Will Neferpitou come back?
Probably.
But for now, she likely won't.
Cyr glanced off into the distance and then retracted his gaze, thinking silently.
That cat-like ant had gotten into another fight with those two siblings—again. She was pretty combative.
She'd fight with just about anyone.
Judging by her appearance and strength, that ant probably played a major role in the Chimera Ant arc of the original story, right? A minor, disposable character wouldn't be designed like that.
They'd look more like—
Cyr caught sight of a pig-headed ant in his peripheral vision and eliminated it on the spot without a second thought.
A bipedal pig? That was just painful to look at.
That ant with cat ears and a tail—let's just call her Cat Ant—if we analyze based on her personality, strength, and alignment…
A hatred magnet? A psycho villain? The number two among Chimera Ants?
So far, he hadn't sensed another ant stronger than her.
The only one who might be was the Ant King.
The Ant King vs. humanity's strongest… Hmm. Cyr reluctantly awarded that flashy but empty title to Netero. Those two were destined to clash.
As for Cat Ant and the others, they should be handled by the other Hunters. Judging from Cat Ant's character setup, she might end up being the opponent for Gon and the gang?
After all, protagonists need rivals—not too weak, not overwhelmingly strong.
If this were a typical anime, Cyr wouldn't even question it if they had Gon and the others face the Ant King.
But this was Hunter x Hunter… Gon and Killua had barely arrived before getting reality-checked and forced to flee. There's no way the story would just send them to their deaths by having them fight the Ant King head-on, right?
Even with things like Restriction and Vow, gaining the power to beat the Ant King in a short time would still cost your life.
Like exchanging your life to gain the strength to take him down. One life for one life.
And right now, even Cat Ant was way out of their league.
As for Chairman Netero…
Cyr thought back to the time he'd encountered the old man and the impression he'd left.
Sure, he was stronger than most people—but he was old. He probably hadn't fought seriously in a long time. The Ant King, on the other hand, was newly born and in his prime.
There's a saying: "A flurry of wild punches can take down a master." That's the idea.
No matter how he looked at it, purely in terms of individual strength, humanity didn't stand a chance.
But the ending had to be a human victory—otherwise it wouldn't get past the censors. Yeah… same for Japanese anime.
Kite seemed to have gone off on his own, not staying with the others. He was clearly ready to mow down Chimera Ants one by one with lethal intent.
"Let's go too," Cyr said, cutting off his mental rambling and heading off with Sora
---
"Are you two going to stand against us?" Neferpitou looked at the two strange, mysterious individuals before her. Her smile was clear, but completely devoid of warmth—it sent chills down the spine.
They'd always been by the Queen's side, never lifting a finger to help her, and had even blocked Pitou from pursuing that tiger earlier.
She had no idea why the Queen had kept them around in the first place—but they were irritating.
"We're not good at fighting," Aimei shook his head.
They just didn't want the tiger, Sora, to get hurt. The battle between humans and ants had nothing to do with bystanders like them.
Sora was here to observe, just like they were.
Pitou clearly had no interest in hearing excuses. When someone got in her way, she never held back—unless it was the King.
Her cat-like claws slashed past the siblings in a flash, striking only their afterimages.
By the time they realized what happened, Pitou had already retracted her claws.
"…Brother." Eili watched the little lamb in her arms leap to the ground and charge at Pitou.
Eili blinked forward and grabbed Pitou's hand. In the next moment, Pitou transformed into a white lamb—gentle and harmless.
"I'm fine," Aimei said calmly, even though Pitou had sliced off both his hands. Not a drop of blood spilled from the wounds.
The severed hands, along with the clothing, turned into a mass of black, fluid-like matter that slithered back to him and merged with his body.
In an instant, his arms had regrown—clothing and all.
"Take her back," Aimei said, holding no grudge against Pitou's actions.
He picked up the lamb that Pitou had become and casually fed her a handful of grass seeds. The now-lamb Pitou seemed to genuinely believe she was a sheep, happily nibbling at the seeds with no resistance.
Within the nest of the ants…
The ants guarding the nest looked curiously back and forth at the two familiar figures. They'd left with one lamb and returned carrying two. No one could tell which one was the new addition.
"Is the extra one food you captured?" some ants asked bluntly.
But it was so small—it'd have to be raised before it could be eaten. Eating it now would be barely enough for a taste.
"No, that's Neferpitou," Aimei replied casually, setting the lamb down and stepping back a few paces.
