A string suspended deep within the soul suddenly throbbed...
Staring blankly down at Kurajing, she found herself momentarily choked with emotion, unable to speak.
No one was born wanting to be a servant, spending their days waiting on others. Tsubone had to admit that even she, Scarface, One-Eye, and the other older generation of servants born into the Zoldyck family had wavered at times... What was the meaning of living a life solely dedicated to serving the Zoldycks?
Because of this, she had experienced her own share of confusion in her youth. That was until one day, while serving Master Zigg dinner on the eve of his secret departure from Kukuroo Mountain to head to the Dark Continent with Netero and Linne, she suddenly heard him say: "The fact that you have such thoughts proves you are a human, not a machine that only follows orders."
Tsubone had been stunned at the time.
It wasn't until all these years later, when she met Young Master Roy and heard him speak the exact same words as Master Zigg... prioritizing being "people-oriented," regardless of whether they were a Zoldyck "butler," "maid," "gardener," or "chef"...
The old butler's two pink pigtails draped down her back. Snapping out of her daze, she reached out her large, calloused hand, placed it over Kurajing's head, and gently rubbed the girl's forehead. "Congratulations on becoming an excellent butler."
Tsubone's aged eyes hid a deep sense of reminiscence. With a touch of melancholy, she said, "Young Master Roy is worth it, you are worth it, and Gotoh is worth it too... This is wonderful... truly wonderful..."
Then, under Kurajing's dumbfounded gaze, she pushed the dining cart past the girl's shoulder, the wheels rumbling as she left the young girl alone by the window sill, lost in thought...
After a long while, the young girl snapped back to reality. She turned to watch Tsubone's tall figure disappear around the corner and smiled, a fleeting but breathtakingly beautiful smile. "Does this mean I've been acknowledged?"
And to be acknowledged by the largest, tallest, and most senior head butler in the Zoldyck butler world...
Kurajing tossed her high ponytail, pumped herself up with a "Heave-ho," and resumed her training.
"Three hundred and seventy-one... three hundred and seventy-two... three hundred and seventy-three..."
The silent counting and the soft sound of dripping sweat echoed in the pitch-black night...
Between the mountain peak and the mountainside, separated by a single ridge at the ancient Zoldyck family castle, Roy distracted himself by leaving all of Meteor City's affairs for Taiyi to handle. As usual, he checked Gotoh's status panel.
The panel displayed:
[155+1+1+1+1...]
Roy compared this to Hisoka, whom he had seen at the pale church today.
With two days left on the countdown until the butler emerged from his cocoon, his [Potential Aura] had faintly broken through to the B- rank. Presumably... in two days, when he truly came out of seclusion, he would be at least on par with Hisoka after receiving the divine protection of the [Church of Truth]...
Following a shift in his thoughts, he acutely sensed an anomaly in a certain [Thread of Karma] tied to him.
The young man quietly closed Gotoh's panel, located this [Thread of Karma], and sent a [Heart Bug] to look down to its end... He saw Illumi sitting in front of a mirror, staring blankly at his own reflection, with a bright silver wig placed on the dresser. Surprisingly, he hadn't disguised himself as Roy this time.
He didn't even realize he had allowed the [Heart Bug] to burrow into his mind.
Roy raised an eyebrow. Out of curiosity, he peeked through Illumi's mind... A scene slowly unfolded, reflecting the exact warning he had given Illumi that afternoon: "Defeat Gotoh first before you talk."
Clearly, his unintentional words had reached Illumi's ears and invisibly dealt an unimaginable... critical blow to his foolish little brother!
The corners of his mouth curled up into a smile. Following his will, the [Heart Bug] was recalled, turning into a stream of Nen that returned to his body.
'Has he finally realized the crisis?'
"Good. Only with crisis comes progress."
Roy gently stroked the back of his left hand, listening to the [Curse] ticking away his life second by second. He glanced sideways at the remaining [First Embrace] opportunity lying in his panel, took a deep breath, and flipped his hand to grab the wooden box Leon Zeppeli had given him.
Since Guzman had already laid his cards on the table, Roy naturally had no intention of sitting around waiting for death. Putting everything else aside, he had to find a way to sever the [Thread of Karma] hooked above his head!
It was because of that [Thread of Karma] that he was able to cross the barrier of Lake Mobius and appear on the island in the center of the lake.
