After Killua repeatedly refused Cyr's suggestion of a cranial surgery, Cyr left with a hint of regret.
Of course, before leaving, he did one last thing.
"Wait…" Gon saw the boy holding a strange weapon and reached out, trying to stop him.
But something he couldn't stop even when he could use Nen—how could he possibly stop now while in Zetsu, unable to use Nen at all?
The strange weapon stabbed straight into the plush toy on Gon's shoulder.
A blinding light and a humming sound that made their heads spin—and then the plush toy disappeared from Gon's shoulder.
"Yep. Eliminating evil, cracking down on loan sharks. I'm the people's hero," Cyr said with satisfaction, withdrawing his Spear.
So that's what happens when conjured Nen objects get stabbed by the spear—they vanish instantly.
When he wanted to do something, Cyr did it. He never compromised with himself.
"…" Gon touched his shoulder, feeling Nen flowing through him once more, his face full of joy. "That was amazing!"
Cyr curled his lips into a satisfied smile, like it was only natural. Then he suddenly looked off to the right—and disappeared before Gon and Killua's eyes.
"Why was my ability canceled?!" Knuckle arrived on the scene three seconds after Cyr left.
He looked a little worse for wear—even his hair was a bit of a mess.
He could feel it when something went wrong with his Nen—especially…
This kind of brute-force shutdown method—it had even caused his ability to glitch for a moment when it was broken.
"Uh…" Gon, who wasn't good at lying, looked away awkwardly.
"No clue," Killua, who was good at lying, just shrugged casually like nothing had happened.
The culprit was long gone.
---
In the Royal Palace
"I want to know more about humans," said the Ant King, having already read nearly all of the human books they had on hand, giving the order to his three Royal Guards.
Unfortunately, they were born in NGL. Even though they were ants, they were no more worldly than the humans who had lived there.
Otherwise, they could've just used the internet to learn the truth about humans—instead of getting tricked by Cyr into thinking there were a bunch of human-level kings running around.
"Understood, Your Majesty," the three guards bowed their heads.
"Yo, having a meeting?" Cyr's voice interrupted the scene as he strolled in, tone teasing and familiar.
After all… this wasn't the first time he'd walked in on the Ant King making demands.
He'd already complained about the food, forcing himself to eat it anyway but still demanding his guards find something tastier.
Then he complained about the palace decor, ordering the guards to renovate his residence to be even more luxurious than before.
Basically, the guy was a chronic nitpicker. He could always find something to complain about.
But his dissatisfaction stemmed from the belief that everything around him wasn't worthy of him.
Cyr admitted he wasn't nearly as picky—but the Ant King never saw himself as picky either. He believed he deserved the best of everything.
Fair enough. He was the king of his species, after all. If Cyr were king of humans—the Human King—he'd be way worse than the Ant King.
When it came to extravagance and waste? The Ant King still had no idea what true luxury was.
The three Royal Guards rose and moved to stand on either side. They ignored Cyr, and Cyr didn't care.
Truth was, those three always radiated killing intent toward him—but held back because they weren't strong enough.
And as for Cyr…
With the Ant King in front of him, the others weren't even worth his attention.
"How about we up the stakes today?" Cyr squatted casually on the backrest of the Ant King's throne, looking down at him.
The Ant King clearly didn't like being looked down on—he stood up and stared straight at him.
The next second, Cyr was sitting on the Ant King's throne.
"You want to eat me, right? If you win, I'll give you a hand," he said, raising his right hand.
"Both hands are fine too," the white-haired boy added, raising both hands. There was no smile on his face—his eyes were as dark and eerie as a ghost.
"…" The Ant King didn't reply.
But his tail lashed out, piercing through the back of the throne. Cyr's figure was already gone.
"This place is too cramped. Can't move properly. Let's go outside." The white-haired figure left behind that sentence and vanished.
The Ant King turned and followed.
---
"Eili." Aime and Eili stepped out from the shadows.
"That's the fourth time, brother," Eili said, counting quietly.
"Wonder how it'll end this time," Aime whispered.
In their previous battles—man versus ant—there was never a clear victor. But each time, it was the Ant King who was injured, while the white-haired human always walked away unscathed.
Humans really did have some incredible abilities.
This time, Cyr didn't activate Limitless. Using it made everything boring.
He'd be untouchable, unscathed—there'd be no need for Reverse Cursed Technique, and he wouldn't even have to draw the Inverted Spear of Heaven.
Fighting the Ant King barehanded brought him more thrill than any of their previous clashes.
It made him think that maybe… he actually enjoyed pain and bleeding.
That sounded terrible. Like some kind of masochist.
But pain and the scent of blood—that's what made the world feel real.
Limitless made everything feel too fake.
Even though using it gave him terrible headaches… not bleeding felt like something was missing.
Yeah, that sounded even worse.
Cyr tilted his head slightly, dodging the Ant King's tail by what looked like the narrowest of margins.
"This time, why didn't you…" the Ant King's tone was strange, but he didn't know how to finish the question.
Every time they fought, he could sense a certain power surrounding Cyr—something that made it seem impossible to ever land a hit. But today… it was gone?
"Oh, that? Didn't feel like I needed it," the white-haired boy replied breezily, a smile playing on his lips.
Didn't need it? What did that mean? That even without that power… he still didn't believe the King could harm him?
The Ant King grew angry. "You're too full of little tricks."
During their fight, Cyr kept using feints and unnecessary moves.
The Ant King looked down on such behavior.
"Ah, I just like being unpredictable," the white-haired boy answered lazily.
"Release."
Another wave of invisible slashes struck the Ant King. He didn't react.
Those slashes had no form or shadow. There was no way to tell when or how they were unleashed through Cyr's fluid motions—making them impossible to avoid.
But with his tough exoskeleton, the damage was minimal.
Without that invisible shield of his, Cyr was also taking hits now.
The King's attacks—powerful enough to decapitate or send others flying—landed on Cyr, yet didn't seem to cause any serious harm.
Even after being struck by the tail, Cyr didn't even pause. Instead, he grinned and taunted:
"What's wrong? That didn't hurt at all. Told you, I didn't need that ability."
Another flurry of slashes landed on the Ant King.
"Damn, your shell's really tough…" the white-haired boy said as he leapt back to widen the distance.
And he still hadn't even used Blue or Red.
Naturally, the Ant King wouldn't let him escape that easily—he lunged forward.
His tail swept toward Cyr's forehead. But Cyr didn't dodge.
Instead, with an almost feverish glint in his eyes, he whispered—
"Cursed Technique Reversal—Red."
°°°
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