"Perhaps the person I killed already possessed talents that surpassed mine in some field during their lifetime."
The Ant King continued reflecting on his insights.
"The supreme king..."
Shaiapouf could no longer bear to listen.
"It was I who destroyed them."
"You should not regret your actions, Your Majesty."
The Ant King slowly stretched out his arms: "I have destroyed lives without meaning."
"Your majesty, please, don't..."
Shaiapouf's eyes trembled as he whispered: "Please stop talking."
He feared hearing the Ant King's reflections, thoughts a king should never have, the ones that shouldn't even exist in the mind of a ruler!
However, today's Ant King was not what anyone expected or anticipated.
Just as Shaiapouf was about to lose all hope.
"But I am..."
Meruem, with arms wide open, suddenly clenched his fists between his next words: "The king!!!"
Boom!!!
The moment the words left his mouth, an incredibly powerful, terrifying, and overwhelming aura and psychic energy erupted from the Ant King's body.
Screech!
The eagle that had been circling on the rooftops, upon sensing the Ant King's overwhelming aura, let out a cry and immediately flapped its wings, flying away as if something extremely dangerous had occurred.
Swish!
Shaiapouf snapped his head up, staring in disbelief at the figure of the Ant King standing before him, the one he had respected and feared.
At this moment, the image of the Ant King seemed to align with the figure Shaiapouf had always longed for!
"Tastes ars..."
Meruem muttered something unintelligible: "Destroying lives without meaning... So this is it..."
"Hehehe, what incredible power!!"
"Only violence, the strongest of forces, can sever life and death!!"
"Even if they have exceptional talents, so what? Even if their gifts surpass mine?!"
"In the face of absolute violence, they have no chance of survival, let alone stand before me!!"
The Ant King had realized the fundamental law of survival: the survival of the fittest, where only the strong prevail.
Thud.
Nearby, Shaiapouf, who had been kneeling, couldn't control the tears that burst from his eyes.
Soon, they soaked his entire face and dripped onto the ground.
"I have been so rude!!"
Shaiapouf pressed his hands to his eyes while trembling uncontrollably.
"I thought his majesty would be obsessed with the trivialities of Gungi... But it turns out... I've misjudged him!"
"His majesty never forgot his true purpose; he carried the mission of our race's survival and the expansion of his kingdom..."
"I almost insulted the supreme king. I am not worthy to be his royal guard! I deserve to die!!"
Seeing the Ant King's resolute attitude, Shaiapouf was overwhelmed with guilt.
Tears streamed from his eyes, gathering into a large puddle on the floor.
"Why do you always think so much?"
From beside them, Menthuthuyoupi nonchalantly comforted him.
"But since that blind girl named Komugi came, his majesty really seems to have changed a lot."
Even Neferpitou, who was always on guard, noticed the changes in the Ant King.
"If you think she will interfere with his majesty..."
Menthuthuyoupi, uninterested in complicated thoughts, lazily suggested: "Just kill that girl, right?"
"Ah, who would have thought..."
Hearing this, Shaiapouf couldn't help but turn his head away, tears streaming down his face.
"I was thinking the same thing as you..."
He couldn't believe that he had once shared the same thought as Menthuthuyoupi. Indeed, he was still too inexperienced.
While Shaiapouf and the others had their emotional exchanges, after saying those words, the Ant King had already left on his own.
He was not headed to any other place but Komugi's room.
The Ant King had decided to extend his violent hands toward her, sweeping away any obstacles in his path to absolute dominance.
Now that the Ant King had reached this epiphany, his thoughts were at their peak, brimming with confidence: "My strength is at the top of the world. Other fragile beings are mere dust on the road, and Komugi is the same."
"Gungi is just a game on the board. A simple raise of my hand, and she will die."
"Whether she lives or dies depends entirely on my mood..."
Meruem walked toward Komugi's room, and at that moment, in front of the large screen that could see everything…
"This doesn't look good."
Ging, about to put a cherry in his mouth, paused and scratched his head.
"It seems like he's figured out what he needs to do."
Even through the screen, Ging could clearly feel the Ant King's rising, peak-level aura!
"We thought we were facing a confused, distracted Chimera Ant King..."
"But now it looks like we're facing an even stronger, more ferocious, and brutal opponent."
"Well, this is probably what Chairman Netero was hoping for, right? A battle with the Ant King in his strongest state, this is definitely the kind of fight Chairman Netero would love to see."
"But…"
"Are you really sure he has no confusion left?"
Lan didn't respond immediately, only gazing at the Ant King on the screen with a faint smile.
"Hmm... Not yet."
Upon hearing Lan's words, Ging carefully examined the situation again, only to slowly shake his head.
With his keen eye, he noticed something wasn't quite right.
The Ant King's powerful aura seemed... Less than absolutely resolute?
Even creatures as cold-blooded as the Chimera Ants had emotions.
Not to mention the Ant King, whose genetics were mixed with humans and... He had only been born recently!