Chapter 123: Roy's Nen Beast x The Three-Legged Golden Crow
Specks of light materialized, coalescing into the form of the training blade, which re-hung itself on the south wall.
Giyu Tomioka and Sakonji Urokodaki, who had not yet slept, got up and lit the oil lamp to inspect it. Sakonji rubbed the blade. "It's Eiichiro's training blade, no mistake."
Everyone looked at each other, speechless. A "traveling" sword... just like Eiichiro himself, it was completely absurd!
"A ghost!" Shinsuke, who was perched on the rafters, shrieked at the sight and scrambled behind Fukuda.
A ghost yelling 'ghost'... who the hell are you talking about! Fukuda grabbed Shinsuke's neck, and with a krnch, twisted. The room instantly fell silent.
"It wasn't a ghost." Sakonji Urokodaki, second only to Tanjiro in sensory perception, possessed an extremely keen sense of smell. He could easily distinguish between inanimate objects and living things by their scent, even able to tell how many people a demon had eaten. The windows and doors hadn't moved. Unless a demon had used a Blood Demon Art to make the sword vanish—and yet, there was no trace of that sickening, bloody scent unique to such arts in the room—it proved a demon wasn't responsible.
Giyu Tomioka was the quickest to react. The moment he saw the training blade dissolve into specks of light and disappear, he lunged for the south wall, only to grasp at empty air. He watched the light particles slip through his fingers. "No one touched it. It vanished on its own." Giyu Tomioka was silent for a moment, clenching his fist. In that instant, he had felt a strange sensation, as if "solid" had become "illusion." It was bizarre, and upon reflection, impossible to describe.
Sabito crossed his arms, glanced at Roy sleeping soundly on the bed, and mused, "Could it be related to Eiichiro?"
"It's his sword; he's the closest to it. If it vanished, he should have sensed it." The fox-masked boy looked at the others. "I suggest we wait and see," he said calmly. "Let's ask Eiichiro when he wakes up tomorrow."
'Senpai really dotes on Eiichiro... he can't even bear to wake him up.' Makomo propped her chin on her hands, crouching nearby, looking from one person to the next, quietly waiting for dawn.
"Let's leave it at that..." A moment later, a sigh escaped through the paper window. The oil lamp was blown out. Humans and ghosts, each with their own thoughts, either slept or found a corner to curl up in, listening to the mountain wind howl. It was a restless night.
Hunter World.
In the Quiz Town.
Roy un-conjured the training blade and took his cane sword back in hand. He smiled at Sachiko Nakajima. "We won't disturb your exam any longer, Granny." His ears twitched, faintly catching the sound of footsteps approaching the alley—no doubt the other candidates arriving.
Sachiko nodded with a smile. Through her "children's" shared vision, she saw two young men emerge from the forest and stop at the town entrance. The one on the left had his face pierced with pins, his expression vacant. The one on the right wore a blue cap, a katana at his waist, his eyes sharp... neither looked like good news.
Sachiko sighed silently, lamenting what a difficult batch of candidates this was. She turned and instructed her "children" to open the gate to the next trial, forcing a smile for Roy. "There's a tall cypress tree on the mountain. The 'guide' lives there." As for whether the 'guide' would help these kids... Sachiko couldn't guarantee it. After all... their identity was special, and she didn't have their number.
Rumble. The heavy stone door opened, revealing a deep, dark passage.
Roy gave Sachiko a slight nod and, under the watchful eyes of the newly arrived Illumi and Kite, stepped inside. Gotoh and Kurapika flanked him. The stone door boomed shut, leaving Illumi and Kite alone to face Sachiko, both looking thoughtful.
"Young Master... someone is monitoring us." Walking through the dark passage, Gotoh could faintly hear the subtle "whirring" of machinery. Always sensitive to cameras, he had pinpointed several positions.
"That's normal," Kurapika said, following his gaze to where a few red lights flashed and disappeared. She struggled to keep up with Roy's pace, breathing heavily. "The exam started the moment we boarded the ship. 'Official' or not is just a label the Association can change at will." Kurapika subtly edged closer to Roy. Her sixth sense told her those cameras were filming her.
On the airship, Netero noticed the girl's gaze. "Hoho, the little girl is sharp. That outfit is unusual."
"She is of the Kurta Clan." Bean, ever-knowledgeable, recognized her identity at a glance. He glanced cautiously at Zeno, choosing his words carefully. "The survival of these ancient peoples is precarious. For that girl to take the exam, she likely hopes to become a Hunter and support her clan." Bean's words were diplomatic, but he was subtly implying to Zeno that the girl's motives were impure.
