Chapter 15: March 7th, Get Down Here!
"Miss Himeko, if you want to look at me, you can do so openly." Leon flashed a brilliant, utterly shameless grin. "I am a very upright person. I never mind being admired."
Noticing Himeko's peripheral vision drifting his way for the umpteenth time, Leon curled his lips and shot her his trademark, overly enthusiastic thumbs-up.
It was only natural for the elegant navigator to be wary. After all, in the eyes of the Astral Express Crew, he was a certified 'Masked Fool.' Even though he had never explicitly admitted to the title, controlling what others believed was entirely out of his hands.
Thinking about it carefully, aside from the two delightfully simple-minded amnesiacs, Stelle and Caelus, absolutely no one took his explanations seriously.
'Alas, in this universe, it is truly hard to be an honest man.'
Nobody believed the truth! He didn't have a single trace of Aha's blessing on him. If he genuinely wanted to manipulate the Imaginary Energy of the Path of Elation, he could do so with a mere thought. Why would he ever need to hide it?
"Pah, how shameless..." March 7th couldn't help but interject, crossing her arms. "Himeko is just worried you will cause some kind of massive trouble on the way!"
"Why worry about me?" Leon raised a brow, his voice dripping with playful innocence. "I am a twenty-four-karat, pure-hearted good person."
Before the final syllable even left his mouth, a blinding, dazzling golden light erupted from his entire body. The intense radiance flooded the sterile metallic corridor, illuminating the space with the intensity of a midday sun.
Caught completely off guard by the human flashbang, everyone instinctively threw their hands up to shield their eyes.
"Ouch! Why are you suddenly glowing?!" March 7th yelped, squeezing her eyes shut and turning her head away.
Himeko let out a soft, helpless sigh, her fingers massaging her temples. Using the deep power of a Path for something so utterly flashy and impractical was, admittedly, perfectly in line with Leon's eccentric style.
She wasn't entirely without concern. Would this mysterious man harm the crew? Would he suddenly turn on them for a laugh? These questions had naturally crossed her mind. Yet, until Leon actually crossed a line, she was willing to extend a basic level of trust. Her sidelong glances had simply been a necessary precaution.
"Alright, I believe you are a good person," Himeko advised softly, her tone akin to a mother coaxing a chaotic toddler. "Put the light away first. It is really too blinding."
"Sure thing." Leon snapped his fingers, and the divine radiance vanished as quickly as it appeared.
The corridor plunged back into its standard, cool artificial lighting.
"The communication is cut off," Himeko announced, her expression shifting to one of solemn gravity. Though they had just evacuated the control room, they had been maintaining a steady audio link with Asta. Now, there was only static.
"Should we go back?" Dan Heng asked, his voice a low, steady rumble. He gripped his spear tighter, his sharp eyes scanning the corridor before calmly adding, "A reminder to everyone—that is a Doomsday Beast. The Antimatter Legion's anti-planetary weapon."
"This Space Station was built by Herta. As long as a Lord Ravager doesn't take the field personally, there won't be any catastrophic issues here," Himeko analyzed smoothly, her calm demeanor acting as an anchor for the group's rising tension.
"But... but we can't just run away like this..." March 7th bit her lower lip, her hands clenching into fists. Leaving the researchers behind didn't sit right with her empathetic nature.
"The Doomsday Beast can tear through the station's shields as easily as turning a hand," Dan Heng stated, his objective logic cutting through the emotion. "With Herta absent, the defense systems here are far too fragile against a concentrated assault from the Antimatter Legion."
"The Legion has the blessing of the Aeon Nanook. They came prepared; the security forces here cannot hold them back." Himeko took up the thread, her amber eyes sweeping over Stelle and Caelus with deep, calculated meaning. "That is exactly why we must leave. And we must take Stelle and Caelus with us."
Her gaze finally shifted, locking onto the grinning young man. "Am I right, Mr. Leon?"
"What are you saying? I don't understand." Leon immediately tilted his head back, staring intently at a completely unremarkable ceiling panel at a perfect forty-five-degree angle, and began whistling a jaunty, off-key tune.
"Huh? What does that mean?" March 7th blinked, her pink hair bouncing as she looked between them. "Leon, are you up to something again?"
"Hey, hey, hey, this has nothing to do with me, okay?" Leon dropped his gaze, spreading his hands wide in a picture-perfect display of exaggerated innocence. "I guarantee this is completely unrelated to me."
"Is that so? They... are critical?" Dan Heng keenly picked up on the navigator's subtext, his piercing gaze lingering on the two newest members of their ragtag group.
"We are special?" Stelle blinked, pointing a finger at her own chest.
