Chapter 196: Evolution of En x Heart Worm x The Shock of Razor and Ging
Roy didn't decline.
He was neither a "false moralist" nor a "pretentious purist." His thoughts and actions followed his true heart. And the moment the [Sun] tore through the darkness and leaped into the sky, it was meant to be "open and aboveboard," to "nourish all things" and "save all beings."
Specks of light gathered in the boy's hand. [Solar Eclipse] appeared, held in his hand, lightly tapping Gyomei Himejima's shoulders, left and right.
The panel notification appeared... [ "Ordination Ceremony" complete... ]
[Believer: Gyomei Himejima]
[Physique: 47 (Note: Average person is 1)]
[Nen Ability: None (To be activated)]
Roy's eyes moved. Comparing it to Kyojuro's current physique... Gyomei Himejima, without opening his aura nodes, relying solely on his innate strength, was close to Kyojuro Rengoku, who had already opened his nodes and constantly tempered his body with Ten... The "Stone Hashira," "Head of the Nine Hashira," truly lived up to his reputation...
"Praise the Sun." The ordination ceremony was complete. Roy sheathed his sword and gently helped Gyomei Himejima up. The misty feeling in his heart became clearer. Especially the moment he touched Gyomei, Roy's gaze rippled. He vaguely saw a thread of causality, one end hooked on Gyomei, the other on himself. The mist in Roy's heart trembled slightly, and the layer of window paper he couldn't pierce began to teeter...
It was a bond, and also causality... An illusory thread of causality connecting them...
Roy immersed his mind. Through this thread, he vaguely saw Gyomei Himejima's past. His joy, his sorrow, his anger, his happiness, his suffering, his despair... everything about him...
In this moment, Gyomei Himejima was like a peeled boiled egg, holding no secrets from Roy.
I control everything, and at the same time, I can vaguely peek into the life and death of my believers... Just a little more... just a tiny bit more...
Whoosh~ The window paper in his heart rustled in the wind, seeming ready to break any second. Following the thread of causality, Roy keenly captured a strong desire hidden in Gyomei's heart. He wanted it but didn't know how to ask... It seemed related to "Divine Power"...
Clearly, the Hashira present, even... Kagaya Ubuyashiki, having the will to live, couldn't help but feel a desire.
Roy smiled slightly. He formed a palm with one hand and gently patted Gyomei's broad chest. Nen surged like a wave, instantly drowning the tall monk... Feeling something snap, Gyomei suddenly heard Roy say, "Hold your mind steady. Try to guide the 'Divine Power' back to yourself."
Aura nodes opened... Milky-white Nen instantly exploded outward with Gyomei Himejima as the center...
The monk felt as if his first twenty-three years were lived in vain. Once shedding the [Mortal Shell] and stepping into the world of "Nen," that power, that refreshing feeling of the body's treasure being unlocked, was intoxicating...
"Amitabha!" A Buddhist chant rose. Clap! His massive palms slammed together.
Following Roy's instruction, Gyomei controlled the Nen to flow back into his body. His blind eyes moved, staring blankly at the "Nen" film on his body surface, blurting out, "This is Divine Power."
The Nen storm subsided... Everyone looked at him in unison, just as they had looked at Kyojuro Rengoku. They couldn't describe the feeling, only that the monk's temperament seemed even deeper now. It seemed the same as before, yet different. Truly mysterious, indescribably envious. "Praise the Sun. Congratulations, Gyomei." Kyojuro stood behind Roy, seeing "Nen" more clearly than others. The Nen storm that surged from Gyomei just now was even more majestic than his own awakening... Kyojuro was genuinely happy for Gyomei.
"All thanks to Eiichiro-sama's gift." Seeing others possess it is not the same as experiencing it oneself. Only by personal experience can one truly understand how big the gap is between "Nen users" and ordinary people. At least, Gyomei Himejima felt the majestic power surging in his body. Compared to himself a second ago, he was definitely more than a tier stronger. And this was just opening the aura nodes, before even tempering his body with Ten.
[Notification: Admiration and gratitude from believer Gyomei Himejima... "Faith Power" +1...]
