"It came! It really came! You're amazing, Jinhsi!"
Noah was overjoyed and immediately added Jinhsi to his team. A massive influx of Resonance power and combat ability flooded into his mind.
[Importing "Jinhsi" Resonance ability and combat experience. Estimated completion: 15 seconds...]
Enduring the slight pain from the knowledge infusion into his brain, Noah quickly removed the Echoes equipped on "Rover" and re-equipped them on "Jinhsi."
After removing Rover's Echoes, Noah immediately felt himself become "weakened," nearly getting hit by the black-purple ray from the horned demon behind him.
He decisively switched himself to "Jinhsi" in the team. The Tacet Mark on the back of his hand automatically moved to his back, and the feeling of weakness finally vanished.
Leaping high once more and landing on a floating island the size of a soccer field, Noah held Jinhsi tightly and sprinted across it:
"Still missing a weapon—I don't have a 4-star longsword."
Noah opened [Summon] again, navigating to the limited banner [Ages of Harvest]. His gaze fixed on the remaining 1800 Astrites displayed on the interface.
"Gamble it all!"
10-pull, weapon summon!
The next instant, golden light burst from the summoning tide.
It came! It really came! Gold on the very first 10-pull!
Noah was ecstatic. He had only intended to test the waters without high expectations, but he had actually pulled Jinhsi's signature weapon!
Without any hesitation, he equipped the weapon Ages of Harvest. In a stolen moment, he glanced at the character stats.
Character: Jinhsi
HP: 21664
ATK: 1854
DEF: 1605
Resonance Efficiency: 146%
CRIT Rate: 65.3%
CRIT DMG: 237%
After equipping the signature weapon, the character's build instantly became relatively respectable.
Carefully placing Jinhsi flat on the ground, Noah drew the longsword Ages of Harvest. His gaze turned toward the horned demon leaping toward him with massive strides.
Boom.
The horned demon crashed down heavily, smashing spiderweb-like circular cracks into the surface of the soccer-field-sized floating island.
"Run! Vile rat—why aren't you running anymore!"
Black-purple terrifying flames burned fiercely around Scar. The evil eye in his forehead revealed crazed delight as his hoarse, heavy voice rang out:
"I can give you one more chance—I'll let you run for five seconds first!"
It seemed Scar was completely immersed in the pleasure of this cat-and-mouse game, even generously offering five luxurious seconds.
But Noah was certain that the moment he turned to flee, a black-purple ray would immediately pierce straight through him.
Scar was that kind of cruel madman—his words could not be trusted at all.
"You annoying, hateful guy."
Noah shook his head slightly, drawing the longsword Ages of Harvest. He spoke coldly:
"Today is your doomsday!"
"My doomsday?"
The horned demon acted as if he had heard an extremely funny joke, unable to control his manic laughter:
"You can't even get close to attack me right now. In front of me, you can only scurry away like a rat!
Yet you spout arrogant words, claiming today is my doomsday?
Is this joke the last sentence of your life?"
"I'm too lazy to reason with you—you don't deserve to hear it!"
Noah offered no further explanation. His hands rapidly formed seals. A pair of dragon horns grew from his head. Ages of Harvest trembled violently, transforming into the Sentinel's form and coiling around Noah.
"Sa—cred—li—ght!!"
A dragon's roar echoed long within the sound domain. A vast surge of energy erupted from the Sentinel's phantom mouth, forming a beam of light blindingly brilliant.
The light was dazzling and piercing, like lightning tearing through the night, illuminating the entire domain. Wherever it passed, the air distorted from scorching heat.
Scar was blinded by the piercing light, his face showing terror. Locked by an invisible aura, he was instantly engulfed in the white scorching radiance.
The black-purple flames around the horned demon flickered wildly in the scorching light, as if encountering their absolute nemesis, finally extinguishing powerlessly.
The dragon's roar gradually ceased. In the distance, Jinhsi's silver-white eyelashes trembled faintly, as if on the verge of waking.
"Heh... heh... Interesting! Interesting!"
As the smoke and dust cleared, the enormous horned demon emerged looking as if it had been roasted through—charred black everywhere. Scar laughed in extreme rage:
"A vile rat actually forcing me to this state once again! Hehahahaha—ridiculous, truly ridiculous!"
Before Scar could finish speaking, Noah had already begun forming seals again.
He had learned his lesson once and would not give Scar any time for monologues this time.
What the hell are you babbling about? Eat my Celestial Court Radiance!
"Sacred light!!"
"Sacred light!!"
"Sacred light!!"
The dragon's roar resounded, lingering endlessly.
In the game, "Celestial Court Radiance" required eight normal attacks and two Resonance Skills to release.
But Noah was not playing the game—there was no wind-up at all. As long as his body's Resonance energy held out, he could fire as many as he wanted.
The horned demon's body was too massive to fully dodge Noah's attacks.
Scar tried to pull away, only to find that the floating islands behind him had already been shattered by his own blasts. Now he could only make limited evasions in the space beneath his feet.
"Sacred light!!"
"Enough! Do you only know one move, you bastard!"
Hearing Scar's furious roar, Noah paused briefly before resuming his seals:
"Heaven ordains. Banish all vice!!"
Shift Years, Punish Evil!
It hurt. It hurt too much.
Scar felt as though there was not a single unharmed spot left on his body. Though the threat of death loomed ever closer, he instead felt an overwhelming frenzy.
He knew this was the severe pollution from the Whisperin Erosion—his remaining rationality was almost gone.
He could not suppress the thought burning in his mind to fully sacrifice himself to the Whisperin Erosion. The idea blazed like wildfire through his psyche, impossible to extinguish.
"Heh heh heh heh— you forced me to this!"
Finally, the horned demon roared furiously. It discarded its longsword. Its ten fingers—thin as withered branches—plunged deep into its forehead. With a forceful tear to both sides, it let out a shrill, fanatical laugh.
"Die die die die die die!"
The black-purple evil eye at its forehead grew rapidly in the wind, squeezing aside its facial features and occupying nearly half its face.
Demonic whispers emerged from within Scar's body. Invisible black-purple energy converged toward the evil eye.
Vast energy circulated. An invisible aura locked firmly onto Noah. A black-purple ray—more than ten times thicker than any before—shot forth.
This strike consumed Scar's final rationality and fully unleashed all the Whisperin Erosion's power.
At the same moment, Noah felt a chill crawl inch by inch up his spine to the back of his head.
This attack—if he could not block it—he would die!
Noah dared not slacken. He frantically mobilized his body's Resonance power. His hands formed seals at extreme speed. The Sentinel's phantom formed from Ages of Harvest became unprecedentedly solid.
He gave it everything he had:
"Sa—cred—li—ght!!"
Boom!
One white and one black beam collided violently. Massive amounts of violent energy annihilated continuously between them, producing layers of substantial shockwaves rippling outward.
Noah trembled as he maintained the seals, sweating profusely. His body's Resonance power poured out like a breached dam. The dragon-shaped Sentinel phantom at his side showed signs of dissipating.
Watching the black ray gradually closing in through the white light wave as it eroded away, an irrepressible sense of despair rose in Noah's heart.
So this is the power of a Threnodian? Merely a creation from one Threnodian, yet it left him so utterly overwhelmed.
As expected, he was not Rover. In the end, he could not accomplish what only Rover could.
Suddenly, a clear yet weak female voice rang out from behind Noah:
"Sacred light!!"