The training room door closed softly, shutting out the corridor's chilly draft, but the oppressive atmosphere inside did not ease at all. Killua stood in the center of the room, the short blade in his palm trembling slightly. The instant he saw Gon and Lin Ye, a crack appeared in his icy gaze that he could not conceal. He deliberately tightened his jaw, trying to maintain the indifference expected of an assassin, but his faintly shaking fingertips had already betrayed his inner struggle. "Killua!" Gon completely ignored his distant attitude and rushed forward, reaching for his arm, his eyes shining with pure, burning excitement. "I've been waiting for you ever since the Hunter Exam ended! Lin Ye came too. Let's go to Heavens Arena together, practice Nen together, and get stronger together!" Killua's body abruptly stiffened. He stepped back as though shocked, avoiding Gon's touch. His throat bobbed, and his voice came out dry and cold. "I already told you to leave. This is the Zoldyck Family's home. You shouldn't be here. I'm the family heir, born to be an assassin. We don't belong in the same world." Every word sounded as though he was forcing himself to believe it, but the harder he tried, the less convincing he became. Gon saw straight through his act. He shook his head and stepped forward, his voice unwavering. "That's not true! You saved me during the Hunter Exam. We shared food and made it through all those challenges together. You're not some tool that only knows how to kill. You're Killua, my most important friend!" "Friend..." Killua repeated quietly. The ice in his gaze crumbled completely, revealing the pain and longing buried beneath it. He dreamed of leaving this cold cage with Gon, of escaping bloodshed and slaughter, of no longer living in Illumi's shadow. But his older brother's cold words pierced his heart like poisoned thorns: "If you dare leave, I'll kill Gon." "Assassins don't need friends." He could not put the people around him in danger. "I'll say this one last time. I'm not going with you." Killua closed his eyes. When he opened them again, only an almost cruel indifference remained. "If you don't leave, I'll attack you." "No, you won't," Lin Ye said calmly. His voice was quiet, yet it carried a force that cut straight to the heart. He stepped forward and looked Killua in the eye. "If you really wanted to attack us, your blade would have been pointed at us the moment you turned around. You're just afraid. Afraid of your brother, afraid of this family, afraid of dragging us into trouble." Killua's face turned deathly pale. Those few words stripped away every pretense, leaving him unable to maintain his composure. Lin Ye's voice remained steady and gentle. "Back in Meteor City, my master told me that truly strong people don't let fate push them along. They choose their own path. You're not the family's puppet. You're Killua Zoldyck. You have the right to choose the kind of person you want to be." "What do you know?!" Killua finally lost control, his voice trembling with everything he had suppressed. "You have no idea how terrifying Illumi is, or how cruel this family's rules are! All you do is say things that sound nice. When real danger comes, you won't even be able to protect yourselves!" "Then we'll become strong enough that they won't dare look down on us." Lin Ye stepped in front of Gon and Killua, the aura around him quietly gathering as he stood his ground. "I'll protect Gon, and I'll protect you too. If Illumi dares attack, I won't let him hurt either of you." Before he had finished speaking, the training room door opened without a sound. An utterly frigid presence flooded the room like a tide. The air seemed to freeze, making even breathing difficult. Killua shook violently and instinctively ducked behind Lin Ye. This fear was carved into his bones, impossible to suppress. A young man with falling silver hair and eyes as hollow as deep pools walked slowly inside. He wore a black suit and held a slender needle between his fingertips, its faint blue glow entwined with eerie Nen. It was Illumi Zoldyck. "Killua, I told you that an assassin cannot have weaknesses." Illumi's voice was flat, yet it carried suffocating pressure. "And now you're covered in them." "Mr. Illumi, Killua doesn't want to stay here. We're taking him with us!" Gon straightened and stood in front of Killua. Though his body trembled slightly, he did not back down. Illumi did not spare Gon so much as a glance. His gaze settled directly on Lin Ye, and his eyes narrowed slightly. "You're the newcomer who took Hisoka's attack head-on during the Hunter Exam? Your aura is strange. It's different from every other Nen user's." Lin Ye did not answer. He only guarded the two behind him more closely. A condensed aura membrane quietly covered his body. It was not the Hunter world's conventional Ken, but a denser, more rigid defensive aura. At the same time, he fully extended the perception that allowed him to anticipate danger. Illumi's tensing muscles, the flow of his Nen, even the trajectory of his next movement appeared clearly in Lin Ye's mind. "Since you've trespassed on the Zoldyck Family estate, don't expect to leave." Illumi's fingertips twitched. A Nen Needle shot out instantly, aimed