An Important Guest

Meruem stands in a powerful full-body pose against a background of radiating speed lines and debris. His muscular form is clad in a black-and-white segmented outfit with a striped tail and clawed feet. One hand is clenched at his side while the other is raised slightly. A speech bubble near his head reads "VIOLENCE..." A larger bubble below declares "IS THE STRONGEST POWER IN THIS WORLD!!" His expression is stern and confident, eyes narrowed as he makes his proclamation.

A royal guard kneels in despair, tears streaming down his face. "I AM A FAILURE AS A ROYAL GUARD..." he says. "I..." Another panel shows him continuing, "I CAME CLOSE TO DISRESPECTING HIS MAJESTY... BECAUSE OF AN ABSURD MISUNDERSTANDING..." Pouf stands nearby with a question mark above his head, asking "WHY?" The guard clenches his fist. "FOOLISH THOUGHTS. I THOUGHT THAT PERHAPS HIS MAJESTY WAS REGRETTING HIS ACTIONS..." Pouf replies, "THAT IS ALL..." A muscular man with a stern expression appears, saying "YOU ALWAYS THINK TOO DEEPLY." The guard responds, "YES. THAT IS ALL..." Pouf adds, "YES. THAT IS TRUE... HIS MAJESTY HAS CHANGED A LITTLE EVER SINCE THAT GIRL CAME, NYAH. BUT IT CERTAINLY SEEMS LIKE..." The muscular man concludes, "IF SHE BECOMES A HINDRANCE TO HIS MAJESTY, WE CAN JUST KILL HER, RIGHT?" The guard looks down, thinking, "TO THINK THAT MY LEVEL OF THINKING WAS THE SAME AS YOURS... AHH..."

Meruem stands tall, declaring, "STANDS ON TOP OF THIS WORLD!! MY POWER... OF COURSE." A close-up of his eye emphasizes his dominance. He continues, "IN MY PRESENCE, OTHER MINUTE STRENGTHS... ARE ABSOLUTELY MEANINGLESS!!" His foot steps forward with force. "THEY ARE PEBBLES BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD!!" A close-up shows Komugi's shocked wide eyes and sweat drops. Meruem's face appears intense. The final panels show falling game pieces with the text, "IT IS ONLY GUN-GI...! JUST A GAME PLAYED WITH PIECES ON A BOARD!!!" Two radiant panels proclaim, "THAT WOMAN IS NO DIFFERENT. KOMUGI..."

A hand clenches tightly near the character's face as internal thoughts race. "IF MY MOOD IS TO CHANGE... EVEN RIGHT NOW...!!" A small speech bubble reads "Biki!" The thoughts continue: "IF I JUST BRUSH AGAINST HER A LITTLE... SHE WILL TURN INTO A HUNK OF MEAT!!" An eye panel emphasizes the point. "IT IS DEPENDENT UPON MY MOOD. IN OTHER WORDS..." A torn sheet of paper reveals more reflection: "AFTER ALL, IT IS JUST A WAY TO PASS THE TIME UNTIL THE DAY OF THE 'SELECTION.'" Another voice in the panel adds, "THAT'S RIGHT... WHAT IS IT THAT I'M CLINGING ON TO?" A foot steps forward with force. "SHE NO LONGER SERVES A PURPOSE...!! I'VE ENJOYED MYSELF PLENTY." The view shifts to a damaged doorway radiating intensity. "THE 'SELECTION' IS TOMORROW...!! THIS HAS GONE FAR ENOUGH!" A black box displays "KILL HER?" followed by dots. In the final large panel the same character, wearing a hat and coat, throws both arms wide in a decisive pose as bold text declares "RIGHT NOW!!"

A massive radial burst of lines erupts across the page. A small spiky-haired figure is hurled backward through the air, body curled. To the right a large armored fighter in a helmet and segmented suit lunges forward with a powerful stance, two exclamation marks appearing near its head. Below, a close-up shows the spiky-haired person's face pressed against a cracked surface, eyes closed and mouth open in pain with blood visible. The armored fighter is shown mid-leap, moving away from the impact zone. At the bottom of the page the spiky-haired figure lies crumpled on the ground while the armored fighter continues running into the distance, leaving a trail of motion lines and debris.

