Chimera Ants.
Why were creatures that were supposed to live on the Dark Continent appearing inside these ruins?
And judging from the look of things, they had already been living in this ruin for quite some time.
But given the Chimera Ants' trait of reproducing through feeding, after all these years, they should have long since eaten Nen users, learned Nen, and developed extremely high intelligence.
So why had these Chimera Ants never chosen to leave this nest after so many years?
And the two Chimera Ants Ronin had seen from afar felt completely different from the ones that had rampaged through East Gorteau and NGL in the manga.
These looked more like ants found in nature, rather than Chimera Ants that, after evolving, had already lost most of their ant-like characteristics and looked more like other creatures—or even humans.
But no matter what, these beings were clearly classified by V5 as a Class-1 designated quarantine species. They were extremely dangerous creatures.
If an ant on the level of the King or the Royal Guards from the manga had been born here as well, then their seventeen-person team, which had barged into this nest, might very well be wiped out.
They had to kill those two ants in the distance as quickly as possible and confirm the exact situation inside the nest.
If the worst-case scenario really had happened, and ants of that level had been born, then Ronin only had one thought: evacuate the ruins as fast as possible, then have the Hunter Association's higher-ups, the Zodiacs, or Chairman Netero personally take over the situation here.
Ronin was confident in his own strength.
But if he truly had to face a monster whose aura volume alone could crush his several times over, and which also possessed unknown abilities, he had no certainty of victory.
With that decision made, Ronin, who had not acted until now, launched his first attack after entering the nest.
Lightning Release Chakra Mode activated instantly, and at the same time, a piercing birdsong rang out.
Before anyone could react to what had happened, they sensed a flash of lightning beside them. In an instant, it vanished from where it had been.
Ronin was too fast.
So fast that the beasts attacking the team nearby didn't even realize his figure had already swept past them and was charging straight toward the ants behind them.
Even the two ants at the rear, which had Nen on their bodies, never expected that the instant that piercing sound appeared, a figure wrapped in blue light would already be at their side.
Chidori: Raikiri.
Ronin's figure flashed past in an instant.
What he left behind were two ant corpses, their bodies pierced through by Lightning Release chakra.
Even though he had sensed Nen on them, these low-level soldier ants were still nothing more than trash he could crush directly with his ability.
But this move also left the team members who had entered with him wide-eyed in shock.
They had imagined Ronin's combat strength would be powerful, but they had not expected him to be so strong that he seemed to exist on a completely different dimension from them.
That kind of speed—
there were only a few people in the team who felt confident they could keep up with Ronin and defend against the attack he had unleashed in that instant.
He was an ability user who pursued ultimate speed and offensive power.
After seeing Ronin's instantaneous burst of ability, most people silently attached that label to him in their minds.
Mascher quietly dispersed the massive amount of Nen gathered in both his hands.
After discovering the Chimera Ants, his thoughts had been the same as Ronin's: they had to investigate the situation here as quickly as possible.
Most importantly, they could not allow more Nen users to die here.
No one could be sure what kind of changes would occur if they kept feeding Nen users to Chimera Ants.
But anyone who knew about the Chimera Ant species could imagine just how terrifying Chimera Ants would become if they continued evolving by devouring Nen users.
Benkt still wanted to say something, but Ronin had already rushed into the depths of the nest alone. Mascher and Vanessa exchanged a glance, then left the team at the same time and followed him.
In the entire team, the only person the three of them regarded somewhat highly was Colin.
His javelin-throwing ability really did have something to it. If coordinated properly, the power it could unleash would be extremely strong.
As for the organizer, Benkt, his combat ability had already been more or less exposed when they dealt with ordinary monsters earlier.
Perhaps his ability still had some merits, but his own foundation really could not be considered solid.
After breaking away from the team's line of sight, Ronin used the Shadow Clone Technique.
The shadow clone swiftly continued rushing deeper into the forest, while Ronin himself slightly reduced his speed.
In just a few breaths, Mascher and Vanessa caught up.
Neither of them said much, but both knew what Ronin had done.
Vanessa felt much more relaxed moving together with Ronin. However, judging from where she positioned herself, she was clearly ready to run at any moment if danger appeared.
Mascher naturally sensed that Vanessa had appeared in his shadow, but he was already used to it.
If one day he acted together with Vanessa and she did not move close to his shadow, then he would actually have to wonder why.
"If something truly uncontrollable appears, we retreat first. The captain can mobilize Golem to support us at any time," Mascher said first, explaining the mercenary team's plan and intentions.
Ronin nodded.
Exploring the ruins was, after all, a mission the mercenary group had accepted. They could not possibly let Ronin charge ahead in everything.
It had been different when they explored the Kurta ruins. That had originally been a deal between Myuhael and Ronin, and Ronin had relied on his own ability to protect the ruins.
But now that they were exploring the central area, if a major crisis really appeared, the mercenary group would still try their best to resolve it.
Unless it was truly impossible to resist, the mercenary group would not easily abandon the mission.
But if the worst-case scenario really happened, then even Golem might not be enough, though Golem had likely not displayed his full combat strength during the previous exploration.
While the three of them were talking, the shadow clone had already darted several hundred meters ahead.
Its figure moved between the trees like a ghost in the forest.
And during that process, more and more giant ants appeared in the shadow clone's field of vision. His ears were filled with constant thudding sounds.
Were these really Chimera Ants?
That thought formed in the shadow clone's mind.
The key point was that all the ants appearing here were uniform soldier ants of the same type. They did not show the endlessly varied fusion of genetic traits that Chimera Ants were known for.
Lightning Release chakra flickered around the shadow clone's body.
But this time, he no longer used Chidori. Instead, he switched to the Four-Finger Spear Hand.
One ant after another blocking the shadow clone's path was split cleanly in two as lightning flashed past.
Their severed bodies struggled on the ground, giving off piercing cries.
More ants nearby began moving toward the sound.
But the shadow clone had already burst away at high speed, leaving the scene of the attack behind.
However, as he moved rapidly through the forest, a buzzing sound slowly entered Ronin's shadow clone's ears.
He looked up.
Huge flying ants were already diving down toward him from the air.
~~~
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