After Entering a Contract Relationship with Hisoka - Chapter 2

Liya spoke in a cool, indifferent voice, “Just that one in your hand will do.”

The girl’s voice was frigid, matching the icy stillness in her eyes.

The man twirled the 7 of Clubs between his fingertips before handing it over. “Of course. It is a gift.”

“Thank you.”

Having already stepped onto the arena stage, Aura turned back to look. Her blood pressure spiked instantly.

“Lillia, you scheming bitch! The bet is not even over and you are already taking the chance to flirt with Lord Hisoka! You even dared to ask him for a card! Even I have not dared to touch one! Aaaaah! I am going to kill you!” Aura stomped around in a fit of rage.

Hisoka?

Liya’s footsteps paused.

That name had been impossible to ignore ever since she transmigrated into this world.

She turned back to properly observe the “helpful bystander” she had just spoken to.

He had fiery red hair and narrow, sharp eyes with rare golden pupils. He was exceptionally handsome and sat with a lazy, relaxed posture. However, he seemed shrouded in an invisible, intangible aura of bloodlust, giving him a sinister edge.

So, this was Hisoka.

The winner of the previous match.

And the source of the jealousy between the original owner, Lillia, and Aura.

“Does little Lillia need any other help? Hmm? ☆” Hisoka asked good-naturedly.

He rested his chin on his hand, watching her with practiced ease. Much like Liya, Hisoka seemed to be sizing her up, searching for something beneath the surface.

“No, this is enough.”

Liya tucked the card into her palm and gave Hisoka a polite nod.

On the stage, Aura looked as if she were about to cry from pure frustration, her eyes rimmed with red.

She had chased Hisoka for an entire year, from the West Coast all the way to the Republic of Padokea, and had never received so much as a kind look. Why should a dynamic idiot like Lillia get to ask for Hisoka’s playing card the moment she arrived? And why was Hisoka showing her such “tender” concern?

Worse yet, Lillia maintained that expressionless, stone-faced mask, acting as if she were completely unfazed!

She must be doing it on purpose to catch Lord Hisoka’s attention!

By the time Liya stepped onto the stage, Aura was on the brink of an explosion. The moment the referee announced the start of the match, she launched a fierce, lethal offensive.

After a few exchanges, Liya made an initial assessment of their respective strengths.

Admittedly, while Aura was arrogant, she had the skill to back it up. She possessed power, technique, and solid combat instincts; her moves were polished and sharp. Among girls her age, she was exceptionally talented.

In contrast, the original owner Lillia’s body was in terrible condition.

It was as if she were a pampered young lady who had been forced into the Heaven’s Arena, a place she clearly did not belong, to “toughen up.” The body was fragile and delicate.

Liya did not dare take a single hit head-on; anything that landed would surely result in a broken bone. It was no wonder the odds of her winning were less than one-fifth of her opponent’s.

As Liya dodged, she attempted to sense the Lingqi (spiritual energy) in the surroundings.

Since she had no spiritual power of her own to draw upon, she had to borrow from external sources. However, whether it was because this world was naturally depleted or for some other reason, the ambient energy was pathetically scarce. After a long attempt at summoning, she only managed to condense a single, thin thread.

Pulling out the 7 of Clubs, she bit her finger and used her blood as a medium. While continuing to dodge, she began to carve a sigil onto the card.

Aura’s fury reached a boiling point when she saw her opponent fiddling with Hisoka’s card in the middle of a fight.

What was that if not blatant bragging?

“Lillia, do not get too cocky!” Aura snarled.

Liya did not even lift an eyelid.

The fire in Aura’s heart burned hotter. The Rockefeller family had once been a renowned martial arts clan, influential in both the underworld and the legitimate business world. Although they had transitioned into commerce years ago, they still demanded rigorous martial arts training from their kin for self-defense. Unlike the Zoldyck family’s assassination style, their techniques were broad and powerful, born for combat and built for the ring.

As the eldest daughter of her generation, Aura’s fighting ability was outstanding. Yet, in her rage, she found herself helpless against her opponent.

