The void trembles, currents swirling....
Suddenly, two sharp gazes shoot out like lightning,
Roy blinks, having just used [Target Tracking] to glimpse into a corner of the void, his consciousness pricked like a needle, crashing into a southern wall with a "bang", rebounding back, forced to return to reality......
"Buzz..." The image in his mind collapses instantly without the support of vision....
The faint sense of being watched vanishes....
The void closes... leaving only a skeleton, an elephant-baku, and an old man in silence, deep within the void....
It's him... Roy!
"Heh heh heh....." Maha suddenly laughed, his laughter growing louder, filled with comfort and satisfaction... He glanced askance at the skeleton, dug at his ear and said, "Three or five years is really short~"
The ghost fire in the skeleton's hollow eye socket clearly shifted, as if shaking its head in amused disbelief, or readjusting its understanding, with a hint of astonishment in its tone: "Those are the exact words of my old friend,"
The skeleton pretended not to hear the mockery in Maha's words, reminiscing: "He was a proud fellow, and indeed had the grounds for pride. On the eve of his fall, he found me and told me words for word, that throughout the entire Dark Continent... even if demi-gods or the offspring of gods came, to learn his abilities... it would take them at least two years...."
"That's my grandson, Maha~!" Maha said, hands on his hips.
"But you're not a god, moreover... you've long fallen from the altar...." The skeleton looked deeply at Maha: "I can feel that you, like me, are nearly devoid of divinity, just being alive is a great fortune."
Maha was silent, the skeleton's words seemed to uncover wounds for both of them, there was no room for retort....
The two remained silent, as if something needed to be said, yet it seemed everything had been, all was understood without words, until... the void's turmoil, and the chaotic space currents intensified due to the intrusion of two "insects", their fiery anger becoming ever more violent, both Maha and the skeleton knew it was time to part.....
Maha stood with his hands behind his back, looking into the endless void ahead, and said: "Leave your name.... "
A faint sadness spread... The old man sighed and said: "When the day you truly die comes, if I'm still alive, tell me your location, I'll come bury you."
"No need." The skeleton gently petted the elephant-baku, as it rolled up its long trunk and affectionately nudged over... the flicker of ghost fire in the hollow eye sockets illuminated the former crackling years, he said: "I, Leon Zeibelin, will die shattered, there's no way you can bury me!"
"Leon Zeibelin....." Maha muttered the name once, nodding silently, turning to leave, stepping forth to shatter a surging spatial current: "For you to find me, I'm sure you don't need me to tell you anything more, Leon Zeibelin..."
"If there's a next life,"
"We'll meet again!"
With a hand radiating faint light, Maha raised his hand, tearing a rift in the void ahead, revealing a colorful world filled with sunlight beyond, a world with... Zeno, Silva, Roy, and several other children....
The skeleton turned its head, vaguely seeing the daylight outside, watching Maha step out, half of his body already across, he suddenly asked: "You know how difficult this path is to tread, one misstep and it's an abyss, why let the young one take this path?"
Maha paused, then stepped again, not turning back as he exited: "The young have their own choices, we remnants of the old era, we should not worry about them, nor... do we have a say..."
"Riiiip~" the void closed again, in the desolate space, only Leon Zeibelin and his old companion were left, after being stunned for a moment, they turned and headed deeper into the void away from where Maha departed....
"So, it's still good to be young... youth means everything...."
A deep sigh sentiment was scattered and vanished after being churned by the space current.
....
At Kukuroo Mountain in the Republic of Padokea, the Zoldyck Family headquarters,
The void rippled, Maha stepped out, and the hearts of the Zoldyck family members that were suspended, collectively settled....
"Grandfather/Great-grandfather/Ancestor...."
"Mm." Maha lightly landed in the corridor, nonchalantly nodding at Zeno and Silva, his old eyes sweeping over: "Where's Killua?"
"Being carried in for feeding."
Babies do little but eat and sleep... Maha stood with his back to the bedroom door, even without intentionally turning to look, he knew with Killua there, no problem would arise, stepping past Zeno and Silva, he came directly in front of Roy, raising a finger, he tapped it against Roy's forehead: "You're really brave!"
