Hunter: I became stronger even after I died.

Chapter 429 Beyond Human Limits

Flames scorch the soul.

Intense pain permeated my consciousness.

This kind of harm, which directly affects the mental well-being of the victim, can be described as immense torment.

But the most agonizing part is undoubtedly the final moments of "waiting for death."

That is, the process of the soul being burned to ashes by flames.

The King Ant could endure the excruciating pain that reached the depths of his soul with his powerful willpower, but ultimately he could not accept death with equanimity.

He felt neither hatred nor anger towards Moro.

The world is a giant hunting ground, and the law of the jungle is the only underlying logic.

If you become someone else's prey, the person you should hate the most is not the hunter who attacked you, but your own lack of ability.

This clear understanding of the law of ecological niche has long been ingrained in the genes of the ant king.

Therefore, the King Ant can calmly accept defeat.

The reason he was unwilling to accept death was because his "game" with Xiaomai was not yet over.

"..."

There was dead silence.

The ant king's spirit body below his chest had been burned away.

He didn't look at Moro again, but instead looked up at the ceiling where a hole had been pierced through, and the image of a chess game in the middle stages flashed before his eyes.

King Ant...

For the first time, I felt a sense of resentment.

This sense of resentment intensified as the flames spread to his neck, chin, and nose.

Even as the flames burned away half of his eye, the Ant King remained fixed on the tunnel leading to the surface.

"wheat……"

he was thinking.

Is that girl with amazing chess skills sitting alone in front of the chessboard, waiting for him to fulfill his promise?

The eerie blue flames burned away the last glimmer of light in the Ant King's eyes, and then completely consumed his crown.

As the ashes dissipated into nothingness, the life energy in the Ant King's body also dissipated, and his eyes became dull and lifeless.

The ant king is dead.

The corpse remained standing, silent.

Moro stared at the ant king, who kept his head up.

Even though the battle was over, he did not let his guard down at all, and did not even check the upgrade status of the growth rings. He just stared intently at the still body in front of him.

Before the third death rewind, the Ant King had survived the Rose's explosion.

This is an exact fact.

Although Morrow didn't know exactly what had happened, the fact that the Ant King was able to survive such a desperate situation meant that there was some unknown variable at play.

So even though he had ended the Ant King's life with "A Single Spark Can Start a Wildfire," Morrow could clearly feel the increased power he had displayed after the upgrade. He still did not let his guard down, nor did he choose to leave immediately.

He wanted to confirm this with his own eyes.

"Starlight Convergence"

The brilliant starlight enveloped the ant king's corpse like flowing water.

Moro awaits the outcome.

"Ok?"

Suddenly, Moro's eyes flickered slightly.

The starlight enveloping the ant king's corpse actually brought back a pulse of life.

This means that the ant queen, who should have been dead, has been rekindled with a new life force within her.

Moro was unaware of the reason, but calmly gathered a large amount of Nen energy in his right hand in preparation for an attack.

at this time.

A lump of flesh encased in a dura mater inside the ant king's body was throbbing like a heart, as if some foreign object was trying to break out of the dura mater.

This hard lump was the second queen ant that was supposed to be born.

However, during its embryonic development, it was forcibly absorbed by the more domineering first ant king.

But it is also because of that primal biological instinct for survival...

The second Chimera Ant King, destined from birth to be a natural Nen user, wrapped himself in a hard membrane when he was absorbed.

This is a result of "thought".

This can be seen as a manifestation of the will to survive.

In fact, even humans, if forced to develop their mental abilities during infancy, will quickly master the skills of "entanglement" and "absoluteness" due to their survival instinct.

By utilizing this innate power originating from the depths of life, B.Y. De had enabled his offspring to achieve the state of "mindfulness" from infancy.

This is the most primal and purest biological force.

So when the ant king's life force was cut off, the second ant king, who should have been independent and maintained a symbiotic relationship through chimera, broke through the hard membrane that had been used to protect its own life under the strong will to survive.

