[131]: Singing Jellyfish

With the school of fish no longer blocking their path, the group smoothly entered the palace ahead—a structure whose design stood in stark contrast to the rest of their surroundings.

Compared to the other buildings, it was like the home of a filthy rich aristocrat standing right next to a slum.

A mansion built at the edge of a shantytown—how could it not stand out?

Especially when—

With his Six Eyes, Cyr detected the presence of non-human life energy within.

The palace doors towered thirty meters high.

The moment they stepped inside, they were met with a vast, empty space.

Over a hundred stained-glass windows lined the walls.

Above them, a glowing white orb hung from the ceiling.

Its light was neither dazzling nor bright.

Instead, it was dim and hazy—its energy clearly running low.

Yet even so, it still provided a faint illumination to the otherwise dark palace.

Aside from that single orb, the palace was completely empty.

Or at least—

If you didn't count the strange, rune-like symbols covering the walls, resembling either some unknown language or esoteric sigils, then yeah—

You could call it empty.

The moment they stepped inside—

The ethereal singing that had been following them abruptly stopped.

But even if the singer tried to hide—

There was no escaping Cyr's Six Eyes.

"Let's see what you are…"

Cyr took a step forward—

And from a gap in the wall, he reached in and pulled out a—

…jellyfish.

A deep purple jellyfish, speckled with black circular markings—

It looked poisonous.

And it was.

SHNK!

The thin, filament-like tentacles instantly shot outward—

Extending up to fifty meters in an instant.

But—

SLICK—!!

A series of invisible slashes rained down upon it at the same time—

Severing every single tentacle at the base.

The jellyfish recoiled, its umbrella-shaped body curling in on itself in an attempt to protect its now-mutilated form.

If anyone besides Killua had been touched by those tentacles—

They'd probably be in serious trouble.

The only ones here who were immune were Killua and Cyr.

Because—

This jellyfish was highly venomous.

Cyr glanced at his hand—the one gripping the jellyfish.

It had already been slightly red and swollen from an allergy.

Now—

It had turned dark purple—a clear sign of heavy poisoning.

But—

The toxins never spread beyond that hand.

In fact—

The color was already beginning to fade—

From deep purple, to light purple, to—

Back to normal.

"I feel… like my heart's gonna explode…"

Gon clutched his chest, his expression tense.

It felt as if his heartbeat was pounding in his ears, growing faster and faster—

As if it was about to burst at any moment.

For just a split second—

He had sensed immense, overwhelming danger.

"…A poisonous jellyfish, huh?"

Cyr held the jellyfish in one hand, scratching his cheek with the other.

If there were no other creatures in this palace—

Then the one singing earlier must have been this thing.

A singing jellyfish…

The sheer absurdity of it was—

Well.

Considering they were in Hunter x Hunter, was there really anything left to be surprised about?

Cyr gave the helpless jellyfish a little shake, like some villain toying with his prey.

"Can you talk? Say something, let's hear it."

"La~ La——"

The jellyfish in Cyr's hand slowly regrew its severed tentacles—

But this time, it didn't try to lash out with a wide-range attack like before.

Its mouth was located on its tentacles.

It couldn't speak in any language humans could understand.

The sounds it made still sounded like singing.

Or—

Maybe it really was singing, and they simply couldn't understand the lyrics.

Wait.

Couldn't Gon communicate with creatures that couldn't speak human language?

That thought crossed Cyr's mind, and he turned toward Gon—

Pointing to his own ear in a gesture.

It was a signal: "Unlock your hearing."

Gon nodded obediently and did as told.

Seeing that, Cyr handed the jellyfish over to him.

"Here, ask it what it is."

The white-haired boy's tone was casual, as if this were the most normal thing in the world.

Talk to a jellyfish?

"Got it!" Gon gave a confident thumbs-up.

"La~ La~ La~ Ah~"

The jellyfish let out a soft, humming-like melody.

Gon nodded seriously.

"Mm-hmm. I see. That makes sense."

Somehow, despite speaking different languages, the two seemed to be communicating just fine.

Gon turned to Cyr and relayed the message:

"It says it's the owner of this palace, and that the fish outside are its guards."

He paused, then scratched the back of his head with a sheepish laugh.

"But… I think it's lying."

"It's definitely lying."

Cyr squeezed the jellyfish slightly.

There was no way a jellyfish could have built a palace this huge.

It had probably just moved in when it realized no one else was living here.

As for the fish guards—

That part was still questionable.

Maybe it really did have some way to control those fish.

"Tell it that if it doesn't start telling the truth—"

Cyr smirked, licking his lips with the tip of his tongue.

"—I'll eat it."

Even if this thing was poisonous, it wouldn't matter to him.

A simple jellyfish salad pretending to be some big shot?

Laughable.

"Okay," Gon nodded.

He spoke again—

In some way—

Using some method—

And somehow, the jellyfish understood.

It started struggling, clearly trying to escape—

But Cyr held on tight.

"La… Dulala…"

The jellyfish weakly wiggled its tentacles—

And continued singing.

Gon translated:

"It says it's been living here for three hundred years."

"Back then, that white orb above us used to shine a lot brighter—"

"And it used to sing."

"After listening to it for a while, the jellyfish learned how to control fish."

"And—"

"It also said that for the past three hundred years, no one has lived here."

