Chapter 70: Nightmare

The crowd surges as snow falls at dusk.

A gaze averted with an overly natural movement.

The silhouette when we pass each other at a distance where our shoulders could touch.

A back that never looks back.

And—

"Are you okay?"

Speaking to me as I lie on the ground with a smile.

Those eyes saw "myself" for the first time.

... That is why I want to kill him.

"Yes, Mr. Silva, long time no see."

Sora sits on the sofa in the guest room, greeting him with a reluctant expression, but Silva is slow to respond.

"Mr. Silva?" Sora calls out again, looking puzzled.

Although it is rare, Sora does not look like the way he did when he first came to Heaven's Arena.

Although the outfit and direction at that time were almost completely opposite, what surprised Silva, who had interacted with him a few times, was that Sora was as "feminine" as the rabbit-eared hoodie.

"Just insects Nampa dodging it. If I pick up too many, Killua will swear."

When Sora rests his chin on the armrest and answers Silva's small question listlessly, Silva looks even more puzzled and asks, "... Isn't that counterproductive?"

That would raise too many questions.

Sora's outfit is a white ponytail longer than ever, a red rider jacket, a white bandeau, and denim shorts, which is very eye-catching.

However, without the jacket, it looks like a swimsuit, but Sora's ideal model can be said to be a slim figure without carnal desire. Perhaps because it is a thing, even if the exposure becomes intense, the impression of her wearing a bodysuit does not change much, and as usual, Sora is a rare bisexual or asexual beauty, far from neutral.

"For some reason, when I wear my hair down, men tend to pick me up, but when I tie my hair up and dress as usual, I attract women. I thought it would be less, so I tried it, and the result actually decreased, so that's how it is."

"I see?"

Silva's rebuttal makes Sora answer sleepily, and for a moment I thought I was convinced by this answer, but that was not the case.

But there is no way around it, because that is what Sora said.

Although Sora calls himself a "beauty," he does not seem to have excessive self-consciousness, but his appearance has reached a point where it makes people feel nauseous unconsciously, but as I have said many times, his feminine beauty and masculine beauty complement each other. Because of this, he is a bisexual or asexual beauty, so he is praised by men and women as a "peerless beauty," but it is hard to say whether he is a romantic object or a sexual object.

It is inevitable to feel that one is of the same sex, so just as women without such hobbies are instantly amazed by Sora, men without such hobbies are also attracted to Sora. Tohsaka Rin is a little jealous because before coming to this world, he cared so much about Sora. The impassioned words are as rude and unreasonable as the sisters and disciples said, but it is true.

So, although Sora is beautiful, he is not often picked on, but when he grows his hair out, the situation is completely different.

The longer Sora's hair is, the more feminine the atmosphere becomes, and the words to describe it change from "stunning beauty" to "peerless beauty," so this bodysuit is as unrefined and sexy as usual. It attracts those fearless, foolish people, just like light attracts moths.

Long hair makes him look more feminine, but if Sora's hair is simple enough for a long-haired man, Sora will become an asexual beauty again, so try Killua's reverse trick. The number of men picking up men has definitely decreased, but this time, because of the appearance of a loose bodysuit that cannot see the body lines, he was mistaken for a man and picked up in reverse, reigniting the trauma of Sora's fighter era.

Thinking of this, he asked: "What kind of clothes should I wear so that I won't be picked up by men and women?" But for Sora, this is nothing more than dark history, so he refused. This is a "feminine" look he can compromise on, saying he can wear it his own way.

Wing and others certainly disapproved, saying: "This is a bit...", and Killua got angry again, saying: "Do you know why I told you to tie your hair up!?", but in the end, Sora's persistence silenced everyone, "Why do you have to be called a slut for walking around in clothes usually sold in clothing stores?"

At the same time, I learned that women's fashion and sense of shame are eternal mysteries to men.

However, this outfit is really the most effective, so men will have a headache.

