Only those in the mire yearn for the sky.
Only those in the darkness yearn for the light.
Little Maddie was dead, Mrs. Nora was dead, and Old Mark was dead... Their family was finally reunited, but...
Roy couldn't find it in himself to be happy. One part madness, three parts bloodlust, five parts anger, seven parts frenzy, ten parts slaughter... They morphed into three soul-stealing, pitch-black tomoe that slowly crept into the corners of his eyes.
At this moment, the boy wanted to eat someone alive. Just like that beastly Liger from before, he wanted to swallow Andrew Cooper whole and skin him alive!
The last shred of reason remaining in his heart completely vanished as his [Ferocity] was triggered. Roy glared with blood-red Sharingan, his gaze icy.
"Caw!"
A crow suddenly flew from the treetops, flapping its wings and dropping a single black feather.
Meeting the boy's man-eating eyes brimming with profound killing intent, Andrew Cooper and the bald Longergon, who had been holding a shield to protect him, felt their vision blur. When they regained their senses... the trees were gone, the rocks were gone. The chirping birds, the roaming beasts, and even the wind blowing through the forest, the clouds drifting in the sky, and the radiant sun illuminating the earth had all vanished.
Andrew Cooper dropped his playful demeanor and exchanged a dark glance with Longergon. He hadn't expected that in just an instant, the very ground beneath their feet would change into an entirely different world!
Everything in this world was bathed in a bloody hue. Even the sun hanging above Roy's head, which should have been a beacon of light, was tainted by killing intent, forcibly draped in a coat of blood to become a blood sun!
'Mental pollution?'
'Or soul erosion?'
Andrew Cooper raised his hand crossbow with a grave expression. Unlike the [Infinite Divine Spear] that Frank Becki wielded year-round, this Nen weapon not only had a rapid-fire function but also amplified power. For a Nen user like him who specialized in archery, it was undoubtedly a perfect match.
"Playing tricks! Andrew, I'm protecting you, so just focus on shooting him!" With [Deflect] in hand, having Longergon by his side meant [Absolute Defense]. This was the absolute confidence he placed in the [Round Shield] he held!
"Alright." Needless to say, a second before the bald man finished speaking, Andrew had already gathered his Nen and pulled the trigger of the [Hand Crossbow]. One arm, two arms, three arms, four arms... In the blink of an eye, eight arms materialized, and the [Hand Crossbow] multiplied into eight as well.
"Thwip... Thwip... Thwip..."
A volley of shots pierced the air from eight different directions, streaking toward Roy like lightning.
In this moment, Andrew Cooper perfectly displayed his Nen ability: [Deformed Hundred-Armed Demon]. He had Transmuted himself, losing all human resemblance.
"I see."
"It makes sense."
"Because you're not human to begin with, you can't empathize with them."
Roy lowered his eyes and smiled savagely. A mudflat suddenly appeared beneath his feet, allowing him to instantly evade all the incoming arrows. When he reappeared, he was abruptly right in front of Andrew, standing behind the bald brute, Longergon!
"Huh?" A gasp of surprise escaped Longergon's lips.
When the bald man lost sight of the boy, he initially thought Roy had displayed swordsmanship and was an Enhancer. Then, seeing him switch tactics and pull them into an illusion through mental pollution, he assumed Roy was a Manipulator. Next, the mudflat appeared, revealing a [Swamp Space]. Longergon spun around, smashing his shield forward as he blurted out, "Specialist!"
"Bang!" The round shield struck true.
In an instant, it smashed the Roy that had morphed into Andrew, leaving him with a bloody head!
The force was fierce. Despite being a [Conjuration] Nen user, he was able to cross categories and display physical strength that rivaled an Enhancer.
Roy gave the bald man a deep look before exploding with a "Poof!"
Using the [Substitution Jutsu] he had learned at the Ninja Academy, he seized the opening created by Longergon's turn, bypassed the shield with a single finger, and tapped the man's forehead.
[Genjutsu: Infinite Void]!
"Ommm!"
An invisible wave rippled outward.
"Creak." The Door of Cognition swung open. Roy stood upon the Sea of Cognition, backed by the entire Demon Slayer world. With a point of his finger, he transformed the world's information into billions, trillions of data streams, pouring them all into Longergon's brain in a hundredth of a second.
Longergon felt as if something had exploded inside his mind!
The man froze, his pupils losing their focus!
"Longergon, what the hell are you doing?"