Subsequently, the life energy belonging to the second ant king attempted to awaken the life force of the current corpse.

at the same time.

Another unexpected event occurred.

A black aura suddenly seeped from the corpse of the ant king, whose life was just beginning to revive.

It is the ant king's posthumous thoughts.

Two energies, like yin and yang, appeared simultaneously in a somewhat bizarre way.

But the King Ant's thoughts after death were not for revenge or to continue fighting.

He simply wanted to keep his promise to Xiaomai and finish that game of chess...

The death wish that arises from this reason is inherently resilient, but not intense enough.

Moreover, they usually leave the corpse directly, going to their destination in a pure state of death.

However, the second ant king's attempt to reawaken the corpse's instinctive behavior with its life energy forcibly left the first ant king's death thoughts, which should have left the body to find wheat, on the corpse.

This leads to the strange phenomenon of the coexistence of thoughts of death and thoughts of life.

Normally, only a manipulator-type Death Thought can gain control over a corpse.

But the current Ant King's death wish also meets this condition.

He regained control of his body with the spirit of death, and his double pupils, which had dimmed due to death, had merged into one. Wisps of black spiritual energy appeared at the edges of his pupils, drifting upwards like smoke.

The king ant seemed surprised by the change, but quickly accepted the situation.

He slowly lowered his head, glanced at his powerful right hand, and then turned his gaze to Moro, who stood calmly in front of him.

"You have no chance of winning."

After saying this with a confident tone, the Ant King looked up at the passage in the ceiling again and said, "But I have no intention of continuing the fight. I will give you ten minutes to get Wheat back here, and you will all leave. I will not take your lives."

"..."

Moro silently withdrew the Nen from his right hand, his gaze falling on the black Nen threads constantly dissipating from the edge of the Ant King's pupils, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

With the unknown power within him that could inexplicably restart life, coupled with the lingering thoughts of death left over from the wheat...

Is this why the King Ant was able to survive the Rose Explosion?
Moro had no way of knowing how the dead body had regained its heartbeat.

But when he saw that the Ant King's thoughts after death had completely taken over this body that had regained its life, he knew that even though the Ant King had died and become stronger, he still could not pose a real threat to him.

"It seems you haven't figured out the situation yet."

Moro slowly raised his right hand.

As they made this move, their gaze, directed towards the Ant King, also fell upon the hierarchical characters in the middle of the growth rings.

Lv.100.

The experience gained from killing the Ant King has brought his level directly to the human limit.

This shows how immense the experience gained was, enabling them to break through the final talent limitation in one fell swoop.

However, the focus now should not be on rank, but on dealing with the ant king who has been reborn in a strange way.

Seeing that Moro didn't know what was good for him, the Ant King's expression didn't change. He just said coldly, "I won't say the same thing twice."

As soon as he finished speaking, the distinct black and white Nen aura emanating from his body surged at a visible speed.

Having experienced death, the King Ant finally saw clearly what he truly wanted.

This made him unwilling to continue the fight, nor did he want to pursue the offensive actions of the humans at hand.

All he wants to do now is continue playing chess with Wheat.

But if Moro ignores his words, he wouldn't hesitate to go on a killing spree.

The Ant King's idea was directly and decisively integrated into his aura.

If you obediently listen and do as I say, you won't die here.

Morrow clearly understood this meaning from the Ant King's aura.

He gazed intently at the Ant King, who had been reborn but had become somewhat different, his heart filled with surprise.

He thought that after hearing what he said, the Ant King would attack him without hesitation.

Unexpectedly, the Ant King's "tolerance" had become so high, as if a touch of mercy had appeared within his cruel and ruthless heart. But...

This battle must be fought to the death.

"Blitzkrieg"

In the next instant, Moro teleported in front of the Ant King, and his raised right hand suddenly landed on the Ant King's chest.

