With his legs were severed, Meruem was completely stripped of his ability to resist.
Yet, even seeing the face of death, he refused to fall.
He... still had a game left to finish.
Swoosh!
A flash of blade light streaked past, and Meruem's head soared into the sky.
Against Law's overwhelming power, any resistance from him was utterly futile.
As his head was severed, Meruem knew he had already taken one step into the underworld, not far from death.
But as a king, he felt no fear, only deep unwillingness.
'There were things yet undone. How could I fall here?'
Despite this unwillingness, he still marched step by step towards death. It was just like those chosen as his food… each human had displayed a fierce will to live, but what was the result?
Ingredients already placed on the chopping block could never escape the descending kitchen knife.
Law watched the head flying through the air, satisfied, and withdrew Shin back into Kuro's space.
This was the first time he had experienced such a powerful state, and also the last. So, within the limited time, he intended to savor it fully.
Now, he was satisfied, so the battle should end.
Before Meruem's head could hit the ground, Law had already extracted his heart.
Common sense dictated that no matter how powerful a Nen User, their internal organs were vulnerable. Even someone as strong as Meruem could not escape this rule.
However, due to the condition of God Hand, even with his explosive Aura Output, Law had to obediently use the book to carry out the execution.
Thud.
Meruem's head fell from the sky to the ground, rolling several times before coming to a stop.
His gaze happened to be directed at Law, and at the heart held in his hand.
Crack!
A thunderclap roared from within the clouds, and the sound of wind and rain intensified.
"You can go and die now."
Meeting Meruem's gaze, Law summoned the book and sealed the heart inside.
Watching this scene, Meruem knew he had been checkmated completely.
Death...
That was something he had never even considered mere minutes ago.
'The essence of this world was survival of the fittest. Dying at this human's hands was simply because I was not strong enough. Therefore, I deserved to die.'
'But... I did not want to die here.'
The image of Komugi waiting quietly before the Gungi board was engraved in Meruem's mind.
Something flickered in his eyes as he stared at Law, but he quickly suppressed it, making that something disappear.
"I am the King."
He declared this to himself, with composure and calmness.
Then, Law decisively obliterated Meruem's heart.
The severed limbs scattered around spurted blood without warning.
A large amount of blood also seeped from the neck of Meruem's head, mixing with the rainwater.
Deeply feeling the arrival of death, the look in Meruem's eyes was terrifyingly calm, devoid of any fear. But upon closer inspection, one could see the repression beneath that calmness.
It was... a powerful unwillingness.
Even suppressing it with his identity and bearing as a king could not completely erase that unwillingness.
He wanted to return... to continue playing Gungi...
The light in Meruem's eyes was like fireflies flickering in the night, or like a candle flame in the wind, on the verge of going out.
Law silently watched this scene. The soaring golden Aura covering his body began to visibly diminish at a rapid pace.
Once the chosen target died, the operation mode would deactivate. If the mode were allowed to continue, within five minutes, Law would die from exhaustion.
A moment later, the golden Aura vanished completely.
[Target Eliminated...]
The phone and antenna carrying another's fate shattered, turning into wisps of resentment that dissipated into the world.
Sizzle... Crack...
Just as Law was about to dispose of Meruem's corpse, fine, dense wounds suddenly appeared all over his skin. Blood immediately seeped out, and his bones continuously emitted cracking sounds, as if fine fissures had also formed.
"Manageable."
Law calmly assessed his physical condition, feeling the cost wasn't too severe.
After all, it was a move that forcibly extracted power in a short time. Injuries like these were nothing.
Suppressing the soreness, Law took out the small remaining amount of Grass Jelly, pinched off a tiny portion, and integrated it into his body.
Soon, the bleeding stopped, and the wounds on his skin surface healed quickly. However, the healing of his bones would take some time, as the affected area was too extensive.
All this took only a few seconds.
Law looked at Meruem's corpse, took out the Chasefire Stone from the Kuro's space, intending to burn it.
Although he clearly knew Meruem's corpse could bring him significant benefits, Law simply could not regard Meruem as an ingredient.
That psychological barrier was something he could not cross, no matter what.
Fine strands of Nen emerged from his palm. As he prepared to chip off a fragment of the Chasefire Stone, Law's expression suddenly changed.
From Meruem's lifeless head, countless threads suddenly drifted out, merging in the blink of an eye into a dense, ink-black resentment, silently hovering above.
For some reason, it did not attack Law.
"Resentment, but..."
Law looked at this resentment, which seemed even more tenacious than Pitou's, his eyes flashing with wild joy, followed by confusion.
Based on past experience, once an enemy died and produced a resentment, it would immediately attack him. Yet, Meruem's resentment just floated motionless, even giving Law an illusion.
That resentment... seemed to have its back turned to him, and the direction it faced was unmistakably towards the capital palace.
"What's going on?" Law was deeply puzzled.
At that moment, Meruem's resentment actually flew out against the wind and rain.
Seeing this, Law, disregarding his injuries, lunged at the resentment like a tiger or wolf, immediately and unceremoniously activating the White Smoke Font.
Instantly, the ink-black resentment produced violent fluctuations, seemingly struggling fiercely. However, the White Smoke Font was inherently the bane of resentments. No matter how Meruem's resentment struggled, it could only separate into tiny streams, continuously being absorbed into Law's body.
As the resentment flowed into his body, Law felt a chill, but soon a thread of warmth followed… a strange interweaving of cold and warmth.
Simultaneously, the numerical value displayed by the White Smoke Font soared rapidly, and something more began to fill Law's mind.
'It's the Ant King's obsession.'
Law quickly understood why the resentment hadn't attacked him.
Given Meruem's character and perspective, if killed by an enemy, he would not resent the enemy. He would only consider it a consequence of his own insufficient strength.
Therefore, it was basically impossible for him to leave behind a resentment after death.
The reason a resentment remained now was his desire to return and fulfill his promise to Komugi.
That Gungi game was not finished. He had told Komugi to wait for his return. Most importantly, what occupied his mind at the moment of death was Gungi.
Silently absorbing the resentment, he also silently absorbed Meruem's obsession.
After a while, the resentment was completely absorbed. His numerical value directly surged to 97%.
At that moment, a figure arrived at the scene… it was Ging.
He saw Meruem's mutilated body on the ground and Law standing motionless in the rain with his eyes closed. His expression changed slightly, a hint of worry surfacing.
The bloodstains on Law's body were washed away by the rain, but they didn't disperse far, gathering around his feet.
Seeing this, Ging rushed to Law's side at top speed.
Sensing Ging's arrival, Law suddenly opened his eyes and looked at him, asking, "Do you think a soul exists after a person dies?"
Hearing Law's question, Ging nearly rolled his eyes. The worry in his heart vanished instantly.
He looked Law up and down, then replied, "You suddenly ask me such a philosophical question. I can't really answer off the top of my head. Should I think about it first?"