[Hazardous Mission: Flames from the Abyss has been activated.]
Septimont, Mournfell Canyon.
Hazardous Mission "Flames from the Abyss" was the mission Noah hated the most when he first started doing dailies. He had an especially deep impression of it.
The plot of "Flames from the Abyss" told the story of a gladiator father and daughter in Septimont's past.
The father, who was the previous champion, trained his even more outstanding gladiator daughter with a harsh attitude. However, the condition for the daughter to obtain the championship was to kill her own father.
In the final match, amid the carnival cheers of countless vile nobles, the daughter did not kill her father. Instead, she chose to forfeit. The father viewed this as a shame for both of them.
He brought his daughter to Mournfell Canyon, which had been ravaged by the Black Tide, intending to wash away his daughter's shame by hunting undying beings.
But in reality, the father had already been eroded by the Black Tide and had become one of those so-called undying beings. Upon discovering this, the father and daughter were still forced toward a fate of killing each other.
Even so, facing her father who had turned into a Remnant, the daughter still could not bear to strike him. On the verge of death, she sought help from Phrolova.
In the end, Phrolova used the daughter's frequency as a lock to trap the father inside a hall, waiting for a true hero to bring salvation to the two of them.
Of course, besides the father, daughter, and Phrolova, there was also one despicable noble who desperately wanted to watch the father and daughter cross swords.
The main reason Noah disliked this Hazardous Mission was because the mission required fighting two Remnants at the same time — the ones the father and the despicable noble had turned into.
One Kerasaur and one Apostle's Remnant. Their attack frequency was terrifyingly high, with both damage and control. Their damage was also ridiculously high.
And the account Noah used at the time was mostly a newbie account with no levels, no damage, and no proper characters. It was extremely painful to play.
Switch — Shorekeeper.
"Cosmic Tuning!"
A blue Terminal Loop domain instantly unfolded, completely covering a small half of Mournfell Canyon.
Switch — Jinhsi.
"Celestial Court Radiance!"
Accompanied by a massive boom, the sealed door was brutally smashed open. Even the Kerasaur inside the sealed hall was killed in a single strike.
The only good thing about this Hazardous Mission was that none of the main plot characters were alive. Noah could directly skip the plot.
Without the slightest pause, Noah strode into the hall with large steps, jumped into the deep secret passage, and felt extremely excited.
He had sensed the frequency left behind by Phrolova's Resonance ability. Phrolova was very likely here.
Phrolova's ability meant she couldn't be killed, but she could definitely be captured and put on a sewing machine.
And her banner — he would pull it hard and explode it!
Thinking about it, Noah ran faster and faster. He didn't even bother killing the few Remnants that appeared in the secret passage.
At the end of the path, a river appeared before him. Noah leaped onto Gondola in the river in one step:
"Set off. Hurry."
Gondola didn't move.
"If you don't set off, I'll feed you honey cakes — the sour ones!"
Gondola shot forward like lightning.
At the end of the river, several oil lamps illuminated the dark waterway, but they still could not dispel the cold loneliness of the place.
Noah picked up a few hardened overnight honey cakes from the ground, activated his Time authority, and rewound them by only a dozen hours. The honey cakes in his hand regained their warmth.
Seeing this, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.
"If I had known, I should have come here yesterday as soon as possible. I wouldn't have let Phrolova escape for nothing."
As he spoke, he deactivated his Time authority. A mixed sweet, sour, and greasy smell immediately invaded his nostrils brutally, causing Noah's expression to change repeatedly.
He quickly threw the honey cakes away. Gondola thought it was food and swallowed them in one bite. The familiar taste made it roll around excitedly.
[Hazardous Mission: Flames from the Abyss has been completed.]
[Current possessions: Radiant Tide0, Lustrous Tide15, Astrite3880, Shell Credit8.66 million.]
...
"As your team manager, I hope you can cooperate well with each other and not underestimate the enemy."
In a simply decorated room, Cartur pointed at the screen and spoke to Lupa and Avidius in front of him:
"The next broadcast is the team with the highest chance of winning the championship besides you — the Beast Heart Team. Watch carefully how they fight."
After he finished speaking, Lupa and Avidius nodded seriously. The corresponding scene was synchronously broadcast on the screen.
"Next up is the Beast Heart Team versus the Laureate Team."
The host announced enthusiastically:
"Everyone is familiar with the Beast Heart Team, so I won't say much here."
