"Phrolova, I can confirm it—the ones who were just battling on the horizon were definitely the Threnodian Leviathan and Noah."
In an open area near the astronomical telescope, Cristoforo spoke excitedly:
"Hurry and use your ability to check the place where they fell. I urgently need to know who ultimately won."
"Don't rush me—I'm working on it."
Phrolova rolled her eyes at Cristoforo and swung her baton heavily. A Red Spider Lily petal swiftly flew off into the distance.
...
Near Whisperwind Haven, close to Egla Town.
Under a massive banyan tree, Noah switched to Verina. Healing-type resonance energy poured madly into Cartethyia's body as if it cost nothing.
However, even though the external wounds on this body were rapidly healing, it could not change the fact that the consciousness representing Fleurdelys within was quickly fading.
Fleurdelys's consciousness had long been on the verge of dissipation after ten years of relentless erosion by the Threnodian Leviathan—something that treating external injuries could not alleviate.
"Cantarella! Cantarella! Hurry over here!"
Noah shouted anxiously, his voice carrying far.
Soon, within his perception range, Cantarella finally appeared, rushing over while carrying the sleeping Cartethyia on her back.
Only then did Noah breathe a sigh of relief. While waiting for Cantarella to approach, he opened Cartethyia's banner.
[Currently possess Radiant Tide *20, Astrite *80040.]
Draw! Draw! He already had the separation authority; now he urgently needed the Fusion authority to save Cartethyia.
Ten-pull!
Before the panel could even display the blue waves, Noah hurriedly skipped past it.
In the next instant, golden light immediately covered the entire screen.
[Successfully obtained—Cartethyia!]
[Successfully obtained—Cartethyia (Waveband converted)!]
[Successfully obtained—Cartethyia (Waveband converted)!]
[When including the character "Cartethyia" in the team for the first time, you will receive her resonance abilities and combat experience.]
10 pulls, 3 golds, not a single off-banner.
Even Noah, who had seen all kinds of big scenes, couldn't help but suck in a cold breath.
But he didn't pause and continued frantically tapping the panel.
Two-chain Cartethyia wouldn't satisfy him—he wanted six-chain.
80 pulls: gold, obtained Rover (Havoc).
10 pulls: gold, obtained Cartethyia.
50 pulls: double gold, obtained Cartethyia and Rover (Havoc).
70 pulls: gold, obtained Cartethyia.
30 pulls: gold, obtained Cartethyia.
Adding the 50 pulls spent earlier on her signature weapon, fully maxing six-chain plus one Cartethyia cost him a total of 300 pulls.
"Noah, are you okay?!"
After finishing the pulls, Cantarella finally arrived late, carrying the soundly sleeping Cartethyia on her back.
Seeing another Cartethyia lying beside Noah, Cantarella's eyes widened slightly. She couldn't help but ask:
"This one is..."
"Cartethyia's body."
"Then Leviath..."
"I already killed it."
"This is really..."
"Yes, it's real."
Completely disregarding how excited and joyful Cantarella felt inside at this moment, Noah took the Cartethyia from her back:
"We'll talk details later—time is urgent. Don't interrupt me for now."
Switch character—Cartethyia.
[Importing "Cartethyia" resonance abilities and combat experience. Estimated completion: 10 seconds...]
The ten seconds passed swiftly. The Fusion authority from the Threnodian was skillfully mastered by Noah.
The commotion earlier—when he held Cartethyia's body and streaked across the sky—had been enormous. Nearly half of Rinascita could see it.
To prevent interruptions, Noah deployed a spatial barrier. The cyan barrier rapidly spread outward from him, instantly covering a 200-meter radius around them.
Activating the Fusion authority, he carefully brought Cartethyia's consciousness frequency body into contact with the increasingly faint-breathing soft physical body.
The two perfect, divinely crafted identical girls gradually fused into one under his actions.
Yet when Noah released his perception, his brows immediately furrowed tightly.
Cartethyia's consciousness and body frequencies were now only superficially fused. Internally, many places were not perfectly connected.
If Cartethyia's internal state were likened to a jigsaw puzzle, many key pieces were missing at critical nodes, preventing the patterns from fully fitting together.
Such gaps could not be filled by the Fusion authority alone.
In the original plot, Imperator sacrificed its final frequency as the link between Cartethyia's body and consciousness, allowing her to successfully win the revival match.
"...Noah, how is Cartethyia now?"
Cartethyia's breathing grew weaker, her face increasingly pale, yet Noah remained motionless for a long time.
Cantarella couldn't help stepping forward to ask, her face full of worry:
"Can... can she be saved?"
"Yes, but we need to wait a bit." Noah frowned.
"How long?"
"Three."
Confusion appeared on Cantarella's face:
"Three days?"
"Two."
Noah counted down the final number:
"One."
[Character "Encore" ban period has ended and can now be used normally.]
Switch character—Encore!
Under Cantarella's puzzled gaze, Noah closed his eyes and, through precise perception, reached out to touch the spots inside Cartethyia where frequency connections were missing.
In his mind, only one thought remained, frantically suggesting to himself—
This part is complete! This part is complete! This part is complete!
I think it's complete, so it is complete!
In the next instant, a frequency sprouted like new branches at the lacking connection points, perfectly linking the frequencies before and after—as natural and seamless as an antelope hanging its horns, utterly unquestionable.
Encore's fantasy manifestation ability once again displayed its inconceivable power.
He reached for the next spot, then the one after that, and the one after that—sparing no area.
Watching Noah's actions, Cantarella's eyes widened. She covered her mouth in disbelief.
Was this something he could do right in front of her?
From afar, Phrolova—who was peeping through a Red Spider Lily petal across a great distance—spat:
"Pervert."
Cristoforo asked in confusion:
"What pervert?"
"What did you see?"
"I'm dying here—tell me already!"
Phrolova shot him a knife-like glare and didn't answer:
"Not a single one of you men is any good."
As soon as she finished speaking, her expression subtly changed, and she added:
"Except him."
Cristoforo: "Huh?"
Under the massive banyan tree.
The originally pale face of Cartethyia gradually regained color. Her breathing became more even. Her whole body seemed to fully regain vitality, no longer appearing on the verge of death as before.
Seeing this, Cantarella finally realized she had misunderstood Noah's actions. She inwardly scolded herself for thinking crookedly.
Finally, Noah opened his eyes and slowly stood up. Looking at Cartethyia's utterly peaceful sleeping face, he let out a long breath.
Even without Imperator as the link, he had still successfully saved Cartethyia.
So, next—
Noah turned his back to Cartethyia. His gaze swept over the surrounding vegetation before he suddenly spoke:
"Come out and talk with me."
As his words fell, Phrolova's body involuntarily trembled in the distance.
He... discovered her? And wanted her to come out and talk?
Only to hear Noah continue, saying words that shook Cantarella to her core:
"Imperator, I know you're watching."