HP: Sacred Gear Chat Group - Chapter 58 (Patreon)

Harry lounged in the small house he had claimed in the village, resting with one leg lazily hanging over the arm of his chair.

His gaze wasn’t really on the wooden ceiling or the crackling lantern in the corner, but far away.

A hidden portal floated quietly in the air before him, a window only he could see. Through it, he watched the Chimera Ants.

They were close. At any moment, they would stumble across the secret of Nen. The thought alone made him lean forward with a faint smirk.

It had been a few days since he had devoured any of the more meaningful ants, and the Yule Ball was drawing near. His time here was running out.

“A rare human?” The shout came from a pig-faced ant wearing a greasy chef’s uniform. Its stubby hands clutched a pair of butcher’s knives, the blades catching the dim light. Confusion wrinkled its snout as it demanded, “What number?”

The answer came from a penguin-like ant. Harry didn’t bother recalling its name; there was no point.

It wouldn’t be alive long enough to matter. Shuffling its flippers nervously, the penguin reported, “A-933! Zazan’s squad captured him… three days ago.”

The pig chef snorted and rolled its beady eyes. “Three days? Then he’s already been offered to the Queen. That human’s long gone. He’s in her belly by now.” With a dramatic sigh, it continued, “Her appetite’s been insatiable lately. The King that’s born from her… he’s going to be incredible.”

Harry tilted his head, silently amused. What impressed him wasn’t their talk of kings or queens, but how human-like the ants had become simply by eating people.

It wasn’t just the shape of their bodies that shifted; their very personalities twisted to mirror the traits of their prey.

The tragedy was obvious. Most of their meals hadn’t been simple farmers or innocent villagers.

They had consumed criminals, thugs, and killers—humans rotten to the core. The result was a swarm of intelligent but twisted soldiers, reflecting the worst humanity had to offer.

Only a handful of early Chimera Ants, like Colt or this anxious penguin, carried the simpler traits of villagers. The rest wore the ugliness of criminals like second skins.

The pig chef, still grumbling like an overworked cook during dinner rush, finally waved his knives toward the massive mound of human bones stacked nearby. “Nope. Nothing here. If you’re looking for him, he’s in her belly already.” He gave the pile a careless glance, as if the remains were no more important than scraps on the kitchen floor.

What none of them noticed was the faint tremor beneath that mountain of bones.

Hidden deep under the mess, a young man clung to life. Pokkle—one a weaker Hunter, but still a trained professional—had not gone down so easily. The poison coursing through his body should have imobilized him, yet he had fought against it.

The tiny vial hidden in his tooth had contained a potent antidote, just enough to clear his head. Weak and trembling, he had forced himself under the bones, using the discarded remains of others as his cover.

Harry, watching through the portal, smiled faintly. As expected of a Hunter. Even the weaker ones weren’t easy to crush.

Unfortunately, Pokkle’s situation couldn’t be worse. He was trapped in the very heart of a Chimera Ant nest. Escape was impossible. Even if he somehow shook off the paralysis completely, most ants above the level of regular soldiers could defeat him in a direct fight.

In his current condition—weak from hunger, still half-paralyzed—he didn’t stand a chance.

Harry, however, wasn’t paying much attention to Pokkle. His eyes stayed fixed on the portal in front of him. The faint smirk tugging at the corner of his lips made it clear he was waiting for something else. Something far more important.

“It’s finally time,” he whispered, leaning forward in his chair. “My prey is about to be born.”

The air inside the nest suddenly changed. A massive, overwhelming aura erupted from deep within the colony, flooding every corridor and chamber with malevolent pressure. Harry muttered under his breath, eyes narrowing as he felt the intensity. “Yes… that’s what I’ve been waiting for.”

This presence was different from the others. Unlike the soldiers or squad leaders who fumbled to learn Nen after days of effort, this one didn’t need training. It was a being born with Nen already in its blood, wielding it as naturally as breathing. From the very first heartbeat, its aura alone was strong enough to challenge Harry—even after he had devoured hundreds of Chimera Ants.

Of course, strength alone wasn’t everything. Harry had experience. He had refined control. For now, at least, he was still stronger.

The source of that aura finally revealed itself. Neferpitou had been born.

Even before its body had fully adjusted to existence, the creature was listening to the chatter of the other ants.

Pokkle’s presence and capture were already on its radar. Its perception was frightening. No En was needed—its instincts were razor sharp from the very beginning.

Too bad for Neferpitou, Harry wasn’t sloppy. His portal was hidden with a careful mix of In and layered spells, and his own presence was buried beneath layers of concealment.

Against that, even Neferpitou’s natural senses couldn’t reach him. He was simply operating outside of anything the Chimera Ants could predict.

Still, the effect Neferpitou’s birth had on the nest was immediate. Harry could feel it. Every Chimera Ant nearby froze when the aura washed over them. They weren’t just nervous—they were terrified.

A few minutes earlier, a certain bunny-like ant had been brimming with arrogance. The same one Gon had punched, awakening his aura by accident. That ant had believed he was destined to rise, maybe even challenge for the position of King someday. Now?

