Chapter 170: Pitiful, Those Who Cannot Become King
"Because I'm free, it asked me for help."
"Because I'm free, it asked me for help."
...
The pupils of Sayird, the cooperative hunter, gradually lost focus as he kept repeating these words. Suddenly, he pulled out a dagger from his chest and swung it toward the two tied-up spy guards beside him.
Thanks to Mord's warning, Kurapika was able to react in advance. At the critical moment, he released his chains, tightly binding Sayird and yanking him outward, slamming him hard onto the ground.
Unfazed by the pain, Sayird climbed up from the ground. Despite being covered in injuries, he continued charging toward the two guards, endlessly repeating the same phrase: "Because I'm free, it asked me for help."
He seemed completely possessed.
"He's being controlled," Kurapika said gravely. Just as he was about to tighten the restraints, a figure suddenly leaped out from behind him, instantly appearing in front of Sayird.
"Interesting." Mord extended an index finger and pressed it against Sayird's body. A shockwave transmitted through his fingertip, instantly coursing through Sayird's entire body.
Sayird convulsed as if electrocuted.
He collapsed to the ground, twitching uncontrollably.
"What did you do to Sayird!" shouted Bill, another cooperative hunter with flame-like hair, as he tried to rush forward but was stopped by Kurapika, who reached out to hold him back.
"Mord is saving him," Kurapika said firmly.
Mord could sense an extremely faint aura inside Sayird's ear—an aura that didn't belong to him, one that ordinary people would never detect.
But Mord was no ordinary person.
Mord manipulated an exquisitely refined electric force, launching an attack against that foreign aura.
Electricity surged into the ear.
A piercing scream suddenly erupted.
Under the stunned gazes of everyone, a composite Guardian Spirit Beast—with the head of a fluffy toy bear and the body of a spider—scrambled frantically out of Sayird's ear, shrieking as it emerged.
Mord spread his right hand open, and the electric force formed a lightning cage, trapping the creature inside.
"Is this the culprit controlling Sayird?" Kurapika asked, staring at the aura beast, which was the size of an insect.
Once the aura beast left his body, Sayird's eyes immediately cleared, clearly regaining his senses.
He patted his head, struggling to stand up, and addressed the group, "Um... after talking with that large, plush toy-like creature, a smaller one suddenly appeared and clung to me, relentlessly asking me questions."
"It kept asking, 'Are you free?'"
"No matter how many times I said I wasn't free and told it to go away, it acted as if it didn't hear me. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and replied, 'I'm free.' Then, my body was no longer under my control."
Mord knew this was the ability of the Twelfth Prince's Guardian Spirit Beast.
Moreover, it wasn't simply about repeatedly asking if one was free. In Mord's view, the aura beast's words also carried a hypnotic effect. Otherwise, Sayird, being a hunter, wouldn't have such fragile mental defenses.
Sayird glanced fearfully at the spider-bear aura beast trapped in Mord's lightning cage and expressed his immense gratitude to Mord, "Th-thank you!"
If not for Mord's intervention, he would have remained under the control of this Nen beast, and who knows what might have happened.
If things had gone wrong, he might have found himself in a situation where he could neither live nor die.
At this thought, Saiyeld couldn't help but shudder.
To Saiyeld, Mord was his great benefactor.
Prince's Residential Area, Zone 12.
Though this was the Twelfth Prince's residence, everything was currently being dictated by a middle-aged woman—the Seventh Queen, Sevanti.
Seventh Queen Sevanti had borne two children for the Kakin King: the Twelfth Prince, Momoze, and the Thirteenth Prince, Marayam.
At this moment, Seventh Queen Sevanti was attempting to take away the Twelfth Prince Momoze's guards, all because her younger son, Marayam, was currently very frightened.
"Prince Momoze's guards... Is this arrangement really appropriate?"
"You're so annoying! Six guards are more than enough!" Seventh Queen Sevanti showed an impatient expression. "Marayam's guards are more important. Hurry up and come over!"
"Is this really okay? Prince Momoze himself can hear all this!" Hanzo, standing nearby, thought to himself. He had boarded the ship at Kurapika's request.
Some of the Twelfth Prince's guards spoke up: "But we have a contract with Prince Momoze..."
Queen Sevanti dismissed this as irrelevant, as if only her younger son mattered to her.
"What does it matter? I signed the contract with you for Marayam's sake anyway, and the payment has been made in full!"
"Is it really appropriate for us to just leave like this?"
"It's fine. Momoze is perfectly capable of taking care of herself, right?" Sevanti turned and perfunctorily asked her obedient daughter.
"Yes, Mother." Momoze smiled as Queen Sevanti wished. "There's no need to worry about me. My younger brother's situation is more important."
With this, Momoze was left with only four guards, and there was no guarantee that some of them weren't spies planted by other higher-ranking queens.
It could be said that barely after setting sail, the Twelfth Prince Momoze had already become vulnerable to others.
Hanzo, serving as the Twelfth Prince's guard, looked at this beautiful, gracious, and gentle young woman and fell silent.
Queen Sevanti left contentedly with the guards.
Momoze, knitting a sweater in her room, glanced at her few remaining guards and said gently, "Why don't you all rest in the adjacent room for a while? It must be tiring to stand guard here constantly. I'll be perfectly fine."
"Thank you for your consideration, but this is our duty. Please don't worry about us," two of the guards replied.
"I see. Thank you for your hard work, everyone," Momoze said.
The Twelfth Prince Momoze resembled an elder sister in a family that favored sons over daughters—submissive, uncompetitive, and so understanding it was heartbreaking.
Yet, in her heart at this moment, there was a sorrow completely different from her outward appearance.
"Mother... Younger brother... How pitiful. To be so afraid when you can't even become king..."
Momoze suddenly felt very tired, even though she had done nothing at all today.
The surrounding guards' faces instantly showed expressions of terror as they witnessed the Guardian Spirit Beast of the Twelfth Prince Momoze—the enormous fluffy rat—suddenly go berserk.
It appeared to be suffering from some intense agony.
On the side of the Fourteenth Prince.
Mord began studying the small Nen beast trapped within the lightning cage. It was clearly not the main body, merely one of its clones.
Just as Mord prepared to use his Zanpakutō to dissect it for research, the creature suddenly began frantically ramming against the lightning cage.
After a piercing scream.
The small Nen beast's body directly burst apart.