"Mm." Roy held the monk's arm, signaling no need for formalities. Moving past him, he came to Sanemi Shinazugawa. This Wind Hashira, who had once challenged Roy in front of everyone, lowered his head, not daring to meet Roy's eyes... Clearly, he still held a grudge against his previous "reckless" behavior...
But that was also an expression of extreme loyalty. Tap... tap... Footsteps sounded. A pair of straw sandals entered Sanemi's lowered vision...
The young man with the fierce face lifted his chin slightly. Meeting a pair of gentle eyes, his shoulders sank slightly. Just as he wanted to say something, like Gyomei, a light palm printed on his chest, followed by an explosion of milky-white airflow.
"No need to say more. Hold your breath and focus, concentrate on gathering the Divine Power..." Roy's gentle words fell into Sanemi's ears, warming the Wind Hashira's heart. His fierce eyes softened rarely, adding a touch of gentleness.
"Yes!" he said.
Then... the panel notified... Ordination successful, "Faith Power" +1...
Roy gained another believer. Then... Muichiro Tokito, Tengen Uzui, Shinobu Kocho... even Obanai Iguro, who was jealous because of Mitsuri Kanroji, were all ordained and had their aura nodes opened by Roy one by one...
Panel notifications... "Faith Power" +1 +1 +1... blinked up to nine points. Only Giyu Tomioka remained in the corner of the front corridor, wearing his tri-colored haori, sword at his waist, watching the boy silently, waiting quietly...
"Senior Brother."
"Eiichiro-sama."
The former fellow disciples looked at each other. Less than half a year had passed since parting at Mount Sagiri. Seeing the boy again, Roy had grown almost taller than Giyu.
A rare smile appeared in Giyu's cold eyes. He said directly, "Finally my turn."
Roy smiled back. "Actually, even if Senior Brother didn't ask, I would have helped you enlighten."
"I believe it," Giyu said. "Master was right. You are the Sun, the nemesis of demons."
"Eiichiro, kill Muzan Kibutsuji and restore peace to the world!"
The thread of causality connecting Giyu was thicker and heavier than those of Gyomei, Sanemi, and the newly awakened Muichiro and Tengen!
With Giyu's hopeful words... the mist coiling in Roy's heart roiled violently. Rip~ It smashed through that layer of window paper, clearing away all the fog, bringing sudden enlightenment. He understood everything.
[Notification: En +10 +30 +45...]
[Current En: Lv1 (84/100) → Lv2 (78/1000)]
[Note: Strengthened En, range increased by 200 (meters), "Listening to the Voice of All Things" evolved into "Heart Worm"]
[ "Heart Worm": Host can use the bond relationship to follow the "Thread of Causality," differentiate a "Heart Worm" to forcibly drill into another's heart, and glimpse their past and future (Note: "Heart Worm" will present a corner of the other's future, angle duration three seconds)]
Knowing the past, glimpsing the future... Vicissitudes of life, time flies like a shuttle. Wherever sunlight shines, the [Sun] witnesses everything—past, present, and future...
Roy printed a palm on Giyu's chest. Watching his aura nodes open and Nen surge out, the man fell into a sacred and peaceful state of meditation...
Roy's spirit left his body, flying up to the beams, piercing the roof, riding the wind, donning a cloak of clouds, and finally merging with the midday sun...
Hunter World.
11:00 PM.
The seaside city of Vebis on the outskirts of the Yorbian Continent, as usual, entered its colorful nightlife.
Beep~ A horn honked as a taxi drove by... followed by the road-raging driver rolling down the window to curse...
In the hotel by the sea where Ging, Roy, and Razor were staying...
Goldie was yawning boredly, nestling next to Roy, quietly resting by the corner of the pillow. Suddenly sensing something, its beady eyes rolled back, swirls appearing in its small pupils, and it fainted dizzily onto Roy's pillow.
Wisps of "Nen insects" could be faintly seen. As the boy on the bed turned over unconsciously in his sleep, they swept out in all directions via En...
Razor, who hadn't slept yet and was still reading "Water Breathing" carefully under the soft light of the desk lamp, constantly correcting his posture and reviewing gains and losses, suddenly frowned and whipped his head towards a corner of the wall!
From the dark corner, a worm suddenly drilled out, wriggling along the floor towards him...
Razor raised his hand and fired a Nen bullet. The force was controlled perfectly—enough to destroy the worm but not the floor or cause too much noise. Unexpectedly...
