Chapter 123: Roy's Nen Beast x The Three-Legged Golden Crow

Chapter 126: Roy's Nen Beast x The Three-Legged Golden Crow

Specks of light materialized, coalesced into the form of the training blade, and re-hung themselves on the south wall.

Giyu Tomioka and Sakonji Urokodaki, not yet asleep, got up and lit the oil lamp to get a closer look. Sakonji rubbed the blade and said, "It's Eiichiro's training blade, alright."

Everyone stared at each other, speechless. A sword that "travels" on its own... just like Eiichiro, completely absurd!

After a moment, Sabito said, "We should ask Eiichiro in the morning." He was firm in his belief that this was somehow the boy's doing. But the boy himself was fast asleep, forcing a roomful of adults to worry about his sword. They didn't know what to say.

"Everyone, sleep." It was only a few hours until dawn. The old man could wait.

Giyu Tomioka nodded and dutifully blew out the lamp. The small cabin rustled with activity for a moment before falling silent again.

Hunter World.

The Quiz Town.

Roy dismissed the training blade and picked up the cane sword he had planted in the ground. He smiled at Sachiko Nakajima. "I won't keep you from your duties, Granny."

His ears twitched. He could faintly hear footsteps approaching the alley—likely the other candidates, following his path. Sachiko smiled and nodded. Through the shared vision of her "children," she saw two boys emerge from the forest and stop at the town's entrance. The one on the left had his face full of 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 internally. This year's candidates are a difficult bunch. She instructed her "children" to open the gate to the next stage and forced a smile for Roy. "There's a tall cypress tree on the hill. The guide lives there."

As for whether the "guide" would give these kids a lift... Sachiko couldn't guarantee that. That "guide" had a special status, and she didn't have their phone number.

Rumble... The heavy stone gate opened, revealing a deep, dark passage.

Roy gave Sachiko a slight nod. Under the watchful eyes of Illumi and Kite, who had just arrived, he stepped inside. Gotoh and Kurapika flanked him.

The stone gate closed.

Illumi and Kite were left facing Sachiko, both lost in thought.

"Young Master... we are being watched," Gotoh whispered as they walked through the dark passage. He could faintly hear the subtle "whirring" of machinery. Always sensitive to cameras, he had quickly spotted several.

"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, panting, "The exam began the moment we boarded the ship. 'Official' or not is just a label the Hunter Association can change at will."

Kurapika subtly edged closer to Roy. Her intuition told her the cameras were following her. She glanced up suspiciously.

On the airship.

Netero, noticing the girl's gaze, chuckled. "That girl is sharp. And her clothes are unusual."

"She's from the Kurta Clan," Bean, ever knowledgeable, identified her instantly. He glanced cautiously at Zeno and chose his words carefully. "These ancient peoples have a precarious existence. For her to take the exam, she likely hopes to become a Hunter and support her clan."

Bean's words were diplomatic, but the subtext was a clear warning to Zeno: the girl had ulterior motives.

Zeno, hands behind his back, was unfazed, completely unconcerned. Who cares what clan she's from? As long as she can have babies, if she has problems, the Zoldycks will handle them.

What interested him, his grandson, more... was Roy!

Netero had been right earlier. For the kid to use the "Sun" as his visualization object showed immense ambition. It wouldn't be easy for him to conjure a Nen Beast. Just like his Nen Dragon, or Netero's Guanyin. The stronger the visualization object derived from "asking the heart," the greater the difficulty in conjuring a Nen Beast or developing an ability.

He frowned, saying nothing.

At that moment, his ears twitched. He heard Netero, as if reading his mind, muse softly, "The 'Sun' and 'Beast' combined... This old man can't imagine what that corresponds to." A "Dragon" or "Guanyin" both have real-world reference points. The former truly exists—the Zoldycks even keep one. The latter is based on a holy figure, with statues in any believer's home.

But "Sun" and "Beast"... separated, they are easy to find—one rises every day, the other is everywhere. But together? It was difficult to find a single "symbolic" point.

"When you get old, it's understandable that your imagination becomes poor," Zeno retorted. It was unclear if he was mocking Netero, himself, or both. His gaze remained locked on Roy. The boy was walking, deep in thought, clearly pondering this exact problem.

Kurapika and Gotoh, noticing his state, wisely kept quiet.

After about an hour, a faint light appeared at the end of the tunnel. The group quickened their pace and emerged into the open, finding themselves at a small, shimmering lake. A small boat was docked nearby. Gotoh and Kurapika wordlessly took up the oars.

They looked back at Roy. The boy, still in deep thought, leaped lightly onto the bow. The boat drifted, heading for the opposite shore. He continued to mull over Sachiko's words... "Because of my most fervent hope, I unconsciously conjured the dolls."

He gradually anchored his thoughts to his own visualization object: the Sun.

Just as Biscuit desired youth, she conjured the humanoid Nen Beast 'Cookie-chan'.

Just as Razor loved volleyball, he conjured the '14 Devils'.

A Nen Beast isn't random. It's driven entirely 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 his surroundings, noticing stone tablets floating in the lake and lining its banks, inscribed with unknown characters.

"This is the script left by the ancient Moku people. It's said they also had a glorious civilization," Kurapika said, her oars still, clearly "slacking off."

Gotoh glared at her, finding himself powerless against 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 a history book when I get back and give you an answer."

"No need. We have a professional right here." Roy suddenly turned his head toward 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!"

