The moment Acheron took out the bullet in her hand, Gallagher froze.
That was…
"A Galaxy Ranger's bullet?"
Welt Yang, who had seen more than most, immediately identified where it came from.
It was said that every Galaxy Ranger possessed a personal bullet of their own.
In this universe, all sorts of strange things existed.
And a Galaxy Ranger's bullet was one of them.
There was a rumor that a Ranger who never left behind his name had once spent an astronomical sum commissioning a batch of ultra-long-range bullets.
Then he fired them out into the void, in every direction imaginable.
No one except the Ranger himself knew the trajectories of those bullets.
They drifted through the cosmos without destination, weaving together an invisible web.
And whenever he drove his prey toward a designated coordinate—
a bullet fired ten years ago would cross ten light-years of space and intersect perfectly with the target's skull.
It was a warning.
A warning to the entire universe, delivered through bullets that could strike from anywhere:
Do not harbor evil intentions.
But when Welt looked more closely at the bullet in front of him, he quickly realized it wasn't the same kind as the one forged by that nameless Ranger from the legend.
This bullet carried the energy of a Path.
The Path of the Hunt.
"No… this isn't one of the bullets made by that nameless Galaxy Ranger."
"This is the legendary Hunt's Falling Star."
The Astral Express had once traveled through countless worlds, leaving behind countless records.
And among them was mention of this kind of bullet.
A bullet that could ignore all distance.
And for every Galaxy Ranger, there was only one such bullet in their entire lifetime.
Its purpose was simple:
once fired, it would draw the attention of every other Ranger.
To anyone outside the Galaxy Rangers, it was worthless.
Only when returned to its rightful place could it fulfill its purpose.
Because this was a funerary relic.
Only a Galaxy Ranger who had rendered truly extraordinary service was worthy of carrying such a bullet.
When its light appeared in the universe, it meant one thing—
a great star had fallen.
And in the direction it descended, countless meteors would soon streak across the sky.
Those meteors were the gathering fires of the Galaxy Rangers, rushing in from every corner of the galaxy.
No questions asked. No cost considered.
Because they all upheld the same iron rule:
The Hunt's Falling Star only falls on the longest of nights—and behind it, dawn is sure to come.
March, Stelle, and even Himeko all turned to look at Welt.
Once he explained what the Hunt's Falling Star represented, everyone simply stood there in silence.
No one spoke.
Dreamflux Reef was quiet.
Dreamflux Reef held no sorrow now.
So that was what the Hunt's Falling Star meant.
"But if Senior Tiernan was a Trailblazer," March asked in confusion, "then why does he have something like this?"
Everyone's gaze turned back toward Gallagher.
"That… I don't know either."
"The Family's records, and Penacony's records, only mention that he led the Moth Family out into the cosmos to continue the Trailblaze."
"After that, they encountered the Swarm, and he died."
"It's been far too long. No further information was ever left behind."
Then Gallagher looked at Acheron.
"Miss Acheron, where did that bullet in your hand come from?"
Acheron calmly stared at the bullet in her palm for a moment.
Then she glanced at Evan.
And at the Nameless gathered here.
Only after a long pause did she finally begin to speak.
"He entrusted it to me personally before his death."
"He told me to bring it back to Penacony."
"If his old friend was still alive, then let this bullet continue blazing trails in his stead."
"If his old friend was gone as well… then give it to the Galaxy Rangers."
"So I came."
Acheron's explanation was simple.
But Evan knew perfectly well that carrying out that promise had been anything but simple.
After accepting that request, Acheron had cut her way through everything in her path to get here.
Even Duke Inferno had ended up as little more than a relic in her wake.
Then Acheron briefly recounted how she had met Tiernan.
It was a grand, storm-tossed story.
Tiernan's past.
Tiernan's life could truly be called legendary.
He had first been one of the Nameless aboard the Astral Express.
Later, he stayed behind in Penacony alongside two old friends.
Then, carrying the same dream in his heart, he once more set out into the universe to continue the Trailblaze.
After encountering the Swarm, the entire Moth Family perished.
Tiernan alone survived—badly wounded—only to be rescued by a group of Galaxy Rangers.
After that, he joined the Galaxy Rangers himself, and together with them, he took part in the assassination of Zephyro, one of the Lord Ravagers under the Antimatter Legion.
Later, he was hunted down in turn, but still managed to survive.
In the end, however, he was forced into the shadow of Nihility and became a Sin-Thirster.
As Acheron spoke, everyone listened to the vast, turbulent life of Tiernan unfold from her lips.
And when her story ended, silence once again fell over the group.
It was March 7th who finally broke it.