Sora with a ponytail is unisex, even though he exposes parts that indicate he is a woman. Sora has always looked like Kurapika would be angry with him, until now.

Of course, Silva, who has never seen Sora's hair down, doesn't quite understand why the number of pickups increases when he lets his hair down, so no matter how Sora tells him, he can't fully accept it. I don't need to convince you, just chatting instead of greeting, so I won't pursue it anymore.

"So? It's a bit hard to say, but what about your eldest son? I think he's a bit stupid?"

Sora doesn't want to waste time in this house, so let's get started.

I don't know if he really thinks it's hard to say in front of his biological father, but Silva has also thought about this, "Is my son too stupid?".

"Now, I am locked in a cell alone.... I entered without asking Sora's conditions. Just thinking about your reaction when I brought you in gives me a headache."

"I have a bit of a headache, but..."

As usual, Sora holds his head and hangs his head. Silva replies "Sorry" to his head, and he also sighs deeply.

If it were replaced by other brothers, their tempers would be similar to Kikyo's, so I would dismiss the idea that "he is that kind of child." That stubborn nature makes him can't help but think: "Why are you so stubborn? What's wrong with you?"

"... So what will you do?

Should I go directly to the cell and finish it quickly, or should I ask for a detailed story about how to apply that ability?"

"Yes, I will listen to whatever you say. I have explained it several times, but to be precise, my demise is not demise, so I may cause the other party to die. Cannot delete. Death.

If you know how I got this ability, you might know if I can kill you, so if you can't kill me, shall we go home before we meet?"

When I talked again about the possibility of not being able to get rid of it that I had emphasized, Silva answered: "I know," with a puzzled face.

If Sora can't do it, he desperately wants to remove the Nen hanging on Illumi. If it can be removed, maybe he and his father Zeno can also suppress him. Probably because he can see that no matter which way, he has to go through a lot of trouble.

Leaving the former aside, Silva thinks the latter's hardship is like treating a child who doesn't like going to the dentist.

Not a few minutes later, Kalluto arrived.

He must have been heartbroken for several days because of worry and guilt, because his brother might have been placed in "Deadmind" because of protecting himself.

Kurt ran over, slammed the door of the room open, and as soon as he saw Sora's exhausted face, his big eyes were full of tears, and he jumped up to hug him and cried.

Please!!"

"Kalluto"

Silva calls out to Kalluto who is clinging to his side, begging for help for his brother with tears.

"If you need help, if you have a sense of responsibility, don't cry, speak calmly.

If Illumi himself doesn't say what happened, and what kind of power was applied to him, what is important is what you say, the person closest to Illumi at that time. If you are not young enough and don't have a sense of responsibility, and want to make up for it, then at least talk about the situation at that time firmly."

Silva teaches Silva to take the weight of "responsibility" for his little son who may only be 10 years old.

However, just the assassin's pride seems to be hard to suppress his childish worry as a mere younger brother, and he can't help but cry.

Silva sighs, Sora calls Kalluto, and just as he wants to retreat, until it calms down.

"Kalluto"

I stroked her cheeks, which had turned red from sobbing, then wrapped my hands around her cheeks and pressed my forehead against Kalluto's, as if measuring her temperature.

Then, at a close distance where he could not look away, he stared straight at Kalluto with his deep blue eyes and said:

"Are you okay?"

Just that one sentence.

Kalluto also heard the news that Sora had been fired by Silva.

Although Sora's annihilation is powerful, there are inevitably many parts that are difficult to use. Rice field.

Even so, Sora still said: "It's okay."

I know this is not because I believe Illumi can help me.

I know they are words of comfort.

However, this sentence eased the anxiety of continuing to destroy Kalluto.

Although it was the last thing I wanted to think about, I finally found a Kalluto, instead of the worst possibility, the possibility that my brother might die.

Besides the future that was about to be decided, I saw something.

