Faster!
Even faster!
You can go even faster!
Ha—
In the suffocating clash, Meruem felt a sensation he had only experienced when playing Gungi with Komugi—a feeling as if time slowed down.
In this state, Meruem could think clearly and act decisively.
He could even use this moment to think about things unrelated to the battle.
For example, his name, Meruem, which was said to mean "the light that illuminates everything."
The Ant Queen gave him this name, reflecting her high expectations for him.
But that wasn't the most important thing.
What mattered most was that Meruem no longer needed to hold back.
Komugi was a genius far superior to Meruem in Gungi, but outside of that, she was incredibly fragile.
Even among humans, her physical condition was among the weakest, as if she could be crushed with a mere touch.
Of the three Royal Guards, both Neferpitou and Youpi had survived a single strike from Meruem.
But that was only one strike. If a real fight broke out, they wouldn't stand a chance against Meruem. Death would be their inevitable fate.
Moreover, as Royal Guards, they would never dare to offend Meruem, let alone commit an act akin to blasphemy by attacking their King.
This hierarchy was deeply ingrained in the Chimera Ants' structure. Their rankings in status and power were clear and absolute, unlike the blurred lines among humans.
Netero's strength amazed Meruem, even inspiring thoughts of recruiting this outsider as a subordinate. His unyielding will to fight was also worthy of respect.
However, in the end, Netero's 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva never posed a serious threat to Meruem.
This was one reason why Meruem was willing to recruit him—Netero was far stronger than the Royal Guards but still much weaker than himself.
As long as Meruem desired, he could easily overpower Netero.
To Meruem, it was incomprehensible how someone weaker than their subordinates could possibly lead them.
And yet, here stood Germain, someone who met nearly all the conditions to "play a match" against Meruem.
A power that rivaled his own, capable of truly threatening him.
A steadfast and indomitable will to fight.
Germain once again cut off his retreat, killing Neferpitou and Youpi, two of the "Royal Guards."
By now, no one present doubted Germain's resolve or thought he was bluffing.
These actions gave Meruem all the reason he needed—a reason to kill Germain.
This allowed Meruem to unleash his full strength.
The loss of his tail didn't weaken him. Instead, it was as if chains had been broken, making him even more agile.
With blood rushing through his veins, Meruem noticed something astonishing: his breathing rhythm matched Germain's perfectly, as if they were dancing together.
In their rapid movements, stone pillars shattered and collapsed one by one. The ceiling and stone walls also began to crumble.
Dark red blood splattered on the ground or flew through the air, disappearing into the shadows of the abandoned testing facility.
One of Meruem's fingers bent at a sharp ninety-degree angle backward, deformed from one of Germain's strikes.
But Meruem didn't flinch. With a quick crack, he reset it back in place.
Germain wasn't in much better shape.
He wiped the blood dripping from his nose with his fingers, leaving a slanted streak of red across his face.
Pfft—
He spat out blood onto the ground, moving between the shadows and the pale moonlight, continuing his fight with Meruem across the expanse of the abandoned testing facility.
As the battle intensified and time passed, Germain's fusion with the "Contempt Armor" grew even deeper.
The silver-white aura around him shimmered and flickered like starlight.
Germain's conjured weapons had all become extensions of his fists and feet. Every clash with Meruem was like the process of metal being forged and quenched—violent and unrelenting.
This violence sparked dazzling flashes of light.
"Critical hit!"
"Critical hit!"
"Critical hit!"
After Germain tore off Meruem's tail with a single strike, he managed to land three more powerful "critical hits" in their head-on clashes.
The result was three visible, deep wounds on Meruem's chest.
A fist imprint, a slash, and a whip mark—all glaringly obvious.
However, Meruem remained calm, showing no panic.
Through their heated exchanges, he had already deduced that these bursts of white light—the "critical hits"—occurred randomly and rarely.
Both Meruem and Germain were fully immersed in their fierce battle, exchanging blows at a pace far beyond what an ordinary person could imagine.
Out of this staggering number of attacks, only four had resulted in "critical hits," proving just how low the probability was.
But when rare, unexpected events occur consecutively, they can chain together to create a far greater threat.
"Critical hit!"
"Critical hit!"
In an instant, Germain managed to land two "critical hits" in succession during his assault.
Meruem had long accepted that he would occasionally be struck by these "critical hits" since there was no way to prevent them entirely.
Getting injured from time to time was within his tolerance, especially since he was also dealing significant damage to Germain in return.
Both fighters were accumulating injuries, and it was only a matter of who would break first—who would lose their composure and make a fatal mistake.
But the consecutive "critical hits" disrupted this balance.
Whoosh—
Meruem instinctively tilted his head, barely dodging Germain's hand strike.
Even so, his long left earlobe was sliced off in the process!
Had he not avoided that "critical hit," the blow could have struck his forehead, shattered his eye, and crushed his skull.
"Hah..."
Yet, Meruem smiled.
It was an eerie, sinister smile, one that made everyone watching realize something had shifted.
In the ongoing battle, he didn't back down; instead, he became even more ferocious.
This unprecedented sense of danger pushed Meruem beyond himself, breaking his limits like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon. He grew stronger once again.
The balance of power, which had leaned toward Germain, suddenly shifted back and tilted faintly toward Meruem.
Slash—
In an instant, a red light soared into the sky!
Germain's left wrist was severed with a swift, bloody slash, spraying jets of blood that splattered onto the still-standing stone pillars of the abandoned lab.
Without hesitation, he extended his right hand, gripping his left arm. Nen enveloped the wound as he stopped the bleeding and forced displaced flesh to cover the stump.
The entire process of losing his wrist and stopping the bleeding happened seamlessly, almost without pause, as if Germain and Meruem were acting out a scene in perfect sync.
Shortly after being severed from his body, the glove of the "Contempt Armor" faded from Germain's detached wrist, leaving it as just an ordinary severed hand.
Meruem held it up high in the night sky, as if to display his prize to others.
Then, with a crunching sound, he clenched the wrist tightly, squeezing out the blood trapped within.
********
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