"Leon is so decisive."
March 7th hadn't expected it to end so quickly.
"You don't understand. I'm a kind-hearted person."
Leon just laughed it off. "I can't bear to see such a short-lived creature continue to suffer in this world."
He didn't put away his Vanquisher Arbiter, clearly having other plans.
"Child, what's your name?"
He walked over to them, bow in hand, and knelt to look at Luanpo, who was cradled in March 7th's arms.
Another bond with a pink-haired girl.
Sigh, I really can't seem to escape them. It feels like I'm being set up by Fuli, you know?
Leon thought to himself, looking at the girl's hair color.
"Luanpo."
Luanpo's vacant, lightless eyes met his gaze.
"It means 'a mind undisturbed, breaking evil to reveal righteousness!'"
"There's something wrong with you."
Leon pointed to the ninja-template memetic virus on her body. "I'm not sure what it is."
"But my intuition tells me, if we don't deal with it, your mind might not be able to take it. Want some help?"
Leon asked.
Luanpo shook her head and asked weakly.
"What?" Leon was a little confused.
This damn kid, why does she say things I can't understand.
"She's probably talking about that monkey from earlier."
March 7th, surprisingly, was on the same wavelength as her, perhaps because she was still a child at heart.
"Oh, Ano."
Leon understood now.
"Mm, I can't answer that question for you right now. Let's wait a bit." He deliberately avoided it.
"Great God Lan, if the Ape Shinobi dies, will the world be at peace?"
Luanpo didn't mind not getting an answer and asked again.
"No."
Leon denied it. "Because Ano, like a cockroach, is a pack animal. When you see one, it usually means there's a whole nest."
"In other words, there's still a whole swarm of vermin waiting to be killed."
Leon said with the air of someone about to "drive out all the titans."
"They all have to be killed before the world can be at peace."
Heaven nourishes man with all things, yet man has nothing to repay Heaven. Kill, kill, kill!
"Then, may this humble one follow in the footsteps of the Great God Lan and lend you my strength?"
Luanpo asked, looking straight into his eyes.
"There is no path in this world to begin with."
As Leon spoke, he reached out his free hand and placed it on the chain shackled to her ankle.
"When many people walk it, a path is made."
Snap!
Under the baptism of Imaginary energy from the inside out, the chain broke with a sharp crack!
"The path is at your feet."
He repeated the previous process, urging her to destroy and remove the collar from her neck.
"This is your own path."
Leon said nothing more.
"As long as you want to walk it, no one can stop you."
She didn't even need to ask him.
Lan himself has no objections, so what right does he have to object?
That would be completely out of line.
Luanpo's allegiance to Lan and her decision to walk the Path of The Hunt are her own choices.
It has nothing to do with him, and he has no right to interfere.
But why she pledged allegiance to Lan... that does concern him.
The Hunt is a path of no return.
Everyone who steps onto the Path of The Hunt surely does so with the hope that no one will have to follow in their footsteps.
The Hunt is the embodiment of deep-seated suffering and hatred.
The reason the Galaxy Rangers are willing to risk their lives, to throw themselves into this grand revolution one after another... is because each of them carries their own unique hatred, and so they hope that no one else will have to bear that same burden.
The former is why they embark on The Hunt; the latter is why they persevere in it.
"Meet violence with violence, end killing with killing!"
The Galaxy Rangers firmly believe that Lan's philosophy is the correct one.
You don't reason with evil men; you use a gun.
Actions teach better than words. Only when enough people die... will those beasts who trample on human decency finally learn to fear!
"This humble one has found her own ninja way!"
Luanpo nodded solemnly.
"Master Kucha said, only one who follows their ninja way can be called a Shinobi Hero!"
"This one has made her decision!"
"By the Great God Lan above, I shall uproot all evil and never rest until I die! Even if the arrow is nocked and can never be returned!"
"——My mind shall be undisturbed, breaking evil to reveal righteousness!"
At that moment, Luanpo found her own path in life. No matter how fierce the storms on her journey, so fierce they made it hard to walk; no matter how overgrown with thorns, stabbing her until she was covered in wounds, she would still have no regrets, until the very end of death!
"You can't call me Great God Lan, child."
Leon broke out in a cold sweat, not daring to accept the title.
Anyone who didn't know better would think he was trying to usurp the throne.
Who-who-who was it that changed his title to his predecessor's nickname? They've really gotten him into trouble!
"Er... back then, I called out once, and my predecessor gifted me a set of skills and a bow."
Leon thought for a moment, then took the top hat off his head.
He certainly couldn't just pass on the bow, and he had already passed the skills to March 7th.
