Trading Death for Life X The Seven Wonders of the World
"It's over."
Pariston's body lay lifeless on the deck.
His two bodyguards Clark and Gore, were pushed to the surface by the waves. Several sharks could be seen approaching, drawn by the smell of blood.
Kite stood on the gun barrel and witnessed the whole thing. Her gaze was fixed on the Sun-Earring Boy's not particularly tall back. Roy felt something, turned his head and glanced at him indifferently, then sheathed his sword.
"Young Master, what should we do with him?" Gotoh glanced at Pariston, then returned after taking a breath.
In his opinion, offending the Young Master meant he should be thrown into the sea along with his two bodyguards to feed the fish.
Roy remained silent, receiving a notification from the panel... Clark and Gore both provided him with eight or nine points of "Life Energy" after their deaths, but... Pariston's spirit did not manifest.
What is certain is that he did indeed stab the other man in the heart, and Pariston, as he saw, lay quietly at his feet, lifeless...
Everything seemed perfectly reasonable, until Roy realized something was wrong, knelt down to examine Pariston's body, and unexpectedly, his fingers just touched the carotid artery in his neck...
That vibrant person visibly withered away, turning into a puddle of sand, which, swept away by the sea breeze, vanished into the world...
[Vow and Restriction]
[To die for the "King," at the cost of permanently consuming a chess piece, and to be resurrected in place of the deceased]
Spanto, the capital of the Kakin Empire.
At the southern end of Tulip Avenue, adjacent to the power center of the First King Palace, controlled by the Hui Guo Rou family, lies a luxurious manor.
The manor is magnificent, with its soaring spires, antique window frames, and exquisitely maintained gardens by dozens of gardeners. Every detail exudes aristocratic elegance and luxury.
At this moment, in front of a huge floor-to-ceiling window on the second floor, an "old" man and a young man were drinking tea and playing chess.
The "older" one was around fifty years old, with long hair tied up with a hairpin, a rugged face, and a thick, black beard under his chin. From a distance, he even looked a bit like Netero, but in terms of physique... he was much more robust than Netero.
"I warned you long ago that if you want to manifest a true dragon, you can't be confined to this world. You should come with me to see the real continent..."
"Snap!" A black horse on the Chessboard was mercilessly captured by the man.
The Sun-Earring Boy sitting opposite him had a sickly flush on his face, and when he opened his mouth, he spat out a mouthful of blood... staining the black and white Chessboard red.
Pariston pulled out a handkerchief from his breast pocket, slowly wiped his mouth, then reached up to touch his heart. The piercing pain was real, and for a moment it seemed to pull him back to the sea, making him go through it all again.
"Roy Zoldyck... he really is a terrifying person..."
"Who?"
Roy Zoldyck...
"
The man paused, tossed aside the chess piece in his hand, and sneered, "I told you it's just an exam. Even if you're not very good, you shouldn't fail."
But, "If the other party is Zoldyck, then it makes sense."
Beyond stood with his hands behind his back in front of the French windows, his gaze sweeping across the garden, past the royal palace, and onto the dock, where a massive ship was being built at the shipyard, which he had named "Black Whale" just two days ago.
His thoughts drifted back to his brief "encounter" with the silver-haired man some time ago, when the man was indifferent and flatly refused his suggestion to ask his grandfather to persuade his father to lift the restrictions.
Even offering billions of Jeni couldn't sway him, demonstrating just how ruthless the other party could be when he turned against him! (Note: Netero once swore an oath that as long as he lived, he would not allow Beyond to land on the Dark Continent. This is one of the reasons why the old man was killed by Beyond and Pariston.)
Pariston wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and smiled, his eyes narrowing.
"People... always have to prove themselves, that's what you told me."
Just Beyond told him that he had to see the real dragon before he could manifest it... the Sun-Earring Boy pinched the bloodstained "dragon" chess piece on the Chessboard, played with it for a while, and said in a deep voice, "This is not over. Once I find the real dragon, I will settle accounts with him properly."
To enjoy the pleasure of being hated, one must first learn to hate others... Beyond, and the Sun-Earring Boy was considered to have entered the path of learning from that moment on.
"Take your time... take your time... don't rush..." he said to the Sun-Earring Boy.
For years, he had been reminding himself of this, and then, turning to look at the royal palace, he realized that the layout had already been subtly and gradually unfolded...
Aboard the Poseidon.
Seeing Pariston's body turn into a puddle of mud, Gotoh also sensed that something was wrong.
He followed Roy's example, crouching down and touching a handful of the rotten mud that had turned into Pariston's body. He sniffed it and said, "It's red clay used for 'shaping'."
The young butler, not being Zoldyck family servant, had spent a lot of time playing in the mud as a child. He frowned and analyzed, "The fact that the corpse turned into mud means that the Blonde Boy standing here just now wasn't the real guy, but a substitute made of red clay."
And then, considering the Chessboard and the chess pieces, the truth gradually comes to light.
"That Pariston is probably not dead..."
As Gotoh spoke cautiously, Roy stood up, picked up the branch that Gotoh had temporarily stuck in the crack in the deck, and walked silently to the bow of the ship to continue fishing and honing his Nen Ability.
Deep down, I know that whether someone is dead or alive isn't that important anymore. There's nothing new under the sun; as long as you have the strength, all your scheming will eventually vanish without a trace.
"At worst, we'll just kill them again."
"Yes." Gotoh composed herself, followed him to the bow of the boat, turned her back to the Sun-Earring Boy, and continued to protect his back.
As night fell and the last rays of the setting sun disappeared, a moon quietly rose above the sea, casting its Moonlight upon the "Poseidon" and draping it in a veil of moonlight.
One by one, people regained consciousness, and without exception... their first instinct was to look at the battlefield.
The cracked deck was a mess, with Pariston, Clark, and Gore nowhere to be seen. Only the old captain, Shanking Gus, and a few other crew members were laboriously carrying tools and repairing the ship. And... as if sitting on a rock at the bow, fishing, it seemed the terrifying swordsman from just moments ago was not his young, inexperienced Sun-Earring Boy...
"Ah"
A scream rang out...
Moments later, the killing resumed!
People then remembered that the points battle was not over yet and a new round of competition was about to begin, but they all kept their distance from the bow of the ship, forming a tacit understanding, which gave Kurajing a chance to catch her breath.
The girl sat cross-legged next to Gotoh, tore off a piece of her sleeve to use as a bandage, and simply stopped the bleeding. She then took out a bank card from her inner pocket and handed it to Gotoh, glancing at Roy as she said, "This is my savings accumulated over the years. Please accept it."
Kurajing is a perceptive person, but unfortunately...
"Your clan is good for nothing except for your eyes..."
?!
Kurajing:
He suddenly raised his head, his jet-black pupils showing signs of turning fiery red due to the intense fluctuations in his emotions!