Zeno, hands behind his back, was unfazed, completely unconcerned. What do I care what clan she's from? As long as she can bear children, any trouble she brings, the Zoldycks will handle it.
Instead, what he, as a grandfather, was more concerned with... was Roy! Netero had been right about one thing: for the kid to use the "Sun" as his reference point, his ambition was immense. Conjuring a Nen Beast on that scale wouldn't be easy. Just like the "Nen Dragon" for Zeno, or the "Hyakushiki Kannon" for Netero... the stronger the reference point from "asking the heart," the greater the difficulty in conjuring the Nen Beast or developing the ability. He frowned, saying nothing.
At that moment, his ears twitched. He heard Netero, as if reading his mind, muse aloud, "The 'Sun' and a 'Beast' combined... This old man can't imagine what that would correspond to." A 'Dragon' or a 'Kannon' could both be tied to real-world reference points. The former truly existed—the Zoldycks themselves kept one—and the latter borrowed from Buddhist scripture, with statues found in many believers' homes. But the "Sun" and a "Beast"... easy to find separately, but together? It was difficult to find a single "symbol" for both.
"When you get old, it's understandable for the imagination to wither," Zeno said, though it was unclear if he was mocking Netero, himself, or both. His gaze remained locked on Roy on the screen. The boy was walking, deep in thought, clearly pondering this very problem.
Kurapika and Gotoh, noticing his strange mood, tactfully kept silent.
After about an hour, a sliver of light appeared at the end of the tunnel. The group quickened their pace and emerged, finding themselves at a small, shimmering lake. A small boat was docked nearby. Gotoh and Kurapika instinctively took the oars. They looked back at Roy. The boy, still pensive, leaped onto the bow of the boat, and they set off across the water.
He kept thinking about Sachiko's words: "Because of my fervent hope, I unconsciously conjured the dolls." He gradually anchored his thoughts to his own reference point: the sun.
Just as Biscuit's desire for youth conjured the humanoid Nen Beast "Cookie-chan," and Razor's love for volleyball conjured the "14 Devils"... Nen Beasts were not random. They were driven by the "heart." 'So, I must ultimately return to the 'sun' and use it as my blueprint to conjure my own unique Nen Beast.'
Roy felt he had grasped something. His thoughts cleared, his gaze focused. He scanned the surroundings, noticing stone tablets floating in the lake and lining its shores, inscribed with unknown characters.
"This is text left by the ancient Mbo tribe. It's said they also had a glorious civilization," Kurapika said, pausing her rowing to "take a break."
Gotoh glared at her, realizing he was powerless to stop her.
The girl, noticing Roy's gaze, explained further, "I don't know the specifics. If you want to know, Young Master, I can look it up in some history books when I get back and give you an answer."
"No need. There's a professional right here." Roy suddenly turned his head towards the forest on the shore. Gotoh, in perfect sync, fired a Ten-wrapped coin, which zipped past Roy's ear and struck the exact spot he was looking at!
"Young Master, it looks like a fox!"
Clang! The coin was swatted back by an elongated claw, spinning through the air until Gotoh caught it. The young butler shot to his feet, but before he could move, a milky-white Nen thread shot through the air, faster than the coin, and swoosh—wrapped around the creature's leg. With a sharp tug, it was dragged screaming from the trees, landing with a splat at Roy's feet.
"It really is a fox!" Kurapika's eyes widened. The fox was huge, almost as tall as two adult men, and had a pair of fleshy wings at its ribs. Can it fly?
"Ow! That hurts! Is this any way to treat your guide?" The fox scrambled up and transformed into a woman, glaring "fiercely" at them. "That's right, I'm the guide!" She even bared her teeth at Roy, who still held the Nen thread attached to her leg.
'Damn kid! He's young, but his Nen control is exquisite!' To be captured in the blink of an eye... he was not to be underestimated.
"How dare you bare your teeth at the Young Master." Gotoh's eyes turned cold. He looked to Roy for permission. "Young Master, should I just kill it?" A mere magical beast, thinking it can impersonate a guide just because it can transform? Ridiculous!
Kurapika frowned but said nothing. She had a feeling this "fox-woman" wasn't lying.
Roy retracted the Nen thread, calmly looking at the woman, his gaze lingering on the mark on her wrist. Unconcerned about her escaping, he got straight to the point. "Are you the Kiriko mother, or the Kiriko daughter?" In the original story, the Kiriko family—parents and children—lived in the cabin under the cypress tree. Since this one transformed into a woman, it had to be one of them.
