"Welcome, Pride."
On the dragon head that had turned to dust, gradually falling and disappearing.
Illumi and King Bradley gazed at the figure that had appeared before them, a naked child around ten years old.
"Finally, I am out."
The boyish-looking Pride looked up at Illumi, their gazes meeting.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Father."
Illumi closed his eyes and chuckled softly. He turned, took a step forward, and leaped.
The three of them jumped down together from a height of several dozen meters, landing on the rooftop of a dilapidated building.
"The moment you appeared, I knew."
Greed was already waiting there, looking at the naked boy and saying with a wild grin.
Pride didn't pay him any mind, only standing with Illumi at the edge, gazing at the city filled with corpses.
Greed looked displeased, scoffed, and also stood at the edge of the rooftop, looking at the city that had been reduced to ruins.
"Completely ruined. This city has no need to exist anymore."
Greed's lips curved into a grin, his eyes showing a gloating smile. Because of the "person's" final struggle, the death toll in this city surged in the last five minutes. Illumi estimated that the casualties from this incident might reach the figure of three hundred thousand.
"Boom!"
When Illumi and the two others landed on the rooftop of the building, the dragon head that had stood high in the sky finally crashed to the ground with a loud bang. With scattered sparks, it turned into black smoke and dispersed into the air.
"This city may never be inhabited again."
King Bradley looked at the smoke-filled city, where blood flowed like a river, and said in a deep voice. This incident brought too much trauma to the city's survivors, and also because of its proximity to the ancient ruins.
The Peguruse government would definitely relocate all residents of Biro City, and this city would not be rebuilt.
"Exactly. I have a little idea about this city."
Illumi looked at the continuous stream of troops pouring into the city, his eyes holding deep meaning.
"B4 squad, you go search for survivors over there."
"Yes!"
In the street below the building where Illumi and the two others were, four small military squads were searching in four different directions, rescuing survivors. Besides the military, there were also firefighting teams, driving fire trucks, heading to various parts of the city to extinguish fires.
The survivors in this city, after being rescued by the troops, emerged from the emergency shelters one by one, their faces anxious. They looked at the city, which had been reduced to ruins, in disbelief.
"Boohoo, Mommy…"
"Wife, where are you…"
"My wife is dead, and my children are dead too~!"
"Ahhhhhh…!!"
For a moment, the entire city was filled with people's mournful cries and the wails of those who had watched their loved ones die before their eyes.
"If you had let me out earlier, perhaps all of this could have been avoided."
Pride stood naked between the two, looking at the corpses and blood everywhere in the city, and licked his lips.
Pride was born from the culprit who turned this city into a dead city. Only Illumi knew how strong he was. But King Bradley understood that he was definitely the strongest among them, the Nen Beasts. Perhaps, he was even stronger than the current Illumi.
"Hmph!"
As soon as Pride finished speaking, a large amount of Nen suddenly surged from Illumi, who looked at him expressionlessly.
"This kind of thing, even if you didn't do it, it wouldn't affect me much."
Looking at the Nen surging from Illumi and the familiar emotions within it, Pride's lips curved slightly. Besides King Bradley, he was the "person" who was most aware of his own position.
"However, since Father insists on giving it to me…"
The two turned and faced each other. Pride extended his pale and slender arm, reaching for Illumi's hand.
"I won't be polite and will accept it."
Pride grinned, his pale little hand slowly meeting Illumi's large hand.
In an instant, a surge of golden Nen, like a tattoo, transferred from Illumi's arm to Pride's arm, then entered his body. As a large amount of Nen surged into Pride's body, Illumi's heart inexplicably felt a sense of emptiness. But it only lasted for an instant before returning to normal.
Illumi released Pride's small hand and retracted the Nen from his body. They had completed the bond linkage.
"Boom!"
A vast, unmatched aura erupted from Pride, and the strong wind ruffled his short hair. Looking at Pride, who was feeling his power, King Bradley and Greed both took a step back, giving him some space.