"Swish, swish, swish!" Another volley of Nen arrows wrapped in [Shu] shot toward Roy!
With the distance closed, instant firing became much easier. Andrew Cooper frowned and glanced at the stunned Longergon. Having lost his protection, he experienced the taste of danger for the first time. He instinctively reached back, using the incoming Nen arrows to seal off Roy's movement space while quietly distancing himself.
Unfortunately...
"Where do you think you are?"
"And who do you think you are?"
The illusion expanded beneath his feet. With a "Caw," another crow appeared.
The boy, who had just fried the bald man's brain with a single finger, stared with those blood-red eyes. He neither dodged nor evaded, allowing the Nen arrows to pierce his body as if they were sinking into water. He reached out indifferently toward Andrew. Instead of retreating, Andrew's consciousness urged him to pull away, yet his body defied his will, forcing his feet to continuously walk toward Roy.
Until his body completely overlapped with Roy's.
Andrew looked askance, revealing a terrified expression for the first time. He watched helplessly as his neck split open, and another Andrew forced his way out, reaching out with both arms to hug his own head.
He muttered madly, "What a nice head... The scalp must be very white... very smooth... I wonder how popular it would be if I peeled this skin off and made a chamber pot out of it..."
Andrew's face turned pale as he roared, "Get lost! Get out of my body!"
As he spoke, he drove his four arms, abandoning the hand crossbow entirely, and swung his fists straight at Roy!
It made Roy feel somewhat hurt. "You are me, and I am you. Why are you treating me like a stranger?"
[Wood Release: Silent Strangling Binding Technique]... Activate!
As the fists approached, Andrew suddenly realized he couldn't move. The man looked down at his feet. Tree vines had sprouted from nowhere, winding and extending, arriving first despite launching later, binding him securely. In an instant, he lost all ability to resist, leaving only a mouth and a pair of disbelieving eyes to express his inner horror and panic.
One... Two... Three... Four... Five!
Andrew's brain was short-circuiting. He had lost count of how many Nen abilities the boy had displayed, and he was beginning to doubt his own existence.
"That's right. Very good."
[En] expanded. This time, without any obstruction, the [Mind Bug] broke through Andrew's Nen and invaded the man's heart. Instantly, it captured intense terror and despair. It devoured them greedily, seemingly unsatisfied, as it mumbled and urged Roy to push harder.
Blood-red flames burned in Roy's eyes. He stroked Andrew's head and nodded in deep agreement. With a thought, he summoned Solar Eclipse and began to peel his... right in front of Andrew's face.
"You... I'm warning you, don't try anything funny!"
"I'm a member of the Security Force!"
"So what?"
"What do you mean 'so what'? You damn blasphemer, let me go right now... Maybe I'll plead with the Security Force to spare your life and reward you with an Entry Permit!"
"Then I should thank you in advance." Roy drew Solar Eclipse with a metallic ring and sliced open Andrew's scalp with a single stroke.
"Ah!" A heart-wrenching scream rang out.
Blood spurted out, splashing across the boy's face. He stuck out his tongue and licked it. Sweet. Very sweet. He greedily raised his hand for another slash, laughing maniacally. "You already called me a blasphemer, so..."
"I've even blasphemed against God, one more won't make a difference!"
The hand rose, the blade fell, and another piece of scalp was peeled off... Over and over again.
Once... Twice... Three times... Roy had completely lost his reason. Just like the Liger that had devoured Mrs. Nora earlier, he used the Genjutsu to repeatedly skin, debone, and carve flesh, forcibly maintaining Andrew's consciousness so he could feel the agony and pain over and over again. It was even more tormenting and painful than when Kakashi Hatake had been dragged into the illusionary space by Itachi Uchiha—who had already defected from the village and joined the Akatsuki—and killed ten times over!
Ten times... Twenty times... Thirty times... Seventy times... A hundred times...
Until Andrew was completely numb. His brain, just like Longergon's, could no longer bear it, lost its ability to process the body, and exploded with a bang!
Only then did Roy wipe the blood from his face, withdraw from his [Ferocity], and dispel the illusionary space. With a backhand swing, he chopped off the heads of both Andrew and Longergon.
"Thud!" The headless bodies of Andrew and Longergon fell straight down from the thick tree trunk.
Hearing the prompt tone from the panel, Roy's eyes regained their clarity. He raised his hand and summoned the wine flask tied to Andrew's waist into his grasp. He then looked down, the red glow in his eyes surging once more. With another glance, he shot two scorching lasers that completely melted and erased the corpses Andrew and Longergon had left behind in the world, leaving not a single trace.
