"Smoky Titan!!"
"Gwaaargh!! Get out of my way, you pests!!"
On the open plains, the battle between the Royal Guard Menthuthuyoupi and the master-disciple trio was tilting in the Hunters' favor. The massive, ever-shifting Smoky Titan dominated the field. Youpi, a creature of pure instinct and overwhelming physical power, was seeing red. His attacks constantly phased through the Titan's smoky mass, while the giant construct hammered him with impunity.
"Doraaa!!"
"Seiyaaa!!"
At Youpi's feet, Knuckle and Shoot maintained a relentless assault. Though they were dealing negligible physical damage to the Guard's reinforced hide, they were busy completing their real objective.
"Knuckle! Is it enough yet?!" Shoot shouted over the din.
"Shoot, keep going a bit longer! The Master has already contributed his share!!"
In his tunnel vision, Youpi failed to notice the small, floating Potclean hovering beside him, its counter steadily ticking up the interest. Knuckle's Hatsu, A.P.R., was the linchpin of their strategy. By lending Youpi aura and forcing him into debt, they could eventually force him into Zetsu, resolving the fight without a single casualty.
"Everyone, get back!! Smoky Curtain!" Morel barked.
"Gwah?! It reeks!!" Youpi coughed as a thick wall of smoke blinded him.
"And now... * Titan Press!!*"
The smoke screen provided the distraction Knuckle and Shoot needed to retreat, while the Smoky Titan clasped its hands together and slammed them down, driving Youpi deep into the earth. Morel attempted to keep him pinned to milk more interest time, but he felt a sudden, violent surge in Youpi's aura. He instantly dissolved the Titan back into raw smoke.
"GRAAAAAAAARGH!!!"
Youpi's body and aura exploded in a radial blast, blowing away the smoke and carving a massive crater into the plain. Having moved to a safe distance, Knuckle and Shoot were unscathed, but they wiped cold sweat from their brows as they stared at the now-shrunken Youpi standing in the center of the devastation.
"...Phew. That feels much better," Youpi muttered. He sounded... calm.
The berserker who had been flailing blindly was gone. In his place stood a warrior who had mastered his rage through the explosion.
"I guess that weird doll doesn't affect me directly. In that case, I just have to beat the hell out of the main bodies to solve this."
Youpi looked up at the trio with cold, calculated intent. He began to remodel his body with a level of precision he hadn't shown before. Realizing their offensive power was relatively low, he sacrificed his defenses to prioritize speed and lethality.
"Sorry for underestimating you, gnats. I'm crushing you for real now."
Youpi leaped from the crater and landed before them. He had transformed into a six-eyed, six-armed centaur. His eyes were positioned to eliminate blind spots; his arms were split into pairs of blades, blunt maces, and aura cannons. His lower half had become a six-legged stallion, gripping the earth with predatory strength.
"This looks intense. Are we ready, Knuckle?!" Morel asked.
"That explosion cost him a lot of aura. It's perfect—this will work! Potclean: Joint Liability Contract — Michizure! Activate!!"
Knuckle suddenly punched Morel and Shoot. Instantly, color-swapped versions of Potclean appeared beside them. This was a new application of A.P.R. developed from Gon's advice. By reducing the duration of the forced Zetsu state (normally a month), Knuckle could apply the aura-lending mechanics to his allies.
This tripled the rate of interest accumulation and allowed the trio to share the burden of any incoming damage through the aura-debt system.
"Master, Shoot—if either of you go bust, you'll be in Zetsu for ten days. And a direct hit from him could bankrupt you in one shot, so don't get overconfident!"
"I know the risks," Morel grunted, discarding the smoke screen tactics. "No more tricks."
"This is actually the first time the three of us have fought as a true three-man cell, isn't it?" Shoot noted, his hands accelerating.
Morel retracted his loose smoke and activated Smoky Armor, shrouding the trio in reinforced suits of vapor to assist their movements. Shoot rose into the air atop a levitating hand, his other hands orbiting him like satellites. Youpi, facing three humans with far less aura than himself, recognized them as a genuine threat for the first time.
"Come, humans! I am Meruem's Weapon, Menthuthuyoupi! I will slaughter all who stand in the King's way!!"
At first glance, it was Youpi's world. He moved with impossible speed for his size, his weapon-arms lashing out with lethal force. His maces delivered crushing "point" damage while his blades created inescapable "lines" of cutting force. When they created distance, his cannons rained down aura blasts like a deluge.
Yet, his Potclean counter kept rising.
The Hunters' coordination was flawless—a perfect trinity of combat. Knuckle led the charge with fearless aggression, Shoot provided high-speed aerial support, and Morel utilized Deep Purple to ensure his disciples could fight without distraction. Because Youpi's fighting style ignored aura efficiency, the clock was ticking down to his bankruptcy.
Sensing this, Youpi's fury returned, but his new tactical mind remained sharp.
(So this is humanity. This is a battle between Nen users!)
He felt a deep frustration at his inability to kill opponents who were objectively weaker in every stat. Yet, alongside that frustration was a budding respect for the contradiction they embodied: being weak, yet strong. And then, a new emotion surfaced in Youpi's mind: a fear that surpassed everything else.
