Chapter 149: Butterfly's Fall
The night was exceptionally beautiful.
A crescent moon hung in the sky, casting a faint silver glow.
Just then, a golden dragon soared across the heavens, two figures faintly visible upon it in the moonlight.
It's a pity that those within the throne palace couldn't witness such a breathtaking scene.
The entire palace was already enveloped in thick white mist.
This white mist was their gladiatorial arena.
Only the living would be able to walk out of it.
Although Shaiapouf had made few moves in the original work, Mord didn't underestimate him because of this—otherwise, he wouldn't have resorted to the earlier sneak attack.
In truth, while the three Royal Guards of the King of Ants each had their own strengths, their overall combat abilities were nearly equal.
Although Mord believed he could surpass them now, the time required was too long—he feared the other battlefield couldn't afford to wait.
He had to resolve this side quickly.
Mord stood still, his expression icy as he watched the countless clones of little Pouf before him.
"Scales of... Love Spring!"
Shaiapouf initiated the attack first. Countless little Poufs fluttered their wings, scattering scales from the air.
"Mord, be careful! Knuckle mentioned before that Shaiapouf's scales have a hypnotic effect—you must not inhale them!" Kite, noticing the situation from afar, shouted urgently.
"You should worry about yourself!" Youpi roared with a furious laugh, landing a heavy punch that sent Kite flying as he left an opening.
Even without Kite's reminder, Mord was well aware of this.
Shaiapouf could use the scales scattered by Spiritual Message around his opponent to sense the flow of aura, analyzing their mental state from it.
The flow of aura could roughly express over thirty emotional states. Pouf would deduce his opponent's thoughts based on the mixture of these emotions.
But what Pouf sensed now was nothing but killing intent—pure, unadulterated killing intent!
The man before him was like a blade—a blade that could cut through anything!
How pure and terrifying this killing intent was, carrying not a single trace of distraction beyond the intent to kill itself.
While Shaiapouf was still in shock, that dazzling electric light flashed once again.
He could only watch helplessly as his clones were destroyed one by one, falling from the sky and vanishing.
"How is this possible?!"
After all, the clones generated by Shaiapouf's Beelzebub ability were supposed to split further upon being attacked, continuing until they reached a microscopic, nanoscale size.
"Surprised that your clones are being destroyed so easily?" Mord glanced in a certain direction, as if speaking directly to Pouf's true body. "These clones are all composed of cells from your body, right? And my ability happens to counter yours. By using lightning to instantly scorch the cells, they die."
Mord casually waved his Zanpakutō and said, "Don't worry, your true body is well-hidden. Both in appearance and aura, it's identical to the clones. I haven't found it."
"But I don't need to go through that trouble. I'll just destroy everything in front of me."
A cold smile curled at the corner of Mord's lips. In the next moment, he vanished from his spot.
Everyone saw a streak of lightning darting rapidly back and forth through the air. Wherever it passed, countless little Poufs were destroyed and fell from the sky.
Those little Poufs had no time to react.
For every clone created, a corresponding amount of power was drawn from Pouf's true body.
With the strength and speed of these little Poufs, they posed no threat whatsoever to Mord.
Pouf now clearly understood this point, gathering all his remaining clones and reverting to his original form.
Flapping his twin wings, he hovered mid-air, glaring fixedly at Mord. Having suffered two consecutive injuries, his face grew increasingly pale.
"This man is truly terrifying. To prevent any future threat to the King, I must kill him here today."
Shaiapouf sensed an extremely threatening aura from Mord—one capable of endangering the Ant King.
As a member of the Royal Guard, he was duty-bound to eliminate all potential threats to the King, no matter the cost.
An immensely powerful aura erupted from Pouf, the fierce winds causing his shirt to flutter violently. Multicolored scales began to disperse around him.
As the powder settled on the ground, even the incredibly hard rocks visibly dissolved at a rapid pace.
"It seems this is your final trump card. But as I said, your ability is useless against me," Mord stated calmly.
"Arrogant human, you will pay the price!" Shaiapouf sneered, as vast Nen energy surged violently from within him. With a powerful beat of his wings, he dove toward Mord amid howling gales.
"A moth flying into flames."
Facing Shaiapouf's final assault, Mord chose to meet it head-on.
Mord once again assumed the Thunder Fang Thrust stance, his body radiating with lightning energy. In the next instant, he shot forward with such terrifying speed that the air tore apart, leaving a shrill, whining echo across the sky.
Mid-air, a bolt of lightning collided with a multicolored streak.
Under the tremendous impact, even the surrounding space trembled violently.
The air continuously emitted sizzling sounds.
Shaiapouf's multicolored scales, originally designed to counter other Nen users, could dissolve not only rock and steel but also dissipate an opponent's aura.
Yet against Mord's lightning power, the effect was completely reversed.
Shaiapouf's eyes widened in disbelief as he watched the brilliant flash of lightning pierce through his multicolored stream.
In his final moments, he turned his gaze not toward Mord, his killer.
Instead, Shaiapouf sought out Youpi, still engaged in fierce combat below.
Youpi, sensing something, looked up.
The two Royal Guards locked eyes.
Shaiapouf tried to speak, but found himself unable to make a sound. He could feel his body plummeting downward.
"My King!"
With his last ounce of strength, Shaiapouf roared this final cry before crashing violently to the ground, all life extinguished.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHH!"
Witnessing this, Youpi seemed to go insane. Consumed by extreme rage, his body began mutating once again.
With a thunderous roar, Youpi's form underwent a drastic transformation.
The intensity of Youpi's physical change forced Kite and the others, who had been preparing to engage, to instantly switch to evasive stances, retreating to a safer distance.
"Morel, dispel the smoke! All of you, get away from here now!" Mord shouted.
Though unsure why he instinctively followed the command of someone he'd just met, Morel reacted immediately.
Hovering in mid-air, Mord looked down at Youpi below.
That form was practically the embodiment of evil.