"So in other words, you and your crew were originally breaking out of prison. While everyone was off the ship, the Hundred-Ton King got ambushed by the Order of the Deep and had no choice but to abandon you all and flee for its life alone."
After listening to Brant's explanation, Noah couldn't help rubbing the back of his head.
According to the game's setting, the Troupe of Fools always robbed the rich to help the poor, distributing resources plundered from the Order and wealthy families like the Fisalia to the destitute.
That was also why, in Brant's character PV, it was mentioned that for a period of time his wanted posters had covered every street and alley of Ragunna City.
But after Brant deliberately got himself caught several times, then escaped again to collect massive bounties, the city authorities eventually had no choice but to stop issuing new posters.
By the time the main story's Rover arrived in Ragunna, Brant had long since ceased being a wanted man.
So… what exact point on the timeline was this?
"I'd like to ask — how many days until Carnevale?"
"Twenty days."
"..."
Noah pressed a palm to his forehead.
Seemed like he arrived quite a bit early.
Still, twenty days wasn't actually that long. He had just been hoping to speedrun things.
Whatever. Take it one step at a time.
"Hey friend, look over there — that's Ragunna's Dawnlight Beacon."
Following Brant's gesture, Noah turned his head. Under the glow of dusk, an opulent waterborne city-state appeared before his eyes.
The double-tiered Gothic-style Cathedral of Mercury stood far in the distance, its spires piercing the clouds. Baroque plazas and building complexes spread out in orderly rows like fish scales.
At the very center of the city rose a slender, fish-tail-shaped central beacon.
Even from far away, countless figures could be seen: people wearing white clerical robes, as well as Echoes of the Glorious Festival Envoys holding broadswords and Revered Festival Envoys.
He immediately recalled the background setting of Rinascita.
This was an archipelago ruled by faith and the Order — a nation of Echoes that possessed the most advanced Echo technology in all of Solaris.
"Alright, the transfer pier for Ragunna is just up ahead. Because I'm wanted, Ragunna has recently implemented a 'no exit' policy for people like me, so I won't be going in."
"But fortunately there's a gondola here that can take you into the city. Oh right — if you haven't pre-registered, outsiders entering Ragunna have to surrender their personal terminal."
"The Order will provide you with a public Ragunna terminal instead. It comes pre-loaded with an Echo ability that lets the user soar through the air."
Because Noah had voluntarily returned the flower boat, Brant's favorability toward him was extremely high. All along the way he had been enthusiastically introducing things:
"If you get the chance, you absolutely must try the Honeydew Fruit Wine. It's praised as 'the droplet of the gods'. Just one drop and you can meet the Sentinel in your dreams."
"Haha, I think I'll pass. I'm not much of a drinker."
After a brief exchange, Noah boarded the gondola and waved goodbye to Brant and the flower boat Echo.
Meanwhile, on the other side — at the harbor.
"The pilgrims board the ship of pilgrimage. On the boundless ocean they have no direction, no food, only drifting with the waves."
"They endure untold suffering before finally reaching the promised land of the Sentinel… only to find that what awaits them is not the Sentinel, but a dragon that devours life…"
Watching the Order send another group of "fools" onto a pilgrimage vessel, Cristoforo muttered to himself, then shook his head as if dissatisfied with the story.
"This script is still too ordinary. It needs more dramatic rises and falls… ideally we should add a character called 'the Righteous One'…"
Suddenly he fished a vibrating Red Spider Lily from his robes. An amused expression appeared on his face.
"Phrolova, I can hardly believe you would contact me on your own initiative. And why aren't you using the terminal of our Fractsidus?"
"Just checking whether you're dead yet."
Even through the Red Spider Lily, Cristoforo could practically see the girl's deadpan expression. He couldn't help but chuckle lightly.
"Heh, before the script I've painstakingly crafted can play out, how could I bear to die?"
"The anchor point is already prepared. I'm currently selecting a pitiful protagonist for this script."
"The protagonist can be an aristocratic young lady… or a wandering poet… it doesn't matter. Anyone will do. The ending is the same regardless."
Phrolova cut off Cristoforo's self-intoxicated monologue and spoke coldly:
"The Red Spider Lily I gave you contains the spatial transmission ability left behind by Scar before he died. At a critical moment, ask me for help. I can briefly turn you into a segment of frequency."
"What does that mean?"
Cristoforo frowned. The Red Spider Lily, however, went silent and gave him no reply.
"Paranoid, eccentric, gloomy woman."
He snorted coldly and once again turned his gaze toward the vast sea.
