Chapter 121: The Swarm
"Let me test how much this guy is really worth." The ferocious-looking crocodile Squadron Leader stepped forward.
"And me."
"Count me in too."
...
Facing the Great Demon King Mord, this time seven Squadron Leader-level Chimera Ants were dispatched at once.
"Lord Bloster!"
"Lord Welfin!"
...
The ant swarm erupted in cheers.
This was their last remaining glory.
The seven Squadron Leaders, each with vicious expressions, unleashed overwhelmingly powerful auras as they charged toward Mord.
Mord showed no fear. His Zanpakutō erupted with terrifying dark red blade light. His right foot stamped violently, transforming his entire body into a bolt of lightning as he rushed toward them.
The two sides intersected and collided. First came a deafening impact, followed immediately by seven consecutive crisp clangs. Before anyone could react, both sides had already passed each other.
The seven Squadron Leaders continued moving forward, but suddenly sprayed massive amounts of blood from their bodies before simultaneously collapsing to the ground.
They were dead beyond any doubt.
The scene fell into complete silence.
The lion, the only Squadron Leader who hadn't attacked, had pupils trembling violently. It was completely stunned, its lion face showing an expression of disbelief.
One against seven had ended even more easily than one against four before.
Seven Squadron Leaders of the same level as itself had been instantly slaughtered—this was an outcome it could never have imagined.
Not just the lion, even the Chimera Ant Queen witnessing this scene began to doubt for the first time. Could the Royal Guards she had been waiting for to turn the tide really defeat this man before her?
Looking at this man, the former king of beasts sighed with such emotion.
I once believed...
That claws and fangs were the strongest weapons in this world.
With just a light swing, I could easily end others' lives...
And fill my own stomach—nothing could be more satisfying.
But reality is not so simple.
There are always higher mountains beyond mountains. I do not stand at the peak.
The price of death has taught me this lesson—I must become stronger.
Learning from my mistakes has become my weapon now.
This was why, among all the Squadron Leaders, it alone had not attacked.
Because it knew that with its current strength, it couldn't win against this man.
It glanced behind itself. Most of the hundreds of team leaders had now stood up, having successfully awakened their Aura.
Lion shouted loudly: "Don't be afraid, everyone! No matter how strong he is, he's just one person! With our numbers, we can overwhelm him through sheer force!"
"For the Squadron Leaders you've each lost, for our Queen's majesty - everyone charge together!"
"Kill him!"
The roar of the King of Beasts once again ignited the fighting spirit of the insect horde.
Mord's previous actions had indeed shocked these Chimera Ants, but hadn't completely terrified them.
There were two reasons for this.
First, Chimera Ants were inherently a warlike species.
Second, these Squadron Leaders couldn't calmly assess the power gap between both sides like Lion Hagya could, nor make the timely judgment to cease fighting. The sudden surge of power from awakening their Hatsu made them subconsciously believe that the Squadron Leaders' strength wasn't that impressive after all.
And indeed, as Lion Hagya had said, they had numbers on their side.
Ants were naturally a species adept at group combat.
Chimera Ants were no exception.
And so, under the King of Beasts Hagya's rallying, hundreds of Squadron Leaders charged toward Mord.
...
"Die!"
A Chimera Ant squad leader had silently approached Mord's rear by tunneling underground, suddenly bursting through the soil and opening its bloody maw to bite down on Mord.
As the foul wind approached, Mord's expression remained unchanged. With a backhand swing, he struck later but arrived first—planting a palm strike on the Chimera Ant's chest moments before its fangs could reach him.
Crackling sounds of shattering echoed as the hard exoskeleton instantly fractured, with terrifying force penetrating straight through its body.
The giant Chimera Ant showed a pained expression, its entire body flying backward like a cannonball.
"Come, fight!"
Facing the insect horde, Mord laughed heartily and charged into the Chimera Ant swarm with his Zanpakutō in hand.
Brilliant sword radiance bloomed accordingly. Mord's blade technique was exceptionally fierce—ordinary Squadron Leader-level Chimera Ants would be wounded upon contact and killed upon being struck, without the slightest suspense.
With just himself and his sword, Mord moved like the autumn wind sweeping fallen leaves, crushing everything in his path as Squadron Leader after Squadron Leader Chimera Ant fell to the ground.
It should be noted that these Squadron Leader-level Chimera Ants had already successfully awakened their Nen.
Strictly speaking, their strength wasn't actually weak.
Even before awakening Nen, Squadron Leader-level Chimera Ants could easily handle experts of Pokkle's caliber. After awakening Nen, some of them could even exchange blows with Phantom Troupe support members for short periods.
Whoosh!
A strand of spider silk shot through the air toward Mord.
Mord dodged aside and glanced upward. Feeling Mord's gaze, a human-faced spider on the distant ceiling immediately fled, concealing itself back into the darkness.
"Where are you looking?" A giant beetle holding a massive hammer, seeing Mord "distracted," brought its hammer crashing down toward his head.
Unfortunately, what it smashed was merely an afterimage.
The next moment.
Blade light flashed, and a red line appeared from the top of its head, running straight down through its entire body.
The massive form split in two.
Organs and blood scattered across the ground.
As time passed, these Squadron Leader-level Chimera Ants gradually grew more familiar with their newly acquired power, showing significant improvement in their combat strength.
Combined with their individual characteristics—such as wall climbing, burrowing, silk-spitting, flight, ultrasonic waves, and so on—even a force of one or two hundred Squadron Leader Chimera Ants together represented an extremely terrifying power.
Yet even so, Mord moved through the swarms with ease, growing stronger with each battle.
Moreover, the Chimera Ant Queen noticed that the man was actually smiling.
"Is this guy a monster? Is he even human?"
The watching Chimera Ant Queen's eyes were filled with shock.
It was clear that this man was enjoying the fight.
These ants would never understand.
Humanity itself contained a beastly nature.
The creatures they saw as food were the true rulers of this world.
"We can't win… There's no way we can defeat this guy, no matter what…"
Hagya instinctively retreated toward the exit of the Queen's palace.
Just then, an overwhelmingly terrifying, malevolent aura emanated from behind him.
Driven by biological instinct, he froze in place.
Mord, still in the midst of combat, had sensed the change in the Chimera Ant Nest even earlier.
With a casual swing of his blade, he cut down a female mosquito Chimera Ant before him, then looked toward the depths of the cavern, a faint smile curling at the corners of his lips.
"Finally awake, are you? I've been waiting for you for a long time, Neferpitou."