"Have I... finally lost...?"
Feeling the agonizing pain transmitted to his brain, the King finally realized what had occurred. His eyes flickered with the bitterness of defeat and a lingering attachment to life.
"Vaelstrasz, cancel possession."
As Allen issued the command to the Red Dragon, he stepped to his opponent's side. His voice was flat, devoid of emotion. "Rest assured. After you are gone, I will find those behind the scenes and make them pay for their actions, a price more agonizing than you can imagine."
"What is this? Pity?" The King let out a self-deprecating laugh.
"No. This is merely the basic respect afforded to food. Because now, I am going to devour you and seize everything you are," Allen answered bluntly.
"Then what are you waiting for? Do it. I have eaten so many people; it is only fair that I be eaten by a human like you. The essence of the world is the survival of the fittest. I was stronger than those humans, so I treated them as food. You are stronger than me; it is only natural that you treat me as yours." A look of liberation washed over the King's face.
"I'm glad you see it that way. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, the Queen actually prepared a name for you. Meruem. It means 'the light that illuminates all.'" Allen shared the final secret he held. After all, the King was about to die; it would be too tragic for him to pass without even knowing his own name.
"Me... ruem? So, I had a name after all?"
The King, who had been ready for the end, opened his eyes once more. A final spark of brilliance flashed within his lifeless pupils.
"Yes. Unfortunately, the brutality of your beastly nature killed your own mother. You brought no light to this world, only disaster, slaughter, death, and destruction. While the root cause may not entirely be your fault, as a dangerous species that preys on humanity, it is best that you vanish completely. That is my duty as a Hunter. Farewell, Meruem."
With those words, Allen commanded the Red Dragon to devour him.
Vaelstrasz, having reached the limit of her patience, manifested instantly. She opened her maw and exhaled a torrent of Flames of Life, instantly engulfing the King. After a full five or six minutes, Meruem's mangled body was finally refined into a cocoon radiating a faint purple glow.
"This quality... it's unbelievable!" The Red Dragon licked her lips, her voice filled with excitement.
"Well? Can this bring about the final metamorphosis for you and me?" Allen asked with interest.
Vaelstrasz nodded without hesitation. "Of course! If we can acquire that ability, we will become invincible."
"Which ability? You mean the King's power to acquire Nen and strengthen his own Aura by consuming others?" Allen rubbed his chin, looking thoughtful. He had never been quite sure if that power was a Nen ability or an innate racial trait of the Chimera Ants.
"Yes! I can feel it; that ability is incubating right inside this cocoon. Aside from that, there is also the 100-Type Guanyin that you have been so envious of. Unfortunately, you didn't fulfill all the conditions to plunder it directly, so you'll have to rely on a card draw to test your luck." Vaelstrasz explained with a hint of regret.
Allen shrugged indifferently. "In that case, let's begin. I feel like my luck has been quite good lately."
"Let's hope so."
With that, the Red Dragon opened her mouth and swallowed the purple cocoon in a single gulp. Simultaneously, several cards manifested before Allen. He hesitated for a few seconds before flipping the one on the far right.
Instantly!
Golden light burst from the card's surface. On it was a vivid, bloody depiction of the Ant King devouring a human corpse.
"You actually drew it?!" Vaelstrasz's eyes widened in shock.
"I told you, my luck is good lately. So, what exactly does this ability do? Please don't tell me I have to start gnawing on bloody corpses," Allen asked.
"No, that won't be necessary. I can eat them for you. Don't forget, didn't you create me specifically to handle these kinds of 'troubles'?" Vaelstrasz rolled her eyes at him.
Allen let out a wry laugh and nodded. "Fair point. So now, plundering an ability no longer requires fulfilling a series of troublesome conditions? I just need a single bite of the target's flesh, right?"
"Exactly! Furthermore, every ability the Ant King acquired through consumption, including the 100-Type Guanyin, now belongs to you. Barring any accidents, there shouldn't be another person in the human world who can defeat you in a one-on-one fight. Congratulations. You can finally look down upon all Nen users from the highest peak."
Perhaps because she had just consumed the most delicious cocoon of her life, Vaelstrasz seemed uncharacteristically excited, even offering words of flattery. Normally, she only exposed her "foodie" nature when faced with a gourmet meal. It was also possible that the number of cocoons in her stomach had reached a threshold, triggering a new stage of evolution.
Watching the nearly full-grown Red Dragon fade back into nothingness, Allen instinctively clenched his fist. "The strongest already? I suppose that makes sense," he murmured to himself. "With my current Aura capacity and the array of bizarre abilities I've mastered, unless someone is truly omniscient and omnipotent, the ultimate victor will always be me. Beyond, the Kakin Royal Family... I'll be coming for you soon."
Just as he was about to head back to the palace to deal with the last Royal Guard and put an end to this war between humans and Chimera Ants, a staggering amount of Aura suddenly erupted from the direction of the palace. An earth-shattering roar echoed through the sky.
BOOOOM!!!!!
Even from kilometers away, the violent tremors in the earth were unmistakable.
"That intensity... Has Gon transformed?"
Allen's expression shifted. He immediately converted his remaining Aura into Aura Burst and bolted toward the source of the blast. Aside from that reckless boy, he couldn't imagine anyone else in the extermination team capable of unleashing such terrifying power.
Empowered by supersonic speed, the distance vanished in an instant. When he arrived at the scene, Allen saw Gon, who should have been an adolescent, now possessing the physique of a man in his thirties. His eyes flickered with rage, sorrow, and tyranny as he swung his fists, brutally pinning Neferpitou to the ground.
The latter's head had already been crushed, leaving only "Nen that becomes stronger after death" to manipulate the body, twitching in bizarre, involuntary movements in a futile attempt to counterattack. As for the others, they were long past being able to intervene; they could only stand by and watch in silence.