"As for this Laureate Team, it is a brand new team that only registered this morning. They are two beautiful and lovely ladies from Ragunna."
"Clearly, this is a matchup between beauty and beast!"
In the arena, the two slender girls formed a sharp contrast with the two burly, muscular men opposite them.
The crowd in the stands burst into laughter and shouted excitedly:
"Beast Heart! Beast Heart!"
The next second, the two burly men released their Echoes — two even larger Kerasaur.
Outside the screen, Lupa spoke with dissatisfaction:
"Hey, did some noble mess with the matchup order? No matter how you look at it, these are two girls with no strength to tie up a chicken. How can they be matched against the Beast Heart Team?"
Avidius beside her nodded in agreement:
"No matter what, this is indeed too unfair —"
His words suddenly got stuck in his throat and he couldn't speak for a long time.
On the screen, Cartethyia had released her Echo.
A massive, ferocious-looking dragon immediately appeared in the arena.
The Dragon of Dirge opened its bloody maw and let out a deafening dragon roar. The sound waves surged like a tsunami.
The entire arena fell silent for a moment, then erupted like cold water poured into boiling oil.
"I've never seen this dragon before!"
"It's so huge. Is it Overlord class?!"
"I thought Kerasaur were already unmatched. Where did this Echo come from? It's so majestic!"
"Laureate Team!"
Someone in the stands shouted, and everyone immediately switched sides, shouting in unison:
"Laureate Team! Laureate Team!"
What changed wasn't just the chants. People who were originally wearing Beast Heart support clothes took them off. Those waving Beast Heart support flags took out pens to change the names on their flags.
In an instant, everyone was kicking the falling wall.
"The knight's opponent has appeared!"
Cartethyia swung her Unyielding Crown of Destiny in a beautiful sword flourish and looked toward the gladiators directly ahead.
Opposite her, the burly man swallowed hard and finally raised his spear into a defensive stance. What responded to him was the fierce gaze of the Dragon of Dirge, as if saying —
Try touching her and see what happens.
Outside the screen.
Lupa and Avidius stared blankly, watching as the Dragon of Dirge pressed down on one Kerasaur with a claw and casually sent the two members of the Beast Heart Team flying with a divine dragon tail sweep.
"I haven't even made a move yet. Bad dragon, bad!" The final scene on the screen was Cartethyia patting the Dragon of Dirge's leg with the flat of her sword.
"This dragon…" Avidius finally spoke after a while. "Won't be easy to deal with…"
"Yeah." Lupa tried to boost morale. "But as long as we can deal with this dragon, there definitely won't be any problem."
No problem my ass!
Team manager Cartur clutched his hair, his thoughts spinning rapidly.
No, he absolutely could not let Cartethyia ruin the script he had prepared. He needed to find a way to bypass Noah and capture Cartethyia.
"Eh, Avidius, where are you going?" Lupa's sudden voice interrupted Cartur's thoughts.
"To the training room." Avidius left these words behind and walked away without looking back.
The moment he opened the door, a figure wearing white casual clothes was standing outside.
Avidius glanced at him and felt he looked somewhat familiar, but didn't think much of it and left.
Paying slight attention to Avidius's departing back, Noah shook his head slightly and then looked into the room.
First glance — he saw Lupa.
Second glance — he saw the team manager Cartur.
In an instant, his eyes lit up!
"Dog Cristoforo!"
Time authority unfolded. Golden waves almost instantly froze the entire urban area of Septimont.
After returning from Mournfell Canyon, Noah had asked Augusta for Lupa's location, intending to contact her. He didn't expect to find an unexpected surprise.
In the original Wuthering Waves plot, it was never explicitly stated, but various detail-oriented fans had deduced from all kinds of hints that this team manager was Cristoforo.
Even if it was just a guess, Noah was prepared to put it into practice.
With a flash, Noah appeared in front of Cartur. He gathered power in his right arm and threw a heavy punch.
The sensation from the fist was light and empty.
When he looked again, there was no Cartur in the original spot — only a torn half-piece of paper remained. Neat handwriting contained simple character notes for the playwright.
[Cartur: Avidius's team manager.]
[Role: Appropriately guide Avidius, appropriately pressure Avidius, until he obtains the championship…]
"So this manager was created like Avidius and isn't Cristoforo himself."
After pondering the content on the half-piece of paper for a moment, Noah fell into thought:
"It seems Cristoforo's goal this time is to let Avidius claim the championship."
"No, it could also be a lie he fabricated to trick me."