Boothill tipped the brim of his hat, his finger curling slightly around the trigger.
He wanted to solve everything with a single shot, but he just couldn't take that final step.
Do I really have to do this?
Boothill's expression was complicated as he asked himself this question.
He wasn't as free-spirited as Leon; he was a man who lived in the past.
You could tell just from his codename, Boothill.
On Algon, those words symbolized a gunslinger shot dead by others.
Truly, if he had a chance to do it all over again...
...he would have rather died back then, in the war to protect his home, than survive as this thing that was neither human nor ghost.
'If I pull the trigger... what's the difference between me and those Corp dogs...?' Boothill was speechless, silently lowering his revolver.
If he chose to kill an innocent person just so he could go back, wouldn't that make him exactly the same as those profit-obsessed Corp dogs?
Boothill looked at his past self, at that face twisted by hatred.
Maybe I should have died a long time ago.
The thought suddenly occurred to him.
To die in his own homeland, by his own hand—that didn't seem so bad.
At least he would get to experience what a successful revenge felt like...
Wordlessly, Boothill returned the revolver to the holster on his hip.
'Bro... I think I've lost..._'_'
Boothill couldn't get over the hurdle in his heart.
He knew he couldn't pull the trigger.
He figured he was trapped, and could only hope that his traveling companion would make it through.
Leon was different. As a Galaxy Ranger who had achieved enlightenment, he was clearly someone not bound by his past.
As long as Leon was safe, it didn't matter what happened to him. Whatever came next was his own choice, and he had no complaints.
Just as Boothill was resigning himself to his fate...
...a shooting star of The Hunt flashed in the corner of his eye, making him stare wide-eyed.
BOOM!!
Beneath the arrow of light from Lan, without him having to make any choice at all, the illusion that had tormented him moments before simply shattered!
It was just like that one phrase Leon always said.
"All problems come from having insufficient stats. If your stats are high enough and someone still tries to force a trolley problem on you, just slap them in the face with the trolley!"
The Reignbow Arbiter's arrow illustrated this point perfectly.
I don't do multiple-choice!
This was the glimmer of hope Boothill couldn't even pray for back then. If he'd had this, "Algon" would never have been truly destroyed.
"Why would it suddenly appear here..."
Boothill was completely surprised.
After all, a strike from Lan's arrow was a rare sight. Outside of the Xianzhou, few across the entire universe had ever witnessed one.
So, why did one appear here?
Who was it for...
"Bro."
Before Boothill's thoughts could wander any further, they were interrupted by a sudden call.
After the illusion broke, Leon had appeared nearby at some point. Even the starskiff, which had been completely missing before, had crashed nearby and was now visible.
It seemed he was really back in reality.
"Don't be scared. Give me your hand. Your big bro will get you out of this mess!"
He walked forward, held out his right hand, and calmly extended the invitation.
...
...
The galaxy.
"A Heavenly General of the Reignbow... not so impressive after all."
Phantylia's demonic features twisted into a contemptuous smile, her expression one of certain victory.
Heliobi feed on emotions, so naturally, their most adept methods are related to them.
What she did was simple.
Secretly shoot down the starskiff, force the actors onto the stage she had prepared, then draw the curtains and add a little bit of drama.
The demise of the material is not the end. Only when all things dissipate from the spiritual plane can they be considered truly destroyed.
This was her aesthetic of destruction, and her abilities corresponded to it.
The innate talent of a Heliobus allowed Phantylia to easily grasp a person's greatest weakness—the emotion that could prove most fatal.
Once she grasped that emotion, she would begin to build a scheme around it.
She would use various bad endings derived from that core emotion to break a person down, gradually increasing the dosage until she bestowed upon them a spiritual "Destruction"!
Just as she had said before.
Kill what you love, kill what you believe in, and finally, kill yourself.
"That Celenova... she really exaggerated things."
Phantylia looked at the planet resting in her palm, feeling that her colleague had become a bit too sensitive after suffering one defeat.
She'd hyped up the enemy so much, but in reality, he was nowhere near as formidable as she'd claimed.
I thought he was supposed to be so powerful, but it turns out half his strength probably lies in that terrifying special ability of his.
As long as you can prevent him from triggering it, you've basically neutered him. That's how it is with gimmick-reliant types; whether they're gods or ghosts depends entirely on the environment.
This kind of entity, whose fame exceeds their actual strength, is commonly known as a "shock wave."
"A Heavenly General of the Reignbow... I'm sure he will bring a big surprise to the Xianzhou Alliance."
Phantylia didn't celebrate prematurely too much.
She knew full well that an Emanator wasn't so easily dealt with. Breaking out of the stage she had created was only a matter of time, and a battle would be inevitable in the end.
"Of course, the final winner will be me!"
Phantylia's tone was full of conviction, as if this were a foregone conclusion.
But the very next second after she said it...
...a life-threatening sense of crisis shot straight to the crown of her head!
The fear of death is an instinct carved into the bones of every living being, and even a Heliobus was no exception!
Startled by the sudden threat of death, Phantylia immediately threw away the planet in her hand and put distance between them, unable to dodge fast enough.
The hair on her body stood on end, cold sweat beaded on her forehead, and her beautiful face was etched with disbelief.
'I actually felt... fear...'_'_'
Phantylia's face was a mask of incredulity.
She was an Emanator, in the first tier of power beneath the Aeons. In this vast universe, how many beings could truly take her life?!
Many Emanators of the same level could defeat her, like Zephyro, but not even Zephyro would dare guarantee he could take her life 100% of the time!
But that premonition of crisis she just felt was one of 100% certain death!!
'Who? Who is it?!'_'_'
A storm raged in Phantylia's heart.
But before she could react, an azure meteor flashed past her, so fast it was as if it had never been there at all.
"Are you kidding me?!"
Phantylia's pupils contracted. The shock in her heart was indescribable, and she was left completely frozen in place.
No one could mistake that meteor. Such powerful energy of The Hunt—there was no other like it in the universe!
That was the arrow of light from the Aeon of The Hunt!!
"Lan would actually back up a Heavenly General personally..."
Phantylia murmured in a low voice, finding it simply unbelievable.
To be able to call upon a higher-dimensional being like an Aeon—who can destroy galaxies with a flick of a finger—to deliver a precision strike for you... what's the difference between that and walking sideways through the universe?
That's insane! Did this Heavenly General sell his ass or something?!
——
PS: Book Recommendation
After the great war, Lu Mingfei is living like the walking dead in Tokyo, surviving on a single suicide note.
He happens to help some band girls who have lost their way.
For some reason, past history suddenly descends as dreams, and things changed within the dreams are reflected in reality.
Thus, all regrets can be undone.
But strangely, other figures have appeared in the history he knows.
Lu Mingfei looks at the soft, blue-haired girl before him, mulls it over for a moment, and says: "Sakiko, be my daughter."
He happens to hear that the cucumber-loving girl has dissociative identity disorder and is a bit confused: "Mutsumi has countless personalities? Could it be a bloodline eruption?"
Looking at the pink-haired girl who has trapped herself in a mango box, Lu Mingfei has an epiphany: "Oh, so it's social anxiety. I thought it was the Elegy of Blood?"
The successor of Jörmungandr, Amaterasu no Mikoto, is Haruno Yukinoshita? Not bad. Yukino, having died once, transfers to Tsukinomori.
After finishing her band routine, she encounters a Death-servitor. Looking at the ferocious monster before her, Yukino's brain stops thinking.
(The main world is Dragon Raja, the plot follows the old version of the Dragon Raja novels, the new version will only be used for reference on settings.
Crossover, Oregairu, Band, Dragon Raja)
______
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