"It's your turn now. Have you decided? Will you continue coming one by one or together?"
"Although I don't want to admit it, this is reality. Coming at you one by one, we have no chance of winning, so... attack!" Zeno and the others told Meruem with their actions that they didn't want single combat - they were preparing for a group beatdown.
Honestly, Meruem also wanted to be able to gang up on others. It's just that the other members of the Chimera Ants were really too disappointing, only able to deal with ordinary human strong fighters. Once facing experts, their existence was just delivering food. Only the Royal Guards could fight human experts. But the Royal Guards' combat experience wasn't enough yet, although they were smart and had extremely high talent. Moreover, there was still a group of Chimera Ant army burdens. Before forming a large-scale insect swarm and fully developing all abilities to their extreme, Chimera soldier ants were undoubtedly very weak in front of experts. But once soldier ants reached a certain number and fully mastered Nen abilities, no matter how strong you were, they could pile up bodies to kill you. So when facing humanity's top experts, only Meruem could deal with them. Just like in the Naruto world - when facing Madara, when facing Kaguya, no amount of genin and chunin were useful. But what if it was a large-scale formation of elite jonin and Kage-level powerhouses? Especially when the leader was not weaker than oneself - even Kaguya and Uncle Madara would have to avoid their edge. How many Kage-level fighters could Uncle Madara handle at once? If Kaguya wasn't because of the Chakra Fruit, how many Kage-level fighters could she handle? Although the gap between ordinary Kage-level and these two was large, it didn't mean numbers couldn't make up for it.
Meruem wanted to challenge the strong, but he only wanted to challenge martial arts experts.
Excluding the injured Lofsky who left, the remaining five people launched attacks on Meruem at the same time.
One-on-one, Meruem really wasn't afraid of these guys, but although he wasn't afraid when they came together, it was still somewhat chaotic.
Silva's sharp hand blade filled with Nen, Zeno's controlled Nen dragon, Beyond's fists, the long-haired young man's vines, and the stubbled uncle's black strange ball all attacked Meruem at once.
However, Meruem was after all the Ant King, the extreme of physical evolution in this world. Although initially somewhat chaotic, after grasping the rhythm of the several opponents, he gradually adapted. Not only did he fight impressively with the several people, he could even retaliate. Of course, many battles don't start with ultimate moves - that would be quite exhausting for stamina and Nen. Although Hundred-Type Guanyin was good, it couldn't be used continuously. Of course, Meruem didn't only have Hundred-Type Guanyin - there was also Night Parade of a Hundred Demons.
"No good, we can't keep fighting like this. This monster has probably grasped the rhythm of our attacks. Looks like we need to use some methods."
"Dragon Head Play - Fang Rush" This was Zeno Zoldyck's Nen ability, a technique that concentrated Nen in the hands and then transformed it into a dragon to attack others. Zeno Zoldyck's signature technique, considered a very powerful move among Emission types.
Unfortunately, Meruem blocked this move with just his right hand.
"Good attack power and destructive force, but unfortunately useless against me." Meruem evaluated Zeno's Nen ability this way.
"There's an opening." When Meruem was arrogantly commenting on Zeno's Nen ability, Silva found an extremely small opening and fiercely struck Meruem's abdomen with his hand blade.
"I told you, such techniques are useless against me." Although attacked by the hand blade, Meruem was completely fine, instead striking out with a palm that injured Silva. If Silva hadn't reacted quickly and only been grazed, he might have suffered worse. Fortunately, it was just a minor injury.
"Really a terrifying monster. Although we could tell from the previous battle with Lofsky, I didn't expect the gap to be this large in actual combat." Quickly stopping the bleeding to restore combat ability in the shortest time. For a monster of Meruem's level, Silva and Zeno were the most disadvantaged among the group, since their combat styles leaned toward close combat.
Having absorbed the martial arts essence of Lofsky, Jed, and Netero, Meruem could now be considered invincible in close combat. Don't accept it? Come fight!
"Beyond, you and father block him first. This time let me try this!" Silva's hands flipped, and this time a faint green appeared on both hands. That was "poison" - a terrifying toxin from the Hunter world that sealed blood upon contact - Divine Fall. The meaning was that even gods would fall if hit by it. Using poison when you can't win was indeed something an assassin would do, but thinking about it, as long as you could win, what did the method matter? Whether a white cat or black cat, the one that catches mice is a good cat.
