Septimont City.
A Thundering Mephis crackling with black-purple lightning from head to toe hurled its electric spear and smashed a pitch-black dent into the thick city wall.
Little Te released a Kerasaur Echo from his terminal and pointed straight at the Thundering Mephis.
"Go, Kerasaur! Defeat it!"
The Kerasaur glanced at the ferocious and terrifying Thundering Mephis, then turned its head to look at Little Te. A trace of human-like bewilderment actually appeared in its eyes.
Me… defeat a Thundering Mephis?
Whatever, I'll risk it!
The Kerasaur's feet sank. It leaped out fiercely, claws tearing viciously at the Thundering Mephis. The latter raised its claws to block. The two were evenly matched.
"Celestial Court Radiance!"
A beam of white light mercilessly tore the two tangled Tacet Discords to pieces.
"This Overlord-class… is a bit weak?"
Noah formed a seal and withdrew his power. The Sentinel's phantom at his side slowly faded, yet his brows furrowed slightly instead.
He could understand an Overlord-class Tacet Discord appearing near Septimont City, but he could not understand why this Overlord-class was so weak.
If he had to say it, the level of this Thundering Mephis was only barely above Elite-class.
"Kerasaur! My Kerasaur!"
Little Te cried out in grief and hurried over. He kept glancing at the spot where the Kerasaur had been, then at Noah. The latter tossed out a Kerasaur Echo.
"Compensation. One for you."
"Got it!" Little Te accepted the Echo without hesitation. When he turned his head again, the place where Noah had stood was already empty.
...
Porto-Veno Castle.
Noah teleported here and found that only Cantarella remained in the vast residence.
"Just as I expected."
Seeing Noah appear near the Beacon, Cantarella smiled gracefully and held out a bottle of secret medicine.
"Everyone from the Fisalia Family has already gone to the Montelli Vault. I guessed you would come back looking for me, so I specially waited here for you."
"Thank you. That was thoughtful of you."
Accepting the secret medicine, Noah felt a warmth in his heart, yet had no time for further conversation with Cantarella.
"I'll send you to the Vault. If you see Imperator, please pass on a message for me: I will enter the Heaven from the entrance in Septimont's Hunting Grounds. Leviathan is inside."
"Heaven? Are you talking about the Touring Heav—"
Before Cantarella could finish speaking, white light flashed under her feet. The scenery before her eyes changed, and she was already at the Montelli Vault.
"Cold-hearted, terrible man."
She pressed her lips together and muttered in a voice only she could hear.
"I waited for you so long, and all I got was one sentence."
"Family Head!"
Butler Sebastian finally arrived at the Vault with everyone from the Thessaleo Fells. The first thing he saw was Cantarella looking completely calm. He hurried forward to greet her.
"Why did you leave after us, yet arrive before us?"
"Ahem. I have my own methods."
...
Septimont, Hunting Grounds.
After returning here, Noah cleared another wave of Tacet Discords, only to see Augusta hurrying toward him.
"Bad news."
"What is it?"
"Another Overlord-class Tacet Discord has appeared in Septimont City."
What—
He had just left Septimont City, and another Overlord-class Tacet Discord appeared right after?
He had a strong feeling something was off.
"Teacher, teacher!" Lupa raised her hand eagerly, her tail swaying behind her.
"Teleport me back to Septimont City. I'll go protect everyone. You go do what you want to do. Entering the Dark Tide sounds very dangerous, but if it's you, somehow people just feel convinced."
"Alright!"
Noah nodded with relief. Without any extra words, a beam of white light unfolded under Lupa's feet and sent her into Septimont City.
"This should be fine now."
Looking toward Augusta and Iuno, Noah briefly explained what he was about to do.
"What Galbrena said about the Heaven is real. But she may not be able to defeat the current Threnodian. I'm going into the Dark Tide right now to find her."
"Is this really workable?"
Iuno stepped forward, grabbed Noah's hand, and tried to persuade him gently, not wanting him to take the risk.
"Better not go. The Dark Tide is so dangerous. What if you get lost after entering? Besides, Galbrena has already been inside for so long. You might not even be able to find her."
"I can find her."
He opened his panel, opened the Data Bank, searched for the Chimera Tacet Discord, and clicked Track.
The Chimera's avatar immediately appeared on the map.
As long as it was a Tacet Discord he had seen before, it would be recorded in his Data Bank, making it convenient for him to hunt down entire bloodlines.
The only pity was that Threnodians could not be recorded by the Data Bank.
In the original plot, the Rover who entered the Dark Tide had a Chimera specially left behind by Galbrena to lead the way.
Here, he could only rely on himself to explore inside the Dark Tide.
Noah twisted open the secret medicine Cantarella had given him and was about to drink it when a radio wave sound suddenly rang out. It was his terminal.
The caller was Lupa.
