12 Chapter 11

[Toneri's POV]

*Woom~*

Huh? This...

Electromagnetic interference... It came from above? The association must have done it to disrupt the ant's link to the queen...

Our status so far;

Team Alpha - Stable

Team Beta - Stable

Team Charlie - Stable

Team Delta - Stable

Team Epilson - Stable

Team Bravo - Stable

Team Charlie is causing quite a ruckus if the island isn't messy enough. The other teams scattered around the island could clearly hear Tanaka's punches up in the mountain peak. Team Delta, which is behind Team Charlie, is providing support from the rear.

As for our me? Ever since I entered the Tenseigan Chakra Mode, I've been killing any ants I've seen in my path. Be they are flying or running, I would fly towards them at an insane speed and blow them up with puppet-cursing technique.

To others, well... All they could see is a cyan-colored flash flying above the island and wherever it goes, dead ants lay waste.

My main goal here is to; one, Fight Beru to show off my dominance. Two, Save the S-Rankers from Beru, why? It's simple, I not only get to save some hunters that could potentially help during the time the monarchs come but also gain some trust from them and some support. Moreover, why would I let them die? Why would I wait for Jin-Woo and fight Beru? It's best that I should do it myself. I'm not trying to be a saint here, I'm doing it for my benefit.

'Reminds me of that one meme... "Fine, I'll do it myself".'

And as for my teammates, Ryuu is the same as me, flying in the sky and killing every ant he sees in sight. Tae-Gyu is killing at least 10 ants per minute with his marksmanship. Of course, we also have a task to complete.

Our first objective was to kill the ants lured out by Goto Ryuji's team. The second is to find the entrance to the colony's nest. And third is to burn all the ants in there.

Objective one and two are already finished as not too long ago, Team Charlie and Delta found the entrance.

After finding out the entrance, I didn't waste any time and immediately went to the coordinates the association gave to us.

"Where are you going!" (Ryuu)

In the distance, Ryuu shouted at me and asked where I was heading while holding a decapitated ant.

I shouted back at him with a serious tone while waving my hand

"I'm going to the colony's nest!" (Toneri)

Hearing my reply, Ryuu threw the decapitated ant he held and slowly approached me.

"I'll go too!" (Ryuu)

Hearing this, I couldn't help but confirm what he said

"Are you sure? There are a lot of ants inside compared to the outside" (Toneri)

"What do you think of me? Weak?" (Ryuu)

For some reason, I could feel some slight frustration in his voice. It was understandable. I just technically asked the guy if he's strong or not

I didn't reply back and started flying towards the colony's entrance. I swear I heard Ryuu curse a bit before following behind me. Albeit, he was quite slow.

As for Tae-Gyu, I could see him regrouping with the other teams because we left him there. He should be fine.

Along the way, explosions were happening from left and right. Screams of hunters would sound from one point to the other.

I would occasionally go down and help them to lessen the casualties of hunters.

But what caught my attention the most was the person fighting near the colony's entrance.

"That's..." (Toneri)

I had my doubts and with my perception, I knew I wasn't wrong...

Below, a person wearing all black with a hood on was killing ants with two blades while being accompanied by 20 other hunters. And that attire... Is that of a woman's. But that is not what I'm focusing my attention too. The one I'm focusing on is the person wearing it— Hisoka.

'Damn! I knew she was too beautiful to be a man! Those feminine looks... She had got to he a woman!'

I mean, you can't blame me, right? She always wears that hoodie of hers that covers most of her body and has short hair. Damn it, even her voice was hard and low. Wait, now that I've thought about it, her voice is stiff whenever she speaks isn't it? GOD FUCKING DAMN IT!

I turned to a generic bland dense isekai protagonist! NOOOOOOOOO!!!

Finishing my internal monologue, I ignored Hisoka for now and continued flying towards the ant's nest.

Well anyways, I'm almos—

Then, I sensed something unusual with my sensing technique...

This...

Someone or something is flying at great speed! Plus this buzzing effect around it... Wings?

No... If there's something I remember from solo revealing without needing my notes... It's that a certain Ant King that excels at speed!

Beru!

That guy already went out!

Shit! Shit! Shit!