"Hmm!?"
Not far away, Netero and Maha Zoldyck both looked up in the direction where Illumi and the others were, their expressions serious.
"Very powerful force, but no ill will."
When Pride's aura erupted, Netero and Maha Zoldyck both felt this terrifying aura. However, using En, they sensed three familiar auras beside this one and didn't pay much more attention.
"Tch, why does he have such strong power the moment he's born."
Greed felt the immense aura and was particularly displeased.
"Don't you have extra abilities too?"
King Bradley glanced at Greed, who looked unhappy, and said.
"That kind of ability doesn't suit my personality at all."
Speaking of this, Greed was even more annoyed. That golden mask did indeed enhance his abilities, but he simply didn't like the other ability at all. Compared to the ability to control and influence others' emotions, he preferred pure power, like Netero and Maha Zoldyck.
"Whoosh whoosh…"
A gust of wind carrying the scent of blood blew past, and Pride calmed down again.
"Shua!"
A string of shadows extended from Pride's feet. The shadows were filled with crimson eyes and giant mouths with sharp teeth.
"Because it's a Nen ability, the original weaknesses don't exist anymore."
Illumi looked at the shadows at Pride's feet. He pondered for a moment and reached a conclusion. Since they were Nen Beasts, they didn't need a vessel or container, and they also had automatic recovery abilities. The weakness of turning to ash upon leaving the container no longer existed. And because the shadows were Nen abilities, the original weakness of fearing "absolute light" and "absolute darkness" no longer existed.
"Shua!"
Thinking of this, Illumi's mind moved. A large amount of shadows with crimson eyes and giant mouths with sharp teeth suddenly appeared from under his feet.
"Powerful ability."
Illumi immediately received information about this ability. It could stretch or shorten freely and quickly, capable of strangulation and slashing. It could use the countless sharp teeth on the shadows for physical attacks and defense. And because it possessed visual organs, the shadows could perform ultra-long-range reconnaissance and attacks. Furthermore, it could devour and assimilate other creatures to gain their abilities.
Illumi looked at Pride, becoming increasingly satisfied. This was the ability he was most pleased with among the Seven Deadly Sins artificial humans.
"Let's go down."
After testing his newly acquired abilities, Illumi directly leaped down from the edge of the rooftop, with the other three following closely.
"Who's there?!"
With a "bang," the four figures descended from the sky, frightening the rescue troops into quickly gripping their weapons and aiming at them.
"Phew, that scared me."
Seeing that they were human, the soldiers breathed a sigh of relief and continued with the rescue work.
"Uh, that…"
Among the rescue team, a young woman in uniform looked at the naked Pride. She rubbed her nose, glanced around, took off her jacket, ran over, and put it on Pride.
"You're not cold now, are you?"
The young woman smiled gently at Pride, then stood up, put her hands on her hips, and lectured Illumi and the other two.
"You three grown men, how can you let a child stand outside completely naked!"
"Thank you."
As soon as the young woman finished speaking, Pride thanked her with a light chuckle.
"Ah, you're welcome."
The young woman's gentle smile returned immediately.
"However, I can handle this small problem myself."
Pride's tone changed. A large amount of shadows shot out from beneath him. The shadows extended all the way under a pile of ruins, and with a "bang," a heavy wall was lifted. A child's corpse was turned out from within. In a few "swishing" sounds, the clothes were stripped from the corpse, and the hands formed by shadows put them on his own body.
"Uh…"
The young woman was so scared by Pride's shadows that her pupils constricted. She took a step back, looking at the boyish-looking Pride in horror.
"Humph humph…"
Pride looked at the young woman and chuckled softly. He and Illumi walked past her and headed towards Netero's location.
Netero saw Illumi and King Bradley and their group approach. He stood up and went to King Bradley, patting him on the shoulder, and said with a smile.
"Hohoho… Is this your team?"
