After the words fell, Roy and Silva looked at each other again and smiled.
Illumi: "..."
His eyes shifted from Roy to Silva and back again as the two of them started walking toward the castle, supporting each other.
Illumi, his smooth black hair swaying in the breeze, lowered his eyes and silently followed after them...
It was close to noon. The sunlight was at its brightest, breaking through the dense forest and scattering patches of light over the three of them, stretching the shadows of father and sons long across the path.
After a few minutes, Roy felt some of the exhausted aura in his body recover a little after a brief adjustment.
Then he said softly to Silva, "Father, I can walk on my own now."
Silva said nothing. He just kept one hand under Roy's legs and continued carrying him on his back. After a while, he said, "I won't get many chances to carry you."
Roy froze slightly.
Looking through the aura naturally drifting from above Silva's head, he caught a shade of firm, treasured gold.
He smiled warmly.
"All right."
And quietly settled against Silva's back...
Step... step...
The three of them walked on, leaving faint footprints along the forest path.
Illumi stayed beside them, looking at Silva with obvious envy. He opened his mouth and said, "How about I do it?"
"Dad, you should rest. I can carry Nii-san."
Silva shot him a flat glance.
Illumi immediately shut his mouth, lowered his gaze, and fixed his eyes on the road ahead without saying another word.
Roy found it funny, but said nothing. Instead, he sank his awareness inward and casually glanced at the panel. After this battle, it had once again given him quite a bit of experience.
[Name: Roy Zoldyck]
[Constitution: 3070.9 → 3071.9 (Note: an ordinary person = 1. Sun Breathing adds 1 point per day by default)]
[1. Manifest Aura Quantity: B (380,000 / 1,000,000)
(Note: ratings are benchmarked against the Chimera Ants. Reference: Youpi = B (400,000 / 1,000,000))]
[If converted to the Naruto World, with the One-Tail—Shukaku of the Sand—as reference, chakra quantity is approximately 50 Kakashi-units. The host's current aura quantity is approximately 40 Kakashi-units, or 0.8 Shukaku.]
[2. Latent Aura Quantity: B (990,000 / 1,000,000)
(Note: if Youpi is used as reference, with Youpi = B (400,000 / 1,000,000), this still exceeds Youpi and is infinitely close to the Ant King)]
[If converted to the Naruto World, with the One-Tail—Shukaku of the Sand—as reference, chakra quantity is approximately 50 Kakashi-units. The host's latent aura quantity is approximately 200 Kakashi-units, or 4 Shukaku.]
[3. Nen Ability Form Change: Lv4 (70,000 / 100,000) → Lv4 (80,000 / 100,000)
(Note: Experience +10,000)]
[4. Nen Ability Nature Change:
Yang: Lv4 (78,000 / 100,000) → Lv4 (88,000 / 100,000)
(Note: Experience +10,000)
Yin: Lv5 (470 / 1,000,000) → Lv5 (20,000 / 1,000,000)
(Note: the Mangekyō has fully awakened and is awaiting development. The host is still 980,000 points away from reaching Lv6, entering the next stage, and unlocking the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan)
Fire: Lv4 (21,000 / 100,000) → Lv4 (35,000 / 100,000)
(Note: Experience +10,000)
Water: Lv4 (5,000 / 100,000) → Lv4 (15,000 / 100,000)
(Note: Experience +10,000)
Wind: Lv3 (8,741 / 10,000) → Lv4 (9,000 / 100,000)
(Note: Experience +10,000)
Earth: Lv3 (6,415 / 10,000) → Lv3 (9,574 / 10,000)
(Note: Experience +3,159)]
[Rating: B
(Slightly above Silva, and in no way inferior to Neferpitou, Shaiapouf, Youpi, and the others)]
[Evaluation: Top-tier first echelon, below the peak
(The host already has one foot in the ranks of the strong. As long as no B-rank or higher threat appears, your life is safe.)]
Roy lingered for a moment on the evaluation section.
That line—"your life is safe"—felt ironic, almost absurd, even now, even after he had truly reached the level of Neferpitou, Shaiapouf, and Youpi.
Tick... tick...
The curse branded on the back of his left hand still counted down his life second by second like a clock.
Even though he had improved quite a bit lately and pushed the deadline back somewhat, in front of that unknown existence, B-rank strength was clearly still nowhere near enough—let alone enough to drive off its gaze, or dream of standing before it with a blade in hand.