That is why Kurt's eye sockets were still wet, but he moved a muscle that had not moved at all recently and said.

"... Thank you, Sora."

First, I smiled and thanked the person who made it possible for me to reach the future I wanted.

The mission that the eldest brother and the younger brother took on together was to crush a small-scale Mafia.

Silva and Kalluto certainly cannot say who requested this house with an average assassination target number of 100 million units to destroy the Mafia, although the scale is small, but Sora has a rough idea of who it is. So I don't mind.

Perhaps, in exchange for condoning crimes or providing some kind of shelter, those politicians who accept black market donations or bury inconvenient people will likely be demoted and cry into this room.

And the reason I got this job under the combination of Illumi and Kalluto is that I have a bigger job coming in September, and in order to do that job well, at least I have the ability to wake up "just in case" and master the Four Major Principles. It seems this is what I wanted, and also the work of Kalluto's training.

Originally, Kalluto should have been cultivated a long time later, but Killua ran away from home, the manpower for the September job was insufficient, and because of the work I did with Sora. The existence of "Nen" had long been discovered by Kalluto, and it seems that Gon and Killua started their Cultivation at the same time their pores were opened by wings.

Unlike Killua, he opened his Shoko slowly, and his pace was slower than Killua's, who had a two-month gap after opening his Shoko once. The "only" growth is the terrifying performance of the Zoldyck family's excellent bloodline.

This job is like a textbook, teaching such a Kalluto what is "a real battle with a Nen user."

There is only one Mafia executive, which is not very good even at the 200th floor level of Heaven's Arena, but the ability is lower, but Illumi told Kalluto, "What should I do in this situation?" The work completed this combination, and it seems that one-handed killing can be endured.

At that time, as part of the training, he was told to kill all the ordinary cult members alone, so the cult killed all the fleeing members under Illumi's guidance, but only one was with Sora. It happened.

No, this is a better hypothesis than Sora.

Among those who were nothing more than thugs, there was also a Nen super-powered person among the lower-level members.

However, that thug's ability has no combat capability. If he cannot become a genius himself, he is useless among this group. If his ability is discovered, he will be exhausted. Because of this, he probably kept his power to himself, using an administrative-level super-powered person who would not notice no matter how much aura he emitted, and unlike ordinary people, he would not even notice that it was flowing smoothly.

At a critical moment, the subordinate had a Hidden ability as a trump card for self-rescue, and when he was attacked by Kalluto, he activated the "trump card."

Suddenly guarded by a man who thought he was an ordinary person, Kurt, who had not fully mastered the Four Major Principles, could not penetrate that line of defense at all, and was injured instead.

At that moment, the man showed his ability.

"Look into my eyes!!"

However, it was not Kalluto who looked at the man's eyes, but Illumi who interrupted him.

Therefore, Illumi did not treat the other party's eyes as a reflection as she was told.

She didn't fail to hear what the other party was saying, but Illumi made a correct assessment of the other party's ability, saying that even if it was still a heavy burden for Kalluto, it was no big deal.

The amount of aura is not enough to use the Deadly skill without Constraint and Vow, but some kind of complex Constraint rule. If you don't act according to the law, the Vow risk. You can observe and judge the opponent calmly in an instant with a small object that you are not prepared to carry, so if "look into my eyes" is a bluff, you will be told "look into my eyes" and gain the ability. Illumi read that it was more risky.

He must have calculated that even if there was any effect, as long as he could hit his Needle, it would be easy to untie it from there by operating it.

It was the effect of this man's ability itself that was unexpected, to the point that the calculation was completely meaningless.

Illumi was still normal when he pierced the Needle into him, and when the man was deprived of his free will, looking up at the void like a cripple, with drool flowing from his mouth, he sat down.

It happened when he turned around and asked Kurt if he was hurt, and scolded him: "Some things can't be helped, but I was too careless."

