The area had been drenched in blood. The villagers at that time must also have been utterly desperate, for the enemies they faced were foes they could never hope to resist—monsters terrifying to the extreme, with indifferent eyes that regarded humans as nothing but food. Old men, children, men, and women… in the eyes of the Chimera Ants, all were the same.
"The Chimera Ants won't awaken their human memories so quickly," Ron said to himself. "For now, they are no different from beasts and monsters, with no sense of recognition toward humans."
He walked down the village street. Suddenly, the sound of chewing carried through the air. Ron turned his gaze and saw a crouching figure. Its back looked faintly human-like, but it was clearly not human.
The moment Ron looked at it, the creature seemed to sense something as well. It turned its head.
Ron saw the creature's face clearly. It had long green hair and two huge ears that extended outward. Instead of eyebrows, there were two red spots. The rim around one eye was deep crimson, as if it had been struck. Its body looked strong and muscular, and its forearms were feathered. Its front teeth jutted out prominently, still smeared with blood.
Ron shifted his gaze forward slightly and saw what it was gnawing on— a human. The victim was young, their body clamped in the creature's jaws.
The sight was chilling.
Ron drew back his eyes and fixed them on the creature again. A memory surfaced in his mind.
"This is Rammot, a Chimera Ant squadron leader."
Clearly, Rammot had already grasped Nen. Ron remembered from the original events that this one had fought Gon and only after being struck by Gon's fist were its aura nodes forced open, awakening its ability to use Nen. Its natural talent was mediocre at best; it had taken a long time just to master Ten and stabilize its body.
Even without being taught, true geniuses could feel the existence of aura the moment their nodes opened. Gon and Killua had sensed that warmth immediately, and even without Wing's instruction, they would not have needed long to learn Ten.
But a squadron leader was not on that level.
The Chimera Ants had a strict hierarchy. At the bottom were the soldiers—many of them could not even speak, and even after awakening fragments of human memory, they remained dim-witted. Above them were the squadron leaders, who were far more gifted and generally capable of speech. After regaining human memories, squadron leaders would experience a period of rapid growth, and some could even reach the level of division commanders.
Above them were the division commanders. The queen could only give birth to a limited number, each at significant cost. The soldiers, squadron leaders, and division commanders all belonged to the queen's system, but the royal guards and the King did not.
The King had no regard for the queen at all. Before he was even born, his impatience drove him to break out of her body, fatally wounding her. The royal guards loyalty was only to the King.
There was a qualitative gap between the strength of a royal guard and a division commander. By Ron's estimation, a division commander was roughly equal to an A-rank Nen user, with their physical durability granting some advantage. But the advantage was not overwhelming. An A-rank Nen user's skill, experience, and tactical knowledge often outweighed the commander's brute strength.
Feitan, for instance, though not the strongest among A-rank Nen users—not compared to Ron, Oster, Hisoka, Chrollo, or Illumi—still killed the scorpion commander with ease once he unleashed his ability. The commander's only edge was physical toughness; in terms of Nen technique, research, and understanding, she was vastly inferior.
The leopard commander was killed by Silva with a single punch.
The frog commander fell to Kite's Crazy Slots.
Because of time constraints and underdeveloped mastery of Nen, division commanders inevitably fell before established A-rank users. Given enough time, they could have grown formidable, but they never had the chance.
The royal guards, however, based on what Ron knew, were without doubt at the S-rank level. Their aura reserves vastly surpassed even those of human S-rank users. Killua had felt that Neferpitou's presence exceeded even Netero's—this was because Pitou's aura alone dwarfed his.
Yet Ron believed that in a true fight, Netero's chances of victory were still higher, because while Pitou's strengths were aura volume and physical durability, Netero's superiority lay in Nen skill, ability, experience, mindset, and understanding.
The division commanders lacked time compared to human Nen users. The royal guards also lacked time. They had incredible bodies and enormous aura, but in other areas they were still crude.
Rammot turned its nose toward Ron and sniffed.
"You're not an ordinary human," it said. "You are a special one."
It smiled.
"Looks like my luck is good. To think I'd run into a special one. Ordinary humans taste worse the more you eat them. But you… you're different. You special ones are truly delicious. That feeling is incredible. You belong to me."
Before its words even finished, Rammot used its rabbit-like legs and sprang forward.
Bang!
Its legs drove into the ground, blasting out a deafening shockwave that left a deep crater. Compared to last night, it was displaying even greater strength.
But faced with the assault, Ron was completely unshaken.
"If this were an ordinary Nen user, they wouldn't be your match. Unfortunately for you, the one you've met is me. Compared to me, you are far too weak."
Just as Rammot was about to reach him, Ron merely shifted two steps to the side. The strike missed entirely. Its speed left it unable to turn, and its desperation threw it off balance. Unable to stop itself, it slammed straight into the wall.
Boom!
In an instant, the building collapsed.