In Knov's room, he and Knuckle were on a separate floor to the others in the Extermination Team. "Knuckle, you're up. I was able to incapacitate one of the guards, but it won't happen again, we have to move quickly to sideline the others."
Knuckle's lips were parted, he didn't inhale or exhale. Breathlessness. K-Knov, what the hell happened to you? You look at least a few decades older! Is this how fearsome the royal guard are? To reduce a man like Knov, to… this. "Knov, you don't look like you're in good sh-"
Knov's raised hand brought that line of discussion to an end. "I'm aware of my condition, but I have a duty to fulfil." His hand tremored, jerking every so often. The process of Knov's greying had fully progressed. His scalp was covered in ash grey follicles. Fatigue, starvation, dehydration, it seemed as though all of those things had set in at the same time.
Cracked lips, bags beneath his slitted eyes. He appeared as though he were a serpent lying in wait for a next catch that was to never come.
That's what happened to him after facing one of them, and now I have to go. Unbeknownst to himself, sweat poured from every pore. "How do you plan on having me approach it?"
Every phase of this infiltration has been made up on the spot. These damn ants didn't give us any preparation time. "I've seen death already, you have not. Which is why I'm boldly proposing this. I will reappear on the surface to lure the creature out then return. Your role is simpler."
Knuckle's body shuddered slightly, in anticipation of the sentence Knov would pass onto him.
"You," Knov paused.
I have to what? Spit it out already!
"You just have to touch its foot to trigger your A.P.R. Once it arrives at the area in which I appeared it will be in range of my portal, I will open a portal just large enough for your hand to fit through." Knov turned away, not leaving any room for discussion as he reached for a doorknob.
"Be ready." He begun to disappear into the void which lied beyond his doors.
"Wait! Won't this expose your ability?"
"Expose what? It'll just appear to be an ability based on remote attacks. Even with its reasoning skills, it wouldn't be able to deduce the intricacies of my ability. Let alone the idea of an entire pocket dimension."
Knov surfaced once more. I'll preserve Zeno's strength. He cleared his throat, then let out a faltering cry. "Is this all the royal guard amounts to!?" I've lost my sanity, using guerrilla tactics like this. All the while, he pressed his foot into the ground, leaving a clear impression of his footprint in the cracked concrete. Afterward, he set a portal just infront of the footprint. That should allow his fist to appear behind it.
Without delay, he sunk back into his portal.
Imhokepri who was still circling the area picked up on the sound, immediately diving towards it. This is definitely bait, but for how long will I leave these humans unchecked? I can intercept the ones in the air, but I'd likely stray too far from the king.
He crashed to the ground, kicking up dust. As she said, they'd disappear. The footprint Knov left behind came into view. They left no traces until now, again, bait. Imhokepri approached it, kneeling down to inspect it. I'm waiting, human. Show me your ability.
I'm only basing the timing on the other one's speed, this is a gamble. Knov was already back in his room. "Knuckle, stick your hand through the door. Pull it back as quickly as you can."
That's like telling me to stick my hand into a meat grinder! Knov, I'm trusting you here. Oh, what the hell! "Get some you freak of nature!" He thrusted his Nen imbued fist through the door, groping the blackness until he felt something feathery and oily on his knuckles.
"Hakoware!"
On the surface, Imhokepri detected a presence behind himself, expecting someone to be stood behind him. Too high. It was below him, a fist at the same level as his leg. Even though he could dodge, he allowed Knuckle's fist to connect. Go ahead and show your card. The damage was no more than a tickle, leaving him more concerned about the portal from which it came.
A portal? Surely not, it must be some remote attack ability. It's either or. But she did say they disappeared… So, whatever is behind that portal. He gasped slightly at the miniature thing floating by his side. "It's time. Adding interest!" The counter on its forehead displayed a number. '200' An additional ability on top of the portal? No, the stealthy portal user is unlikely to use such direct methods. It stands that the portal can be used as a means of transport. They're with an accomplice.
Imhokepri stood there, critically observing the thing attached to him. So, it's not a countdown. Every ten seconds without fail, that number rises. It's programmed, deliberate.
I can deduce its behaviours but not the causes. Imhokepri's wings fidgeted. I can only infer that I'm being given a quantity something as why else would there be an increasing number representation?