Figures kept disembarking from the gondolas at the pier, then walking toward the city gate of Ragunna.
These pitiful people still had no idea that they were about to become part of the body of a Threnodian Leviathan.
But… for these ordinary, weak ants, perhaps this was actually an honor?
Thinking this, a smile once again appeared on Cristoforo's face. A blood-red script materialized in the palm of his hand.
Next he needed to pick an unlucky bastard to serve as the protagonist of the script he had so painstakingly constructed. Who should he choose?
His eyes wandered through the crowd, then suddenly locked onto a young man wearing casual white clothes.
The youth had tousled bangs hanging over his forehead, clear amber pupils, a vigorous and youthful aura, yet also the gentle warmth of the nice older brother next door.
Most importantly — he recognized this person.
Wasn't this exactly the guy Phrolova had been praising to the high heavens — Noah?
"Interesting."
Cristoforo's brow arched slightly. He felt he had found an absolutely perfect protagonist for his script.
The so-called hero who saved Jinzhou had actually voluntarily stepped out of his comfortable safe zone and come all the way to Rinascita.
As if sensing his gaze, the young man turned his head. After their eyes met, a smile suddenly appeared on his face and he began walking slowly toward Cristoforo.
Oh? Instead of running away, he's walking straight toward me?
And he's even smiling at me? How very elegant!
Cristoforo subconsciously touched the mask on his face, feeling reassured. The script in his hand flipped open automatically without wind, turning to the very first page before dissolving into nothingness.
Watching Noah draw closer and closer, he removed the wide hat from his head, placed it over his chest, and gave a slight, courteous bow.
"Hello, guest from afar. My name is…"
Bzzz——
At that instant, time around them suddenly froze — except for a small circular area between the two of them that remained unaffected.
Cristoforo's heart pounded wildly. An unprecedented threat of death made his whole body go rigid, unable to move.
"No need to introduce yourself. I know who you are — Fractsidus Overseer, Cristoforo."
Before Cristoforo could even raise his head, a slender hand passed through his lowered field of vision and seized his throat with terrifying ease.
The hand suddenly tightened. His entire body was lifted into the air, breathing becoming extremely difficult.
"You're the most beastly member of the entire Fractsidus. I can't believe I ran into you this easily. What a pleasant surprise."
Noah smiled very brightly. Dragon horns slowly grew from his head. The phantom of the Sentinel drifted beside him. White light gathered ominously in its mouth.
He had never liked using time-stop and time-sequence abilities against enemies — it always felt too unfair.
But when the opponent was a Fractsidus Overseer…
Going all out was simply a matter of course.
"The flow of time around us has already been stopped by me. You're not going anywhere. Any last words?"
Feeling Noah's extremely dense Resonance energy and the frozen time surrounding them, Cristoforo finally understood —
Phrolova… hadn't been lying to him. Noah really was terrifyingly strong!
But realizing it now was far too late.
Cold sweat streamed down Cristoforo's forehead. He struggled to squeeze out an ugly smile:
"My lord, you've mistaken me for someone else."
The moment the words left his mouth, Cristoforo smashed his noble face viciously into Noah's other idle palm, producing a crisp, resounding smack.
The mask on his face shattered into pieces. His charming cheeks swelled dramatically. The hat he loved so much fell to the ground.
"Say that again. I dare you."
"Hiss… alright, fine, I really am Cristoforo, Overseer of Fractsidus. But I haven't done anything yet—"
Slap!
Cristoforo used his other cheek to attack Noah's palm once more. Now both sides of his face were symmetrically red and swollen.
"Yes, you indeed haven't done anything… yet. But I'm not going to wait until you commit your atrocities before catching you. We believe in prevention!"
Noah shook his slightly reddened left hand, his voice thick with killing intent:
"Your last words — I'll be sure to pass them on to Fractsidus. No need to thank me."
Cristoforo's mind buzzed.
Last words? What last words?
He only knew he had eaten two slaps. He hadn't had time to say anything at all.
Noah released the right hand that had been choking Cristoforo's throat. Invisible time currents locked the latter's body in place.
Noah solemnly formed hand seals:
"Purge — of — Light!"
An extremely terrifying power surged forth from the phantom of the Sentinel beside him. Overwhelming energy rushed forward without mercy.
This strike — he intended to obliterate Cristoforo until not even dust remained.
At the very last moment, all pretense of aristocratic grace vanished from Cristoforo. His voice distorted from extreme terror, becoming a hoarse, broken bellow:
"Phrolova! Save me!"