"Hiss~ Ha~ Hiss~ Haa..."
Cristoforo was drenched in cold sweat, collapsed on the ground without any dignity, gasping desperately for air. The terror of standing at death's door still lingered in his eyes.
He had truly and vividly felt the scorching white light sprayed toward him by the phantom of the Sentinel. He had nearly died under that attack.
At the instant that terrifying power arrived, he had been modulated into a frequency and, following the Red Spider Lily Phrolova had given him earlier, was instantly transmitted to her side — thus narrowly escaping death.
"No need to panic anymore. We're already quite far from the harbor."
Phrolova sat gracefully in her chair, casting a disdainful glance at Cristoforo. She casually picked up the copper pot on the table and poured herself a cup of hot tea:
"You should have asked me for help the very moment you saw him."
"Are you kidding me?!"
Cristoforo couldn't help but get worked up again:
"Why didn't you tell me earlier that Noah was this strong?!"
"I did tell you. You simply didn't believe me."
Phrolova's gaze shifted from her Red Spider Lily cane to Cristoforo's dramatically swollen cheeks. A rare, faint curve appeared at the corner of her lips:
"Heh, playwright, is this pathetic state of yours also part of your script?"
Hearing the mockery, Cristoforo's expression changed several times. He suddenly sucked in a sharp breath, covered his face, and felt the burning pain there.
After a long while of recovering, he finally stretched a hand toward Phrolova:
"That Red Spider Lily with the spatial transmission ability — do you have any more? Give me several."
"Gone. Just the one. You already used it."
Phrolova spread her hands and tilted her head slightly, her gaze drifting sideways:
"After all… Scar is already dead."
"He's really dead?"
Though it was phrased as a question, Cristoforo spoke it in the tone of a statement almost instinctively.
He had to admit, he was starting to believe this fact.
While Scar indeed possessed spatial transmission ability, Noah also had time-stop ability.
There are still differences between abilities.
"Now, are you still confident that you can trap him inside your script and torment him over and over?"
Hearing Phrolova's question, Cristoforo's face darkened. After serious contemplation, he answered with firm resolution:
"Of course! I admit his ability is indeed freakishly powerful — he can stop time on you, on me, even on various Calamity-class existences.
"But that kind of ability definitely has an upper limit. I once learned from the Court of Savantae's research that everything in Solaris is composed of frequencies. Even time-stop is merely a marvelous application of frequency.
"In front of existences that possess truly powerful frequencies, even the power of time cannot restrict Them. And once the time-stop process is interrupted, the backlash is so severe that even the Sentinel — Imperator — would struggle to withstand it."
Phrolova rolled her eyes at Cristoforo, cutting off his excited speech:
"I'm not interested in these theories. Whatever you want to do is your own business. Just don't forget our original purpose."
"Find that missing saintess and confirm the existence of a true Threnodian Resonator. Don't worry — that is also part of my script."
Cristoforo straightened his tilted hat brim, regaining his former calm and unruffled demeanor. Beneath the shadow of the brim, his expression gradually turned sinister:
"Originally this was the most important matter. Now it has been demoted to second place.
"That Noah… I will make him in this script beg for life and be unable to obtain it! Beg for death and be unable to achieve it!
"He must pay the price for his barbaric behavior!"
No matter how strong that person was, he could never be a match for a Threnodian Leviathan.
...
"Damn it, I actually failed to kill Cristoforo."
Noah furrowed his brows tightly, completely unable to figure out how Cristoforo had escaped with just a single cry for help.
However, as long as people from Fractsidus were still in Rinascita, there would always come a time when he found them.
Worst case, he could just camp outside the Cathedral of Mercury. In the game plot, Cristoforo and Phrolova frequently visited the Order's head, Fenrico.
With that thought, Noah stopped dwelling on it and used the power of time-sequence to restore the ravaged and cracked harbor.
The city-wide time-stop across all of Ragunna was lifted. He walked together with the hurried passersby toward the city gate of Ragunna.
Under the dusk, everything was peaceful and serene. Even the nearby pedestrians enjoying their food hadn't noticed that a red-clothed man who had originally been wearing a mask was now missing.
"Out-of-town traveler, please submit to inspection first."