The fox-woman was visibly startled, her gaze turning wary.
Roy smiled. "I mean no harm. I just wanted to ask, what is the connection between the mark on your body and this Mbo text?" A lost civilization and a magical beast that seems to be 'guarding' its ruins... Roy felt he was grasping at a spark of insight, but it wasn't clear yet.
The fox-woman subtly backed away. She hadn't expected this boy to not only see through her identity, but to know so much about her clan. She swallowed. "It's a sacred text of 'God'. Like the mark on my body, I was born with it. My father told me... it involves our ancestors' worship of 'God'. As long as we believe in 'God' and worship 'Him', 'He' will grant us a divine oracle, a 'blessing'. This mark is the proof of that blessing."
'God'... 'Worship'... Roy frowned, mulling over the words. In the original story, this same woman had told Kurapika about her own mark; her explanation was almost identical.
Splash! "Young Master, she jumped!" Seizing the opportunity while Roy was distracted, the woman dove into the lake and swam rapidly towards the shore. A cunning fox, indeed.
Gotoh moved to give chase but was stopped by Roy. "Let her go. We'll be seeing her again soon." The woman was telling the truth: she was the guide. Not just her, but her brother and parents too.
"It seems she was the guide," Kurapika said, catching the meaning in Roy's words. She looked at the boy again and paused.
Roy seemed completely unbothered by the Kiriko's escape, still chewing on the words "God" and "worship," staring blankly at the shimmering lake.
'That's it. 'God', 'worship'... these ancient magical beasts and lost peoples all have ancestor worship, totem worship.' As a transmigrator + reincarnator, Roy realized that in the process of integrating into the Hunter world, he had almost forgotten his "previous life." The "Gate of Cognition" had opened because of that past life; how could he forget it? One must live in the present and look to the future, but one cannot forget the 'past'.
In that "previous life," there were countless myths and legends about the "sun." For example, "Kua Fu chasing the sun," and "the Golden Crow pulling the sun chariot."
'Golden Crow... Golden Crow...' Roy's dark eyes ignited fwoosh with two suns. A smile touched his lips, his gaze brighter and more intense than ever. The Three-Legged Crow in the sun... the Golden Crow that draws the sun chariot... 'Sun' and 'Divine Beast'...
"My Nen Beast... shall be the Three-Legged Golden Crow!"
Enlightenment! His path was clear!
BOOM!
All his aura nodes burst open! The boy, struck by revelation, unleashed his Ren in a surging explosion, forming a crimson storm around him! Before Kurapika could even process what was happening, two giant, fiery hands emerged, grabbing her and Gotoh and flinging them to the far shore. They landed in a daze and looked back.
At the center of the lake, Roy stood with his palms open, the 'Searing Essence' flowing over them. He closed his eyes and began to construct the image of the "Three-Legged Golden Crow" in his mind.
HSSSSSS...
The lake water heated, boiled, bubbled, and evaporated. The crimson Nen surged, and everything it touched began to smoke, ignite, burn, and melt.
The Kiriko daughter, having just scrambled out of the water and into the forest, felt a wave of intense heat on her back. She looked back, and her slender fox eyes widened in shock. She tripped and fell with a shriek. "Is... is it on fire?!"
That red Nen... what in the world is that?! The unknown terror struck her heart. The forest behind her was burning, and the hidden cameras, unable to withstand the heat, began to whine, letting out a seriesLog
of dii... dii... dii... alarm sounds! Even through the monitor, one could tell they were about to be destroyed.
On the Hunter Association airship, one old man (Netero) shot upright. The other's (Zeno's) pupils constricted. Both stared, stunned, at the boy on the screen. Faintly, they saw a pair of enormous wings, overflowing with golden light and searing heat, unfurl SHRIII! from the boy's back!
It was followed by a heart-shaking, crow-like cry.
The sound was like a great bronze bell, sweeping in all directions. It was like a hammer striking a gong right next to their ears.
DONG! Tinnitus, heart-pounding, temporary deafness.
"Are you an idiot? Cover your ears!"
"Are you blind? Don't you see I already did?!" Kurapika snapped back at Gotoh, having covered her ears even faster than he had.
Now, standing in a burning inferno, the lake evaporating before them, the forest ablaze behind them, the two could no longer find words to describe their feelings. They just stared, dumbfounded, at the center of the lake.
Behind the boy, wings of light spread wide, and slowly, a massive, golden bird emerged!
☆☆☆
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