In an instant, the Ant King positioned itself behind Mega Tyranitar, its spiked tail glowing purple with concentrated aura.
With a swift whip, the tail struck Mega Tyranitar's side, creating bursts of sonic booms.
For a moment, Mega Tyranitar found himself caught between attacks from both front and back.
Even for the Ant King, who usually relies on
Brute strength to overwhelm foes, facing Mega Tyranitar required careful planning.
As the king of the Chimera Ants, his intellect was naturally top-tier, but previous enemies rarely challenged his mind, Netero being a notable exception.
After consuming Pouf, the Ant King's intelligence skyrocketed, turning his brain into an advanced supercomputer.
Operating at full capacity, he analyzed every move of his opponent in real time and adjusted his strategy accordingly.
At that moment, the Ant King had created a clone and was using Pouf's unique ability, Beelzebub, to multiply.
Although he could summon countless clones, spreading his aura too thin would weaken them all.
To maintain strength, he chose to create only one clone.
To avoid raising suspicion, he even used himself as bait, launching an attack to lure Mega Tyranitar and set up the perfect opening for the clone.
So far, the plan was unfolding smoothly, poised to deal heavy damage to Mega Tyranitar.
But even under assault from behind, Mega Tyranitar's defense remained unshaken.
Sensing the sudden presence behind him, his expression stayed calm as he unleashed his million-ton punch.
Simultaneously, his thick tail swung fiercely, glowing with a silver-white metallic sheen, Steel Skill: Iron Tail!
The two tails clashed with a resounding boom, but it was far from an even match.
The moment the Ant King's tail made contact with the Iron Tail, it shattered instantly.
The Iron Tail then struck the clone with full force, obliterating it in a single blow.
Although the Ant King's clone launched a surprise attack, Mega Tyranitar's strike was just a fraction quicker.
The Ant King's usually cold expression flickered slightly, twisting into something uglier.
It had thought its plan was about to work, but instead, it was being beaten.
The Ant King didn't worry about the number of clones; it knew its main body was tough to take down.
Suddenly, a loud bang echoed as their fists collided, sending gusts of wind swirling and kicking up gravel and yellow sand into a tornado of dust and stones.
The Ant King's face shifted with sudden intensity as a powerful force surged through its fist.
Despite pouring all its aura into the fight, its body was pushed back; it was clearly losing this struggle.
After a few tense moments, the Ant King couldn't withstand the steel giant's punch any longer.
Its right arm was crushed by the million-ton blow, twisted and fractured in jagged lines.
Even with a massive amount of aura, it couldn't protect itself.
The blow sent its body flying backward again, but this time, the Ant King didn't let itself fall.
As it flew back, a pair of broad wings suddenly unfurled from its back, flapping fiercely.
Using the wings' recoil, it managed to stop in midair, looking far less vulnerable than before.
"What just happened?"
Ging scratched his head, watching the sudden turn of events with a puzzled look.
Of the three, only Larry fully understood the battle's details and what had just transpired.
"The Ant King used Pouf's ability to create a clone for a sneak attack, but it was immediately destroyed," Larry explained casually, his eyes fixed on the Ant King hovering above. "Even the main body lost an arm."
As Larry spoke, the Ant King's right arm had already healed, looking as good as new.
While it's tough for the Ant King to inflict serious damage on Mega Tyranitar, its self-healing is incredibly strong, and that's definitely a problem.
At the same time, the Ant King has absorbed abilities like Neferpitou's [Doctor Blythe], Pouf's [Cocoon], and Youpi's [Muscle Augmentation].
Although he might not be as strong as Mega Tyranitar, his blood is much thicker, and his self-healing ability is far more powerful.
He's excellent at fighting a war of attrition.
"Human, your methods are truly beyond what I imagined," the Ant King said coldly. "But you still have no chance of defeating me! As the essence of my tribe, I possess countless abilities. Not only do I have an incredibly strong self-healing power, if you destroy my head, I can recover instantly! Even if most of my body is damaged, I can bounce back quickly. When it comes to life and death, I win!"
He sneered, trying to regain some confidence.
"You're right," Larry admitted, nodding slightly. "After absorbing those three royal guards, your self-healing ability is impressive, even to me."
Setting everything else aside, with all these abilities combined, the Ant King has truly become an incredibly hard creature to kill.
To put it in terms from immortal cultivation novels, he's almost like he can be reborn from a single drop of blood.
Completely destroying such a being is extremely difficult.
"There are basically two ways to deal with you," Larry continued. "Either it takes a very long time to wear down almost all your spirit aura and grind you down slowly, or you get killed instantly before you have any chance to recover."
Despite this, the Ant King showed no sign of hesitation, struggle, or fear, as if these challenges were nothing to him.
Larry's mind wandered to the possibility of killing the Ant King but keeping his body intact.
Such a body would surely have some value.
Nearby, Netero chuckled softly but couldn't hide his shudder when hearing about the Ant King's abilities.
He absentmindedly pulled out a few strands of his newly grown beard.
"Old man, you really need to be more careful," Ging teased, shaking his head before pulling out another fruit to eat.
The Ant King hovered in midair, his sharp eyes fixed on the three people standing on the field, a flicker of violence simmering within them.
After so many failed attempts, he could no longer keep his composure.
Yet the three seemed completely unfazed; one was even laughing, and another had started eating!
This felt like a blatant insult to him.
Having absorbed the guards, the Ant King had believed himself unbeatable, convinced no one could stand against him.
But before he could even utter a word, a giant beast suddenly appeared and punched him away.
Since absorbing the three guards as Chimera Ants, his mindset had shifted closer to theirs.
"You... don't seem to take me seriously!"
His eyes turned blood-red again as a dark purple aura exploded outwards.
Surprisingly, alongside that dark purple aura, a deep red aura also radiated from him.
His body began to glow brighter and brighter, his power surging once more.
"This is... the ability of Youpi!"
Larry observed the Ant King's transformation and recognized it as the manifestation of Youpi's rage ability.
The stronger the anger within, the more it could be converted into raw power.
The battle wasn't over yet.
Behind the Ant King, a surge of dark purple aura swirled wildly, intertwining into a mysterious purple figure.
This strange form extended countless mental strings, wrapping around the Ant King's joints and muscles.
"Terpsichora!"