Besides, his intuition told him Luanpo wasn't suited to using a bow.
"Since you've called me Great God Lan, as a man of principle, I can't just give you nothing."
After thinking it over, it seemed that the hat Mikhail had given him was the most suitable gift.
"Here, take this hat. A predecessor of mine gave it to me."
Leon placed the hat on her head.
He was giving it to one of his own, not some stranger.
He certainly didn't feel bad about it, and he figured Mikhail wouldn't have any objections either.
"Let it watch over the path ahead of you for me."
He planned to send Luanpo to the Xianzhou Alliance later.
The environment there was good for nurturing people.
She needed to grow first; without power, she couldn't accomplish anything.
She could become a Ranger after her power had grown.
The sudden brim of the hat obscured Luanpo's vision.
She looked up, and when her vision cleared... Leon, who had just been beside her, was now standing a short distance away.
He raised his Vanquisher Arbiter, beginning the preparatory motions for his signature combo as always.
"And as for your question about whether Dr. Primitive is dead."
As his voice fell, Leon flung the Vanquisher Arbiter forward like a boomerang, letting it go.
"Not yet. But he will be soon."
The Vanquisher Arbiter didn't crash to the ground as one might expect.
Instead, it hovered, suspended in the air directly in front of Leon.
The bowstring was facing him, as if quietly waiting for him to step forward and draw it.
"You insignificant Dr. Primitive, you dare to bully the Galaxy Rangers as if we have no one? I will ensure you suffer a crushing defeat!"
There was one type of person Leon despised most in his life.
And that was the stray dogs who performed human experiments.
No matter how powerful they were, they were still stray dogs!
The very bottom of the food chain, the lowest of the low!
"Did you not hear the children's screams?"
Dr. Primitive thought he could get away with just using a clone?
How could Leon let him have his way?
DID YOU NOT HEAR THE CHILDREN'S SCREAMS?!
Leon was just a kind-hearted person.
He couldn't stand to see conflicts passed down to the next generation— Which is why Dr. Primitive could die today!
Before, Leon hadn't made his debut. Now he has.
This pathetic clown has been hopping around for so long, it's about time to send him to his final judgment!
Justice must be served!
"I said my Vanquisher Arbiter will hunt you. Are you deaf?"
The entire body of the Vanquisher Arbiter shifted from deep blue to a brilliant violet!
It continuously expanded and grew, the full might of an Emanator of The Hunt radiating from it!
Leon stepped forward, his five fingers curled like a claw before the bowstring!
He made a phantom pulling motion, yet the bowstring was truly drawn back.
Don't ask how he did it. The answer is sheer willpower!
If it's him, there's nothing he can't do!
"I'm already trying this hard, so you might as well just die!"
Flames of intermingling blue and violet erupted around Leon.
The flames quickly formed a circle, enclosing him and the Vanquisher Arbiter at its very center!
A blinding light flashed from his body in an instant, so fast it was impossible to even capture!
A colorless, formless arrow of Causality materialized!
Its nock rested against the bowstring, but Leon did not pull it.
This arrow might not be as powerful as Lan's arrow from before.
But its nature and significance were just as extraordinary.
Causality, as the name implies, requires a cause to have an effect.
The "cause" between Leon and Dr. Primitive had already dissipated the moment his clone died.
What remained was the "cause" between Luanpo and him.
He could certainly use Luanpo's "cause" as a lock-on to kill Dr. Primitive.
But that wasn't enough.
As he said before, he wanted to completely end all hatred related to Dr. Primitive in his generation!
To do that, there must be witnesses.
So, in his capacity as a Galaxy Ranger, he borrowed a "cause" that had yet to be severed.
Leon was waiting.
Waiting for those who would help him form the arrow.
...
The cosmos.
"This feeling is..."
Boothill, who was on his way to the next Memory Bubble drop-off, suddenly stopped in his tracks.
He felt a summons, a summons from "Causality"!
"Dr. Primitive?!" Boothill exclaimed.
All Galaxy Rangers hated Dr. Primitive, and he was no exception.
After all, the Galaxy Rangers had all but vanished because of him.
Many comrades had died at his hands while trying to stop the atavism experiments.
Some who were lucky enough to survive were turned into monsters.
He treated his own colleagues this way.
For the Galaxy Rangers, this was a hatred so deep they could not live under the same sky.
Even setting aside personal grudges, in their eyes, based on the actions of this beast alone, he was still a son of a bitch who deserved to die!
The kind who should be torn to pieces!
But they had to admit, they truly lacked the ability to replicate the legend of Zulo.
