His brows furrowed involuntarily...
Killua saw this, slipped on his slippers, and got out of bed, noticing Roy's sudden change in expression. Worrying he might throw the child,
he hurriedly reached out to take Killua back from Roy's arms. Then he looked up at Roy, wanting to say something, his lips moved... suddenly seeing...
A tall figure came to the bedroom door, glanced at her from afar, signaling her to keep silent,
only then did Killua hold his tongue, and upon seeing Silva, she quietly breathed a sigh of relief...
"Ding~" At ten o'clock in the evening, the wooden grandfather clock in the corner struck to announce the hour...
Silva, having just finished stretching his body, intended to sleep in the study tonight. At a certain point, he seemed to feel something and immediately,
jumped off the chair, wiping his body with a towel he tore at randomly, and then... walked out of the study in a vigorous stride, returning to the bedroom.
"Buzz..." The chandelier hanging from the ceiling softly emitted a gentle halo...
Quiet filled the second-floor bedroom at this moment,
after raising a finger to stop Killua's attempt to disturb Roy, the man found himself a place on the sofa, leaning his head on his right hand, silently accompanying Killua, watching Roy,
The young man's brows were tightly knitted, desperately chasing that fleeting inspiration. Like a meditating monk, but his body like a willow tree, suddenly facing the warm spring, sprouting countless threads... connecting myriad "lines of cause and effect" at the end linking with all kinds of different people...
There were relatives, such as the Zoldyck Family, the Kamado Family, the Uchiha Family...
There were masters and seniors, such as Urokodaki Sakonji, Sabito, Makomo, Shinsuke, Fukuda...
There were followers, like Wutong, Ubuyashiki, the Nine Hashira, the Uchiha along with the spiders, Winnie, Old Keller, as well as enemies, friends...
Such as Guzman, Ging, Netero, Razor, and... various people, men and women, old and young, who appeared in his life, even strangers who he only passed once on the road...
All were pinned by Roy onto the "Willow of Cause and Effect" representing "Cause and Effect"...
Gradually... Roy finally relentlessly pursued that strand of inspiration, a strand from the ties of blood, an inspiration he should have valued yet always ignored—
"Cause and Effect," or... the "Cause and Effect Blade"!
'Just like Itachi's Mangekyo controlling Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi,'
'Sasuke's Mangekyo controlling Life,'
'Obito's Mangekyo controlling Kamui,'
'My Mangekyo should control Cause and Effect, just as the sun can reveal filth, I too can use Cause and Effect to sever the "self" or "existence" from the lives of those connected with me by lines of cause and effect!'
"Buzz..." A hint of blood-red slowly crawled out of Roy's pupils, only for a moment, it quickly dissipated as he came to his senses and erased it...
The young man's lips held a faint smile, in an instant grasping the direction his Mangekyo should lead him... he reached out to pat Killua's little head, speaking with no small expectation: "Killua, grow up quickly,"
"Everything you gifted your brother today, he'll remember..."
"When you're a bit older, I'll take you to the skies..."
"Twirl... twirl..." Killua snuggled in Killua's arms, looking at Roy in confusion, opened his mouth "Ha-chomp~" and started gnawing on his fingers.
Seeing this, Roy laughed heartily, the confusion dissipating as he turned around, clarity returning as he walked away...
Before leaving the room, he was leisurely called back by Silva's words: "Aren't you going to say goodnight?"
"We'll see each other tomorrow morning, why bother with goodnight?" Roy paused, turning his head to glance at Silva.
The man's silver hair draped like a lion's mane behind his head, said expressionlessly: "I thought you'd say something."
Roy raised a fist, grinning boldly at Silva: "I think it's more useful than words!"
"Hohoho... hahaha..." Silva suddenly laughed, starting suppressed, then raising his volume in the middle, ending with unabashed, hearty laughter... shaking the house, only subsiding after quite a while!
The man waved his hand,
The young man nodded, no longer lingering,
With another glance, stepped into the moonlight, flickering out of sight, leaving only the bedroom door closing with a "creak~" in the wind,
Silently,
Separating the man and the young man, father and son, into two worlds!
"Um... the new era is coming..." Leisurely, an enlarged ear, silently retracted as the door closed...
In a dim yellow room on the first floor of the Zoldyck Family castle,
An old dried-up man muttered, turned over, intentionally or unintentionally kicking off the blanket covering him, leaving a dry wrinkled belly exposed in the moonlight, being glanced at by a misty figure of a woman, helplessly picking up the blanket to cover him again, just like in the youth...
"Yes, the new era is coming..." Betty Zoldyck, her blonde hair tied in a ponytail draped behind her, sat next to Maha in a rocking chair, her body swaying with the chair, watched as Roy walked to his bedroom,
At a certain moment, noticing again,
The young man, as usual, stopped by the window outside the room, standing still, respectfully bowing to her and Maha,
Betty Zoldyck's lips formed a kind smile, then watched Roy leave, just as she once watched Jager, her eyes filled with indescribable tenderness...
"Good child, they're all good children... Jager was great, Zeno and Silva too, now... it's also his turn... Roy..."
"Hehehe..." "Creak~" The rocking chair swayed,
An old dried-up man, eyes closed, half-asleep, chuckled, contentedly reaching out a hand towards Betty's rear... suddenly receiving a woman's sharp glance, getting his hand slapped down...
"Showing not a shred of decency in front of the children!"
"Do you want to die!"
"That won't do, the old man can't die yet," Maha slowly opened his eyes, within which thunder flashed, deeply said: "At least... not before I see that child slay a god,"
"I can't fall..."
Betty: "..."
Her face darkened, she fell silent...
A moment later, she took Maha's hand, placing it on her hip, then... leaned into his embrace,
Just like before, drawing circles with a finger on his not-so-broad chest...
Outside the window, separated by a wall,
Roy bent and straightened his waist, noticing this scene, stopped to gaze for a moment, then turned to leave...
"Tap... tap..." The footsteps faded... past the dim yellow room, past the corner, past the ancient corridor imbued with the breath of time, approaching his bedroom,
Roy paused his steps,
Looking up, noticing a pale figure leaning against his bedroom wall, hands in their pockets, waiting, already not knowing... for how long...
"I can't sleep," Illumi, with smooth black hair falling at his waist, hearing footsteps, turned with hollow eyes towards Roy, said: "So, I came to see you."
"Is that so?" Roy moved again, walking to the boy's side, brushing past Illumi's shoulder, pushed open the room door and went in, without looking back, said: "It's me getting hit tomorrow, not you, why are you nervous?"
Illumi said nothing, just silently followed Roy, plopping down on his chair, arms draped over the chair arms, staring straight at Roy said: "You know, father won't hold back."
"So, you're afraid I'll be beaten to death?"
Illumi remained silent,
Roy didn't mind him, summoned Jinx, letting it roll on the bed, prepared to get a simple nap before dawn broke, conserving energy and focus, adjusting the bedding he said: "Don't worry, I'm not that easy to kill, nor as fragile as you think, rather it's you,"
"Worry more about yourself, don't sit idle and get surpassed by Wutong..."
Illumi: "You don't have to humiliate me."
Roy finished tidying up the bed, looked back seriously at Illumi: "I'm stating a fact."
Illumi: "..."
Oh well,
"When he wakes up, I'll go kill him!"