Chapter 27: Facing The Dying Child
__________ POV Ashton__________
Gon, a seemingly innocent child that proved to be anything but that. Now growing in size in front of me. His body has already outgrown his clothes.
From his aura, he's become stronger than Netero. But that doesn't mean much to me. He won't be growing much stronger.
Netero was also a talented fellow. Gon might've had even more talent, but he's not that much better. He certainly doesn't compare to the Chimera Ants.
Pitou is around two months old and she's already strong enough to be able to fight against me. Well, she's not anywhere near being able to win. But not many really are.
I looked at the tall man in front of me. His muscles were well defined and his anger was masked by an eerily calm facade. It could've fooled some people, but not me.
I can clearly see that his anger and narrow-minded view of the world led him to this point. He looked behind me, probably staring at Pitou.
She was sweating heavily and trying her best to avoid running the operation due to her anxiety. Really, I thought her better than this.
I spent quite a lot of time nurturing her. She's the only Ant I plan to keep alive. Her fear is somewhat disappointing, but she is still young, it's excusable.
I want to see how far she'll reach in a few years. How much stronger will she become? Will I still be able to threaten her?
Those are questions I'll find the answer to. I don't like waiting for others to do things for me. So I guess it's time to kill the dying man in front of.
I could just let time do its job, but he won't quietly stand around waiting for death. He really wants to kill me and Pitou.
And that little girl apparently. Maybe his vision is too clouded in rage to realize the implications of his actions?
He finally looked at me. "Come with me..." Oh, a change of scenery. It would be most welcome. Although his state is pretty pathetic, he's still strong.
A fight with him isn't something I want to do near an 'operation room'.
I walked to the main courtyard. The place seemed already occupied. Smokey's student was running around and dodging Youpi's attacks.
Somewhat skillfully I might add, it was an interesting bout to watch. Too bad it was broken up by Killua. Who has yet to notice Gon's transformation.
There were some tears in the assassin's eyes. Something must've happened, Gon likely woke up while he was being carried away.
Killua will not really like seeing his friend in this state either. Even if he doesn't know much about Nen. He knows enough about the world to realize that nothing is free.
And Gon's spike in aura certainly isn't free.
Gon didn't seem to mind the people around us. He quickly turned around and tried to punch me. I saw it coming from a few miles away though.
I started dodging the second his muscles twitched a different way from that of walking. His punch passed by my left side.
I quickly used an explosion to jump in the air as Gon tried to swing his arm where my torso formerly was.
He's faster than me, much like the king. But his fighting style hasn't changed much. He's very predictable.
Aura gathered around his fist as he jumped in the air to meet me. He screamed in anger as his punch was about to hit me. But It's not like I can't manoeuvre around in the air.
I touched his torso and used an explosion to send him hurtling backwards. His punch only managed to touch me as he was flying backwards, not much strength behind it.
His descent wasn't a pleasant one. The earth shook at the strength with which he hit the ground. At least a few bones must've been broken by that landing...
My explosion sent me flying further in the air. By now, everyone in the courtyard was alarmed by our presence. And Gon still didn't seem bothered.
Killua on the other hand. "GON!" He looked horrified by his friend's appearance. His eyes widened in despair.
I looked down as I was falling towards the crater Gon's landing had created. I spun around and broke my fall with a few small explosions.
I looked at the crater and waited for a bit. Gon didn't disappoint me this time, he came running out of the crater with great speed. I guess I'll use another Hatsu, just because I can.
__________ POV Narration__________
Gon's Nen was already gathered around his fist and ready to shred Ashton to pieces. Killua was also trying to head their way, but he was being held back by Youpi of all people.
As the Red Chimera Ant was annoyed with his timely attacks every time he got close to hitting Knuckle.
To avoid the attack, Ashton just let himself fall to the ground, it was as if the ground was pulling him towards it with great speeds.
He completely dodged Gon's attack in the process. But he didn't hit the ground, he just passed through it. Disappearing from Gon's vision.
Ashton had fallen through the ground and stood at 180 degrees from his previous position. He was technically upside down.
But the world looked different around him. The world was dark, him being the only light source. He could see, but there was nothing to see. He wasn't in the void, but it certainly felt like it.
Gon punched the ground and created another crater. But it didn't do anything.
What Ashton had done wasn't as simple as entering the ground. He phased out of reality for a while. Entering something akin to a parallel world that couldn't be affected by the outside.
He called it, 'The Up-Side-Down Reality'. It was the Hatsu of his teacher, the powerful Nen beast that taught him how to use his aura.
It required a perverse amount of Nen, no other human would ever be able to utilize this.
It allowed the user to slip into this strange world. It was completely uninhabited by any other life form. And it was perfect for escaping and dodging attacks.
His teacher had devised this Hatsu because dodging attacks was impossible for him. His size simply didn't allow for such swift movements. This was made to compensate for that.
But the Hatsu didn't create this world, it had always existed. His teacher had just discovered it. And its secrets were yet to be uncovered.
The scientist also didn't think the 'Up-Side-Down World' held any secrets. But he would be proven wrong in time... For now, he was to use it for dodging and escaping.
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Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Patreon is 24 chaps ahead now.
I also started a second fanfic on Patre.on. I will post it on Webnovel after a while.
It's a MHA fanfic. Figured it wouldn't be too hard to write since I already know enough about the world.
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