The pregnancy has lasted over eight months. Killua has been keeping track of the time, and around the 15th of next month, the delivery will be due.
Illumi saw that Roy kept his eyes closed and didn't acknowledge him, so he said to himself, "It's said to have silver hair."
Roy showed no reaction.
Illumi: "I just need one word from you now,"
The boy's hollow eyes stared fixedly at Roy, "Say you need me, and I'll stand by your side immediately, supporting you as the Patriarch."
"Mmm~" At that moment, Milluki lay between the two, letting out a groan, twitching a couple of times...
Illumi waited quietly....
In response, Roy got up from the ground, turned away indifferently, and left.
"Tap... tap..."
The sound of footsteps gradually faded...
The foolish Mamen Beans squinted and yelled, "Is it really that hard to say a word?"
Roy kept walking.
Illumi burst out of the soil, clenched his fist, "Go on then, just don't regret it later."
"Tap... tap..."
Roy didn't look back, left Illumi behind, kicked Milluki,
and soon after,
arrived at the basement.
"Young Master..."
"Young Master..."
Scarface, still the same as before, opened the security door.
This time, through [re: The Game of the Dead] he would enter the Dark Continent again.
Roy had recuperated well, moving leisurely through the corridor, and stopped in front of the airtight door. A tentacle reached out from the Demon Eye, connecting him to the game... Just then, he heard the game prompt sound...
[re: The Game of the Dead... initiating...]
[Loading game save... in progress...]
Afterward, when Roy opened his eyes, he was once again in the Great Forest of the Lunar Month, looking up to see an A-Level creature... the Sand Worm, bringing down an unmatched blow empowered by Faith, its tail covering the sun itself!
"Kid, why are you frozen?" Jager tossed out a card, summoning a two-headed giant demon. He then flashed onto the demon's shoulder, commanding it to swing a spiked club, crushing several berserk ticks, giving Roy a sidelong glance, saying, "This is not a fight you can be part of, run!"
Rumble, rumble!
The Sand Worm's tail had not yet struck, but even just the force of it created a wind pressure close enough... to crush people!
"Bang... bang... bang...." Several companions could not even manage a scream before being smashed into meat paste one after another!
Blood trickled from Roy's ears and nose. Even though he protected his body with [Ken] the moment he appeared on the battlefield, his internal organs churned non-stop, and he couldn't control his mouth, spitting out a mouthful of blood...
"It's not like you can just run away if you want to..."
The young man wiped his mouth, his gaze crossed over Jager, seeing Linne and Netero. One had swelled up like a giant, and the other summoned the "Hundred Forms of Guanyin," along with Jager, trying to withstand the blow from the Sand Worm...
In the end, before Roy saw the final outcome... like the other companions before him, he exploded with a "bang," severing his connection to the game....
[Detection of 'Demon Eye's consciousness, the Gate of the Dark Continent has opened...]
"Creak~" The intricate, patterned gate of darkness opened slightly....
This time, having prepared enough Sense, maintaining the Gate of Cognition, nothing unexpected happened....
When Roy awoke again, he found himself directly in the "Cognition World," lying spread-eagle on the beach of the "Sea of Cognition," groggily opening his eyes, staring blankly at the azure sky.
In his heart, "The gap is still too large."
Grandpa Jager was right, facing the Sand Worm, that A-Level creature, as someone who just advanced to a C-Level... could not join the battle at all....
However, based on the information Netero revealed to him at Lost Melody Park... the few of them being forced to separate might just be due to that blow from the Sand Worm.
Therefore, Roy had one goal this time, not to fight, but... to survive, to avoid the Sand Worm!
The young man slapped his face, got up from the sand, and this time, took the sword... with specks of glow, it appeared short-handed, and he gripped it firmly, taking a deep breath, he plunged into the Gate of the Dark Continent...
Ten seconds later, when he disconnected again, returned to the Sea of Cognition without stopping, continuing to attempt and repeat the cycle....
Three times... four times.. six times... eight times... finally, on the ninth entry into the Gate of the Dark Continent,
Roy never returned,
After consuming eight revivals, he found the pattern of the Sand Worm's attack, and survived through a slight gap....
"Boom!"
The towering tail fell to the ground!
The earth cracked open directly!
Lava spewed from beneath the ground like a water jet, propelling Netero, Linne, Jager, and Roy in different directions... This time, the young man swiftly transformed all his "Nen" into "Scorching True Meaning" to avoid being scalded by the magma, finally receiving... the first game prompt from Demon Eye since he first participated in [The Game of the Dead] offering Jager as a sacrifice....
[Stage One: "Landing Battle" cleared...]
[Remaining "Revival Coins" three left...]
[Note: Players have a total of three chances to revive. Once used up, they will be permanently removed from the game, not allowed to enter again...]
"Whoosh~" The wind howled by his ear...
The magma beneath was scorching...
Roy was propelled by the magma to an unknown location, deep in thought...
Gradually he understood,
why Zeno and Silva didn't offer Jager as a sacrifice, most likely not because they passed, but because... they had already used up their three "revival" chances and were rejected by the Demon Eye outside the "Dark Continent."
'Then what about me?' Roy pondered about himself, thought about that "Gate of the Dark Continent" standing in the "Cognition World"... wondering what it would be like when he ran out of "Revival Coins"?
Or could it be... that the "Revival Coins" themselves were an authority stolen by Jager from [Nature]?
With such a heaven-defying ability, I wonder what cost Grandpa Jager paid....
Thinking intensely, Roy was like a trapped beast, imprisoned in the sky by the magma. In a flash, he turned into a meteor, disappearing over the horizon, reappearing as the momentum of the lava eased, and he finally found a sliver of control, leaping towards the ground...
Midway, he summoned the "Wind Breathing" technique he learned from Shinazugawa Sanemi, stepping on a whirlwind to descend.
Before his eyes lay a vast forest that defied orientation! Huge trees filled the forest, their towering trunks so wide it would take more than a dozen people to encircle one... inevitably reminding Roy of the "World Tree!"
It's rumored, the true "World Tree" roots in the magma beneath the earth, growing madly by absorbing the lava, reaching into the clouds. The largest can even support a small world, hence the name "World Tree."
In the original, the tree where Gon and Ging agreed to meet was but a seedling of the "World Tree," even in death, having ceased growing, it still towered skyward, surpassing human imagination.
Roy looked up, feeling like a "small man" who suddenly dropped into a "giant's" land, seeing towering trees piercing the clouds, immediately summoning [En], cautiously beginning to explore the forest.
According to Grandpa Jager's records in "Chronicles of the Western Continent," this forest should be the "Great Forest of the Lunar Month" squeezed between [Principality of Samir] and [Kingdom of Hoin]!
It's also... a place unreachable by the Divine Power of the gods!
Listening... exploring... making marks on trees at intervals. Roy gradually delved deeper... During this time, he saw two or three distinctly different magical beasts through the [Monster Compendium], avoiding the strong ones, killing the weaker ones, and at a certain moment, he narrowed his eyes, discovering a human figure!
"Come quickly, I found a compatriot here!"
Roy saw that person, and that person also saw Roy, both were taken aback!
The latter pulled a crooked smile at the corner of his mouth...