Lillia’s footwork was ethereal and unpredictable. Every time Aura thought she had a guaranteed hit, Lillia would vanish in a perfect evasion. After two minutes of continuous attacking, Aura had not even grazed a thread of her clothes.

It defied logic!

Aura was proud but not conceited. Before the match, she had watched every recording of Lillia’s previous fights and done her homework.

This woman was supposed to be a pretentious weakling. At the slightest injury, even a tiny cut on her finger, or upon realizing her opponent was even slightly stronger, she would immediately forfeit. She was a “waste of space” who had coasted her way to the 160th floor through pure luck. She had never fought like this before.

“You had the guts to challenge me! Stop running! What kind of skill is just dodging?”

“Why do you not just give up?”

“You are going to lose anyway! I will be the one who becomes Lord Hisoka’s girlfriend!”

Aura tried to bait her with words, hoping to find a psychological opening, but Liya did not bite. Lillia remained calm, continuing her “ghostly scribbling” on the playing card.

It was an utter insult.

Aura’s form began to deteriorate as her moves became wild and irrational.

Finally,

“CRITICAL HIT!” “2 points for Aura!”

The moment the talisman was finished, it drained Liya of her remaining physical strength. In that brief lapse, her left arm took a heavy roundhouse kick from Aura. The force sent her flying, landing right at the edge of the ring.

Liya stood up quickly. Her left forearm was bent at an unnatural angle; it was definitely a fracture.

She raised her uninjured arm and finally flicked the playing card, now a completed talisman.

Before Aura could even celebrate her points, the card streaked toward her at a treacherous angle. Despite her quick reflexes, she barely managed to dodge. The card grazed her neck, slicing a thin line of skin before embedding itself into the floor at her feet.

That was close.

Aura’s pupils contracted. Amidst her relief, a wave of shock washed over her. Since when had Lillia become this dangerous?

She looked up at Liya. Seeing that the other girl was more seriously injured than herself, she could not help but snap back into her mean-spirited ways, “With your level of ability, you think you can replicate Lord Hisoka’s style? Are you joking?”

A roar of laughter broke out from the audience, mocking Lillia’s perceived overconfidence.

Only Hisoka stared intently at the card that had once belonged to him.

Through the lingering Nen he had left on it, he could sense a primitive, majestic power attached to the card. It was faint but incredibly sophisticated.

He was likely the only person in the entire arena who noticed.

Hisoka sat up straight, his bloodlust receding slightly as his golden eyes finally glimmered with genuine interest.

Liya remained expressionless. “Is that so? If you think this is a joke,”

She formed a hand seal and brought it to her lips, activating the talisman.

Her lips moved silently, “Boom!”

A massive explosion rocked the stage. The talisman detonated, creating a five-meter-wide crater. Aura was blasted through the smoke, slammed into the stadium wall, and crumpled to the floor, unconscious.

The referee immediately sent personnel to check the status of the fighter.

Liya stood tall. She gripped her broken left arm with her right hand and, with a sharp crack, snapped the bone back into place. Her face showed no sign of pain, nor the joy of victory. She remained cold and detached.

In the stands, Yuno could be heard shouting, “Lillia, you are so cool!” and other spectators began chanting her name.

Liya, however, was preoccupied.

Before this, she had not been certain if the talismans of the Nine Provinces would work here. This “Explosive Talisman” was something her eldest senior brother had taught her when she first started; it was perfect for those with low spiritual energy. In a pinch, it was the most convenient way to win.

The results were promising.

But if an Explosive Talisman worked, did that mean others would too? If she could use a “Message Talisman,” could she contact the people back in the Nine Provinces?

The referee soon confirmed the status of the fighter. As Liya expected, her opponent was unable to continue.

After the countdown, the referee declared, “Critical Hit and Down! A total of 3 points! Fighter unable to continue!” “Winner: Lillia!”

The crowd erupted.

“Who would have thought a small playing card could suddenly explode? Heavens, how did she do it? Regardless, congratulations to Lillia for advancing to the 170th floor! A victory for both love and combat!”

The announcer’s sweet voice echoed through the hall over the thunderous applause.