That confidence shattered in an instant. The overwhelming aura made his body tremble, and his pride collapsed into raw fear.

“An interesting discussion!” Neferpitou’s cheerful voice rang out as he casually stepped into the slaughterhouse. His red eyes glimmered as he looked around. “What’s this about gifts? Mind if I join in?”

The moment he appeared, the bunny-like ant dropped to his knees. His body moved before his brain could catch up, instinctively submitting to the stronger predator.

That was the truth of their nature. For all the human traits the ants had stolen, at their core they were still animals. Cruel, sadistic, and vile ones, yes, but animals nonetheless.

The bunny ant proved it. The second Neferpitou reached out and gave him a friendly pat on the head, he wagged his metaphorical tail and played the part of a loyal dog.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the bones, Pokkle’s mental state was crumbling.

The weight of Neferpitou’s aura alone was enough to crush his spirit.

Harry could feel the fear rolling off the man, thick and suffocating.

The poor Hunter was breaking apart before a single word had even been directed at him.

Harry compared their auras carefully. In terms of sheer volume, his was still greater, but his energy felt calm, almost neutral in nature. Neferpitou’s, however, was the opposite.

From the very moment of birth, the catlike creature radiated a presence steeped in malice. Its aura was predatory, sharp, and suffocating, like the stare of a beast about to pounce.

“By the way…” Neferpitou tilted his head as he casually led the group of Chimera Ants out of the butcher chamber. His expression carried a playful smile, but his words were anything but lighthearted. “Why is there a living one hiding under the bones?”

Pokkle’s blood ran cold. His heart seemed to stop beating as rough claws dug into the pile of remains, dragging him out by force. The desperate cover he had relied on was gone in an instant.

From his seat in the village, Harry observed it all through his hidden portal. He didn’t look away. This was what made the Chimera Ants dangerous.

Their strength wasn’t limited to their monstrous bodies or overwhelming raw power. The real threat began when they had started devouring humans.

Eating people hadn’t just given them human appearances—it had given them human traits. They gained the ability to reason, to plan, to adapt.

An ant could analyze its opponent, change tactics on the fly, and even retreat if necessary. That kind of growth was what had turned them into something more than beasts.

Because of this, Harry made it a point to stay cautious. He revealed only fragments of his strength, letting them believe the strange purple mist was his main weapon.

The less they knew, the better. The ants were already stronger than ordinary humans, and with their growing intellect, the gap would only widen if he wasn’t careful.

But a Royal Guard like Neferpitou… that was a different matter entirely. Even compared to the most intelligent humans, his mind operated on another level.

It took only a glance at a few books on neuroscience, and Neferpitou already understood how the human brain worked.

With cruel precision, he could manipulate nerve signals, extract memories, and force genuine answers from a victim.

Pokkle became the perfect example. The poor Hunter’s brain was probed, every fragment of knowledge about Nen stripped away without mercy.

He wasn’t an expert—far from it—but he had enough basic understanding for the Chimera Ants to learn what they needed.

Harry quietly noted this. It was unfortunate for Pokkle, but useful for him.

The next scene played out almost like a classroom experiment. The Chimera Ants performed the Water Divination Test one by one. The rabbit-like ant went first, his personality as simple and straightforward as his nature. Unsurprisingly, he was an Enhancer. His water swelled in the glass with brute simplicity, just as expected.

Neferpitou’s turn came next. A single leaf was placed on the water’s surface. In mere seconds, it shriveled and withered, drained by the unnatural aura seeping into it.

The penguin-like ant gasped, flapping his stubby flippers. “So you’re a Specialist, sir!”

“Neferpitou,” the catlike Royal Guard corrected without hesitation.

“Huh?”

“That’s the name the Queen gave me,” he explained, eyes narrowing with a faint, mischievous gleam. “Call me Neferpitou.” Then his claw rose, pointing casually toward Pokkle’s limp body. “I don’t need that anymore. Offer it to the Queen immediately.”

The order was final. The Hunter’s fate was sealed.

The pig-faced chef didn’t hesitate. The moment the order was given, he bent down and hoisted Pokkle’s limp body over his shoulder.

With steady steps, he started toward the butchery area, knives clinking at his side as though preparing for an ordinary meal.

“Stop.”

The sharp command froze the room. Neferpitou’s playful tone was gone, replaced by something sharper, more alert. His tail swayed slowly behind him, and his crimson eyes narrowed as they tracked the air itself.

“What is it, Neferpitou, sir?” The pig chef blinked in confusion, still clutching Pokkle’s body. “I thought I was supposed to butcher it?”

The penguin-like ant tilted his head and looked equally puzzled, while the rabbit chimera stared nervously, ears twitching. None of them understood why their superior had suddenly interrupted.

“We are not alone.” Neferpitou’s voice carried a faint growl as his gaze swept the chamber. His eyes darted from wall to wall, yet nothing unusual appeared. The air remained still, the shadows unchanged.

“What do you mean?” the penguin asked nervously. He shuffled closer, his own eyes searching the room.

“That’s not his body,” Neferpitou explained, reaching out to seize Pokkle’s head. Lifting it by the hair, he tilted it toward the others, his claws digging lightly into the scalp. “Someone switched him with this copy just now. It looks real enough. It even gives the impression of breathing. But I can feel, he isn’t truly alive. There’s no response.”

