What an enormous full moon.
What a blinding day-star.
What a scorching crimson sun!
The sun that carried all of Roy's imagination had layers within layers—photosphere, chromosphere, corona.
And across the outermost corona, huge swaths of sunspots and violent solar flares churned and boiled.
Aesthetically, it wasn't "perfect." But it was terrifying enough. The instant a ray of sunlight fell on Ginta—who'd been forced into Horned Demon form by Demon's Whisper—he let out a shriek. That demonic hand reaching toward the sun, toward the calm young man watching him beneath it… never even got close.
The crimson in his eyes faded.
Then the horns. The wild hair. The scales that had wrapped his whole body—
Until the black mist was gone, and that clear, slightly clueless look returned to his eyes.
Ginta, with his frizzy explosion of hair, collapsed onto the ground with a thud—only then realizing what had just happened.
"You're a Nen Exorcist?"
"So I… lost my mind again?"
His palms were carved open by two savage gashes. The extreme heat had cauterized them shut—stopping the bleeding—but it also yanked his thoughts back into reality.
Outside, the Ginta who'd abruptly lost himself—whose mind had been invaded by the Horned Demon, who'd sprayed black mist everywhere and tried to corrode everyone—
Had completely gone berserk.
He was supposed to become a poacher-hunter, take the Hunter Exam, become a Hunter, and hunt poachers…
But Ginta probably never imagined the day would come when an actual demon would treat him like prey.
And this… was the consequence of a Nen user being unable to truly control their own power.
Ging told everyone to lock down their minds and not give the black mist an opening. He stroked Feccha's Parrot on his shoulder, calming it down.
Nearby, Razor—standing like a stake driven into the ground—lowered his arms. A faint glow of aura gathered at his fingertips, like he was about to act even before Ging did.
"So who's in control?" Razor narrowed his eyes at the Horned Demon. A ball of aura grew larger and larger at his fingertip. "The person controlling the power… or the power controlling the person?"
He stared at the demonized Ginta and said coldly, "Fight a dragon too long and you become a dragon. Stare into the abyss too long and the abyss stares back. His ability is too dangerous—he couldn't tame it. Sooner or later, he was going to break."
"It's backlash," Ging said sharply. "Natural backlash chewing him up."
Razor's brow twitched and he looked over.
Ging pressed down his hood and said quietly, "I smell something familiar on him. Someone—or something—dumped a lot of hope into him."
People can't imagine what's beyond their understanding. If he'd never encountered "a demon," how would he ever build a Horned Demon into his Nen in the first place—let alone overuse it?
"He killed a lot of poachers. The animals love Ginta. They don't want him to leave—they want him to stay in the forest and protect them."
Hidden inside the Black Curtain, Zari listened in as Ging and Razor spoke, and realization hit him like a hammer.
So that's it—Ginta had been "bound" by all the animals and beasts he'd saved. They were the real reason he'd gone mad.
"Ginta looks dumb… and he really is dumb. He never noticed those beasts were using him!"
"They chained their selfish wants to him. Poor Ginta never realized—until he finally snapped!"
"Seriously… doesn't matter if it's humans or animals. You can't pamper them too much. Feed them too well. Keep them too warm. Protect them too hard… all you do is ruin them—and light yourself on fire along with them…"
Zari was the only one here who truly knew Ginta's past. He was one of Ginta's few real friends. He remembered how he'd suggested they take a side job for extra pay—and how the moment they tried, they were surrounded.
Rabbits tugging Ginta's clothes. Monkeys yanking his hair. Leopards baring their teeth at Zari like he was a villain for "taking Ginta away." Even wild bulls lowering their horns and ramming Ginta—only for Ginta to laugh and think they were playing.
Zari finally understood.
And it made him sick.
"Please…"
"Please save him… he's a good person. He's kind. He really is…"
"He's only getting bullied because he's too kind…"
The Black Curtain trembled. As Zari's emotions surged, it was close to collapsing.
Behind him, Nen bullets formed a continuous "line," chasing him. Five minutes had already passed. Zari's aura was draining fast—he couldn't hold out much longer, especially with the entire battlefield shaking from Ging, Razor, Roy, and Ginta blasting out Ren like tidal waves.
"Crack-crack-crack—" Gotoh calmly chased him down, Infinite pistol in hand, never letting up.
Razor noticed, frowning. "You're not going to help your boss?"
Roy was the one being drowned in the black mist—yet the butler didn't even glance that way. Any sane person could tell what mattered more.
"My lord's fine," Gotoh replied flatly. "He doesn't need me."
Somewhere along the way—maybe from the day he'd been granted Water Breathing—Gotoh had started to feel Roy's condition. He didn't know what it was. Some instinct. Like a tether pulling them tighter, sharpening his sense for Roy's state.
It was something Hua Shi Doulang could never match.
"Heh… Emitters really are all the same," someone chuckled.
Ging shot Razor a teasing look. "Big and blunt. You two really do have that in common."
Razor gave him an icy side-eye. "Don't act like we're friends."
Still, Razor's fingertip flared with lethal aura. He ignored Zari's desperate cries and fired straight at the rampaging Horned Demon.
Ging's smile fell. He tacitly allowed it.
