The piercing sonic wave tore through his eardrums, rattling his brain to mush… Roy forced himself up and, seeing the sandworm, his pupils shrank—he remembered…
It was the very same monster Netero, Linne, and Grandpa Zigg had faced on their first foray into the Dark Continent!
No wonder it felt familiar. He instinctively turned—beside him stood three figures: Netero, Linne, and Zigg.
So did I jump back in time—or get dragged into Grandpa Zigg's memories?
No time to think. The horizonless sandworm blotted out the sky. Its tail swept toward them—then a bellow at his side: "Get down!"
He threw himself flat… but even if the tail missed, the gale shot through with brutal Ren tore up the ground—trees and men ripped free—there was no avoiding it.
Only tooth for tooth—Ren against Ren!
Think—fast—think… In the split second he imagined every aura node in his body flaring open, forcing out all his apparent aura. He barely caught the feel of it—threw a shell of Nen around himself—and then a tree, torn up by the roots, smashed him and flung him away.
It felt like all his organs shattered…
Two seconds—had he just arrived here only to be sent back again?
A sweet taste rose in his throat and he coughed up blood; his head lolled and he blacked out…
[Warning: Detected 'Unknown Consciousness' link…]
[Pre-alert engaged… 'Door of Cognition' opening…]
That familiar drop—through the fog he seemed to hear a familiar voice.
He blinked awake to the familiar cognitive sea—and the many wooden doors floating on it…
To his surprise he hadn't returned to reality; instead he was back in cognition!
He struggled up from the sand.
First check: the body.
Good—no injuries, organs working as they should. Everything said—
the tentacles and that whole world were nothing but a dream.
So he thought. As usual, he rolled up his trousers and let the surf wash away the fatigue—glanced up—and froze…
Next to the Demon Slayer door, a pitch-black door had appeared out of thin air, cracked open. From within came faint roars of beasts—and human screams.
"re: Game of the Dead"… "Unknown consciousness link"… Zigg, Linne, Netero… the words tangled together into an unbelievable guess—
Roy realized that, whether passively or by accident, his Nen Door of Cognition had linked to Grandpa Zigg's consciousness—or rather, to his memory of the Dark Continent journey!
So this new door led straight into Zigg's memories of the Dark Continent!
As the thought clicked, he understood what Great-Grandfather meant by "your Grandpa Zigg loves sausage"… Some people die, yet their consciousness remains—not yet forgotten by the world…
Which raised the question: continue?
He came back to himself, hesitated a beat, then gritted his teeth, waded the shallows, and pushed through the black door again!
"Get down!" The memory reset—the shout again. He dropped without thinking, fired Ren—forced all his apparent aura through his nodes, formed a Nen shell—and took the next wave of impacts…
Thud! This time a flying rock slammed him; he went tumbling—2.5 seconds…
Hwash— Waves crashed on rock; the drop came again. As expected, he woke whole in the cognitive sea.
He slapped his cheeks.
No hesitation—he shoved the black door open and barreled through. Again: "Get down!"
Force the apparent aura out—Nen shell—this time 3 seconds—a hit from a skiff plank—lights out.
And so on: into the Dark Continent—back to cognition—into the Dark Continent—back—loop after loop…
At last, after seven or eight round trips, the fatigue swamped him. On the tenth return he flopped onto the sand, knowing—this was his limit.
Fifteen seconds. He'd held out a full fifteen this time…
…
Kukuroo Castle, basement.
They watched Roy push the cart into the corridor.
While Scarface and One-Eye slid the steel door shut, Tsubone slipped a pocket watch from her coat. The sight tugged her back—this was her third time here: first Zeno, then Silva.
She was house-born, raised by Maha, grew up with Zeno, held baby Silva at the toilet—she remembered exactly how long each of them had stayed inside.
She'd met Zigg too, served him for years; she'd been there when he died—so she knew what was inside.
Zeno's mark had been three seconds. Silva's limit: three and a half. Now… the old butler fixed on the corridor and spread her En. The instant she felt Nen fluctuate, she pressed the watch and started timing.
Scarface and One-Eye stood like door gods at either side, guarding her focus so nothing would distract her.
"One… one-point-five… two…" she counted under her breath.
Her brow arched: "Two-point-five… three…"
Her pupils widened as she went on: "Three-point-five… four… five… six!"
Impossible. Her pink twin tails ruffled in the draft. She frowned deeper and kept counting: "Eight… nine… ten… eleven… fifteen!"
She stabbed the watch button—and felt that distinct Nen ripple vanish. She froze.
"Looks like the master truly favors him," Scarface rumbled.
"Because he stayed the longest," One-Eye added plainly.
They were both children Zigg had taken in—playmates as Zeno grew. Scarface was Tsubone's husband, Hall's father, Amane's grandfather.
Seeing her drift, they prompted: "Time to report."
Tsubone blinked back, pocket watch in one hand, phone in the other. She called Silva at once—no wasted second, not even the walk.
Vreee… Second-floor master suite.
The soft bed shook—buckling under an onslaught, groaning in protest…
Ring-ring. A chime cut through; the bed fell quiet.
Silva scowled, grabbed the phone, and stabbed "answer." "What?"
"The time you asked for."
"How many seconds?"
"Fifteen."
"Mm?!"
Silva sprang from bed, steel-corded muscle standing out like rebar.
"You know this isn't a joke."
On the line, Tsubone thought she heard footsteps. She glanced at the corridor—Roy was wheeling the cart back out, the bouquet of chrysanthemums left before the airtight door, blooming quietly.
"You know I don't joke."
Silva: "…"
He set the phone down and stood in a long, heavy silence.