"It's you! How could it be you!"
"Teacher!"
Sounds of terror and surprise rang out simultaneously.
Looking at the nightmarish figure before it, Leviathan had already cursed Cristoforo's entire family tree in its heart.
What kind of intelligence did you gather? The fucking boss came to camp the respawn point.
"Three seconds. I'll finish you!"
With no intention of exchanging words with Lupa, Noah flashed forward and instantly appeared in front of Leviathan. His right arm swung a full half-circle in the air and smashed heavily into the latter's abdomen.
"Get out of Avidius's body!"
"Ugh—"
Avidius's body was sent flying. The separated authority brutally and violently stripped Leviathan away.
An ugly fish-shaped consciousness body was exposed in the air. It was Leviathan's consciousness body, appearing weak and helpless at this moment without a physical shell.
Seeing Noah opposite it already pulling out a scythe, Leviathan was scared out of its wits and roared hysterically:
"Cristoforo! Playwright! Save me!"
"Don't lose your composure, Lord Leviathan."
A blood-red script appeared out of thin air between the mountain walls. A human figure calmly walked out from the script. It was Cristoforo.
Just as his front foot stepped out, Noah's scythe came slashing down. The fierce strike passed through Cristoforo's body but caused no damage.
Intangible. Cristoforo was in an intangible state.
"Hehe, Noah. Did you think you were still the protagonist in my script like last time?"
A graceful smile appeared at the corner of Cristoforo's mouth, his eyes full of amusement.
During the last script in Ragunna, Noah had started with zero frames and didn't give him any chance to use skills at all.
But this time, he had stacked quite a few life-saving skills on himself in advance before rushing over.
"Although I don't know what method you used, I admit it. Your and Augusta's mutual disguise was truly brilliant. Even I was fooled."
"When you appeared, I was genuinely panicked for a moment. However, you absolutely should not have brought the protagonist of the script, Avidius, here."
"Now that the script in reality has reached its final stage, my degree of control has increased by another level. Even you cannot stop me anymore!"
As his words fell, the blood-red script suddenly emitted a blinding radiance, enveloping the nearby Noah and Cristoforo.
In that brief moment, Cristoforo hurriedly turned his head toward Leviathan and spoke:
"I'll hold Noah back. Quickly submerge Septimont!"
The blinding light disappeared. The figures of Cristoforo and Noah vanished.
"Well done, Playwright!"
The illusory Leviathan consciousness in mid-air no longer hesitated. It sped at full force into the unconscious Avidius lying on the ground.
"Ah—"
After an extremely penetrating pained roar, the "Avidius" on the ground opened its eyes.
"Although this is a very weak body, still..."
It slowly rose from the ground. The long spear flew back into its palm once more. Leviathan felt the power in its hand and revealed a twisted smile:
"Having a physical body feels so good!"
"What did you do to Avidius?"
A sharp rebuke came from Lupa opposite it.
At this moment, Lupa stood inside the cyan barrier Noah had set up earlier. Her pair of mechanical ears stood up warily as she tightly gripped the Blazing Flag spear in her hands, on full alert.
To her, everything had happened far too suddenly.
She had been happy after winning the gladiatorial championship and coming to the Vale of Glory, but suddenly she was brought into this mountain interior, and her partner had turned into a monster.
Then Ephor Augusta had suddenly turned into Teacher Phaethon and called Avidius Leviathan. But how could the Threnodian Leviathan come to Septimont?
"Give Avidius back right now!"
"Ignorance, fear... the scent coming from you is truly fascinating!"
Leviathan's figure flashed. It erupted with speed far exceeding what Avidius could display. The long spear in its hand glowed with piercing blue light and stabbed heavily onto the spatial barrier Noah had set up earlier.
Bang!
With one strike, the cyan barrier showed a tiny green-bean-sized crack.
"What a weak body!"
Leviathan roared in anger, but its movements did not slow at all. The spear attacked the exact same spot again and again with precision.
In just a few short seconds, that green-bean-sized crack had expanded to the size of a coin.
A drop of Dark Tide full of madness and depravity overflowed from the tiny gap, falling and irrigating a gray-black tide-eroded coral on the originally flat ground.
The unprecedented threat of life and death forced Lupa to retreat two steps. Her heart pounded wildly at an unprecedented speed.