It was also because of that [Thread of Karma] that he was granted the Nen ability [Scapegoat Doll], allowing him to repeatedly resurrect and become unkillable.
Roy thought of the [Targeted Tracking Technique]. Since the other party could [Locate] him and had some achievements in [Karma], perhaps... there was some other way to solve this problem.
Furthermore... on the day Killua was born, the mysterious skeleton's meaningful conversation with his great-grandfather explicitly and implicitly hinted at the wooden box's extraordinary nature.
Roy felt that perhaps he had still underestimated the wooden box, underestimated... the significance of Leon Zeppeli giving it to him as a birth gift!
*Buzz...* In the dead of night, a single lamp flickered dimly.
Roy sat quietly at his desk, reached out to grasp the wooden box in his palm, and, imitating his previous attempt, injected Nen into it... A glowing aura of Nen enveloped the wooden box, but this time, unlike before, no stream of information shot into his forehead.
'So, is my aura capacity still not enough?'
If one-tenth of his aura wasn't enough, then he would use one-fifth.
*Buzz...* As his Aura Nodes opened, a torrent of Nen burst forth like a broken dam, turning into an even more majestic stream that plunged into the wooden box... The wooden box vibrated, acting like a gluttonous beast that could never eat enough, and in an instant... it devoured Roy's Nen completely.
Roy frowned, then used half of his Nen... eighty percent of his Nen... until all of his Nen was poured in. Suddenly, the ceiling of his bedroom trembled from the impact, and out of nowhere, he heard Maha curse angrily: "You brat, are you trying to tear the house down?"
Only then did Roy sheepishly let the wooden box go. He resentfully apologized to Maha, washed up, and went to bed.
*Clang...* At one in the morning, the wooden grandfather clock in the corner chimed... Not long after Roy had put the wooden box away in the drawer, somewhere in the void...
A primal elephant trumpet shook the surroundings, expressing an inner restlessness...
"Leon, you scared me to death! I thought he was actually going to open Jörmungandr's slough!"
As spatial turbulence darted about, it was suddenly shattered by a thick elephant trunk. The Elephant Baku, which had already turned into an elephant corpse, actually began speaking human language. As its four legs paddled, it was clearly startled. Beside it,
The mysterious skeleton Leon Zeppeli gently stroked the Elephant Baku's massive ear. Two pale green flames suddenly ignited in his empty eye sockets, reflecting the scene of Roy attempting to open the wooden box once again. This existence... who had once stirred up storms and prevented even Ging from prying into his secrets, remained silent for a long time.
Only then did he speak with a faint sigh, "How could the older brother of the one chosen by [Ai] be anything less?"
"However," Leon Zeppeli's gaze grew distant, and the green flames in his eye sockets abruptly shifted, revealing a glimpse of the future—a scene of Alluka locked in a basement. He said profoundly, "I reckon even [Ai] itself wouldn't have expected a human from the lower realm to be this outstanding. It truly is... surprising..."
[Ai]... the [Ai] that was once a [God]... the [Ai] that had created a [Dream God Realm] through [Dream Building]... subsequently appeared in the Elephant Baku's memories. At a certain moment, it made him snort. He suddenly turned his head to look at Leon Zeppeli and asked, "Do you think [Ai] chose the Zoldycks because that person is that kid's younger sister?"
Leon Zeppeli was suddenly taken aback. The green flames in his eye sockets flickered erratically as he fell silent...
After a long while, he looked up at the boundless spatial rifts stretching endlessly and said softly, "If what you say is true, then I think Roy Zoldyck is far more extraordinary than either of us imagined!"
*Stomp...* Suddenly, a stream of spatial turbulence was crushed to pieces by the Elephant Baku's raised hoof.
The void trembled as a result, much like the hearts of the Elephant Baku and Leon Zeppeli, unable to calm down for a long time...
Meanwhile, the young man being watched,
after simply washing up again, collapsed onto his bed and fell into a deep sleep within moments.
A faint snoring sound drifted out...
His consciousness submerged.
Accompanying his deep sleep, Roy, as usual, passed through the [Gate of Cognition] and arrived in his [Cognitive World]. Upon entering, he saw two small dream vortexes slowly spinning beside the colorful dream passage, waiting for his summons.
Roy briefly calculated the time. It would take another night before he needed to preach to Vanessa and Old Kohler, so he let them set up the idol and pray to him for now. He stepped into the dream passage and appeared on the boundless blue sea.
