I Got Killer Queen in Hunter x Hunter ?!

With Joey's clone vanishing, all eyes locked onto the real Berrilent.

"That was a fake," Berrilent insisted.

He had no evidence, but neither did anyone else. No one could prove it wasn't just a product of Berrilent's Nen ability.

Still, since someone had taken Berrilent's appearance, there was clearly some connection to him—whether he was being framed or not, people suspected Berrilent was hiding something.

And that wasn't rare in the Succession War—everyone likely had more than one identity.

On the surface, Berrilent was a Hunter and the Thirteenth Prince's bodyguard. But his true allegiance, his true purpose—all unknown.

Then there was his current behavior—blocking everyone from entering Tier 13. That raised even more questions.

Meanwhile, the Ninth Prince's men had sealed off Tier 10, barring access to the body inside.

During all this, one of the Second Prince's private soldiers kept glancing toward Tier 10—but Joey noticed—

He wasn't looking at Tier 10.

He was watching the Ninth Prince.

Joey licked his lips. He had a hunch.

The Second Prince had deliberately allowed Tier 10 to be exposed. The real goal was to lure out a target for assassination.

The soldier sent to Tier 11? His real target was always one of the princes likely to appear in the hallway.

And among them, the Ninth Prince was the most predictable.

Everyone in the upper tiers knew how active the Ninth Prince was—he was a problem for the others.

But would the Second Prince really order an open assassination like that?

Joey remembered—casting a curse required death from the caster.

Would the Second Prince's soldier actually kill himself?

Right then, Joey caught the smirk curling at the soldier's lips—aimed directly toward Tier 12.

Then the man drew a dagger.

Before Joey could decode the smirk, the soldier shouted: "It asked me to!"

And charged—not toward the Ninth Prince—but toward Tier 10, where Hasuto still lingered.

Joey immediately understood.

"It asked me to" had become the universal excuse—a Nen beast possession loophole. Everyone recognized it.

There had already been several such "possessed" attacks—like the First Prince's guard, Barbamaina, still under Royal Army watch.

Joey himself had just used a clone-based frame-up with the same tactic.

This soldier was copying the playbook—but with a different goal.

Joey's move had been to expose Tier 10.

The Second Prince's soldier? He was aiming to die, and to die as close to the Ninth Prince as possible.

The closer the death, the stronger the curse's impact.

This was a long-range assassination—and a bold one.

The curse on the Twelfth Prince? That was just a stepping stone. The real move was against the Ninth Prince.

Joey saw the Ninth Prince's guards raise their guns.

He could've stopped them—he could've used Weather Report to intervene.

But doing so would've exposed his Hatsu… and made him guilty of assaulting a royal.

Both unacceptable.

So he just watched.

And the Second Prince's soldier was gunned down—turned into a bullet-riddled corpse.

The curse triggered instantly.

A massive spider materialized behind the Ninth Prince—larger than the one that had targeted the Twelfth Prince.

But almost simultaneously, another beast appeared:

A hairy, one-eyed, bipedal Nen beast perched on the Ninth Prince's shoulders.

His guardian beast.

It acted immediately.

Its massive arms lunged and tore the curse-spider to shreds.

Joey and Kurapika exchanged a glance.

They both realized it: the Ninth Prince's beast had a counter-type ability.

But then something unexpected happened.

The spider was torn apart—yet the Ninth Prince collapsed unconscious.

From the scattered spider parts, dozens of tiny spiders reformed.

They slowly rebuilt the curse-spider on his back—feeding off his life force, growing stronger.

It was smaller than before—but not dead.

That was enough.

The guardian beast had vanished—likely burned out from expending too much of the Ninth Prince's energy.

So even if it reappeared, it probably couldn't eliminate the curse completely.

Still, its nature as a guardian beast made it difficult for the curse to kill the Ninth Prince outright.

But the cost was steep.

Both curse and guardian fed on the prince's own life force.

He might not die, but he'd be crippled.

As the prince fell, his guards panicked.

None of them were Nen specialists—they couldn't process what was happening.

One of them finally remembered Kurapika—and ran to get him.

Kurapika and Joey exchanged a nod. Kurapika moved toward the Ninth Prince.

Joey stayed behind.

Chaos bred danger—and while Kurapika handled Tier 9, Joey was responsible for the Twelfth Prince's safety.

It was a deal they'd made long ago.

Joey's En had always been covering the Twelfth Prince.

Any threat—and he'd be there in an instant.

A few minutes later, the Royal Army arrived. The Judicial Bureau came too.

Unlike the sharp, uniformed soldiers, the judicial agents looked like they'd just rolled out of bed—drowsy, disheveled.

But one look at the mess in the lower tiers and they snapped wide awake.

With the army on site, Berrilent finally allowed access to Tier 13.

