👑 The War Room
VIP Tier 1 – Royal Deck, Black Whale
In a chamber walled with blackened glass and echoing silence, the 14 Kakin princes sat, spaced like predators forced into proximity.
At the center of the room sat King Nasubi Hui Guo Rou, adorned in white ceremonial robes, his face expressionless. Behind him, his Nen beast loomed like an ancient tapestry come to life—a shifting form of spiritual wrath.
"The trial of succession," Nasubi intoned, "has begun."
Silence.
Then Prince Benjamin stood.
"Camilla sent an assassin to my quarters last night. He wore no crest, but he was killed before he could activate his Nen ability."
Gasps. Tension. One of the minor princes flinched and knocked over his teacup.
Camilla, draped in emerald silk, only laughed.
"If I wanted you dead, Benjamin, you'd be fertilizer for my roses."
The king raised his hand.
"Silence. No more hidden knives."
His gaze turned toward the shadowed section of the room.
"We have a guest. A non-prince."
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🥁 Kaen's Summoning
Kaen stepped forward, flanked by Kurapika and Gon. Melody followed, silent but tense. They were the only non-royal individuals invited to the summit—an invitation that even Pariston had tried to block.
All eyes turned toward the youth with the glowing crown of light and aura above his brow.
"I heard," Nasubi said softly, "you fought off Ishtara. Alone."
Kaen nodded once.
"I didn't kill it. I just showed it something it hadn't imagined."
A murmur swept the room.
"Tell me, Kaen of Whale Island," the King said.
"Do you seek a throne?"
Kaen's voice rang clear.
"I seek sovereignty."
Gasps.
"Over your family? Your nation?"
"No," Kaen said.
"Over myself. Over possibility."
Nasubi smiled faintly.
"You speak as if you have never tasted betrayal."
Kaen smiled back—just a flicker of a grin.
"Only from myself. That's the worst kind."
⸻
🩸 First Blood Drawn
The meeting ended. The princes returned to their chambers. But not all would see the next morning.
Seventh Prince Luzurus, known for his wild charisma and drug experimentation, was found foaming at the mouth just before dawn—his Nen Beast gone, his aura shattered.
"Poison?"
"No," whispered Kurapika as he examined the body.
"It wasn't physical. His mind was invaded."
"Illusion-type?" Gon asked.
Kaen's crown pulsed.
"Not just illusion. Dream-forged manipulation."
Kurapika's eyes narrowed.
"That's your domain."
Kaen said nothing. But inside his Mind Palace, he saw it:
A trace of a foreign presence. Something had entered his dream space when he fought Ishtara.
A glyph carved in metaphor. A name written in reverse.
"Onyxi."
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🕷️ Threaded Webs
Elsewhere, within a secret chamber hidden inside the Hunter Association's emergency HQ aboard the Black Whale, Pariston Hill chuckled as he reviewed a data feed of Kaen's dream aura signature.
"He's not a user," he said, tapping a recording.
"He's a gate."
Beside him, Beyond Netero stared at the footage.
"You want to turn him into a weapon?"
Pariston laughed.
"No, no, dear Beyond. I want to be the weapon… and let him fire me."
⸻
🧬 Dreams, Monsters, and Memory
Kaen sat alone in a temple-shaped room conjured inside his Mind Palace. He wasn't meditating.
He was dissecting his own imagination.
How did I cut the dream of Ishtara?
What rule did I break? Or invent?
He pulled the memory into focus.
The Lucid Fang was no mere blade. It was a projection of future certainty. It cut what might happen and replaced it with what Kaen imagined would happen instead.
"That's the true power of my crown," Kaen whispered.
"I don't borrow Nen."
"I redefine the laws it follows."
Suddenly, the palace trembled.
A doorway opened—not one of Kaen's making.
And stepping through was…
A girl.
Eyes like mirrors. Hair made of ink. Dressed in royal garb from a century ago.
"You opened the door too wide," she said.
"Now the old kings can speak again."
Kaen blinked.
"Who… are you?"
The girl smiled.
"I'm your ancestor, Kaen. The first dream-seer of Whale Island. My name is Naomi."
⸻
🦠 Infection or Inheritance?
Naomi knelt, drew a glyph in golden dust, and showed it to Kaen.
"Your Mind Palace is not original. It's inherited. The Hui Guo Rou were not the only ones who used sacred beasts to forge thrones."
Kaen stared at the glyph.
It pulsed with the same signature as the Dark Continent relics.
"You're saying my power isn't human?"
Naomi nodded slowly.
"No one's true power ever is."
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🔥 Next: Chapter 66 – The Crown and the Parasite