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Chapter 468: Devouring the Royal Guards, The Ant King's Forced Evolution
Meruem's voice was low, carrying the unquestionable coercion of a supreme ruler.
Dragon watched the Ant King's aura skyrocket. His purple Rinnegan narrowed slightly. He had naturally noticed the commotion in the distance as well. Kuma had already dealt with that troublesome catgirl, which meant Luffy and the others were safe for now. The heavy stone in Dragon's heart finally dropped.
Yet, his expression grew even more solemn. The green monster before him was undergoing a highly dangerous metamorphosis.
The Nen radiating from Meruem had grown incomprehensibly dense, even coalescing into the massive shadow of a demon in mid-air. It was an amalgamation of pure malice and life force.
Dragon could feel the natural energy in the surroundings being forcibly plundered by this monster. Even the vitality of the earth beneath their feet was rapidly bleeding away. A withered, sickly yellow spread outward in all directions at a visible rate.
"I will slaughter you." Meruem spoke again. This time, there was no mockery or superiority in his voice. There was only the most primal desire to slaughter.
He would tear these humans who dared challenge his royal authority to pieces, swallowing them whole bite by bite, offering them as a sacrifice to his fallen Royal Guard.
Dragon took a deep breath. The Chakra and Haki within him began to circulate at an unprecedented rate. He knew that in the upcoming battle, even he couldn't guarantee a victory. But he couldn't retreat. Not just to complete the dungeon quest given by Store Manager Blake, but for the sake of the three brats behind him who still needed time to grow.
"Then come and try." Dragon shouted softly.
The black Ryuo covering his fists surged once more. His purple Rinnegan erupted with blinding light.
"Shinra Tensei!"
A violent repulsive force centered on Dragon, blasting outwards indiscriminately in all directions.
Meruem let out a deafening roar. Incredibly, he didn't dodge or evade. Pushing through a repulsive force capable of leveling a city, he turned into a green streak of lightning, charging straight at Dragon.
Two world-destroying powers were about to collide brutally once more upon the soil of this alternate world.
The air around Meruem twisted severely. The materialized purplish-green Nen shot into the sky like boiling magma. This aura was several times more violent than before.
Dragon coated his arms heavily in pitch-black Ryuo Haki, his purple Rinnegan locked onto the approaching green figure. He braced himself to meet the thunderous strike.
But Meruem didn't attack him.
He completely ignored Dragon, bending his knees and instantly collapsing the bedrock beneath him into a massive crater. He transformed into a streak of green light tearing through space, heading straight for the distant ruins.
Dragon's brow furrowed tightly. He acutely sensed something was wrong. The monster's target wasn't him. It was the two Royal Guards who had been defeated earlier.
At the edge of the ruins, Pouf, missing half his body, was struggling to crawl through the mud. The typically elegant Royal Guard was in a pathetic state, his golden hair plastered with filth and blood. Yet, he didn't care about his injuries in the slightest; he was still endlessly muttering the King's name.
On the other side, Youpi, his six arms broken by Shinra Tensei, was just dragging himself out from a pile of rubble. His massive body swayed unsteadily, purple blood continuously oozing from his wounds.
A green streak of lightning slammed down between them. The furious shockwave blew away all the surrounding debris.
Looking at their suddenly descending King, there was no fear of death in the eyes of the two Royal Guards. Instead, they radiated a fanatical light of pure devotion.
"My King." Pouf propped himself up with his remaining arm, a sickly, euphoric smile spreading across his face. "Please, use my flesh and blood."
Youpi dragged his mangled body forward and knelt on the ground, exposing his most vulnerable neck to the King.
Meruem offered no useless words. The violent glare in his eyes held nothing but an extreme thirst for power. He opened his fang-filled maw and bit directly into Youpi's thick neck.
A spine-chilling sound of chewing echoed across the battlefield, far more brutal than any wild beast tearing into its prey. Meruem ripped Youpi's head clean off, gulping down the flesh packed with immense Nen in massive bites.
Youpi's colossal, headless corpse crashed to the ground, twitching a few times before going completely still.