Meruem sits on the floor, his face and clothes stained with blood, as an armored figure kneels beside him and tends to his wounds. Komugi floats nearby, bowing deeply and saying, "Thank you very much." The armored attendant asks, "Why did you not call out for help?" Meruem mutters, "Dammit," while another armored figure stands silently in the background. A close-up shows Meruem's clenched fist as he thinks, "She's such a fragile creature...!!!" In the next panel Meruem, eyes downcast and voice quiet, explains, "I did not want to bother you... or be a nuisance... Because... it's so early in the morning..."

Meruem's face fills the panel as he questions himself: "What is it that I am saying?" and "What is it..." Internal narration wonders, "Wasn't I coming here to kill her just now...?" Komugi weeps loudly with tears streaming down her face while Meruem stares in shock. An armored attendant reacts with surprise. Meruem continues thinking, "Why does she cry? Why am I not killing her?" Komugi sobs, "Waaaa~n!" and Meruem, flustered, admits, "I've never been treated with such kindness before. I'm... I'm sorry... but... but..."

Killua's eyes widen in shock at an unseen sight. "WHAT IS THIS!?" he exclaims. "THIS CREATURE...!!" A small torn piece of paper drifts nearby. A thick black bar interrupts the scene with the single word "I..." Below, Gon sits on the ground with his back turned, while Ikalgo stands nearby in his chimeric form, tail raised. Gon speaks with visible distress: "THAT I WANT TO DO TO HER...!?" Ikalgo responds, "WHAT IS IT..."

A flock of birds flies across an empty sky. Killua stares forward with a serious expression and states, "IT'S FINALLY TONIGHT." Beside him, a character in a knit cap reacts with wide eyes. Gon checks his phone and declares, "WE HAVE 19 HOURS LEFT." He continues, "RIGHT WHEN IT PASSES OVER TO THE NEXT DAY, AT 12 AM." The scene shifts to the exterior of a large building at night. Ikalgo, Gon, and Killua stand together as they finalize their plan. "IKALUGO WILL TAKE THE ELEVATOR AT THE NORTHWEST END TO THE BASEMENT TO FIND PALM," one says. Another adds, "GON AND I WILL HEAD UP THE MAIN STAIRWAY THE MOMENT WE ENTER AND HEAD STRAIGHT TO THE THRONE ROOM." A final instruction reads, "IF YOU FIND HER, DON'T WORRY ABOUT US AND JUST ESCAPE."

Killua and Gon stand on a quiet street facing Knuckle, who wears a patterned beanie and jacket. Knuckle states, "You seem to be contradicting yourself." Killua replies, "Well... I don't think it's very likely." Knuckle continues, "But at the same time, such a 'coincidence' occurs quite often." The group discusses the throne room. Someone notes, "But if they're not there, then we have a problem." Another adds, "If the king and the three royal guards are in the throne room, we act according to the plan." Killua questions, "What is the probability of that happening? Them not being there..." Gon, in close-up, explains, "If you wait at a place thinking 'the person will definitely be here at a certain time'..." He continues, "You carefully observe someone's pattern of movement and then decide on a day thinking 'it has to be today,' right?" In a flashback panel, Knuckle recalls, "Until an opportunity arose where I could complete the task with certainty." Killua adds, "In my previous job, I could just wait until the next time..." Gon stands with hands in pockets, stating, "A pattern which rarely occurs on any other day just happens to occur on that day." He concludes, "It happened quite often in my 'previous job.'" A small impact SFX appears as someone declares, "A single moment of hesitation equals death." Knuckle finishes, "We can't change the time and once we start moving, there's no turning back." Killua adds, "But we do not have that luxury this time...!"

