Demiurge possessed the temperament of a child and was very prone to getting jealous over baffling things.
But conversely, she was also exceptionally easy to coax; a few sentences could easily settle the matter.
"You two shouldn't have anything else to say, right?"
Leon had given everything to the two of them, and their relationship was the closest to him. Between husband and wives, sometimes too many words were not needed.
"How could that be?" Cyrene shook her head. "I have so many, many words—words that a whole lifetime, no, that even thirty million lifetimes wouldn't be enough to finish saying—that I want to tell my Partner in the remainder of our lives together."
She spoke in a gentle whisper, her eyes tender like water. Unlike the other Golden Progeny whose thirty million lifetimes were resets, she had genuinely lived through a full thirty million lifetimes. Carrying the hope of being saved, she waited in the loneliness of thirty million lifetimes. She waited thirty million lifetimes just to wait for him, so she cherished this incomparably. She cherished it more than anyone.
"En..." Leon thought of something. "If your world reincarnates infinitely, I will deeply love every version of you."
He extended his index finger and gently tapped the center of her brow. "Rest assured. I will make up for all the loneliness of those thirty million lifetimes."
Leon's intuition told him that the rougher the storm, the more expensive the fish. Although he had to face an 'Aeon', correspondingly, there was a great opportunity belonging to him in this encounter. The 'Ultimate Move' he had been looking forward to for a long time might just be obtained during this confrontation.
When that time came, he would truly lack nothing in the truest sense. If he succeeded, if he crossed this hurdle, perhaps he would be the number one in the galaxy. A true... Heavenly Emperor who suppresses all enemies in the universe!
As for failure? Heh, he would not fail. He had never suffered a defeat in his life. This time would be no exception; the only thing the pen would write was 'Victory'!
"What about me? What about me!" Demiurge's words pulled him back to reality. "Don't just look at Peaches, look at me too!"
Hearing this, Leon immediately spoke up: "Don't talk nonsense, I have been looking at you the whole time."
She and Cyrene were of the same body; wasn't looking at Cyrene equivalent to looking at her?
"En, en, that's right." Seeing his gaze, which had lowered because of Cyrene, lift up again, Demiurge nodded with satisfaction. "I heard that when a person speaks, you shouldn't listen to what they say, but look at their eyes. That way you can tell if they are sincere or saying the opposite."
Saying this, she locked eyes with Leon. "So, Partner must look at me properly, okay?"
Leon did not reply, simply meeting her gaze squarely, looking into those pink pupils shimmering with seven colors. He had to admit, Demiurge's eyes were indeed exceptionally beautiful. They possessed a unique magic; if one wasn't careful, their soul would be hooked away by them. Twinkling and flashing, making it impossible for people to look away.
Magnificent gems became clumsy counterfeits; the eyes of the lover were the only authentic work.
"I love you."
Demiurge's staring gaze did not deviate by even half a bit. The words she just spoke made people involuntarily begin to gauge the affection in her eyes at this moment. In the end, it was pure sincerity, without a shred of falsehood. Her eyes and the words she spoke were in unity of knowledge and action.
"I know." She had always liked to express her love for him directly; Leon knew this.
"I love you especially, especially much!"
"En."
"You are the selfishness I find hardest to part with." The love in Demiurge's eyes turned into possessive selfishness. "I don't want you to go..."
Leon had always been this kind of person, a good person.
"But even if I don't let Partner go, you will definitely go, right?"
He didn't leave Amphoreus to its fate, and he would do the same for the galaxy.
"What? Should I avoid His sharp edge?" Leon gave the same answer as always.
"So..." Demiurge had known this answer long ago, so she stepped forward. "When you come back, you must put this on me again."
She took off the ring on her ring finger, then reached out, supporting the back of Leon's hand, and slowly placed it onto his subconsciously open palm. "I will wait for you. No matter what happens, I will wait for you."
Demiurge looked up and flashed him a radiant smile. After handing the ring to him, she slowly retreated backward. "Just thirty million lifetimes isn't enough, you know."
And after her...
"My life is very heavy, so you have to hand over the rest of your life to me!" Cyrene, who had already made preparations, also stepped forward. Pinching the ring taken from her ring finger with two fingers, the ring woven from rice ears also came to rest in Leon's palm.
"I love you. For thirty million lifetimes, it has been so." Cyrene put her hands behind her back, the smile on her face incredibly charming, and she also slowly opened up the distance between them again. "May the clear breeze and ripples accompany you forever."
Evidently, their farewells ended here.