Imhokepri swatted the thing away, it received no visible damage and hovered back to his side. Indestructible too.
A cause. Causes are conditional. Something needs to be fulfilled. But what!? He observed the faint shroud of aura around A.P.R. Made of Nen like Neferpitou's Doctor Blythe, so there is an owner which supports the idea of it being programmed. He thought back on the punch. That must've been the condition to deploy it, but not for its other behaviours.
A.P.R's shrill voice cut into his thought process once again. "It's time. Adding interest!" The number displayed on its forehead increased, now displaying '220'. A 10% increase.
Interest, what is that? All I know is I'm being given something. An exchange? But I'm not trading anything for whatever it is I'm being given. So, I'm owing, I'm indebted. Its behaviour is based around loan and debt… Still no cause.
Interest must be a punishment for not repaying what is owed within the allotted time. He held A.P.R's head between his index and thumb, further inspecting it. No unit next to the number, I'll assume a Nen construct in this context deals in Nen. So, I'm presumably being leant Nen. It would follow that if the amount I owe is greater than what I have there will be a punishment. Following the theme, it would likely be the loss of Nen usage.
He smiled. "Excellent. For the time being it seems I'm indebted to you, human." Imhokepri spoke into the air, not knowing where Knov and Knuckle were hidden. He took off, flying up into the air before beginning an uncontrolled descent.
"Orbital Strike." No, if what I said is correct, using my Nen isn't in my best interest. I'll just have to use it sparingly. Imhokepri's body slammed into the ground, creating a less potent and more localised explosion to not damage the skyscraper. I still need to figure out why the number rises.
Prior to Imhokepri's Orbital Strike, Knuckle watched on, peering through the now pinhole-sized peephole, a portal, made by Knov. What!? Did it completely figure out my ability already!? His pupils shrank due to awe and fear. "How can it have reasoned all those things so quickly!?"
"Do not underestimate it Knuckle. It's highly intelligent, and this gave us a chance to understand its behaviours." His glasses shimmered. "Behaviours have causes and conditions. Let's watch."
"It stood there thinking for quite some time. Ten minutes exactly." Knuckle moved aside to let Knov have a look through the peephole.
"As expected, it's a type which prefers to strategize. But it's also an over thinker. Instead of doing something productive during those ten minutes, it just stood there." Knov moved away from the peephole with a slight smirk.
"I'd wager that it enjoys being intellectually stimulated to a fault. The harder the problems we give it, the more it will waste time." He pointed at Knuckle with his index. "You absolutely cannot punch it Knuckle. And I cannot allow myself to be caught, I'm sure its struggling to figure me out."
"Punching it will be like feeding it the answer to the test. Alright, I get it." Knuckle scratched his head. "But once it goes out of range, the jig is up. It'll figure out I need to be within a certain range to add interest."
Knov shook his head from side to side, a finger on his nose bridge. "No, the jig won't be going anywhere. That will work in our favour, it will be given another problem to solve." He closed the portal just as Imhokepri came back into view from the sky. "Besides, now we've put a muzzle on it. It can't be reckless."
Imhokepri returned to the skyscraper, with A.P.R still over his shoulder. The king looked up from his board, keenly eyeing it. "It seems you've acquainted yourself with the humans, what is that thing on your shoulder?" He pointed to it.
"One of the human's ability which works on the basis of debt and loan." He divulged the rest of his findings and speculations regarding their abilities to the king. After that, Imhokepri stood next to the king, unleashing his aura. His En was not as advanced as Neferpitou's, but it covered the vital points, the king's quarters and Komugi's. I'll use the rest of my aura here.
"You expect them to reach me?" The king side-eyed Imhokepri as he read a book.
"It can't be helped, I'm unable to counter their ability. I could patrol indefinitely, but that would leave you exposed for a considerable amount of time. And we already know they're coming here, there's no need to waste any effort."
I can't help but feel that he views me as a piece. "And Neferpitou?"
"Injured. Her leg was severed. She's tending to her wounds, then she'll head off." It seems the interest stopped increasing. "I'll be back in a moment, your majesty. I'm expecting a visitor." Imhokepri, went down a few floors, sitting at the top of the staircase, spreading his En further down. If they could teleport anywhere at will, no diversion would be needed.
