Illumi calmly tallied the costs in his mind.
Besides...
His gaze seemed to flick toward the ceiling.
Traces of that old man's distinctive aura of "heart" still lingered in the air.
Chairman Netero had been watching everything aboard this airship.
The clash of Nen pressure just now had surely drawn his attention.
Making a scene on the Hunter Association chairman's turf, perhaps even provoking that Old Monster into intervening, was unwise.
Conclusion: excessive risk, excessive cost, substantial loss.
A moment later, Illumi slowly withdrew his overwhelming Nen pressure.
The oppressive force, enough to suffocate an ordinary person, vanished like an ebbing tide.
The temperature in the room seemed to rise a little, yet that only made the exhaustion feel worse.
He gave Lin Yan a long, penetrating look.
Gone was the indifference of someone looking at a dead object. In its place were scrutiny, wariness, and a hint that he had added Lin Yan to his "high-risk list."
"You're strong, and very strange."
Illumi's voice remained dry, but now held a trace of rational detachment. "Taking this kind of risk just to bring Killua home isn't worth it. I'll let it go for now."
Lin Yan slowly dispersed the Divine Sense within his sea of consciousness, and the unnerving sensation of a lock-on faded with it.
He forced himself to show no sign of fatigue, keeping his breathing as steady as he could.
"Killua has his own choices to make. No one can keep him bound forever, not even his family," Lin Yan said.
Illumi did not respond. To him, that belief was wrong, but he had no intention of arguing.
He merely gave Lin Yan another long look, then turned.
His movements stiff and mechanical, he slowly left the room without a sound.
Only when Illumi had vanished completely