"At first, Brother Illumi seemed to think it might just be his imagination."

Kurt said so.

In the scolding, Illumi's eyes widened further, as if he had seen something incredible, and he raised his head.

Surprised by this, Kalluto also turned to check where Illumi was looking, but there was only the corpse of the thug Kalluto had killed.

When Kurt confirmed this and asked, "What's wrong?", he replied, "... Nothing. I think it was just my imagination."

However, Illumi was definitely provoked, although it was so slight and faint, because they were family, it was understandable.

The reason his frustration erupted was because Illumi lost the will to preach because of his "fault," and Illumi widened his eyes again the moment he turned around and tried to cancel the ability.

Then, he stared at what was just an ordinary Wall, clicked his tongue in disgust, and shouted.

"You... how are you here!?!"

Illumi shouted, covering his right eye, while throwing many Needles at the Wall, and then smashed them into the Wall.

Just like that, the Illumi that Kalluto saw was given the Nen ability.

Just as the cult finished speaking, Sora said with a look of disgust.

"... Didn't that guy see through my illusion?"

When I guessed the details of what Kalluto said, the ability effect produced by Illumi's subsequent actions, and the content of the "Harassment" that had the greatest impact on Illumi, I realized that Kalluto and Silva could not do it alone. All the Maids standing behind them quietly looked away.

Apparently, even if Illumi didn't speak, everyone was able to predict what Illumi was going to do.

"Mr. Silva, you idiot!! I can guess what 'Harassment' means, but you didn't say it because you knew I wouldn't get this job!!"

No more! That guy, if he really came, he would definitely come to throw away all the pressure I have had until now!!"

Sora lay face down on the table, screaming in pain while childishly cursing Silva.

Sure enough, for the insults he shouted at the patriarch during these complaints, not a single Maid showed iron-like loyalty and prompted Sora to take some action. Sora's insults were quite friendly to Silva, who had deceived him.

Although I am here to help you, I know you will never feel indebted to me. To get rid of someone who wants to kill me is truly a disgusting job; I really want to cry.

No matter how unreasonable society is or how hard the work is, the Zoldyck family cannot complain about anything, even if they cancel at the very last moment.

I cannot complain, but I cannot cancel now, so Silva and Kurt hurried to follow.

"It's fine! Just like I said yesterday, I have already taken measures to ensure there is no surprise attack!"

"Yeah, Sora! Right now, Grandpa and Grandpa Maha are pinning him down, trying their best not to attack Sora..."

Kalluto had not yet finished speaking when a sound of destructive flashing was heard.

More specifically, it sounded like someone was forcibly smashing a wall.

Everyone involuntarily fell silent and looked in the direction the sound came from. In fact, no one said anything.

An eerie silence lasted for about thirty seconds, and the silence was broken by Silva's Mobile Phone.

Silva faced the direction the sound came from, picked up the Mobile Phone, and looked into the distance as he spoke.

"Hello."

Harboring a glimmer of hope, I picked up the phone, hoping the call was from my wife or second son, and that the sound of destruction was a bomb Explosion made by Miruki or Kikyo's hysteria. "Silva," I gave up when my father's voice said everything.

Zeno reported to the already resigned Silva nonchalantly, although he appeared somewhat embarrassed.

"Sorry. You must have noticed when we approached. I escaped before entering the cell."

Sora, who was listening to Silva's call, shouted.

"Eldest son of the family, you are an idiot!!"

I don't think he ran away to kill him just because Sora came. If that were the case, the tag game between Sora and Illumi would be proceeding as usual at this time.

If that is not the case, if no one perceived Illumi's killing intent or presence, then Illumi did not run away to kill Sora, but it looks like he really did run away.

Based on his strange stubbornness of not wanting to let Sora give up, Sora finally abandoned the form of a question and declared.

Of course, Father could not object.

Or rather, Silva was convinced while holding his head. My eldest son is stupid.