Thud~ The Nen bullet, like a bullet, passed directly through the worm's body and hit the floor, leaving a shallow crater!
"Nen" can only be countered by "Nen," this is common sense!
But... witnessing the worm ignore his Nen bullet and continue crawling towards him unhurriedly, Razor stood up abruptly. He fired another Nen bullet, then thud... thud... thud...
Nen bullets rained down, leaving a straight line of craters along the worm's path, yet...
Still unable to harm it in the slightest!
And... although the worm crawled slowly, it ignored Razor's will to distance himself, steadily closing the gap...
Razor's pupils constricted, keenly smelling a scent of "Rules"!
Someone was imposing rules on him!
[Rules] are [Settings]. They are a series of rules specifically set by a type of "Nen user" on "themselves" or "specific targets" via their "Nen ability."
For example... Kurapika's anti-"Spider" tool... the Scarlet Eyes' "anger" triggering the "Specialization" mechanism... the different "Nen Beasts" assigned to the Kakin Princes via the Jar Ceremony, imposing abilities and rules only on the Princes and others...
Razor watched the worm follow the thread of causality, undisturbed by his will, drilling into his heart and disappearing instantly...
This top-tier "Emitter" powerhouse, with a dark face, suppressed his anger and sat back in his chair. Instead of panicking, he used rules to calm his mind, wanting to see what this worm intended to do!
If you don't want people to know, don't do it. When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you. Roy unconsciously released En, differentiating "Heart Worms." Along the thread of causality between him and Razor, using the bond, he pried open Razor's heart. At the same time, a second, third, and fourth Heart Worm crawled in different directions.
One went to the sofa beside Roy, where Gotoh was resting and recovering from his injuries.
One passed through the wall, along the corridor, into Room 7415. It crawled up the girl's fair calf, all the way up, drilling into Elena's heart... The sleeping girl frowned beautifully, turning over, a silver line of drool running down the corner of her mouth...
Mmm~ Accompanied by the woman's sleeptalking...
The last Heart Worm, illuminated by the corridor wall lamp, wriggled slowly. A moment later, it rounded the corner and arrived at Room 7403... nodding its small head, it squeezed through the crack in the door. [Feicha's Parrot], discussing Goldie's rank and abilities with Ging, chirped Chirp~, peeking at the door crack. Ging took off his hood, wearing only pajamas, and looked back...
The milky-white "Heart Worm" slowly yet swiftly approached Ging along the thread of causality between him and Roy.
The man raised an eyebrow in surprise, intrigued.
He turned to the parrot on his shoulder. "Sakura, see anything?"
"Will... a very familiar feeling..." [Feicha's Parrot] tilted its head, flapped its wings, and pounced. Its hooked beak pecked precisely at the Heart Worm, only to pass right through it. Ging, sitting cross-legged on the bed not far away, twitched his brow!
"You can't peck it." Ging narrowed his eyes, watching [Feicha's Parrot]'s phantom beak penetrate the floor and then pull out in a bizarre manner, staring at the Heart Worm in disbelief, head tilted. He explained, "This worm isn't physical, nor is it Nen. It looks like... a carrier of someone's will or thought differentiated by rules via Nen."
"Have you seen it?" [Feicha's Parrot] flew back, its beady eyes fixed on the Heart Worm, watching it crawl along the floor, up the bed, inching closer to Ging.
The man's eyes gleamed. Recalling his ancestor's records in the Journey to the New World regarding [Gods], [Calamities], [Servants], [Faith], etc., he said calmly, "Never seen it, but..."
"What exactly it is, and whose will it carries... I'll know once I take a hit."
Ging's gaze fell on the Heart Worm. He watched it quietly as it reached him, climbed up his foot, his calf, his knee, all the way up, straight into his heart...
On this ordinary night in Vebis, he and Razor closed their eyes simultaneously, seeing what Roy saw, focusing their minds to capture the Heart Worm's actions. Gradually... the "past" presented itself scene by scene as the Heart Worm drilled into their hearts, sucked into its belly...
Demon Slayer World.
Having just opened Giyu Tomioka's aura nodes and received the panel notification... [Faith Power +1]
Roy stood like an old pine on the wooden corridor, and his mind was flooded with many images...
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