"You're here."
"Yes, I'm here."
"You look confident."
"What if I weren't?" Roy drew his sword and looked at Silva intently. "Would that make Father go easy on me?"
"No. I'd only hit harder." Silva paused his fingers as he toyed with the whip, then rose to his full height. His killing intent roared toward Roy like a vast ocean, swallowing him whole.
Roy gripped Snow Walk with both hands, remembering Urokodaki Sakonji's teachings. He planted his feet like roots, standing as firm as if nailed to the floor, while his thick black hair whipped wildly upward!
He could barely keep his eyes open...
"Crackle—" arcs of electricity danced... The camera mounted in the corner flashed red, quickly transmitting the footage.
Early that morning, Kikyo had climbed out of bed, one hand on her lower back. She was having morning tea while Tsubone served her. A few meters away, beyond the window, Milluki lay sprawled in the garden in a Lolita dress, his belly exposed. A butler hovered over him, dutifully applying ointment.
A few curious butterflies fluttered by. When they reached the training room, they seemed to hit an invisible wall and began dropping one after another...
Illumi saw it clearly: they had been knocked unconscious by the overwhelming killing intent.
At one point, the wind blowing into the room stopped... A whip shadow cracked through the air with a sharp "Pop!" and abruptly lashed toward Roy's chest.
Fast... too fast... Illumi had only glanced away for a moment at the butterflies, and by the time he looked back, the whip was already right in front of Roy!
"Snake Awakening?"
Now that Roy's physique had improved, his Snake Awakening had officially reached the mastery stage.
The moment he entered Silva's field of killing intent, he had already activated [Gyo], so he could faintly see that Silva's whip carried a hint of Snake Awakening.
Or perhaps... just as Urokodaki Sakonji had said of Swordsmanship, a blade was merely an extension of the arm... The same went for a whip and Silva's arm. A whip strike was a hand blade. If it hit, it would do far more than just tear off a layer of skin!
Closer!
Roy could already smell the murderous intent coming from the whip at close range!
He remained calm, reminding himself to keep his composure. He gripped Snow Walk with both hands, just as he did every day in the Snow Country when he practiced his required Ten Thousand Swings. Using Iai, he waited for the instant the tip of the whip reached his chest, then brought down a furious slash!
"Clang—"
The blade tip shrieked as it scraped through the air. Snow Walk traced an arc, striking first despite moving second, and hit the whip dead-on, separating it from Roy's chest.
"Boom—" An overwhelming force crashed into him,,, but the attack didn't stop in the slightest because of Roy's slash. It was only interrupted for an instant before slamming into his chest again.
Roy felt as if he'd been hit head-on by a hundred-ton truck. Snow Walk nearly flew from his hands, and he was sent hurtling through the nearly ten-meter-long corridor before crashing hard into the stone wall at the corner!
"Crack... crack..." The wall fractured in a web around him!
A sharp pain surged through Roy as he slid down the wall. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. Clearly... that single strike had already injured his internal organs!
"Why didn't you dodge?"
The subject of this test was [Zetsu].
[Zetsu] excelled at suppressing one's aura and sharpening the five senses—
Using [Zetsu] to avoid the attack was exactly what Roy needed to do, and what he should have done...
"Why should I dodge?" Roy wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and tightened his grip on Snow Walk. He asked Silva, "Since Father is testing me..."
"Of course I have to test Father's measure, too. That's... the most basic courtesy..."
"Liar... You just want to hit back." Illumi wisely crouched in the corner, retreating even farther into the shadows... He thought of himself as a poisonous snake, coiled in the dark. His hollow eyes stayed fixed on Roy. Though his face seemed expressionless, his thoughts churned. He was nowhere near as calm as he appeared.
Since childhood, their family had taught them that assassins weren't brutes. They accepted jobs they could handle and refused those they couldn't... Taking on a job beyond your abilities when you lacked the skill was just asking to die!
In Illumi's eyes, Roy was asking to die!
"Do you think you're tough enough to survive, or do you think that because you're my son, I won't kill you?"
Silva had noticed it too. He watched Roy coldly.
Roy said nothing... The truth was, he simply hated the feeling of being hit without being able to hit back.
When facing an enemy, even if that enemy was his father, he had to defeat him fair and square... Roy had to admit that he'd deceived Urokodaki Sakonji. He knew... at this stage, he was nowhere near Silva's equal. But he couldn't stand skulking around like a rat, either.
"At the very least, I have to try to touch his clothes."
He didn't answer Silva's question and ignored Illumi completely. Roy activated [Zetsu], sealed his Aura Nodes to sharpen his five senses, narrowed his eyes, and stepped forward with his perfected Shadow Step. Right in front of Illumi, he suddenly vanished!
"Whoosh—" A whirlwind suddenly swept through the training room... When he reappeared, dozens of Roys gripped Snow Walk, their earrings depicting the sun and mountains, and leaped in front of Silva, bringing down another overhead slash!
"Sun Breathing · First Form · Waltz!"
"Fwoosh—" The blade tip ignited as it scraped through the air. Dozens of circular rings of fire sliced downward...
Silva's nostrils flared. He could almost smell the wave of heat against his face, and the corner of his mouth curled into a faint, icy smile...
"Combining [Zetsu] with [Shadow Step] and [Rhythm Echo] is a decent choice, but...
"Only Shadow Step is even passable."
The man stood unmoving as a mountain. Roy couldn't see him do anything; Silva merely turned his wrist and swung his whip again. This time, it carried several whistling gusts, faster and more powerful than the first strike. Countless whip shadows flashed in an instant, making Illumi's vision blur...
"Thwack... thwack... thwack..." Roy's copies were struck apart one after another. Only one remained, and it was sent flying again, smashing through the window and landing in the garden.
Milluki, who had been lying motionless, jolted awake and sat up in confusion, staring at Roy sprawled on the ground. At a very inopportune moment, a string of snot trickled from his right nostril.
"Young Master," the butler said, quick to read the situation. He scooped Milluki up and hurried to the side.
Inside the training room, Silva stood with his back to the shattered window and rumbled, "Continue."
Illumi peered out again. Beneath the willow tree that had witnessed generations of the Zoldycks rise and fall, a figure staggered upright, leaning on his sword...
Roy looked utterly battered. A shard of glass had even cut open his forehead, and blood burst from the wound, staining half his face.
"Cough, cough... That whip strike was really heavy, Father. How about a deal..."
"If you concede now, we'll call it even this time..."
"Heh-heh... What a sly brat, trying to play mind games with his own father..." In the dim little room, the old man rocked back and forth in his chair, thoroughly enjoying himself.
Zeno stood beside him, maintaining [En]...
Before you continue