Netero: This is a tomb...
Yours, as a matter of fact.
♪
I’m grateful...
Grateful for everything that’s led me to this point
and to you.
♪
( Singing in Japanese )
♪
( Blows striking )
( Creaking )
( King gasps )
Narrator: With time compressed, the king was shocked
to find that netero was moving at an alarming rate
and was barely able to follow his afterimage.
He was consumed by one singular emotion...
♪
Unreserved admiration for his enemy.
Netero: Hmm.
King: That’s it.
The attack begins only after he brings his hands together,
and from what I can tell
that’s the only motion that surpasses my speed.
Such wasteful movement
could easily cost one’s life in battle,
but now it works as a weapon
that may allow him to defeat me.
I won’t waste precious time to guess what drove him to this.
That would be pointless.
A lesson such as this
cannot be learned merely through logic or reason.
No. He must have yielded to an emotion
somewhat akin to insanity.
♪
For five years, perhaps as many as ten...
He must have devoted himself wholly to that purpose.
♪
Now, then, this display of power
could never have been achieved without an incredible amount
of time and effort on your part, and I recognize that.
Netero: All that, and there’s barely a scratch on him.
Well, I expected as much.
King: Even with training...
You can still hit your limit.
It happens to everyone.
You are a rare example of one who’s transcended that limit.
Netero: Eh?
King: I am impressed.
I must commend you.
Netero: Why, you little-- ( Grumbles )
An insect like you should never talk down to humans!
( Chorus vocalizing )
( Gasps )
Narrator: The king’s strategy was simplicity itself,
keep attacking.
If the one hundred type guanyin bodhisattva
could do next to no damage
and was the only attack with the potential to defeat him,
the king had nothing to fear.
King: These are no more than puppet hands.
They can only move in set patterns.
If I attack from an angle
that he can’t block with a move that he’s already used,
he’ll have no choice but to reveal a new move.
Once i’ve identified
all of the combinations of potential plays,
I should be able to deduce the angle of attack,
and, if i’m successful, force him to do just that.
However, while he may have
a finite number of attack patterns,
the number of combinations in which they can be used
may as well be infinite.
But each individual has a distinct rhythm.
There will be a subconscious predilection
for and against certain patterns,
and that bias naturally shapes one’s identity.
If I can just ascertain
the characteristics of his rhythm,
then I stand a fair chance of predicting
which patterns he’s most likely to select.
I must choose the single correct needle
among countless others. Not only that,
but I will have to thread it with utmost precision.
That’s what it’ll take to Pierce my target.
This may be a heavy undertaking.
- ( Chuckles ) - ( Netero grunts )
King: But I will be successful.
I can do this!
Old soldier, I beg of you.
It will happen soon,
so don’t collapse before then.
( Laughs )
Netero: He’s laughing?
Well, it’s not like I can blame him.
He’s not the only one enjoying himself.
No matter what trajectory my attack uses,
he’s able to recover immediately
and wastes no time moving into a counterstrike.
I can’t make a single wrong move.
One misstep, and his speed
won’t leave enough time to unleash my next hand,
and if I lose my focus, he’ll tear me apart limb from limb
before I even have the chance to realize it.
This is a battle of endurance,
and I have to keep playing my best possible move.
When I run out,
the battle is over, and you win.
That’s what you’re thinking, isn’t it, king of ants?
King: Fine, then.
I’ll checkmate you shortly.
Netero: Checkmate me if you can...
But I won’t make it easy.
I’ll show you the zero hand!
♪
Narrator: The thousands of hits the king had sustained
were beginning to take their toll.
As a result, he started to feel a dull internal ache.
However...
( Netero grumbles )
King: Stop the bleeding, and tell me what my name is.
You have done well...
For a human, of course.
♪
What’s the matter? Act quickly,
or you’ll soon die of blood loss.
Netero: You trying to make me laugh?
King: Hmm?
- ( Netero grunts ) - ( King gasps )
( Gasps )
Netero: You really think i’ll die?
It was one lucky punch, so don’t get cocky.
This battle is only beginning.
King: You have truly earned my admiration.
With everything that’s happened thus far,
your spirit has yet to diminish.