"Senior Tiernan…" she said softly, "he really was a hero."
"He was," Evan nodded. "Just the fact that he took part in killing Zephyro is enough to earn anyone's respect."
The Lord Ravagers were Emanators under the banner of Destruction.
Just looking at how troublesome Phantylia was was enough to understand how terrifying they could be.
And yet Tiernan and the others had actually done it.
Not only had they done it—they had succeeded.
That was the first recorded case in the history of the Destruction faction of a Lord Ravager being killed.
And to this day, it was still the only one.
"I never imagined that after Tiernan got off the train, he would go on to live such an extraordinary life," Welt said, adjusting his glasses as he sank into thought.
Welt himself had lived through a life grand enough to fill a thick novel.
He had once been the leader of Anti-Entropy on Earth, and the First Herrscher, the Herrscher of Reason.
He had fought the Second Herrscher, Sirin, and in a sense, died once because of it.
After that, he had journeyed into the Sea of Quanta.
His life, by any standard, had been spectacular.
But compared to Tiernan's story…
it still felt lacking.
Tiernan had first been a member of the Astral Express, blazing trails across countless worlds.
Then he remained in Penacony as one of its pioneers.
Yet even that hadn't been the end of his journey.
Compared to slaying Zephyro, even his story in Penacony almost felt plain.
"Tiernan truly lived up to both the Trailblaze and the Hunt!" March declared. "He liberated a prison planet and hunted down a Lord Ravager. That's a real man right there!"
"And those damned remnants of Order nearly made all the blood, sweat, and sacrifice of Tiernan, Mikhail, and the others amount to nothing—not to mention they wouldn't even let him come home!"
"That's why I'm saying it—those remnants of Order are the worst!"
"…"
Evan folded his arms and looked at the three graves before him.
Tiernan's name was there.
So was the other pioneer's.
Only Mikhail's grave remained blank, with no words engraved upon it.
Perhaps Mikhail had never been able to face his own past.
Or perhaps he believed his past didn't deserve to be carved into stone.
"Heehee~ So big sis really isn't a Galaxy Ranger after all," Sparkle said with a grin. "You almost scared little me to death~"
"Yes," Acheron replied calmly. "I only came here to fulfill Tiernan's final wish."
She answered without any attempt to hide it.
That had always been her sole reason for coming to Penacony.
Everything else she'd become involved in afterward had merely been an accident.
After all, she truly didn't care much about Harmony, Order, or any of the rest.
Nearby, Gallagher lit a cigarette, though he didn't raise it to his lips.
He simply held it between two fingers and let it burn.
After a long while, the cigarette finally burned down to the filter.
Only then did Gallagher drop it to the ground and grind it beneath his heel before lifting his gaze to Evan and the others.
"Alright."
"Now that all the actors for this performance have finally arrived…"
"I won't keep hiding things anymore."
"Nameless, I trust you've all seen the hidden message inside the music box by now?"
"The hidden message?" Firefly blinked. "What hidden message?"
Not just Firefly—Sparkle and even Acheron had no idea what he meant.
The music box was indeed an invitation.
But only those whose Path resonated with the aura left upon it could see the hidden message inside.
"That was something only us Nameless could read," Himeko said softly.
"Find the legacy of Penacony's father—the Watchmaker."
"And answer the question…"
"Why does life slumber?"
That was the question hidden inside the music box.
Even though Acheron had obtained the music box from a prison guard, she had never been able to see that final question.
Everyone who came to Penacony sought the Watchmaker's legacy.
But not everyone could see the hidden words concealed within the music box.
Why does life slumber…
…
"Hey, mister," March suddenly piped up from the side, looking at Gallagher. "You seem to know a lot."
"So who exactly are you?"
"You're not seriously just some Bloodhound Family hound, are you?"
"With how you look…"
"Heh…"
Gallagher didn't answer directly.
Instead, he looked quietly at the three graves before him.
It was almost funny, really.
There wasn't actually any ash buried in any of them.
The three Nameless—
Tiernan had become a Sin-Thirster, and only after Acheron helped him let go of his obsession did he hand over the Hunt's Falling Star and pass on.
Razalina had ventured alone into that sea of memoria during the War of Independence in order to uncover the secret of the primordial dreamscape, and never left behind a trace.
Only Mikhail—the Nameless who had remained in Penacony, blazing trails until the very end—
had died alone, embracing his dream in silence.
In that lonely, abandoned tower.
"As for me?"
Gallagher gave a self-mocking laugh.
"I'm nothing but an old dog with a broken spine."
"But enough of that."
"Since you're all here…"
"I'll take you to see Mikhail one last time."
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