On the steps of the palace, the battle between Gon and his four companions against Youpi was suddenly interrupted by an influx of black fog!
"Gon!" Killua called first. "It's Oboro, he's here!"
Killua reacted quickly and informed his companions. The changes on the battlefield weren't caused by the enemy, but by one of their own. This would undoubtedly tip the scales of victory in their favor.
Killua's tone was upbeat, and his originally tense mood relaxed considerably. The ant they were facing was incredibly difficult to deal with. Even the four of them couldn't break through its defenses.
The opponent's body could change and reorganize at will. Organs could grow in any part of the body, and even the limbs could change shape and number. The four hunters cooperated with each other, but as soon as they got close, they were all knocked away by Youpi's powerful arms.
Youpi swung his limbs at a speed invisible to the naked eye. The stairs leading to the upper floors of the palace were completely blocked by his intense attacks, making infiltration almost impossible.
Knuckle was injured as a result, and Shoot's injury was more serious, with part of his calf severed. Though he was able to contract his muscles in time, his mobility was already compromised.
The Chimera Ant's physical strength was truly terrifying. When attacked by Youpi's arm, unless one concentrated their Nen for defense, they would be chopped off or pierced if they were not careful. Youpi's limbs were like hard, sharp metal!
Killua was excited because he was the only one present who knew that Pitou's death was caused by Oboro. Since Oboro had appeared, there was no need for them to take any further action. Besides, he was relatively familiar with Oboro's abilities, having experienced the power of his curse firsthand.
"Spread!" Killua shouted into the darkness.
This took Gon and the others by surprise. Their original plan had been for the four of them to attack in formation, not giving the ant a moment to breathe. Now they were being told to scatter, possibly losing their first-mover advantage?
With a whoosh, Knuckle was startled when he heard Gon's retreating footsteps. Based on his trust in his companions, he could only turn around and run away as well.
The four of them had no intention of sneaking deeper into the palace. Their first target was Youpi, they wanted to hold him back and kill him if possible. If they couldn't kill him, they would wait for the chairman to return or for reinforcements from other battlefields.
Youpi lost his sight in the darkness, but he still waved his hands wildly, causing the area affected by his attacks to expand even further. Even the nearby stone pillars and steps were shattered. The shadow of his arms could not only harm anyone with slower movements in the dark, but also formed a protective circle around him to resist sneak attacks.
"Another human?" The thought flashed through Youpi's mind.
"Puff" Before the hall was filled with black mist, he vaguely felt that Pouf's aura had weakened. Oboro hadn't rushed directly to this battlefield, he had dealt with Pouf first. The Ghost Mist had floated here after that.
After Gon and Killua put some distance between them, Knuckle rushed to where Shoot had been before retreating. Shoot had a leg injury and couldn't move; if Knuckle didn't do something, Shoot would probably die under the ant's relentless attacks.
But Knuckle's speed wasn't enough. As Youpi's body twisted, another arm seemed to appear, shooting out like a spring and instantly stretching twenty or thirty meters. It grabbed Shoot, who was leaping through the black fog with only the strength of one leg, and slowed him a beat.
Knuckle couldn't see it, but he could hear the noise.
"Damn!" he realized something was wrong. "Run!" he shouted.
"Leave me alone," came a surprisingly calm voice from the darkness.
The hunters who participated in this crusade against the Chimera Ants all came with the awareness that they might die. Though Shoot was shy by nature and often felt awe and fear of powerful forces, this time he had broken through his inner demons! If his death could give his companions an advantage, he would gladly accept it.
I can't use En to sense the area I can't react to! Damn it, this black mist seems to be absorbing my Nen. The ant's senses are better than mine, and it detected Shoot's location first! Knuckle's eyes reddened. As a true friend, he would never abandon his companion.
He raised his fist, lunged at the source of the sound, and struck into the darkness. The sound of air being displaced told him that the ant's arm was rebounding.
He hoped his fist would hit the ant's body, or at least deflect its attack trajectory. That way, even if Shoot was hit, it might not be fatal.