This sudden action caused the Ant King's eyes to turn cold.

In an instant, he withdrew what he considered a benevolent act of mercy and instead conceived the idea of ​​killing Moro.

"Ok?"

Just as he was about to take action, he was shocked to find that his body was completely out of his control.

He suddenly looked at Morona's right hand, which was pressed against his chest, and saw the black life energy surging from his body being frantically absorbed by Morona's right hand like a torrent.

"What...what did you do?!"

The situation spiraled out of control once again, and the Ant King's pupils trembled.

Faced with yet another question from the Ant King, Morrow remained silent, his gaze fixed on the growth rings on the back of his hand.

As the energy of death thoughts is absorbed into the growth rings, the fourth energy ring begins to fill, increasing from 96% to 97%, then to 98%, 99%...

Finally, it broke through 100%, and after accumulating the energy of the fourth ring, the energy ring of the fifth ring showed a new color.

The tree rings were still frantically absorbing the death energy, including the Ant King's consciousness.

After Morrow absorbed all the death energy from the Ant King, the energy ring of the fifth growth ring stopped at 21%.

at the same time.

The negative impact of the death energy instantly dragged Moro's mind into the consciousness space.

What unfolds before my eyes is still that boundless, pure white space.

But the ground beneath his feet turned into black water again. With a light touch of his toes, ripples spread silently, reaching far into the distance.

This black water surface is the residual negative spiritual energy from the source of death, mostly deposited here in the form of memory fragments or ability materials.

In theory, as long as Moro is willing to bear the corresponding costs, he can build new capabilities based on this.

However, unlike the ability to be directly imprinted by the rings of time, the ability derived from the will of death often comes with a harsh price, and may even erode Moro's consciousness.

Therefore, Moreau usually chooses to suppress these spiritual energies deep within his consciousness.

Previously, it seems that these accumulated negative mental energies unexpectedly dissipated because of Byrd's attack.

However, after absorbing the death thoughts of Neferpitou and Ooyapouf during this period, the surface of the water in the consciousness space was once again stained black.

"The reaction this time was mild..."

Although I was passively entered into the consciousness space, the anticipated mental shock did not occur.

The king ant's thoughts after death clearly lack strong offensive capabilities.

Most importantly, it completely lacks the resentment and hatred most commonly found in human thoughts of death.

Normally, only when such emotions reach an extreme state is it easier for thoughts about death to condense.

The fundamental reason why the Ant King was able to leave behind thoughts of the afterlife seems to be simply his pure obsession with finding wheat to continue playing chess.

Just as Moro was making this guess, ripples suddenly appeared on the black water in front of him.

At the center of the ripples, the ant king's unique crown slowly emerged from the water, and then his complete body gradually appeared.

This wasn't the first time Moro had encountered this situation. Under his ideological control, he calmly watched the suddenly appearing Ant King.

This usually happens when the source consciousness of those who have died wants to gain some initiative.

Orion's death wish in the Heaven's Arena was like this, and so was Chrollo's death wish.

The current Ant King is the same.

The black ripples spread and disappeared.

The Ant King stood on the water's surface, seemingly already aware of the situation, so he didn't even glance at his surroundings, but instead looked directly at Morrow.

"Let me finish that game of chess with Wheat."

His tone no longer carried the condescending commanding air of a king; instead, it revealed a hint of sincerity.

Moro fell silent for a moment.

To fulfill the Ant King's request, the only option is to accept the source of this post-death thought and materialize the Ant King based on it.

But the problem is-

Whether it can be done is one thing, but more importantly, whether doing so can bring substantial benefits?

Moro wasn't so kind as to fulfill the Ant King's dying wish.

The Ant King stared at Morrow, as if he could see through the considerations behind the other's silence.

"It doesn't need to be that complicated, in exchange..."

----------

Underground emergency shelter.

Moro's consciousness returned to reality.

