"Watch out!"
Leon unfurled half of his wing, sweeping it sharply to the side—
A gust roared, catching the flames and ice shards flying through the air, hurling them upward to consume each other.
① "That's a big one."
② "Those two are Fragmentum monsters too?"
Leon: "Yup. Extraterrestrial Ice and Flame."
Stelle, itching for action, perked up.
"Ice and fire combo, huh? Kinda cool. A gust comes first, then my bat shatters the skies!"
Her body tensed for a split second before she charged straight at the enemy.
Gripping her bat with both hands, she smashed it precisely onto the Extraterrestrial Ice's head.
Her right foot followed, kicking its body, using the momentum to backflip and land steadily in front of Leon.
"Yo? Not a scratch?"
Leon corrected, "Your attack worked. Don't stop—I'll use wind to disrupt their projectile attacks."
Hook: "Hmph, hmph, the great Dark Hook has arrived! Clear the way, clear the way, clear the way—boom!"
In no time, under the trio's combined assault, both Extraterrestrial monsters were annihilated.
The victory CG began to play.
Leon conjured four cyan giant fists, striking the enemies' heads from both sides.
Once the attack landed, the fists shifted into palms, rising from low to high to form stepping points.
A gray-black figure flickered into view, bat in hand, stepping onto the wind palms, rapidly closing in on the two Extraterrestrials.
"Bat strikes, shadow follows—"
The bat's afterimage slashed diagonally from the sky, then swung upward in the opposite direction upon landing, tracing a V-shaped trajectory.
Hook seized her drilling machine, darting through the V's base, leaving behind deadly explosives.
Stelle stepped on Leon's conjured wind palms to catch up with Hook, casually flicking her bangs with two fingers.
Boom!
A dazzling explosion bloomed behind the two figures, one big, one small.
Stelle didn't look back at the blast, tossing her bat back into her ticket space and dusting her hands, still craving more.
"No horns to break, but those two monsters' heads felt great to smack—nice and crunchy."
Hook boasted proudly, "See? Told you Hook's awesome!"
① "The great Dark Hook truly lives up to her name."
② "Great teamwork—bright future ahead."
③ "Not bad. Little Hook's real good at jumping up to hit knees."
Lmao.
Ah Xian wasn't about to bicker with a little girl and kindly chose to praise her.
"Stelle's so cool. That no-look explosion and bang-flicking move? Iconic."
"But seriously, why's Stelle and Leon's combo attack only in the cutscene? Such a shame."
[One support sweeps away fireballs and ice shards, two handle the heavy hitting—man, the three of us are unstoppable!]
[No one caught Stelle's line? Holy grass!]
[Ah Qing: You slicing up the beef and tripe too?]
Hook: "Told ya Hook's awesome—no lies! Hurry and find the supplies you need. I'll keep watch."
The two shared a helpless smile.
This kid, big personality in a tiny package.
"I'll check the orphanage. You and Hook head to the pharmacy over there," Leon said.
"Got it."
Stelle patted Hook's little head, smiling. "Any trouble, let us know right away, okay?"
"Ugh, Hook knows! Stop dawdling!"
…
Parting ways with Stelle, Leon lightly leaped to the orphanage's entrance.
The gate wasn't locked, already rusted and worn.
Before even stepping inside, a musty scent of long years hit him.
Leon paid it no mind, stepping slowly into the orphanage to survey it before climbing the stairs to the second floor.
A faint breeze flowed through the building, abandoned for years, clearing the stale air and probing for the pharmacy's location.
"Fourth floor."
Leon looked up at a large hole in the ceiling.
No idea if it was smashed by people or monsters.
With a thought, Leon conjured a wind current beneath the hole, floating up to it.
Taking the shortcut, he quickly reached the pharmacy, assessing the quality of the stored drugs.
"…"
As expected, most were expired.
Even with no room to be picky, Leon swiftly disposed of the absolutely unusable ones.
Leaving them here risked someone else taking them.
They'd die from the medicine before the illness.
"Congrats, darling, you found some usable drugs! Friendly reminder: there's treasure in the orphanage too~~"
A gift box suddenly popped up beside Leon, and out jumped a bizarre mask.
"Treasure? More like a scare box planted by a clown."
Leon was used to this.
"┮﹏┭ …Did Aha mess up somewhere?"
"I mean… my little heart's been pounding for you, darling…"
"Not being trusted by darling makes Aha's heart ache like it's been stabbed, but it's fine…"
"Even if darling sees me as just a roadside wildflower, getting… getting even a tiny bit of your light makes Aha so content…"
Leon was unmoved. "Got any references to back that up?"
"No such thing! This is Aha pouring out my heart, pure and true emotions—definitely not plagiarized!"
"I believe you."
"Which part of your face says you believe me?"
"Belief doesn't have to show on my face. My expression not trusting you ≠ my heart not trusting you. Why question my infallible inequality?"
"Ugh, darling's twisting words! Aha's mad—I'm ignoring you for three seconds!"
Leon: (⌐■_■)
"Alright, three seconds up. What do you want? Spit it out."
"Waaah, you really didn't coax Aha!"
"Classic."
"Believe it or not, Aha's ignoring you for thirty seconds!"
"Urgent."
"Now it's three minutes!"
"Lmao."
"Daddy, no! Aha promises not to cause trouble and to listen to everything you say!"
"Filial."
"If darling keeps brushing Aha off like this, I swear, I swear, I swear I'll ignore you for three days!"
"Win."
"Win, huh? Fine, for the next three years, no matter how much I miss you, Aha won't show up in front of you!"
"Fun."
"You're having fun now, huh? Awesome! Aha's got face—my dear's finally amused by me!!"
The bizarre mask popped out of the gift box, turning into a tiny sprite buzzing around Leon.
Leon grabbed it, unable to refine it instantly.
"If you're content, scram and stop bothering me while I'm working."
"Ugh, there's a script—why not just read it? Copying the answers is so much easier."
At that, Leon shot Him a glance.
"Those who think they control all the marionettes don't realize they'll eventually become one themselves."
"Why did Order and my Benefactor fall? Don't you know better than I do?"
That hit hard. The sprite Aha blinked dumbly for several seconds before speaking, sounding pitiful and aggrieved.
"Ena was an old friend, and Qi (Oc Aeon) was even closer. When they left, and Akivili suddenly vanished at some point…"
"Honestly, Aha's heart aches—blue and sad, like mushrooms…"
"And the entire Sky Haven Clan—"
"Stop." Leon cut Aha off. "In short, I don't want to be a marionette again."
Aha sighed dramatically.
"Fine, fine, fine. But, darling, as you put it, in this cosmic river, everyone ends up bound by fate."
Leon replied nonchalantly, "At least on the way to the end, I decide who to cut down and who to protect."