Chapter 191: Exorcist Roy x The Zodiac's Allegiance
A vast, round sun!
A bright, dazzling sun!
A scorching, red sun!
Carrying all of Roy's imagination, the sun presented itself in three layers: the photosphere, the chromosphere, and the corona.
The outermost corona surged with massive "sunspots" and "flares." Aesthetically, it wasn't perfect, but it was terrifying enough. The moment a ray of sunlight shone on Ginta...
Ginta, transformed into the [Ram-Horned Demon] by the [Whispers of the Demon], let out a bloodcurdling scream. The demonic hand he had extended, not yet touching the calm boy watching him quietly under the sun... The scarlet in his eyes slowly faded, followed by...
The horns, the wild hair, the scales covering his body... until the black mist vanished completely, and the clear foolishness returned to his eyes...
Ginta, sporting an afro and returning to his original naive appearance, sat on the ground with a thump, only then realizing what had just happened!
"Are you an Exorcist?"
"Did I lose my mind again?"
Two hideous wounds cut across his palms. The bleeding had been forcibly stopped by the extreme heat, cauterizing the wounds and simultaneously bringing Ginta's thoughts back to reality.
Outside, due to the pain, Ginta suddenly lost his reason. His consciousness invaded by the [Ram-Horned Demon], he recklessly spread black mist, eroding everyone around him. He had completely gone berserk!
He was a future "Poacher Hunter," taking the Hunter Exam to become a Hunter solely to hunt "poachers." But perhaps... even Ginta himself never imagined that one day he would be hunted by a [Demon] as prey!
And this... "is the serious consequence of a Nen user failing to control their own 'Nen ability'."
Ging reminded everyone to guard their minds and not give the black mist a chance to invade. He stroked [Feicha's Parrot] on his shoulder to calm it down, preparing to save Ginta himself... But Razor, his tall body planted in the ground like a spear, lowered his arms. Nen flowed faintly at his fingertips, seemingly planning to act even before Ging. "So, is the person controlling the Nen ability, or is the Nen ability controlling the person?"
A Nen sphere condensed at his fingertip, growing larger and larger. Razor narrowed his eyes at Ginta, transformed into the [Ram-Horned Demon]. "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you... This guy's Nen ability is too dangerous. He couldn't handle it; he was bound to collapse sooner or later."
"It's a backlash." Ging's gaze was sharp. "It's the [Backlash] brought by Nature eroding him."
Razor frowned and looked over.
Ging pulled down his hood, speaking softly. "I smell a familiar scent on him. He must also be someone entrusted with great hope by people or something else."
Humans cannot imagine things beyond their own cognition. Where did the opponent encounter a "demon," and how? If neither happened, he absolutely wouldn't have actively constructed the image of a "Ram-Horned Demon" through "cognition" while practicing Ren, let alone overuse the demon's ability.
"He killed many poachers. The animals love Ginta. They don't want Ginta to leave; they hope he stays in the forest forever to protect them."
Zari, hiding in the [Black Curtain], heard Ging and Razor's conversation through the [Curtain]'s sound collection and suddenly understood... So, the naive Ginta was forcibly bound by the animals and magical beasts he saved and protected. They were the main reason Ginta went mad!
"Ginta looks stupid, and actually... he really is stupid. He never realized he was being used by those magical beasts!"
"They forcibly bound their selfish desires to Ginta. Poor Ginta never noticed until he went berserk and lost control!"
"Indeed, whether humans or animals, they shouldn't be too well-fed, too warm, or live too comfortably. Overprotecting them not only harms them but also burns oneself..."
As the only person present who knew Ginta's past, Zari was also one of Ginta's few close friends. The man recalled asking Ginta before leaving if he wanted to take a job for some extra cash... The two were immediately surrounded by a group of animals and magical beasts...
Rabbits bit Ginta's clothes, monkeys pulled Ginta's hair, leopards snarled angrily at Zari as if blaming him for taking Ginta away from the forest. Even... a wild buffalo lowered its head and flashed its horns to butt Ginta, which Ginta interpreted as playing with him. Zari suddenly realized...
He couldn't help but feel sad for him!
"Please..."
"Please save him... He's a good person, very kind... really..."
