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Chapter 116: The Stars In The Sky
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The simple words from an old man that don't seem to mean much or is that encouraging set flames into the hunters' hearts, making their hearts beat faster yet calming their minds at the same time.
These are the words of an old man... but not any old man, the words of the man known as the strongest Nen user in the world...
And while he knows he isn't anymore, no one else does as no one really knows how far Yasuo has come.
It has been quite a while since they had any spare, and even when they did, who's to say Yasuo was using his full power and doing his best.
Then there was silence... a long silence as all the sound that could be heard is the sound of the heavy wind due to the dragon's relatively fast speed, a wind that didn't seem to affect the four monsters as they remained firmly put on the massive dragon.
Until time has come to split up as Zeno said again, "This is enough, we will split up here and you go do your own thing."
To which Silva nodded in understanding though he didn't make any move, instead, he stayed put on the Dragon's back in contrast to the other three.
Zeno slowly stood up as he started performing a strange motion as if he is gonna release something from his hands as he put his hand together close to his chest and then changed their position so his palms face the dark night sky in from of him.
Then, "hHA!!!"
A pushing motion fast enough to create a small sound wave in from of him but that is not solely what happened because as his arms extended completely.
His massive Aura started to flow out of his palms at an astonishing rate. It flowed without a stop as the bright Golden Aura started forming into something...
Started forming into something he believes in, the Zoldyck family's motto... A dragon, a slim yet extremely long golden dragon completely formed by his Aura alone, his well-polished Aura that created a beautiful piece of art... Beautiful yet so dangerous.
Yasuo, Netero, and Zeno all jumped on the golden dragon, each standing perfectly somewhere on its slim back, and only then did Draco change his flying direction according to Silva's instructions.
The monsters split into a group due to the differences in their goals.
The three has the Royal palace as a goal, as a direction to go to while the Zoldyck family's head has another goal in mind yet that didn't lower the danger of the trio much.
Well, according to what the eye can see, the danger was only lowered a bit... But there is something invisible, something all around the Island.
There is that invisible danger that no one can account for, that even Netero can predict but he at least knows of its existence.
The old man lightly stroked his beard looking at the danger that looked harmless, quiet, and tranquil but Netero at least knows to what the danger's eyes shine.
They shine towards the mysteries of the world, towards what the danger doesn't know and what picks his interest and that happened to be a common enemy for them both.
And even with all the variables surrounding Yasuo, with all the unpredictable things he can do, Netero knows there is a mystery named the dark continent, an unknown mystery and an attractive force that can bring even the toughest of minds to its arms.
The land of danger yet treasures all the same and he knows Yasuo has that as a goal so humanity is safe... For now.
In the darkness of the night, the golden dragon seems to shine brightly in the sky and it would've been completely visible to Nen users if not for the fact it's flying high in the sky, high above the clouds.
The dark clouds formed a tight barrier protecting them from the predatory eyes of the enemy yet even that wasn't able to defend against the instinct and the extraordinary senses of the predator... Of a particular predator whose senses are only rivaled by Yasuo himself.
Pitou, a Royal guard whose senses are matched by only the King among the Chimera ants.
A humanoid cat with wavy white hair. Her cat-like ears and tail were covered with yellow and white fur, respectively.
She had ruby-red eyes, and her knees had demarcated joints like insect legs.
Neferpitou's hands were slightly larger than an average human hand. Her clothes were a blue overcoat with six yellow buttons and cuff links, shorts and orange socks with thin black stripes, and a pair of blue shoes.
The Humanoid Ant looked up into the sky, the dark sky with nothing to see but... She has a feeling... that there is something more beyond the dark clouds, something even darker than the clouds.
She Instantly jumped to the highest building of the royal palace, at the highest point of the building she looked at the sky crouching with her senses focused completely, 'Enemies...' She thought.
She detected the invisible tiger's fangs coming with her instincts alone, animals instincts honed to the extreme and she trusted her instincts completely as she became convinced that far above, there are enemies.
So instead of her En enveloping the whole royal palace and the surroundings, she retracted before releasing it again, the difference is that this time, it's focused solely on the sky above, the dark sky where the enemy lies.
And it was at that moment that the enemy appeared with vision, not just Pitou's but even Shaiapouf another royal guard, Unlike the other Royal Guards, Shaiapouf bore a more human resemblance.
He looked like a young adult, with a tall and lanky frame, thistle purple skin, and short dark blond hair, covering up his forehead and ears.
The only insect parts that Pouf had were his multi-colored butterfly wings and antennae. He wore a frilly white shirt, black pants, and a pair of black shoes.
Pouf noticed Pitou's strange activities, her retracting her massive 'En' and redirecting it to the sky so he naturally came to the conclusion that enemies are coming from high above the sky as they only came within his vision a second later.
What appeared is something that startled them for split second, what appeared is an enormous golden dragon. A shining dragon that lit the dark night aflame so bright it became a sun in the middle of darkness... A distraction.
A distraction from the real enemy astride the dragon's back but Pitou's unrivaled En which can engulf several miles around is just that monstrous as when she focused it in one direction towards the sky, she was able to look far high into the sky coming into contact with the golden dragon and what mounts the dragon.
Two people, two old men and she measured their capabilities instantly, at least their outward capabilities.
After all, Nen is just that much of a variable. They of course sensed the predator's capabilities as well ready for what it has on its sleeves.
Pitou again Retracted her Nen though this time for a different reason, this time she focused her Nen completely on her self entering her complete battle mode readying her fangs to shred the enemy apart, an enemy of her king shouldn't exist is what she thought...
'A mistake.' Thought Zeno, she made a mistake fitting of a newborn no matter how intelligent she may be and so the next phase of the operation started, the reason why they needed the dragon to come down from the sky... A distraction.
While his next move's power is significant, against enemies such as the royal guards, it's but a mere drop on a lake, it just won't affect them.
But that's not its real purpose, it's simply a distraction, a camouflage for the hunters to pass, a distraction happening at the exact moment it's been instructed by Netero.
The same moment the countdown ended and the hunters began the hunt, each with their own goal.
And so the massive golden dragon split Into a myriad of small shining dragons that rained down upon the royal palace.
A fascinating scene as the shining dragons twinkled in the sky like the shining stars in the darkness of the night. 'Dragon Dive' Zeno's ability.
'Where are they?' Is what Pitou thought losing sight of the enemy who seems to disappear between the incoming stars.
An experienced enemy, a dangerous enemy, the two old men suppressed their presence appearing as if they vanished amidst the shining dragons.
But faced with the threat to the king, Pitou's senses now sharpened to their absolute limits guided her to the intruders with ease as she jumped using her special legs that are made just for that.
What is more dangerous than the downpour of countless dragons... Are the humans within as Pitou appeared near them within a second only... Only to be stunned looking at the completely unexpected scene before her.
Another human she didn't sense, she didn't see even with her En yet he seems to be casually falling with the other two paying her no heed.