Leon lowered his head, looking at the two rings. In those thirty million lifetimes, every single life of the two of them was paving the way for the possibility of meeting Leon, and these two rings were the best symbol of the final outcome. Leon said nothing, simply putting both rings on his own pinky finger.
He would return them to their original owners. Definitely.
"Partner should still have some words to say to Miss March, right?" Cyrene smiled, pulling Demiurge to the side. "Don't let waiting become a regret."
They yielded the main stage to the young girl standing at the final exit. That was the person who, in the true sense, held the first special relationship with him.
Leon cast his gaze toward March 7th, meeting the eyes of the girl who was looking right at him. "March."
This was the last person he needed to give an explanation to before rushing to the 'Aeon' confrontation.
Seeing his arrival, March 7th didn't say a word. She just held her camera, leaned her body forward, pressed her forehead against his chest, and lowered her head. No one knew what she was thinking at this moment.
"Leon, I'm afraid," she whispered.
Afraid that after losing him, she would become alone again like before. She didn't want her story with him to stop here, and she wanted him to leave her even less. March 7th was molded by Leon's own hands. Now that she had lost all her past...
Without an anchor point, could the person known as March 7th really still be considered to exist?
Your Brother Leon is also afraid.
He caught the reference to the 'Uncle Yang, I'm afraid' meme.
"It's okay. You know me, I'm not a person who breaks his word." Leon whispered in her ear, "I promised you I would help you find your memories back."
"So rest assured."
He attempted to inject a stimulant in this manner. But the head resting against Leon's chest shook; the movement was faint, but as her support point, he felt it very clearly.
"The past... isn't important anymore. I only want the present where you exist."
The past and whatnot didn't matter anymore, because Leon wasn't in the past.
"The two do not conflict. I guarantee that you will have a future within the past."
Not looking for the past wouldn't do; Leon would definitely retrieve March 7th's memories for her, because only then could she be considered truly approaching completeness.
March 7th didn't know what she should say. Perhaps she should face her emotions squarely and make a confession with the flow, or ask Miss Camera to help play for her, striving to trigger a CG directly. But deep down, she didn't want to do that. Because that would seem very rushed, and she felt this kind of thing should be serious.
March 7th also didn't know if she should confess. She knew like and love, but just like her hazy feelings, she knew only a smattering, her understanding not deep; she just vaguely realized this was within the scope of love.
Like and love and whatnot... For March 7th, she was just used to the days with Leon by her side, and at the same time, she hoped these days could continue forever.
And on Leon's side.
'Moon, I said it before, you can trust me.'
He was not only saying goodbye to March 7th, but also to Evernight.
[...]
Evernight remained silent, giving no answer.
'I will win for you to see.'
Even if just for March 7th. Leon would have to face an 'Aeon' sooner or later. Or rather, the 'Aeon' was the greatest peril. Even if the things involved with March 7th were huge, they couldn't possibly exceed an 'Aeon'.
Evernight distrusted him, deeply afraid that the meeting of two Immaculatus would drag out some trouble, so she rarely showed her face anymore. Although the probability of trouble being dragged out was small, for her nature of preferring one less thing over one more, she definitely wanted to avoid it directly without even trying.
It couldn't really be called distrust; one could only say she somewhat severely lacked a sense of security. Then, how should security be given?
Of course, it was strength and stats that could solve everything. After all, saying more words was far inferior to embodying it through actual action. Which meant... defeating the 'Aeon'!
[...Your odds of winning are very small.]
Everyone else believed in him, only Evernight was different. She always liked to plan for the worst, while simultaneously pulling everything onto the stage to think over.
"Human effort achieves things." Leon paused, then added another four words, "If not me, who?"
He never denied the power of an 'Aeon'. His odds were small? No, setting aside the 'Aeons', he was already in the batch with the greatest odds of winning. He was the number one 'Emanator' in the current era!
[...Don't let me down, and don't let me regret entrusting March to you.]
Evernight sighed, rarely replying with a sentence.
'If I really come back this time, you should be able to trust me then, right?'
Power sufficient to rival or even surpass an 'Aeon' would surely be able to solve everything regarding March 7th. Sufficient to make Evernight place her bet, sufficient to let him say some words he wanted to say to her.
[...]
Evernight fell silent once again. Seeing this, Leon didn't say anything more. He didn't expect to get an answer right now; moderation was good, too much would be counterproductive.
Thirteen people offered distinct farewells. He bade farewell to everyone, but made an agreement only with her.
"Well then, I'm going, Conductor."
Leon finally patted March 7th's back gently, and after she stood up, he spoke to Pom-Pom. "Wait for my good news."
He raised his hand, his tone as confident and proud as always, revealing absolute trust in himself. Every time he made a boast, he would realize them one by one—the high-spiritedness of a youth.