Unfortunately, because his senses were affected by the black fog, Knuckle's counterattack was basically ineffective, he didn't hit anything at all.
BANG!
At the critical moment, he heard a loud thud in front of him, followed by the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground and the slight groan of the ant.
"Is it hurt?" Knuckle immediately realized that someone had taken action and chopped off Youpi's arm, which was holding Shoot.
Tap-tap-tap
At that moment, the sound of leather shoes treading on stone slabs reached his ears, followed by a man's laughter: "Such a lively scene."
Oboro waved his hand, and the inky black fog in the hall immediately dissipated. Everyone in the room regained their sight.
Looking up, they saw the red-bodied Youpi standing on a pile of collapsed rubble. He had stopped his wild attacks and was staring at the human in the suit who had come in from the entrance of the hall.
Shoot was sitting on the ground, his clothes stained with blood. A few feet away was Knuckle, still in his punching stance. On the ground between Shoot and Youpi lay a long, severed arm, obviously one of Youpi's appendages that had failed to hit its target.
The person who had saved Shoot's life was, of course, Oboro.
"Phew" Seeing this, Killua exhaled deeply, jumped to Gon's side and looked at Oboro. "You're finally here, I thought you wouldn't join us, but you're a hunter too. When the Chairman gives an order, you can't disobey him, right?"
Killua had an agreement with Oboro, so he wouldn't tell anyone about the night Oboro killed Pitou.
However, the Hunters' mission was a fact. It would be a shame if such a powerful fighter did not show up and instead let weaker individuals go into battle. In Killua's opinion, Oboro must have acted under Netero's orders, unlike before at NGL.
"Hmm," Knuckle and Shoot looked at the newcomer at the same time.
"Thank you," the injured Shoot said.
"Mr. Oboro" Gon was also encouraged by Oboro's appearance and shouted happily.
"Well, I was not sent by the Association. I just came here for personal reasons," Oboro explained to Killua and the others.
Personal reasons?
"Anyway, this ant and the one outside are of some use to me, so I'm sorry, you can't kill them for now. But don't worry, those two ants will die in the end, I promise." Oboro showed a row of white teeth, and after he finished speaking, under the eyes of several people, he walked straight towards Youpi.
He offered no further explanation, nor did he adopt a defensive posture.
"Mr. Oboro!" Gon was shocked when he saw this and wanted to warn Oboro that this Chimera Ant was extremely dangerous.
Knuckle was also confused and wanted to step forward to stop him. But just as he took a step, the man in front of him had already rushed past, stepped onto the ruins and approached Youpi step by step.
"Is it you?" Youpi looked down at the approaching human and said coldly.
He recognized Oboro. He sensed a clear sign of danger from this human, he was completely different from the few "small fry" around him. This human was most likely the one who had killed Neferpitou!
The expression on Oboro's face already confirmed it.
"You came just in time, I thought you were hiding and didn't dare to show your face," Youpi's mouth curled into a hostile smile.
As soon as he finished speaking, his body suddenly swelled, becoming a small giant that showed no fear at all. The back and sides of his abdomen bulged with flesh, and countless arms shot out, ready to whip out like long whips to crush his enemy with overwhelming force.
However, Oboro showed no sign of action, only a glance. The ghostly mist that had been spreading out suddenly gathered, darkening the room and swallowing Youpi.
"AAARRGH!" Gon and his friends then heard Youpi's angry roar and painful screams. It was as if something strange and terrible was happening in the darkness.
A dozen wild ghosts swarmed over Youpi, climbing over his huge body like cats that had smelled fish, laughing sinisterly. Youpi's movements became stiff, his pupils sometimes clear, sometimes clouded by the cursed energy as his soul struggled in pain.
His consciousness had been completely invaded and ravaged by the spirits. In addition to the ghosts outside his body, many had already followed the mist and penetrated every orifice. The moment they passed his body, they pierced inside like flowing light.
The soul is only a form that it can change.
"ARGH!" Youpi roared with all his might.
Large, bulging blood vessels appeared on his body, and he resisted the confusion in his mind. He wanted to attack Oboro, but his movements didn't follow the commands of his brain. He raised his hands and then lowered them again, or paused mid-movement like a program infected by a virus.
