A pure white, snow-like light wave appeared from behind Noah, naturally merging into his own light wave. The two light waves combined to confront the black-purple ray.
Noah had no time to wipe the fine sweat from his face. He turned back and saw only a dragon-horned girl standing tall, forming seals.
It was Jinhsi!
Her hands formed the same seals. The Sentinel's phantom coiled at her side, spewing an identical light wave from its mouth.
The two Sacred light worked in unison, forcing the black-purple ray into steady retreat in an instant.
"No!"
A shrill, wailing whisper scream erupted from the horned demon's body. The merged Sacred lights mercilessly shattered it completely.
Boom!
That was the sound of Scar's body exploding. The enormous horned demon's frame split into four parts, scattering into pieces across the ground.
Amid the fragments of Scar on the ground, a cracked black-purple eyeball stood out conspicuously.
The Threnodian creation—Whisperin Erosion—was from this moment thoroughly destroyed, its power of mental pollution gone forever.
"Jin... Magistrate Jinhsi, are you alright?"
Noah had instinctively almost called Jinhsi by her nickname, but realizing this was their first meeting, he maintained proper etiquette and switched to "Magistrate."
As his words fell, Jinhsi staggered several steps. The white cracks on her torso flickered, as if on the verge of complete collapse at any moment.
To stop the Whisperin Erosion from continuing to erode Jinzhou's citizens, Jinhsi had pulled both the Whisperin Erosion and herself into time stop, enduring a full three days of its erosion.
During those three days, because of the time stop, she could not perceive changes in the outside world.
She knew nothing of Jinzhou's transformations and worried that if the Whisperin Erosion broke free, it would pollute the citizens again. She could only seal it alone.
If she were not the Sentinel's Resonator—with an innate resistance to Threnodian power—she would likely have collapsed long ago.
Even so, the damage the Whisperin Erosion inflicted on her was far from trivial.
Had Scar not forcibly shattered the Whisperin Erosion and broken her time stop, she might have died from extreme Overclocking.
Noah hurried forward, supporting the unsteady Jinhsi. Looking at her frail form, he was momentarily at a loss for words.
"Go!"
Jinhsi leaned weakly on Noah's shoulder and spoke faintly:
"The fluctuations just now were too great. This sound domain is about to collapse—go quickly."
At her words, Noah surveyed the surroundings. The isolated islands were indeed trembling constantly, faintly threatening to fall.
"Excuse me, Magistrate Jinhsi."
Noah princess-carried the unable-to-stand Jinhsi and sprinted toward the sound domain's exit.
Boom!
The first floating island succumbed to gravity and plummeted into the abyss—like the first domino falling, triggering more and more islands to drop.
"Bad luck, bad luck, bad luck, bad luck!"
Noah was already weakened from fully mobilizing his Resonance power. Now he was forced to flee toward the exit at full speed.
Under physical overexertion and immense psychological pressure, his vision kept going black.
He bit his tongue hard to stay alert. Adrenaline surged as he leaped across island after island while holding Jinhsi.
The islands behind him fell at a speed no less than his own—and were even accelerating.
It was like racing Death itself.
When only three floating islands remained to the exit, Death finally caught up. Noah's foot landed on nothing—the island beneath him plummeted directly.
Noah's heart pounded like a drum. In mid-air, he urgently shifted posture. His left arm tightly cradled Jinhsi—warm fragrance and soft jade in his embrace—yet he had no time to savor the fleeting romance. His right hand flung the Grapple toward the second-to-last island.
However, that island fell first. The Grapple missed.
Clang!
The sound of metal clashing rang out.
The flung Grapple was tightly wrapped by another Grapple. Noah looked up toward the other end—
It was Yangyang!
"Noah, hold tight to the Grapple—I'll pull you back!"
Yangyang appeared halfway at the sound domain's exit, gripping a Grapple firmly in her hands.
When Noah had thrown his Grapple earlier, she had thrown hers from the exit as well.
The two Grapples rushed toward each other and finally intertwined, becoming the last lifeline for Noah and Jinhsi.
"One, two, three—pull!"
