Narrator: We are no different from the ants.
No, we are far worse.
♪
( Gunshot )
( No audible dialogue )
( Glasses clink )
The Rose had poisoned thorns.
The poison which spread when the Rose came into full bloom
was stronger than toxins similar in nature.
Those killed instantly in the blast
were the lucky ones.
In survivors’s bodies,
the poison was absorbed,
eating them away from the inside.
The rapid destruction of their organs began soon after,
but this was not the only effect.
The poison also turned them into carriers
who went on to contaminate new victims.
The rate at which the poison killed was exquisitely timed
and allowed it to create
a chain reaction of mass casualties.
In other words...
( Shaiapouf gagging )
Narrator: It was a weapon expressly engineered
to be the ultimate evil.
♪
( Singing in Japanese )
( Whooshing )
( Splashes echo )
♪
Shaiapouf: Th-this is--
what is happening?
What’s wrong with me?
Meruem: Pouf.
Shaiapouf: Is something wrong, lord meruem?
Sire, I hope you’ve had the chance to reconsider,
and if you have, then we must evacuate.
Sire?
Meruem: He knows that I can see right through him,
yet he still refuses to divulge his secret.
Very well.
All that’s left to do
is for me to locate and capture all of the remaining intruders.
Your secret intrigues me,
and I intend to know it soon enough.
You still intend to tell me, don’t you?
I would strongly advise against changing your mind.
♪
Shaiapouf: I will keep my word, sire,
even if it costs me my life.
Meruem: Wise answer.
♪
Shaiapouf: He’s already using
the final en search that he’s permitted.
Meruem: I can see everything.
I can see all that has changed since the first time I used en--
footprints that weren’t there before,
an abandoned vehicle...
Youpi’s corpse...
A door that’s been opened...
And someone new who reacts to my en.
( Welfin gasps )
( Heart beating )
Meruem: Someone has killed youpi.
Was it you?
( Welfin gasps )
No, sire. Absolutely not.
I’m just a lowly squadron leader.
I respected sir youpi, and I had no reason to kill him.
( Swallows )
We were just talking,
a-and then suddenly sir youpi coughed up blood,
doubled over in pain. Then he died.
That’s all that happened!
You’ve just gotta believe me, sire!
I’m not lying.
I mean, sure, I did shoot youpi...
But then, before he could even answer my question,
before my black centipedes even had a chance to hatch,
he was dead.
I think, before sir youpi ran into me,
someone else attacked him, and he died of those injuries.
That’s why I came here.
I wanted to find out if there were any intruders.
They might be hiding in the crowd somewhere.
( Shaiapouf pants )
Welfin: Eh?
( Groans )
The royal guard pouf. Oh, he’s trouble.
I’m pretty sure he has the ability to read my mind.
Shaiapouf: Welfin is a serious threat
to my carefully laid plans.
I have no clue what he might tell the king.
Simply asking him to keep quiet would be too lenient.
I should eliminate him immediately.
I should accuse him of disloyalty and execute him.
In any case, I must get him away from the king.
Lord meruem, welfin is--
meruem: I already know what you’re about to say.
( Shaiapouf gasps )
Meruem: I can now sense the emotions
of everyone whom my en has touched,
and his hostility towards me is quite extraordinary.
( Welfin gasps )
Shaiapouf: That’s incredible.
Meruem: In the exact moment
someone has been exposed to my en,
I become able to see into their heart.
Shaiapouf: So it wasn’t just youpi’s wings and attacks.
The king also inherited my spiritual message.
Not only that,
but it seems he’s made it infinitely more powerful.
( Gasps )
Sire!
The king is invincible!
The king is unrivaled!
And yet...
( Heart beating )
Why?!
What is this feeling washing over me?
Why is my heart filled with such overwhelming anxiety?
Meruem: Now then,
there is a fair amount of fear mixed in,
but there is no hiding
the raw malice that you feel for me.
It surges even now.
Your hatred is undeniable,
and I am quite interested to learn what drives it.
Speak, but lie to me, and you will regret it.
( Welfin wails )
Shaiapouf: This is no time to let emotion best me.
Meruem: Tell me what you know.
( Exoskeleton crackles )
Shaiapouf: Lord meruem!
Please forgive me for speaking out of turn.
♪
Shaiapouf: He is deeply involved in my secret.
However, he has not yet realized this.
Welfin: Huh? Huh?!
Shaiapouf: You may continue to question him
if you wish, sire. That is your right, of course.
But it is highly likely
he will divulge some or all of my secret.
When the king has such power, lies are futile.
I must rely on the truth.
Although I am certain you wish to receive your reward,
I cannot imagine you would want it
before winning the contest.
I can use the truth to muddle the facts.
If you desire, the game will continue.
It is my belief that you should wait
before you question him further.
Welfin: Hold on. What the hell is this guy talking about?
Secret? What secret?
Wait. What am I supposed to do now?
How do I escape from this monster?
What happens next?
Damn it. I didn’t realize he was this powerful.
I should have run away right off the bat.
( Groans ) Temptation got the better of me.
When I saw how youpi had shrunken from a giant
down to the size of a bug, then dropped dead,
I started thinking I might be strong enough
to take down the king.
