ACTIVATE

A massive close-up shows a shocked face with wide eyes and gritted teeth as a voice exclaims 'WHAT THE...?!' amid large impact symbols. Below, Youpi lunges forward in a powerful multi-limbed strike, his muscular body twisting through the air as debris flies. A perfect hit lands on a smaller figure sprawled on the cracked floor, marked by the caption 'A PERFECT HIT!!!'. In the next panel Gon, Killua, and a long-haired woman sprint forward amid flying rubble. Gon shouts that he saw nothing and questions the long-range attack from his blind spot, while the woman demands to know who attacked her.

Knuckle stands firm before Youpi, his expression intense as he activates his ability. Large bold letters spell 'HAKOWARE' near his face while his hand glows with the command 'ACTIVATE'. A small round creature with a simple face floats beside him. Text declares 'UNFLINCHING BEFORE YOUPI!! KNUCKLE RUTHLESSLY ATTACKS!!!' A timer in the corner reads 0:00:03:0. Youpi looms in the background with an angry glare.

A bespectacled figure stands beside a large white creature marked with the number 280. Text explains that tests had already confirmed Hakoware and God's Accomplice could function together. The scene shifts to a muscular fighter in a dynamic pose. A voice suggests forgetting the prior topic for now. Another panel shows wide eyes and a tense expression as narration states it was natural for Yuji to set doubts aside and focus on the visible enemy. Further text notes that while God's Accomplice remained active, Yuji could not detect Potclean's presence. The muscular fighter declares he does not seem to have taken any damage at all, questioning what that means.

The muscular fighter's back fills the frame with arms spread wide. Narration states that up to this point everything had proceeded exactly as the invading force anticipated. The word HOWEVER appears vertically. A close-up shows Knuckle's sweating face with a shocked expression. Text reveals Knuckle trembled with fear rather than executing the first strike. The scene widens to show destruction: rubble, broken structures, and several characters reacting in panic. Knuckle shouts What the hell...?! while another voice cries Ngh... as debris flies and figures scramble.

A towering, grotesque creature with multiple arms, countless staring eyes, and a massive torso dominates the page, its body radiating an overwhelming force. Vertical text boxes declare "NO END TO HIS AURA!" and "THERE IS JUST". Below, narration explains that even for Knuckle, who has fought over five thousand battles and analyzed opponents with keen perception, this enemy's power exceeds anything previously witnessed, a true monster with an unimaginably massive aura. Smaller panels depict chaotic combat: a shocked face, a leaping figure, Gon in motion amid debris and structural beams, and dynamic action lines showing the scale of the confrontation.

A close-up of a sweating, intense-faced character with spiky hair reacts in shock, exclaiming about the enemy's power level. Text boxes state "THIS WAS A TRULY UNPRECEDENTED EXPERIENCE." and "I CAN'T EVEN TELL...". Smaller panels show rapid action: a figure leaping, a close-up of Pitou's face, a silhouette against a massive aura, and the multi-eyed monster reaching upward. Narration notes that Pitou's sinister aura has engulfed the invaders from head to foot at that moment, and that Youpi did not let the momentary distraction slip past him. The final panel shows the monster lunging forward with extended limbs.

A colossal explosion erupts across the ruined interior, sending massive waves of stone, concrete, and shattered debris hurtling in every direction. The blast rips apart stairs, walls, and the ceiling, filling the air with flying fragments and thick clouds of dust. Motion lines and impact shapes emphasize the sheer destructive force radiating outward. In the lower right, a small figure in a coat stands amid the flying rubble, bracing against the chaos. A digital timer in the bottom left corner displays 0:00:03:28.

A pair of wide, shocked eyes fills the top of the frame, staring downward. Below, a vast panoramic view reveals the palace and surrounding structures completely devastated by a massive blast, with smoke, fire, and rubble everywhere. Enormous jagged sound-effect lettering “!!!!!!!” dominates the center. In the foreground, a spiky-haired figure stands with arms outstretched, back to the viewer, gazing at the destruction. A narration box reads: “AT THE MOMENT THE FLOCK OF DRAGONS PIERCED THE PALACE…” while a circular speech element states “YOUR MAJESTY…”

Dramatic speed lines and swirling smoke fill the sky above a floating stone platform. A small hand silhouette reaches upward in the distance. Narration explains that for Pitou, who had no wings of his own, the fact that he could do little but simply fall through the air was, in a strange way, a blessing. Pitou reflexively reached out his En. A detailed view shows a large ornate building complex resting on the platform, surrounded by billowing smoke clouds. Another narration box states that if his course of action had not been so limited, Pitou would likely have reacted in the same way as Pouf and naturally, as a member of the royal guard, rushed with all his might to find the king; under such circumstances, it is doubtful whether he would have had any chance to use his En. In the bottom panel, a close-up reveals Pitou's face in profile with wide eyes and flowing hair, accompanied by the text 'BUT SINCE HE DID...'.

