[System Message: "Power of Faith" reset to zero. "Swordsmanship" experience increasing... +10... +50... +100... +1000...]
[Current "Swordsmanship": lv3 (7548/10000) -> lv4 (142/100000)]
[Note: lv4 (Sword Intent Domain). Hint... The host can expand the Way of the Sword by combining the Nen ability "Gate of Cognition" with "Visualization Objects"...]
Through borrowing... imitating... and then creating...
[The Sword] and [The Sun]... Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni!
As the "Gate of Cognition" flickered, the image of a weathered old face was rapidly constructed in Roy's mind. It was a face commanding authority without anger, mottled with age and covered in ferocious scars. He had white eyebrows and a long white beard, the braided strand beneath his jaw nearly drooping to his feet. A pair of old eyes, half-clouded by the passage of time, narrowed slightly... instantly causing one's breath to hitch and heart to pound in terror!
Master Urokodaki Sakonji had once told Roy that an Asauchi was only for practice. After formally passing the Demon Slayer Corps selection and becoming a Demon Slayer, a swordsmith from the Swordsmith Village would personally visit to deliver a forged blade. However, Roy gently rejected his master's suggestion the very day he first held the Asauchi.
A sword forged by another is ultimately mixed with another's will; it is not pure enough!
No matter how well-made, how exquisite, how sharp, or how capable of splitting hairs the sword might be, if the wielder is different, it is ultimately difficult to achieve the state of "Union of Man and Sword"!
But an Asauchi is different. It is a "common" sword. All Asauchi are cast from the same mold. They have no distinct characteristics, yet that absence is their characteristic, possessing the potential to expand in "infinite directions"... especially when there exists a being of a higher status in one's self-cognition to serve as a "Famous Teacher"...
Roy gently stroked the blade. With a soft gaze, he opened all the aura nodes in his body, converting all the "Nen" within him into "[Scorching True Intent]." He connected with the great sun hanging high above the cathedral dome at an immeasurable height and injected it all into the Asauchi, speaking softly: "Bankai, Zanka no Tachi!"
"Whoosh..." A gust of wind poured into the dilapidated cathedral, instantly sweeping away all the noise!
The world, at this moment, seemed to have pressed the pause button!
Only a sword and a person remained as the sole existing... light... in the eyes of everyone in Meteor City's West District, 4th Street—including Bolton, Elijah, Kastro, the Chrollo trio, and the numerous men in black and scavengers!
Silence! Fire and light were sucked into the blade, not a single cluster escaping... The Asauchi was held quietly in Roy's hand. The blade turned from "red" to "black," looking like an ordinary wooden stick carbonized by fire. It no longer burned, yet it still emitted a lingering "heat"...
At a certain moment, a soft sound was heard. "Creak..."
The moment the "Asauchi" underwent its transformation...
Among the many "gateways" standing in Roy's cognitive world, the great door branded with a "Hideous Corpse Demon" trembled. As if sensing something, it opened a crack...
A corner was revealed through the gap...
It showed a small courtyard, a corridor, an old man, a middle-aged man, and two creatures—a large and small fox and raccoon dog—resting peacefully. However... as the old man sitting cross-legged on the corridor, dragging his long white beard and resting both hands on a wooden cane, slowly opened his eyes...
Two rays of divine light suddenly shot out from his narrow eyes, startling the fox and raccoon dog into bristling their fur...
Sasakibe Chōjirō, dressed in a Shihakusho with a high-collared shirt underneath, possessing white hair and golden eyes and styled in Western fashion, stopped tending to the two potted plants in front of him and looked back...
"What is the matter, Eijisai?" (Note: "Eijisai," or "Genryusai," is the private nickname used by First Division Lieutenant Sasakibe Chōjirō for Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni. The cross-shaped scar on old man Yamamoto's forehead was left by Sasakibe Chōjirō as an opponent many years ago.)
The old man remained silent. He only extended a withered hand to touch his chest, feeling the heart that had beaten steadily through over two thousand years of erosion suddenly skip a beat... Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni fell into deep thought, looked up at the great sun hanging high in the sky, and spoke slowly: "Chōjirō, my heart is unsettled."
Sasakibe Chōjirō raised his two dashing mustache tips and asked in surprise, "Are you still worrying about Kyōraku and Ukitake?"
Kyōraku was lazy, and Ukitake had a weak constitution... The two were indeed not the best choices to inherit his legacy. Sasakibe Chōjirō had followed Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni for over two thousand years; how could he not understand what was on Yamamoto's mind? Continuing to water the plants, he advised, "The Gotei 13 is full of talent; there is no need to worry about personnel. If you are truly bored..."