Gon let out an amazed sigh.

"You can gain abilities just by listening to a song…?"

The world really was full of things they didn't understand.

"Not too surprising."

Cyr mulled over it for a moment.

A jellyfish living for three hundred years was already insane.

It wasn't a Turritopsis dohrnii—the so-called immortal jellyfish.

Ordinary jellyfish only lived for a few months to a few years.

This thing had definitely mutated from listening to that song.

Not just in lifespan, but in gaining special abilities too.

But that orb…

Cyr lifted his gaze toward the sphere above them.

It was small—barely the size of a fist.

Inside, a faint energy flow was still present—

Just enough to keep glowing.

Once that energy fully ran out—

The light would be gone forever.

If it were just a bit brighter, it would almost resemble a man-made sun.

Speaking of which—

The buildings outside also had similar spherical objects on top of them.

But those had long lost their glow, turning into plain stone orbs.

What would happen…

If he recharged it?

That thought crossed Cyr's mind.

And he approached the glowing orb.

Extending a hand, he—

"Close your hearing."

He instructed Gon before proceeding.

Then—

He poured his Cursed Energy into the sphere.

Why not use Nen?

Because Nen was life energy.

Using it here would be a waste.

But Cursed Energy?

It could be drawn from negative emotions—

And Cyr wanted to see if Cursed Energy would even work in this situation.

The answer?

It did.

The originally white-glowing orb—

Slowly, steadily—

Became tainted with black.

By the time the transformation was complete—

The sphere was now a glowing black sun.

Hundreds of stained glass windows around them gathered the black light radiating from the sphere, refracting it in different directions.

Beams of pure darkness stretched out like black threads, weaving through the windows and the spherical structures atop the buildings—

Forming a massive, interconnected web.

This was a mechanism.

An intricate one.

The palace ceiling suddenly split open.

The black sphere was lifted high into the water, rising like a dark sun.

But its pitch-black radiance didn't illuminate the depths.

Instead—

It made the abyss look even more terrifying.

Cyr acted instantly, cutting off his own hearing.

The very next second—

A song erupted.

Louder than the jellyfish's hum, yet completely different.

Not even remotely pleasant.

As the black sun ascended, spreading its song through the deep sea—

The entire ruined palace seemed to come alive.

Countless creatures appeared.

Not drawn in—

But fleeing.

The structures shuddered—

As if they were about to rise as a giant.

Or—

As if they were simply collapsing.

The vibrant corals—

Instantly turned black.

Every living thing bathed in the black light began to mutate.

Gone were the brilliant colors—

Replaced by a uniform, inky blackness.

The spheres atop many buildings started trembling,

And one by one—

They fell.

Shattering on the ocean floor.

The palace crumbled like a wilting flower.

Chunks of stone—

Breaking off, sinking down—

Like it was dying.

And then—

A black vortex appeared beneath it all.

A force like a black hole—

Devouring everything in its reach.

Broken ruins.

Mutated creatures.

Everything was dragged toward it, powerless to resist.

Killua and the others had already begun swimming in the opposite direction, but—

Even that wasn't enough.

The pull was too strong.

Their bodies—

Sliding backward against their will.

"Shit!"

Killua snapped his arm, frustration flashing across his face.

What the hell did that guy do?!

Why did everything suddenly go insane?!

He fought to swim upward, dodging the debris hurtling past—

But no matter how hard he pushed forward,

The suction made it feel like he was going nowhere.

And then—

Something grabbed his ankle.

The next moment—

Impact.

It felt like slamming into a solid wall—

A wall made of water.

Then—

They burst through.

Even with Nen shielding their bodies, the impact still made them instinctively grunt in pain.

But—

The feeling only lasted for a split second—

Because the next breath they took—

Was fresh air.

"…That was close. We made it!"

Gon cheered the moment they surfaced, relief washing over his face.

His gut told him—

If they'd been sucked into that black vortex—

They would've died.

"Should've used Nen…"

Cyr shook his soaked hair, muttering in thought.

It was white light at first—

But the moment he infused it with Cursed Energy, it turned black.

And that led to—

Total destruction.

If he had used Nen instead—

Would it have stayed white?

Would the result have been… better?

After all, Nen was positive energy, while Cursed Energy was negative.

The nature of the energy must have shaped the outcome.

But—

There was no way to test that theory now.

No second chances.

Still—

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a black orb—

About the size of a fist.

Looking down, he examined its details:

[Name: (???)

Grade: ???

Abilities: Emits light / Stores the song of a mysterious race / Long-term exposure causes biological mutation and extends lifespan.

Evaluation: A relic left behind by an unknown civilization]

Right before escaping—

Cyr had grabbed it.

Holding the strange orb, he casually poured Nen into it—

And the black orb—

Turned white again.

"Huh. This thing should fetch a decent price."

With an indifferent flick, he tossed it to Killua—

Who was still sulking about the lack of treasure.

Killua caught it, frowning.

"What is this?"

He didn't know what it was—

But considering the chaos it had just caused,

It had to be important.

Maybe even a treasure.

"No idea."

Cyr smirked lazily.

"But it extends lifespan—"

"Maybe even grants Nen abilities."

He tilted his head, voice laced with amusement.

"So? You think that's worth anything?"

"Of course it is!"

Killua answered without hesitation.

°°°

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