The void Terminal End domain had almost become solid, turning into an unbreakable spatial barrier that sealed Noah and Ovathrax within this cage of mortal combat.
The radiant sword light descended with boundless might. The brilliant glow even dimmed the stars in the sky.
The massive black-purple full moon was instantly split into two halves by the sword light. The residual force of the sword light echoed within the Terminal End domain, creating large cracks across the surface of the remaining "full moon."
The bisected Ovathrax recombined. Layers of fragments on its body lost their luster and fell off, revealing a black-purple eyeball that was significantly smaller than before.
"This ever-changing frequency, and the aura of fused powers... You are—"
The black-purple eyeball suddenly widened. Ovathrax cried out in alarm:
"You are that fish's Resonator!"
"No, you've got the wrong person."
Seeing that Ovathrax hadn't died, Noah furrowed his brows tightly. His movements did not pause in the slightest as he raised the Crown of Unyielding Fate once more:
"Furious tides—split the heavens!"
Ever since pulling Cartethyia, his basic attacks had been removed. There was no need to stack any aberrant power swords or divine power swords. He would just keep using his ultimate.
There was also no need to worry about harming Jinzhou City's residents, because the Terminal End domain opened through the Shorekeeper could not only increase Crit Rate and Crit Damage, but also completely lock the battle's aftershocks within the domain.
Boom!
The ultimate sword light descended with a massive explosion. The black-purple eyeball, which was a hundred meters in diameter, was effortlessly sliced in half.
In the blink of an eye, Ovathrax's body recombined, shrinking by another large margin. It was still that black-purple eyeball, but its diameter was now less than fifty meters.
The intense pain of having its body shattered and reformed caused Ovathrax to let out a miserable scream. It roared furiously, its voice like thunder:
"Leviathan, you have such audacity!"
To actually send its Resonator to snipe Its revival twice.
Compared to the pain of body reconstruction, what Ovathrax felt more at this moment was confusion:
"Why do you want to stop me! Our origins are the same path to the same destination!"
"Who shares the same path with you."
Noah raised his sword again, his tone cold and severe:
"On the brink of death, and you still want to forcibly claim a connection with me?"
Another radiant sword light descended. The black-purple eyeball was shattered and recombined once more, its diameter now reduced to less than twenty meters.
Ovathrax finally recognized reality. Taking advantage of the moment before Noah's next sword strike fell, it controlled its body to flee frantically.
The black-purple eyeball violently crashed into the edge of the Terminal End domain, producing a heavy thud. It was bounced back by the spatial barrier and took another solid sword strike.
"Aaaah! It's spatial power! And you still say you're not Leviathan's Resonator? It actually devoured Imperator."
"Actually, Leviathan was also..." Noah originally wanted to explain but felt there was no need:
"I'm too lazy to explain it to you. You're not worthy of hearing it."
Raise the sword. Swing the sword.
Unexpectedly, this sword strike missed.
Ovathrax compressed its body from twenty meters down to one meter. The sudden explosive increase in speed allowed it to narrowly dodge Noah's attack.
As a War Threnodian, it should have been able to grow through war. However, in the current situation, it was purely being beaten one-sidedly with no time to absorb frequencies and strengthen itself.
It finally stopped speaking and fled at full speed toward the entrance of the Sound Domain.
No matter whether Noah was Leviathan's Resonator or not, one thing was obvious—
Noah's goal was to kill it. Yet it had poured all its power into the Mech Abomination. At this moment, it could only flee in a sorry state, without even the slightest ability to fight back.
"You— and your master, just wait for me!"
Ovathrax, which had finally reached the entrance of the Sound Domain, suddenly turned back. Its purple pupils flowed with intense hatred and rage:
"My flames of war will eventually burn toward Rinascita to settle this blood debt!"
After throwing out the harsh words, Ovathrax unhesitatingly crashed into the entrance of the Sound Domain, passing through the pure white light circle and instantly arriving at the other side, only to be solidly impaled on Noah's sword.
"Sorry, I can't fulfill any of your three wishes."
Noah looked down at Ovathrax with a cruel smile:
"You won't be leaving today."
He had switched to Shorekeeper long ago and set up a teleportation channel at the spot where Ovathrax would emerge.
Having both Cartethyia and the Shorekeeper meant he could use two types of spatial powers simultaneously. If Ovathrax managed to escape today, Noah would eat the Crown of Unyielding Fate.
The separated powers were poured heavily into the sword. With one swing, the solid black-purple eyeball instantly shattered into pieces.
When it regrouped, it was only the size of a soccer ball.
On the other side.
An unknown amount of time had passed. Twenty patroller vehicles stopped near Whining Aix's Mire. Chixia and over a hundred patrollers got out.
Looking at the golden Terminal End domain covering several hundred meters ahead, Chixia was stunned.
Her gaze passed through the transparent outer wall of the domain. In the distance, she saw Noah continuously swinging his sword at a black-purple "soccer ball."
"Hey!"
Chixia cupped her hands around her mouth like a loudspeaker and shouted:
"Noah, I'm here!"
"And us!"
Jinhsi and Jiyan finally arrived with a large number of elite Midnight Rangers, retracting their flight wings and landing steadily.
