Alluka's face remained twisted into that dark, ink-like caricature. The entity was still waiting for a wish. Yet, with Killua holding its hand, it did not seem to be in any rush. The oppressive night air hung entirely still.
Tsubone moved like a sudden gust of wind. In moments, she vanished toward the butler quarters and returned, placing a fresh set of pens and a crisp notepad on the ground in front of Liam.
Liam was currently holding the sides of his head with both hands, looking entirely ridiculous, as if he could not spare a finger to write.
Zeno stepped forward. With a dry expression, he raised his hands and clapped them together sharply. The sudden noise startled Liam, causing his arms to flail open. Liam immediately dropped into a frantic squat, his hands grasping at the air around his knees as if desperately trying to catch his falling head.
Killua jumped back in alarm. But a second later, he realized Liam's head was still firmly attached to his neck, completely safe and sound.
Could this guy actually be immortal? The thought crossed the minds of every Zoldyck present.
"Are you seriously still making jokes right now?" Killua snapped, his voice tight with lingering stress.
Liam laughed, brushing dirt off his knees. He picked up the pen and notepad, sitting down cross-legged in front of the dark-faced entity. "Let me think about how to word this," Liam muttered to himself. He looked up at Nanika. "Do not worry. My wish is just to ask you some questions. It is a bit complicated, so I am going to write them down on this paper and let you answer them. Anything else I say out loud does not count as the wish, alright? Let us get that straight first."
Although Nanika was a mysterious, wish-granting entity, she was not incapable of understanding context. She could converse with Killua and even shed tears of grievance. She clearly understood Liam's clarification, but the request was unusually specific.
Nanika slowly turned her hollow eyes toward Killua.
Killua reached out and gently stroked Nanika's hair. He gave a reassuring nod.
Taking the cue, Nanika maintained her eerie, quiet dignity, waiting obediently for Liam to write.
All the Zoldycks and the remaining butlers stared intently at Liam, watching his pen hover over the paper.
"There are way too many people staring at me," Liam complained, tapping the pen against his chin.
Kikyo wordlessly raised a hand.
Like shadows scattering before a light, Tsubone and the other butlers vanished into the surrounding forest. In the blink of an eye, the clearing was empty of servants.
"Even with them gone, I cannot focus with you all breathing down my neck," Liam sighed.
Killua stared at him in disbelief. "Do you actually think you are an invited guest here?"
Liam scribbled a few words on the pad, then looked up. "It might be a bit shameless to ask, but I really need to fill out this questionnaire alone with Alluka."
"Unbelievably shameless," Killua muttered.
"Stop dreaming," Kikyo added coldly.
Before the argument could escalate, a strange, high-pitched, and ancient voice echoed around them. "Bring him and the child back to the isolation room."
Killua, Kikyo, and Illumi whipped their heads around, searching for the source. Silva and Zeno immediately looked behind Liam.
A very short, bald old man with deep bags under his eyes was standing there. His hands were tucked casually into his coat pockets. He had walked out of the thick shadows without making a single sound. He glanced down at Liam, who had only managed to write a few sloppy words.
"Great-great-grandfather?" Killua breathed out, shocked.
"But, Great-grandfather," Kikyo started, her voice laced with panic. "Are you really going to let him and Alluka be alone in—"
"Do not worry," the short old man interrupted, his voice slow and grating. "I will keep an eye on him in the room." He paused, his drooping eyes shifting to Killua. "And Killua will be watching as well."
"Oh. Right," Killua stammered. He tightened his grip on Nanika's cold hand and nodded. "Okay."
Liam felt every single hair on the back of his neck stand up. Was this ancient man the final guardian of the Twelve Palaces? Was this Maha Zoldyck, or perhaps Zigg? When did he even get here? Liam had not sensed a single ripple of aura. The passive protection of his Star Mark had not even triggered a warning!
If this old man was Zigg, he was the legend who had explored the Dark Continent with Netero in their youth. If he was Maha, then it was his son who had gone with Netero. Wait, if Maha was Zeno's grandfather, where did the missing generations fit in?
Liam turned his head slowly. He met the gaze of the bald, toothless old man. The ancient assassin simply gave him a wide, gummy smile.
The group relocated to the main estate on Kukuroo Mountain. Killua carried Nanika on his back. Despite possessing world-altering power, the child's physical body was completely ordinary, lacking the stamina to sprint up a mountain in the dead of night.
Walking behind them, Illumi stared at Killua's back. He wondered if delaying a wish for this long would trigger any hidden conditions.
Inside the estate's central surveillance room, Kikyo, Silva, and Illumi stood shoulder-to-shoulder, their eyes locked on a massive screen.