"Alright, Shingen-ryu martial arts limit - Benevolence!" Beyond lifted his right foot off the ground in a soaring pose, moved both hands to his chest and slowly brought them together to form a heart shape. Netero had used this move before. But this was the first time Meruem knew the name of this technique. However, because although this move was practical, its embarrassment level was too high, so even if Meruem learned it, he wouldn't use it even if beaten to death. You had to make a heart shape at your chest position, and in front of your opponent too. Those who knew would know this was your technique, but those who didn't might think you were trying to find a gay friend.
Now Beyond, with his full beard, cross-shaped scar in the middle of his face, and muscles all over, making such a pose was really nauseating. Didn't you see that even Zeno, who was supposed to attack with you, had a disgusted expression?
"Dragon Head Play - Twin Dragons Playing with Pearl!" Two huge Eastern-style dragons flew out from Zeno's hands, one left and one right, flanking Meruem. The so-called twin dragons in "Twin Dragons Playing with Pearl" naturally referred to these two manifested Nen dragons. As for the pearl they were playing with, that was naturally the opponent.
"Emission, Manipulation, and Conjuration are all used. Nen really is a miraculous thing. Even legendary creatures like dragons can be manifested so vividly." Meruem praised while his hands never stopped moving. He manifested a huge palm from behind and grabbed both giant dragons in his hand.
"So what if they're divine dragons? Today I will subdue dragons."
"Beyond." Zeno called in a low voice. This monster's strength was really too great - he could barely control them anymore. No wonder an expert of Lofsky's level was defeated. Never mind Lofsky alone - based on pure strength, none of us could match him individually.
Beyond's offensive also followed, with tiger roars and dragon songs. Although he didn't know why a technique involving making a heart shape would produce tiger roars and dragon songs, the power of this move was really good. At least it made Meruem feel a trace of pain, though only just a trace.
"Well done." Meruem turned again and manifested another huge arm, fiercely slapping toward Beyond, determined to flatten him into a little pancake. But Beyond dodged with monkey-like agility.
"World Tree Vines - Binding Force." At this moment, several vines that appeared from who knows where bound Meruem's limbs tightly.
"Got him." The long-haired man maintained hand seal-like gestures while stepping out from one side.
"No need to struggle. No one can escape from this binding force, even if your strength is greater. It will absorb your power to restrict you. In other words, there's another you constantly suppressing you. Unless you can surpass yourself, you can never break free from these World Tree vines."
"Even if you could break free, it's too late." Silva's voice came from behind Meruem, then both hands came together, rotating like a drill and fiercely striking Meruem's waist.
"Even if ordinary attacks can't hurt you, I should be able to break a little skin on you with all my strength, right? This poison only needs a tiny wound to quickly enter your body."
Indeed, an extremely small wound appeared on Meruem's waist, and a drop of purple blood slid out from the wound.
"Hmph, die under our five-man combined attack! Monster." Having done all this, Silva jumped away from Meruem to rejoin the others, quietly watching Meruem and waiting for his death.
"Good cooperation, good techniques." Meruem let his limbs be tightly bound by the vines, slowly speaking to Silva and the others. "If I were just an ordinary human expert, I might have died under your combined attack. But unfortunately, although this poison makes me feel slightly uncomfortable, unless it's something like nuclear radiation that can change DNA, it's impossible to defeat me. Although biological toxins are strong, with my immune level, I only need a few seconds to neutralize this poison. Unfortunately, you can't kill me in those few seconds."
"Too bad it's useless against me."
"How is that possible? Even super-strong Nen users will die if they're hit by this poison." Silva's expression was somewhat incredulous. No matter how strong the opponent, they would die without fail once hit by "Divine Fall." He had never failed once.
"Even if the poison is useless against you, you still can't escape from my vines. These are World Tree vines powered by the earth itself." The long-haired man said. "Even if we can't kill you now, we'll eventually think of a way to kill you."
"Oh? You mean these mere World Tree vines?" Meruem pointed with his only remaining movable finger at the vines binding his limbs.
"Today let you witness terrifyingly despairing power." Purple Nen emanated from various parts of Meruem's body, different from the golden Nen of Hundred-Type Guanyin. This was the Nen of Night Parade of a Hundred Demons.
"Die in despair. Night Parade of a Hundred Demons - Lord of Demons and Spirits."
One of Meruem's trump cards, Night Parade of a Hundred Demons - Lord of Demons and Spirits, a terrifying technique not inferior to Hundred-Type Guanyin - Ninety-Ninth Style.
A hundred various demons and spirits appeared behind Meruem, then they slowly merged into one, becoming a huge black shadow.
The vines binding Meruem broke like withered grass at the sound.
(End of Chapter)
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