straight between Gon's eyebrows, moving too fast for the naked eye to follow. "Gon, duck!" Lin Ye's shout rang out at the exact instant the needle flew. His feet struck the floor in rapid succession, and his body flashed in front of Gon like a ghost. The defensive aura around his arm condensed to its utmost limit as he met the Nen Needle head-on. Clang! A sharp metallic collision rang out. The Nen Needle ricocheted away and buried itself deep in the wall. For the first time, a clear change crossed Illumi's eyes. They filled with shock. "You can predict my movements?" He had attacked without warning, without leaking any aura, yet the boy before him had blocked it precisely, as though he had known in advance. Lin Ye stared coldly at him. "Killua isn't your property. He has a will of his own." "A younger brother should obey." Several more Nen Needles appeared between Illumi's fingertips, and the Nen around him grew increasingly sinister. "Since he refuses to stay willingly, I'll simply have to strip him of the will to resist." As his words fell, Illumi vanished. He pushed the Zoldyck Family's assassination footwork to its limit, slipping completely beyond ordinary human sight. "On the left!" Lin Ye blurted out. In a space that appeared empty to everyone else, he could clearly see Illumi's path as he closed rapidly on Killua. Lin Ye twisted aside like a sheet of paper, perfectly avoiding the two Nen Needles flying toward him. He pushed off again and closed the distance to Illumi in an instant, his fist wrapped in dense aura as it drove toward a vital point. Illumi's brow furrowed, and he was forced to retreat. He could clearly sense that the power of this punch far exceeded that of an ordinary newcomer. If it landed, he would be seriously injured. "Watch carefully, Killua." Illumi's voice was bone-chilling. "This is what happens when you get involved with outsiders. Today, I'll make you watch your friend die before your eyes." He flung several Nen Needles at once, cutting off Lin Ye's escape routes from every direction. The Nen on the needles was strong enough to disrupt the flow of aura and instantly paralyze its victim. Gon urgently tried to rush forward, but Killua held him back with all his strength. "Don't go! Those are control needles. If they touch you, he'll control you!" Just as the Nen Needles were about to strike Lin Ye, the aura around him suddenly contracted inward, then burst outward. There was no dazzling light, no earthshaking blast, yet an oppressive force born of will itself swept through the entire training room in an instant. Illumi's movements abruptly faltered, and the needles he had thrown trembled slightly in midair. For the first time, genuine horror appeared in the eyes of the Assassin Family's eldest son. This was not any Nen Ability technique, nor did it belong to any of the six Nen types. It was an intimidation that struck directly at the mind and will, like confronting a savage beast that had emerged from mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Even his thoughts froze for an instant. In that brief opening, Lin Ye broke through the rain of needles and closed in on Illumi. "You can't beat me." Lin Ye's voice was calm but firm. "I won't let you take Killua away, and I certainly won't let you hurt my friends." Illumi's expression darkened completely. He could see clearly that taking Killua away by force was no longer possible today. The boy's strength, his ability to anticipate attacks, and that bizarre mental intimidation had all far exceeded his expectations. If they truly fought to the death, he would pay a terrible price as well. More importantly, the look in Killua's eyes had changed. Where fear had once filled them, the fire of defiance now burned. He stepped out from behind Lin Ye. His voice trembled, but every word was extraordinarily clear. "I won't be an assassin anymore. I'm going with them. I'm going to choose my own path." Illumi stared at Killua for a long time, his eyes growing colder, but he did not attack again. "You'll regret this," he said slowly, his tone carrying a chilling prediction. "An assassin can never have friends. When the day comes that you regret it, I'll come back for you." With that, Illumi turned and left, and his icy presence dissipated with him. At last, the oppressive atmosphere in the training room broke. Killua stood frozen in place. A few seconds later, tears fell without warning-tears of release. Gon immediately rushed over and hugged him, shouting with a grin, "Killua, we did it!" "Idiot... what are you crying for..." Killua muttered stubbornly, though his voice was so choked with sobs that he could barely speak. Watching the two embrace, Lin Ye smiled gently and said softly, "Come on. Let's get out of here." Killua nodded hard and wiped away his tears. He took one final look at the castle that had imprisoned him for more than a decade. There was no lingering attachment in his eyes, only relief. From now on, he was no longer the Zoldyck Family's assassin heir. He was simply Killua, a friend to his companions. The three walked out of the training room side by side. Sunlight spilled down from the end of the corridor, driving away all the cold and darkness.
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