Eili stepped forward, gently touched the lamb on the ground, then vanished from the nest together with Aimei.
The original lamb spun and transformed back into Neferpitou.
The ants who had just asked if it was food: "…"
Oh no—it's Lord Neferpitou!
Neferpitou, now restored to her original form, clearly still remembered everything from her time as a lamb. A wide, curious grin spread across her face, her features twisting with excitement.
---
Morning mist thickened through the forest, white fog curling and spreading until even an outstretched hand couldn't be seen.
The ant hunting squads, out searching for prey, became lost in the heavy fog, quickly losing sight of each other.
Only one area remained clear of the mist.
A tent had blocked out the fog, but visibility only extended fifty meters within it—everything beyond was swallowed by the dense white veil.
To ordinary people, a foggy forest would be nothing strange. But to Cyr…
"Thick fog? This must be a human Nen ability. Judging by its strength… the Hunter Association must be here."
Beyond the abnormal fog, something else stood out: the sudden disappearance of several figures.
Two Nen abilities, perhaps? One creating the fog to obscure the field, the other using some kind of teleportation to remove the ants?
Where were they sent? Or were they eliminated altogether?
A black hole to another dimension? That'd be pretty cool.
If he stepped outside the tent, would he be sucked into one of those holes?
Cyr pondered this, then boldly stepped out. He waited for a long time… but the ground beneath him stayed perfectly still. No black holes like the ones that had swallowed the others.
"Racial discrimination?" he muttered after a moment's thought, pinning a massive accusation on the unknown power.
Back in his original world, this would've been a case of certain unspeakable social issues.
"Sora, your turn," Cyr said, motioning for Sora to step forward.
So this thing's anti-human, huh? Let's see how it handles a magical beast.
Far off in the mountains, two humans stood observing the fog-covered forest below.
"…There's a human down there," said one of them, a well-dressed man in a suit and glasses, black hair neatly parted—the textbook elite type. His voice held a trace of confusion.
A forest full of ants, and yet… a living human?
Beside him, a tall, broad-shouldered white-haired man with a square jaw and sunglasses let out a sharp grunt but didn't say anything.
Back on the forest floor, Cyr had waited long enough without seeing a single black hole appear beneath his or Sora's feet. He had been patient—but his patience had limits.
"Whose ability is that dimensional black hole?" he called out.
On the mountain above, Knov and Morel's heads snapped up as they saw a figure suddenly appear above them—
A white-haired boy with black tattoos on his face.
At the moment, his expression was clearly unhappy—and the ones who had made him unhappy… seemed to be the two of them?
Wait a second… "dimensional black hole"—he must be talking about Knov's ability, right?
Morel glanced at the man beside him—black-haired, glasses, clearly composed.
"It is my ability, but it's not called 'dimensional black hole.' What do you want?" Knov closed his book, adjusted his glasses, and asked calmly, confident and at ease.
"Why didn't you pull me in?" the white-haired boy asked, brows drawn down in annoyance.
Huh??? That question?? What's wrong with this guy?
Morel and Knov were both taken aback.
This was a first—a guy asking why someone didn't use their ability on him.
He was… clearly not right in the head.
"Come on, hurry up—pull me in. I want to experience it. I'm really curious what happens if I fall into that black hole…"
"Is it a teleportation ability? Do you fall in and appear somewhere else? Or do you just die on the spot?" the white-haired boy speculated excitedly.
From the sound of it, he was very eager to find out firsthand.
And, well, he wasn't entirely wrong.
Falling in did send you to another location… or, in some cases, lead straight to death. But still—something about this felt deeply off.
"More importantly—why are you in this forest?" Knov countered.
"…Because I'm an ant," Cyr answered without hesitation, after a short pause.
Being near his own nest made total sense, right?
I am an ant. Just use your ability on me already!
"…We're not blind," Morel chuckled.
Couldn't they tell the difference between a human and an ant?
Even ants born from humans didn't look exactly human—they were more like bizarre hybrids of various species.
Ears, tails, wings… non-human traits were always present somewhere.
Sure, face markings weren't uncommon among ants either, but humans could have tattoos too.
Anyway, this white-haired kid was clearly just a human. Purebred.
"Seriously, you guys are from the Hunter Association, right? Where's Chairman Netero?" Cyr asked, curling his lip in impatience.
These two weren't half as fun as the old man. He wanted to see how the chairman was doing—whether he was ready to go punch it out with the Ant King.
He was really looking forward to watching those two fight.