"Bad news, teacher! Three Overlord-class Tacet Discords appeared at the same time in different directions of Septimont City. Each one is weak, but I can't handle them all at once."
"How can this be!"
The hearts of the three sank together.
Right when Noah decided to leave, multiple Overlord-class ones suddenly appeared in Septimont again.
"It's Leviathan."
Noah analyzed the situation in an instant.
They were near the Dark Tide, so they were definitely being secretly watched by Leviathan.
Therefore, Leviathan must have learned that he was about to enter the Dark Tide and sent out Overlord-class Dark Tide Tacet Discords, wanting to relieve the besieged by attacking elsewhere and buy more time to reshape its body.
As long as Leviathan took turns regularly releasing Overlord-class Tacet Discords between the Hunting Grounds and Septimont City, it would be enough to make him hesitate and not dare to enter the Dark Tide casually.
"This shouldn't be. How can Leviathan be this strategic?"
Someone must be giving it advice behind the scenes.
But the problem was not big. He knew how to break the situation.
He hung up the call. Noah quickly operated the terminal and began calling for help.
"Shorrie, help me contact the Black Shores."
"Three."
The Shorekeeper's projection raised three fingers and pressed them down one by one.
"Two."
"One!"
A huge white teleportation array instantly appeared above the Hunting Grounds.
Countless figures wearing Blake Blooms emerged from the white light. They were the Bloom Bearers of the Black Shores.
"Make way, make way! Let Encore come out first!"
A black doll and a white doll cleared the path. A petite pink-haired girl squeezed out from among the Bloom Bearers and hurried toward Noah. Pure, angelic joy hung on her face.
"Big Brother Noah, Encore is here to help you save the world!"
"Good girl, Encore. Encore is the best."
Noah bent down and ruffled Encore's hair. He raised his gaze and looked at Aalto who followed right behind.
"On Septimont City's side…"
"Don't worry. We already know the situation here through Buling. The Shorekeeper has sent many Bloom Bearers over to Septimont City, like Camellya, and also the outside help I invited."
"Outside help?"
Hearing those two words, Noah's eyes gradually widened.
"You mean… that man?"
...
"Self-deceivers, become nourishment for the camellia!"
"Thunder roars, fangs fully bared!"
The long blade flashed with cold light. The blade light tore through the Tacet Discords' bodies like lightning. Under the Tacet Mark shining with golden light on his forehead were eyes as cold as a wolf's.
"Are you crazy? Do you need to Overclock just to fight these Tacet Discords?"
Camellya beside him let out an incredulous exclamation.
"Oh?"
Calcharo's voice was terrifyingly calm.
"And what if I Overclock?"
"Overclocking can kill people."
"Overclocking can also kill people?"
...
"The Black Shores detected large-scale Lament intensity fluctuations appearing in Rinascita, but a strange mirror isolated the signals from inside and outside."
The Shorekeeper's projection explained to Noah.
"I'm sorry. I could not risk certain death to teleport Bloom Bearers into Rinascita. I could only send ships to rush toward Rinascita at full speed to understand the situation."
"Only not long ago did the Beacons across Rinascita restore their signals to the Black Shores. Combining the Beacons and the information collected by Buling, we finally learned of the crisis this place is enduring."
"The reason Rinascita has not fallen yet is certainly inseparable from your help."
Those violet eyes gazed at Noah, as if seeing through him to another person she constantly thought of.
"No one understands the current state of Rinascita better than you. From now on, the Black Shores will be at your disposal. May I ask, what are your orders?"
With no more worries behind him, Noah drained the secret medicine Cantarella had given him in one gulp and spoke solemnly to the Shorekeeper.
"I hope you will serve as the defensive line and protect Rinascita well. I will become the sharp blade that pierces the heart of the Threnodian."
"Understood."
The Shorekeeper's projection nodded, her voice soft.
"I will carry your needs."
...
Deep within the Dark Tide, atop densely packed gray-black Tide-Eroded Coral, a breathing cocoon let out a low roar.
"I still need time to digest the consciousness I harvested, and your plan has not held Noah back. Why not adopt my method and directly release Calamity-class Tacet Discords to destroy the Earthrend Wedge?"
"Respected Lord of Tides and Riddles, your method cannot succeed."
A figure draped in a black robe stood before the Tide-Eroded Coral. His posture was as stiff as a withered corpse.
Without any visible movement from him, a scene collected by Secret Authority appeared simultaneously in both of their consciousnesses.
There, before the enormous Earthrend Wedge, stood a man dressed in Huanglong-style robes.
He held a sword crossed before his chest with both arms, steady as a green pine that stood tall all year round. His eyes were tightly closed. He remained silent, yet carried his own intimidating presence.
Qiuyuan.
"The Calamity-class Tacet Discords you casually shaped would only need one slash from this Huanglong swordsman."
Schwarzloch's voice was hoarse.
"As for the Noah you are worried about, as your proxy, I will make him stop right here."
...