The monitor displayed Alluka's room, a space decorated with brightly colored toys and plush animals, looking exactly like a normal kindergarten.
On the screen, Nanika sat quietly on a large, stuffed dinosaur. The entity's face retained its dark, terrifying smile, waiting patiently to grant the wish. Nanika held Killua's hand, looking entirely at peace.
A small, plastic folding table had been set up in the middle of the room. Liam sat cross-legged on the floor opposite Nanika, his pen flying across the notepad as he designed his questions.
Standing completely still in the corner behind Liam was the short old man. His eyes were downcast, making it impossible to tell if he was reading what Liam wrote or if he had fallen asleep standing up. Killua kept glancing at his great-great-grandfather, a mixture of intense curiosity and deep-seated fear pooling in his chest.
Soon, Killua's attention drifted to the notepad.
One page was not enough. Liam flipped to the next page with such speed that the paper nearly tore.
Since mastering his Nen, Liam had grown further and further away from regular human habits. He had not held a physical pen in a long time. His first few sentences were jagged and clumsy, but muscle memory quickly returned. His writing speed accelerated until his hand was a blur, the ink in the pen draining at a visible rate.
On the surveillance monitor, Silva watched Liam finally stop writing. Liam set the pen down, intertwined his fingers, and stretched his arms forward until his knuckles popped with a sharp crack.
"What exactly is he writing?" Kikyo murmured, her electronic visor zooming in on the feed. "Look at Killua. As he reads it, he looks like he is about to cry."
"Killua's emotional responses are far too volatile," Illumi noted with cold disapproval. "Mother, he is completely unsuited to be an assassin."
Silva ignored his eldest son, keeping his heavy gaze fixed on the screen.
Nanika took the filled notepad from Liam's hand. Liam's voice piped clearly through the room's speakers.
"My wish is that you fill this out accurately. Okay?"
Nanika, wearing that crude, inked smile, held the notepad and the nearly empty pen. The entity responded with a single, high-pitched syllable.
"Ai."
Then, under Killua's encouraging gaze, Nanika leaned over the small plastic table like a diligent elementary school student taking a test. Confronted with the multiple-choice questions Liam had written, Nanika began checking the correct answers one by one, not hesitating for a single second.
Tears began to pool in Killua's eyes. When Nanika reached a specific question and immediately checked option C, which read, The wish will not be fulfilled, I choose to disappear by myself, the tears finally spilled over, trailing down Killua's cheeks.
Question 1: Are you a special life form originating from the Dark Continent?
Nanika checked A. Yes.
Question 2: Is your core essence a mass of energy?
Nanika checked A. Yes.
Question 3: Is the special energy that sustains your existence essentially the same thing as the life energy known in our world as aura?
Option A: It is essentially the same thing.
Option B: It is essentially the same thing, but the energy dimension is different, and I am a more advanced form.
Option C: It is essentially the same thing, but the energy dimension is different, and aura is the more advanced form.
Option D: It is not essentially the same thing.
If the answer had been D, Liam's entire theory would have been invalid. But Nanika firmly checked option B without a moment of hesitation.
Nanika continued down the pages.
On the surveillance screen, the dark, eerie smile suddenly vanished from the child's face. The terrifying entity was gone, replaced instantly by the soft, innocent features of Alluka.
Alluka threw his hands up and cheered, tossing the pen and paper aside like a student who just finished a grueling final exam. He looked up at Killua, clearly wanting a hug.
"Brother, why are you crying?" Alluka asked, his voice filled with genuine surprise and worry.
Killua hurriedly wiped his face with his sleeve. He forced a wide, wavering smile. "I am just so happy. Alluka, we have to promise to always love Nanika, okay?"
"Yeah! Of course!" Alluka cheered, raising his arms higher. "We will always be best friends!"
Killua's eyes watered again, and he dropped to his knees, pulling his little sibling into a tight, desperate embrace. Alluka giggled, hugging him back.
Liam picked up the completed notepad and flipped through the pages. A massive weight lifted from his shoulders. So many of his doubts were cleared away; the mechanics of this world suddenly made perfect sense.
He looked up at the two brothers hugging amidst the scattered toys. It was a genuinely warm, comforting sight. Liam could not help but smile. He turned his head and waved directly at the surveillance camera tucked into the corner of the ceiling.
In the security room, Kikyo, Silva, and Illumi stared back, invisible question marks floating above their heads.
"Nanika?" Kikyo asked aloud. "Always love?"
She had never heard that name before. Illumi was equally confused. He had actively ensured Killua had zero friends. Friendship was a fatal flaw for an assassin. Who was this Nanika?
Silva stepped forward and pressed the intercom button on the console. "Speak."