"Alright."
At the city entrance, the cleric pointed at the terminal hanging from Noah's waist and spoke politely:
"This is a private terminal from Huanglong. Apologies — private terminals that have not been declared are not permitted inside Rinascita. During your stay, please hand it over to us for temporary safekeeping."
Rinascita was an archipelago nation ruled by the Order of the Deep and faith. Information here did not circulate with other nations.
The Pangu Terminal that Yangyang had given Noah also could not receive any signals from Jinzhou here.
Perhaps this was the real reason Yangyang became the mysterious letter-writing girl in the game.
Because international calls and texts were impossible, the only way to communicate between the two places was by letter.
"Please wait a moment."
At the Ragunna city entrance, Noah had absolutely no intention of handing over his terminal.
He switched his active character to Jinhsi. The Tacet Mark on her back was hidden by the white casual clothes. He used the power of time-sequence to rewind this area by one minute.
Hurried travelers walked backward.
Customers tasting delicacies produced food.
The passerby in the restroom… ahem, better not mention that.
Noah put the Pangu Terminal Yangyang had given him back into his bag and walked toward the city entrance once more.
"Out-of-town traveler, please submit to inspection first."
"Alright."
The same familiar dialogue. The cleric in white monastic robes circled Noah once, looking somewhat incredulous:
"You don't have a terminal?"
"Nope."
The cleric let out a light scoff. After confirming Noah had no Tacet Mark either, his expression instantly turned cold. He raised his head high, voice carrying a hint of contempt:
"You may enter."
"Wait — I heard that Rinascita provides public terminals, and they come with an Echo that allows one to soar. How many Shell Credits are they?"
"There's no such thing. Soaring is prohibited in the city, and we don't sell terminals here."
The cleric denied it repeatedly. Noah didn't press further and could only leave.
He hadn't walked far when his exceptional hearing caught the two clerics whispering behind him.
"Public terminals are just mass-produced cheap goods anyway. Why not follow the rules and give him one?"
"Give him one for what? Some stinking outsider taking advantage of the lifted sea ban during Carnevale to come to Ragunna and beg for food."
Noah: ...666!
Once upon a time, when he had first crossed over with nothing and arrived in the fallen Jinzhou, Yangyang and Chixia had seen he was just an ordinary person. Not only did they receive him kindly and arrange temporary lodging, they even gave him a terminal.
Now, arriving in the prosperous Rinascita with millions of Shell Credits and formidable strength, he was actually being called a stinking outsider.
The contrast was so absurd that it actually made Noah laugh.
First day in Rinascita.
First day missing Jinzhou.
He wasn't about to get angry at two ordinary people. He shook his head and tossed the unpleasantness aside.
After spending most of the day on the flower boat Echo, it was already evening. The distant setting sun slowly descended, casting a warm yellow glow that added a soft filter over all of Ragunna.
"I need to find a way to get soaring ability. I've wanted to fly since back in Jinzhou… It would be great if I could just ask someone."
Walking into Liberty Plaza, various kinds of puppet Echoes were everywhere: Hocus Pocus, Lottie Lost, Diggy Duggy, giant puppets, and so on.
Noah stopped in front of the fountain at the center of the plaza and gazed for a moment at the pure white stone pillar in the middle, where a horse-headed, fish-tailed statue was carved. He secretly clicked his tongue:
"A fusion of the Sentinel Imperator and a Threnodian Leviathan—"
"Holy crap, what a majestic fin!"
As if suddenly remembering some celebrity group from his old Blue Star days, he couldn't help but smile knowingly.
"Hello."
A gentle greeting came from beside his ear. Noah turned his head and saw a young female cleric with cascading golden hair and fair skin tinted with a rosy hue approaching slowly.
The girl's still-childlike round face carried a serious expression:
"In Rinascita, the Sentinel is a faith that cannot be defiled. Please do not speak of the Sentinel and Threnodians in the same breath."
[Main Quest: Through the Sea Thou Break has been completed.]
[Current rewards: Radiant Tide ×20, Lustrous Tide ×10, Astrite ×4040, Shell Credits ×6.49 million]
[Main Quest: The Sacred Breeze So Often Breathes has been activated.]