However, losing your leg was all but inevitable.
It is the consequence of using a defense that,
while not exactly bad, was not the best choice.
After playing against komugi,
I learned the art of anticipating an enemy’s actions.
Your subconscious bias against certain patterns
gives me insight into the otherwise limitless options
you have at your disposal, which gives me the edge.
Your left arm will be my next target.
Narrator: From start to finish, the fight that ensued
did not even last a full minute.
Netero: This is it, the last time in my life!
Narrator: As he released
his one hundred type guanyin bodhisattva,
netero’s resolve heightened his physical and mental senses.
♪
The result was an exchange of more than a thousand punches,
causing sparks that showered them like fountains.
And then the key moment came to pass...
The imperceptible bias in netero’s moves,
a bias so slight it couldn’t even be called a habit.
After using his body to bear the brunt
of netero’s unrelenting attacks,
the king discovered that he was able to find
the faint light through the needle’s eye.
The king found the path and reached its end.
♪
King: Well, then, are you satisfied now?
What is it? What is my name?
( Netero laughs )
The king of the ants.
I don’t need arms to pray.
Far from it.
King: Huh?
( Chorus vocalizing )
Netero: Prayer is an action of the heart.
Formed properly from within, it becomes a wish,
and the wish then bears fruit.
Narrator: With the one hundred type guanyin bodhisattva
zero hand looming from behind,
the guanyin moves in for what would be her final attack,
engulfing the target gently, yet firmly in a tender clasp.
Killua had previously sensed its murderous intent
from a distance.
Killua: I shouldn’t go this way.
Narrator: It left such a strong impact on killua
that he changed his direction.
The entirety of netero’s aura
was transformed into a light much like a dazzling star,
and it fired with a merciless roar.
( Netero groaning )
( Groaning continues )
( Raspy breathing )
Eh?
( Slow footsteps )
( Groans )
King: Truly the pinnacle of mankind.
I freely admit it was a brilliant attack.
♪
Netero: Zero wasn’t enough?
King: I was born to be the king of the ants,
the crowning glory of life.
I represent the instinctive hope long nurtured by my species,
a species that continues to evolve for my sake.
I stand before you the culmination
of generations of their unwavering service.
You are but one lowly human, not a king.
I am the king that bears the fate of his kind,
and that was the difference in this battle.
The ecology of the chimera ant
is focused on the endpoint of all evolution.
That endpoint is me.
This is a feat that the human race,
with its individuality, can never hope to match.
However, humans will no longer serve
to propagate our species.
We learned that human individuality is so strong,
it disrupts the ants’s command structure
in your honor, i’ll provide your kind
with a preserve for a permanent settlement.
We’ll consider both quality and quantity
as we are selecting humans for sustenance.
Your lone battle was not in vain.
You shall be rewarded.
Answer my question.
I will not ask it again.
What is my name?
( Netero coughs )
( Chuckling )
I am not alone.
♪
Do not underestimate humans...
Meruem.
( Meruem gasps )
Netero: It’s meruem.
That’s the name your mother gave you.
Narrator: The king could not savor his name
as it fell from the old man’s lips,
an old man who should, by all rights,
be trembling before him,
yet netero did not.
Meruem: What is this?
Netero: Meruem, king of the ants,
you really don’t have any idea, do you?
You know nothing of the bottomless malice
within the human heart.
Narrator: Just then,
the king felt true fear for the first time.
These were not the words of a beaten and broken old man
awaiting the icy grip of death,
but one glance at the resolve written across his face
made it clear he meant every single word.
Scientist: This is going to detonate
the second your heart stops beating. You understand?
( Heart beating )
Netero: I’ll see you in hell...
If there is one.
( Heartbeat slowing )
Meruem: Ah, yes.
I see it now.
From the very beginning, checkmate was yours.
Narrator: The bomb was both cheap and compact,
but despite this, it also proved surprisingly lethal.
With the right technology, it would be possible
to mass-produce these bombs in a short period of time,
making it a favorite among dictatorships.
This, along with the peculiar shape of the fallout cloud,
earned this bomb the name "miniature Rose,"
or "the poor man’s Rose."