Knov exited his 'room', now covering the small distance between himself and the skyscraper. He finally reached it, planting a portal at its entrance. F-Finally! I can leave the rest to the Chairman. Morel, Knuckle, and Shoot. As for Palm, it's not time. Knov ran up every floor of the building in as little time as he could. The king is likely to be at the top. He closed in on the uppermost floors before hitting a wall, a cloud of thick Nen at the top of the staircase. D-Damn it, this is as far as I go. He set up a portal, then phased through the floor, ending up back outside at the entrance. But this is good, it's draining its aura with En.
He entered his 'room', on the floor containing everyone. Morel, Shoot. "It's time for you to fulfil your roles in this modified infiltration. Shoot, you will go to the west. Morel, the east. The guard has split up for some unknown reason, but it's in our favour so I'd like it to stay that way. You will eliminate any threats you encounter, but prioritise the distraction of the guards over all." The other guard should still be recovering.
"Knuckle, you're crippled without A.P.R, so there's no use in sending you out. Getting near that thing isn't possible." He turned to Palm. "You won't be of use at the moment. The sudden shift in objectives rendered you useless." Then turned away. "And I'm glad that's the case."
He's been shouldering this immense pressure all by himself. The thought of everyone who laid eyes on this evaporated man who still relayed instructions with fearless fervour. Really, I'm so tired, I just want to… He fell forward, then felt a hand on his chest stopping his fall.
"Hey, Knov! Don't go keeling over yet, you've still got to let us out of here." The burly Morel's voice spread light into Knov's blackening consciousness.
Mustering the last of his strength, he slotted his key into a nearby door then opened it. "Noted, Mr Morel." Still enough energy to be snide.
"It's alright to rely on others sometime, Knov. I could've scouted out the city beforehand. We aren't just mindless tools in your inventory, you know!" Morel still supported Knov's slumped body with his large hand.
"Oh, but you are, Mr Morel." Knov chuckled weakly. "And trust me, having at least one of our cards hidden is a considerable advantage." He thought back to Imhokepri. "I don't believe you would've been able to outmanoeuvre any of the things I faced without my Nen ability."
"Hmph, good to see that your fire hasn't been completely snuffed out. I'll be sure to bring back one of their heads just for you." Morel adjusted his sunglasses.
Knov's vision blurred further. "You do that, Mr Morel." Morel set him down on the ground gently.
Morel slung his massive tobacco pipe over his shoulder then left, not before saying. "Close the door, Palm. And take care of him." Without looking back. As he left, he slid a phone out from his pocket. "Chairman, the preparations have been made. But we were unable to separate the guard from the king."
In the sky, Netero sat up. "Looks like it's time, Zeno. My bones were starting to get stiff!" Zeno looked back. "Don't get too excited. Nobody said the king would leave the city willingly." Pop. He cracked his neck. "And you'll have to pay extra if you want me to fight that guard."
Still, in the north. Neferpitou sat, still injured as Doctor Blythe meticulously tended to her wounds, constructing a leg from thin air. Connecting bone, attaching nerves, and grafting tissue to one another. In front of her, an approaching figure, short with spiked hair. Another human. I won't be able to do anything in this state.
I can't just give up on them. Gon came upon a clearing scarred by the arrows of Zeno's Dragon Dive, he looked around and noticed Neferpitou on the ground leaning with her hands behind her back as Doctor Blythe went to work. He closed in on her without delay.
Another of these creatures. They came with the explosion. "Oi," Gon's eyes were absent. No passenger, simply instinct guiding him. A defenceless Neferpitou looked him in the eyes, sensing his determination. "I'm looking for my friends."
In this state, it's no good to irritate the human even if it looks so fragile. It survived after all. She ran her tail across her waist, wrapping it around her torso. He doesn't seem to be in a reasonable state. "Did one of them have black hair?" 'Friends', two or more. "And was the other blonde?" Common hair colours I've observed.
Gon's eyes widened, the mention of blonde and black hair bypassing his sense of reason and appealing directly to his blinding hope. "Y-You've seen them? Do you know where they went?! Tell me!" Suddenly, his aura spiked. "And, if you're lying to me…" Gon's expressions were disconnected. A smile on his lips, a blank stare on his face. "If you're lying to me, I'll kill you."