"There are Threnodian frequencies around... though very weak."
Jiyan gripped his long spear tightly. His originally vigilant gaze could no longer move away after landing near Noah.
Jinhsi, on the other hand, quickly walked to the edge of the Terminal End domain. She tried to enter but was blocked by the golden domain's boundary.
"It must be the Threnodian that trapped Noah."
Jinhsi gritted her teeth tightly and was about to form a hand sign when Noah hurriedly stopped her.
Nailing the dying Ovathrax to the ground with his sword, Noah switched back to Shorekeeper, released the Terminal End domain again, and pulled Jinhsi and the others inside.
"Why did so many people come?"
Hearing this question, everyone immediately exploded into chatter, speaking one after another.
Chixia: "You told me to bring more people, so I brought them. But I don't know why the Magistrate and General Jiyan also came."
Chixia's superior: "That's right. When I heard the Hero of Jinzhou had trouble, I immediately reported it to my superior to mobilize more patrollers."
Chixia's superior's superior: "The Hero of Jinzhou's difficulties are our difficulties. We can't help with much else, but as for people, we have as many as needed."
Chixia's superior's superior's superior: "We will never sit idly by if any resident of Jinzhou encounters a crisis!"
Jinhsi: "...Noah, I heard you were trapped in a desperate situation, on the verge of life and death, so I brought Jiyan over. What exactly happened to you?"
"You all... how did the rumors get more and more exaggerated?" Noah felt somewhat embarrassed.
Jiyan raised his hand and pointed at the "orb" nailed down by Noah. The corner of his eye twitched slightly as he asked:
"Brother Noah, that is..."
"Oh, let me introduce you. This is the Threnodian, Ovathrax."
Upon hearing this, everyone collectively gasped.
Such a small broken ball was Ovathrax? It didn't seem as terrifying as the legends said.
Countless incredulous gazes fell onto Ovathrax. Several officers immediately stepped in front of Jinhsi to protect her:
"Magistrate, don't panic. We will protect you with our lives."
"Me too."
"Everyone move aside. Don't block my view."
Jinhsi gently pushed aside the people blocking in front of her. She was about to speak when Noah explained first:
"Everyone, don't panic. Although it's a Threnodian, it seems to have no power. I've been fighting it for so long and haven't seen it resist at all."
Originally, Noah had also switched to Havoc Rover, wanting to directly kill Ovathrax. However, after one scythe strike, the opponent instead seemed to receive nourishment.
With no choice, Noah could only repeatedly hack it apart, constantly wearing down its frequency.
As he spoke, Noah kicked Ovathrax:
"Get up. Stop pretending to be dead. Say hello to everyone."
"You—"
The debilitated Ovathrax struggled to open its eyes wide. Looking at the dense crowd before it, it cast an incredulous gaze at Noah.
Why would Leviathan's Resonator be staying together with humans, and their relationship seemed quite good?
Could it be...
In an instant, Ovathrax understood everything.
No wonder Leviathan's Resonator had stopped Its growth twice.
No wonder Leviathan had communicated with that unspeakable existence, indirectly causing Its awakening.
No wonder, at the moment when it was at its weakest, Leviathan's Resonator had just happened to find it, causing it to fall into this current desperate situation.
It was not a coincidence. It was absolutely not a coincidence! All of this was a meticulously arranged trap by Leviathan!
But why—
"Plague·Leviathan!"
Ovathrax, which was nailed firmly to the ground, seemed to understand something in an instant. It looked at Noah with despairing eyes and roared in grief and indignation:
"Why— have you betrayed us!"
The black-purple eyeball continuously buzzed and trembled as it frantically compressed all the energy within its body.
"Not good!" Jiyan reacted first and shielded everyone in front: "Quickly retreat! Ovathrax is going to self-destruct!"
Under everyone's watchful eyes, the black-purple eyeball went "poof" and exploded into a small wisp of ethereal smoke, light and floating, like a fart. It didn't injure anyone.
The entire scene was silent for a few seconds.
"Uh..." Noah turned around, looking at the dense crowd before him, and spoke somewhat hesitantly:
"The last thing Ovathrax said just now... I think I need to explain..."
"No need!"
Jinhsi stepped forward. Her gaze was gentle and sincere:
"The Threnodian tried to provoke internal conflict, but it will never succeed, because we believe in you."
With Jinhsi's words, the others immediately started chattering:
"Pass it down. Ovathrax revived and returned, only to be powerfully repelled by the Hero of Jinzhou."
"Pass it down. The Magistrate saw through the Threnodian's scheme and, together with the Hero of Jinzhou, protected the residents' peace..."
"Everyone shut up. If you dare spread rumors again, you'll all be locked up stepping on sewing machines."
Noah smiled and swept his gaze across the noisy crowd. His peripheral vision inadvertently swept across a crimson figure.
Yinlin, whom he had teleported back to Jinzhou, had actually rushed over as well.
Sensing Noah's gaze, Yinlin pursed her lips slightly and gave him a thumbs up.
[Companion Story: "Solitary Path" completed.]
[Currently owned: Radiant Tide0, Lustrous Tide10, Astrite11880, Shell Credits8.26 million]
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