Only then did he open the lid of the wine flask, allowing three transparent spirits to slowly drift out.
"..."
A soft whisper, filled with gratitude.
Old Mark and Mrs. Nora, each holding one hand of a little girl with hair like withered grass, bowed to Roy. Then, before Roy could react, they turned into three streaks of light and instantly merged into his body.
"Whoosh." A bleak wind blew past. Silence claimed the Uzuki Forest.
In the vast forest, there was no Andrew, no Longergon, no Old Mark, and no Mrs. Nora. Only Roy remained, closing his eyes to experience their joys, sorrows, and lives, as several prompt tones rang out continuously in his mind.
[Prompt: "Life Energy" +8]... This was Old Mark.
[Prompt: "Life Energy" +7]... This was Little Maddie.
[Prompt: "Life Energy" +120]... This was Mrs. Nora, who had lost all hope, walked the path of darkness, and transformed into [Post-Mortem Nen].
Roy carefully comprehended it, taking turns transforming into "him," "her," and "her." In an instant, it was as if he had aged ten or twenty years. His closed eyes did not open for a long time.
"I'm leaving. Thank you, big brother..."
In the realm of the unconscious, Little Maddie faced Roy, waved her hand, and slowly dissipated. Her eyes were bright, showing absolutely no attachment to this world, leaving Roy in silence for a long, long time.
"So, child, what exactly do you want?"
"Me? Of course, I want to be a light that brings hope to others..."
"But before that," Roy opened his eyes sharply, gripping the blade in his hand tightly, "let me first make this world feel what pain is!"
The boy transformed into Andrew Cooper's appearance. Looking through the deep forest toward the not-so-distant Bandle City, his ears twitched as he received a game prompt.
His consciousness dimmed, knowing that his stay time was up.
When he opened his eyes again, he had returned to the Hunter world. A tentacle extended from the [Demon Eye], pushing him out the door.
"Clang." The airtight steel door slammed shut heavily.
In the dim basement at his feet, yellow chrysanthemums bloomed brilliantly. A gust of fresh breeze swept up an elegant fragrance, swirling it into Roy's nose.
The boy took a greedy breath, finally finding a trace of reality.
He remained silent, taking one last look at the airtight door before turning and walking down the eerie green corridor toward the exit.
"Creak..." The iron grate door was pulled open. Scarface and One-Eye, standing on the left and right, bowed to Roy. "Two hours and thirty-seven minutes."
"Young Master, you stayed half an hour longer than last time..."
Roy stepped out of the iron grate door, paused his steps, and slightly raised his chin to watch the setting sun cast a ray of light. He gave a soft "Hmm," and without saying a word, lifted his foot and left the basement, his figure looking desolate.
"Step, step..." The sound of his footsteps gradually faded away.
Scarface and One-Eye watched the boy leave, exchanging a silent glance. The latter, as usual, took out his phone from his pocket to report upwards.
"I understand." In the second-floor bedroom of the Zoldyck family's ancient castle, Silva squatted by the window, massaging Kikyo's feet. He frowned and hung up the phone.
The woman lay on the bed, her belly swollen, with an experienced female doctor in her forties constantly watching over her. According to her, barring any accidents, her water would break within the next two days.
Truly,
"Very fast."
"What's very fast?" Kikyo hummed. "Are you talking about Killua?"
Silva nodded silently. It was Killua... but even more so, Roy. This time... he had stayed half an hour longer than the last. The boy's rapid growth had already left him and his father far behind.
At the very least, the man had to admit that he hadn't lasted nearly as long as the boy at that stage.
"Fast, huh... I've been looking forward to him for ten months..." Kikyo gently hugged her belly, the monitor on her face flashing with red hearts and tenderness. Yes... how fortunate.
It was a happiness that Little Maddie would never be able to experience, nor ever have the chance to.
At seven o'clock in the evening, as spring transitioned into summer, the days grew longer.
In the mottled corridors of the ancient castle, filled with the aura of time, one could see the way clearly even without lighting a lamp.
Roy left the basement and walked all the way toward his bedroom. At a certain moment, he stopped and saw a withered little old man standing next to that familiar, dimly lit small room.
He seemed to be enjoying the breeze, or perhaps admiring the sunset, but more likely, he was waiting for someone. He turned his head to look at him and said, "Come here."
"Let this old man pat your head."