For some reason, seeing Leon's departing back, Pom-Pom felt that the shadows of all the Astral Express's past Navigators appeared on him. When they left, they were also this dashing.
Eight figures overlapped into one body, appearing as if they were going with him. It was also strange to say; people who practiced 'The Trailblaze' always seemed to inherit the same vein of going to perform some hero-like great deeds of salvation.
Clearly, this path was not in the trajectory of the 'Path' at all. Clearly, 'Explore', 'Understand', 'Establish', 'Connect'—these four were the way of 'The Trailblaze'. Why was this, exactly?
"Bon voyage, Pom..."
The second after Pom-Pom's words fell... The Astral Express, this creation of an 'Aeon' and vehicle, bestowed a negligible residual blessing of 'The Trailblaze' belonging to 'Akivili' upon Leon.
A fallen 'Aeon' took the lead in placing a bet early in the 'Divine War' that was about to be set off.
Akivili: A renewed 'Divine War' conflict is inevitable; does Leon dare to shoulder the responsibility of the Grand Administrator?
What is there to fear!!!
Since I inherit the legacy of 'The Trailblaze', how can I be trapped and not move forward! Even if 'The Propagation' sends out a hundred thousand troops, I will chew them up and swallow them! I will pacify 'The Propagation' and seize the land of rising dragons for 'The Trailblaze'!
...
The Galaxy, on the Stellaron Hunters' side.
"We are about to go to war with the reviving 'Propagation'. Maybe that 'Voracity' also has a hand in it."
To be honest, Elio hadn't expected it to get this big. At the start, he really just wanted the Stellaron Hunters to have some connection with him. Why exactly did it suddenly turn out like this?
Elio pondered. One could only say this was Leon's fate; he was born to do big things.
"'The Propagation'... is really going to revive?" Firefly subconsciously clutched her heart with the hand placed on her chest, asking nervously.
"It is basically set in stone."
Elio couldn't see the fate of 'Aeons', but he could make a judgment from the overall fortune of the galaxy, which was originally stable but had suddenly become restless.
"Is it... because of me?"
Firefly's words had a pause that felt like suffocation. She dared not think that just because of her, the galaxy would have to face the return of that 'Swarm Emperor'. Just because of herself, that person was forced to face an 'Aeon'...
Her heart was uneasy; an indescribable guilt lingered in her heart and could not be waved away.
"It has to do with you, but the connection isn't big." Elio nodded, then shook his head. "'The Propagation' never died to begin with."
"In that Swarm Disaster, 'The Amber Lord' should have failed. He only temporarily suppressed the 'Swarm Emperor' and did not successfully kill Him in the true sense."
"This means the revival of 'The Propagation' was just a matter of time." Elio spoke slowly, telling Firefly there was no need to overthink.
"Just as this Xianzhou Marshal notified, it can also be seen from the fact that Swarms are still rampaging in the galaxy after 'Tayzzyronth' departed."
"The 'Path' of 'The Propagation' has been restless all along. At most, you just accelerated this process a bit. To say it's all because of you is impossible."
Elio felt that compared to Firefly, perhaps the blame on Leon was even greater. The things tainted on his body were too many; once he moved, it was possible to drag out all sorts of big things.
"But no matter what, he did it for me..." Firefly's gaze was complex, her face written full of worry for him. She owed him really too many things, so many she didn't know how to repay.
Elio glanced at her. Does Leon himself know he did it for you?
He suddenly thought of the answer he got when Iron Tomb went to find him previously.
—Should I avoid His sharp edge?
That's right, with his competitive nature, he would never feel that the revival of the 'Swarm Emperor' was any big deal, let alone feel that this matter arose because of others. He would only think this was something he ought to face and surpass.
PY (Friend Promotion): Swarm Disaster, Seaborn World Extinction!
Qi Yu was originally mixing wind and water in Star Rail, but by a coincidence of fate, he traveled to Arknights!
"Traveling is just traveling..."
"Wait, where are my Path authorities!"
"In other words, I'm just an ordinary person now?"
"Fine, be an ordinary person then. Let me see which novice village this is..."
"What! This is the underwater city Myriad? And the Seaborn World Extinction is about to happen soon?!"
"Then what's the point of playing? It's over."
Just as the youth was lying flat peacefully, a petite puppet wearing a beret appeared in front of him.
"Open your eyes, Haji-Qi."
"It is time to start your romantic comedy—"
"Redeem these Arknights female characters, and make them regret for life."
Herta shifted her gaze, looking at the little orca lying beside the youth: "First, let's start with her."
____
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