♪
Gon: That’s morel’s smoky jail.
He said he’d use it to keep pouf away from the king.
If it’s covering the entire third floor of the tower,
then the king and pitou aren’t there,
so where are they?
( Gon gasps )
Netero: Hmm.
( Wind blowing )
♪
( Singing in Japanese )
( Wind blowing )
Narrator: Each member of the extermination team
has begun their battles in their respective locations.
( Blows thumping )
( Knuckle groans )
♪
Killua: Gon.
( Gasps )
Grandpa.
That means...
That’s the king.
King: Take me.
I am fully aware that not only are you trying
to accomplish your objective, but you wish to do so
while keeping human casualties at a minimum.
Your goal in creating this chaos
was to separate me from my royal guards. Is that right?
I care not.
Take me.
♪
Zeno: Dragon head.
Netero: He’s something, all right.
Narrator: The technique was not intended
to hurt the king in any way.
They both realized
that the king knew this move posed no threat to him
zeno made sure not to infuse his nen
with the slightest bit of mischief.
Was it out of respect for the king or something else?
( Zeno roars )
Gon: Killua.
Pitou is right over there.
♪
Let’s go.
Killua: "Let’s go"?
Which is it?
Narrator: As much as killua wanted to ask the question,
he suppressed the urge.
Killua: If I ask him that,
there’s no stopping it.
There’s no turning back.
Narrator: If he could only ask,
then everything would be out in the open.
Anyone with enough experience
would easily arrive at that next step.
But killua, fearing that the inquiry might cause him
to lose something he held close to his heart,
was unable to utter a single word.
Only a few short moments before the dragon took off,
cheetu and bloster appeared before ikalgo.
Cheetu: Hey, it’s flutter.
( Ikalgo, flutter’s voice ) Hmm?
( Rumbling )
Cheetu: Huh?
( Rumbling )
Bloster: Huh?
Cheetu: What’s with all that noise?
Bloster: It feels like
sir pitou’s en disappeared again.
Ikalgo: Well, I just got back here myself, but, uh,
it seems to me to be an enemy attack.
Bloster: Seriously?
Cheetu: Well, I don’t think
anything else could have caused this.
Bloster: Hmm?
What happened to your wings?
Ikalgo: Oh, uh...
I lost them during the attack earlier.
Cheetu: You going down?
Ikalgo: Uh, yes. I have orders from sir hagya, you see.
Cheetu: So what should we do now?
Bloster: Well, they didn’t tell us
we were supposed to defend this place, did they?
Cheetu: No, but i’ve got this brand-new ability.
I wanna try it.
( Rumble )
- ( Cheetu gasps ) - Ikalgo: Whoa!
Bloster: It’s huge!
( Cheetu laughs )
That looks fun!
I’ll check it out!
Bloster: Hey, be careful.
I think i’m gonna go take a look around, too.
Ikalgo: Well, I guess i’ll be off, then.
Bloster: Okay.
♪
Both: Did he say, "sir hagya"?
♪
Narrator: Meanwhile,
in the throne room of the central tower...
Shaiapouf: You chose to confine me.
Do you still believe that was the correct choice?
I wouldn’t mind finding that out.
Morel: Wing scales.
Knov told me that those things have a hypnotic effect.
I can’t breathe any of it in.
( Scoffs )
Shaiapouf: I see that you have stopped talking,
the correct choice for any good warrior.
However...
♪
He shows vigilance, resolve, and confidence,
all of these in a ratio of two to three to five.
His lower vigilance indicates an abundance of confidence.
He has a strong character.
Narrator: Spiritual message allows pouf
to get an accurate read of his opponent’s psychological state.
He does this by diffusing his butterfly wing scales into the air
and making the aura flow distinct.
Now I should introduce myself.
My name is shaiapouf,
and I serve as one of the king’s royal guards.
The swirl of vigilance has grown considerably stronger.
( Chuckles )
You won’t tell me your name, will you?
If you believe that i’m trying to trick you
into inhaling the scales, I must inform you
that you’re sadly mistaken, perhaps even fatally so.
And to be quite honest with you,
I find myself feeling a bit hurt.
♪
Morel: Hmm?
Shaiapouf: But I won’t remember when i’m reborn.
( Chuckling )
I’ll just be a moment.
( Laughing )
( Morel scoffs )
If he wants to waste time, that’s fine by me.
I’m ready for whatever demon or beast emerges.
♪
( Blows thumping )
Narrator: Shoot’s reckless attacks
without fear for his own life
ironically helped him to survive longer.
Hotel rafflesia.
While barely dodging multiple attacks
that would otherwise have been lethal,
shoot managed to take a single eye
off of youpi’s shoulder.