"The Chairman isn't here," Knov replied casually.
A stranger asking about the Chairman? No way he was going to say anything real.
"Tch." The white-haired boy clicked his tongue. Knov and Morel both caught the irritation in the sound.
"You're lying to me," Cyr said, his pale blue eyes locking onto Knov.
"Do I look easy to fool?" he asked with a radiant smile—but his eyes were ice cold.
In an instant, a suffocating, damp dread flooded the air.
Knov's pupils shrank. Cold sweat soaked his shirt.
Terror. A racing heartbeat. Struggling to breathe…
Clutching his chest, he collapsed to his knees, unable to meet Cyr's gaze.
Sinking. Deeper and deeper—as if dragged into the bottomless, lightless depths of the sea. The pressure was crushing, distorting even his organs.
"…That's enough." Morel quickly stepped in, stopping the one behind it all.
Knov was a vital part of their plan. If anything happened to him, it'd be a disaster.
"Dude's got no stress tolerance, huh? Faking it?" Cyr squinted down at Knov. But… he didn't seem to be acting.
Was this for real…?
If he couldn't handle this, then how the hell was he going to face the Ant King?
This guy would fall apart in minutes.
Seriously? This was who the Hunter Association sent? This level?
Cyr took two steps back in shock—like a bystander afraid of being falsely accused by a passerby pretending to faint.
And it's not like he even seriously tried to scare him! Just a little bit of bloodlust and malice… okay, maybe half.
Dude looked so elite. Calm, quiet, like some hidden master—turned out he was all bark and no bite.
"I'm not taking responsibility for this," Cyr said flatly.
It's not his fault the guy was weak. The other one was fine! It's gotta be fake. Definitely a scam.
"Wake up." Morel gripped Knov by the shoulders and shook him hard.
Knov finally seemed to wake from a pitch-black nightmare, trembling slightly with a dazed expression.
For someone of his strength, someone who could train bare-chested in the dead of winter without feeling a thing—
feeling cold like this was unthinkable.
And yet, right now, he felt frozen to the core.
"Your mental resilience is awful. Not even on par with an elementary school kid. You should go practice more," the white-haired boy said cheerfully, resting a hand on Knov's shoulder.
As if he hadn't been the one deliberately terrifying Knov moments earlier.
Knov wanted to slap that hand away—but strangely, he couldn't bring himself to do it.
It was like the fear had stripped away his courage.
"…" Cyr smirked as he withdrew his hand, even shaking it off with disgust. He'd already lost interest.
So weak. No matter how much potential this guy's ability might have—he was just a weakling.
A soul full of cowardice and incompetence.
"Hey, where's the Chairman? If you don't tell me, I'll go play with the Ant King instead." He curled his lip and spoke with casual impatience.
One wrong word and he was ready to flip the table—
If he jumped in and took out the Ant King ahead of schedule, would that mess with the original plotline?
But even if it did—what did that have to do with him?
Chimera Ants had insane regenerative abilities anyway. Even if they got half-killed, they'd probably bounce back in no time.
"…If you go, and if you win, all the Hunters would be thrilled. We'd cheer for you too," Morel said earnestly.
He genuinely hoped the guy would go—and, even more genuinely, hoped he'd win.
Even if it felt like a long shot.
Because the Ant King… wasn't someone you could just defeat casually.
Cyr tugged the corner of his mouth into a dry smile.
I go fight, win, and then you guys throw a party afterward?
What am I, a sacrificial lamb? Do I look like someone eager to die for humanity?
Suddenly… he didn't feel like going anymore.
"What are you doing with the ants you captured?" Cyr changed the subject.
He'd figured it out by now—Knov's psychological strength was way too flimsy for him to have some ultra-destructive ability.
There's no way he was instantly killing ants by sucking them into a black hole. The guy was clearly support-type.
So… a storage or teleportation kind of ability?
Which meant—what was the real goal of moving those ants?
Research? Or—
Were they teleporting the ants straight to someone capable of killing them?
But they were all just small fry anyway.
"The Chairman is making final preparations before facing the Ant King," Morel replied.
"Oh~" Cyr nodded, suddenly enlightened.
So the old man hadn't fought in years, and now he needed some emergency training to make sure he was in top form—
like one of those students who slacked off all semester and only started cramming the night before an exam.
Of course the Chairman needed some last-minute prep too.
°°°
If you want to read ahead and access 20 advanced chapters, check the patreon
Link: Patreon/Moziel