undergone Meruem's devilish training. That's right, this dark figure was Squad Leader Cheetu, sent by Meruem to rescue Zazan.

Smack! Zazan flew up and kicked Feitan several meters away. In their brief exchange, Feitan had been at a disadvantage.

"Hahahaha! I'm not your opponent, am I? If you surrender, I might consider sparing your life." Zazan laughed proudly.

"That's right. It's indeed a little difficult." His reply was simple.

"Hehe, you're quite honest."

"My movements have indeed slowed down quite a bit, but I suppose I've found a good platform for practice." Feitan provoked her again.

"I'm going to kill you, you damned shorty."

The moment they clashed, their speed increased several times over. Yet in Cheetu's eyes, they were still as slow as snails.

"Hm? Someone's coming?" Cheetu rubbed away the tears that had formed from his earlier yawn and sensed several powerful auras approaching. "Well, well, those Squad Captains are useless. They only held them back for such a short time. If those Squad Captains had been following the King, killing these humans wouldn't have been difficult, would it?"

Bonolenov, Phinks, and Shalnark arrived one after another. However, none of the three intended to help Feitan. They merely found places to sit and watch the battle while resting.

Before long, Kalluto Zoldyck arrived as well. Unlike the previous three, however, Kalluto was deeply shocked by the battle between the two. He was still too weak and could not keep up with their speed at all.

"Hehe, the gap in level is far too great." At that moment, Kalluto faced up to his own shortcomings. He had once believed that he had surpassed ordinary Troupe members and ranked below only a handful of people like Chrollo. Yet he had never expected that he still had such a huge gap even compared to regular members.

"Hey, has everyone arrived already?" Just then, Shizuku's figure appeared from another corridor. She did not have a single wound on her body, though her clothes had become tattered.

Chimera Ant Squad Captains VS Phantom Troupe—Total Defeat

"Yo, you've changed your look." Phinks waved at Shizuku and teased her. "But this style really suits you."

"I just got like this because of the enemy's threads." Shizuku explained blankly, too airheaded to realize that Phinks was actually flirting with her.

"What? Don't tell me you lost? And then..." Phinks's expression turned lecherous.

"I won! I won!" It was important, so it had to be emphasized twice!

"Hahahaha, she's mad, she's mad!" Shalnark egged things on from the side. Their attitude was completely unlike facing a great enemy. They treated the ants as mere nameless passersby or minor fodder.

"Only Feitan is left. His opponent looks pretty strong. That must be the Queen, right?" Naturally, none of them had any intention of going in to help.

"But Feitan's movements don't seem very nimble. Did he eat something bad?" Tek took Shizuku's mockery, damage X100. Why could this girl, who ranked near the bottom of the Troupe, see movements like that too?

"Looks like he's not in top form." Tek took Shalnark's mockery, damage X100. Why could that idiot support-type boy see movements like that too?! Wild Kalluto fainted.

"Heh." Facing Zazan, Feitan took out an umbrella. Its tip was a sharp blade, and several images of Feitan appeared before Zazan at once.

"Afterimages?!" So fast, even faster than before. Where was he? Zazan continuously scanned her surroundings, searching for Feitan's figure.

"Still as stupid as ever. You can't even see this speed." Cheetu commented as he crammed popcorn into his mouth. But why did no one in the Troupe notice him despite his loud eating and commentary?

"He already went around behind you, idiot. →_→"

"Behind me!" Following Cheetu's commentary, Zazan also discovered Feitan's intent. The umbrella tip shot straight toward her head, but it was already too late for her to dodge. However, one must not forget that Zazan had a tail. The tail behind her tightly wrapped around the umbrella, preventing Feitan from thrusting it any farther.

"Hmph." Seeing that he could not pierce Zazan, Feitan pressed a button on the umbrella handle. The umbrella tip shot out like a crossbow bolt and struck Zazan's forehead in an instant. The two separated immediately. However, Chimera Ant bodies were extremely tough and powerful. An ordinary human would have died from such a blow, but for a Chimera Ant, it was only a slight wound on the forehead.

Zazan blankly touched the blood at her temple.

"Ha, you're tougher than I expected, you damned old hag monster." Feitan mocked her again with his venomous tongue.

"You actually dared to hurt my face!!!!" It seemed that not only human women got furious at those who ruined their beauty—even female Chimera Ants did as well. In other words, women were all the same. Zazan stared at Feitan with blood-red eyes. Anyone who did not know better might have thought Feitan had stolen her man.

"Unforgivable! Unforgivable! You brought this upon yourself!" An angry woman was capable of anything. Zazan viciously tore off her scorpion tail.

A brand-new tail grew from Zazan's body, but unlike the scorpion tail, it was a thick, powerful lizard tail.

"Ahhhhh! I'm going to kill you, you damned little monkey!" Zazan's body suddenly began to swell. Her once slender female limbs grew thick and powerful, as though muscles had suddenly appeared on them. Of course, it was not only her limbs that changed—her body and head changed too. If earlier she had merely possessed a lizard's tail, now Zazan herself had turned into a lizard.

"You can go! Die! Now!" Round two began: Zazan VS Feitan