Beneath the throne, something stirred.
It wasn't a quake.
Not an enemy Nen.
It was intent—so heavy and focused it pierced through the palace's dozens of layered mental defenses like a drill forged from willpower itself.
Kaen stood.
His aura shimmered like a wildfire restrained by discipline.
"He's here."
Selva nodded from her place in the Court ring.
Her Dream Empress snarled, eyes fixated on a black crack forming in the marble just below the throne.
"No. It's here."
⸻
🕳️ The Thing Sent to Kill a King
It wasn't alive.
It wasn't dead.
It was something Illumi had only whispered about in his most private missions—the Kingbreaker Doll.
Forged through forbidden Transmutation and blood-contracted with a single purpose: to seek the throne of any self-proclaimed king and shatter it from within.
Its Nen technique:
Throne Anathema – "A King Must Bleed"
The Kingbreaker can sacrifice its own body to nullify aura within a radius around royalty-type Nen signatures. The more royal intent it feels, the more powerful it becomes.
It fed on Kaen's pride.
His ambition.
Even his dream of the Mind Palace.
"Oh," Kaen whispered, as he watched the first blood-red sigil burn on the floor.
"You think I'm only a king because I say I am?"
He stepped off the throne.
"Let me show you why I rule."
⸻
⚔️ Kaen vs. The Kingbreaker
The doll moved like a virus made flesh.
It melted into the ground, reappeared behind him, hands like wires, teeth like bone shrapnel.
Each time it drew near, Kaen felt his Nen constrict, his aura stuttering. The more confident he became, the more the doll thrived.
So Kaen laughed.
"Oh. I get it.
You want to feed off my kingship."
He rolled his neck.
Focused his breathing.
"Fine. Feast."
He unleashed it.
⸻
🔥 Mind Palace Mode: Absolute Authority
The air shifted.
Renzu dropped his sword.
Luma fell to one knee.
Selva backed away in awe.
Kaen's aura exploded—not in shape, not in speed, but in meaning.
It wasn't elemental.
It wasn't flashy.
It was Command.
Reality itself seemed to pause—no wind, no sound, no birds. Just presence.
He activated:
Palace Order – "Sovereign Law"
Allows Kaen to transform his intent into binding Nen laws inside his Mind Palace. While active, any Nen user or construct within the domain must follow these laws… or suffer disintegration of aura from the inside out.
He set the first law:
"Only the worthy may strike the throne."
The Kingbreaker froze.
Screamed.
Its body convulsed in rejection of its own programming.
Kaen moved like lightning, his hand glowing with concentrated Velocity Grasp, and slammed his palm into the doll's chest.
"This isn't a throne.
It's a foundation.
You don't break that.
You build on it."
He whispered the final word:
"Collapse."
The Kingbreaker imploded into pure black smoke.
Gone.
⸻
⚠️ Aftermath – Mora's Secret Weapon
But before the Court could celebrate—
Mora stepped forward, eyes wide, trembling.
"I… I felt another one," she whispered.
"There's not just one Kingbreaker.
There are four more—
Each hunting the thrones of the world."
Kaen turned slowly.
"They're testing me," he muttered.
"Illumi… or someone above him."
Mora held out a scroll.
"We may not have long. I have… a forbidden map. A Hunter relic passed down from the Beast Sector."
She opened it slowly.
It showed a vast system beneath the Hunter Exam arenas.
Kaen's eyes narrowed.
There, hidden deep—beneath where the Zoldycks once trained, beneath where the Phantom Troupe once raided—was a sealed vault labeled:
"Chimera Core - Do Not Unseal."
Renzu swore under his breath.
Selva went pale.
Tern muttered, "That's suicide."
Kaen simply smiled.
"A king doesn't run from horror."
He closed the map.
"He tames it."
⸻
🕯️ Final Scene – Far Away… Ging Watches
Ging Freecss stood atop a ruined stone monolith, watching the sky reflect Kaen's last Nen burst.
A single tear ran down his cheek.
"It's happening again," he whispered.
A voice behind him spoke.
"Will you warn him?"
Ging shook his head.
"No.
He's not the one in danger."
He turned, eyes cold.
"The world is."
⸻
TO BE CONTINUED in Chapter 33 – Into the Chimera Core