A wide horizontal panel shows a dark sky filled with horizontal white dashes suggesting intense motion or energy. Below, a tall domed tower stands in the center of a stone courtyard surrounded by smaller domed structures. Two large white circular shapes with jagged outlines appear on either side of the tower. The bottom panel depicts a massive burst of light and radiating speed lines exploding outward from the central tower, with the structure now glowing brightly and small debris flying in all directions.

High above the ruined tower, two radiant bursts of text declare the situation. "HE'S IN THERE, WITH THE FORBIDDEN GIRL." "THE SECOND FLOOR OF THE WEST TOWER; THE GUEST ROOM." Below, a damaged glass dome sits atop the structure, its surface cracked and pocked with holes. A rectangular narration box states: "HE WAS THE FIRST OF THE ROYAL GUARD TO BECOME AWARE OF THE KING'S WHEREABOUTS, AND OF THE TWO ASSASSINS MAKING THEIR WAY TOWARDS HIM." In the lower section, jagged rock formations frame two small falling figures. Another box reads: "AS SUCH, HE WAS ABLE TO COMPREHEND THE SHEER WEIGHT OF THE SITUATION - THE KING ALONE WITHOUT HIS GUARDS TO PROTECT HIM." A speech bubble adds: "THEY MUST HAVE FOUND HIM USING EN AS WELL." Large stylized sound effects rumble at the bottom left as debris and dust scatter around the plummeting silhouettes.

Pitou's body twists violently in midair, limbs flailing as dark energy and impact lines explode outward. The narration box explains: "IN THE MANNER OF THE FOUR-LEGGED BEAST THAT HE ESSENTIALLY WAS, PITOU CURLED UP INTO A BALL..." In the lower panel, Pitou's form has transformed further, thighs swelling like steel, body hunched and armored with cross-shaped marks. Flames or aura flicker near the head. The box continues: "HIS THIGHS, STRONG AS STEEL, SWELLED UP AND STIFFENED TWICE AS MUCH STILL AS THEY HAD BACK JUST BEFORE HE ATTACKED KAITO." Sharp SFX symbols "ギッ" and "ギロ" punctuate the tension around the crouched figure against a smoky, particle-filled background.

In the pitch-black shaft, a small silhouette with a long tail bursts upward through a jagged opening. The figure tumbles and rights itself mid-leap, tail lashing. A second panel shows the same form hurtling higher, limbs tucked. Suddenly the view explodes outward: Pitou, hair flaring like white fire, launches in a powerful horizontal dive, arms outstretched and claws ready. Massive speed lines and debris radiate from the tower below as the chimera ant races forward. A bold box shouts "QUICKLY!!!" A narration box states, "HE HAD TO REACH THE KING BEFORE THE INTRUDERS COULD!"

Pitou sails through the night sky, body stretched in a full horizontal glide, tail trailing. A caption reads, "BUT AN INSTANT LATER..." A large narration box describes the sudden sensation: "HE FELT A DARK AURA, A NEGATIVE ENERGY, POWERFUL ENOUGH TO MAKE HIM REGRET FOR AN INSTANT TAKING THAT LEAP." Below, Pitou's face appears in close-up, eyes wide and sweat beading, realizing "...THIS IS..." Another box notes the aura emanates from the very place Pitou is heading. The King stands motionless on the ground far beneath. Further narration reveals the aura is so unrestrained that Pitou's mental state can be sensed from it, and that the King is advancing in a far more dangerous direction than imagined. Pitou thinks, "THE KING'S ...!!!" A final box states, "AS A RESULT, PITOU COULD NOT HELP BUT REALIZE..."

The ground lies shattered, a massive tiled structure cracked and broken amid scattered debris and craters. A single droplet falls into a dark puddle, sending ripples outward. In close-up, a hand grips tightly against a curved surface. Nearby, the face of a spiky-haired boy comes into view, eyes shut, sweat and strain visible as hair whips across his features. Below, the same boy plummets through a rectangular opening, body twisted, one arm extended forward as he falls into darkness framed by wooden planks and motion lines.

A towering figure in a striped suit and helmet-like headpiece stands over the fallen spiky-haired boy. The boy lies motionless on the ground, eyes closed, body limp, with a small creature-like object near his chest. Narration states that the great staircase collapsed. The sound of the footsteps of despair drew near. Vertical text and sound effects emphasize the heavy atmosphere as the chapter concludes.