Illumi really did get in touch with his great-grandfather Maha.
It wasn't that he didn't want to contact his great-grandfather Zigg—he simply couldn't reach him. No one knew where he had wandered off to again.
That great-grandfather of his had never been the type who could sit still.
Maha had always been rather fond of Illumi, so when he heard that Illumi had taken on a troublesome job and needed him to accompany him—or even assist personally—he readily agreed.
Illumi also found Milluki hiding in his room at home, unboxing a newly arrived figure.
This chubby member of the Zoldyck family was invited along as technical support.
Illumi needed a way to determine whether the person he was trying to assassinate was Ronin's real body, and the most suitable person he could think of for that job was Milluki, who specialized in all kinds of technology.
Milluki had no real will to refuse Illumi's invitation.
After all, Illumi's gaze had already landed on his brand-new figure. He had no doubt that if he dared refuse, Illumi would absolutely use the figure as leverage to threaten him.
And at that point, even if he agreed to help, the figure probably still wouldn't have a good ending.
So he might as well join willingly. That way he could protect his figure and earn a commission too.
Illumi was very satisfied with Milluki's reaction.
Still, before leaving home, he asked about Killua. From the butler, he learned that Killua had been taken away by his father for training.
That left Illumi a little disappointed. He had finally come back once, only to miss seeing his dearest little brother. It left him with an oddly empty feeling.
Milluki followed behind Illumi, and even as his younger brother, just sensing that cold aura on Illumi made him shiver.
The three of them left Kukuroo Mountain and headed straight for Heavens Arena.
Time slipped quietly to the very last day of September.
When Ronin arrived at Heavens Arena, before he had even stepped inside, he saw huge promotional posters of himself plastered all over the arena's public boards.
But where his opponent's image should have been, there was only a giant question mark.
That was enough to stir up the curiosity of most of the audience, and that kind of preheating had already been going on for a full week.
Ronin's appearance was like a handful of stones hurled into a calm lake, instantly stirring up endless ripples.
Cameras swung toward him all at once.
And all of that was entirely Milia's doing. Even though Ronin rarely provided her with borrowed Nen anymore, he was still the most profitable fighter under her management.
That wasn't just because he was handsome and had extraordinary presence. More importantly, every one of his victories gave the audience an overwhelming visual shock—especially his previous fight against Uvogin, which people were still talking about to this day.
"Ronin the Flamecaster," "Ronin the Fire God" — those titles had already begun spreading after he left Heavens Arena.
Then, when he returned last time for his fourth fight, those titles became even louder.
Because in that match, Ronin had used Fire Release again.
The visual impact and heat pressure of powerful fire techniques were the easiest things to shake an audience to the core. It could be said that a single one of his matches, under Milia's operation, had been hyped to the limit, and under his own performance, had turned into a battle that was also an extraordinarily entertaining spectacle.
With those two things combined, his popularity had already been pushed to a new height.
Especially since Ronin still hadn't lost a single match. That made his popularity inside the arena explode even further.
After finishing the tasks Milia had assigned him, Ronin made his way through the crowd and headed for the room prepared for him in the arena.
Milia had already been waiting there for them.
When they met again, Ronin's eyes still landed on her perfect hands first before moving to her refined face.
What surprised him, though, was that Delilah had come with Milia as well.
Naturally, Milia noticed where Ronin's gaze went.
This time, though, she didn't try to hide it like before. Instead, she simply raised a hand and brushed aside the hair at her temple in an open, graceful motion.
That one gesture showed off her feminine beauty perfectly. In Ronin's eyes, Milia practically seemed to glow.
"Looks like you found quite a few companions, Ronin," Milia said, her gaze falling on Shizuku and Neon.
She was already familiar with Neon.
Shizuku, on the other hand—the girl Ronin had gone all the way to Meteor City to find—sparked a great deal of curiosity in her.
"Yeah, not bad," Ronin admitted openly.
He was quite satisfied with the lineup of his little team.
"This is Shizuku Murasaki, a new companion I picked up in Meteor City," Ronin introduced her.
Shizuku pushed up her oversized glasses and studied Milia curiously, wondering whether Milia counted as part of the team. If she did, then the team rules Kurapika had explained would apply to her too.
If not, Shizuku had no real interest in getting to know her.
The moment Ronin saw the look in Shizuku's eyes, he understood exactly what she was thinking.
"Milia is part of our team too. Most of the time she won't move with us directly, but she's our biggest technical support and our logistics chief."
"You really do know how to give people titles," Milia said, a rare smile appearing on her elegant face.
"But I'm only telling the truth. Without you helping us, Kurapika and I would probably still be stuck in Yorknew's mud pit right now, let alone having the freedom to make moves in Meteor City," Ronin said honestly.
In his view, meeting Milia had absolutely been one of his strokes of luck.
If she hadn't helped him, then when Uvogin first showed up in Heavens Arena, he probably would have chosen to leave the arena and avoid clashing with him head-on.
It was her help that let him obtain Scarlet Eyes, raise his strength, then borrow Nen from her and wound Uvogin badly in the arena—long enough to wait for Kurapika's arrival and plant the seeds for everything that came afterward.
Under Ronin's sincere gaze, Milia's cheeks flushed faintly.
She wasn't very used to this kind of atmosphere.
"Alright, I get it. So—are you ready for your fight with Hisoka tomorrow?"
"Yeah. Don't worry," Ronin said with full confidence.
He had already fought Hisoka once before, and he understood Hisoka's abilities thoroughly. More than anything, he really wanted to know whether Hisoka could actually break through Susanoo's defense.
"Be careful. Don't get careless. Hisoka is very strong," Milia warned seriously.
Ronin's expression turned equally serious.
He understood the principle of using full force even against a rabbit, let alone against someone like Hisoka—a man who should already know about Susanoo, Amaterasu, and the rest of his techniques.
So in tomorrow's fight, he would go all out.
He only hoped Hisoka's performance wouldn't disappoint him.
~~~
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