"It would do no harm to take in another disciple to pass the time..."
As for... whether they could inherit the full legacy of this Captain-Commander and close friend... Sasakibe Chōjirō didn't even think about it... because... it was too difficult!
To put it bluntly, Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni was the sun. It was only by borrowing his radiance that the Seireitei was as stable as it was today!
So... where in the world would one find him a second sun?
"Take in another one?" The old man touched his chest and sank into contemplation...
The heartbeat that had quickened for no reason had indeed occurred... Accompanied by a "Creak...", the crack that had opened closed once more...
The door branded with the "Corpse Demon" was locked...
Hunter World, Meteor City.
Immersed in "Bankai," Roy listened to the Asauchi's "excitement," "joy," "impatience," and "eagerness"... telling him it wanted to show him its new power...
Roy, dressed as a priest, moved the hand holding the Asauchi. The movement caused the sun pendant on his chest to sway as he performed a plain, horizontal slash.
"Zanka no Tachi · East · Rising Sun Edge!"
A plain, thin line swept across... Just as Bolton struck his fists together to set the "explosion" again, and Elijah activated his Nen ability—"Vector Manipulation"—snapping his fingers to launch a "Vector Arrow" linked to the "explosion" to send it in front of Roy...
The "explosion" acted like a "dud." The moment the thin line passed through, it was instantly extinguished. Following that was... the continuous annihilation of the tables, chairs, floor, and... every tangible object reflected in the pupils of Bolton and Elijah!
"Damn it, use [Ken]! Quickly!"
"There's something wrong with that guy's sword!"
"What you said... is too late..."
As Elijah's pupils constricted and he violently leaped backward, the arrogant Bolton had just summoned his [Ken] when his lower body simply vanished. Only a face remained, looking at Elijah in horror. Then, inch by inch, flake by flake, as if erased by an eraser, he didn't even have time to call for help before following in the footsteps of the tables and chairs, annihilated from heaven and earth.
[Zanka no Tachi · East · Rising Sun Edge]. All things in creation turn to ash; flowing blade like fire!
It does not burn, nor does it release visible "explosive flames." It simply uses scorching high heat to vaporize everything the blade's light touches... In Bleach, during the Thousand-Year Blood War, one strike from Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni covered the entire Seireitei, leaving everyone with parched throats and forcing them to look away. At its peak, the blade's temperature was said to approach the sun's core. Roy sensed his casual strike carefully; compared to old man Yamamoto, the temperature his "Bankai" could reach was not even equal to the other's "Shikai," Ryūjin Jakka. He shook his head secretly and said, "Still too weak."
The temperature wasn't high enough... his understanding of the sun wasn't profound enough... his cultivation time was too short... and since it wasn't the main body, he could only exert 80% of his combat power... The boy watched with dissatisfaction as everything in the cathedral hall vaporized, gradually spreading to Elijah's feet. This Nen user known as the "Dominator" of the "Manipulation System" showed panic on his calm face for the first time. He retreated one step, then step after step... In the blink of an eye, he backed against the wall and climbed onto the window: "Stop!"
"If you aren't afraid of Morena, aren't you afraid of being wanted globally by Kakin?"
"She is the King's daughter! Prince Tserriednich's biological older sister!"
"He's already killed; that priest definitely won't care about that," Chrollo said absently from the tall garbage mountain adjacent to 4th Street, using binoculars to capture everything through the shattered windows of the cathedral.
The visual effect brought by that single slash was a scene he had never, and could never, perform in the "Clean-up Rangers"!
"Hot... so hot... Pakunoda, you're sweating..." Shalnark glanced at the girl sharing the binoculars with Chrollo. Pakunoda was dripping with fragrant sweat, but she couldn't care less about the heat. Her beautiful eyes were wide open, watching the cathedral be instantly "refreshed" into emptiness. The girl's brain had crashed directly; she could no longer process the transmission of "heat signals." What was going on? Why were one or two of them dazing out?
"Let me see?" Shalnark squeezed Pakunoda aside, leaned in next to Chrollo, and looked through the lens toward the cathedral, suddenly crying out strangely: "Why is the cathedral empty?!"
Another look... The lens reflected the sword-wielding boy. He said nothing, only raising his hand to shoot out a gleam of blade light... Driving the Bankai-transformed Asauchi in his hand, it suddenly elongated... piercing through the distance of space to stab straight at Elder Elijah's face.
The Seventh Elder, who controlled others via "Vector Manipulation," felt a ruthlessness in his heart and whispered, "Reflect!"
