A Terrifying, Evil Aura

Kite was in no hurry to leave. Instead, he looked at Gon, whose expression was troubled.

"Be careful on your way out. Like I said before, these things won't die right away. Are you going to be okay?"

"Huh?" Gon looked up with his brows tightly furrowed.

"This is going to keep happening. If you sympathize with the enemy, you won't be able to take it mentally."

Kite's gaze swept over Killua and Joey without lingering. Their expressions told him that neither cared about the Chimera Ants strewn across the ground, still clinging to life.

Their indifference was genuine, as though the dead were nothing more than ordinary ants that had been stepped on.

Gon was different. His expression was grave, with a hint of inner conflict.

"I'm fine. I won't sympathize with creatures that don't care about their companions or about life," Gon answered.

But his answer did nothing to reassure Kite. If anything, his expression grew grimmer.

Joey had fewer reservations and simply spelled it out. "Then what if there are some among these murderous Chimera Ants that value their companions and cherish life? Will you still be able to kill them?"

Gon's innocence and kindness were admirable qualities, but Joey felt he shouldn't extend them to another species.

Chimera Ants would never regard humans as equals. Even Meruem, who admired Chairman Netero, had merely intended to set aside an area to keep humans penned in after taking over the world.

As for the Chimera Ants that sided with humans, that was more like compromising for the sake of survival.

Joey's question clearly caught Gon off guard, but he soon answered, "I'll be able to do it."

"I hope so." Joey said nothing more, because he saw Killua glaring at him.

He shrugged, inwardly marveling at how close the two were.

"Then let's split up here. Watch out for dragonflies on your way back." Kite looked up, but the Chimera Ant that had been flying overhead earlier was already gone. It must have left after seeing him act.

It seemed the Chimera Ants had learned a little more about him.

Fortunately, his earlier observations had also confirmed something: the enemy likely specialized in wide-area surveillance, using the various dragonflies found throughout the forest.

But just then, a sensation that sent chills through all four of them instantly enveloped the area.

In that instant, Kite reached an uncannily accurate conclusion.

Ever since nightfall, he had felt an unsettling sense of dread. Earlier, he had assumed it came from the Chimera Ant Squadron Leaders.

Yet none of the Chimera Ants he had encountered had struck him as an enemy he couldn't handle.

Fighting his way out of the base, in particular, had given him a rough understanding of the Chimera Ants' overall strength.

Senior Soldier Ants weren't even on Gon and Killua's level, while Junior Soldier Ants could be killed head-on by someone like Joey, who had only just awakened his Nen, working together with his Nen Beast.

So even if a Squadron Leader was ten times stronger than a Senior Soldier Ant, Kite was confident he could handle it.

But beneath this spine-chilling, evil aura, he sensed a strength utterly unlike what he had imagined. It might already be a hundred times stronger than a Senior Soldier Ant-or even more!

"Run!"

Kite made the best possible decision in that instant. The number in the mouth of Crazy Slots, held in his hand, cycled before settling on the long gun that had appeared before.

At the same time, he stepped in front of Joey and the other two.

Just then, a massive figure burst out of the forest, bearing a terrifying mass of pitch-black, malevolent Nen.

But its first target was neither Kite, who stood in front, nor Killua and Gon at either side. It was Joey, who had quietly fallen back to the rear.

The moment Kite came into contact with it, an immense force sent him flying.

Only then did Joey get a clear look at the attacker.

The Neferpitou he had expected never appeared. Instead, what stood before them was a gigantic crocodile Chimera Ant, its entire body shrouded in terrifying, pitch-black resentment.

It was the very Squadron Leader Joey and Pokkle had killed together!

How could it be that one?

The thought flashed through Joey's mind, but his hand had already drawn his pistol and fired.

Yet the bullet couldn't even penetrate the Nen surrounding the crocodile before it was deflected.

But the instant the bullet ricocheted, Killer Queen pressed down its thumb. What exploded wasn't the Nen on the crocodile, but the deflected bullet.

Although the explosion was silent, its shock wave still jolted the crocodile slightly, shifting its charge off course by a few centimeters.

Joey, however, was hurled much farther by the blast, escaping the crocodile's savage charge in an instant.

After hitting the ground, Joey saw lightning flash in Killua's hand. A thick bolt of electricity struck the crocodile Chimera Ant in the head.

At the same time, Gon took his stance and attacked the back of the crocodile's head from behind.

But the crocodile's thick tail swept violently across, forcing Gon to turn his attack into a block.

Even so, that single tail strike sent him flying.

Then the crocodile, sprawled on the ground, jerked its head around and fixed its gaze on Joey again.

The chariot on the back of Killer Queen's left hand dropped to the ground. At the same time, its right hand hauled Joey up and flung him away, before Killer Queen vanished abruptly.

Driving off all four limbs, the crocodile lunged and slammed headfirst into the loudly shrieking Skeleton Chariot.

Boom!

The explosion roared through the forest, but it inflicted no meaningful damage on the crocodile. In fact, the entire blast merely stirred some of the flowing, pitch-black resentment around its body.

But the chariot wouldn't stop until its target was dead. When the first explosion failed to work, a second followed immediately.

At the same time, Kite, who had been knocked far away, reappeared behind the crocodile.

The muzzle of his long gun pointed straight at the crocodile's head. A shot rang out, and the bullet tore forward.

Two explosions sounded almost simultaneously. One came from the chariot, the other from the bullet fired by Kite's large gun.

The former pushed the crocodile back slightly, while the latter blasted a clean hole through its head.

Yet even then, the monster wrapped in resentment showed no sign of falling. Its powerful limbs pushed off the ground, and it lunged again toward where Joey had been thrown.

"What a pain." As Kite spoke, the number displayed by Crazy Slots in his hand changed with a series of clunking sound effects, and the weapon transformed into something like a hand cannon.

The number in the clown's mouth became 7.

"Missed it again. Useless." Kite raised an eyebrow and murmured under his breath.

He flashed forward and caught up with the crocodile, but seeing how close it was to Joey, who was scrambling away, he couldn't pull the hand cannon's trigger.