Regret

__________ POV Ashton__________

The fight should've been over, but I can't really help but feel somewhat strange. My instincts are going haywire.

And for the right reasons it seems. Unfortunately, my smile didn't last for long. I could sense my parasitic nen being devoured by his strange and evolving Aura.

"FUCK SAKE" I cursed loudly, completely losing my calm facade and showing how this situation truly felt for me.

I regained my composure quickly, however. As the king stopped in his tracks and looked at me with wide eyes.

"You... It was you." Some of his aggression was gone, but I'm not really going to let my guard down for that now am I?

Wait... He just devoured my Nen. And it made him a bit stronger... Is this how he managed to survive the explosion? Did my Nen cause him to grow some type of resistance to explosive damage?

I did put a lot of Nen into him when he was an egg. A lot by my own standards that is.

Regular explosions surely weren't at all effective against him earlier. I have yet to use any of my trump cards. But if he survived that Nuke then he'll survive most of them.

Although, I still have some that are certainly worth a shot...

I don't just want to escape, after all, escaping would be easy. But I want to either kill this thing or capture it.

Well, capturing him might be a pipe dream at this point. He's grown too much for that. His strength already exceeds mine.

Even worse is that he's immune to my favourite and most efficient method of attack... And my regular explosions won't be enough...

If I knew about this beforehand I would've ripped him out of the queen's belly and shoved him in my void storage space.

But it's a tad bit too late for regrets.

The king still hasn't made a move to attack me yet. But I think he realised I put my Nen into him previously. I just hope he doesn't realise what that signifies.

He looked silently in my scarlet eyes. My expression may be somewhat filled with indignation. But it's really hard to hide my emotions when I'm getting beaten up by a damn ant.

I wonder if this is how Netero felt when fighting him? Oh well, the difference is, I don't plan on dying to a little ant throwing a tantrum.

"You are the source of that Nen..." His eyes turn serious, he seemed to be contemplating whether to let me go or not.

But I don't like this situation. It's somewhat humiliating that this ant even considers itself capable of deciding my fate.

"Yo-" Just as he was about to speak, I released my En, surrounding the entire forest and touching everything in a 10-kilometre radius.

He was instantly on guard when feeling it. This is his first time being exposed to my En. And my hatred sure is skyrocketing right now.

What he probably doesn't realise yet. Is that my En is imbued with the properties with my Parasitic Explosion Hatsu.

I will use most of the Nen inside my body to unleash an explosion that will topple that of the nuke. The core will be this entire 10 km radius.

He failed to realize this. But I spread my Parasitic Nen in our surroundings instantly. And, just as I was detonating it.

I let myself fall backwards, the ground itself pulling me towards it at incredible speeds. I obviously didn't want to stick around to face the brunt of my own trump card.

I called this, 'Decadence Of Man'. A simple name that spoke for itself. Degradation to the point of self-destruction. Which was ironically Netero's fate.

And it would've been my fate too, had it not been for the eyes of the Kurta Clan easing my access to the 'Up-Side-Down Reality'.

__________ POV Narration__________

Just as the King decided to spare the life of the strange human in front of him, he let out his Aura. Making Meruem instantly reconsider his decision.

He was too caught in Ashton's aura to realise just what it signified. But someone else wasn't.

Pouf was also startled by Ashton's outburst, but it wasn't outside his expectations. He already knew that the scientist's curiosity is only matched by his pride.

But his eyes managed to catch something else, something terrifying. He happened to use Gyo as Ashton released his En.

The aura in their surroundings was red. Blood red mixed with a purplish glow.

Every air particle, as long as his eyes could see, was imbued with this malevolent aura. It was as if death was holding a scythe above his head, patiently waiting for this catastrophe to materialize.

He instantly realised what it was. Ashton had explained a bit of how his Hatsu worked to the ants. But seeing it at this scale left him completely paralysed in fear.

But he didn't fear for himself, his King's safety was his utmost priority.

"YOUR MAJESTY! QUICKLY RU~" But Pouf was a bit too late, as the scientist disappeared into the ground almost instantly.

And just as he vanished. An explosion of massive proportions expanded from the 10-kilometre radius that Ashton's En had touched.

Pouf and Youpi had no chance of survival at all. They were turned to ashes before the explosion even expanded from its core.

The King was in no better shape than them.

Although the size of this explosion was greater than the Nuke Netero unleashed on him, its strength was infinitely higher. His Nen was being burned away at speeds he could barely fathom.

It also lasted a lot longer. The Parasitic Nen continuously sending more and more blasts of explosions everywhere.

The King's Nen quickly depleted as his body was left helpless against the raging hell that was happening around him.

He was quickly swallowed by the beast. The flames burning him to the very core as the temperature of his body rose to unimaginable heights.

In his last moments, all he could feel was regret. Regret that he couldn't see Komugi again, regret that he wasn't a better King for his subjects...

And regret that he bared his fangs against the human race.

_________________________________________________

Didn't really want to leave you with a cliff on a nice Sunday like this.

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