The joy Roy had felt from winning faded in an instant.
As if he sensed something, Silva shifted his eyes backward and asked, "What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing."
"What does 'nothing' mean?" Illumi immediately followed up after Silva asked, having already noticed that something about Roy's expression was off.
It wasn't weakness.
It was the weight on his mind.
The boy leaned his cat-like face in closer, stared at Roy with those hollow eyes, and asked carefully, "Why are you sighing?"
"I'm not."
"You are."
"In your head."
Roy: "..."
After a long silence, he forced a smile.
"All right."
"I guess I just feel... that I'm still too weak."
Silva and Illumi: "..."
The corners of their mouths twitched.
Then Roy suddenly felt empty space beneath him.
Silva had dropped him right onto the mountain path.
"Walk by yourself."
Before Roy could fully react, he looked up and saw Silva's beautiful silver hair falling behind him. Without even turning back, the man said that and vanished into the forest like a ghost, using Dark Step.
A mountain wind blew through, widening the distance between father and son with every passing second...
Roy turned to Illumi and asked, "Why's he angry?"
Illumi shot him a cold glare and turned away.
"Because you went too far."
Then he followed after Silva, stepping with Dark Step and vanishing into the woods in just a few bounds.
"Ho ho ho... modesty is a good thing in young people, but if you overdo it, people won't like it."
In the forest, with the clear pool still nearby, a sleeve fluttered in the wind, and a figure slowly appeared beside Roy, standing shoulder to shoulder with him while watching Silva and Illumi race back toward the mountaintop.
The man casually glanced at Roy.
Roy's expression straightened immediately. Then he shrugged frankly.
"I was only telling the truth."
Netero gave a low hum and stroked his beard.
"And yet sometimes, the truth hurts more than a lie."
"The problem is..."
"You're not the same anymore, Roy."
The strongest human alive looked at him seriously.
"That strike of yours was stunning."
A slash brilliant as the sun—and it had cut with power not inferior to the Poor Man's Rose.
Netero had to admit that in that dream, at the moment Roy revealed that strike, his own heart—honed and washed clean over the years until it had become still as an ancient well—had, for the first time in ages, felt danger.
No one had given him that feeling since the Dark Continent.
No one...
except Maha.
"It wasn't enough," Roy said, looking at Netero with deep, clear eyes. "You could still take it, couldn't you?"
Netero narrowed his eyes and laughed, planting his hands on his hips.
"What, Silva isn't enough for you? Now you've got your eyes on me too?"
The battle intent in the boy's eyes was clearly real.
Netero appreciated that kind of youth.
It was the same reason he had once appreciated Ging: the same blazing drive, the same lofty ambition.
The difference was that Ging always liked taking the winding route, playing games of pursuit and adventure, while Roy was far more direct.
One was a Ruins Hunter who loved exploration.
The other was a mad Godslayer Hunter.
Differences between them were only natural.
Still, even with nearly a hundred years of experience, Netero had underestimated the scale of Roy's ambition.
Roy's beautiful silver hair spilled down his back, the tips and mid-length glowing with glass-gold light. He neither admitted nor denied it, only saying plainly, "I told someone I'd go first and set an example. If I can win, then... he can too."
Netero's smile faded.
He narrowed his eyes.
"Who are you trying to beat?"
"And who are you setting an example for?"
Roy straightened his back and met Netero's gaze without the slightest fear.
"Naturally, I mean beating you."
"And setting an example for Gotoh."
Beating him—that much Netero had expected.
But setting an example for Gotoh...
The old man's mouth twitched, and he gave a dry little laugh.
The boy really was starting not to take him seriously at all.
Netero's wide sleeves fluttered as he stood there calmly and asked, "How long do you need? And how long does he need?"
"One year," Roy said.
He stroked the back of his left hand, feeling the curse like a thorn pressed against his spine.
"You know how it is. I'm in a hurry."
"As for Gotoh..."
"That's his choice to make."
Halfway down the mountain, in the butler villa, the blood cocoon trembled faintly and thinned by another trace...
Netero quietly watched Roy, as though he wanted to carve the boy into memory.
After a while, he said, "Fine. I'll wait for both of you."
Then he rode the wind away, floating after Silva toward the mountaintop and vanishing from Roy's sight.
Tap... tap...
The old man's topknot slowly disappeared into the sunlight. Not long after he left, Roy glanced back over his shoulder.
The calm lake behind him rippled.
Splash—
A head of white hair broke through the surface.
