"Oh? An extendable longsword?"
The sharp edge danced at his throat.
Silva raised an eyebrow, his gaze dropping to the Kusanagi Sword.
He allowed the boundless, blood-red space to submerge him, passively accepting the forced infusion of numerous negative emotions—loneliness, oppression, despair, pain—as if he felt nothing.
Curiously, he extended a finger to test the Kusanagi Sword's sharpness.
"Swish!" A cold light flashed. His finger, which even a bullet couldn't graze, was severed at the knuckle, cut cleanly in two. It was so sharp it was unbelievable!
"Forgot to remind you, Duo Sang. My sword is very fast." It killed without staining, the blade as smooth as a mirror, untouched by dust.
Unlike Sasuke's Kusanagi Sword, which was enhanced by Lightning Style to increase its power and sharpness, the one Sean held had been originally refined by Orochimaru, focusing on the characteristics of "extension" and "surprise." Now in his hands, it had been infused with the [Wind] characteristic, renowned for its penetration. Its power was naturally incomparable to ordinary swords.
"It is indeed sharp!" Silva nodded in appreciation. His gaze shifted, settling back on Sean's evolved Mangekyo Sharingan. He smiled playfully. "The pain tells me it seems to be real. But... you're trying to trap me with a mere ordinary illusion, not even Tsukuyomi?"
"Son, I'll say the same thing to you: why the hurry?"
Surging Nen erupted. Silva stomped his foot, and the blood-red space shattered like a spiderweb. The crows cried out in alarm, flapping away and dropping a few black feathers.
The rays of the setting sun spilled onto Silva's face.
The current head of the Zoldyck family held up his unharmed right hand and squinted at Sean, smiling. "Nice illusion, nice sword. Too bad they're both fake. If it were someone whose mind wasn't strong enough, they might have really been trapped by you until they died."
"It's just a pity," Silva said, his hands in his pockets, his expression flat as he looked at Sean. "Son, your father is still your father."
"You picked the wrong target to use an illusion on!"
"Mm. A very good summary. As expected of Duo Sang." Sean smiled at Silva. "But there's one point I think you misunderstood—"
"Who told you the sword was fake?"
"Swish!" The young man flicked his wrist. The longsword instantly extended, grazing Silva's ear, and shot toward the large tree behind him, piercing it clean through!
"KRACHA!" The tree groaned, unable to bear the force, and was split down the center by the sharp blade. It crashed to the ground with a *RUMBLE*.
Dust billowed. Silva's eyelid twitched uncontrollably. He glanced at the Kusanagi Sword. The extendable longsword was identical to the one he had seen in the illusion. So—
"What you think is fake isn't necessarily fake, and what you think is real isn't necessarily real, Duo Sang." Sean retracted the Kusanagi Sword with a smirk. The ten-meter-long blade, as if sentient, shrank at Sean's thought and disappeared into his body.
"I don't mind if you laugh, Duo Sang, but in my eyes... you're no different from those 'other people' you mentioned."
"Perhaps the only difference is that you know I'm your son. From the very start, you were certain I wouldn't have the intent to kill you. That's why you didn't take my illusion seriously. But..." The evening breeze blew, rustling the boy's bangs.
Sean paced to Silva's side and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "On the day of our agreement, please believe me—"
"I will come to kill you with the determination to die trying."
Silva: "..."
He froze, watching blankly as Sean brushed past his shoulder and disappeared into the forest. He didn't snap back to reality for a long time.
Noticing this scene...
In Sean's room, Maha laughed and cursed, "Hey, that brat. He really dares?"
He backhanded Zeno. "Look at the fine grandson *you* raised! Patricide, parricide... after he kills you, is it my turn?"
'Why the f*ck am I the one who raised him? I haven't even met the brat yet!'
Grandpa Zeno's mouth twitched. He refused to take the blame. "Grandpa, is it possible... Sean has mastered the 'Impure World Reincarnation' technique?"
"Look how confident he is. He's clearly not afraid of killing Silva."
"You bastard! You finally grew a dog's brain!" Maha's eyes widened. He suddenly got it. He paced excitedly back and forth by the window.
No wonder the brat wasn't afraid to talk tough!
"It's good that he mastered it. That's great! This way, he can kill your father without any hesitation!"
Zeno: "..."
'On behalf of my dad, f*cking thank you.'
"Ahem." The "One Kill Per Day, Active Duty for Life" sign on his chest swayed in the wind. Zeno glanced at Maha. The old man was pacing so much he was making him dizzy. He couldn't help but cough dryly to remind him, "Grandpa, don't say I didn't remind you... have you thought about how you're going to *beg* Sean?"
"All these years, you've been mooching off him, eating his food, drinking his drinks... asking him for a favor now won't be easy."
"Beg?" Maha backhanded Zeno again, cursing, "That's *your* father! *His* great-grandfather!"
"Saving his great-grandfather... isn't that his duty as a great-grandson?"
"Yes. Yes. Yes. Just tell him that when the time comes. If he refuses, beat him up. Beat him until he agrees!"
"Beat him up? So he can rip off my coffin lid again?" Maha shot Zeno a sidelong glance. "I thought you'd finally gotten smart, but now I see... still just a dog-brain!"
"Get out! Get the hell out of here now!"
"When you can think of a good plan, then you can roll back in!"
He launched a flying kick. The gradually darkening sky had one more shooting star than usual.
At the same time...
In the silent forest, as Sean departed, the crimson that had been reflected in Illumi and Killua's pupils quietly faded.
The illusion was released. Killua, still in his innocent years, woke up drowsily. He only felt that for a moment, sleepiness had overcome him, and he had returned to his infancy, nestled in his mother Kikyo's arms, taking a nice nap. It was one of the few beautiful moments in his short life. It was just a pity...
He didn't seem to sleep long. A snot bubble popped, and he woke up. He rubbed his sleepy eyes and looked up at the sky.
"Eh? Dad, look! A shooting star?!"
Just then, Zeno flew past, crashing into the sunset's afterglow. Silva heard the noise, snapped back to reality, and glanced over. His mouth twitched. He didn't need to think to know that his father had pissed off his grandfather again.
He said helplessly, "That's not a shooting star. That's your grandpa."
"Ah?" Killua's jaw dropped. "Is Grandpa okay? Why is he always flying?"
"Dad... when I grow up, can I fly like Grandpa?"
The words of a child are the most unfiltered. Silva rubbed Killua's little head. "People can't fly."
"Your grandpa is fine. But..."
"Your brother... seems to have a problem."
Noticing Illumi's strange state, Silva reached out a hand and patted his shoulder. "Wake up."
Illumi's body trembled. He snapped awake and lunged at Silva, hugging him tightly. "Dad... I deserve to die! I killed Killua!"
"It was me! I killed him with a pin!"
"Waaah I swear I didn't mean to! I just wanted to seal his aura, stop him from learning Nen so early... I didn't expect to kill him!"
"I deserve to die! Dad, kill me... kill me! I don't want to live! Waaah..."
Tears and snot poured, covering Silva.
The current Zoldyck family head and the designated next Zoldyck family head: "..."
They were utterly stunned. Dumbfounded.
'Is this the Illumi I know?'
'Sean, what the hell did you show him in that illusion?!'