The physical damage was close to zero, but...
( Menthuthuyoupi roars )
Narrator: Youpi was unable to finish off his opponent.
The strange sensation that the eye was taken,
yet not destroyed
had a great effect on youpi’s psyche.
Due to the series of mysterious attacks
he could not understand, youpi took a step back.
Menthuthuyoupi: No matter what,
I can’t let him get any closer to the king.
Shoot: Every second I can keep him
away from the king counts.
Narrator: Youpi and shoot’s goals happened to coincide.
Still, this unusual turn of events
only served to greatly torment knuckle.
( Knuckle groans )
Endure it.
I can’t strike now.
If I attack, i’d only be giving him proof
that there’s another enemy he needs to worry about.
I can’t do that, not yet.
Endure it.
Narrator: Covered in blood,
shoot was taking the brunt of youpi’s ferocious attacks.
Knuckle could only stand on the sidelines and watch.
Staying still was his own battle,
and no matter how much he told himself to tough it out...
Knuckle: Please hang in there. Please.
Narrator: Knuckle couldn’t hold back
the tears streaming down his face.
Knuckle: Don’t give in!
A.p.r.: It is time.
You have accrued interest.
Knuckle: What?!
Only ten seconds have passed?
There’s no way!
How much longer do I have to endure this?
It feels like i’m suffocating inside an iron maiden.
It’s taking all my willpower not to run away.
This must be some kind of joke.
You’re kidding, right?
( Roaring )
I can’t take it anymore!
( Roaring )
Narrator: Meleoron’s first tap...
( Knuckle gasps )
Narrator: Brought knuckle’s rampage to a halt.
Knuckle: Seriously?
It’s only been ten seconds.
But that just might have saved me.
( Meleoron grunts )
Narrator: However, meleoron wasn’t trying to help knuckle.
He couldn’t hold it any longer, either.
- ( Blow whips ) - ( Knuckle groans )
Damn it.
A.p.r.: O-oopsie!
Knuckle: He barely scratched me,
but even so, it was more than enough to pay off
my first full-strength attack plus interest!
Shoot is risking his life out there,
and all the while, i’m standing here unhurt,
making stupid mistakes left and right.
Narrator: Youpi didn’t notice himself
scratching against anything, nor did he notice
a.p.r.’s announcement of returned interest.
( Knuckle yells )
Narrator: Nor did he hear knuckle’s yell.
Knuckle: Calm down, you fool.
You’re gonna ruin everything.
This is where we want to be,
far enough away to avoid capture,
but close enough to rush back in.
He’ll notice a.P.R. For a second,
but that’s nothing we need to worry about.
Shoot’s fighting hard,
so if you wanna catch your breath, this is the time.
( Meleoron breathes deeply )
God’s accomplice, deactivate.
Menthuthuyoupi: Hmm?
What is this, and when did it get here?
There’s no way I didn’t notice it before.
It just suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Was I hit by an attack?
No, that’s not it.
A delayed effect?
Wait. I remember this.
Or did it fulfill the activation condition
during battle?
What is this number?
Is it a countdown, a bomb?
Can’t be. The number isn’t changing.
Damn it! What a pain!
- ( Shoot gasps ) - ( Knuckle gasps )
Menthuthuyoupi: I just need to get rid of the source.
Shoot: Something’s coming.
Narrator: Despite his overwhelming power,
there was only one reason youpi was unable to defeat shoot,
an obvious difference in talent.
Shoot: It’s fast. I can’t get away.
Menthuthuyoupi: One meat skewer coming right up!
♪
Huh?
( Scoffs )
He hit himself to propel backwards.
Fine, then.
Shoot: That was close.
Narrator: The feeling that he could win the battle at any time
emboldened youpi, who wasn’t at all
the strategic type to begin with.
Youpi’s analysis was right on the Mark.
This was indeed a fight
that sooner or later he would certainly win.
If he had made any mistake up to this point,
it was in not realizing
that shoot was aware of this and was fine with it.
♪
Shoot: I can still fight.
More than that, I can still fly.
I can...
Narrator: That was true for the time being,
yet slowly, but surely, he was reaching his limit.
Knuckle: Hey! Youpi!
Menthuthuyoupi: Hmm?
( Shoot gasps )
Knuckle: Over here, you bastard!
Meleoron: Knuckle.
Knuckle: I’m giving him proof
that there’s another enemy he needs to worry about.
Works for me.
That’ll distract youpi,
and, if we’re lucky,
it might even be enough to save shoot.
Bring it on!
♪
Narrator: After he’d taken a moment
to calm down and regain his composure,
knuckle decided to show himself at last.
( Singing in Japanese )