Zeno leaped from the water, a fat fish clutched in one hand, and landed lightly beside Roy.
"Your great-grandfather specifically asked for fish just now."
The "A Kill A Day, Never Retire" on his chest was soaked through from the lake, making it look even more ferocious than usual.
Holding the fish, Zeno watched Netero disappear into the wind and said flatly, "You shouldn't be so arrogant."
Roy said nothing.
He only thought of Maha's teaching—that gods and followers complete each other, just as the superstructure cannot exist without the economic base.
The quality of one's followers would also determine the greatest height one could ultimately reach.
In other words—
"I don't have a choice."
Roy reached out and caught a green leaf drifting down in the wind, watching its fine veins branch like countless causal lines connecting to distant places.
"That was Great-Grandfather's requirement for me too."
Zeno: "..."
After a long silence, he slowly shook his head.
"I believe you can do it in the future."
"But Gotoh..."
"Sorry. Your grandfather truly can't picture it."
People could lie to others, but they couldn't go against their hearts.
Holding the fish, Zeno brushed past Roy's shoulder and said, "I'm going."
Then, stepping with Dark Step, he followed Netero's trail out of the forest and headed back toward the castle on the summit.
In a blink, the lush forest was left with only Roy standing there, his back to the shimmering clear lake, quietly recovering his aura.
Only after some color had returned to his face did he step forward, let his body dissolve into light, and ride a beam of sunlight after Zeno's retreating form.
A few breaths later, he was back at the castle, slowly appearing once again in the old, timeworn corridor inside the manor.
"Young Master... Young Master..."
All sorts of butlers, maids, and gardeners bowed respectfully the moment they saw him.
After this fight, Roy could clearly sense something deep from them that had never been there before—
awe.
Roy understood it immediately.
He only gave a light hum and continued walking toward his bedroom.
Step... step...
His footsteps echoed through the ancient castle.
Many gazes followed him quietly.
The boy's back had already begun to look like a grown man's. He was almost broad enough now to rival Silva.
Passing the garden, he paused and turned to glance out the window...
Under a large, luxurious parasol, Kikyo was playing with Killua in her arms.
The moment she saw Roy looking over, the visor on her nose visibly flickered, and a complicated expression crossed her face.
"Ah... ah..."
Tiny Killua was only just born, but he was already showing uncommon talent.
He stretched out his little hands and feet, shakily propped himself up, and tried to crawl over the grass.
The moment his beautiful lake-blue eyes found Roy, he made a babbling sound and patted the ground, only to be scooped right back up by Kikyo and held carefully in her arms.
Seeing that, Roy smiled faintly, didn't stop, and turned away from the window.
He wound around the corner, walked down the corridor, and, as always, paused at the dim little room and bowed respectfully toward it.
The curtain rustled.
Then a voice came drifting softly from inside, stopping him in his tracks.
"Roy, don't be anxious about the present, and don't worry about the future."
"This old man told you before—"
"When that day really comes..."
"I'll die before you do."
Creak... creak...
The rocking chair swayed, making its usual soft sound, while the faint voices of a cartoon played somewhere inside.
Roy straightened and leaned in to look through the doorway.
The dried-up old man was rocking gently in his chair, eyes shut as if half-asleep and listening to the cartoon. When he noticed Roy looking in, he slowly opened his eyes and glanced back.
A stream of water suddenly ran through the dried-up field inside Roy's heart.
After a pause, he answered, "Mm."
"You sound half-dead. Louder," Maha said, pretending to be annoyed.
"Yes, Great-Grandfather."
Roy steadied himself, raised his voice, and answered properly.
Only then did Maha nod in satisfaction and wave a hand.
"Scram."
Roy didn't move.
Maha sat up straighter.
"You still need something?"
"Yes."
After a long silence, Roy drew in a breath and looked at the old man with deep, serious eyes.
"Great-Grandfather... I want to know how strong you are."
Know yourself and know your enemy, and you need not fear a hundred battles.
The being that had laid the curse on him was clearly a god.
How strong it was, what authorities it held—those were things Roy would inevitably have to face in the future.
But right now—
with Alluka not yet in play, and no "Adult Gon" yet—
the only person Roy had ever truly met who stood close to the level of a god...
was Maha.
Just as Father had said in the middle of the battle—
he was not human.
He was a god.
Roy stared at Maha with burning eyes.
And from a distance, he saw the old man...
slowly rise to his feet.