"And who the hell is Kakamond?" Leon asked.
"Genius Society #4, the 'Lord of Silence,' Polka Kakamond."
Regus didn't expect him to know and proceeded to explain.
"If you are the favored child of The Hunt, then she is the favored child of The Erudition."
"She's the most obedient, yet most vicious, mad dog under Nous."
Hearing this, Leon immediately shot back a question.
"Just an Emanator, and you want me to avoid her?"
As if he wasn't an Emanator himself.
We're both Emanators, who's to say one is superior to the other?
One call to my senior and a 'rocket' will have you singing a different tune.
"I'm merely reminding you as a unilateral partner. Regardless, it's certain that Polka will come looking for you sooner or later."
Regus, of course, wouldn't throw cold water on his confidence.
In fact, it was hoping the two would fight. It was better if Leon didn't back down.
The Hunt's Golden Boy VS The Erudition's Lord.
And it still thought their golden boy was more badass.
"Thanks, but there's one thing you seem to have forgotten."
Leon chuckled, got up, and then threw a kick at Regus.
"'The Hunt' never seeks harmony, and it repays every grievance!"
Smack!
"Can't we just talk things over?"
Regus raised a hand and caught the kick steadily, a rare hint of helplessness in its calm voice.
"Haha, I don't listen to nonsense!"
Leon swung his left leg, aiming straight for Regus's head, forcing it to its feet while freeing his right leg.
"If you want to talk, we can. But next time. Not today."
Leon executed a powerful spinning kick, swiftly taking the Vanquisher from his shoulder in the process.
"Since you sicced the 'Iron Tomb' on me to cause trouble, you'd better be prepared for me to return the favor."
By the time Leon steadied himself, the string was drawn, and the bow was aimed at Regus.
"And don't try to use me as your weapon."
Leon's tone practically said, 'Don't make your big bro laugh.'
"If Polka wants to kill me, I'll make sure she returns in utter defeat. But I won't go out of my way to do things for anyone else. I do things only for myself!"
A vast amount of energy gathered on the bow. Leon drew the Vanquisher and immediately fired a seemingly ordinary arrow!
BOOM!!
The entire world was filled with a cyan light. For a moment, the heavens and earth trembled, and everything in sight was overwhelmed by the power of The Hunt!
...
...
"Is it over?"
Topaz looked at the disheveled Boothill, who was missing an arm, and noticed that his previously intense fighting spirit had vanished in an instant. She muttered to herself.
"Grunt"
Numby panted wearily.
Empowered by the 'Cornerstone,' it naturally wouldn't lose to a mere Pathstrider.
But Boothill, relying on the fact that he was a cyborg, fought with incredible ferocity, like a mad dog, perfectly willing to trade life for injuries.
"Son of a... what happened to me..."
Boothill clutched his throbbing head with his remaining right arm, looking like he'd just blacked out from drinking.
"You were corrupted by the 'Iron Tomb.'"
Topaz sighed.
"It's a good thing the other Ranger dealt with it in time. Otherwise, I couldn't have guaranteed you'd be left in one piece."
Seeing the battle was over, Numby voluntarily spat out the 'Cornerstone' it had swallowed, which she caught steadily in her hand.
"Right, where's my bro? Where'd my bro go?!"
Hearing this, Boothill showed no concern for his own body of scrap metal, his first words being about his bro.
"Bro!!"
Boothill shouted, moving past Topaz to search for any sign of his brother.
"Son of a... 'Iron Tomb,' I'm not through with you! You just wait!"
Boothill gritted his teeth, hating that not only had he been useless at a critical moment, but he had also become a hindrance to his brother.
"Bro, I'm not dead. No need to sound so tragic."
Not far away, Leon was walking towards them, slowly coming into their view.
"Bro, you okay?!"
Seeing him, Boothill was overjoyed and rushed forward, ready to give him a huge hug.
"If I had a problem, would I be here? I obviously came back after acing the test and taking first place."
Leon slapped away his intended hug, telling him to knock it off.
"Above me..."
Topaz's gaze fell upon him, her eyes scanning him up and down assessingly.
She hadn't expected him to actually do what he said he would.
The Antimatter Legion, Rupert III, the Balanza Armaments.
He had shouldered all three burdens himself, and by the looks of it, without much effort.
Even she, a 'Half-Emanator,' couldn't guarantee she could do it so easily.
This Galaxy Ranger was definitely no simple character.
Topaz thought to herself, her gaze shifting quietly to the bow slung over his shoulder.
It was strange. It was clearly an unremarkable longbow.
Other than looking a bit ancient, there was nothing special about it.
Yet, for some reason, she felt a deadly aura emanating from it, no less potent than the presence of 'Preservation' radiating from the Cornerstone.
Was it an illusion?
Topaz wasn't sure.
She rarely had such strong premonitions.
For a fleeting moment, she even thought of the Xianzhou Alliance's mysterious eighth Arbiter-General.
But a Xianzhou Arbiter-General had absolutely no reason to be here.
The hypothesis was invalid from the very beginning.
'I'll look into it when I get back to the Corporation...'
Topaz thought to herself.
Though she doubted the keywords "Galaxy Ranger," "mysterious archer," and "pretty boy" would yield any useful results.
"Forget about acing tests or whatever, son of a... as long as you're okay, that's all that matters!"
Boothill had no idea what he was talking about, but that didn't stop him from being thrilled that he was safe and sound.
"Whether I'm okay or not doesn't matter. What matters most is where the 'Heliobus' went."
Leon reminded him not to forget their purpose for coming here.
They had originally come here looking for a 'Heliobus,' but the plot had gone completely off the rails.
"How about you just send me the location of the Garden of Recollection, and I'll go blow up those Memokeepers myself."
No joke, Leon was seriously considering going solo.
"What are you talking about?! You think I'd let you go alone?!"
Boothill told him to cut the crap; there was no way he'd sell out his partner.
"If there's no 'Heliobus' here, we'll just head to the next stop."
Boothill scratched his head, not wanting him to be so reckless.
The place they're going is a vital location for the Garden of Recollection. How can you go without some way to deal with 'Memory' itself?
You need something to guarantee your own safety, at the very least!
"I'll go back and get a new arm, and while I'm at it, have the old man check if his tracker system is bugged."
As Boothill spoke, he walked over to the left arm that had been taken off by Numby.
"Take it easy. We'll definitely settle the score for the people of Holstein."
Boothill picked up the wrecked left arm and snapped it back on with a 'clank.' Blue arcs of electricity flickered across it intermittently.
"You already called me bro, so what's there to say? I'm with you!"
Leon didn't have much to say either. Worst case, it just meant tagging along with him to one more place.
They were bros, after all, so what was one more stop?
"Please leave your travel arrangements to me. I will take care of the transportation problem."
Topaz spoke up immediately upon hearing this.
"I will report what happened here to the Corporation exactly as it occurred. I suggest you two leave quickly before the fleet arrives."
"Alright, thanks a lot, Tornado Sis."
______
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