The location of Beyond's team was on the B·W's Second Floor, while most of the Kakin Expeditionary Force's combat teams were on the B·W's Third Floor.
That terrifying Aura that seeped through the ceiling made every Nen User aboard the B·W sense it.
In a luxurious room, Beyond and his teammates all silently looked at the ceiling.
Various looks of confusion, bewilderment, and strangeness slowly appeared.
From that Aura, they felt danger but didn't know what had happened on the upper decks.
"Is it the Succession War?"
Pariston looked at Beyond Netero, who was drinking sake, as if Beyond, who had been staying on the Second Floor, would know what was happening.
In contrast, others in the room also shifted their gaze, landing on Beyond, seemingly wanting an answer.
"No need to mind it, no need to pay attention."
Beyond, however, didn't answer Pariston's question. Instead, he told them not to bother.
Hearing this, Pariston nodded slightly. Since Beyond said so, it meant this Aura wouldn't affect them, or rather, wouldn't threaten them.
Understanding that point was enough for him.
The others, hearing Beyond's words, calmed their minds one after another.
Beyond put down his small sake cup. The woman beside him, seeing this, skillfully poured him more sake.
'Whoever survives doesn't matter.'
Beyond looked down at the clear sake in his cup.
His cooperation with Kakin was merely for mutual needs.
He needed the influence of a major power like Kakin, which could make the V5 hesitant. Kakin needed the appeal he possessed as Netero's son.
Therefore, whatever the final outcome of the Succession War was, it had nothing to do with him.
This ship would eventually reach the imagined continent, and from there, they would eventually depart for the Dark Continent.
'However, I hope the one who survives is you.'
Beyond downed the sake in his cup in one go.
The 'you' he thought of in his heart was Nasubi, with whom he had a cooperative relationship.
…
B·W, First Floor.
The Nen Flames at the front of the thirteen coffins burned fiercely at all times.
Inside the coffins, the princes' faces were shrouded in spreading white mist, their expressions extremely peaceful.
Pale faces, pale hands, pale Nen Flames.
The color of death…
On the floor covered with strange patterns, blood was splashed like ink, spreading out to the left and right like a pair of wings. In the center of the wings, Benjamin knelt on both knees, his head lowered, buried deep in his chest.
Drip.
Strands of blood slid down his face, gathering at his chin, then, like a faucet that couldn't be fully closed, dripped onto the floor.
Nasubi stood several meters in front of him.
At this moment, Nasubi looked at the kneeling Benjamin, whose head was deeply buried, and said, "I am regretful, but also pleased."
Benjamin's lowered head moved slightly. Then, with difficulty, he raised his head. His eyes had become bloody holes… the eyeballs were gone.
He gazed at Nasubi with hollow, blood-filled eyes. His blood-stained mouth slightly opened, only able to emit faint, muffled sounds.
Because his throat was also torn open into a bloody hole, gushing blood.
Unable to see, unable to speak.
But Benjamin could imagine Nasubi's expression at this moment.
It must be… a calmness unmoved by anything external.
He had failed, but he couldn't blame anyone.
The only thing to blame was his own lack of ability.
This was Benjamin's true thought as he was about to die. Before his strength completely faded, what remained in his mind, besides unwillingness, was the overwhelming power Nasubi had displayed.
"Utterly defeated."
Benjamin slowly lowered his head.
His remaining strength was no longer enough to support him holding up his head.
Crunch!
Suddenly, the sound of a hard shell being bitten came from his ear, followed by the sound of flesh being chewed.
Benjamin knew that was the sound of his [Dead Lips] being devoured by Nasubi's [Spider Mother].
"This is the end… my… journey that never began…"
The sounds he heard in his ears gradually became ethereal, like fading noises.
The last trace of strength mercilessly slipped away.
Benjamin died, kneeling.
Nasubi shifted his gaze from Benjamin to the Spider Mother behind him.
Crunch, crunch…
Spider Mother's several pairs of jointed hands grasped the half-eaten remains of Dead Lips. Its mouth, lined with sharp teeth, opened left and right, taking bite after bite of Dead Lips' hard shell and flesh.
Nasubi didn't disturb Spider Mother's devouring. He moved Benjamin's body to the last coffin.
Compared to the serene faces of the other thirteen princes, Benjamin's appearance was quite gruesome.
Having reached the final step, Nasubi didn't have the time to tidy up Benjamin's appearance.
The semi-transparent glass cover of the coffin slowly closed.
Nasubi looked at Benjamin's face, blurred by the cold mist, and said flatly, "As my most outstanding offspring, you have done very well."
Whoosh!
The circular pattern at the front base of the coffin abruptly surged with a fierce Nen Flame… a flame far more robust than the other princes', not on the same level at all.
Nasubi shifted his gaze to look at the Nen Flame that bloomed after Benjamin's death. A gleam flashed in his eyes as he said solemnly, "You are all indispensable cornerstones for Kakin. Good, very good."
Having said this, Nasubi turned and walked towards Spider Mother.
At this moment, Spider Mother had already eaten Dead Lips' remains, leaving only a foot.
Perhaps noticing Nasubi approaching, it stuffed the foot into its abdomen without even chewing.
Nasubi glanced at it, then walked straight towards the instrument at the center where the strange patterns converged.
Spider Mother transformed into Nen and returned to Nasubi's body.
Nasubi came before the instrument, a trace of anticipation on his plump face.
Offspring… one could have as many as one wanted.
Whoosh!
The instrument's door suddenly opened, emitting billows of white smoke.
Nasubi stepped through the smoke into the instrument.
Then, the just-opened double doors slowly closed again.
The entire room fell silent at this moment, the atmosphere turning eerie.
Fourteen coffins, fourteen bodies, fourteen Nen Flames.
The instrument in the center of the room made no sound, only white smoke continuously spreading from its base.
Suddenly, the Nen Flames burning atop the circular patterns were like deflating balloons, contracting in the blink of an eye. Then, as if being sucked into small holes in the floor, they followed the patterns on the floor, converging from all directions towards the instrument in the center of the room.
Soon after, all the Nen Flames, via the patterns, burrowed into the instrument.
However, the instrument still made no sound. The entire room was as silent as death.
Until five minutes later, the instrument's door suddenly opened.
Amidst the spreading white smoke, Nasubi walked out.
His appearance and physique hadn't changed much, but the manifested Aura swirling around his body had reached an astonishing level.
Was it the combined manifested Aura of ten, or perhaps twenty, people?
Simultaneously, Spider Mother manifested its form behind Nasubi, but its appearance had undergone a heaven-and-earth transformation, exuding an utterly terrifying presence.
"The little mice down below are making quite a ruckus."