Tearing Off the Disguise

At last, the show at the Graham Hotel, held in a venue capable of seating a hundred thousand people, began.

Led by Moritonio, the Circus stepped onto the stage they had long dreamed of.

"This performance is the grandest event in all of Graham Galance!"

"Success here means you will rise in one leap to become world-class performers..."

"This is also the stage every person working in entertainment dreams of standing on."

While the troupe members waited backstage, a manager came to them and spoke with an air of pride.

"Today's public performance will be held before the head of the Graham Clan, the highest authority in Garance..."

"His applause will be the greatest praise you can receive, equivalent to being praised by the entire world."

The Graham Clan? Oboro's heart stirred at the name.

The Mafia forces on the Yorbian Continent were extremely rampant, and it was also one of the Ten Dons' primary operating regions, not far from Yorknew City. Considering that this city bore the Graham name, along with its background... it was hard not to suspect that the Graham Clan's patriarch was likely also a boss of the underworld.

"Everyone, do your best."

Watching the manager leave, the troupe leader Moritonio smiled at the nervous members.

Whether they could become famous in a single stroke depended on today! Then, as the music began and the curtain rose, the performance started.

The members took the stage one after another, just as they had rehearsed.

The venue was packed to the brim... the crowd was roaring.

Judging by their performance skills alone, the Moritonio Circus was genuinely talented. Otherwise, they could never have made a name for themselves... After every act ended, the audience generously applauded, and the atmosphere was blazing.

And when troupe leader Moritonio once again defied gravity, stepping through the air and displaying his signature act, Air Swimming, his graceful and unrestrained figure sent the crowd into a frenzy...

He truly lived up to his reputation as an artist.

The performance had undoubtedly been a great success.

There had been no mishaps...

Backstage, everyone wore delighted smiles. Before long... their value would surely skyrocket, and at the very least, they would become famous figures in Graham.

As for the troupe leader, the manager had taken him away, saying that he was going to meet the Graham Clan's boss...

That evening, everyone gathered to celebrate.

"You were all incredible!"

"Let's drink our fill today! We're not leaving until we're drunk!"

"Abachi, you're a girl, so just drink juice!"

The girl looked around but did not see Hisoka or Oboro. Even the troupe leader, who had returned long ago, was nowhere in sight...

"Where are those two?"

Abachi asked.

"Tch! Who cares about those two brats!"

The fat Belize snorted coldly.

"I'll go look for them."

Abachi started to get up.

"Look for what? Sit down already. I'm telling you, Abachi, stay away from Hisoka and Oboro! Especially Hisoka. Oboro has changed since following him. He isn't as honest as he was at the beginning!"

"Uh..."

Someone reached out and pulled the girl back, trying to stop her.

Inside the hundred-thousand-seat performance venue.

Moritonio sat on the steps inside the hotel, gazing at the audience seats, which had long since been emptied.

At that moment, a set of footsteps sounded behind him.

"Yo."

That familiar greeting brought a smile to the old man's face. "Hisoka... and Oboro..."

He did not turn around.

The ones who had come were the two young men whom Moritonio considered astonishingly gifted.

"During the day, so many people were making noise here, yet now... it has become so quiet again... It always feels somewhat unreal."

Moritonio sighed wistfully.

"Once everything ends, the emptiness feels unavoidable... The contrast is overwhelming."

"It's like magic... Onstage, we cast magic upon ourselves, becoming dazzling and glamorous... But when it all fades away, we are no different from the audience. Just ordinary... mortals."

"Like magic itself, it does not truly exist... Perhaps this feeling is the emptiness every magician can never escape..."

For no apparent reason, the old man voiced several reflections.

"The performance was a huge success, so I was sitting here alone, quietly considering the troupe's future direction..."

"Hisoka... I want to entrust you with a more important job. Don't you think... this is a good opportunity for us to understand each other better?"

As if he had sensed something, Moritonio continued speaking to himself.