Oh, but that was just a delusion.
That’s why I stayed.
It was all wishful thinking.
I felt invincible,
like some sheltered child.
I felt alive.
I’m such an idiot.
I was drunk on my own fantasy.
In all the chaos that happened,
I remembered gyro and got caught up
in the delusions of sentimentality and heroism.
I was sure I could avenge gyro,
but he isn’t even dead.
Gyro’s alive. He has to be.
I should have run off and teamed up with him again.
Then we could have sought revenge.
Damn it. It’s all that octopus’s fault.
That little bastard threw me off my game.
He messed with my emotions.
I let him lead me astray.
( Groans ) Messenger, my ass.
I have to do something.
He knows my intent is hostile, and I can’t lie.
He’ll send my head flying before I can even activate missileman.
Think. What tools do I have left?
The message? Pouf’s secret?
The root of my hatred?
If I tell him everything I know, will it be enough to save me?
What do I say?
Whatever it is,
the first word out of my mouth will be crucial.
Just one word will decide whether I live or die.
If I choose the wrong one, it’s all over.
( Aura whooshing )
This overwhelming pressure.
This abnormal tension.
Meruem: Tell me, does welfin’s malice
have any relationship to the secret you are keeping?
( Welfin gasps )
Meruem: Think carefully before you answer.
Welfin: This is the king.
Meruem: You interrupted me and tried to influence my decision.
That will have consequences.
I must presume that you are prepared for them.
( Shaiapouf gasping )
Meruem: I want a sincere answer.
Shaiapouf: This is...
Narrator: The king’s new power
meant he had access to the answer.
He could probe pouf’s mind for it
without waiting for him to speak.
Although he understood that he had pouf’s absolute devotion,
the king’s deathly aura revealed his intent.
In truth, it was unmistakable.
If the answer did not please the king,
whether right or wrong,
pouf would pay the penalty with his life.
Loyalty, hostility,
each of these factors were equally meaningless
in the eyes of the king.
No one could stop him.
♪
Shaiapouf: Even then...
I was prepared.
I already knew that I was going to die.
I will sacrifice myself to my own loyalty.
I-I have no words left to say.
We are in the midst of our match.
Nothing less, nothing more.
Narrator: His resolve was nothing short of incredible.
That, as well as his insanity,
stopped the king in his tracks.
Meruem: I am hungry.
Narrator: But...
( Welfin yelps )
Narrator: Welfin understood immediately.
Welfin: This is it.
He’s going to eat me.
♪
( Heart beating )
Narrator: One second from now...
( Heart beating )
Welfin: I’m dead.
Narrator: Sensing his own fate, welfin began to age,
and within moments, it was as if a hundred years had passed.
Welfin: I want to live.
Narrator: In his mind,
welfin’s entire life passed by him in a jumbled flash,
and then it burst, blending seamlessly with the present.
Welfin: One word...
My first and my last.
Narrator: Caught between the desire to live
and unavoidable death...
Welfin: One word.
The message for the king.
One word.
What pouf discussed with pitou.
One word.
Pouf’s secret.
One word.
I won’t die.
One word.
Don’t die until you’re dead!
( Chorus vocalizing )
Narrator: His brain worked feverishly
as it never had before and selected a word
that, under normal conditions,
never would have occurred to him.
Welfin: Komugi.
♪
Shaiapouf: This--this is...
This is how intensely he cares for her.
Meruem: Pouf.
So this is your secret.
Shaiapouf: Yes.
He cares more than I feared.
I will accept any punishment.
Meruem: You know what it shall be.
I do not have to speak it.
You and I are of one mind.
I do not blame you.
Shaiapouf: I never had a chance.
Yes.
Meruem: Continue searching for pitou.
The two captured intruders may know something.
Once you are done, let them go.
I have nothing else to ask of them.
Shaiapouf: All I can do is nod in assent.
Sire.
Meruem: The opened door,
the footprints leading inside,
the resolve of those I sensed with my en,
all signs lead to one solution.
Welfin.
Welfin: Sire, i--what is it?
Meruem: Komugi is in the underground warehouse
along with the woman and the octopus.
You were to deliver that information to me or my guards.
Welfin: But how did you know that?
Meruem: I have come to believe that you took on the task
at the behest of the octopus,
but I am unsure why you failed to carry it out.
Is it connected to your deep and sudden hatred of me,
by any chance?
( Welfin gasps )
Meruem: Ah, yes.
Now please be at ease.
Just answer my question,
and you are free to go wherever you wish.
You have my thanks.
It’s because of you
that I remembered something important.
( Welfin grumbles )
Area d. They said they’d wait in bizeff’s courtyard.
( Gasping )
( Growls )
Gyro is the only man I will ever call king!
You, all of you, you’re enemies!
Do you hear me?!
Meruem: Is that so?
( Welfin panting )
Meruem: I hope you see him. I truly do.
And, if possible...
Go live a human life.
( Shaiapouf wails )
♪
Narrator: Netero once believed
that the king was wavering on the brink that lies
between the human world and that of the ants, but now...
( Singing in Japanese )