"We meet again, Saintess."
Noah waved his hand in greeting from afar. Not far away, Cartethyia put away her puppets and ran toward the two of them with a gust of wind, her face filled with visible joy.
For her, who had been trapped in this Sonoro Sphere space for ten years, this was the first change in her monotonous life.
"Laurel bearer, you really found me. And this is... Hello, I'm Cartethyia. May I ask who you are?"
"Cantarella Fisalia."
Cantarella looked at Cartethyia in surprise, seemingly not expecting there to be a living person in these ruins.
Moreover, this person was someone she knew.
"I once had the honor of seeing Your Excellency the Saintess perform at the Carnevale ten years ago. I didn't expect that after so long, you still look exactly the same as back then, even though our ages should be similar."
"This..."
When this topic was brought up, Cartethyia's expression changed slightly. She shook her head:
"I don't know what happened to me either. I've lost a lot of memories... and I've been searching for answers all this time. Anyway, just call me Cartethyia for now."
"You two, we can chat later."
While the two were talking, Noah had already walked to the circular altar behind Cartethyia and called out to them:
"Get ready. I'll count to three—three, two, one!"
Cantarella was confused: "Get ready for what?"
Cartethyia's face changed in shock: "Eh, wait!"
As Tyrvine was inserted into the stone pedestal, the brick-and-stone ground beneath the three suddenly shook violently. Cantarella and Cartethyia supported each other to steady themselves.
The incomplete buildings of this theological seminary, under a force akin to divine might, broke free from gravity's bonds, lightly floating upward, flying faster and faster until they fully ascended into the high skies.
Books that were originally on the ground slowly rose, falling toward what was once the ceiling. Noah and Cantarella also rose with the inversion of gravity.
"Ah—"
Cartethyia stomped her foot, activating the scant resonance power within her body, forcibly reverting the gravity direction here to normal.
The man and woman in mid-air finally steadied themselves on the brick-and-stone ground beneath their feet once more.
"Are you two okay? The gravity direction in this space is opposite to normal. It took me a very long time to figure out how to stand steadily."
"We're fine."
Cantarella adjusted her skirt, her gaze inevitably drawn to the scenery outside.
The once solemn and majestic spire buildings of the theological seminary now hung vertically inverted in the sky, extending endlessly into the distance.
Looking up further, beyond the thick dark clouds, a corner of Rinascita's land could be seen overhead.
Just this one glance brought a strong sense of weightlessness to Cantarella's heart. It took her a good while to digest and recover:
"Why is the gravity direction in this space reversed?"
"I don't know." Cartethyia shook her head: "Perhaps it's to ensure these inverted high towers don't fall to the ground."
As she spoke, Cartethyia couldn't help but turn her gaze to the divine sword Tyrvine on the nearby stone pedestal.
When Noah and Cantarella entered this Sonoro Sphere space with Tyrvine just moments ago, memories related to the sword Tyrvine suddenly surged into her mind.
Only a Sentinel's Resonator could make the divine sword Tyrvine react.
In these ten years of solitary confinement in this inverted high tower, she couldn't find any clues about her own identity, only futilely guessing who she was over and over.
Was she... a Sentinel's Resonator?
Seemingly noticing Cartethyia's doubt, Noah drew Tyrvine and casually handed it over:
"Here."
"Thank you."
Cartethyia grabbed Tyrvine, but to her disappointment, Tyrvine showed no reaction to her touch.
Could it be... that she was actually a Threnodian's Resonator? Thinking of this possibility, a layer of worry clouded the girl's brows.
"You are a dual Resonator of both Sentinel and Threnodian." Noah saw through her concerns and kindly spoiled it.
Cartethyia: "Ah?"
Cantarella: "Ah?"
Noah: "Ah what?"
Unlike the two women's confusion, he had a clear grasp of the situation inside this inverted high tower, so he didn't feel the tension of the unknown that they did.
Once you know the answer to a detective game in advance, it's no longer thrilling.
But no problem—he was best at not only carrying others, but also guiding newbies.
"Um..."
Cartethyia returned Tyrvine to Noah, the worry between her brows swept away, replaced by a thirst for information about her identity:
"Is it true? Laurel bearer, if I am a dual Resonator of Sentinel and Threnodian, then am I a good person or a bad person?"
"Want to know the answer?"
Noah's lips curved slightly upward as he pointed with both hands at Cartethyia and Cantarella:
"If you want to know, go find it—The truth about your identity, your Sentinel, everything, is hidden in the main tower at the center of the theological seminary. There is only one truth."
The scheming frog, always touching your belly.
"Now, no more questions. Everything follows my arrangements. We'll speedrun the puzzles of Avinoleum and uncover the truth of the inversion."
