"This is my resolve!"
The radiant sapphire-blue arrow pierced through the Chaos. Everything fell silent.
The massive creature lay sprawled on the ground, covered in wounds, not daring to move. Its three bird heads of different sizes lined up neatly along three long necks.
The anchoring arrow tossed up and down in Noah's hand, emitting a faint blue glow that dispelled some of the darkness and illuminated the largest red bird head on the far right.
Noah demanded:
"Do you know who you are facing?"
"I don't know." The big bird head shook vigorously.
"You don't even know this!"
Thud! An anchoring arrow was immediately stabbed into the top of the bird head, making it scream in pain.
"You still dare to scream? No screaming allowed!"
Thud! Another arrow was stabbed in. The big head turned red from the pain but didn't dare make another sound. It gritted its teeth and forced an ugly smile.
Noah paced back and forth while speaking:
"My name is Noah. You can call me the Hero."
As he said this, he suddenly looked at the small blue head on the far left:
"Understood?"
The small head nodded: "Understood. Your name is Noah."
He then looked at the purple middle head:
"What about you?"
The middle head nodded: "You are the Hero."
Finally, he looked at the big red head on the right:
"Do you know what I want to do now?"
The big head shook: "I don't know."
"You still don't know?!"
Another anchoring arrow was stabbed into the top of the big head.
Noah paced to the other side again and kindly explained:
"I want to leave the Chaos now."
He looked at the small blue head: "First, tell me, what kind of existences are you?"
The small head answered cautiously: "We are Echo lifeforms naturally born from the Chaos. Our mission is to watch over the Chaos. I represent the past, the middle one represents the present, and the rightmost one represents the future. Together, we are called Fate."
So they weren't Remnants. Noah felt a slight pity.
He hadn't expected the Chaos to have nurtured its own Echo lifeform. By chance, he had triggered a hidden plot that even Rover hadn't triggered.
Reasonable!
He looked at the purple middle head: "You represent the present, right? Let me ask you, why did you attack me just now?"
The middle head replied neither humbly nor arrogantly: "The Chaos contains all uncertainties. Anchoring power causes uncertain frequencies to collapse into certainty. We sensed the Chaos was being harmed, so we came to investigate."
Hearing this, Noah's expression turned unpleasant as he looked at the final big red head:
"Since you came to investigate, why did you attack? Let me ask you, who was the one shouting to kill me from far away just now?"
The big head stammered, not daring to speak.
Thud! The fourth arrow was stabbed into the top of the big head. Noah glared:
"Speak!"
"I… I don't know."
"You don't know this, you don't know that?!"
Thud! The fifth arrow.
The big head looked like it was about to cry.
As Echo lifeforms naturally born in the Chaos, each controlled the frequencies of the past, present, and future. Their strength was naturally extraordinary.
Although they could not leave the Chaos, they possessed Calamity-class strength and could easily turn their bodies intangible to enter an invincible state.
Within the Chaos, they were practically omnipotent.
Unfortunately, the person before them happened to have the ability to anchor them and the strength to defeat them.
In front of this Hero, their full power was like cosplaying as a speed bump on a highway, nearly wrecking the big truck.
"Next, I want to ask…"
"Boss!"
Seeing Noah's gaze turn toward the small blue head again, the big red head ignored the pain and hurriedly called out to him, eyes full of pleading:
"Can we start asking from my head?"
It had figured out the pattern. The first question was always the easiest, the second was normal difficulty, and the third was the hardest.
"Sure."
Noah had no objections and went straight to the point:
"Can you send me out?"
Upon hearing this, the big head instantly froze.
Wait, why did the rules suddenly change?
"This… The Chaos doesn't have traditional exits or entrances…"
"So you can't, right?!"
Seeing the sixth arrow about to fall, the big head cried out desperately:
"Yes! We can do it! You'll be satisfied!"
Sometimes, without being pushed, one never knows their own potential.
...
A deathly silence.
In the desolate darkness, Iuno did not know how long she had been wandering alone here. She only knew it was so cold that she shivered and so quiet that she felt like breaking down.
There was nothing. She could find nothing.
"Noah… Noah…"
She hugged herself tightly, repeatedly murmuring the name as her heart gradually sank into despair.
