Chain Abilities:
Thumb's Chain: Holy Chain – Healing. Instantly heals the user or others, but drastically reduces defense during the process.
Ring Finger's Chain: Dowsing Chain – Guidance. Tracks targets without limit, detects lies, and follows them unerringly.
Little Finger's Chain: Chain of Judgment – Constraint. Pierces the opponent's heart and binds them to a set of conditions. Violation results in death. No known limits.
Index Finger's Chain: Steal Chain – Absorption. Pierces into the opponent's body and temporarily extracts their Nen. Continued extraction can force the target into a state resembling Nen-nullification.
When Emperor Time is activated, absorbed abilities can be analyzed and used at 100% efficiency. However, once used, the stolen Nen returns to its original owner.
The five fingers, five abilities.
The middle finger's binding power is essentially useless.As for the healing ability of the thumb, Ronnel already has Toy Repairer and Body Restructuring. The predatory ability of the index finger is inferior to his innate Heavenly Posture ability. The judgment chain of the little finger is potent, but Ronnel has already injected a bottle of infection serum. All things considered, only the Guidance ability of the ring finger seems worth keeping.
Unlimited tracking and lie detection — not bad at all.
Emperor Time allows 100% mastery over any of the six Nen categories. But the cost? For every second it remains active, one hour of lifespan is consumed.
Power gained at the cost of one's own life — that path always ends in ruin.
With the strength Ronnel currently possesses, he may never have to rely on that ability...
...
Once Sayird returned to normal, Kurapika and Queen Oito arrived just in time.
But the bloodstains on the ground and the strained expressions on Sayird and Bill's faces made it obvious something had happened.
Could one of the Guardian Spirit Beasts have attacked?
That was Kurapika's first thought when he saw the strange hamster-bear spirit beast in Ronnel's hand.
He quickly escorted the Queen to Bill's side and began questioning them.
Ronnel examined the odd little creature in his hand.
While parasitic Nen beasts don't follow the host's commands, they are influenced by their host's personality and emotional state.
And this hamster-like beast was acting independently. That likely meant something had happened to one of the princes.
...
Meanwhile, back in the residential quarters for the princes—specifically near Momoze and Prince Marayam—an unexpected guest arrived.
"Six guards are enough for Momoze!!"
Queen Sevanti, mother of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Princes, gave her orders coldly to the guards around Momoze.
"Marayam's safety matters more! The boy is terrified—I want him to feel secure! Everyone else, come here!!"
As she spoke, Sevanti gently stroked the forehead of Prince Marayam, who barely came up to her waist.
Her favoritism was obvious. Without hesitation, she dismissed waiters and nannies and diverted nearly half of Momoze's already sparse guards to Marayam's room.
Momoze remained silent throughout, sitting calmly with no objections.
"But wouldn't that leave Prince Momoze vulnerable? We're his guards, Queen. Do you even have the authority to command us? And what about our compensation?"
Hanzo, visibly exasperated, stepped forward to ask.
He also shot a subtle glance toward Leorio, who stood behind Queen Sevanti as part of Marayam's security detail.
Leorio could only respond with a helpless shake of the head. He had gotten to know Sevanti quite well since boarding the ship.
Since day one, she had barely left Marayam's side, micromanaging every detail of his care.
"I'll pay you what you're owed—and even increase your rate," Sevanti said dismissively. "Money's not an issue."
"But…"
Some of the professional guards still looked hesitant.
Just as Sevanti was beginning to grow impatient, Momoze suddenly smiled and spoke gently:
"You can move to the next area. There's nothing to worry about here. Mother is right. You don't need to worry about me."
The order had come from the prince himself—what more could the guards say?
And so, Sevanti smugly dismissed more than the six guards she originally claimed to need.
Among them was Hanzo, whose bald head gleamed conspicuously in the light.
Momoze said nothing through the entire ordeal, as though her mother's actions were entirely expected.
After all that shuffling, only the most overlooked guards remained with Momoze—three people in total. They looked like the weakest of the lot.
"Thank you all for staying," Momoze said softly.
Two of them immediately perked up and responded with excitement:
"This is the least we can do for Your Highness Momoze!"
Their loyalty was loud and almost desperate.
Only one stood silently in the corner, quietly observing everything.
Momoze glanced at that person twice, then looked away.
Her situation was now more precarious than even Queen Oito's.
Yet she wasn't disturbed. Instead, she quietly picked up her knitting.
...
"My lord Marayam… how pitiful."
Lowering her gaze, a faint glimmer of sympathy passed through Momoze's lifeless eyes.
People who can't become kings… are actually just afraid of becoming like this.
She understood clearly—the true heir would emerge from among the Five: First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Ninth Princes.
The rest? Stepping stones.
Momoze was tired of war. She had only joined the succession battle because she couldn't refuse the king's will.
After the egg-in-pot ceremony, once the rules of the battle were revealed, she knew—she wouldn't make it to the end.
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Fanfic is completed on patreon.com/FanficsHub (799 chapters in total)