Outside the sound domain, amid the ruins, Yangyang, Chixia, and a group of Patrollers hauled the Grapple outward.
With everyone's combined effort, they finally pulled Noah and Jinhsi out.
The blood-red gate flickered several times. The horned demon head on it grew increasingly ferocious before helplessly dissipating completely.
"Saved... let me rest a bit."
Noah released his hands and lay on the ruined ground alongside Jinhsi, gasping heavily. His eyes were filled with lingering fear.
Too dangerous. Too dangerous.
Whether fighting phase-three Scar or escaping the disintegrating sound domain by the skin of his teeth—for someone who was an ordinary person just yesterday—it was all overwhelmingly intense.
If he had to choose again, he absolutely would not get involved in Jinzhou's affairs. No more hot-blooded heroics.
As expected, saving the world should be left to the professional—Rover.
An ordinary person like him, even with Rover's power, still lacked the resolve to face life-and-death situations like Rover.
Though the character "Jinhsi" had flight capability, his build stats were insufficient to unlock that extra ability.
Lying amid the ruins, Noah gazed wearily at the scattered starlight on the horizon and silently resolved:
He absolutely—absolutely had to find Rover. He wanted to be the lie-flat winner, not the MVP.
Wait!
Noah suddenly widened his eyes, staring fixedly at the stars above.
Night had fallen so quickly?
He hadn't felt time pass this fast while fighting Scar.
It's over—it's over!
Traveling to Mt. Firmament takes time. Finding the Sentinel takes time. Solving puzzles takes time. Rescuing Jiyan takes time.
Everything takes time, yet Jiyan won't last until tomorrow.
So—there's no time left!
Jiyan, I'm sorry!
Noah wailed inwardly.
If Rover were here, Rover would surely do better than him. No one would sacrifice in this incident.
"You worked hard, Noah. You must be exhausted—want some water?"
Beside him, Yangyang handed over a water pouch. Noah casually took it and drank deeply from the moist opening.
"Thanks, Yangyang."
After fighting so long, he had been parched.
"Cough... cough cough."
Jinhsi struggled to stand from the ground. Surveying the surrounding ruins, a trace of confusion flashed in her eyes:
"Where is this?"
"Magistrate, this is Jinzhou City," Chixia answered warmly from the side.
The instant she heard those words, Jinhsi felt as though struck by lightning. Her legs weakened, and she nearly fell again.
The ruins before her eyes—were they her once-prosperous, thriving Jinzhou City where citizens lived in peace and contentment?
If not told this was Jinzhou City, she would have thought she had entered another sound domain.
"This is Jinzhou City... then, where have the citizens of Jinzhou City gone?"
"Most were rescued. A small group is in Taoyuan Vale, and another small group turned into Tacet Discords and were killed. Moreover..."
Chixia showed a troubled expression, gritted her teeth, and revealed the cruel truth:
"The surviving Jinzhou citizens were mostly mentally polluted by Threnodian power. They have become dazed and listless—like living corpses. Also, Taoqi, Yuanwu, and General Jiyan are gravely wounded right now, half-dead."
Hearing this, Jinhsi felt a stifling ache in her heart. Speechless grief and sorrow instantly reddened her eyes as tears fell uncontrollably:
"I'm sorry. It was me—I failed to protect everyone. I'm sorry."
The people around her were all moved. They gathered at the Magistrate's side, offering words of comfort:
"Magistrate..."
"No need for more words."
Jinhsi wiped away her tears and removed a profound ring from her finger:
"The Sentinel foresaw this long ago and bestowed upon me this Sentinel creation. It can trace back time. Though it cannot revive the dead, it can restore the living to normal."
At these words, everyone's faces lit up with surprise.
"Magistrate, you mean the polluted or gravely wounded can recover?"
"Yes."
Jinhsi nodded heavily and issued the order:
"Gather all victims of this invasion incident. I... will surely restore Jinzhou and everyone to how they were!"
Under the starlight, her words were resolute. Yet the white cracks on her torso faintly showed signs of spreading.
A Sentinel creation—how could it be easily activated? Especially when performing something as heaven-defying as tracing back time.