Ting! The coin was deflected by an outstretched claw, spinning back into Gotoh's hand. The young butler stood up, ready to move, but a milky-white Nen thread shot through the air, faster than the coin. Swish! It wrapped around the creature's leg. Amidst a terrified shriek, it was yanked out of the woods and slammed onto the boat at Roy's feet.

"It really is a fox!" Kurapika's eyes widened. The fox was huge, nearly the size of two adult men, with a pair of fleshy wings under its ribs. Can it fly?

"Ow! That hurts! Is this any way to treat your guide?" The fox scrambled up, transforming into a woman, glaring "fiercely" at them. "That's right, I'm the guide!" she huffed, baring her teeth at Roy, who still held the Nen thread wrapped around her ankle.

'Damn kid! He's young, but his Nen control is exquisite!' To be restrained in the blink of an eye... he was not to be underestimated.

"You dare bare your teeth at the Young Master?" Gotoh's eyes flashed. He turned to Roy. "Young Master, should I just kill it?" A mere magical beast, thinks it can impersonate a guide just by transforming? Ridiculous!

Kurapika frowned but said nothing. She had a feeling this "fox woman" wasn't lying.

Roy released the Nen thread. He looked calmly at the woman, his gaze lingering on the mark on her wrist. He wasn't worried about her escaping. "Are you the Kiriko's mother, or the daughter?" he asked, getting straight to the point. In the original story, the Kiriko family—parents and children—lived in the cabin under the cypress tree. Since this one had transformed into a woman, she was obviously female.

The fox woman was clearly startled. Her expression turned wary.

Roy smiled. "I mean no harm. I just want to ask, what is the connection between the mark on your body and this Moku script?" A lost civilization and a magical beast that seems to be 'guarding' its ruins... Roy felt he was grasping at a thread of insight, but it wasn't clear yet.

The fox woman subconsciously shuffled backward. She hadn't expected this boy to see through her identity and know so much about her clan. She swallowed. "It's a sacred text, from our 'God'. Like the mark on my body, I was born with it. My father told me... it involves our ancestors' worship. As long as we believe in 'God' and worship 'God', 'God' will send down an oracle and grant a 'blessing'. This mark is 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 markings. This matched perfectly.

Splash! "Young Master, she jumped!" Seizing the moment Roy was distracted, the woman dove into the lake and swam rapidly for 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 right about one thing: she was the guide. Not just her, but her brother and parents too.

"It seems she was the guide," Kurapika said, catching the implication. She looked at the boy again, only to pause. Roy was completely unbothered by the fox's escape, still mulling over the words "God" and "Worship," staring blankly at the rippling lake.

'That's it. 'God'. 'Worship'. These ancient magical beasts and peoples all have ancestor worship, totem worship... As a transmigrator and reincarnator, I've been so focused on blending into the Hunter world that I almost forgot I have a 'past life'.'

The 'Gate of Cognition' only opened because of that past life. How could I forget it? One must live in the present and look to the future, but one can never forget the 'past'.

In that "past life," there were countless myths and legends about the "Sun."

For example, "Kuafu Chasing the Sun."

Or "The Golden Crow Pulling the Chariot."

'The Golden Crow... the Golden Crow...' Two suns fwoosh ignited in Roy's dark pupils. A smile touched his lips, his gaze hotter and brighter than ever before. "In the sun resides the Three-Legged Crow, in the moon the Jade Toad." The Golden Crow is the sun's chariot. "Sun" and "Beast"...

"My Nen Beast... shall be the Three-Legged Golden Crow!"

His mind was clear! His path was set!

BOOM!

His aura nodes burst open!

Roy, seized by insight, unleashed his Ren in a surging torrent, forming a crimson storm around him! Kurapika, before she could even understand what was happening, was grabbed by a massive, fiery red hand—as was Gotoh—and flung to the far shore. Dazed, they looked back.

In 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.

Hsssss...

The lake water heated, boiled, bubbled, and evaporated. The crimson Nen aura raged, scorching the earth, setting fire to everything it touched.

The Kiriko daughter, having just crawled out of the water and into the forest, felt an intense heat on her back. She looked around, and her narrow fox eyes widened in shock. She missed a step, shrieked, and tumbled down a hill. "Fire? Is it on fire?"

That red Nen... what the hell is that?!

Fear of the unknown struck her heart. The forest behind her was burning, and the hidden cameras within it, unable to withstand the heat, began to "wail," letting out a series of high-pitched beeps! They were clearly about to be destroyed!

Aboard the Hunter Association airship.

An old man sat bolt upright. Another's pupils constricted. Both stared, transfixed, at the boy on the screen. Faintly, they saw a pair of enormous wings, flowing with golden light and searing heat, unfurl SWISH! from the boy's back!

It was followed by a soul-shaking cry...

Like the deep, resonant ring of a great bell, it swept out in all directions. It was as if someone had taken a giant hammer and struck a bronze bell right next to their ears.

DOOOOONG—!

Their ears rang, their hearts trembled. They were momentarily deafened.

"Are you stupid?! Cover your ears!"

"Are you blind?! You think I'm not?!" Kurapika, even faster than Gotoh, had already clamped her hands over her ears!

Now, standing in a raging inferno, the lake evaporating before them, the forest burning behind them, the two of them could no longer find words to describe the feeling. They just stared, dumbfounded, at the center of the lake.

The boy's wings spread wide, and from his back, a great, golden-red bird slowly emerged!