Afterward, Liya collected a handsome sum of prize money and headed to the 170th floor to register. After finishing the paperwork and thanking the staff, she found a secluded spot to finally have a moment of peace.

At the end of a corridor on the 170th floor, Liya looked at her reflection in the window glass. She reached up to touch her cheek. Even though she had seen the original owner’s photo on the big screen and knew they looked identical, seeing this face, so strange yet so familiar, still gave her pause.

For some reason, she felt a sense of dissonance, as if a secret was waiting to be uncovered behind a thick fog.

Suddenly, a ringtone went off.

Liya pulled a small device, a cellphone, from her dress. She fumbled with it for a moment before answering, guided by the original owner’s memories.

“Sister, Father asked me to check on your progress.”

A soft, child-like voice came through the phone, its gender difficult to discern. Liya glanced at the screen, “Kalluto.”

The sixth child of the Zoldyck family, the youngest. He was introverted and, due to a six-year age gap, did not have much interaction with Lillia, usually acting only as a messenger for their parents.

As for why the message came through this child: Illumi, the eldest brother, despised his “idiot” sister. Milluki, the twin brother, never appeared in front of her; for some reason, he fled whenever he saw her. Killua, the fourth brother, had a decent relationship with her but was frequently running away from home. Alluka, the fifth,

Strangely, Liya could find almost no information about the fifth sibling in her memories.

During the two and a half years she had been sent to Heaven’s Arena, Kalluto had been the intermediary for her monthly progress reports. It was always either their grandfather or their father asking, the two people in the family who doted on the original owner the most.

Recalling the family situation, Liya replied, “I am currently on the 170th floor.”

“Was it not the 160th last time? How has it been a month and you have only,” the voice on the other end seemed to catch its impatient tone, pausing before returning to a normal speed. “Lately, Grandfather has been asking about you often. You have been away for two and a half years. If possible, please reach the 200th floor as quickly as possible.”

Liya used the same perfunctory response the original owner always used, “Do not worry. Okay. No problem.”

Kalluto had clearly heard this too many times. He sounded exasperated, his tone finally resembling that of a child. “Sister, try a little harder, it is time to come home.”

Liya continued, “Do not worry. Okay. No problem.”

Kalluto was silent.

“Then next month,”

Liya said, “Do not worry. Okay. No problem.”

Kalluto remained quiet.

To this, the call ended.

Liya sighed. It was not that she was trying to be dismissive; she simply had no experience dealing with a family.

In her past life, Liya had been picked up by her master and brought to the Bailan Sect. According to her master, she was only seven or eight years old at the time, remembered nothing, and was begging at the city gates. No parents were ever found.

The Bailan Sect lived up to its name, meaning “to let things rot” or “to slack.” Aside from her master, there were only two senior brothers, also orphans. The entire sect consisted of these three rough men. Being raised by them, Liya naturally did not develop a “tender or feminine” personality.

If she told her Eldest Brother, Uchiha Itachi, “Brother, I am hungry,” he would tell her, “Eat fewer buns and practice more. Once you reach the Inedia stage, you will not need to eat.”

If she told her Second Brother, Ryomen Sukuna, “Brother, I have blisters on my hands from the sword,” he would say, “Hahaha! You are such a weakling.”

If she wanted to talk to her Master about her troubles, he was usually traveling the world, only reachable via a Message Stone. The minimum cultivation required to use a Message Stone was the Golden Core stage.

Consequently, Liya, who was born with a certain emotional detachment, saw her cultivation rise while her words grew fewer. Even when her Master realized this later and brought in a lively younger brother and a chaotic younger sister to add some life to the sect, Liya’s personality was already set.

Thus, the concept of “family” was entirely foreign to her. Even the sibling-like bonds she had in the sect had likely been eroded by centuries of seeking the Dao.

Come to think of it, she had not contacted her brothers in hundreds of years. She wondered if they had heard that her ascension had failed. What would they think, knowing she died under the Heavenly Tribulation?

The younger sister would surely build her a cenotaph. The second brother, well, it would be a miracle if he did not blow up her grave.

Liya wondered if she should try to make a Message Talisman.