Liam's voice echoed through the speakers. "I can help you get rid of a major headache regarding the wish penalties. In exchange, the next time you see me, can we agree to call me an old friend of the Zoldyck family?"
Silva's thumb left the button, cutting the feed from his end. He stared at the screen.
Liam waved at the camera again. "I do not know how severe the backlash requests will be after making a wish like this. How about I take the hit? I can stick around and help you complete the next three requests to reset the cycle. Consider it a favor."
Silva's thick eyebrows pulled together. He turned to his wife. "Go down there. See exactly what he wrote, and what the entity answered."
Pressing the intercom button once more, Silva's deep voice rumbled into the playroom. "You are permitted to remain as our guest for the time being."
"Perfect. That makes things easy. I do actually have a small favor to ask you guys later, too."
Liam discreetly brushed his thumb against his ring. It was still the middle of the night, and his silent, aura-based communication with Shizuku had never actually stopped.
[You only have one transformation talisman left], Shizuku's voice echoed in his mind. [Unless it is an absolute emergency, do not use it while you are under their surveillance. I have an expert with me right now. I can ask for some outside assistance.]
A short while later, Alluka was the only one left in the playroom, sleeping soundly on a pile of oversized stuffed animals.
The heavy metal door slid open without a sound. Kikyo stepped inside. She paused, reached up, and carefully removed her wide-brimmed hat and her electronic visor, setting them gently on a shelf. Lifting the hem of her heavy dress, she knelt down beside the small plastic table.
She stared at Alluka's peaceful, sleeping face for two long seconds before shifting her bare eyes to the notepad.
Kikyo turned to the first page. The first three questions alone sent a shockwave through her system.
She had given birth to Alluka herself. How could the flesh and blood that came from her own body originate from the Dark Continent? A special life form?
The only explanation was that the entity answering these questions was not her child. It was the thing hiding inside him.
She finally understood what Killua meant by that name. Alluka's terrifying wish-granting power did not belong to him at all. It belonged to the parasite, the entity known as Nanika.
Kikyo kept reading, her hands trembling slightly.
Question 4: Is this special, high-dimensional energy that sustains your existence similar to human emotion?
Option A: It is emotional energy, and this emotion is love.
Option B: It is emotional energy, and this emotion is resentment.
Option C: It is emotional energy, and this emotion is desire.
Option D: It is not emotional energy.
The checked answer was A.
Question 9: Since you confirmed the previous answers, you are a special life form that feeds on love. Does that mean the price you extract to fulfill wishes, and the source of your power, is also the energy called love?
Nanika had checked A. Yes.
Question 17: Killua is able to directly order you to do things without fulfilling any requests or paying any price. Is this because you continuously draw pure love from Killua in your daily life?
Option A: Yes. Because Killua constantly gives me love, there is no extra cost for him.
Option B: No. Killua does not have to pay a price simply because I am biased toward him.
Option C: No. Killua does not have to pay a price because I secretly sacrifice my own energy for him.
Nanika had checked A.
Question 25: A stranger can only make a wish if they first fulfill your three requests. Is this because you perceive the act of fulfilling a request as a small offering of love?
Option A: Yes. As long as someone plays with me and fulfills my requests, I feel loved.
Option B: No. I just like making people do things.
Option C: No. I just wait for people to refuse so I can kill them and extract their life energy to sustain myself.
Nanika had checked A.
Question 30: What would happen if someone made a wish that required hurting or killing someone who loves you, such as Killua?
Option A: The wish will come true. It is my absolute instinct to fulfill wishes regardless of the content.
Option B: The wish will come true, but I will immediately kill the person who made the wish in retaliation.
Option C: The wish will not be fulfilled, and I will choose to disappear by myself, because both parties are people who have given me love.
Nanika had checked C.
Hot tears spilled over Kikyo's bare eyelashes, falling silently onto the paper.
She almost never took off her electronic visor. She closed the notepad, shut her eyes, and sat in absolute silence for a long time, letting the truth wash over her.
A soft rustling broke the quiet. Alluka woke up in a sleepy daze. The scent of the person sitting next to him was not his brother's. He rubbed his eyes and looked up.
"Mom?" Alluka gasped, staring at her bare face. "Your eyes look just like that!"
He threw himself into Kikyo's arms, beaming with joy. "They look just like my eyes!"
Kikyo let out a wet, trembling laugh. "Silly boy. Your eyes look like your mother's."
"Yeah!" Alluka buried his face in her dress, his cheeks flushed with pure excitement. "Mom never hugs me like this."
Kikyo gently stroked Alluka's soft hair, her heart aching. "Introduce your friend to Mom," she whispered. She paused, correcting herself with a soft, steady voice. "No. Introduce your twin sister to Mom. Her name is Nanika, right?"
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