Her mind went completely blank, with only one thought left.
Teacher Phaethon, where are you?
Help!
On the other side.
"For a script, the protagonist is essential content on every page, while passing NPCs are dispensable."
Cristoforo smiled as he closed the script. His figure remained intangible, the corners of his mouth curving with arrogance:
"I can kindly explain it to you. Suppose the Cartethyia you are looking for is on the first page of the script's past, while the Threnodian Leviathan is on the current second page."
"As for you, you are on the third page of their future! I believe you have the means to escape my script, but the moment you step into Septimont, I will immediately pull you back into the third page."
"Therefore, you cannot change the past or present Septimont. You can only watch helplessly as they die. Open your eyes wide and enjoy the future appearance of Septimont!"
By the end, Cristoforo laughed triumphantly.
Noah looked around at the surrounding environment.
This "future" Septimont had already been washed by the Dark Tide. It no longer had the previous appearance of a passionate and glorious city.
Instead, it was a desolate ruin filled with no signs of life and covered in tide erosion marks.
Under the gray, gloomy sky, the original streets were covered with turbid puddles and silt. Tall statues and pillars were shattered. Everything silently told of the panic when disaster struck.
"Savior, does this appearance of Septimont satisfy you?"
"The real Septimont will not become like this." Noah shook his head slightly, suppressed anger hidden beneath his cold gaze:
"And you, Cristoforo, you have truly lived long enough."
"Hehehe, verbal arguments are useless, Savior. I hope you enjoy this play belonging to Septimont."
Cristoforo sneered. The blood-red script appeared in his hand once again:
"You can vent your anger here in these ruins just like Cartethyia. I am going to the second page of the script to personally witness the destruction of Septimont."
Even if Noah and Cartethyia destroying extra script pages would consume a large amount of his power, it didn't matter. His power was more than enough to support the Threnodian performance in reality until the end.
By the time they finally destroyed all the script pages and returned to reality, they would discover that the real Septimont had already been destroyed.
"You cannot leave."
Hearing Noah say this sentence, Cristoforo finally couldn't hold back and burst into loud laughter.
This was his script. As the creator, he was an omnipotent god within the script. He could leave whenever he wanted—no one could stop him—
Ugh—
Cristoforo was like a duck whose neck had been instantly grabbed. His loud laughter froze. Only hoarse gasps came from his throat.
The reason was none other than that Noah opposite him had actually taken out a script identical to his.
"You... where did you get that script?"
Cristoforo hurriedly sensed the script in Noah's hand. His mind settled, and he laughed mockingly again:
"So what if you have a script? Your script is empty. It is not the Septimont script in my hands. There isn't even a single word in your script. You still cannot change anything."
"I can change it."
Switch character—Encore.
Noah opened the script in his hand. It was still blank with nothing written on it, but that also meant—anything could be written!
Perfect timing + being inside the script + Encore's ability + Cristoforo's script. All favorable factors were present.
A pen appeared in Noah's right hand. He wrote rapidly with his imagination:
[Give me Cristoforo's script.]
Buzz!
In an instant, Cristoforo's script arrived in Noah's hands, and he was forcibly pulled out of his intangible state.
"No—this is impossible! My ability..."
Cristoforo's face showed horror as if he had seen a ghost. He had no time to think and subconsciously tried to activate his Resonance power to recall the script.
However, Noah put his script into his own backpack with a backhand motion. All the Resonance power Cristoforo activated sank like stones into the sea, with no response.
"Now, I am the playwright."
Noah raised his head and smiled slightly at Cristoforo. But to Cristoforo, this smile was no different from the Grim Reaper beckoning.
In just an instant, Cristoforo immediately activated his Resonance power and forcibly exited the script world.
Back in reality, he appeared in a hidden room. He had no time to care about the surrounding Fractsidus artificers, broke through the window, and fled in panic without choosing his path, running with all his might.
His movements were hurried and flustered, stumbling as he ran.
"Hmph—want to run?"
On the other side, Noah waved his hand and wrote:
[Cristoforo, come here!]
Looking at the wretched figure that reappeared before him, a delighted smile finally appeared on Noah's face.
He spoke word by word, his voice full of impatience:
"Haha, you're dead!"
...