Watching this, the fanaticism on Pouf's face grew even more intense. He proactively offered his remaining half-body right to the King's mouth. Meruem swallowed Pouf's ruined body whole, not even spitting out the bone fragments.
This savage feast, which completely trampled the bottom line of species morality, made Ivankov, who was watching from afar, feel his stomach churn violently.
"Just what kind of monster is this?!" Ivankov screamed, covering his mouth. Even an experienced Revolutionary Army commander found it repulsive.
Luffy, Ace, and Sabo turned deathly pale. They had grown up in the Gray Terminal and had seen their fair share of cruel scenes, but the sight of a creature eating its own comrades alive completely exceeded their comprehension.
Kuma silently stepped forward, using his towering physique to block the three boys' line of sight. Within the eyes hidden behind his sunglasses, an incredibly rare glimmer of solemnity flashed for the first time.
He could feel it. That already terrifying Nen was skyrocketing wildly, defying all logic and common sense.
High-density Nen underwent a violent chemical reaction within Meruem's body. Green and purple energy intertwined, forming a massive energy vortex. The surrounding air popped and cracked under the pressure; even the light seemed to be swallowed into it.
Meruem's body began to tremble violently. The muscles on his back writhed madly, as if something was trying to burst out.
Accompanied by the sickening sound of tearing bone and flesh, a pair of massive membranous wings violently ripped through the skin on his back and spread wide open. These wings were covered in bizarre purple patterns, stirring up a foul wind with every beat.
Dragon arrived, sprinting across the rubble. He hadn't chosen to wait in place. His combat intuition told him he absolutely couldn't let this process finish.
His purple Rinnegan contracted to its limit. He realized the monster before him was crossing some kind of biological boundary—a metamorphosis that made even a powerhouse of his caliber palpitate. He had to interrupt him.
Dragon raised both hands. The Chakra and Haki within him poured out without reservation. Black-red Ryuo Haki was madly injected into the repulsive field of Shinra Tensei. The surrounding space began to twist and warp under the strain of this power.
"Stop right there!" Dragon roared, thrusting his palms violently forward.
The furious repulsive force formed an invisible wall, crashing toward Meruem with the momentum to obliterate everything in its path. This force was more than enough to level a mountain.
But when it struck Meruem, it only produced a dull, heavy thud.
The evolving Ant King didn't even sway. His newly formed membranous wings emitted a faint glow, actually forcefully neutralizing the repulsion of Shinra Tensei.
Dragon's pupils shrank violently. His proud attack couldn't even break the enemy's defense.
How was this possible? The top-tier physical arts of the One Piece world combined with the Six Paths power of the Naruto world... had actually been tanked directly by pure flesh.
Meruem slowly turned around. His newborn wings flapped gently, entirely freeing him from the pull of gravity as he hovered in mid-air.
His aura had completely changed. If he was a berserk wild beast before, then now, he was a true god dictating life and death. That profound sense of lofty indifference suffocated everyone present.
The wounds Dragon had inflicted upon him moments ago were completely healed, not even leaving a faint scar. The violent cruelty in his eyes had vanished, replaced by an ultimate, utter calm.
It was the calm of looking at dead objects.
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In Foosha Village in the East Blue.
Inside Partys Bar, Blake leaned against the counter, still holding his unfinished glass of juice. The virtual light screen in mid-air clearly relayed the imagery from the Hunter world.
Seeing Meruem devour his Royal Guards and complete his evolution, Blake let out a whistle. "Now this is a big surprise."
Setting down his glass, he stroked his chin with keen interest. Blake knew exactly how strong the Ant King was in the original plot, but the winged guy currently on the screen had far surpassed those original settings.
"Mr. Dragon. Just how long can you last in the face of this absolute power?"
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In the Hunter world.
Above the scorched ruins, Meruem looked down at Dragon from his high vantage point. He didn't attack immediately, instead carefully familiarizing himself with the brand-new power coursing through his body.
This Nen, overflowing to the point of bursting, brought him an unprecedented sense of elation. He even felt that with just a gentle wave of his hand, he could tear this planet in two.
"The limit of humanity... ends here."
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