"RYUU! CHANGE OF PLANS! THE COLONY'S NEST ISN'T IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW!" (Toneri)

I shouted at the top of my lungs at Ryuu.

"Huh...? What do you mea—" (Ryuu)

Ryuu, not getting what I meant, asked with a bit of a dumbfounded expression.

"GAAH! NO TIME!" (Toneri)

I didn't waste any more time screaming at Ryuu and immediately went towards the buzzing sound is.

[General POV]

This...

There he is!

The bastard himself!

Flying above, Toneri saw a black blur flying at an insane speed towards three familiar hunters. He focused on the blur and everything in his sight went REALLY slow. And there it is! Beru!

Toneri then focused on Beru to inspect him.

'That action... He's about to attack someone! It's Shimizu! He's about to slice off Shimizu's head just like what he did in the original series!'

He flew down immediately after knowing what Beru was about to do.

Toneri summoned his truth-seeking orbs and immediately appeared in front of Shimizu.

*BANG!*

Beru's destructive force punching his truth-seeking orb taking the shape of an oval resounded!

"KIIIEEEKKK!!!" (Beru)

"Looks like... I'm not late..." (Toneri)

The other three who did not know what was happening immediately tensed when they saw Beru. A natural reaction, they didn't even sense him much less see him.

"Hu-Hunter T-Toneri! Wh-What is that?!" (Tanaka)

Tanaka, who saw one of his teammates about to be killed, immediately asked Toneri who appeared before them. But he then soon got the idea when he saw Toneri blocking the ant monster.

Toneri was now holding back Beru from getting near them.

"LEAVE! YOU CAN'T HANDLE THIS!" (Toneri)

He wasn't joking. These guys would have been lifeless bodies right now if it weren't for him. They wouldn't even be able to fight back as Beru's speed outmatched them and killed them in no more than 2 seconds.

Hearing Toneri's words, Tanaka can't help but get slightly frustrated

"YOU—!" (Tanaka)

"I SAID LEAVE! AND GET EVERYONE AROUND HERE AND GO!" (Toneri)

Just now, Toneri shouted at Tanaka with frustration and impatience in his voice. Along with the Tenseigan chakra mode and the Giant Ant he's repelling, it just made him more menacing.

Seeing the seriousness of the matter, Tanaka could only swallow his frustration and order his other teammates. Especially Shimizu who, not long ago, was about to be killed. She was just laying there with widened eyes and an expression as if her soul left her body.

Tanaka picked up Shimizu and ran away with Fujishima. They would intend to ask for more reinforcement to help Toneri. But then—

"DON'T BRING ANYONE ELSE HERE, UNDERSTOOD?! THIS GUY IS BEYOND ANYONE HERE!" (Toneri)

Again, another fact. Beru clearly decimated every hunter on the island. He cut off S-Rank Hunter's heads as if it was butter. It's it wasn't for Jin-Woo who had plot armor, the remaining survivor of the Jeju Island would have died. Moreover, Toneri has private plans with Beru later.

Tanaka, not knowing why Toneri would say this, could only clench his fist and retreat.

Seeing Tanaka and the others run, Toneri focused his attention on Beru who was continuously punching the oval-shaped Truth-Seeking orb. He grasped one truth-seeking orb and used a technique

Ginrin Tensei Baku!

(Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion)

Chakra quickly concentrated on the Truth-Seeking orb and an unbelievable amount of wind appeared.

He took away the oval-shaped truth-seeking orb and shoved the Ginrin Tensei Baku to Beru's body.

Tremendous force took place. It was as if a storm had brewed on this part of the island. Beru couldn't help but retreat when Ginrin Tensei Baku hit him.

"KIEEEKKKK!!!" (Beru)

'I don't know if he's speaking to me or just simply screeching...'

That's right. Only Jin-Woo, who has the system, could understand a monster's language. So perhaps Beru is currently ranting on about his "Human's King" nonsense.

'Still, I'm surprised this guy could withstand Ginrin Tensei Baku. That technique could even rival Naruto's planetary Rasengan...'

Toneri then summoned 10 Puppet-cursing techniques and immediately appeared in front of Beru.

Beru tried to move away when he noticed that the human king appeared near him. But to no avail, as Toneri punched his sides while his fists were engulfed with the puppet-cursing technique.