I don't know how many times Illumi had wandered aimlessly in her family's garden, Kukuroo Mountain, somehow suppressing the urge to gouge out her right eye.

Even if she gouged out her own eye, it would have no effect on the "Nen" controlling this part of her field of vision.

Perhaps the "Nen" placed on her not only controlled part of her right eye but also part of her brain.

For capable targets, it digs out the most unignorable images from memory, occupies a part of the field of vision, and reproduces them. This is an ability that is no different from Harassment.

What made me have this thought is that the "Illusion" was created by a complete stranger and could not be shown to me without knowing Illumi's past memories. This is a memory error.

"Are you stupid? If this 'eye' is related to my line of sight, then I will gouge out this 'eye' first."

The woman told him that the Spiritual Power of his "eye" was not connected to his vision but was inversely proportional. Instead, he realized that after losing his eye, his vision could forever reproduce the worst memories of his life, and he continued to endure the urge to gouge out his eye, but at the same time, he realized that the reason for this possibility was that he had gouged out his own right eye, which was also the reason I wanted to do so, so I was particularly frustrated.

Illumi became increasingly annoyed and sighed self-deprecatingly, because she knew she had done nothing but ridiculous stupidity these past few days.

The usually calm and rational self came to this conclusion: "Don't be petty, get that woman to get rid of it as soon as possible." Speaking of Sora, he is bloated, stupid, and emotional, but he insists that he doesn't like it.

Know. If I had agreed to rely on Sora quickly, I wouldn't have been asked about the effect of this "Nen" on my right eye, the content of the "Harassment."

First of all, even without saying it, Illumi felt that her family and the Maid might all know.

I couldn't stay calm, and the only thing that made me excited was that woman.

Even so, Illumi still had no intention of speaking.

I had no more desire to rely on it.

"... I will be overwhelmed by this 'feeling'!"

As soon as I opened my eyes, suppressing the urge to dig my nails in, my hair fluttered at the edge of my vision.

Illumi turned her head and saw that white hair as if it had just been stained with ink.

I knew there was no one there. I knew a long time ago that this was the Nen Ability I had been given.

However, I couldn't ignore its reaction... I wanted to kill myself, I turned around and stared at my eyes like that day. Throwing a Needle.

Of course, even if I threw a Needle at her, there was no reason for it to pierce the phantom woman.

"Are you okay?"

I can't hear you. However, the movement of her lips that Illumi had seen many times clearly reproduced the voice of that day in Sora's ears.

"... Don't pity me!!"

She screamed convulsively again and launched an attack at the illusion, but Illumi's fist only gouged out the trunk of a large tree and broke it, while the woman still flickered at the edge of her field of vision, as if sneering at Illumi.

The Illusion of Sora-sikiori never disappeared from Illumi's line of sight, but she never saw Illumi.

Just like when we met in the snowy crowd a year ago, even if our gazes met, it was naturally impossible to look away.

Even if I passed by my side, I didn't even notice Illumi's gaze beside me.

Unlike Illumi who stood still, that back left without slowing down.

The next day, it was the same when we met at work.

His gaze was cast toward Illumi, but those eyes were not looking at Illumi.

The moment she killed the old Maid who had left her master for some reason and disguised herself as a newcomer to return to the room, she was startled, but she discovered at a glance that the old Maid had been replaced. Together with others, she immediately attacked her.

We fought as is, but I knew that in the battle, that woman was most concerned about the movements of her employer, who was Illumi's target.

I didn't like it so much that it made my gut boil.

Since Sora was a Bodyguard, he knew that professionals would naturally worry about whether the target they were supposed to protect would panic in battle and take unnecessary actions, but even so, he still didn't like it.

I didn't like it so much that I had to take off my disguise at a party where people other than the target gathered, even though not that many people gathered at the party, they gathered people with bad taste who Collect human bodies and brag about their Collection.

