(Book 2) Neferpitou and the human Royal Guard

Chapter 11 Chimera Siege.

On the way back

I, along with Bat and Cheetu are on our way back to the castle after the resounding success in killing three of the heaviest hitters the mafia had at their disposal. One of which was Hound himself, who's head I was carrying back home both as proof of the deed, as well as a snack for my beloved Pitou. The other notable kill was that of a frog-like enemy Royal Guard. The third was Bull, who admittedly seemed like a decent guy. I wonder if we'd be friends if the circumstances were different.

Cheetu speaks up as I ponder these things. "So whaddaya think, boss? Any idea on what our reward will be when we get back?"

I just shrug, admitting "The only reward I care about is seeing Pitou-chan happy when she gets her present. You to can get all the glory if you want."

"Ha! Your loss then!" Cheetu exclaims.

Bat then ponders out loud "As much as I'd like the credit for what happened, I doubt anyone would believe we took out those three without your help, Lord Alejandro."

"C'mon Bat! It will be easy to make up a lie if we get our story straight." Cheetu declares.

Bat just sighs at this.

For the rest of the way home, Bat and I remain silent while Cheetu blabs on. That is until we actually make it home and see what is going on...

Celebrations will have to wait, our base is under attack! The mafia has sent their own chimera ants alongside a bunch of gunmen to attack us. "Damnit! Why'd it have to be now?! Bat, Cheetu, take out those gunmen!" I exclaim before dropping Hound's head and rushing toward the battlefield, cutting down any enemies on the way with my claws. I'm at least happy to see that Youpi, Pike, and Zazan are holding their own against the other ants. Cutting down one of the enemies that Pike is fighting, I quickly ask him "Where's my Pitou?!"

"Th-they are still in the castle! They are fighting two strong opponents." he replies.

Nodding, I say "Good work." before making a mad dash to the castle, opening up my en when I enter to find out where Pitou is. A group of mafia ants are already ahead of me and attack me before I can locate her. I slash them just as quickly as I did the ones outside, and start looking for Pitou again. I then notice three powerful presences fighting above me, one of them being Pitou. Wasting no time, I strengthen my legs with my nen before jumping upwards, crashing through the floors until I reach Pitou and who I assume are the mafia's Royal Guards. As I burst through the final floor, I find that my assumption was correct, as I saw Pitou with her eyes closed fighting both the jellyfish and the angler fish that nearly killed me at the mafia's headquarters. Before I can draw my sword, the angler fish notices my presence and instantly uses his lure to create a blinding flash that stunned me before. I quickly shield my eyes from the flash, and before I know it, the angler fish is already upon me, attempting to bite me with his barbed jaws. I counter this by smacking his face with my handless arm, which stung a bit, but was necessary to stop him from biting my throat. Kicking him away, I draw my blade to finish him off, but before I can do so, I notice Pitou crash into a wall, now stuck there. The jellyfish uses this moment to morph it's tendrils into sharp points, impaling Pitou's limbs, causing her great pain. Seeing this, I make a split decision to throw my sword at the jellyfish to get it's attention. The blade severs all the tendrils stabbing Pitou's limbs, and the creature screeches in pain. Before I can continue to attack it, the angler fish ant makes another attempt at biting me, when I dodge, he extends his claws arms in order to try to catch me. I bat them both aside with my handless arm, and notice the jellyfish barreling toward me. Good, now I can lure them away from Pitou-chan. I think to myself as I retreat from the room by crashing through a wall, the two enemy Royal Guards right on my trail. Sprinting through the halls of the castle, my plan is to lead them into a wide room where I can trap them to use a nen spell. Finally, a fitting room shows itself and I run in, my pursuers crashing though walls themselves to follow. Now that they are here in this room, I pull out two spell cards from my sleeve with my good hand, doing my best to dodge all their attacks in the meantime. The angler fish readies his lure again to try to blind me, but before he does, I call out "Nen spell number 11: Gas Screen!" which releases a smokescreen with the chemical properties of methane, which prompts me to hold my breath and transmute my aura into oxygen for my lungs.

"A smokescreen will only delay your agonizing death!" I hear a guttural voice yell as I notice the angler fish's extended arms attempt to grab and claw at me. I dodge and weave around them, and am soon under attack by the jellyfish as well as it screams furiously. I continue evading their attacks as best I can until I notice the smoke screen fill up the entire room.

Perfect, now for phase two.  I think as I dodge one last attack and dash through the wall and out of the room, quickly chanting "Nen spell number 10: Scorch!" which causes the card I'm holding to catch on fire while I'm out of the gas. I flick the card into said gas, which causes a massive explosion that sends me through a couple walls, though my enemies had it worse since they were in the explosive methane screen when I flicked the flame covered card into it. I hear the dying screech of the jellyfish and the furious guttural wails of the angler fish. Taking a moment to catch my breath, I sit down, exhaling and breathing normally now that I'm no longer in the methane screen. This doesn't last long, however, as a monstrous roar erupts from where I thought the two Royal Guards died. Unfortunately, only one of them ended up dead, which was the jellyfish. The angler fish ant on the other hand, was very much alive, and has morphed it's body into an appearance that no longer resembles a humanoid with an angler fish's head, but a crocodile or alligator with a piranha's head. The terrifying beast barrels toward me with a deceptive speed given the bastard's massive size. I get out of the way as quickly as I can, but the thing turns on a dime to face me again as it misses, continuing it's pursuit. I'm chased once more around the castle, but unlike before, I have no plans and am out of options to counter attack, all I can do is run. The beast extends it's head in an attempt to chomp on me, though I manage to dodge at the last second by jumping upwards and over it's back. However, I wasn't out of danger yet, because before I could land behind him, the beast strikes me with it's tail while I'm in the air. This attack hurls me forward, now putting me back in the path of the monster's charge. It once again snaps at me with it's jaws, which I evade by scooting backward and rolling to the side with it's every attempt. Seeing that it is making no progress, the beast swipes at me with it's clawed hand, which sends me crashing into a wall, now stuck in it like Pitou was earlier. Speaking of Pitou, as my opponent walks menacingly toward me, an extended blade cuts through the wall I'm stuck and and lodges itself in the head of the piranha alligator, which makes it roar in pain. The blade retracts, quickly, and Pitou bursts through the wall I'm stuck in as she lands on the back of the monster, tearing it to bloody shreds with her claws and wrist blade.

"Die!" she growls angrily before using her teeth to tear the beast apart as well. By the time she is done with it, it is little more than a blue bloody mess.

I just sit there, now free from the wall, feeling a mixture of relief, fear, and odd arousal at the scene Pitou is making. At least she's okay... I think to myself.

Eventually her rage subsides, and she exhales heavily before turning to me, offering her hand. "Lets go Allie, we need to find King Meruem." she says with obvious exhaustion.

"What about the others?" I ask with concern.

"They can handle themselves. Besides, our duty is to protect the King." she swiftly replies.

Sighing, I take her hand, prompting her to pull me up, and we make our way to the King. "So where is he?" I ask.

"South of here. He was challenged to a one-on-one duel by the enemy 'king,' and has gone off to fight him alone. Lets go." she commands.

I nod, not wanting to argue. "Right." I say as we both take off to find Meruem. I couldn't deny her even if I wanted to, for I was as determined as she is to make sure everyone is safe.

Heading south, we make our way to the King, whether he wishes to accept our help or not. We won't let him die...