Chapter 46: The First Clash x Roy's Psychological Warfare
"You're here."
"Yes, I'm here."
"You seem confident."
"And what if I wasn't?" Roy unsheathed his sword, looking deeply at Silva. "Would you go easy on me because of it, Father?"
"No. I would only be harder on you." The hand Silva had been using to toy with the soft whip paused. He rose to his full height, and with his movement, a torrent of killing intent, like a raging ocean, roared and surged toward Roy.
Roy gripped Snow-Walker with both hands, remembering Sakonji Urokodaki's teachings. His feet were rooted to the floor as if they had grown into it, unmoving, while his thick black hair was blown back, flying wildly in the gale!
He could barely keep his eyes open.
Zzzt~ An electric arc flickered. The security camera in the corner glowed with a red light, quickly transmitting the feed.
Early that morning, Kikyo was propping herself up by the waist as she got out of bed. With Tsubone attending to her, she was having her morning tea. A few meters away, outside the window, Milluki was dressed in a Lolita skirt, lying on his back in the garden with his belly exposed. An attendant butler was diligently applying ointment to him.
A few curious butterflies fluttered by. As they neared the training room, they slammed into what seemed to be an invisible wall, dropping one after another to the ground.
Illumi saw it clearly: they had been stunned unconscious by the overwhelmingly powerful killing intent.
At that moment, the wind rushing into the room ceased. The shadow of a whip cracked, shattering the "air" with a deafening SNAP! as it lashed out abruptly toward Roy's chest.
Fast... too fast. It was so fast that Illumi had only glanced away at the butterflies for a second, and by the time he looked back, the whip was already upon Roy!
Snake Awakens?
With his improved Physique, Roy's own 'Snake Awakens' had officially entered the Proficient level. He had activated Gyo the moment he stepped into Silva's field of killing intent, so he could faintly see that this strike from his father's whip carried a trace of the 'Snake Awakens' technique.
Or perhaps... just as Sakonji Urokodaki had said of swordsmanship, the blade is merely an extension of the arm. In the same way, the whip was an extension of Silva's arm. A flick of the whip was a hand-blade strike. If it connected, it would do far more than just tear off a layer of skin.
Closer!
Roy could already smell the grim, murderous aura emanating from the whip!
He remained calm, telling himself to hold his nerve. Gripping Snow-Walker with both hands, just as he did for his daily 'Ten Thousand Swings' in the snowy world, he assumed an iaijutsu stance. At the precise instant the tip of the whip was about to strike his chest, he brought his blade down in a furious vertical slash!
CLANG—!
The tip of the blade scraped against the air, letting out a piercing shriek. Snow-Walker carved a perfect arc, striking faster despite being launched later, and accurately intercepted the soft whip, keeping it from his chest.
BOOM—! A mountainous force crashed into him. The assault didn't pause for a single moment despite Roy's block. It was only interrupted for a fraction of a second before the force slammed heavily into his chest.
Roy felt as if he had been hit by a hundred-ton truck. Snow-Walker was nearly ripped from his grasp as his entire body was sent flying backwards, crossing the nearly ten-meter-long corridor and smashing solidly into the stone wall at the corner!
Crack... crack... The stone wall fractured in a spiderweb pattern with him at the center!
Intense pain washed over him. As Roy slid down the wall, a trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. It was clear: with a single blow, his internal organs had been damaged.
"Why didn't you dodge?"
The subject of today's test was—Zetsu.
The primary strength of Zetsu was to conceal one's aura and enhance the five senses. Using Zetsu to evade attacks was exactly what Roy should have been doing.
"Why should I dodge?" Roy wiped the blood from his lips and tightened his grip on Snow-Walker, retorting, "Since you are testing me, Father."
"It's only natural that I measure you in return. It's... a basic courtesy."
Liar... you just want to fight back. Illumi shrewdly retreated deeper into the corner. He thought of himself as a venomous snake, coiled in the shadows, his two empty eyes locked onto Roy. He appeared expressionless, but his mind was in turmoil, far from the calm he projected.
From a young age, they had been taught that an assassin is not a brute. You only accept jobs you can complete; you turn down the ones you can't. To foolishly accept a mission beyond your capabilities was to seek death.
And in Illumi's eyes, Roy was seeking death.
"Do you think you're immortal? Or do you think that just because you are my son, I won't use lethal force?"
Silva had noticed it too, his gaze on Roy turning ice-cold.
Roy remained silent. In truth, he simply hated the feeling of being hit without being able to strike back.
When facing an enemy, even if it is your father, you must defeat him fair and square. Roy had to admit, he had deceived Sakonji Urokodaki. He knew that at his current stage, he was no match for Silva. But the thought of scurrying around like a cornered rat was something he could never accept.
At the very least, I have to try and touch the hem of his clothes.
Ignoring both Silva's question and Illumi's presence, Roy activated Zetsu. By closing his aura nodes and heightening his five senses, he focused his eyes, and with a step of his mastered 'Shadow Step', he abruptly vanished before Illumi's very eyes!
WHOOSH—! A whirlwind suddenly kicked up in the training room. When he reappeared, dozens of Roys, each holding Snow-Walker with their sun-and-mountain earrings swaying, leaped before Silva and brought their blades down in another vertical slash!
"Sun Breathing, First Form: Dance!"
Fwoosh~ The tips of the blades ignited from friction with the air, carving dozens of circular rings of fire as they sliced downwards.
Silva's nostrils flared. He could practically feel the wave of heat on his face. The corner of his mouth curled into a cold arc.
"Combining Zetsu with Shadow Step and Rhythm Echo is indeed a decent choice. However..."
"...only your 'Shadow Step' is barely passable."
The man was as immovable as a mountain. With no discernible movement other than a flick of his wrist, he lashed out with the whip again. This time, it was accompanied by numerous howling gusts of wind, faster and more ferocious than the first strike. In an instant, countless afterimages of the whip appeared, so many that Illumi's eyes blurred trying to follow them.
Thwip... thwip... thwip... One after another, the images of Roy were whipped away into nothingness. Only one remained, and he was sent flying backwards once again, crashing through a window and landing in the garden below.
Milluki, who had been playing dead, was jolted awake. He shot up into a sitting position and stared blankly at Roy, who had collapsed on the ground. A line of snot dripped unceremoniously from his right nostril.
"Young Master!" The butler, ever perceptive, scooped him up and scurried to the side.
Back in the training room, Silva stood with his back to the shattered window. "Continue," he said in a low, resonant voice.
At that moment, Illumi peered out again. Underneath the willow tree that had witnessed the rise and fall of several Zoldyck generations, a figure was staggering back to its feet, using a sword for support.
He was a battered mess. His forehead had even been cut by the glass, leaving a nasty gash from which fresh blood gushed, staining half of his face red.
"Cough, cough... That was a heavy one, Father. How about we make a deal..."
"You surrender voluntarily, and we'll just call it even this time..."
"Heh heh... a cunning little brat, trying to play mind games with his own old man..." In the dimly lit room, the old man rocked back and forth in his chair, thoroughly enjoying the show.
Beside him stood Zeno, his En fully activated.