"Are you surprised I'm not dead?"
A bright purple arrow shot forth from the planet, a calm male voice accompanying it from afar!
Golden flames of Destruction erupted from Phantylia, devouring the arrow. She stared at the Heavenly General who had appeared before her at some unknown moment, feeling an immense pressure.
Leon stepped through the void, the power of The Hunt manifesting as wind, silently supporting the soles of his feet.
He held Vanquisher vertically, drawing his bow and aiming it right at Phantylia!
Phantylia subconsciously shrank from the fight, and when she regained her senses, she found her own fear unbelievable.
This Heavenly General was clearly no different from an ant before her, someone she could crush with the lift of a finger…
But when he drew the string of the longbow in his hand, she felt as if she could never compare.
'I have no reason to retreat…'
Phantylia gritted her teeth. Her pride compelled her to halt her retreat and face him head-on.
She could afford to avoid the spearhead of a Heavenly General backed by Lan.
That was only natural, nothing to be ashamed of.
Before an Aeon, an Emanator was nothing. In fact, not avoiding one would be foolish.
But to avoid a mere Heavenly General, an existence of her own rank—Phantylia's pride as a Lord Ravager would not permit her to retreat without a fight.
'It's probably just a coincidence…' Phantylia thought.
Rather than believing Leon had summoned him, she preferred to believe the Aeon of The Hunt had merely come to issue a warning due to her own great disrespect.
An Emanator summoning an Aeon was like an employee casually ordering around their boss. It was simply too absurd.
Phantylia felt it was far more likely the problem lay with herself.
Casually constructing a false history of an Aeon, even if it was just an illusion and not on the level of the History Fictionologists who truly aimed to pass off fiction as reality, was still an act of immense disrespect.
To be honest, Phantylia herself hadn't expected it.
The strongest emotion she had managed to extract from Leon was, surprisingly, from the very moment the Aeon of The Hunt had manifested.
When she constructed the image of Lan, she was just taking a gamble.
But reality taught her a harsh lesson: never gamble.
The idea that a Heavenly General could call upon the Reignbow Arbiter for a precision strike was so bizarre that Phantylia was unwilling to believe it from the start, immediately concocting an explanation to rationalize it.
That is, her offense had drawn Lan's attention.
This explanation was logical and well-founded, but in her effort to convince herself, she subconsciously overlooked a point she would never normally forget.
That is, The Hunt has always been vengeful, repaying every grievance!
If Lan truly felt she had offended Him, He would have killed her with a single arrow, without question.
But that didn't happen. As for whether the reason for Lan's arrival was her disrespect or Leon's summons, there was no need for further debate.
"You're a Heliobus, aren't you?"
Leon had some impression of the imposing woman before him. After all, you can't go AFK during a boss fight.
"So what if I am?"
Phantylia forced herself to calm down, speaking in a composed and unhurried tone.
"The one on Balanza was you too, right? Don't underestimate my intelligence network!"
Seeing her admit it herself, Leon spoke as if it were no surprise.
It didn't take much to connect the dots. They were attacked right after takeoff, which was too strange, and then there was the Heliobus fluctuation that had appeared and vanished just before.
His world-shaking intellect had immediately arrived at the answer!
"You destroyed the takeoff dreams of two pilots, and in doing so, you've enraged a lion!"
Leon spoke with the solemnity of someone asking, "Are you prepared?"
"Enough talk. Let's see what you've got!"
Phantylia looked at the tiny Heavenly General before her, her fighting spirit clear.
"Celenova spoke very highly of you. I hope you're not just some worthless punk!"
To bolster her own confidence, Phantylia let him know she was aware of his battle record, yet she had come anyway, demonstrating she was confident she wouldn't lose.
"Cele-who? Nova-what?"
Leon had no idea who she was talking about.
Many people had suffered defeat at his hands; it was impossible for him to remember them all.
"Enough of your nonsense! Eat this arrow from your big bro Leon!"
Leon didn't hesitate for a second. Acting decisively, he drew the string again. A monstrous fluctuation of The Hunt's power flashed across his body, and another bright purple arrow shot straight forward!
Swoosh!
Phantylia remained silent, waving her hand forward, palm facing inward!
Imaginary energy of the same magnitude as his materialized into a wave-like surge and rushed back in retaliation. The golden light symbolizing Destruction immediately climbed up her forearm, which was covered in a dark, dense substance!
Crack!
The counterattack of Destruction and the arrow of The Hunt began a fierce clash, neither giving an inch. She said nothing more, going all out from the very start!
BOOM!!
After a brief exchange, the arrow won effortlessly, its momentum unstoppable!
"What…" Phantylia's eyes widened.
The Hunt and Destruction were both Paths renowned for their power. Among the eighteen Paths, only these two were considered evenly matched in offensive capability!
According to her original expectations, even if Leon was holding back, she should have at least been able to fight him to a standstill…
But now, she had actually lost to him in a direct confrontation!
You have to be kidding me!
She hadn't held back in the slightest; she had been going all out from the very beginning!
And the result told her that Leon's raw power had already far surpassed her own?!
What a joke!
Finding this unacceptable, Phantylia raised her hand. Two dark golden lotuses instantly appeared around the arrow, one above and one below, forming a pincer attack!
Clap!
Phantylia clapped her hands together. At the same time, the two lotuses immediately began to contract, shortening the distance between them!
The lotuses pressed together, swiftly enveloping the arrow from all sides!
After trapping the arrow and halting its advance,
the furious power of Destruction erupted from within the lotuses, launching a second, defiant clash!
BOOM!!
In a brilliant flash of golden fire, the arrow and the lotuses were destroyed together, annihilated in a grand display of Destruction!
Phantylia had to exert tremendous effort to finally block an arrow that, for him, was nothing more than a casual shot.
"On par with the Marshal…"
Phantylia suddenly recalled the Xianzhou Alliance's announcement.
She had thought it was just empty boasting to intimidate outsiders, but looking at it now…
"Celenova's wariness of you wasn't without reason."
He really did have the skill to deserve that title.
Unlike before, when she thought her colleague was exaggerating, after experiencing his power firsthand, Phantylia now undoubtedly believed her words.
'That Celenova… she wanted to see me make a fool of myself, didn't she…'
After just the first exchange, Phantylia was already regretting her decision to come.
F*cking Celenova! If she had said he was on the same level as Zephyro, would I have been stupid enough to show up?!
To be benchmarked against this Path is to be countered by this Path. Without a doubt, Phantylia's fleeting dream was shattered by that single arrow!
Will I win? Win my ass!
"You blocked one arrow, but what about the second?"
Leon wasn't surprised she could block it.
After all, everyone he had faced before was small fry; it was normal to one-shot them.
Although he didn't think Phantylia was much different, her level did seem to be just a tiny bit higher.
______
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