It was already broken.
"Let me show you" In the end, Oboro was still standing in front of Youpi.
He said with a smile. His arm burned with will-o'-the-wisp fire, took on a soul-like state, and then stabbed into Youpi's abdomen like a sharp knife.
At that moment, Youpi, whose body was shaking from the struggle in his consciousness, suddenly became calm. His eyes grew dim, and his head drooped weakly.
In his sea of consciousness, the dense ghost shadows separated on either side. A figure that seemed very familiar to Youpi stood out from the crowd.
He had never seen "that person" before, but the subconscious of his soul told him that the soul before him was his companion who died at the hands of humans, the cat-like Neferpitou!
The cat woman looked exactly the same in her spirit state as she did in life. The only difference was that, like the other ghosts, she was filled with an extremely negative aura.
Pitou crawled to the ground, stared at Youpi, took an attacking stance, and bent her knees. The next second, she howled and suddenly pounced on Youpi's soul.
Gon and the others were terrified, except for Killua, who remained relatively calm. He knew that Oboro would be alright.
Strangely, the hall fell silent. Apart from Youpi's loud roar and some strange noises, it soon became extremely quiet. There were no expected fierce fights or clashes of auras.
"His aura is disappearing and it's becoming different," Knuckle swallowed hard, goosebumps rising all over his body.
The black mist in the hall began to thin, allowing his sensory system to regain its functionality. All the black fog poured into Youpi's body like a flood, like a whirlpool!
On the ruins, the ant had lowered its head as if it had lost its will.
Standing in front of the ant, Oboro pulled his arm out of its body, but the black mist around him was still pouring into Youpi's body. It was as if the ant's body was a bottomless pit.
The reason Knuckle felt a chill was because the aura of the ant had changed from brutal and murderous to a very evil black energy. Even though he didn't know what that energy was, when he glimpsed it, the impressions attached to it made him feel deeply unsettled.
Soon, Youpi's entire body was wrapped in the curse as Oboro walked down from the ruins, the ant following him like a puppet.
"This is" The four were shocked.
They didn't know what Oboro had done. It seemed that this ant was now controlled by some kind of power. Such a powerful creature, such a terrible crisis, resolved just like that?
When they had fought Youpi, they had deeply felt the horror of that ant. Even though Oboro had a great reputation as a Three-Star Hunter in the Association, they were aware of his strength, but they had not expected this outcome.
From the time Oboro entered the palace until now, only two or three minutes had passed. It felt too easy.
"Don't worry, your mission is over," Oboro said, ready to take Youpi away.
"Where are you going?" Knuckle asked him, then realized his tone was inappropriate and quickly changed his words: "There are many Chimera Ant soldiers and"
"They are all dead," Oboro added before he could finish.
Complete silence fell. Knuckle's pupils shrank to pinpricks.
Oboro's ability was beyond his comprehension. Seeing how confident he was, Knuckle had no choice but to believe him, even though he didn't understand how Oboro had managed it.
This was the first time he had met one of the top hunters in the Association, or more precisely, the first time he had seen such a terrifying and mysterious Nen user. They had seen Oboro "capture" the Chimera Ant, but they had only seen a fraction of his power.
"Since this is a personal statement and you are neither a member of the expedition team nor involved in the mission, then according to the mission regulations, we must confirm that this ant is dead and the threat is truly eliminated," Shoot, who was standing nearby, came to his senses and suddenly spoke up.
What he meant was that Oboro couldn't just take Youpi away. Who could guarantee that this powerful ant wouldn't survive? If something unexpected happened, it could once again cause immeasurable danger or disaster to humanity.
"Gon" Oboro ignored Shoot and pointed upwards, "In a side hall above, there is a human girl named Komugi Go, take good care of her."
"Yes." Hearing this, Gon nodded firmly. Then he took Killua and left.
Oboro led Youpi out of the palace.
Knuckle and Shoot looked at each other, opened their mouths to speak, but in the end, they did not dare to stop him.