The last remaining anchoring power grew weaker and weaker. This Chaos was absorbing her existence.
With every extra step, another portion of her existence's traces was taken by the Chaos, and her past memories blurred a little more.
Feeling that more than half of her anchoring Resonance power had already flowed away, this usually proud genius Priestess felt fear once again and couldn't help wanting to retreat.
"If I leave now, I can still go back…"
"No!"
"If I give up here, all my previous efforts will be wasted."
With that thought, Iuno clenched her teeth through the trembling and recalled that Noah was still in this Chaos.
He must be feeling so helpless alone in this Chaos.
Thinking of this, determination rose in her heart again. Carrying confusion and unease, she continued walking through this dark world.
"Noah… Don't be afraid… I'll find you soon… very soon…"
She spoke to herself, trying to give herself more courage:
"You great hero, weren't you so impressive? Now… don't you still need me to save you…"
...
"Why does the Hero's past only go back three months? Is he someone from our side of the world?"
"No wonder even after the Chaos absorbed his existence, he still possesses a physical body. His physical body already existed before coming to this world."
"I can't see his future, otherwise I would definitely trip him up a bit. Never mind, never mind, you two hurry up. I feel like he's about to hit me again soon."
After a considerable amount of preparation, the three bird heads finally reported their progress to Noah.
Small head: "I have collected all of your past and organized it onto your anchoring arrows."
Small head: "Follow the direction guided by the arrows. Your past will be gradually anchored, and your existence will return to reality. That is to say, everything in reality will remember you again."
Noah: "I almost thought my contribution was going to be cleared to zero."
Middle head: "Once your past is fully anchored, you will automatically leave the Chaos and return to reality."
Middle head: "Please note that during the anchoring process, you may experience hallucinations of events that once happened in reality related to you. This is normal, so don't mind it."
Noah: "Understood."
Big head: "..."
Noah: "Speak!"
Big head: "We respectfully send off the Boss. Welcome back anytime."
Noah: "If you dare drag me into the Chaos again, I'll twist your skull off."
With a grand wave of his hand, he pulled out the five arrows from the big red head. Noah switched to Shorekeeper, left a teleport anchor point, and turned to leave.
The three heads spoke in unison:
"Goodbye, Boss!"
Noah waved his hand behind his back, looking very carefree:
"Farewell forever."
Only after seeing Noah finally leave did they finally dare to whisper among themselves.
The small head sighed: "What a monster. You can't find a second one like him in the entire past of the Chaos."
The middle head lamented: "You can't find a second one like him in the entire present of the Chaos either."
The big head said angrily: "If the future lets me see him again, I'll make sure he gets what's coming!"
Sensing a familiar frequency suddenly appear, the big head instantly changed from anger to respect:
"Boss, welcome back!"
Noah, who had teleported back through the anchor point, nodded and pointed behind him:
"I walked in the direction of the arrow, but there's a mountain blocking my path. How should I solve this situation?"
"What! How outrageous!"
The big head cried out in shared indignation:
"There's actually a mountain in this Chaos that dares to block your path?"
With that, it turned its head, bit off a feather, and handed it to Noah:
"Boss, this is called the Feather of the Future (Decree). With it, everything in the Chaos will help you."
"Good boy~"
After receiving the feather, Noah walked away satisfied.
In place, the three bird heads looked at each other. No, to be precise, the small head and middle head stared at the big head as if meeting it for the first time.
Small head said disdainfully: "A fence-sitter, always trimming your sails to the wind."
Middle head sneered: "A chameleon, changing colors with the situation."
The big head argued anxiously:
"What do you know? The future has always been changeable."
On the other side.
Looking at the pitch-black towering mountain blocking his way, Noah took out the Feather of the Future he had just obtained and pointed it at the mountain.
The mountain stood motionless.
"That bird head probably wouldn't dare trick me. Do I need to issue some kind of command to activate the feather's effect?"
Noah frowned slightly and tested by speaking toward the mountain:
"Split open by yourself?"
Rumble——
The mountains parted ways.
Then endless seawater surged in, flooding the newly opened path ahead. Noah thought for a moment and tested again by speaking to the sea:
"Stop flowing."
Splash——
The seas split open.
"Hey!"
Noah's eyes lit up as he looked at the feather in his hand:
"What a good item!"