Neferpitou was taken aback by this display. She felt chills. Chills from a mere human, and a child at that. Her eyes begun to widen, but she stopped them from doing so. "They went that way." Pointing in some random direction away from the north.
Predator. "And why would you have let them go? Are you playing with me? Remember what I said. You should remember it well, because I won't be repeating myself." A haze formed around Gon, blurring his figure.
Prey. Not a total fool, but one, nonetheless. "As you can see, they injured me." She gestured to her leg. "But I got away from them before they could finish me off."
"I don't believe you." Aura gathered around Gon's fist, enough aura to be fatal to Neferpitou who was essentially in a state of Zetsu. "What did they look like?"
"What?" Neferpitou shuddered uncontrollably. I'm already vulnerable, trying to fight with my tail bound to Doctor Blythe is inconvenient, and If I stop before the bone is set it'll snap right off. I can't delay myself further.
"You heard me. If you met them, you should know. Now tell me." No margin for error.
"I-It was all so quick, I could barely see them. All I know is where they went." It seems that answer placated him. Neferpitou relaxed too soon.
Gon's relieved expression was already set before she spoke. It was a response he could see coming. He laughed dryly. "Convenient. That makes it easier for me to kill you."
Snap. Neferpitou broke her arm, leaving it bent at an unnatural angle. A stifled grunt left her mouth. "Do you believe me now? I'm no threat to you." Two legs and an arm will do me just fine. If no arms, my teeth. I will carry out the king's wishes. "Let me heal my legs. And I'll be able to guide you." She sheepishly smiled.
Before Gon could think on that. Rustle. Neferpitou's act of coiling her tail around herself betrayed her. A crumpled ball of paper fell out from her pocket. It was carried across to Gon by the wind before Neferpitou could grab it. Gon knelt down to pick it up, unfurling it with both hands.
"No. Don't touch that! You don't get to touch it, you're not even worthy to be in his presence!" Neferpitou clawed the ground with her unbroken hand. It was odd what she felt. Smatterings of shame. Desire which went in hand with it. Perversion. The paper was unfurled. A crinkled image of Neferpitou, Imhokepri, Shaiapouf, and the king. Well, only Neferpitou and the king. The others were expertly carved out by her claw, leaving only the outlines of their silhouettes.
A shrill screech as she wildly fidgeted. "No, don't look at it!" Neferpitou's hands were over her face with splayed fingers. This sensation one feels for my sire… It is nothing more than my loyalty?! It is not wrong. He depends on me. But he chose Imhokepri over me! Komugi! "You wouldn't understand." Panting raggedly. "You wouldn't know what it's like to," What is it, the word? How could I forget at this time!?
Gon's hand shook. "How can something like you even have things you care about?" Trembling with rage. "Are you kidding me!?" He staggered backwards. "Don't. Don't you dare do that. How dare you cry infront of me! Look at everything around you, do you even…" Killua's words suddenly shot through his head. 'You barely even remembered to mention anyone else.' His words suddenly lost momentum. "Care."
The word eluding Neferpitou.
Tears streamed from Neferpitou's doll like eyes shrouded in dense lashes, fogging her vision. Eh? What is this? It feels uncomfortable, yet. It is pleasant. The word was cathartic. Flood gates opened. Fitting for a child, only just over a month old.
Gon dropped to the ground with his hands clutching his head, trying to make sense of it all. Where he went wrong. But I can't just, I can't! He looked around at the destruction as it finally began to set in. Why did I come here? What was I hoping to find!? Hope? Absent buildings, absent lives. There's nothing. I left Killua behind. For nothing! Aura came to him, flooding the air around him. Unadulterated animosity.
The power Gon displayed just then dwarfed everything prior. "If my friends are dead, then why should you live?" He dragged his clenched fists across the ground as he oriented himself upright. Black begun to tinge the white hue of his aura which spiralled around his fist. It glowed. That light contained no absolution for either party. The matters of the world were merely a backdrop. "Who was behind all of this?" A near unintelligible garbled voice burst through the wall of aura.
Neferpitou's hair was wildly blown back by the violent gale coming off of Gon.