Knuckle, wide-eyed in a dark panel, declares, "All the possible situations that may occur." Killua, also in shadow, replies, "That's why we need to think of them now..." A wide panel shows Knuckle explaining, "Pitou's 'En' is wide enough to cover the entire palace and the garden and then some." Another bubble states, "Even if they're not in the throne room, there won't be a problem as long as they're inside the palace." A burst panel reads, "We'll find Pitou in the center!" followed by, "After that, if we head towards the direction in which the ominous energy is stronger..." and "It'll mean that they're inside the palace." Killua adds, "So the moment we enter, if we can sense that super freaky aura we felt last time..." In a large close-up, Gon states, "In other words, when they're not inside the palace." Killua continues, "The problem is when we can't sense Pitou's aura..." A small panel shows a question mark. Knuckle asks, "When Novu-san infiltrated the palace!" Killua recalls, "It happened." Knuckle continues, "There'd be a situation where they're inside the palace but not using 'En' to protect the king?" Gon stands turned away as Knuckle finishes, "Or when they're inside the palace, but for some reason, Pitou is not using 'En.'"

Killua and Gon discuss the situation. Killua wonders why Pitou withdrew the puppets and 'En' to let Pufu handle security, allowing Novu to infiltrate. Gon agrees it is confusing. They note that according to Korito, Novu saw Pufu's aura. The royal guards do not leave the king's side, so both the king and Pitou were inside the palace. Gon suggests asking Korito about that as well. In a wide landscape view, they consider that Pitou was probably healing someone at the time. The tall figure with wings and antenna hair states that now that they think about it, Pitou was not using 'En' during the process, meaning the repairing requires great concentration. The figure reminds them that the one who repaired Kaito was Pitou. In the final panel, a character on the ground concludes that Pitou cannot use 'En' or the puppets while the repairing ability is being used.

Knuckle in a beanie questions who among the monsters could cause such an injury. Killua and Gon react with surprise. They consider that Pitou temporarily withdrew En and puppets to heal the injury, meaning either the king or a royal guard was injured. Gon says that is true. They wonder if the king injured one of the royal guards or if betrayal occurred. A panel shows a shocked expression as they realize the king himself was injured. The group states that Pitou would never risk withdrawing En and exposing the king to danger simply to heal someone else, making it an indisputable fact that the king was injured. In the final wide panel, a long-haired man on a rooftop concludes there is no way one of the royal guards did it and questions who injured the king, while another voice agrees their conclusion is that the king was injured.

A close-up reveals a long-haired man wearing sunglasses, his face tense as he points forward. "DID IT TO HIM-SELF!?" he exclaims, while another bubble declares "THE KING...". In the next tier of panels, several characters react to the unfolding events. One states, "BUT IT CAN BE SAID THAT ONLY AN UNUSUAL SITUATION OF THAT CALIBER COULD HAVE PRESENTED US WITH SUCH A CHANCE...!" Another replies, "THAT'S RIGHT. I DIDN'T THINK TOO DEEPLY ABOUT IT BECAUSE I WAS ENJOYING THE SUDDEN GOOD FORTUNE WE HAD..." A third adds, "WE DON'T KNOW EITHER, BUT THAT'S WHAT WE CAME TO." A fourth voice demands, "WHAT KIND OF SITUATION IS THAT!?" The view widens to show the palace interior marked by motion lines and cross-shaped symbols. "IS SOMETHING GOING AWRY..." reads one caption, followed by "INSIDE THE PALACE...!?" A large narration box declares, "The eye of the battle, a small crack in a seemingly impenetrable fortress...!!" From behind, the same long-haired man stares toward the distant palace, his hair flowing as he thinks, "THIS ISN'T GOOD... EVEN I AM SLOWLY..." A caption continues, "BEGINNING TO FEEL THAT SOMETHING'S GOING TO HAPPEN..." At the bottom, a teaser reads, "Next Chapter, the 'selection', the moment of the 'selection' is approaching!! Will the plan be successful!?"