"Wasn't I... perishing together with Kevin..."
"Where is this?"
A crimson world, a scene of utter decay, with an eclipse quietly resting in the center of the horizon.
Lang Lei instinctively called out in his heart, but there was no response...
"You have come, my friend..."
"Well, I'm going!"
Lang Lei followed the voice, only to see a ghost-like creature floating in front of him, exuding an eerie red glow.
"Who's your friend? What kind of creepy thing is this? Could I have been cursed or something?"
"Tiernan..."
"Huh? What did you say?" Hearing the familiar name, Lang Lei moved a little closer, though he remained on guard.
"There is no need to be nervous. Why not... take a look at yourself."
"Myself?" Lang Lei glanced down at his lower half, and then froze completely.
"Is this... me?"
At this moment, Lang Lei's body was no different from the "ghost" before him, except that his own form was slightly more solid.
After experiencing the unbelievable, Lang Lei also let out a sigh of relief.
"Heh~ That's right, I'm dead..."
Recalling moments before his death, could he be considered to have acted like a hero for once?
With fifty thousand years of "burdens," Kevin had condensed an almost indestructible barrier. Even with the combined efforts of Kiana, who possessed half the Authority of Finality, the fledgling Herrscher of Truth Bronya, and the new-generation Herrscher of Origin Raiden Mei, it was difficult to shake it in a short time.
If that barrier wasn't shattered quickly, once the savior Kevin recovered, the world would probably truly sink deep into Adam of the Spirit once again.
Then, everyone would spend their lives in a collective consciousness, within an illusory dream, and humanity would no longer make any progress...
It was also at this moment that Lang Lei realized that both his Hunt and his Trailblaze were about to reach their end here.
Kevin was a hero, but his methods were absolutely unacceptable!
And so, upon the moon, Lang Lei carried out his final Hunt, targeting Kevin's obsession of fifty thousand years.
He succeeded, opening a pathway for the new world. At the very moment he plunged into the Sea of Quanta, he seemed to see Kevin's usually icy face... smiling?
"So, you're someone who knows Tiernan? Or rather... are you Tiernan?"
"Lang Lei, you're still as sharp as ever."
"Just intuition," Lang Lei smiled bitterly, though it was hard for him to make much of an expression now. "You died too, Tiernan..."
"Yeah, we're all dead..."
"So this is the world after death?" Lang Lei looked around; indeed, there were quite a few existences like them.
"No, this is where the Blood Sin Spirit is born—a special existence formed by the obsessions of Pathstriders under the shadow of Nihility."
Just then, a voice rang out behind Lang Lei.
"Raiden Mei?"
Turning around, Lang Lei looked in surprise at the figure before him who bore a ninety-percent resemblance to the girl he knew.
"..."
"I may not be the person in your memories... You can call me Yomi."
"Yomi... In a place like this, that's quite a fitting name." Lang Lei understood as well and did not dwell further on the other's appearance. "So, what you meant by that earlier is that we're merely the manifestations of obsessions?"
"You can understand it that way."
"Then the shadow of Nihility... must be that black sun in front of us, right?"
"..."
"It's fine if you don't answer; I have my own answer in my heart." Lang Lei smiled self-deprecatingly. "Though, as for obsessions... I shouldn't have any, right?"
"No, since you've come here, you surely have one," Yomi said with certainty.
"An obsession?"
"Perhaps..."
The voice of that girl echoed in Lang Lei's mind. Perhaps he would never hear it again; he too was stepping toward the end, and his life would perhaps hold a promise that could never be fulfilled...
"That is where Nihility lies..." Lang Lei looked once more at the black sun on the horizon, resembling a black hole, as if once one went inside, one could never get out again.
For some reason, Lang Lei was simply certain of it.
"Tiernan, how did you die?"
"To be honest, after I came to this place, I was muddled and even forgot who I was for a time. Even my name was remembered with the prompt of this young lady here. But perhaps indeed because we are obsessions, I clearly remember my death, as well as Mikhail, Azalina, and you..." Tiernan said slowly, as if reminiscing. "In that battle against the Great Extinction Lord, a campaign akin to moths flying into a flame..."
"It seems that I, this lucky fellow, managed to escape disaster and linger on for so long..."
Lang Lei clearly remembered the scene of that day. With just what seemed like a casual attack, the opponent had sent him flying, and somehow, he ended up drifting into the Solar System...
With a bitter laugh, Lang Lei suddenly felt something extra appear in his hand.
A purple bullet...
Upon seeing this object, Lang Lei suddenly felt a sense of release.
"Yomi, you're still a living person, aren't you? Or rather, an Arbiter of Nihility ought to have some privileges here?"
"I am not an Arbiter of Nihility, merely tainted a little more with nothingness."
"No matter. I wonder if you might hand this item over to the Sea Rangers who are still alive?" Lang Lei handed the bullet in his hand forward. "Perhaps one day, its light will once again bring dawn to a world. Maybe I won't be able to be there, but there will surely be many people who share my ideals, following our footprints to hunt across the cosmos."
Yomi silently took the bullet and opened her other hand. In it lay another "medal" belonging to a Sea Ranger—another bullet...
Lang Lei smiled. Indeed, how could Tiernan, who died in that battle to uphold cosmic justice, be any less of a hero than him?
"Are you going to fade away?" Lang Lei looked at Tiernan. At this moment, the latter's form was flickering, as if he would vanish the next instant.
"Yeah. What about you?"
"Me?" Lang Lei looked toward the black sun in the distance. "I wonder if you still remember our original identity?"
"Trailblazers... Nameless..."
"That's right. Since I have completed my final Hunt, it's also time to start my Trailblaze anew."
Watching Lang Lei's gaze, Yomi thought of a friend she once had.
"Are you also going to walk into Nihility of your own accord?"
"Also?" Lang Lei was startled, then smiled. "It seems a predecessor has already done so. I am not alone on this path..."
"And this obsession of mine—just how long can it hold out under the immersion of Nihility?"
"Connecting the known, trailblazing the unknown, never yielding to the unknowable..." Lang Lei muttered, looking at Tiernan. "Paimon once said I sometimes didn't look like a Nameless, and you also teased that I only became a Sea Ranger on a hot-headed impulse. So at least this time, I have to prove myself somewhat, don't I?"
"..."
"Just wait, I am going to trailblaze places that even the Star God Akivili never reached!"
With that, Io turned and resolutely walked toward the shadow of Nihility.
Tiernan and Yomi stood quietly there, as if witnessing the drawing of a curtain.
"Even should paths rise and fall, Trailblazers shall hold their own resolve!
Even facing roaring billows, the Astral Express Crew shall steer as one!
Even standing at survival's brink, we still must fight injustice!"
Right at that moment, Lang Lei's voice drifted from afar.
Tiernan was momentarily stunned, then joined in murmuring—
"Even forgotten by the world, we count no gains or losses!
Even as the galaxy's dusk falls dim, we still must light the long night!
Even amidst chaotic disorder, we still must look ahead and crush the chaos!"
"May this journey ultimately reach the stars!"
"May this journey ultimately reach the stars!"
Before you continue