At this time, Netero looked tired, giving the impression that he hadn't eaten or drunk for a week.
"Yes, President Netero."
King Bradley nodded gently. Illumi's current appearance was not that of a child from the Hunter Exam, but that of a twenty-four-year-old young man. Netero was seeing Illumi for the first time and naturally didn't recognize his identity.
"Each one of you possesses strong strength, and even I cannot underestimate you."
Netero rubbed his right hand against his chin, carefully observing Illumi and the other two. He found that the person who gave him the strongest sense of danger was actually a child.
"That aura just now, was that you?"
Netero looked down at Pride. His tired appearance turned serious. Although the other party looked like a boy, he couldn't judge the other party's real age by this, after all, abilities that could change one's appearance were not nonexistent.
"Very sharp sensory ability."
Pride looked up at Netero and said with a light chuckle.
"Where is the other person?"
Illumi asked Netero. He was naturally asking about Maha Zoldyck, who had come with Netero.
"Hmm… He's very busy and has already gone back. Do you need him for something?"
Netero shifted his gaze from Pride and looked at Illumi, his eyes narrowed, stroking his beard, and said with a smile. However, in reality, Netero had already noticed when the group appeared that everyone, including King Bradley, seemed to be led by this young man.
"No, I just wanted to see what kind of person the world's strongest Nen user had brought as support."
Illumi gently shook his head. He just wanted to get in touch with the legendary ancestor of the Zoldyck family, his grandfather's grandfather, and his secrets.
"Thanks to you, we were able to resolve this incident quickly."
Botobai and Ginta also walked over and stood behind Netero, nodding towards King Bradley and the others.
"Tch…"
At this moment, a military jeep drove up from a distance and stopped in front of the group. A middle-aged military man in camouflage uniform with graying temples got out of the car, followed by a security detail.
"President Netero, on behalf of Peguruse, I express my gratitude for the Hunter Association's support."
He was the commander of this operation, General Hilliard Hanson. According to his previous thoughts, he had come to meet Netero and the others.
"It is because of you that we avoided a lot of unnecessary losses."
"In just fifteen minutes, you resolved the target."
General Hanson saluted Netero, then shook his hand, expressing his sincere gratitude.
"Hohoho, if you hadn't already heavily injured him once before, we wouldn't have been able to resolve it so smoothly."
Netero spoke honestly. He had already learned that the military had actually fired a missile at him, which surprised him somewhat. But at the same time, he could understand why the scene was in ruins when they arrived and why that monster had interrupted the ritual.
"Let's not waste time on pleasantries, President Netero."
General Hanson suddenly looked serious and invited Netero and the others.
"I'd like to talk with you and your companions about the subsequent handling of this incident."
As he spoke, he directed his gaze towards the black and red box in Illumi's hand. He instinctively felt that this object was the key to this incident.
"The two of you, please come to the temporary command base for a brief discussion."
General Hanson's eyes were very sharp. He noticed that this group wasn't entirely led by Netero; that young man was also someone he wanted to invite.
"No problem."
Netero rubbed his chin, smilingly agreeing.
Illumi saw General Hanson looking at him and also nodded slightly, indicating his agreement.
"Then, please get in the car."
Netero and Illumi rode in General Hanson's jeep, while the others took another jeep.
Twenty minutes later, at the temporary command base on the outskirts of Biro City.
"We have generally investigated the cause and course of this incident." General Hanson told Illumi and Netero about the investigation by the higher-ups regarding this incident. "However, there are still some details that need to be verified with you all."
General Hanson shifted his gaze to King Bradley and asked in a deep voice. "Mr. King Bradley, could you please describe the detailed process by which you and your team discovered the ancient ruins?"
"Additionally, since the only people aware of the ancient ruins besides you died in this incident, could you please also inform us of the specific discoveries your team made within the ancient ruins?"
"Every word you say will be faithfully reported to the President."
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