Atop the mountain—
Netero stood with his hands behind his back, his aura vast and unshakable like an immovable mountain.
"Not leaving yet, Zeno?" he asked calmly.
"It's a rare opportunity," Zeno replied. "I'd like to see this young man who spoke of the path beyond—see what kind of presence he carries."
He dispelled his Ryūtōgiga (Dragon's Painted Dance), and his Nen once again wrapped around his body.
Walking to Netero's side, Zeno looked toward the royal capital with a furrowed brow.
"While I was in the air, I was enveloped by two distinct En," he said.
"Most likely those two Chimera Ant Royal Guards."
"What a terrifying species—they have massive aura pools, and their En range is absurdly vast."
Netero's expression didn't waver.
"They're from the Dark Continent, after all," he said flatly.
"Does that young man have any battle strategy?" Zeno glanced over and asked.
"No plan," Netero shook his head. "He intends to walk right in and fight."
Zeno's brow furrowed deeper.
Such a head-on approach was completely at odds with his assassin mentality.
If it were anyone else, he would've already mocked them.
But this was Aoki Hiroshi, the one who had uttered, "Embodied Form Without, Divine Essence Within"—who had illuminated the path beyond.
So Zeno held his tongue and said tactfully:
"That may be a bit troublesome. Entering head-on means we'll be instantly detected by the two En users."
"And before we even reach the Royal Guards, we'll have to exhaust a huge amount of energy dealing with hordes of ordinary Chimera Ants."
"Not to mention defeating the Guards and meeting the King himself."
Netero remained impassive as he listened, as if completely unconcerned with how unstrategic the plan sounded.
"It's fine," Netero said calmly.
Zeno gave him a puzzled look, only able to guess that there was some other plan at work behind the scenes.
Meanwhile — Around the Royal Capital
Across the perimeter, V5 agents were already in position with recording equipment, capturing everything inside the city.
Through the live feed—
The V5 leadership witnessed squadrons of Chimera Ants patrolling the city streets.
Each of these ordinary Ants looked strong and muscular.
Against human soldiers, even one could likely overpower an entire five-man tactical team.
This was the overwhelming advantage granted by species genetics.
"To think they multiplied this much in such a short time…" one V5 leader muttered, clearly disturbed.
"Truly a dangerous species."
"Even if they're exiles from the Dark Continent, they're not to be underestimated."
"NGL is finished."
Many of the leaders frowned deeply.
At this scale, even V5 would have to pay a heavy price to exterminate them.
"Something's wrong!"
Suddenly, a Nen user's voice shouted through the live stream—followed by a sharp camera shake.
"What's going on?!"
The leaders grew tense and immediately called for updates.
Soon—
The image stabilized, and one of the hired Nen users appeared on screen.
"Sirs, we've been detected by the Chimera Ants' En," he said grimly.
"En?" the leaders echoed in confusion.
"Yes," he nodded."En is an advanced technique where aura is expanded outward to sense the surroundings."
"But there's a downside—because En is made of aura, the moment it touches an enemy, the enemy can feel the En too."
"Just now, I sensed two En sweeping over us!"
The room fell into heavy silence.
And the Nen user wasn't finished.
"Even more frightening—they were inside the Royal Palace…"
"And yet, they sensed us outside the capital walls!"
"Which means… their En range is a terrifying 3 kilometers!"
As those words landed—
The faces of the V5 leaders changed dramatically.Some even inhaled sharply.
For reference:
A top-tier Nen user's En range is about 50 meters.
Even the Five Supreme Nen Users only reach a few hundred meters.
But the Chimera Ants?
Three thousand meters.
That's more than ten times the normal range!
"I've discussed this with the other hired Nen users," the man continued."We believe these two En signatures belong to the Royal Guards."
"Based on their range alone, we estimate their aura pools to be 30 times greater than a human's!"
"And the King—who hasn't even moved—will surely be far worse!"
He trembled slightly as he spoke.
If not for the high payment, and the fact that they weren't expected to fight but merely observe—
He would've broken contract and fled long ago.
In the V5 livestream conference room, silence fell like a curtain.
Then—
One voice spoke, with a subtly twisted tone:
"So… are you saying the Chimera Ants are much stronger than Aoki Hiroshi and Netero?"
The statement rippled through the room.
The other leaders exchanged sharp glances—faces subtly lighting up.
"From an aura capacity perspective, yes," the Nen user confirmed."The Royal Guards have more aura than both Aoki and Chairman Netero."
At that—
The tension in the V5 room melted like spring snow.
"Understood. Thank you for your analysis."
"Please continue your observation."
"You've earned a bonus. Double your original pay."
After offering a few remarks, they cut the feed.
The live view returned to a wide shot of the Royal Capital.
"The Chimera Ants' rapid evolution may actually be… beneficial," one leader said, smiling.
The others nodded.
"We might still complete the original strategic plan."
"Exactly…"
"Wear down Netero—or better yet, wear down Aoki."
"If the Ants eliminate either one for us, they'll have served their purpose."
The room filled with low chuckles.
Elsewhere — In the Forest Beyond the Capital
Several members of the Twelve Zodiacs had also arrived on-site.
"You feel that?"
"Yeah… that En range is more than twenty times ours."
"What a monstrous race…"
"Expanding En that wide requires exponentially more aura…"
"So an En twenty times wider means the aura difference is likely thirty or even forty times greater!"
"That's more than the Chairman had in his prime!"
The Zodiacs grew grim as they realized what they were up against.