Now the investigation would depend on what each prince could uncover—those with contacts in the army would have the advantage.

The upper princes, naturally, had more influence.

Fortunately, Joey had his eavesdropping ladybugs.

Without the First Prince's soldiers around, the bugs were still useful.

The Sixth Prince, despite his "concern" for the Seventh Queen, had to retreat to his quarters once the army intervened.

The Ninth Prince's collapse made his guards extremely tense.

They quickly ushered their prince away, fearing for the Sixth Prince's safety.

The Ninth Prince was also taken to his room.

Kurapika followed—likely to offer explanation or aid.

Joey suspected talks between Tier 9 and Tier 2 would follow.

But pinning this attack on the Second Prince wouldn't be easy.

The soldier had said it again:

"It asked me to."

And he hadn't attacked the Ninth Prince directly—he'd charged toward Hasuto.

Then he'd been shot by the Ninth Prince's men.

That could even be spun as wrongful death.

Even if the curse clearly hit the Ninth Prince, there was no hard evidence linking the Nen beast to the Second Prince's soldier.

No one from the Ninth Prince's camp had laid hands on the curse, either.

Nen could be evidence—but they'd need proof connecting that beast to the Second Prince.

Which they didn't have.

So there was only one viable move left:

Find an exorcist.

Joey waited for Kurapika's choice.

Would he save the Ninth Prince—or hide the fact that he could?

Joey hoped for the latter.

Saving the prince would reveal too much about Tier 12.

Letting him die? Joey didn't care.

He had respect for the Ninth Prince—but didn't need him to survive.

If he died, Joey would simply think it was a pity.

But knowing Kurapika… he'd choose the first option.

While he waited, the Royal Army escorted Hasuto and the corpse from Tier 10.

Joey overheard the confirmation: the corpse was a Second Prince private soldier.

Exactly what he wanted.

Now the Second Prince was neck-deep in the muck.

The Judicial Bureau would visit her in the morning, questioning why her soldier was found in Tier 10.

But Joey didn't expect much.

The Second Prince would offer no useful answers—and would likely counterattack.

She'd probably file a lawsuit over her soldier's death in Tier 11.

The plaintiff?

The Ninth Prince.

That lawsuit would go nowhere, of course—the soldier's rampage had been witnessed by many.

The Ninth Prince's guard had acted within reason.

Lastly, Berrilent was also taken away by the army.

And when they sealed the door to Tier 13—just like Tier 10—Joey understood what it meant.

The Royal Army had lumped all these disappearances together—Tier 13, Tier 12, Tier 4—blaming it all on Nen beasts.

Joey had to admit:

The Royal Army sure knew how to play dumb.

In the second half of the night, the princes' quarters returned to an eerie calm.

As if nothing had happened.

But Joey knew—this was just the eye of the storm.

By 8 a.m., no call came from Tier 2.

Joey had no choice.

He swapped out the Twelfth Prince and sent him below for curse removal.

His clone temporarily took his place, disguised as the prince.

The only one Joey could trust with this job was Piyon.

At 8:30, Fugetsu opened the passage to Tier 12.

Following behind her were Kacho—and a very grumpy-looking Piyon.

Joey had already crafted the prince's double well in advance.

As he helped the Twelfth Prince into the passage, he reminded Piyon:

"I've got things this afternoon. Try to finish the curse removal quickly—otherwise you'll have to go pick up Hisoka."

"No way," Piyon scowled. "Send Kurapika instead."

"You really can't do it?"

Joey looked defeated.

"You think exorcism's easy? I asked already—it takes one or two days at minimum. Stronger curses take longer," she snapped.

"This one's post-mortem nen. No way it'll be quick. I'll wait for Kurapika and let him handle it. Let's hope Hisoka keeps his word… or this gets messy."

Joey glanced at his watch. "Only one exorcist in the Association?"

By now, Kurapika should've been back.

Explaining the Ninth Prince's situation shouldn't take this long.

"Good luck," Piyon huffed. "Teaming up with a freak like Hisoka—don't expect too much."

She saw Joey frowning and felt a bit better.

"Exorcists aren't weeds, you know. What, someone else needs a curse lifted? Too bad. Let him wait!"

Piyon had been stuck running errands and babysitting for Joey nonstop.

She was fed up.

"If I don't finish my job, you won't have it easy either," Joey shot back.

Piyon glared at him, cheeks puffed like a hamster.

He couldn't help but grin. She looked too cute when mad.

"If Kite didn't back you, I would've quit already. And by the way—monitoring fee's going up. Hmph!"

Not giving Joey a chance to retort, she grabbed Kacho and Fugetsu and stepped into the return tunnel.

Joey scratched his head. "Jeez, why so stingy? At least give me a few freebies…"

"Nope! Keep waiting!" Piyon's voice echoed back through the door—followed by Kacho's laughter.

(End of Chapter)