"It was all my doing." Death was near, casting its light onto Neferpitou who had a soft expression opposite to her neutral alertness. Oh well, sire. She dismissed Doctor Blythe before leaping toward Gon using her uninjured leg. This is my death throe.
All that he needed to hear. By the time she moved, Gon had already grown to a considerable size. I don't want it. A towering silhouette could be seen in his thick curtain of aura. These feelings. Impenetrable bindings of muscle, stretched clothes. I give it all up.
One arm, and one leg. Predictable. Gon sidestepped Neferpitou as if sleepwalking, shuffling his feet and entering his stance at once. "Jan Ken.", an uppercut practiced many times over during his time as a Hunter. It's uncomfortable, yet. It feels good. The word was cathartic. Boom. Sight of Neferpitou's body became lost to the night sky. She became another of its stars, watching over one in particular.
At least it wasn't you, your majesty. Her rag-dolled body shot through the sky, arcing until Crash! Through a glass window. She saw Imhokepri, looking down at her through her hazy vision. "T…e …ing"
"What?" Imhokepri cocked his head to the side.
"Th…e k…ing" Let me see him. "Do-Doctor." She raised her limp hand. "Doctor Bl…ythe." Warmth wrapped around her hand. "Don't waste your breath, Neferpitou." That voice. Cruelty. A green blur just before her eyes.
Over in the skyscraper, no such thing happened. It was a lie, only true to one. Imhokepri stood by the king's side, as did A.P.R. The rain outside was muted, quietened in the warmth of that building in which only the mundane occurred. But the echo of her departure rippled the air if only slightly. Imhokepri opened his eyes. I felt something just then, a spike in power. Then nothing. The king paused his reading to take note of the event. Concern. Quite unlike me. He resumed reading.
It begun raining outside, Gon looked down at Neferpitou's jerking mangled body lying on the ground. Her dull eyes stared up at the sky. She looks happy. Thwip. Thwip. Rain pelted his sagging cheeks.
"Terpischora." Neferpitou's lifeless body was dragged back onto its feet. An unsightly creature of Nen hovered behind her corpse, manipulating her movements with precise articulation via the strings attached to her body. Woosh. Her body tore through the air with hands clapped together as if in prayer. Those hands were pointed forward, ready to run through whatever lied in their path.
You wish to take what I've taken from you. "No." Sidestepped. "It's you who bears the debt, not I." Crunch. Punched to the earth. "Jan…" A sphere of aura brighter than any sun gathered around his fist. "Ken." Bringing the end. Gon's arm moved with a piston-like motion. Now there is nothing left. A shockwave radiated outward from his fist. Boom. Gon cried an animalistic cry, from the volcanic depths of his gut. A flash of white washed over them, blanketing the area briefly.
As the light faded out, a voice faded in. "G-Gon!? Is that you?" Wh-what could've forced him to? His eyes fell to the shattered corpse on the ground. Was that one of the things which did this!? Before Killua, a man who looked like Gon, wore his clothes, yet was unrecognisable.
Killua? Gon turned his face to a distraught Killua. Even after I… "I'm sorry, Killua." I just needed someone to blame. "I'm irredeemable." His hair flowed upward as his aura spiked once again, signalling the end to his assault on Neferpitou.
An ugly scream shook the air. "Gon!" Killua ran toward him, arriving just as all traces of his aura vanished. Killua's pupils were unsteady, tremoring with the rest of his body as he looked down at what was left of Gon. "Why!? Why are you so stubborn!?" And why do I always have one foot out the door? He knelt with Gon's head in his lap.
Warmth wrapped around Gon's shrivelled hand. "It's okay, Gon." The embers of his consciousness flared up for that moment. That voice. Before they were snuffed out completely. As this occurred, movement from the south was closing in on them. Leading the charge, Shaiapouf.
During his absence, Shaiapouf had subjugated the minds of the millions remaining in the south, leading them toward the north. Firearms seem to be a scarcity in this region. His army armed themselves with firearms looted. I prefer to call it requisition. From police stations. Wreak havoc my children. Gunshots rang through the air, anyone with the misfortune of encountering this army had their life forfeit.
It's time for me to head east I suppose. Shaiapouf left his army to their own devices. As he lazily drifted over toward the east to execute another of his machinations.