"You don't get it."
Hide my identity?
Why hide?
Joy's power?
Why use it?
Hiding my identity to avoid exposure—how do I plant knives for the future?
No knives, how do I gather more faith?
Using Joy's power, showing an Emanator's strength—how do I ensure that unknown guy doesn't bolt?
A Destruction Emanator could wipe out Jarilo-VI with a flick.
But in reality?
They'd rather send a horde of minions to attack than show up.
That behavior screams caution—or pathology.
Probably the type who sits in the shadows, watching puny humans struggle desperately for survival.
Giving humans a glimpse of hope, only to crush it at the last second.
Like a drowning person struggling to the surface.
On the verge of death, a lifebuoy within reach, one moment from breaking the surface.
Then, a hand lurking in the deep grabs your legs, dragging you into the abyss as hope and light slip away.
What kind of despair is that?
Leon had seen such freaks and paid them back in kind, so he could read their minds.
With him in the restricted zone, it wouldn't fall.
That made him a thorn in the mastermind's side.
He was ruining their game, interrupting their show.
With fewer monsters attacking, he could briefly leave the zone without much impact.
If the mastermind found him annoying, they'd likely make a move soon.
"System, how much faith value can restore my strength now?"
[Host: 0.1%.]
"Overdraft to 0.3%."
[But overdrafting requires double repayment…]
"Do I not know that? Just do it."
[Yes, Father… my mistake for questioning you!]
This life's faith value was not only drained but went negative.
Leon felt nothing about the number's shift.
Aside from knowing it was faith value, it was useless.
Numbers that brought little hope—positive or negative, it didn't matter. By the end of this cycle, it wouldn't be negative.
Familiar power returned.
Aha jumped in protest.
"Darling, you're crazy! Using Mercy's power so early—what if it draws some Aeon's attention?"
Leon clenched his fist, feeling the flowing power, unmoved.
"You remember who said that, right?"
"The last Sky Haven Clan sorcerer."
"I suspect he lied, reason unknown. Don't you find it odd?"
"Odd? Aha finding something odd is what's odd."
"…"
Leon ignored Them, reflecting on a question unanswered for eons.
After the Twilight War, the Sky Haven Clan was near extinction.
The Lord of Mercy, Qi, appeared just in time.
Under Mercy's divine radiance, the clan was blessed, restoring its former glory.
His first life began then.
Over a dozen Amber Eras, the Sky Haven Clan fully embraced the Path of Mercy, bringing its power to ease sentient suffering across the galaxy, saving countless lives and worlds.
Over the years, four clan members received Qi's blessing, becoming Emanators acting across the galaxy.
He was the first.
And the last to remain.
Mercy fell, its Path vanished.
As the Sky Haven Clan perished, a sorcerer told him—
Until Mercy's divine seat returned, he mustn't reveal Qi's power, lest it draw Aeons' coveting.
Which Aeons? No answer.
At least not now.
Mercy fell, the clan lost its blessing, no longer immortal.
His first life ended, and Leon began endless reincarnations, taking many identities.
As long as he was human, without fail, he'd reclaim his Sky Haven wings in adulthood, awakening innate power.
At first, this cycle was an unbearable burden.
It came at the cost of the entire clan.
From that Amber Era to now, the 2157th, every cycle inevitably used Mercy's power.
Yet, no Aeon ever coveted it.
Aha claimed They always cleaned up the mess.
Leon believed it at first, then stopped.
Covet what?
Was Mercy's power some Tang Monk meat, eating it to grow stronger?
Ironclad logic: he never hid his Sky Haven identity.
Mercy's last survivor, the final Sky Haven clansman cycling through the galaxy—how could Aeons not know?
If they coveted it, why didn't Aha, who knew it all, take a bite?
"Yeah, so weird. Why don't you eat it…"
"Not weird at all, my dear Brother. How could Aha eat you? You're tasty, but not that kind of tasty~~"
Aha feigned heartbreak, suddenly blasting loud music.
Meaningless drumbeats erupted.
Boom boom, boom-boom-boom, boom-boom-boom, deng-deng-deng-deng~ deng, deng-deng-deng-deng.
"I'd never abandon you, never…"
"Stop. I didn't say I'd fall for it… oh? Finally here?"
Leon cut off his thoughts.
The surroundings were no longer the restricted zone but a wasteland of bones and ash, steeped in deathly silence.
His expression unchanged, he slightly raised his gaze.
Ahead stood a throne.
Atop it sat a figure, their face shrouded in thick gray mist, features obscured.
Leon could feel the gaze beneath the mist, sizing him up like a monkey.
Treating him like a monkey?
Silent, playing the aloof master, huh?
Leon's lips curved, unleashing Joy's power to go on the offensive.
"A street thug handpicked by the grand Aeon of Destruction, playing quantum disguise and blind hide-and-seek?"
"Is your noble Aeon mouthpiece a light-sensitive species or what?"
"Or maybe that face is so hideous, so foul, it'd trigger Lan's causality strike if exposed?"
"Nanook must've been blind to pick a retracting turtle."
"If you ever dared show your real face, the whole galaxy would get collective megaphobia."
"Suggest you wash your face with antimatter daily, get some work done. Maybe you'll make the universe's top sewer rat list."
Under this scathingly sharp, curse-free, yet utterly biting verbal assault, the Destruction Emanator on the throne trembled, slowly sitting upright, glaring at Leon.
"Little bug, your mouth's venomous, but it'll only poison you faster."
"Oh? I feel like you're getting a bit red there."
Leon crossed his arms, taunting lightly.
"If I'm not wrong, the Antimatter Legion's attack on Jarilo-VI seven hundred years ago was your doing, right?"
"So what? In exchange, tell me, how did you figure it out?"
"No words for a shrinking turtle. Name yourself or scram." Leon smirked mockingly.
"Ervitos. Those who know my name die."
"You sure Nanook gave you Destruction's power, not brain-dead power?"
Leon scanned Ervitos with a look reserved for idiots.