Suddenly, another "arrow" hooked onto the blade light, stabbing back at Roy. His face darkened instantly after being silently rejected by Roy, and he said coldly, "Do you think I fear you?"
Actually... 'I am giving you a chance!'
"Vector Manipulation: Eight-Fold Strangulation!"
[Vector Manipulation]: Using [En] as a radar and "Nen" as a "guide," manipulating "vectors," Elijah could designate a target at will and instantly launch one to eight arrows!
He could attack or defend. As long as his "Nen" did not run out, relying on "vector" traction, no attack could think of landing on him... including "blade light"!
"Mechanics... This is no longer 'stats,' but touching the edge of 'mechanics'..."
[Shinso] returned and was fixed in place by a trace of magnetic force converted by Roy... The boy instantly saw through Elijah's Nen ability. Squinting his eyes as he watched eight "arrows" caging him like eight sharp blade points, he sighed, "This cathedral was actually quite nice; I really didn't want to destroy it..."
Unrushed, he struck again... The person vanished along with the strike, instantly appearing behind Elijah just as he roared, "Vector, return!"
First to move, first to arrive!
A thrust wrapped in six thousand degrees of high heat pierced through his protective [Ken], opening a hole in his chest. Then, carrying him, it smashed through a wall of the cathedral... Under Elijah's painful and incredulous interrogation—"You aren't just 'Conjuration,' but 'Specialist'?"—and his despairing gaze...
He was sent to become ash...
A sword with high heat capable of melting everything, a thrust that crossed space, and a movement technique that vanished eerily.
"Your conjuration is conjuration, but my conjuration is more than just conjuration..."
"Clang." The Asauchi was sheathed...
The young man stood where Elijah had vaporized, pinching a wisp of his steam, and said calmly, "It seems Morena doesn't care much about you either..."
She didn't even tell him that "the destination of all aura types will eventually point to the 'Specialist' type"...
Should one call Elijah and Bolton pitiful, or Morena cold and heartless?
[System Message: "Life Energy" +120... +150...]
[System Message: "Life Energy" struggling violently... attempting to fly away alone... currently intercepting...]
[System Message: Interception successful.]
The panel's prompt surfaced...
From the unseen world, a pair of deathly gray eyes locked gazes with Roy through the spirits of Elijah and Bolton that had just emerged...
The woman reached out to grab them, but unexpectedly, Elijah and Bolton rapidly split into emaciated spirits. Some roared, some were sluggish, others wept in excitement. A moment later, they bowed in unison to Roy and instantly vanished into his body...
The woman, wearing a flower rope on her head, grabbed at empty air. She froze for a moment, and before dissipating, she looked deeply at Roy, falling into thought...
"You... are very good..."
"Pop..." The image shattered like ripples on a water surface...
Reflected in the woman's deathly gray eyes was the figure of Roy, holding a scripture, wearing a sun pendant, his robe swaying alone in the wind within the empty cathedral...
Kakin Empire, Heil-ly Family Base.
Morena Prudo snapped back to reality. Her strangeness was keenly perceived by the dog-headed man who stood beside her, guarding her at all times.
"Morena, you zoned out," he said.
"Ah Quan, Elijah and Bolton... are dead..."
"Who?"
"Elijah and Bolton."
Morena rested her chin on one hand, leaning against the back of her chair. She sat before a desk where a cooperation proposal sent by Beyond Netero was spread out. For the first time, a gleam of light appeared in those deathly gray eyes, and she repeated with interest: "I saw it... it was a young priest... He killed my Elijah and Bolton..."
The dog-headed man looked like Old Kohler. Whether he was a Magical Beast or a human mutated into this form by a "Nen ability" was unknown. After two seconds of silence, he tilted his head to look at Morena and said, "So?"
"What do you plan to do? Avenge those two pieces of trash?"
"No," Morena ran her index finger over her vermilion lips, carefully savoring Roy's appearance. Those indifferent eyes... for some reason, they made one like him so much!
The woman's red lips moved, revealing a rare smile: "It doesn't matter that the two of them died, but the 'capacity' that should have been mine was intercepted... Ah Quan..."
Morena licked her lips: "I smelled a familiar scent on him. Perhaps..."
"He is a kindred spirit!"
"Then he must definitely be a lunatic too!" The dog-headed man did not shy away from Morena at all. He shrugged and said, "Please, dealing with one of you is enough. I don't have the energy to deal with a second one..."
"Woof..."
The sound of a dog bark echoed in the small study...
Following closely behind was the woman's obsessive laughter.