Recommended to pair with Xianjian soundtrack (Peach Blossom Island) or (Xuejian - Falling into the Mortal World), or other sad music for consumption; the effect might be even better, who knows.
…
Himeko seemed to quietly breathe a sigh of relief after hearing March 7th's lively voice.
March 7th: "Mission accomplished! We successfully defeated the mastermind behind detonating the Stellaron and took the Stellaron away."
"You know, Himeko, the enemy was an Emanator of Destruction named Phantylia. Super tough."
"We teamed up with the Luofu General and put in a ton of effort to have the last laugh."
At this moment, the background melody gradually rose, but the emotions it carried dragged people downward into sorrow.
Those who didn't understand music were fine, but those who could grasp the shallow meaning conveyed in the music felt their hearts sink with a thud.
Multiple instruments vanished, leaving only pure strings.
As the string volume increased, more and more players sensed something wrong.
Didn't we just win against Phantylia?
But this melody now sounded so melancholic and mournful.
Himeko's voice tightened: "Is everyone unharmed?"
"Of course~ Only the General fainted. Everyone on the Express is perfectly fine, hehe~~" March 7th smiled sweetly, clearly in a good mood.
Infected by her cheer, Stelle also showed a smile on her face.
Noticing the whooshing sound of wind getting closer and closer behind her, Stelle thought Leon was flying over and turned her head to look upward behind her.
The very instant she turned her head, a figure fell diagonally past her face—
From the player's camera perspective in slow motion several times over, that figure was slowly descending, brushing past Stelle's gradually trembling pupils.
That pair of wings on his back was so familiar…
Flute and chime sounds joined the melody at this moment, amplifying the sorrow several fold.
Countless players shuddered, an ominous premonition enveloping their entire bodies.
Stelle instinctively reached out to grab him, but only caught a single drifting white feather.
The camera followed the falling figure, getting farther and farther from Stelle, until—
It heavily plunged into the ancient sea, sinking toward the abyss bottom.
He weakly closed his eyes, yet his smile was so gentle, his lips slightly moving, emitting a silent farewell.
Goodbye.
"——Leon!!!"
With Stelle's sharp, breaking scream, the drumbeat in the melody suddenly boomed, pushing the overflowing sorrowful atmosphere to its climax.
A male vocal chant joined, its penetrating power maxed out, as if weeping for Leon sinking to the abyss bottom.
Influenced by the melody and the completely unprepared visuals, countless players' tear glands were instantly shattered.
Most Leon fans immediately covered their mouths tightly, tears beginning to pool in their eyes.
The scene switched, adding a layer of sepia memory filter.
It was easy to tell this was the plot segment where Leon and Welt went together to disarm the three-clawed Kowtow.
Leon spoke while fiddling with the mechanism: "If you have something to say, say it directly."
Welt: "The enemy this time is another Emanator of Destruction, and your injuries haven't healed…"
"If it were you, would you stand by and watch everyone in danger just because you're injured?"
"…"
Welt's lips parted, the unfinished words in his mouth automatically swallowed back, a helpless bitter smile on his face.
"But I still want you to promise me one thing."
"Hm, I promise."
"You don't even know what I'm going to say." Welt was stunned.
"Even if I promise, you'll still worry in the end. So what if I don't promise?"
Leon's expression was gentle; where was that Elation-filled face from the solo action plot in version 1.1?
The words that followed struck another knife into the players' chests.
"…Welt, you're a father. You should understand that as an elder, the most important thing is to give the children a sense of security."
"March is straightforward and reckless, and Stelle's wings aren't fully grown yet."
"I trust General Jing Yuan's character, but he's not alone; behind him are the Luofu Xianzhou and billions of lives."
"Duty requires him to prioritize the Xianzhou in all things. When it comes to that point, even if he's unwilling, he'll ultimately have to choose the Luofu."
"What about the kids then? What about you and Dan Heng?"
"You can certainly protect everyone and retreat unscathed from an ordinary Emanator, but this time is different."
"Phantylia is of the Suiyang clan. Tainting the Ambrosial Arbor wasn't just to plunge the Luofu into chaos; there must be the additional goal of refining a physical body."
"She's been scheming and lurking for so long; she must have great confidence in succeeding before revealing herself."
"That means—"
"The enemy the Luofu and we face is equivalent to a dual Emanator combining Destruction and Abundance. She won't give you a chance to withdraw."
"Stelle and little March call me senior; how can I rest easy leaving them?"
"When you and Himeko took me in, how could I rest easy letting you face a powerful enemy?"
"How could I rest easy—letting Dan Heng, who has a complicated past with the Luofu, step back into the karma of the past?"
At this point, Leon extended his hand to Welt.
"Even facing raging waves, the Express crew should move in unison."
"Even in the face of life-or-death peril, we should resist injustice…"
Hearing these two familiar Trailblaze tenets, Welt closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
After a moment, he firmly grasped Leon's palm.
"How could the Express crew let the doctor go to the front lines?"
"Unless it's the most critical moment, do not launch an attack on Phantylia."
Leon smiled lightly, squinting his eyes: "Hm, I guarantee to do my job well as doctor and support."
His light and carefree tone did nothing to relax the players' minds and bodies.
The more casually he acted, the greater the damage players received.
The screen flickered, switching to the Phantylia BOSS battle.
Some missing scenes and perspectives appeared in the players' eyes.
During the cyber sutra chanting segment, when Phantylia unleashed her life-devouring gaze on everyone.
Players could clearly see that to counter this move, Leon must have used Healing Wind Therapy.
He transferred the erosion from the life-devouring. And immediately paid the price of his hair falling out and turning to ash.
This wasn't a particularly rare expressive technique.
Human hair symbolizes vitality; sudden issues with it hint at something self-evident.
Jing Yuan was the first to notice the change in Leon's state.
"(His aura is rapidly weakening. Overconsumption…?)"
But there was no time for him to investigate closely; his attention quickly returned to Phantylia.
"Phantylia, sometimes underestimating ants leads to being gnawed to pieces by them."
The scene cut again to Phantylia just entering phase three, the cutscene summoning countless mysterious lotuses.
"Bloom!"
From Phantylia's first-person perspective looking at everyone, her inner voice slowly sounded.
"(Still completely unharmed? How is that possible?!)"
"(So many mysterious lotuses blooming at once—their life force should be drained to nothing but ash in one or two seconds…)"
"(The Luofu General and the dragon descendant barely resisting is understandable.)"
"(But what about the rest? How…?)"
Without giving Phantylia time to think further, Leon unleashed his ultimate, summoning a giant dragon to form a barrier.
Then came the moment he restored everyone's status to peak, urging companions to attack together, not excluding even March 7th.