Chapter 250: Sloughed-off Skin of an S-Rank Creature x Gotoh: I Fight Netero?
The void vibrated, and turbulent currents grew rampant...
Suddenly, two sharp gazes shot over like lightning.
Roy's vision blurred. Having just used [Targeted Tracking] to explore a corner deep within the void, his consciousness felt like it was pricked by a needle. With a "bang," it hit a brick wall, bounced back, and was forced to return to reality...
"Buzz..." The image that had surfaced in his mind instantly collapsed without the support of his line of sight...
That faint sense of being peeped at faded away...
The void closed up... Leaving only a skeleton, an Elephant Tapir, and a shriveled old man standing blankly deep in the void, silent...
It was him... Roy!
"Hehehe..." Maha suddenly laughed. The laughter grew louder and louder, recklessly filled with gratification and delight... He cast a sidelong glance at the skeleton, picked his ear, and said, "Three to five years is truly very short~"
The ghastly green ghost fire in the skeleton's hollow eye sockets clearly flickered. It seemed to be shaking its head in laughter, or perhaps readjusting its own cognition. Its tone inevitably mixed with a bit of surprise: "Those were the exact words of my old friend back then."
The skeleton pretended not to hear the mockery in Maha's words and reminisced, "He was originally a proud fellow, and indeed had the capital to be proud. On the eve of his fall, he found me and told me exactly as it was: looking at the entire Dark Continent... even if demigods or the offspring of those Gods came, to learn his ability... it would take at least two years..."
"That is my, Maha's, great-grandson~!" Maha said with his hands on his hips.
"But you are not a God, and... you have long fallen from the altar..." The skeleton looked deeply at Maha. "I can feel that you, like me, have your divinity nearly depleted. Being able to stay alive is already a great fortune."
Maha remained silent. The skeleton's single sentence seemed to have ripped off the scabs of both of them, leaving one completely unable to find any words of refutation... The two just remained silent like this, as if they had something to say, yet as if they had said everything, everything understood without words. Until... the void vibrated, and the spatial turbulence grew increasingly furious and raging due to the intrusion of the two "bugs". Maha and the skeleton both knew it was time to part ways...
Maha stood with his hands behind his back, looking faintly at the endless void ahead, and said, "Leave your name..."
A faint sorrow spread... The old man sighed and said, "On the day you truly die, if I am still alive, tell me the address, and I will go collect your corpse."
"No need." The skeleton gently stroked the Elephant Tapir. The Elephant Tapir curled its long trunk and rubbed affectionately against him... The ghost fire in the man's hollow eye sockets leaped. Fwoosh~ It reflected the glorious years of the past. He said, "When I, Leon Zeppeli, die, I will die with my body smashed to pieces. You won't be able to collect my corpse even if you wanted to!"
"Leon Zeppeli..." Maha muttered it once, nodded silently, and then turned to leave. With one step, he shattered a surging spatial turbulence: "Since you could find your way here, I suppose I don't need to tell you anything else, Leon Zeppeli."
"If there is a next life,"
"Until we meet again!"
With a deep glow on his hands, Maha raised his hand, aimed forward, and abruptly tore again. A gap was ripped open in the void, revealing the colorful world outside filled with sunlight, a colorful world with... Zeno, Silva, Roy, and the other children...
The skeleton turned its head, faintly seeing the daylight from outside. Watching Maha take a step, half of his body already outside, he suddenly said, "You know how difficult this path is to walk. One wrong step leads to a bottomless abyss. Why do you still let the young friend walk this path?"
Maha paused, then lifted his foot and stepped out without looking back: "Young people have their own choices. We remnants of the old era shouldn't worry about them, nor... can we control them..."
Rip~ The void tore open and closed. In the solitary space, only Leon Zeppeli and his old partner remained. After a moment of daze, they turned around, put their backs to the direction Maha left, and disappeared into the deeper void...
"So, it's still good to be young... youth means everything..."
A faint, profound sigh was stirred by the spatial turbulence and completely annihilated.
Republic of Padokea, Kukuroo Mountain, Zoldyck family estate.
Ripples appeared in the void. Maha took a step out, and the suspended hearts of the Zoldyck crowd all landed safely...
"Grandpa/Great-Grandfather/Ancestor..."
"Mm." Maha landed lightly in the corridor. He gave a noncommittal nod to Zeno and Silva, then swept his old eyes around: "Where is Killua?"
"He was taken inside to be fed."