Against natural backlash, there were only two answers: Nen Exorcism, or death.
And there was no Nen Exorcist here.
Even if Ging didn't want to kill him, the situation was sliding toward that outcome.
"GINNNTAAAA!!"
Zari screamed, and the Black Curtain shook violently.
He wanted to reach his friend—but he couldn't. He'd tasted that black mist before. He'd lost consciousness and spent ten days in a hospital. That alone was proof.
"SHHIIING—!" Razor's Nen bullet tore through the air, more threatening than an ordinary artillery shell.
But halfway there—
A "fat chicken" forced itself upright, opened its beak, and spat a line of fire—hitting the bullet and detonating it early.
Everyone froze.
"GAAO—!" Goldie screeched, furious at Ging and Razor.
Ging and Razor exchanged a look. Ging stroked Feccha's Parrot and asked through the mental corridor, "What's it saying?"
The parrot chirped a few times:
"It says don't touch that demon. He's fine."
The phantom parrot lifted a wing and pointed at Razor.
Razor's mouth twitched. His narrow eyes sharpened as he scanned between the motionless Roy and the mist-spewing Ginta.
Then he noticed something.
"The mist is thinning."
Ging's gaze shifted. He gathered a strand of black mist into his [Hard]-coated palm, rolling it thoughtfully.
Elena confirmed it instantly over Nen-speech.
"Not just thinning. It's thinning fast."
Control the Board gave Elena a god's-eye view of everything inside the Curtain. If not for the Curtain blocking her sight, her monitoring range could've been even larger.
In the original story, she could monitor an entire island by herself—yes, with "divine script" support, but even so, her mastery over En was monstrous.
As the mist thinned, the ten-meter Horned Demon's jaw slowly closed. With no supply, the mist thinned even faster.
Razor watched Ginta's massive body begin to shrink. He glanced at Ging, expression flat. "Looks like I jumped the gun."
Ging frowned, staring at Roy for a long moment.
Then he finally let out what he'd been holding back.
"You're unbelievable," Razor said slowly. "I treated you like a teammate. And you hid this. Why…"
Razor pointed straight at Roy. "He's a Nen Exorcist, and you didn't say a word?"
Ging: "..."
He watched Ginta's demon form peel away until the man was himself again, and for once he had nothing to say.
Because yeah. He could see it now.
Roy had cleansed the demon.
"Yeah," Ging admitted after a long silence. "And this is only the second time I've met him."
Then he explained—how he'd contacted Gotoh through the Hunter site, how he'd invited Roy to hunt the Baku, everything.
Razor listened in a daze, then glared at Ging.
"Same as I said: I'm not teaming up with you because I like you. You know whose face I'm saving."
A real Nen Exorcist—worldwide—could be counted on one hand.
Razor's eyes gleamed. He couldn't hide it anymore. He shoved Ging aside and focused on Roy.
Meanwhile Ging could only wear a bitter smile, half annoyed, half amazed.
"Roy Zoldyck, you bastard…"
"...So you're the real deal."
Inside the fog of Roy's unconscious domain—
Roy stood with hands behind his back beneath a blazing sun, using its nature—light drives out darkness—to burn away the rot and madness hidden deep inside Ginta.
Two suns ignited in Roy's eyes.
With Piercing Delusion Eye layered over En, Roy listened to Ginta's "heart-voice," saw his past, and found the source of the darkness.
It was the animals and beasts Ginta had protected.
Roy understood instantly why Ginta smelled like "faith."
Ginta had protected too many. The beasts had depended on him, treated him like a god—fed him their aura…
…and dumped their own darkness into him until he couldn't carry it.
Roy didn't know if Ginta was kind or just stupid. Maybe both. He only felt a heavy sigh rise in his chest.
He withdrew Piercing Delusion Eye and let Ginta stabilize.
Ginta stumbled up, staggered to Roy, and bent so low he was practically folding in half.
He shouted, "Thank you for saving me!"
At the same moment, the panel chimed:
[Notice: Potential follower detected]
[Potential follower Ginta is grateful for being saved and now sees you as a trusted friend]
[Note: Ginta — Loyalty (Absolute loyalty; can entrust his back to you)]
[Pending development…]
Roy's gaze softened. This huge man—still taller than Roy even when bowed—had a strangely pure heart.
Too easy to contaminate. Too easy to move.
"As long as you don't blame me for the prison break," Roy said, helping him up.
The giant scratched his head and asked directly, "Yeah, but… why did you break a prisoner out? Aren't jail-breakers the bad guys?"
"Zari said anyone who breaks prison is a bad guy. You're not a bad guy. Why would you be a bad guy?"
Roy: "..."
Zari… that would be the Curtain user.
Roy didn't bother trying to explain "good and evil." It wouldn't land.
He simply waved a hand, dispersed the fog, and dragged Ginta out of the unconscious domain—back into reality.
They opened their eyes at the same time.
And just like in the dream, the near-ten-foot Ginta bent low again and bowed deeply to Roy.
Everyone turned to look.
Ging, Razor…
Zari—still fleeing—
Gotoh—still hunting—
Elena—still monitoring—
All of them stared.
~~~
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