With these passionate and fervent words, Cantarella nodded solemnly. Cartethyia's eyes widened slightly as she raised her fists in agreement:
"Okay, laurel bearer. What do we do next?"
"First, go to the Tower of Salvation and insert the divine sword Tyrvine into the stone pedestal."
As soon as he spoke, Cartethyia was startled and was about to ask how Noah knew this, but then remembered his previous words about no more questions.
The girl could only obediently close her mouth.
The two women and one man exited the building that had risen from the ground and took the elevator of the traction tower upward.
In the distance were inverted high towers, while before their eyes were paths filled with rivers—an surreal visual experience from the disordered spatial structure.
"Eh!" Cartethyia's eyes widened as she looked at the gondola on the river, unable to hide her surprise:
"How did a gondola suddenly appear here? There was never one before."
She had been in this Sonoro Sphere space for ten years—if there was a gondola here, she would know.
"This gondola is one I sent up last night."
Noah explained casually.
The chronicle quest [Journey to the Skies] tells the story of an old captain and his gondola wanting to conquer the skies.
In the quest, after several attempts, the old captain finally succeeded in using a sky messenger to carry the gondola higher and higher, rowing through the heavens.
But the sky messenger couldn't turn or stop. The old captain jumped off the boat midway and fell into the sea.
His gondola kept flying upward, somehow crossing the barrier and flying into this inverted high tower, becoming the only means of transportation in the 2.2 main storyline's inverted high tower.
In the game, players could experience the main quest without doing this chronicle, but Noah did the chronicle first before entering the main line.
Fortunately, this gondola happened to stop right at their starting position, saving him the trouble of searching for it.
"You two take the boat. Cartethyia, guide Cantarella."
Noah immediately made arrangements.
Cantarella glanced at the two-person seat on the gondola and couldn't help turning her head in question:
"What about you? We'll go first and come back to pick you up?"
"No need. I'll glide over first and clear the obstacles for you."
Noah made a sword gesture, sharply slicing from his temple:
"See you at the Tower of Salvation."
With those words, he leaped high, unfolded his gliding wings, and took off directly—much faster than the gondola.
Watching Noah's figure fly farther and farther away, the two women left behind looked at each other, both somewhat stunned.
Cartethyia: "Has the laurel bearer adapted to the gravity here so quickly? It feels like you two know this place very well."
"That's not the case. I don't know much about here." Cantarella shook her head: "He and I should both be coming here for the first time."
But since they're here, they'll make the best of it. She had been waiting for this opportunity to rescue the Sentinel and her family—even if there were traps ahead, she wouldn't turn back.
"Based on the current situation, he's on our side. Let's do as he says for now. The more he knows, the more advantageous it is for us."
The two women chatted as they advanced on the gondola:
"Cartethyia, do you really not remember your previous identity and memories?"
Cantarella's eyes narrowed slightly as she closely watched every micro-expression on Cartethyia's face, probing:
"Back then, when you were crowned in the theological seminary, the second Black Tide suddenly erupted in Rinascita. Everyone inside the seminary died, but you survived..."
"I don't know. All these years, I've been trapped in this Sonoro Sphere space. There are many Tacet Discords in many places here, and my range of movement has always been limited."
Cartethyia shook her head in distress. Suddenly, she felt the gondola beneath her starting to shake violently. She panicked and tried to grab the handrails on both sides, but it was too late.
Amid the gondola's whooshing, the boat leaped high, rushing straight down along the inverted waterfall, accompanied by the girl's terrified screams.
When the boat steadied on the water surface again, Cartethyia felt herself falling into a broad and open embrace, her nose filled with an extremely alluring fragrance.
She hadn't yet recovered from the previous thrilling plunge. Slowly lifting her head, she was shocked to realize she had thrown herself into Cantarella's arms, sandwiched between two great mountains.
"Ah..."
Cartethyia hurriedly got up, her face blushing so much it was almost burning, apologizing frantically: "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to. I didn't expect it to be like this."
"It's fine."
Looking at the girl's shy and embarrassed appearance, Cantarella smiled playfully, glancing at the other's chest. A inexplicable confidence welled up within her:
"Be careful. There's still an inverted waterfall ahead."
"Okay."
Following Cartethyia's guided route, the gondola proceeded smoothly without obstruction. Along the way, traces of recent battles could be seen from time to time.
Finally, they arrived at the Tower of Salvation, where Noah had already been waiting for quite a while.
"See that stone pedestal? I've already activated it."
Noah pointed to the stone pedestal not far away and handed over the sword Tyrvine in his hand.
"Cantarella, you go insert the sword."
"Me?" Cantarella pointed at herself, her eyes widening slightly.
"Yes, exactly you."