Augusta Resonance Liberation—Radiance of the Blazing Sun!
Noah took one step forward. His speed had surged several times compared to before. He was so fast that Ovathrax could only see afterimages and could not react at all.
The crimson long blade carried lightning and slashed out nine times in the blink of an eye. With each slash, the glow on the long blade grew brighter.
After the nine slashes, Noah leaped high into the air. The light from the Authority of the Crown's Thunder in his hand had never been more magnificent. Materialized crimson thunder raged like a blazing sun.
When this magnificent blazing sun was savagely smashed down, the entire eastern plateau let out a painful wail. It was as if an invisible hand from the heavens had crushed it, causing it to collapse and fall into the cheering Dark Tide.
The god-king's figure was smashed into shattered ink shadows and disappeared.
However, Noah's expression did not relax because of this. Instead, it became extremely grave.
No—this was wrong!
The moon released by Iuno's Resonance power was continuously emitting anchoring force.
In theory, the god-king should have been anchored, yet why was it that when he slashed the god-king, he could still only turn the opponent into Dark Tide?
Sure enough, a piercing howl came from within the Dark Tide once again.
"This feeling of being beaten down is truly nostalgic—it reminds me of the great battle I once had with that life-and-death rival."
Amid the sound of collapsing rocks, the surging Dark Tide once again coalesced into human form. The god-king stepped on the Dark Tide and looked up at Noah high above. Though it was smiling, its voice carried uncontrollable rage:
"To force me to this extent, Noah, you can be proud of yourself. But—it's useless!"
"The war frequencies accumulated on this plateau over a hundred years have been absorbed by me and fully infused into this god-king's body. The convergence of two Threnodian powers creates an effect far stronger than you can imagine."
"A Resonance power at your level has no qualification to anchor my existence."
If Dark Tide creations could not be anchored, they could not be eliminated. From the very beginning, it had stood on undefeatable ground!
"Now, it's my turn!"
Ovathrax swung its arm. More than ten Dark Tide dragons flew out, tearing toward Noah's direction.
It leaped up from the Dark Tide and hid behind the Dark Tide dragons. The bone blades at the ends of its arms ignited with black-purple blaze fire.
As long as Noah showed even the slightest carelessness while dealing with the ten dragons in front, it would deliver a fatal sneak attack with this charged strike.
The already damaged plateau became even more fragmented under Ovathrax's strike. Large chunks of rock fell into the Dark Tide, but Noah's figure was nowhere to be seen.
"Did he run?"
Seeing the sun-and-moon phenomenon in the sky gradually disappear, Ovathrax snorted heavily:
"Coward!"
It swung its arm again. The Dark Tide dragons slammed heavily into the Terminal loop domain.
Bang! A crack appeared at the edge of the Terminal loop domain. Black tidal water shot out like arrows through the gaps.
"Stop!"
A female voice sounded from behind it. Ovathrax turned its head and saw a tall blonde woman walking out from the white light of teleportation.
After a brief perception, it sneered coldly:
"So it's Leviathan's Resonator. That guy actually sent you over. Perfect timing—Leviathan is short of a vessel right now!"
...
Noah, who had returned to the temporary camp via teleportation, handed a bowl of Forest Pot to Lupa and told her to finish it all. Then he began anxiously searching for Iuno:
"Iuno! Iuno! Iuno Iuno!"
"Why are you shouting so loudly?"
Iuno walked out slowly from the crowd, tilting her head slightly as she looked at Noah:
"I could hear you calling me from far away. Iuno, Iuno. That's how you call me, right? Speak, what do you want from me?"
"Stand here and don't move."
Noah had no time to explain. He quickly opened [Summon] and clicked into Iuno's banner.
He had never expected that even a three-chain Iuno's Resonance power was unable to anchor Ovathrax's existence.
But if he couldn't anchor Ovathrax, he couldn't kill the undying and unkillable god-king.
Encore still needed one more day to unseal, but he wasn't sure whether other changes would occur during that day.
Now, he could only place his hopes on Iuno's banner. As long as he could pull a high enough chain Iuno, he would definitely be able to anchor Ovathrax.
[Currently owned: Radiant Tide0, Lustrous Tide10, Astrite4880, Shell Credit9.21 million]
After saving for three days, he only had enough for 30 pulls.
Ten-pull summon!
10 pulls, no gold.
20 pulls, no gold.
Noah swallowed a mouthful of saliva and silently changed from ten-pull to single pulls.
21 pulls… 25 pulls… 29 pulls…
His heart gradually sank to the bottom as he clicked the final pull.
The 30th pull.
No gold.
Numb.
At this moment, Noah deeply understood what it meant to be a hero stumped by a single coin. He had no Astrite left.
Astrite, Astrite—where could he get more Astrite?
There was no recharge entrance on this panel.
Noah grew anxious. He opened the quest list. There was only one daily quest called Rest and Recuperation, which required him to sleep for a full eight hours.
Eight hours… If he slept for eight hours now, he might end up patrolling all the way to Jinzhou in the Kingdom of the Dead.