"Even things that shouldn't be seen must be seen, is that what it takes to cause upheaval?"
Roy felt a throbbing pain on his forehead, clutching the wooden box given by Leon Zeppelin, he chuckled awkwardly: "I had a sudden insight and lost control for a moment...."
Moreover, everyone was worried about the old man's safety. Clearly, one could see the other through the "causal thread" with Maha using the [Target Tracking Technique]. To hold back would indeed be strange.
"Hmph,"
"Have you mastered it?"
"Yes," Roy looked deeply at the wooden box in his hand, saying: "It's a miraculous feeling, even the patterns on its surface possess incredible power. Great-grandfather... this wooden box is very precious...."
The A-class Rare Beast "Target Grass," with a potential rank of "S," who knows... what its status is in the Dark Continent, compared to the... Sand Worm that attacked Netero, or even the [Divine].....
"If others are willing to give, then accept it with ease," Maha glanced at the wooden box, a complex look flashing deep within his eyes: "After all, it's the remains of a [Demigod], for it to end up in your hands is also your ability...."
[Demigod]? Zeno and Silva exchanged a glance, their gazes falling on the ancient wooden box with solemn expressions,
Not walking the [Path of Faith] doesn't mean not knowing what [Faith] is... capturing the "Nen" of countless believers, igniting the "Divine Fire" to become a god... Both Silva and Zeno, having been tutored by Jager for so many years in the [Re: Game of the Dead], know a few things... and have occasionally overheard some things from Maha....
Zeno with his white hair dancing in the wind, squinted and said: "To give away something like this, grandfather... it seems they hold Roy in high regard."
Silva remained silent, arms crossed, frowning as he looked at the wooden box, his gaze rising momentarily to linger on the contemplative Roy, hearing Maha faintly say: "That's why I said, it's this brat's own ability."
The old man thrust his hands into his pockets, "Roy, come with me."
Moving past Zeno and Silva's shoulders, neither quick nor slow, heading towards the stairway.....
Roy glanced at Zeno, then Silva, and gave Illumi a look, pocketing the wooden box under everyone's gaze, following closely... an old and a young, a tall and a short, at this dawn filled with morning glow, with the rising sun on the horizon, in the mottled ancient stone corridor, casting two shadows neither long nor short....
"Whoosh~" A gentle breeze arose, carrying the scent of birdsong and flowers.....
Zeno, with hands behind his back, witnessing the old and young departing, quietly said: "Silva, Killua can become the Patriarch, but grandfather's inheritance can only be passed on to Roy."
Silva remained silent, just staring in a daze at the young back disappearing into the distance.....
Zeno turned to look at him: "Are you dissatisfied?"
The man returned to his senses momentarily, said nothing, directly pushed open the bedroom door, and went to see Killua: "Let's talk when he can defeat me."
"Bang~" The bedroom door slammed shut.
Zeno faced a cold door, his sight passing over the sneaking Milluki, then turned to Illumi: "And you?"
Illumi tucked the [Divine Spear's wooden nail] close to his heart, put his hand in his pocket, and went downstairs toward the basement... great-grandfather was occupied by Nissan... he's going to find great-great-grandfather.....
"Step... step....." Footsteps echoed... Zeno, after Silva, watched Illumi depart, shaking his head secretly: "Every one of them......"
He then vanished into the shadow at the corner of the wall....
Evolving into a bright morning, as Killua was born, everyone dispersed, the Zoldyck Family, besides occasional cries of a baby, quickly returned to its usual tranquility.....
Roy followed Maha step by step into the dim small room, his mind repeatedly chewing over the term [Demigod], at a certain moment, he raised his eyes to ask Maha: "Great-grandfather, how powerful is a [Divine], and how powerful is a [Demigod]?"
Maha suddenly halted, standing before his dingy bedroom where he intended to end his days, turning back... observing Roy's face, which slowly revealed a hint of maturity amid youth, he chuckled.....
"Heh heh heh... how powerful?"
"Once... Wutong can defeat Netero,"
"You will know the answer."
Roy: "....."