First of all, Hisoka's origins had always been a topic the troupe members discussed.

Second, at a time when they should have been celebrating, Hisoka and Oboro had come to find him while he was alone... Their purpose was intriguing.

"It was you, wasn't it? That serial killer..."

However, Hisoka suddenly turned his head and smiled faintly at him.

"..."

The troupe leader fell silent for a moment, then smiled as well. "What a frightening boy."

"Come, then. Let's have an honest talk, and Oboro too..."

"Of course, I'll tell you everything about myself as well."

Moritonio stood up.

"Sorry, but I don't really like talking about the past."

Hisoka casually shuffled the playing cards in his hands.

"I'm not interested in other people's affairs either."

Oboro, standing beside him with both hands in his pockets, said indifferently.

"Oh... right. How is your left eye? How does it feel... I've been worried..." Abruptly, Hisoka stopped moving his hands. He gave the troupe leader a teasing smile and called out in a sickly tone, "John Doe?"

Moritonio instinctively covered the left half of his face with one hand, his expression tightening.

"Don't be nervous. If you move too much... be careful, that fake face... might fall off~~"

Hisoka reminded him.

"That day, you really wanted to kill Abachi, didn't you?"

"You wouldn't happen to have wanted to kill Oboro and me too, would you?"

"Were the two of us simply too dazzling, piercing that sensitive, fragile, and inferior soul of yours?"

Hisoka spoke without restraint, every sentence like a sharp blade mercilessly stabbing into Moritonio's heart.

"To think that just a few words made me reveal my flaws. Could I be suffering from dementia..." The old man laughed at himself. No longer pretending, he tore off a layer of artificial skin attached to his face, revealing a scarred brow. He glanced at Hisoka, then at Oboro. "You two... are truly dangerous."

Just as expected, he had something stuck to his face...

Seeing him remove a thin layer from his face, the curve of Hisoka's lips became even more pronounced.

In truth, he had guessed Moritonio's identity long ago. Ever since Abachi said that every city the Circus had visited had wanted posters of a serial killer... He was also certain that Oboro had figured it out long ago.

"Since a very young age, I liked seeing shocked expressions on people's faces..."

"I often performed magic tricks for my family in the past."

"But gradually... ordinary performances and the audience's reactions could no longer satisfy me."

"Then one day, in pursuit of the ultimate 'facial reaction,' I killed my younger sister... Those features and eyes twisted in pain and struggle seemed more meaningful than surprise."

"I wanted to become a Hunter or a traveling performer so I could elevate and transform my methods of performance... to pursue entirely new techniques. But... as time passed, I discovered that after every performance, I felt utterly empty inside. That feeling was difficult to soothe. Only after killing someone, when I saw their face before death, could I calm down..."

As Moritonio began recounting his past, Oboro expressionlessly stepped back.

He knew what would happen next...

He left the venue to the two of them.

The old man glanced sideways at Hisoka. "What do you want to do?"

"Whether you're a murderer or a con artist, it has nothing to do with me, and I have no interest in it." Hisoka blew on the card in his hand. "The card I wanted is already in my possession..."

Without question, the card he meant was Nen power.

"Though there's no need for me to stay here any longer... you did help me, after all... As repayment, let... me satisfy you."

"Don't you like making people feel surprised... Aren't you empty inside? Then why not... try... scaring me?"

Along with Hisoka's teasing tone, Nen aura began to ripple around him.

In Hisoka's smiling eyes, barely suppressed fighting spirit and madness had already surfaced... along with a kind of... morbid excitement and anticipation.

"You don't mind if I... use every means available, do you?"

Moritonio had clearly anticipated Hisoka's provocation and was not surprised.

"Come... let's... have some fun."

"Either I kill you, or... you kill me!"

Hisoka's sinister face was his answer.

Whoosh.

As his words fell, a playing card instantly shot toward Moritonio.

Hisoka himself followed right after it like a madman, lunging at the old man.