To prove it, Neferpitou pushed a few thin needles into the skull again, the same trick he had used earlier to force reactions from Pokkle’s brain. Nothing happened. No twitch, no groan, not even a flicker of life.

“Fascinating,” he murmured, his eyes gleaming with curiosity. “How was this made, nya? It looks exactly like him, down to the smallest detail.”

The pig chef frowned, shifting uneasily on his hooves. “But… we were all right here. None of us saw anyone approach.”

“Was it a Nen ability?” The rabbit chimera’s ears stood on end. His voice cracked as he glanced around in panic. “Whoever you are—come out if you can hear me!”

Neferpitou straightened, his smile returning. “Yes, come out and play,” he said lightly, though his tail lashed with dangerous tension. His eyes never stopped moving, scanning every corner of the slaughterhouse. “I’ve felt it since the moment of my birth. A strange sensation, like being watched. Now I know it’s true. Someone is observing us.”

The penguin shuffled in place, his flippers twitching nervously. “Could it be… the Mist Demon?” he whispered.

The rabbit ant’s reaction was far more aggressive. He bared his teeth and growled, glaring into the empty space. “Mist Demon, huh? Where are you, bastard? Show yourself already! I didn’t see any of that purple mist of yours, so where are you hiding?!”

“Mist Demon?” Neferpitou echoed, tilting his head. His curiosity deepened at the name, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. “What’s that supposed to be, nya?”

———

“Eh, so he could tell the difference. Seems like he knows when it isn’t really Pokkle.” Harry let out a quiet chuckle as he shifted his focus back to the room around him. With casual care, he lowered the real Pokkle’s body onto the bed, making sure the man’s head rested properly on the pillow.

A transfiguration was never truly alive. Even if Harry reshaped an object into the form of an animal or human, the result was nothing more than a convincing shell. The surface could mimic flesh, breath, even warmth, but underneath it remained a lifeless thing. This time, he had taken a large stone, molded it with magic until it became an exact replica of Pokkle, then swapped it in without the Chimera Ants noticing.

Neferpitou, however, wasn’t so easily fooled. That one had instincts sharp enough to cut through the illusion.

Harry leaned back slightly, his mind wandering to the precautions he had taken before this moment. Long before Neferpitou’s birth, when the Chimera Ants still knew little about Nen, he had released his purple mist throughout the nest. Every soldier, squad leader, and officer had been touched by it, leaving behind his personal Nen marking. With that, every single ant was accounted for.

Everyone except Neferpitou. He hadn’t dared to try. The catlike Royal Guard would notice immediately, and Harry wasn’t about to risk exposing his abilities so early.

The Royal Guards were no joke. Underestimating them would only turn him into prey, and Harry had no intention of ending up as food for the very creatures he hunted. In his eyes, the Chimera Ants were his prey, and once marked, none of them could slip from his grasp. The marks tied them to him. Wherever they went in the world, he could sense them. If needed, he could teleport directly to them.

As far as he knew, the only way to remove one of his marks was through a Nen Exorcist. Among the Chimera Ants, that meant there was only a single Ant amongst them—at least that he knew off, once she awakened her Ability she could technically remove his Mark. Altough she had to know about it first. Until then, they were trapped.

Back inside the nest, the ants continued their search, clueless. His portals remained hidden, cloaked by both magic and Nen, small enough to slip past even Neferpitou’s sharp perception.

Their frustrated glances amused him, but his attention shifted away. Pokkle needed tending to.

Drawing in a slow breath, Harry exhaled softly, releasing a stream of Angel’s Breath. The healing energy flowed over Pokkle’s battered form, seeping into his skull and knitting damaged tissue back together.

The process wasn’t clean or painless. Harry’s version of the ability lacked the original’s efficiency and speed, and the Hunter writhed weakly, groaning through clenched teeth as his head slowly mended.

Harry watched without expression. He wasn’t even sure if Pokkle would recover fully. Some damage to the brain might remain permanent.

But at the very least, it was a chance—far better than the man’s original fate as food for the Queen, a mere meal to strengthen the eventual King, Meruem.

Eventually, Pokkle slumped into unconsciousness, his body finally giving in to the pain.

Harry turned his eyes back toward the portals. On the other side, the Chimera Ants had abandoned their search. They had accepted they wouldn’t find the “Mist Demon” today. Instead, they moved on to something far more interesting.

The time had finally come. They were beginning to awaken their auras.

Of course, none of them had a proper teacher. No masters guided them, no patient hands explained the principles of Nen. What they had was only the most brutal, dangerous method of all.

The rabbit-like ant, who had accidentally awakened his own aura after being punched by Gon, was given a new role. One by one, he Punched his comrades with great pleasure, forcing their aura nodes to open through sheer violence. Painful, reckless, but effective. The nest was about to change forever.

Meanwhile, Neferpitou’s attention shifted. His predatory eyes gleamed with sudden interest. He had sensed something else—in the distance approaching the nest, faint but distinct.

Gon. Killua. And Kite.