A few minutes of communication in the realm of consciousness is but a fleeting moment in reality.

He had completely absorbed the lingering thoughts left behind by the Ant King after his death, and then withdrew his right hand.

However, even without the support of the power of death, the Ant King's body was still continuously surging with life energy.

As the energy surged, the body's appearance gradually changed.

First, his eyes slowly widened, his mouth stretched open, and then his menacing teeth were revealed, with saliva constantly dripping from between his teeth.

This was clearly a manifestation of hunger stemming from instinct, vividly displayed on that face that was gradually losing control.

"Pfft!"

Moro suddenly attacked, his right palm piercing through the Ant King's chest like a blade, crushing the still-beating heart inside.

Blood splattered everywhere, and a large amount of fresh blood gushed out from the penetrating wound, flowing along the edges.

Moro calmly withdrew his hand and looked at the Ant King's face, which had suddenly frozen.

As blood gushed out, the life energy in the Ant King's body began to dissipate visibly.

This time, the ant king's body finally fell to the ground with a dull thud.

Moro casually flicked his arm, shaking off the blood clinging to it and letting it fall to the ground. At the same time, he could feel that the amount of energy he displayed had increased slightly.

He looked at the back of his right hand, which was still stained with some blood. The original Lv.100 had now become Lv.101.

That is to say...

He killed the ant king's body that was restarting its heartbeat and leveled up, from Lv.100 to Lv.101.

If we look at it from the perspective of the upgrade mechanism of the Love Practice Song, even if the subconscious mind makes improvements and adjustments, the basic framework will not change.

Moro's improvement of the Love Etude through the power of the rings essentially links the difficulty of leveling up with the benefits of the level cap.

Therefore, while significantly increasing the difficulty of upgrading, the highest level of this ability, Lv.100, will also correspond to the limit that humans can reach.

Moro's natural talent was limited, but mastering this ability meant that every level he improved in the later stages was a breakthrough in his talent.

From the moment he killed the Ant King, reaching Lv.100 meant he had reached the pinnacle of human potential.

However, he did not expect that the Ant King's thoughts after his death would affect the Love Practice Song ability imprinted on the rings of time, causing the level framework to break through the original Lv.100.

"I really didn't expect this..."

Moro stared in surprise at the Lv.101 level character on the back of his hand.

In the consciousness space just now, he finally agreed to the Ant King's request.

According to the Ant King's explanation, to fulfill his obsession with finishing that game of chess with Wheat, he didn't need to pay any price; he simply materialized it.

All you need to do is separate his consciousness and integrate it into a small portion of his spiritual energy, releasing it outside his body.

The King Ant will handle the rest.

In exchange, the King Ant opened up a possibility to Morrow.

If Morelos is willing to risk accepting his post-mortem thoughts, he may have the opportunity to gain the ability to "enhance himself" from them.

In other words, this is a high-return, low-risk exchange.

At the time, Moreau considered that the King Ant's death thought was indeed more stable and gentle than any death thought he had encountered before, and finally accepted the proposal.

The result far exceeded his expectations.

The so-called self-strengthening is actually achieved in this way.

It is likely that the Ant King, through the power of his thoughts after death, fundamentally imprinted the racial traits of his race, which evolved through constant feeding, into Moro's body.

Simply put, it reshaped his racial talents as a human being.

This state of breaking through the limits of life is directly reflected in the Love Etude in the rings of time, causing its level to break through the original ceiling.

Moro found it difficult to say whether this result was due to the Ant King's spiritual power that transcended life and death, or whether the system of post-mortem thoughts itself contained such an extraordinary possibility.

"..."

Moro glanced silently at the Ant King's corpse, then used Kuroko's ability to fly upwards through the cave.

Before he can help the Ant King fulfill his last wish, he must first deal with Neferpitou.

This also provides a good opportunity to observe the impact of breaking through the level framework.

(End of this chapter)