"Hey, have you stared enough?" Being stared at so intently by Noah, Iuno couldn't help feeling embarrassed.
It was too rude. How could he keep staring straight at a girl like this?
Even if she was indeed good-looking, it still wasn't okay.
"You were so anxious to find me just to stare at me like this? Nothing else?"
"...There is."
Noah turned his head and let out a long breath. The emotions on his face were very complicated.
"Iuno, together with Augusta, organize everyone to leave the Hunting Ground… The farther the better."
"Hey, you guy, explain clearly." Sensing something wrong with Noah's tone, Iuno's mood instantly tensed:
"Did something unexpected happen?"
This guy had been acting all confident before the "earthquake," so why did he look so down now?
She tried to look at Noah's future, but all she saw was pitch blackness.
Of course she didn't know that Ovathrax had come to Septimont, absorbed a hundred years of war frequencies from the Hunting Ground, and fused with the first life in the Dark Tide—the False Sovereign—becoming unkillable.
Even worse, the Earthrend Wedge had been shattered by Ovathrax. The Dark Tide that had been suppressed for over a hundred years was now released. If it couldn't be stopped, the entire Septimont and even Rinascita would be submerged.
Then, Leviathan would recover to its peak and be resurrected. Perhaps at that time, the two Threnodians would continue cooperating to submerge every inch of Solaris with the Dark Tide.
At this point, Noah had no choice but to admit that the combined effect of two Threnodians working together was far stronger than either acting alone.
Looking at Iuno's worried gaze, Noah shook his head:
"It's just a small issue. I can handle it!"
At worst, he would keep beating the god-king and prevent Ovathrax from having the chance to release the Dark Tide to submerge Rinascita.
As long as he could stall for one day, Encore would unseal.
But if… if even Encore couldn't anchor the god-king… He didn't think further about it.
A white light circle expanded beneath Noah's feet. He lowered his gaze, countless thoughts swirling in his mind.
This matter had already far exceeded what the people of Septimont could handle. If he didn't step up, who else would?
The Sentinel of Jinzhou was still recovering from injuries. Imperator was only Overlord-class. Their Resonators might not be able to match the combination of Ovathrax and the god-king.
Forget it. He wouldn't think about these things now. Cartethyia was still helping to stall Ovathrax. He couldn't let her wait too long.
"Righteous One..."
A majestic heavenly voice entered his mind. It was Imperator sending him a message:
"Dark Tide creations grow stronger by absorbing mixed frequencies. Since you have already shattered Ovathrax's shield, why not try using the power of Separation on it?"
"Power of Separation?"
"Yes, use the Separation authority on it!"
Imperator encouraged him, then spoke apologetically:
"I am truly sorry. This matter should not have fallen to you. It is my incompetence that I cannot stop them. At this moment, Rinascita needs you."
...
On the plateau where the Earthrend Wedge once stood, black waves had submerged all the land.
The cracked Terminal loop barely covered this area of Dark Tide, but large amounts of tidal water still continuously surged out through the gaps.
In mid-air, Cartethyia, who had switched to Fleurdelys, raised her longsword and continued charging power:
"Furious tides, split..."
"Hit me!"
Ovathrax sneered mockingly:
"Come on. I'll stand here without moving. Let you hit me. Break this domain and release the Dark Tide!"
Upon hearing this, Cartethyia hesitated, worried about harming others. Her movements indeed paused for a moment.
Ovathrax naturally wouldn't miss this opportunity. With a single thought, a Dark Tide dragon struck heavily into Cartethyia's back from behind.
"Ah!"
One mistake led to every subsequent mistake. Ovathrax seized Cartethyia's error. Its bone blade lashed out like a lightning whip. Cartethyia hurriedly dodged, but the retracting whip tightly bound her.
Another Dark Tide dragon rose from the ground and slammed the bound Cartethyia heavily against the top of the Terminal loop domain, creating large cracks.
A trickle of blood flowed from the corner of her lips.
Cartethyia hurriedly used the Separation authority to cut the whip's bindings, but after being separated, the whip twisted and split like a living thing, turning into even more ropes that bound her tightly.
"Hahaha. After getting used to high-intensity battles with that guy, fighting you feels like you're full of openings."
"I'll drag you into the Dark Tide right now, erase your consciousness, and from now on, obediently become Leviathan's vessel!"
Ovathrax laughed and pulled the whip, violently dragging Cartethyia toward itself. However, that whip was suddenly shattered into Dark Tide by a sharp sword light.
Noah stood tall in mid-air. He caught the immobilized Cartethyia, crushed the whip binding her, and spoke apologetically:
"Sorry for letting you suffer."
A white light expanded beneath her. Noah turned his head. His gaze, suppressing rage, swept toward Ovathrax:
"Now, it's my turn."
"Heh?" Ovathrax sneered coldly:
"Since you can't anchor me, do you think you can kill me?"
Hearing this, Noah clenched his fists, his face dark:
"If I can't kill you, then I'll—just keep hitting you!"
...