Infants do nothing but eat and sleep... With his back to the bedroom door, Maha didn't even need to deliberately turn around to know that with Kikyo there, nothing would happen to Killua. He stepped past Zeno and Silva, went straight to Roy, raised a finger, and flicked him on the forehead: "You sure are bold!"
"Looking at things you shouldn't look at, are you trying to turn the world upside down?"
Roy felt a sting on his forehead. Gripping the wooden box gifted by Leon Zeppeli in his hand, he smiled sheepishly: "I had a sudden enlightenment and couldn't control myself for a moment..."
Furthermore, everyone was worried about the old man's safety. When he could clearly see the other party through the "karmic thread" between himself and Maha using [Targeted Tracking], it would be strange if he could hold back.
"Hmph,"
"Have you learned it?"
"Mm," Roy looked deeply at the wooden box in his hand and said, "It's a very magical feeling. Just the texture attached to the surface possesses incredible power. Great-Grandfather... this wooden box is very precious..."
An A-Rank Rare Beast "Targeting Grass", with a potential status of "S". He didn't know... what level of existence it would be considered in the Dark Continent. How would it compare to... the Killer Insect that attacked Netero, or even [God]...
"If others are willing to give, just accept it with peace of mind." Maha glanced at the wooden box, a complex look flashing deep in his eyes: "It is, more or less, the sloughed-off skin of a [Demigod]. For it to reach your hands, it can be considered your capability..."
[Demigod]? Zeno and Silva exchanged a glance. Their eyes fell on the simple wooden box, their expressions serious.
Not walking the [Path of Faith] doesn't mean they don't know what [Faith] is... Harvesting the "Nen Power" of millions of believers, igniting the "Divine Fire" to become a God... Having been trained by Zzigg for so many years in [re: Game of the Dead], Silva and Zeno more or less knew some things... Plus, they occasionally heard things unintentionally from Maha's lips...
Zeno's white hair swayed. He immediately narrowed his eyes and said, "To be able to give away even something like this, Grandpa... It seems the other party values Roy quite highly."
Silva remained silent. He crossed his arms over his chest, frowning at the wooden box. His gaze moved up, settling for a moment on the thoughtful Roy. Faintly, he heard Maha say, "That's why I said, it's this brat's own capability."
The old man shoved his hands into his pockets. "Roy, come with me."
He brushed past the shoulders of Zeno and Silva, walking unhurriedly towards the stairs...
Roy looked at Zeno, looked at Silva, looked at Illumi, and with a flip of his hand, tucked the wooden box into his jacket. Under everyone's gaze, he followed behind... One old and one young, one tall and one short. On this morning filled with rosy clouds, accompanied by the red sun leaping out from the horizon, they cast two shadows, one long and one short, in the mottled and ancient stone corridor...
Whoosh~ A leisurely breeze rose, bringing the scent of birds and flowers...
Zeno stood with his hands behind his back, watching the old and young leave, and said faintly, "Silva, Killua can be the head of the family, but Grandpa's inheritance can only be inherited by Roy."
Silva remained silent, just staring absently at the boy's retreating back...
Zeno tilted his head to look at him: "Are you unconvinced?"
The man recovered his senses after a moment. Without saying a word, he pushed open the bedroom door and went to see Killua: "We'll talk when he can beat me."
Bang~ The bedroom door closed heavily.
Zeno was left facing a closed door. His gaze swept over Milluki, who had secretly slipped away, and tilted his head to glance at Illumi: "What about you?"
Illumi tucked the [Shinso Wooden Nail] safely close to his chest. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he turned and went downstairs towards the basement... Great-Grandfather was monopolized by Nii-san... he would go find Great-Great-Grandfather...
Tap... tap... The sound of footsteps echoed... Following Silva, Zeno successively watched Illumi leave, shaking his head secretly: "One after another..."
He then faded into the shadows of the corner and vanished...
It was a bright and leisurely morning at this moment. With Killua's birth, everyone dispersed. Apart from the occasional cry of an infant, the Zoldyck estate quickly returned to its usual tranquility...
Roy followed Maha step by step towards the dim little room. In his mind, he repeatedly chewed over the term [Demigod]. At a certain moment, he looked up and asked Maha, "Great-Grandfather, how strong is a [God], and how strong is a [Demigod]?"
Maha suddenly stopped his steps. Before him was the bedroom where he lingered on, intending to end his remaining life. Turning his head... he looked at Roy's youthful face, which was gradually gaining a trace of maturity, and chuckled "Hehehe..."
"Hehehe... How strong?"
"When the day comes... that Gotoh can defeat Netero,"
"You will naturally know the answer."
Roy: "..."
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