"Definitely special. We have a Stellaron inside us," Caelus nodded, crossing his arms with an air of absolute, unearned confidence.
"Oh right, we are Stellaron essences, so we must be special," Stelle agreed, her deadpan delivery perfectly matching his energy.
"I only suspected it before. After all, I could have been wrong." Himeko stroked her chin, her eyes gleaming with realization. "But now it seems there is no mistake. The Doomsday Beast's true target is them, right?"
"Don't ask me, I am just a tourist. I don't know anything." Leon looked back up at the ceiling, his whistling growing obnoxiously louder.
Shhh—
"The way you are acting, anyone can tell she is right." Watching Leon's terrible, theatrical attempt at a cover-up, March 7th suddenly found the thick-skinned guy a little bit cute.
"Chasing us? I see! It looks like this fight is unavoidable!" Stelle reached over her shoulder, her fingers wrapping around the grip of her baseball bat. She yanked it free, her golden eyes sparking with sudden, fierce battle intent.
"Let's do this!" Caelus echoed, cracking his knuckles, his spirits visibly soaring at the prospect of a brawl.
"You two really are..." Himeko shook her head, a gentle yet utterly helpless smile gracing her lips as she watched the two amnesiacs practically vibrate with eagerness.
With the Doomsday Beast's true objective confirmed, the group abandoned any lingering hesitation. They broke into a sprint, boots clattering against the metallic floor panels as they rushed toward the nearest supply platform to rendezvous with Welt Yang.
The heavy blast doors hissed open, revealing the expansive, open-air platform overlooking the starry void.
March 7th was the first to burst through, throwing her hands in the air. "I see the platform! Yay!"
Dan Heng stepped out behind her, his calm gaze sweeping the empty tracks. "The train hasn't arrived yet."
"Maybe it is parked nearby. I have great eyesight, I will go scout ahead!" March 7th volunteered cheerfully, her boots already pivoting to dash toward the far edge of the platform.
"Wait, March!"
The very second her foot left the ground, Dan Heng's instincts screamed. He sensed the crushing atmospheric pressure dropping and hurriedly barked out a warning.
But before the warning could fully leave his lips, a massive, suffocating shadow swept over the entire platform, blotting out the artificial lights of the station.
The Doomsday Beast descended.
"The Doomsday Beast..."
"It actually followed us!"
Himeko's brow furrowed sharply. Although she had logically anticipated this outcome, witnessing the colossal, multi-limbed leviathan of destruction crashing through the void specifically for two young people still sent a jolt of shock through her system.
Watching this incredibly familiar, iconic scene unfold in real-time, the corners of Leon's mouth twitched upward. 'Ah, a classic.'
Moving with practiced, casual nimbleness, he slid his smartphone out of his pocket, swiped to the camera app, hit record, and framed the lens perfectly on the pink-haired archer.
"Get down here!"
Not to be outdone by the sheer scale of the monster, March 7th planted her feet, drew her bow, and notched a crystalline arrow, shouting her challenge directly at the giant beast hovering in the sky.
'I am coming, damn it!' The Doomsday Beast seemed to roar in response.
The very next second, the leviathan obeyed. The Doomsday Beast slammed down onto the platform directly in front of March 7th. The sheer kinetic force of its landing made the reinforced steel ground buckle and tremble violently.
"Aaaah! I didn't mean for you to actually come down!"
March 7th shrieked, her bravado instantly evaporating. Panicking, she yanked her bowstring back to its absolute limit. The bow hummed with frigid energy before a massive ice arrow shot forward, tearing through the air straight toward the beast's central mass.
Clang—!
A crisp, deafening sound of shattering ice rang out. The arrow, usually capable of piercing standard Legion armor with ease, struck the Doomsday Beast's hardened carapace and completely shattered, leaving behind nothing but a shallow, frosty scratch.
Instead of wounding it, the pathetic attack completely infuriated the behemoth.
"Roar—!"
The Doomsday Beast unleashed a shockwave of a roar that rattled their very bones. Its massive, floating claws swiped wildly through the air, churning up a violent tide of golden Imaginary Energy that swept toward March 7th and the others like a localized hurricane.
Dan Heng blurred into motion. His spear thrust forward in a rapid flurry of strikes, the razor-sharp tip drawing a brilliant trail of sparks across the Doomsday Beast's shell, but the dense armor deflected every blow, making it impossible to inflict any substantial damage.
He flipped backward to avoid a sweeping claw, his brow furrowed deeply. "Its defense is too strong!"
"Let me try!" Stelle roared. She gripped her bat with both hands, sprinted forward, and vaulted into the air, bringing the heavy weapon crashing down hard against the Doomsday Beast's armored leg.
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