'I shouldn't have come to check on the situation...'
'Even though I had kept a safe distance, in front of that monster, it didn't matter if it was kilometers away… it was meaningless.'
'Not to mention the distance was within his sight.'
A look of fear appeared in Leol's eyes.
'I had done my best to fulfill the condition that allowed me to borrow Youpi's ability… but what was the point?'
'Even Youpi, the source of that power, had been utterly crushed by that monster of a human. What chance did I, a cheap imitator, have?'
'If I had known this, I should have sold Youpi out decisively and run away!'
Leol didn't have time to care about the deep regret in his heart. He quickly turned around and ran away.
At that moment, he didn't even know where to flee to.
All he knew was… anywhere away from that human monster.
Leol's sudden retreat stunned the other Chimera Ants present.
But they weren't fools. They instantly caught on and quickly followed Leol's footsteps.
The Royal Guards are gone, and the King is gone too.
Humans…
They weren't an endless food source for them, Chimera Ants, to pick from at will.
Humans...
Are terrifying.
These Chimera Ants, who had once come to pledge allegiance to the King, could never have imagined that such an invincible King would fall at the hands of a single human.
The brutal shock of that reality obliterated any remaining thought of resistance. All that was left… was flight.
Back in the battle zone…
Moses shot a sidelong glance at the direction in which Leol and the other Chimera Ants fled.
These were the 'little ants' he had mentioned earlier.
As long as he wanted to, he could catch up with this group of little ants at any time and obliterate them with lightning speed.
But Moses did not take any action and let Leol and the others flee toward the outskirts of the palace.
The reason is that Moses can sense any movement within the entire palace.
So Moses knew that Knov and Netero had come out of the Fourth-Dimensional Apartment, and he also knew that after Knov answered a phone call, he directly opened a passage to the Fourth-Dimensional Apartment on the spot.
The location where Knov and Netero were located happened to be the direction where Leol and the others were escaping.
Moses could more or less guess how things would play out from here, so he didn't pay much attention to it.
Instead, he focused his attention on Youpi, whose chest had a massive section blown away.
'The instinct of the magical beast...'
Moses was mildly surprised by how Youpi had managed to dodge a fatal strike at the last second.
'Being able to switch from offense to defense in that situation was most likely due to the magical beast's natural risk-avoidance instinct.'
'However, the result wouldn't change.'
Moyou mobilized his Aura and conjured a black sword.
Youpi staggered and half-knelt on the ground, his eyes trembling violently and there's blood flowing on the corners of his mouth.
'I couldn't stop the attacks...'
'But I still have the ability to regenerate.'
'As long as I could recover fast enough...!'
Youpi's bloodshot eyes widened, and he frantically activated the regeneration power granted by his magical beast genes.
Under the flow of Aura, flesh sprouted from the edges of the gaping wound, wriggling like living tissue, growing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
After personally experiencing Moses's terrifying power, the only remaining thought in Youpi's mind was to rely on his regenerative ability to seize the opportunity to attack.
But he had overlooked the most fundamental problem,
That is…
The overwhelming difference in speed.
Squelch!
A black sword appeared out of nowhere, as if it had crossed the distance in an instant, and pierced through Youpi's forehead without any warning.
And on the other end of the blade was Moses, who appeared out of nowhere along with the black sword.
"…!!!"
Youpi, who was still desperately regenerating, suddenly stiffened and his eyes widened in shock.
The next second, a blinding, tearing pain erupted inside his skull like an explosion.
Moses had detonated the black sword inside his head, causing Youpi's skull to burst apart like a shattered watermelon.
Thud.
Youpi's headless body collapsed heavily to the ground with a deep, dull sound.
This Chimera Ant, which is born for killing and carrying the genes of many magical beasts, followed in the footsteps of the King and Pouf, and died very cleanly under Moses's sword.
Because Youpi's original presence was very strong, when his presence suddenly disappeared, Leol's group and Knov's group inside the palace immediately realized that Youpi had most likely fallen to Moses's blade as well.
"Sigh…"
After getting rid of Youpi, Moses breathed a sigh of relief.
He had dealt with the threat from the Chimera Ants and also kept Netero alive.
With such a result, it was worth everything he had poured into this mission.
'When I get back, I'm definitely sleeping like the dead.'
Moses lowered his eyes, moved his feet, and sat on a palace supporting pillar lying on the ruins not far away.
"As for rest of the Chimera Ants… I'll leave those to Morel and the others."
Moses muttered to himself, leaned forward slightly, and slowly closed his eyes.
From resurrecting through the ability granted by the Counterpoint Cornerstone to taking down the King, Pouf, and Youpi in rapid succession...
The whole thing had taken less than a minute.
But now that the battle was over, Moses felt his body suddenly become very tired, perhaps because he suddenly switched from a tense state to a relaxed state, and waves of searing pain pulsed from every corner of his body.
Most importantly-
He could clearly feel something draining from within him.
But the paradox is that Moses can also feel that the Nen that has become stronger after 'death' is still tightly grasped in his palm.
As long as he wants, he can still burst out with a much more powerful Aura than before.
So then… what exactly was this change happening inside him?
Moses endured the severe pain that seemed to tear his body apart violently, and a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes.
Thanks to his top-tier pain tolerance, the physical agony after the battle didn't bother him all that much.
What he is more concerned about now is the changes in his strength.
It felt like two different forces were intertwined inside him, and now that the battle was over, one of them was quietly stepping away, almost consciously withdrawing.
"Is it… Post-Mortem Nen?"
Feeling a certain power draining away from his body, Moses vaguely guessed what it might be.
This was the power that had surged within him after dying and coming back, the one that allowed him to reach a level of Manifested Aura to overwhelm the Chimera Ant King.
In the process of empowering, Moses's Potential Aura and Manifested Aura have been significantly improved.
Now-
That same power was slipping away, as if returning to wherever it came from.
Moses didn't know how to describe his feelings and experiences at the moment.
If he had to put it into words, it was as though this Post-Mortem Nen had given him a terrifying burst of power, but at the same time, it had unlocked something inside him...
Like he had broken through some genetic barrier and shattered the limits of what humans were supposed to be capable of.
Now, this power that seemed to be the Post-Mortem Nen seemed to have completed its mission and was leaving his body.
'Trigger condition… source of power… brief empowerment… and now, release...'
Moses opened his eyes and looked down at his palms.
When he saw the dark halo on the surface of the palm's Aura gradually fade at a speed visible to the naked eye, an irrepressible look of surprise flashed in his eyes.
He intended to retain this source of power born from the depths of death, but no effort or will could stop it.
Post-Mortem Nen…
It seems to have a place it came from… and a place it returned to.