"It's because he's too kind that he gets bullied by those animals..."
The [Black Curtain] trembled. With Zari's emotional fluctuations, it showed signs of collapse.
Behind him, Nen bullets formed a "Nen line," chasing Zari relentlessly, forcing him to flee in panic... Nearly five minutes had passed. Zari's aura was being consumed frantically; he couldn't hold on much longer. Not to mention... being bombarded by the Ren eruptions from Ging, Razor, Roy, and Ginta successively, he was teetering on the edge...
Pew... pew... pew... Pulling the trigger, firing... Gotoh held the [Infinite Pistol], strictly following Roy's order to chase Zari relentlessly. His serious demeanor caught Razor's attention.
"You're not saving your master?"
Clearly, Roy was the one being focused by the black mist, yet the butler didn't care, fixated on Zari. Any discerning person could see which was more urgent. Don't lose your head!
"The Young Master is fine; he doesn't need me," Gotoh said calmly. He didn't know when it started—perhaps the day the Young Master granted him "Water Breathing"—but the young butler could faintly sense Roy's current state... He didn't know what it was, something like intuition, deepening the bond between him and the Young Master, making his perception sharper. At least... far beyond what that kid Kastro could compare to!
"Heh heh heh... Emitters seem to be all like this..." A low laugh came...
Ging looked at Razor teasingly. "Rough and careless. In this regard, he's quite like you."
Razor glanced at him coldly. "Don't act like we're close."
Nen light flickered at the man's fingertips. Aiming at the berserk Ram-Horned Demon, completely ignoring Zari's plea for help, he fired a Nen bullet straight at Ginta...
Amidst the whoosh sound...
Ging stopped smiling and tacitly allowed Razor's action.
In the eyes of this "Two-Star Ruins Hunter," one of the future "Top Five Nen Users in the World," dealing with [Nature's] backlash left only two paths: [Death] or [Exorcism]!
Unfortunately, he wasn't an Exorcist, and there were no Exorcists present. Even though Ging had no intention of killing the opponent, under the current circumstances, there seemed to be no other way than killing the [Ram-Horned Demon]...
"Ginta!"
A desperate scream... caused the [Black Curtain] to tremble violently...
Zari was running for his life. Even if he wanted to reach out and pull his friend back, he couldn't do it. Moreover... he had tasted the weirdness of that black mist years ago, literally losing consciousness and lying in a hospital for ten days as proof!
Whoosh! The Nen bullet tore through the air, more menacing than a cannonball!
It quickly reached Ginta. But halfway there, unexpectedly, a "fat chicken" struggling to get up opened its mouth and spat a line of fire, hitting it head-on and detonating it prematurely!
Everyone was stunned!
Caw~ The Golden Crow spat fire... shouting dissatisfaction at Razor and Ging...
Ging and Razor looked at each other. The former stroked [Feicha's Parrot], moving his mind to activate the [Mental Corridor] and ask, "What does it mean?"
[Feicha's Parrot] chirped chirp... chirp... a few times and said, "He said tell him not to touch that demon. He's fine."
The phantom parrot extended a wing, pointing at Razor... The corner of Razor's mouth twitched. He narrowed his slitted eyes, his gaze shifting constantly between the motionless Roy and the black-mist-spewing Ginta...
Suddenly, he noticed something strange.
He said, "The mist is getting thinner."
Ging's brows moved. Coating his palm with Ko, he twisted a wisp of black mist, playing with it in his hand... Elena simultaneously reported this situation to him via telepathy.
"Not just thinner, much thinner."
[Overall Control] could monitor everything within the [Black Curtain] via "God's Eye View." If not for the [Black Curtain] blocking the line of sight, Elena's surveillance range could be even wider.
In the original story, she monitored an entire Greed Island alone. While relying on the enhancement of [Divine Script] certainly helped, one cannot deny the terrifying level to which the woman had cultivated the single application technique of En!
Note that not all "Nen users" are combatants. Like Pakunoda and Kortopi from the Spiders... or Cheadle and Pyon from the Zodiacs... they were experts in certain fields, but their combat abilities were far inferior to Razor, Ging, and Roy... Some hadn't even fully mastered advanced application techniques beyond the [Four Major Principles].
