Chapter 122: Sorry to Keep You Waiting, Nya
Hagya had once harbored ambitions of becoming king, but those aspirations were utterly shattered by Mord's sudden appearance.
Just as he was about to retreat, he suddenly sensed an overwhelmingly powerful, yet deeply malevolent aura emanating from behind him.
"As a Squadron Leader, retreating from battle, abandoning your subordinates, abandoning the Queen, abandoning the King—"
"That's a capital offense, nya!"
Hagya whipped his head around to see an adorable-looking Cat Girl standing before him. The sinister aura radiating from her formed a massive skull-shaped apparition behind her.
Cold sweat instantly beaded on Hagya's forehead, and his pupils contracted sharply.
"...The King's Royal Guards!"
The gap in their strength was far too vast.
No—I still have a chance. She's only just been born; she hasn't learned that power the man taught us yet.
After all, he was the king of beasts. Surrendering without a fight was simply not an option.
"Roar!!"
Hagya let out a deafening roar, unleashing an intense burst of aura as he charged toward the Cat Girl.
The Cat Girl observed the aura enveloping Lion Haga's body with curiosity.
"Oh? So that's how it's done?"
"May I ask how you managed that?"
"Like this?!"
In the next moment, a dark red, malevolent aura erupted from Neferpitou's body. She maintained a calm smile as she faced Hagya's attack.
She simply walked forward slowly, then abruptly thrust out her right hand.
Hagya felt as if the space around him had solidified. His eyes could only focus on Neferpitou's hand, which seemed to grow larger and larger in his vision.
How is this possible?!
How does she already possess this power? She never underwent that man's awakening ritual!
Most people in this world need to undergo training to awaken their Nen.
Based on how quickly they awaken it, they are categorized as geniuses or mediocrities.
But there exists a class above geniuses.
These are the natural-born Nen users, individuals of unparalleled talent who stand at the pinnacle of this world.
Neferpitou was one of them.
Nen was as natural to it as breathing.
One lion, one cat.
Two figures, one large and one small, crossed paths.
Hagya took two steps forward before stopping. He looked down at the hollow cavity in his chest, his pupils trembling violently, his face filled with terror.
"Just woke up and feeling a bit hungry, nya~" Neferpitou held a still-beating heart in her hand, taking a bite as if eating fruit. Crimson juice burst forth, splattering across the cat girl's face.
...
Meanwhile, in the Queen's palace.
Mord's battle was also nearing its conclusion, the palace floor littered with the corpses of insectoid creatures.
Standing alone amidst the sea of corpses, Mord raised his head to look toward the passageway, awaiting the cat girl's arrival.
"The savior you've been waiting for must be the King's Royal Guards," Mord said without turning around.
Having her thoughts laid bare so directly, the Chimera Ant Queen felt utterly shocked.
From the moment this man appeared, she had been constantly astonished, her understanding repeatedly refreshed by his actions until she had grown somewhat numb to it all.
He clearly knew yet did nothing to stop it—such overwhelming confidence.
The deep-seated fear hidden within her seemed to return, accompanied by the emergence of massive figures from the depths of her memory.
The Chimera Ant Queen shook her head vigorously, trying to cast these distracting thoughts from her mind.
Then, she heard cheerful singing.
An unfamiliar, unknown melody she had never heard before.
Mord heard it too, looking up to see the cat girl with her hands behind her back, humming a tune as she approached with light steps from the other end of the passageway.
"Were you waiting for me, nya?" Neferpitou asked, tilting her head as she looked at Mord.
Gazing at Neferpitou, Mord's eyes grew increasingly bright.
The aura emanating from her was the most powerful he had ever encountered among all the people he had met.
In terms of pure aura quantity, she far surpassed Hisoka, Illumi, and the Troupe Leader.
They weren't even in the same league.
Although Mord had met Chairman Netero before, his own strength had been insufficient at the time, and Chairman Netero hadn't displayed his full power, making it impossible for Mord to compare their aura quantities.
But it was worth noting that Chairman Netero had been the pinnacle of the human world half a century ago.
Even if his strength had declined with age, the fact that the cat girl could be mentioned in the same breath was enough to demonstrate her formidable power.
Of course, in a life-or-death battle, aura quantity was only one factor.
Mord looked at the cat girl and smiled.
"I've been waiting for you for quite some time. Got bored and did some warm-up exercises in advance. Do you need time to warm up?"
The cat girl's expression remained unchanged as she looked at the countless Chimera Ant corpses covering the floor, maintaining her smile throughout.
"No need, nya." Neferpitou extended her hand toward Mord, the heart of the beast king still one-third uneaten in her palm. "I happened to encounter a traitor on the way here and dealt with him casually."
"Would you like some, nya?"
"It's quite delicious."
The cat girl's behavior was like sharing something good with a close friend—in her eyes, Mord, being equally powerful, deserved this courtesy.
Mord shook his head, smiling as he politely declined the cat girl's offer.
He stood there quietly, watching as Cat Girl swallowed the last bite of the Lion King's heart.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, nya." Cat Girl wiped her hands, lifted her head, and crouched halfway, already assuming an attacking stance. "Then let's begin."
...
Meanwhile, Kite led Killua and Gon deeper into the heart of NGL at their fastest pace.
As time passed, the unease in Kite's heart grew heavier. His professional hunter's intuition told him that something terrible was about to happen.
"What's wrong with Kite?" Gon asked Killua in a low voice, glancing sideways at him.
After leaving the NGL base, Gon sensed that something seemed off about Kite. Their pace grew increasingly faster, and now, merely keeping up with Kite was becoming a struggle for him.
Killua shook his head. "I don't know."
"We'll find out if we follow him."
BOOM!
At that moment, a deafening roar shattered the night sky.
Kite stopped in his tracks, looking up to see a massive hole suddenly blasted open at the top of a huge hill-like fortress in the distance.
Then he sensed two incredibly powerful auras.
One was so evil it made him shudder, while the other was like a bottomless, unfathomable abyss—impossible to gaze into directly.
Kite raised his hand, stopping Killua and Gon from advancing further.
"What's wrong, Kite?" Gon asked, puzzled by Kite's actions.
Killua, standing nearby, could mostly guess that Kite must have detected something he and Gon hadn't noticed.
"Both of you, return to the border immediately and notify the Hunter Association."