The Galaxy Rangers had tried to hunt down Dr. Primitive before.
Eighteen times they hunted him, and not once did they succeed.
In fact, their already heavy losses and casualties only worsened with each hunt.
From beginning to end, Dr. Primitive was just toying with them.
Maintaining a delicate distance where they were always chasing but never catching.
This false hope was, in reality, just born from his boredom and desire to play with them.
This was the true depth of an Emanator of Erudition.
Forget the Galaxy Rangers; not even the Xianzhou Alliance was certain they could catch him.
Even another Emanator would be of no use.
This was no joke. It didn't matter which Path.
In a one-on-one situation, there was no guaranteed kill against Dr. Primitive.
An Emanator of Erudition.
They were universally acknowledged as the easiest to kill, but also the hardest to kill.
Easy to kill because the Emanator's own body was as fragile as paper.
Hard to kill because you might go your whole life without ever knowing what specific abilities an Emanator of Erudition actually has.
Emanators of Erudition.
Their strength always lies in their knowledge.
Their abilities are all built upon their reserves of knowledge, leading to wildly fluctuating power levels.
You could say anything goes.
They recklessly perform all sorts of modifications and experiments on themselves.
For example, the first Emanator of Erudition.
Genius Society #1, Zandar One Kuwabara.
The supreme being who personally created Nous.
He is the absolute upper limit that no one dares to dispute.
So, these Erudition folks are mysterious.
You never know what they're going to pull.
It's not that there's no ability capable of taking down Dr. Primitive alone.
There is, and there is only one—
The divine power of The Hunt: Causality!
But this is something not even the Seven Arbiter-Generals of the Reignbow have displayed.
Who else in the universe could you expect to possess it?
"Hahaha! Excellent! Excellent!"
Now someone has it, and he's one of our own Galaxy Rangers!
"After laying low for so many years, we can finally hold our heads high!"
Boothill laughed maniacally, raising his revolver to the sky.
"Brother, I'm here to help!"
As his voice fell, a bullet shot out from the muzzle!
...
They named it—
The Ranger!
An unnamed star system.
"I trust you all felt it too."
La Mancha, leader of the Rangers and a veteran of the Zulo War, said as he surveyed the group of old, weak, sick, and disabled Rangers behind him.
"We have received the call, and we must answer."
La Mancha chuckled lightly.
"So this is what it feels like to have a powerhouse to rely on?"
Loretta remarked with emotion.
"It feels incredible! Something we couldn't do for years, he's accomplished it all by himself!"
Another Ranger finished her thought.
"The Galaxy Rangers have really been in the spotlight these past few days. Praise the Reignbow Arbiter!"
Lan hadn't granted them an Emanator for many years, but when he finally did, it was a big one.
We love it!
"Indeed, but we can't let him fight all alone, can we?"
"Entrusting everything to one person—that's not the Galaxy Ranger way."
"We've been recuperating for so long, it's time to come out of retirement!"
"Let the death of Dr. Primitive be the first shot marking our return!"
From ancient times to the present, the common people have always had their own form of salvation, a spark passed down through generations without end.
We name it—The Ranger!
"Wielder of the 'Effect,' please draw the bowstring!"
An unknown voice emerged in their minds.
In the next moment—
A lone wild goose cried out, and a phantom army of thousands appeared!
Leon sensed something and turned his head.
He knew.
The "cause" in causality, the people he was waiting for, had arrived!
The endless God of War appears!
A phantom of Boothill appeared beside him, roaring.
He said nothing, yet he seemed to say everything.
Along with Boothill came many unfamiliar faces—men and women, old and young.
They were all Galaxy Rangers.
Some were still alive; some had long since passed.
They were people who did not exist.
Yet now, their shadows were here.
At this moment, the people of that past moment are long gone, yet their presence here has never faded.
It is the inheritance of will.
They came here for one common purpose!
To use the hand of a successor on this day... to finally bring an end to what they failed to do so many years ago!
"No matter your six lives and five souls,"
The departed heroic souls stood by Leon's side.
"how can you possibly withstand this unyielding, successive will?"
With that, Leon drew the longbow, the arrow held phantomly between two fingers.
Today, even if Dr. Primitive existed as a trinity in the past, present, and future, he must still die under the crushing momentum of this great "Revenge"!
All karma begins with man, and it shall be ended by man!
This arrow is the "cause" left by the first Ranger, and he is the "effect" that millions of Rangers have waited for!
FWOOSH!!!
Propelled by the endless God of War, the arrow shot forth in an instant, piercing the heavens and tearing through the clouds!
Hunting down the very "cause" that spurred its creation!
_____
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