"AAAAAAARGH!!!"
He saw a future where he failed his duty as a Guard—a future where he was defeated. His aura and body began to swell once more, preparing for an explosion.
"You idiot! That move has too many openings!" Knuckle shouted.
"Let's end this, Knuckle!!" Shoot added.
Having seen the blast once, they moved in to land the finishing blow before he could detonate. But Morel, who was slightly further back, saw something the others didn't. The calm hadn't left Youpi's eyes.
"Get back!!" Morel roared.
Just before their strikes landed, Youpi's body shriveled. A massive maw opened on his abdomen, aiming directly at the two overextended Hunters.
"DISAPPEAR FROM MY SIGHT!!!"
Instead of a radial explosion, Youpi focused all that destructive energy into a concentrated laser. A beam of pure annihilation tore through the plain, literally erasing everything in a path hundreds of meters long.
"Huff... huff... finally. I erased the main body. Why is this thing still here?!"
Youpi went pale. Despite "vaporizing" Knuckle, the Potclean counter was still ticking. He ignored Morel, who had managed to evade the beam, and began to remodel his body again. He discarded all offensive and defensive traits, focusing solely on velocity. He took the form of a raptor with the aerodynamic profile of a jet.
"I will be of use... TO LORD MERUEM!!!"
Driven by his Guard instincts, Youpi pinpointed Meruem's location and ignited his aura for a supersonic flight. Morel, unable to intercept such speed, watched him vanish in an instant. The thread of concentration he had held snapped, and he slumped to the ground, drenched in sweat.
"Damn it... we can't catch him at that speed. Pathetic. Three of us, and this was the best we could do."
He used his smoke to stanch his wounds and looked at the color-swapped Potclean beside him. It was still counting. He stood up and walked toward the edge of the destruction. There, floating safely out of the blast radius, was Shoot's Hotel Rafflesia.
"Knuckle, Shoot... you guys are too good for a master like me."
Morel opened the cage door. Knuckle and Shoot tumbled out onto the grass.
"That was too close!! Thanks, Shoot! I thought I was a goner!!" Knuckle gasped.
"I'm surprised I'm alive too," Shoot added, shaking. "Thank you, Master. If you hadn't shouted, my Capsule Rafflesia wouldn't have been fast enough."
Shoot had developed an emergency evasion variant of his ability. If an ally gave consent while touching his floating hands, he could instantly pull them into the safety of the cage. It was an inescapable prison if locked from the outside, but it was a perfect lifeboat in a desperate situation. The charred remains of Knuckle's pompadour were proof of how close the call had been.
"Master, what happened to Youpi? He's out of range, but did you wound him?"
"No. He panicked when Potclean didn't disappear. He flew off toward Meruem at unbelievable speed."
"That's bad. Gon won't be able to take a call in the middle of a fight."
"I've already sent a signal to Chairman Netero," Morel said. "He'll know Youpi is loose. He's the only one who can intercept him now."
Exhausted and out of options, the three sat in the middle of the ruined plain. They didn't have the focus left to use Knov's portals to jump to another front; they would only be a liability now.
"Even if they're out of range, I'm keeping Michizure active until they hit bankruptcy," Knuckle said. "If I go into debt recovery mode, their Potcleans will disappear too."
Usually, Potclean stops counting if Knuckle is too far away. However, the Michizure variant forced the count to continue regardless of distance—a double-edged sword that could bankrupt the users if they weren't careful. For Knuckle and Shoot, it was the ultimate tool for a bloodless victory.
"So... he was the 'easiest' of the three Guards, huh?" Knuckle mused. "I'm worried about Killua. It was a bad matchup, but still..."
"Yeah, I know he's stronger than us, but he's still just a kid," Shoot added.
While Gon was fighting the King, the duo's primary concern remained the boy facing Shaiapouf. It was a testament to the raw, simple strength Gon projected, but Morel—the veteran—saw something else.
"Gon is the one who scares me," Morel admitted. "But Killua is the one I find truly unbelievable."
His disciples looked at him, prompted by his use of his pipe. Morel exhaled slowly.
"Think about it. Even with his Zoldyck training and his natural resistance to poisons... it's impossible. A kid with less than two years of Nen experience is currently keeping pace with Chairman Netero."
It was a fact often overshadowed by the flashy monsters like Gon and Hisoka. A complete novice in the world of Nen was standing in the circle of legends. Gon had at least five years of "unconscious" experience and a unique upbringing, but for Killua to bridge that gap in eighteen months was unheard of.
"Netero and Bisky say it all the time: in terms of sheer, raw talent, no one can touch Killua."
Killua was closing in on the realm of the "monsters" at lightning speed.
"And unlike the ants, Killua's strength wasn't given to him. He built it through his own will and effort. Even if he can't win... there's no way he loses."
Reassured by Morel's conviction, Knuckle and Shoot finally relaxed. The trio rested, offering silent prayers for the victories of their comrades.
Far away, in a land where light and sound could not reach, a massive flash of electricity from a young Emperor erupted, then vanished into the dark.
***
10 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon!
https://patreon.com/Well_being