*Crash...* The waves beat against the shore, the tide rising and falling.
Several ancient doors stood permanently in a line... The silver-haired young man simply rolled up his pant legs and waded through the seawater, letting the moisture wash over his heart. He walked past the [Naruto Gate], the [Shinigami Gate], the [Cartoon Gate with a Blue Cat Pendant], and the intricately patterned [Dark Continent Gate], finally stopping in front of the very first door he had opened—the [Demon Slayer Gate]. He paused silently for three breaths, then reached out, pushed the door open, and walked inside.
Close your eyes and open them, a day has passed. Close your eyes and never open them, a lifetime has passed.
Muzan was dead, and the sky was clear and bright... Roy took a step from the dream into reality, slowly opening his eyes to see... a bright, sunny day.
*Whoosh...* A gust of mountain wind blew past, causing his fiery red hair to dance wildly in the air.
At this very moment, descending upon this world once again as Eiichiro Kamado, countless emotions, memories, and longings surged into his heart. In an instant, all the frustration and suppression in Roy's heart vanished, replaced by an indescribable sense of ease and joy.
This joy stemmed from Muzan's death, the eradication of demons, and humanity's victory, but mostly... it was the eagerness to return home.
The young man paused in the woods, opened his arms, and let his Nen surge. Through [Reverse Conjuration], he grasped several boxes of medicine in his hand and stuffed them into his clothes. With a movement of his feet, he instantly transformed into light.
Patrolling the mountain forest along with the sunlight, it didn't take long before he heard the sound of chopping wood and saw a woodcutter.
That person was also a young boy, possessing the same fiery red hair as him. The mark on his forehead was visible but not hideous; instead, it added a touch of endearing innocence. As the axe in his hand swung, wood chips flew. Beneath his feet, a partially carbonized piece of firewood that had been struck by lightning snapped cleanly, the cut as smooth as a mirror, undoubtedly demonstrating—
The boy possessed excellent swordsmanship!
"Chopping wood, are we..." The wind blew, the sunlight was warm, and the snow was melting. Roy stepped out from the sunlight, landing lightly behind the boy, and spoke with a smile.
The boy, who was wiping the fine sweat from his forehead, visibly stiffened. The axe in his hand dropped with a clatter. He turned his head stiffly, and upon clearly seeing Roy's face, a massive wave of surprise suddenly appeared in his eyes, making him uncontrollably shout out in excitement: "Brother!"
Following that, he took a huge leap and bounded onto Roy, wrapping his arms around Roy's neck just like when he was little. His mouth puckered, on the verge of tears.
"Brother... it's you... it's really you... you're back..."
Roy gently stroked the boy's forehead with one hand, took a deep breath, and said, "Yes, I'm back."
"You've grown taller too, Tanjiro."
"Not as tall as you, Brother. Nezuko, Takeo, Shigeru, Hanako, Father, Mother, and Grandma—we all saw it. You flew up into the sky!"
Tanjiro gestured excitedly, spit flying as he recounted... how on the day Roy killed Muzan Kibutsuji, his body and will united, his soul briefly leaving his body to merge with the great sun. He was so spirited and majestic that the people of the world fell to their knees, proclaiming the manifestation of a miracle... Roy neither refuted nor confirmed it.
He just listened and watched with a smile, savoring this long-lost warmth. With Tanjiro still hanging onto him, he picked up the basket full of firewood with one hand and slowly carried him. Just like when they were young, taking deep and shallow steps through the snow-covered forest across the mountains, forging a path home.
"Brother, I should get down,"
Perhaps he was tired of talking, or perhaps the excitement had passed, or perhaps he had grown up and realized it wasn't good to keep hanging onto his older brother like a child.
Tanjiro felt embarrassed to stay hanging on Roy and struggled to get down. However, Roy's arm was surprisingly strong, holding him as effortlessly as if he were air. Feigning anger, Roy glared at him and asked, "Am I still your brother?"
"Yes."
"Are you still my younger brother?"
"Yes."
"Then be good and listen."
"Okay."
Tanjiro lowered his eyes and, just like when he was little, rested peacefully on Roy's back. He let Roy carry the basket with one hand as they slowly and steadily advanced deeper into the woods.
It didn't take long,
before they saw curling smoke from a chimney, along with a couple, several children, and an old woman living in a courtyard formed by wooden cabins arranged in a triangular shape.
It slowly appeared over the horizon...
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