His exoskeleton protected him to some extent before regenerating. Seeing the human king close to him, Beru immediately brought out his claws and tried to scratch Toneri to poison him.

Sensing the danger that was about to happen on his back, Toneri quickly punched Beru's chin making him fly.

-Meanwhile, Yoon-Ho, Jong-In, Hae-in, Beong-Gu, and the Cameraman -

[General POV]

Originally, they entered the colony's nest to burn all the eggs which they did. They did encounter a lot of strong ants comparable to that of an A-Rank's and some as S-Ranks. And after 15 minutes of exploring without the interference of Beru as Toneri is fighting him, they found the queen and had a deadly fight with it. The fight lasted for at least 30 minutes with Beong-Gu's heal and support. And in the end, they killed it along with her offspring.

But after climbing out from the mountain's opening, they saw a battle not too far from them.

A familiar white-haired person fighting an... Ant? No, that ant looks more human-like than any other ants they fought.

"H-Hey, i-isn't that Hunter Toneri...?" (Cameraman)

The S-Rank Hunters beside him stayed silent for a while. Especially Yoon-Ho.

Currently, Yoon-Ho's face is in shock as he watches the battle between Toneri who was in his tenseigan chakra mode, and the ant... Monster. They were so fast he could hardly catch up to their speed! All he could see is a black and cyan blur. The only way they could recognize that it was Toneri was because of the occasional stops he made which makes his appearance clear.

Seeing Toneri fight alone, Hae-in immediately alerted the rest of them

"What are you all doing?! Let's help him!" (Hae-in)

After speaking, she ran down the mountains and headed in Toneri's direction. although she was still tired from the fight with the ant queen, she could just ask for Beong-Gu's healing to restore her stamina.

"Wait! Cha Hae-In! Don't rush in alone!" (Beong-Gu)

But then, two more figures ran behind her. Yoon-Ho transforming and his hair turning white and Jong-In already preparing his flame magic with a serious face.

"This..." (Beong-Gu)

Seeing his teammates, Beong-Gu could only sigh helplessly.

'Seriously... If it weren't for me, these three would be seriously injured by now...' (Beong-Gu)

He then started running behind them and invited the cameraman to record the fight.

"Hey let's go!" (Beong-Gu)

Hearing Beong-Gu's call, the cameraman snapped out of his daze watching the black and cyan blur, and ran behind them. And yes, the camera on his head is still recording everything live! Toneri's fight, all of them were recorded and are being live-broadcasted!

- Back to Toneri -

The battle between Beru and Toneri lasted for a while. One of the factors for this is Beru's occasional escapes.

After punching Beru's chin and making him fly, Beru tried to flee. Toneri immediately understood what he was gonna do; he was gonna call out an army.

He flew too and intercepted Beru before he could escape, making it an aerial battle!

"KIEEKKK!!! KIKIKIEEEKKK~~!!!" (Beru)

"Sorry, I don't speak Ant!" (Toneri)

He then delivered a hard blow on Beru's body which made his exoskeleton shatter a bit.

'Ah shit.'

Seeing the damage on Beru, Toneri cursed internally.

'It's time to end this. I don't want to mess up Beru's body too much after all. Besides, there's still a great use for him...'

He then prayed a little internally while closing his eyes.

'I hope this works...'

He held up his hand and condensed Chakra to it. He formed many puppet-cursing techniques.

One of the prime uses of Toneri for the puppet-cursing technique is to use them for explosions. But... The real purpose of this technique is not for explosions, but to enter inside a body and control them!

Yes, it's exactly as what you are thinking right now!

Toneri grabbed and ordered the green orbs to fly towards Beru, surround him and not let him have any escape!

Then, they all quickly charged at him and one entered his body.

"KIEEKKK!!! KYAAKKK!!! KIKIIIEEKKKK~!!!"

(Beru)

Struggling. He was struggling in his mind. The orb was trying to break down Beru's mind and make him a puppet to Toneri.

Originally, it was a battle of speed and power. Now it's one-sided mind control.

Beru and Toneri fell to the ground. The latter just stood there folding his arms as he watched the puppet-cursing technique doing its job

"KIEEKKK!!!" (Beru)

Just before Toneri could obtain a new powerful puppet, a familiar voice shouted at him.

