A poison-ravaged body: Meruem's journey home and his guards' sacrifice

"Cough... cough, cough..." Meruem coughed up black blood, his rotting flesh sloughing off with every step. The Rose's deadly poison was neither Nen nor a physical attack, but an "extermination poison" that directly eroded the very source of life. However powerful he was, his body alone could not withstand it. Lin Ye hauled his battered body upright, forcing out some of the poison with his Ryuo-infused Nen aura, his gaze fixed coldly on Meruem. He knew Meruem was not dead yet. The disaster was not over. But Meruem neither looked at Lin Ye nor showed any further ambition to rule the world. Only one hazy thought remained in his pitch-black eyes-Go back. Find Komugi. The blind girl who played Gungi with him, who laughed and cried, who had let him experience "peace" for the first time. Dragging his broken body along, he walked step by step toward the exit of the Ant Nest, ignoring Lin Ye, ignoring everything. "Stop!" Lin Ye was about to give chase when two surges of violent Nen rushed in from either side of the Ant Nest. Menthuthuyoupi and Shaiapouf. Sensing that Meruem was gravely wounded and near death, they had rushed over without regard for anything else. "My king!!" Youpi let out an anguished roar and stood in front of Meruem, glaring at Lin Ye. Shaiapouf landed beside Meruem, his butterfly wings trembling as he frantically probed Meruem's injuries with his psychic power. When he sensed the incurable poison of the Rose, he fell into utter despair. "The Rose... that forbidden poison..." Shaiapouf trembled all over. Lin Ye slowly stepped forward, Willpower Pressure gathering around him. "Youpi, Shaiapouf, I've already slain your fellow Royal Guard, Neferpitou. Your king has been struck by humanity's lethal poison. There's no saving him now." Enraged, Youpi was about to