Noticing Ginta's anomaly, externally, the nearly ten-meter-tall Ram-Horned Demon's mouth, filled with sharp teeth, slowly began to close... Without a follow-up supply, the black mist diluted even faster...
Razor even saw Ginta's size shrinking, the scarlet color filled with madness and destruction fading from his eyes... He turned his head, looking indifferently at Ging. "It seems I was wishful thinking. You are extremely hypocritical."
"I treated you as a teammate, yet you hid things from me... Why..."
Razor pointed at Roy, narrowing his eyes and looking down at Ging. "You didn't mention he's an Exorcist?"
Ging: "..."
Looking at Ginta shedding his demon form and gradually regaining clarity... for a moment, he was speechless...
Besides the Nen user themselves, only an... "Exorcist" could deal with [Malicious Nen]...
If he, Ging, could see it, couldn't Razor see it too... That huge demon was clearly gone!
It's all Roy Zoldyck's fault!
"This is also my second time meeting him," Ging confessed truthfully after a while.
He explained everything, from how he contacted Gotoh through the Hunter website to inviting Roy to hunt the Elephant Tapir together...
Razor listened blankly. After a long while, he looked intently at the boy gradually emerging from the black mist. He glanced coldly at Ging. "I'll say it again. Don't forget whose face I'm considering to team up with you."
A genuine Exorcist. In the whole world, you can count them on one hand!
Razor's eyes gleamed, barely suppressing his fluctuating emotions. Leaving Ging aside, ignoring the man's wry smile, his gaze fell on Roy along with Razor's, adding a touch of complaint and admiration...
"He's shrinking, returning to his original form... Ging, I suspect... that Roy Zoldyck guy is an [Exorcist]!"
Elena's trembling voice echoed...
Ging said, "I know."
Looking at the boy again...
In a daze... hazy, an empty place where "space" and "time" were indistinguishable.
Roy stood with his hands behind his back in his unconscious domain. With the great sun overhead, utilizing the sun's property of [Dispelling Darkness], he illuminated and killed the filthy, crazy, twisted negative emotions hidden deep in Ginta's heart... Two suns fwoosh ignited in his ink-black pupils. Immediately using [Eye of Revelation] combined with En, he captured Ginta's inner voice, "saw" his past... and found the source of those "negative emotions"...
It turned out to be the animals and magical beasts Ginta had once protected and saved. Roy instantly understood why Ginta smelled of faith. It was because he protected too many animals and magical beasts, so they relied on him, regarded him as [God], and while providing their aura, they also transferred the darkness in their hearts to him.
Whether this man before him was kind or stupid... Roy could only sigh.
He put away the Eye of Revelation, letting Ginta return to normal.
After realizing everything, Ginta scrambled up from the ground, staggered to Roy, bent down, and bowed deeply.
He shouted, "Thank you for saving me!"
As the words fell, a panel notification informed Roy... [Potential Believer Detected]
[Potential Believer Ginta thanks you for saving his life and has regarded you as a close friend]
[Note: Ginta: Loyalty (Absolute Loyalty, can be trusted with your back)]
[Pending development...]
Roy's eyes moved. Looking at the big man bending down, still vaguely a head taller than him, the naive face also indirectly proved... he possessed a heart as pure as gold.
Easily polluted, and easily... moved...
"As long as you don't blame me for breaking out of prison." Roy reached out to help Ginta up. The giant scratched his head and asked directly, "Yeah, why do you want to break out of prison and be a bad guy?"
"Zari said people who break out of prison are bad guys. You're not a bad guy, why do you want to be a bad guy?"
Roy: "..."
Zari must be that Controller-type Nen user...
Roy didn't explain the issue of "good" and "bad" to Ginta too much. Perhaps explanation wouldn't work anyway... He simply went straight to the point, waving his hand to disperse the mist, taking Ginta out of the unconscious domain and returning to reality...
Both opened their eyes simultaneously. Following the solemn bow to Roy in the dream, the nearly two-person-tall Ginta took a deep breath, bent down, and just like in the dream, bowed solemnly to Roy again...
Ging, Razor... Zari fleeing wretchedly from Nen bullets... Gotoh chasing Zari closely... and Elena monitoring the battlefield... all looked over...
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