The battlefield chosen by the Ant King and Netero was a barren wasteland—not too far from the palace, but not particularly close either.
At the very least, if Cyr focused, he could still sense what was happening over at the palace.
A premature-born Ant King and an elderly, near-retirement Netero—realistically speaking, neither side should be capable of an overwhelming victory.
And yet…
The two weren't even fighting yet. They were… talking. Or more accurately, talking at each other. Or perhaps—
The Ant King was trying to recruit himself a new life mentor?
Triggered by Komugi's injury, the Ant King seemed to have an epiphany—realizing that humans were not just livestock. Some humans, he now believed, were worth sparing.
So he said to Netero: if Netero surrendered, he would forgive him. Of course, this offer only extended to Netero himself.
Because as far as the Ant King was concerned, no one else had the value to survive.
Well, that's something like humanity. Just… a little.
Now that's more like it, Cyr thought, feeling somewhat pleased.
Thankfully, the Ant King wasn't completely ruled by love—he hadn't become unbearably soft or irrational. In fact, he was starting to seem interesting again, at least in Cyr's eyes.
As for the Ant King's offer, Netero—being the Chairman of the Hunter Association—would obviously never accept it.
He had come here for humanity. There was no way he'd surrender.
"You know you'll lose, and still you refuse to give in?" the Ant King asked coldly, voice low and brimming with confidence.
He truly believed he would win—there wasn't even a sliver of doubt in his mind.
And on that note…
"I guess I've been one of the forces helping the Ant King get stronger…" Cyr mused, watching the two from a distance, deep in thought.
Netero hadn't had nearly enough recovery time. Meanwhile, the Ant King had steadily improved through his repeated encounters with Cyr—growing stronger with each clash.
This was… an unfair fight.
At this rate, Netero wouldn't last long.
This won't do.
"Wheel of Law," Cyr said, reaching out toward the empty air.
A faintly glowing, deep-blue roulette wheel began to spin slowly in midair. But before it could spit out a card at random, Cyr spoke again:
"To ensure the triggered effects stack and maximize their impact, this time I'm specifying three cards."
"Upright Sun. Upright World. And… Upright Judgment."
"The price is: once the effects wear off, I'll be forcibly plunged into a weeklong state of total exhaustion—unable to use Nen—and I'll also suffer the consequences of the two debuff cards drawn."
Card effects lasted for twenty-four hours. Specifying three cards and paying a price like that—it should be enough.
It's not like he always picked his cards. If he could choose three every time, the cost would be something else entirely.
The roulette wheel halted mid-spin, and suddenly five cards shot out from it.
Three were the ones Cyr had named. The other two were debuff cards: The Star (Reversed) and The Hermit (Reversed).
All five were from the Major Arcana…
"Chairman, hang in there. Don't move just yet. Let me give you a buff—I want to see what you were like in your prime," Cyr said, flicking three buff cards toward the chairman.
"Hoh…" Netero didn't quite understand what Cyr meant by "buff," but he could tell the cards were part of Cyr's ability and likely beneficial—so he didn't dodge.
The Ant King, likely out of confidence, also didn't make a move to stop it.
"Then let me see your full power at its peak," he said with a mocking sneer.
Though one shouldn't judge by appearances, he truly didn't believe that old human man could defeat him.
Until he noticed that the human across from him… had started to glow.
"Sun restores stamina. World restores aura. Judgment represents liberation—breaking free from the past," Cyr quietly analyzed while watching the battlefield.
So when all three cards stacked together and triggered at 175% effectiveness, it basically meant… for twenty-four hours, the user would have unlimited stamina, unlimited aura, and all conditions restored to their peak.
Netero transformed instantly from an old man into a handsome young man.
His aging body could no longer hold him back.
At least not for the next twenty-four hours.
Meanwhile, the two debuff cards left in Cyr's hand activated alongside the three buff cards used on Netero.
He temporarily lost his ability to speak—and a portion of his memory.
"Why… am I here?" he mouthed, eyebrows raised in confusion and curiosity, though no sound came out.
It seemed he was genuinely intrigued by the sudden turn of events.
"Wheel of Law," he said aloud—or tried to—but the familiar roulette didn't appear in the air.
Logically, his ability wouldn't just vanish—so that must mean he'd already used it.
That memory loss and muteness… they were probably the effects of his own ability. But why did the debuff cards hit him? Shouldn't he have used them on someone else?
Or maybe… he'd triggered some sort of hidden cost again?
And who had he used the buff cards on?
Cyr turned toward the battlefield in the distance, his blood-red eyes seeming momentarily hollow.
That human glowing like a Super Saiyan… was that Netero? And the green-skinned goblin he was fighting… who was that?
His memory only went back as far as Meteor City—right when he first encountered the ants.
He'd lost all memory of his journey into NGL and everything that happened there, but that didn't mean he was stupid.
He had probably come here for some specific reason… most likely out of curiosity about the ants.
Using buff cards on Netero likely meant the man hadn't been strong enough to win before…
But what did that have to do with him?
He must've had another purpose… but oh well, not important now.
"These two are here too, huh," he muttered as he glanced at Aimei and Eili standing nearby.
His impression of them was still stuck back at the time of the Hunter Exam.
But knowing himself, those two probably wouldn't understand his motives anyway—no need to ask.
He wasn't in the habit of explaining his goals before taking action.
Besides, he couldn't speak right now, and who knew whether those two non-humans could understand human sign language—better not to waste time.
The battle between those two over there would probably drag on for a while. That should be enough time for him to go take care of something else.
"Chimera Ants supposedly have a King. The one fighting Netero must be the Ant King," Cyr muttered to himself while walking away.
A normal ant shouldn't require Netero to step in, after all. He was the chairman of the Hunter Association.
Thinking this, Cyr pulled out his phone—only to notice it wasn't the same one he'd used before.
Did his old phone break? How did that happen? What kind of fight would break his phone?
Don't tell me I've already fought the Ant King…?
Come to think of it, he was a lot stronger now than back in Meteor City. He'd even unlocked Sukuna's Domain.
But why did using Six Eyes feel like an even greater burden now? The compatibility hadn't dropped…
He touched his eyes—and suddenly, just beneath one of them, he felt another eye. Small, soft… and moving.
Huh???
He pulled up his phone camera, aimed it at his face—and fell silent.
Yep. He'd evolved. Four eyes now.
It actually looked kind of cool—just not very human.
He sent a message to Maro: [Where are you?]
[Milord, we're still in the forest. We haven't moved.] The reply came back instantly, like they'd been glued to the chat window 24/7.
But which forest were they in?
Looking for someone manually was such a pain…
[Come to me,] Cyr replied simply.
°°°
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