I thought that if I took off my disguise and revealed my true face, my consciousness would turn toward me slightly, but this was completely meaningless.

"Wow!? What a disgusting feeling! Wow!? Grandpa became handsome! It looks like a Noh mask! Explosion!!"

Even if I used Manipulation on the surrounding staff and guests to attack me, Sora managed to avoid them, only saying what I thought were provocative words.

I thought so too at the time, but the more I understood Sora, the more I realized this was neither provocation nor ordinary distortion, but merely an impression Sora could not have foreseen.

Even in the form of "provocation," Sora did not look at Illumi.

I cannot forgive myself for blurting out my frank impression after seeing Illumi's disguised face.

Of course, although their gazes had met once, Sora did not remember Illumi at all.

Illumi was also disqualified, not because he was the target's Bodyguard, but because of his personal feelings, attempting to fight and kill Sora.

I did not want to protect my employer.

During the battle with Illumi, Sora's employer, Illumi's target, kept complaining to Sora that he should protect himself better and should not destroy the mansion.

Illumi had already forgotten his job, with no target in his eyes, intent only on killing Sora, but Sora was just that standard, completely satisfied with his own body, dodging Illumi's attacks, dealing with them, realizing how lucky he was to still be alive.

Because Illumi was obsessed with Sora, even when Sora ran around the mansion, he chased after him, waving ugly Needles while chasing me, screaming whenever the mansion or furnishings were destroyed.

He should have thought that destroying the mansion and his precious "Collection" would be cheap compared to his own life, but that man let Sora and Illumi fight in front of the Wall with the corridor. "Stop!" a voice more desperate than ever.

Illumi, of course, ignored that voice.

The one who responded was Sora.

With a light the color of the night sky flickering in his eyes, the single-minded Sora smiled and looked at Illumi for the first time.

I thought it had come.

"Here!"

I did not see the illumination.

The reason she ran around the mansion was not to separate Illumi from her employer. Sora fought Illumi, merely looking for a hidden room, while destroying the interior of the mansion under the cover of chaos.

A Collection room where corpses illegally collected by the employer were arranged.

Destroying the Wall that served as a secret door, leaving the escorted target alone, Sora ran down the stairs leading to the basement, ignoring Illumi.

Just like when we met in the crowd, he did not look back.

The reason Sora was able to kill the target was because Sora's employer was stupid enough to forget that Illumi was an Assassin who came to kill him, running down the stairs to stop Sora, and I just accidentally decapitated it.

Sora's view of Illumi had hardly changed since yesterday, which ignited Illumi's obsession.

So I followed him.

To kill a woman whose name he didn't even know at the time, not because it was his job, he had no purpose, and Illumi didn't know why he disliked her so much, why he couldn't help but want to kill her. Chase.

Illumi still knew that the phantom of Sora was out of her reach, but she still threw Needles at her.

I know how stupid I was being.

What Illumi is doing now is like a child trying to catch the moon reflected on the water with a net.

Even so, I still cannot ignore that back that I cannot see in the corner of my vision.

Unable to recognize "that" was the moment she "saw" Illumi for the first time, Illumi reached out to the neck of the woman who was looking down at him and smiling.

"... Illumi. Are you really okay?"

Illumi's outstretched hand slid across the woman's neck, and the phantom spat out the words Illumi least wanted to hear.

However, this time, it was not an auditory hallucination that evoked the memory.

Returning to the person who heard the voice.

At the edge of my vision, black hair fluttered only at the ends. But this time I was able to ignore the hair.

The night sky watched.

A woman stood before me, indigo eyes pointing straight at me.

I could see the damn back that I knew would never turn around, as if it were a double of that woman.

A woman with her back to herself, looking at herself without smiling, pitying herself, swayed by the hallucination that did not exist in her eyes, like light shining, "just in case," that was nothing more than "Harassment."

Illumi clicked her tongue at that scene, which seemed to be her worst nightmare.