Milluki's First Encounter with the True Meaning of Martial Arts

With his mind at ease, the youth soon drifted into a deep slumber.

This time, he dreamt of his past self, seeing "whip shadows," "electric batons," and "venomous insects"...

His hands and feet curled up instinctively.

Without having been whipped, one would never know how agonizing a lash soaked in water could be.

Without having endured electric shocks, one would never grasp the concept of five hundred thousand volts.

Without having been bitten by venomous insects, one could never understand the sensation of internal organs churning and convulsing from poison.

From the age of three, when Roy first gained memories, this was the daily training he was forced to endure.

It was Silva who had taken him by the hand, cast him into this living hell, and sugarcoated it by saying: "This is laying the foundation for you to become a qualified assassin in the future."

It was also Silva who later realized Roy's limited talent and gradually shifted his focus to Illumi, Milluki, and the children yet to be born.

Regarding this, Roy had nothing to say, nor did he wish to judge, for this was the fate of the Zoldyck family. It was a process every child born into the Zoldyck house had to endure; there was nothing to discuss.

However, born as a human, Roy had always felt that he, too, had the right to choose his own life...

"First, breaking free from their control is the first step!"

"ROAR!" As dawn broke, the roar of Mike arrived right on schedule.

Roy opened his eyes once more, returning to the familiar bedroom.

Today, he lingered in bed for an extra minute, carefully savoring the experience of the previous night; the wild boar meat, meticulously prepared by Kie, had tasted quite good.

Consequently, for today's lunch, Roy instructed Gotoh to fry an extra portion of bacon.

Once full and satisfied, he took Snow Walk with him.

The morning electric shock training had concluded, and the afternoon was his own private training time.

Roy specifically changed into a comfortable training outfit and strolled through the quiet corridors of the ancient castle. Through the windows, he could vaguely see a woman in the garden outside, half of whose face was covered by an electronic eye, enjoying afternoon tea with a small child.

The child was very fair and chubby, his arms and legs like bamboo segments stacked together.

Yet, he wore a little flower hat, was dressed in a Lolita-style dress, white knee-high socks, and a pair of small, round-toed leather shoes... making one mistake him for a little girl.

In reality, it was merely a product of the woman's peculiar tastes.

Roy had nearly suffered such a fate when he was young, but he had destroyed the outfit by tearing it to shreds with brute force.

As a result, even now, the woman looked at him with nothing but disdain, which suited Roy just fine—it gave him some peace and quiet.

"Master Milluki, you can't eat that!"

The chubby toddler had caught a butterfly and was shoving it into his mouth, giving the butler following him a fright.

Unfortunately, he was a step too late; half the butterfly was already in his mouth, and the only way to retrieve it now would be to dig through his excrement.

"Crunch~ crunch..." Milluki chewed with relish, a ring of powder smeared around his mouth.

At one point, he seemed to finally notice a gaze watching him from the corridor beside the garden, so he struggled to lift his chubby head to look over, seemingly thinking--

Who is this?

"That is your elder brother, Master Roy..."

The butler provided the answer to Milluki. He also noticed Roy by the window and bowed, placing his right hand over his chest.

Roy said nothing, nor did he disturb Milluki's remaining moments of joy. His gaze lingered on him for only an instant before he turned and headed toward the training hall.

As for the woman, since she pretended not to see him, why should he go out of his way to approach her?

After all, he was nothing more than a "failed product" in her eyes.

Roy gave a self-deprecating smile.

He touched Snow Walk and pushed open the doors to the training hall.

The pure white katana seemed to loathe being stained by any filth.

Held in Roy's palm and drawn with a metallic clang, it immediately flashed with a cold, ghostly blue light, scattering the dust motes dancing in the sunlight.

"Creak~" The door to the training hall slammed shut.

The youth adjusted his breathing, gently stroked Snow Walk, and began to "dance"...

"Sun Breathing—Waltz," "Sun Breathing—Clear Blue Sky," "Sun Breathing—Burning Sun Mirror," "Sun Breathing—Fake Sun Rainbow"...

[Physique +0.05...+0.05...+0.05...+0.05...]

At a certain moment, a blade flash erupted—

Snow Walk left Roy's right hand, shooting out like a bolt of lightning. An electronic eye in the corner of the room let out a "whimper" and met its end on the spot.

Simultaneously, the television in the second-floor master bedroom erupted in a flurry of static.

"Zzzzt..."

The static flickered in strip-like patterns, one after another...

The man, swirling a glass of red wine, had been reclining on a tiger-skin sofa for a nap. Seeing this, the corners of his mouth curled upward, and he smiled...

He made no move, nor was he angry, and he did not order Tsubone, who was "working through her injuries," to turn off the television. Instead, he waved his hand, signaling her to go to the warehouse and retrieve a sword.

Rising to his feet once more, he now held the slightly curved katana firmly in his grip.

His aura shifted instantly... becoming overbearing and savage, like a ferocious beast ready to erupt and tear everything to shreds!

It was soul-shaking!

To the side, Tsubone retreated two steps toward the wall, sensibly clearing enough space for the man.

Her expression remained calm, but her inner thoughts were complex, for Tsubone had keenly noticed—the family head had been paying excessive attention to a certain someone lately.

"Where did it start?"

It seemed to have begun the moment that person on the television suddenly started performing that strange "dance"...

Whoosh! A gust of wind from the blade brought with it a biting cold light, flashing right past Tsubone's eyes and pulling her thoughts back to reality.

Silva moved!

He held the blade with both hands, mimicking the dance of Roy. The sword in his hand seemed to come alive, whether hacking, lifting, thrusting, or slashing, all paired with the "Shadow Step" beneath his feet. For a moment—

The bedroom became ghostly and illusory, filled with nothing but flying blade light and sword shadows.

Until the final strike—

"Sun Breathing—Dragon Sun Halo Head Dance," accompanied by a sharp, ringing chime!

Only then did Silva abruptly halt his steps, standing still with his blade sheathed, and exhaling a long breath.

"Heh heh heh..." A suppressed, low laugh echoed from the man's throat...

Silva narrowed his eyes, confirming one thing—

"This is not a dance, but a martial way."

Tsubone's pupils constricted! Silva's words immediately made her think of someone...

That was an old man with a topknot who loved to play volleyball.

As the strongest human and a master of martial arts, he had interpreted what the martial way meant through ten thousand grateful straight punches every single day.

It was the true essence condensed in the process of humanity chasing self-transcendence... it was the breadth of mind to observe the heavens and earth and incorporate all things in nature into one... it was the reverence for life and the release of looking past the cycle of life and death...

Now, in this small bedroom within a castle that had stood for nearly a thousand years, a trace of it had actually appeared!

It was truly inconceivable...

"Take it away and maintain it well." As the dance ended, Silva tossed the blade over.

Tsubone caught it mechanically, her mind seemingly still unable to recover from the flashes of light and shadows of the blade just now...

Dazed, she cast her gaze toward the television...

Where was the dashing figure of the youth in the snowy static?

Only that line—"Aren't you a dog, too?"

Kept echoing in her mind...