"HUNTER TONERI!!!" (Yoon-Ho)

Hearing this call, Toneri immediately looked behind to see a white-haired Yoon-Ho running at him at full speed. Behind him was Hae-In, Jong-In, Beong-Gu, and someone wearing armor with a camera on top of his head.

But... It was not just them who arrived. The other teams also arrived where Toneri was. Team Alpha, Team Beta, Team Delta, Team Epilson, Team Bravo, and other Hunters from different guilds that participated.

After Tanaka left, he immediately informed the other teams about Toneri's situation, making all of them head towards his location.

Yoon-Ho leaped up and clenched his fists, attempting to punch Beru. Jong-In already casted a massive flame and Hae-In took out her sword. The other teams also activated their respective powers and directed them to the immobilized Beru near Toneri.

Sensing what they're about to do, Toneri tried to warn them and back off, but...

"Wai— WAIT—!" (Toneri)

"KIEEEKKKK!!!" (Beru)

Beru let out his last battle cry

*BOOM!* ×6

Dust everywhere and soon a flame erupted where Beru was originally was. Ice shards here and there, the other combatant-type hunters that charged at Beru all landed a punch. The dust slightly settled down and figures came out. The combatant hunters came out so does Yoon-Ho with scratches and Hae-In with slight burn marks.

"Looks like... We made it on time..." (Ryuji)

Goto Ryuji said as he panted

'No! No! NOOO!!! That was my new puppet!!! Agghhhh!!!' (Toneri)

Toneri's tenseigan chakra mode wore off and he fell on his knees as he saw Beru's body parts scattered all around the ground, or at least, what's a small part of it. His precious puppet... Gone...

Seeing the 'resting' Toneri on the ground, Ryuji, who was also one of the people that helped kill Beru, went near him and thanked him

"Good work... Hunter Toneri. This powerful ant you fought... It killed more than 200 hunters on the island... Best we could do for the fallen is to kill it. Thank you for stalling it until we arrive. We'll make sure to credit you for this contribution" (Ryuji)

After saying this, Ryuji bowed his head and thanked Toneri sincerely. Although, yes, he was still a bit angry for losing a fight to Toneri, he cannot just let a man who saved hundreds from Beru go unappreciated.

Toneri looked at Ryuji with a helpless expression.

He won the battle, but at what cost?

After that, Toneri laid back on the ground sighing as he closed his eyes. Although he's not injured, he wants to go back and rest. He just lost big time. And deep inside his heart, he knew he regretted saving the hunters.

So, he made some random bullshit and spoke

"I'd like to go back now. I think I'm injured..." (Toneri)

Hearing this, Ryuji immediately shouted at the other hunters who were present. Four people volunteered on accompanying Toneri on his way to their aircraft. It was Cha Hae-In, Fukui Natsumi, Yoshimoto Ryuu, and Yoon-Ho.

And so, although Toneri saved the S-Rankers, he lost a powerful puppet.

===

~ A short interaction between the mc and the author ~

"Boohoo, my new puppet T~T" (Toneri)

"Oh relax, at least you saved a lot of Hunters, right?" (Venyon)

"I know but... Beru was powerful as fuck... Seeing him get crushed just like that felt like my soul being crushed too..." (Toneri)

"Oh shut up you big baby. How about this? I'll give you something as compensation for losing Beru. Deal?" (Toneri)

"*sniff* what is it...?" (Toneri)

"Well... You have to find out until the next chapter!" (Venyon)

"... When will the next chapter be released?" (Toneri)

"Uhh... I don't know actually. My teacher just gave me a new project about taking a video of myself on TikTok. I MEAN, OF ALL THE VIDEO-RECORDING PLATFORMS OUT THERE, WHY TIKTOK?!" (Venyon)

"Sounds rough..." (Toneri)

"I know right?!" (Venyon)

"By the way, how will you think the readers will react about Beru's death?" (Toneri)

"Hmm... I don't know. I mean, he is technically dead from the original series so... I don't see much of a difference.

Though, I am expecting a lot of toxic in the comments sooner or later..." (Venyon)

"..." (Toneri)

"This chapter will get a lot of hate won't it?" (Toneri)

"Definitely. It'd be weird if it doesn't." (Venyon)

"..." (Toneri)

~ Conversation end ~