A beam of pure white, snow-like light erupted from behind You Luoming, naturally merging into his own.
The combined wave met the dark-purple ray head-on.
Without time to wipe the sweat from his brow, You Luoming looked back to see a horned maiden standing tall, forming hand seals.
It was Jinhsi!
Her hands formed the exact same seal.
Beside her, a phantom of the Sentinel coiled in the air, spewing forth an identical beam of light.
The two Illuminous Epiphanies joined forces, forcing the dark-purple ray backward step by step in an instant.
“No!” A shrill, whispering scream echoed from the ram-horned demon’s body as the merged light of Illuminous Epiphany crushed him without mercy.
*Boom!* The massive demon’s body shattered, exploding into pieces that rained down upon the ground.
Among the scattered debris of Scar’s remains, a cracked, dark-purple eyeball stood out.
The Threnodian creation—the Whispering Oculus—was destroyed once and for all, stripped forever of its power to inflict mental pollution.
“Xi…
Magistrate Jinhsi, are you alright?” You Luoming had almost called out her nickname by habit, but realizing they had just met for the first time, he corrected himself to maintain proper etiquette.
As his words fell, Jinhsi staggered back a few steps.
The white cracks on her torso flickered erratically, looking as if she might completely collapse at any moment.
To stop the Whispering Oculus from corrupting the people of Jinzhou, Jinhsi had drawn both it and herself into frozen time, enduring three full days of its mental erosion.
During those three days of stopped time, she had been completely cut off from the outside world.
She had known nothing of Jinzhou’s state, yet feared that if the Whispering Oculus were unsealed, it would pollute the people again.
Thus, she had locked it away all alone.
Had she not been a Sentinel Resonator with an inherent resistance to Threnodian power, she would have crumbled long ago.
Even so, the damage inflicted by the Whispering Oculus was far from trivial.
If Scar hadn’t forcibly destroyed the Whispering Oculus and interrupted her time-stop, she likely would have died from extreme Overclocking.
You Luoming rushed forward to support the unsteady Jinhsi.
Looking at her frail form, he was at a loss for words.
“Go!” Jinhsi leaned weakly against You Luoming’s shoulder, speaking faintly: “The shockwave earlier was too great.
This Tacet Field is about to collapse.
Hurry…
leave.” Hearing this, You Luoming looked around.
Sure enough, the surrounding floating islands were shaking violently, on the verge of plunging into the abyss.
“Forgive my rudeness, Magistrate Jinhsi.” You Luoming scooped Jinhsi up in a princess carry and sprinted toward the exit of the Tacet Field.
*Rumble!* The first floating island fell into the abyss under gravity’s pull, like the first falling domino triggering a chain reaction of collapsing islands.
“Unlucky, unlucky, unlucky!” You Luoming was already weak from pushing his Resonator power to the limit, and now he was forced to flee toward the exit at top speed.
Under the physical exhaustion and immense psychological pressure, his vision began to darken.
He bit down hard on the tip of his tongue to force himself alert.
A massive surge of adrenaline kicked in, enabling him to leap from island to island while holding Jinhsi.
Behind him, the islands fell just as fast—if not faster—plunging down at an accelerating rate.
It was a race against the Grim Reaper.
With three islands left until the exit, Death finally caught up.
You Luoming misstepped as the island beneath his feet plummeted into the darkness.
His heart pounded like a drum.
Mid-air, he frantically adjusted his posture, tightly holding Jinhsi with his left arm.
Despite holding the warm, soft maiden in his arms, he had no time to appreciate the romantic moment.
With his right hand, he fired his grapple toward the second-to-last island.
However, that island fell a step ahead, and the grapple caught nothing but air.
*Clang!* A metallic clash sounded.
His fired grapple was tightly snared by another grappling line.
You Luoming looked up toward the source— It was Yangyang!
“You Luoming, hold on tight!
I’ll pull you both back!” Half of Yangyang’s body emerged at the exit of the Tacet Field, her hands clinging tightly to the line.
When You Luoming had fired his grapple earlier, she had launched hers from the exit as well.
The two grappling lines met halfway, intertwining to become You Luoming and Jinhsi’s final lifeline.
“One, two, three—pull!” On the ruins outside the Tacet Field, Yangyang, Chixia, and a group of Patrollers pulled on the cable with all their might.
Working together, they finally hauled You Luoming and Jinhsi out.
The blood-red gateway flickered a few times.
The ram-horned demon face on it grew increasingly hideous before finally fading away into nothingness.
“We’re saved…
Let me rest for a bit.” You Luoming let go and collapsed onto the ruined ground alongside Jinhsi, gasping greedily for air, his eyes filled with lingering terror.
That was way too close.
Whether fighting Phase-3 Scar or escaping a crumbling Tacet Field, it was far too intense for someone who was just an ordinary guy yesterday.
If he had to choose again, he would never meddle in Jinzhou’s mess or try to play the hot-headed hero ever again.
Saving the world really was a job for the actual Rover.
An ordinary guy like him, even with the Rover’s power, couldn’t muster the sheer death-defying resolve of a real Rover.
Although the ‘Jinhsi’ character had flight capabilities, his stats weren’t high enough to unlock that extra ability yet.
Lying on the ruins, You Luoming looked up with weary eyes at the scattered stars in the sky and made a firm vow: He *had* to find the Rover.
He wanted to be carried, not be the MVP!
Wait!
You Luoming’s eyes widened as he stared intently at the stars above.
Nighttime already?
He hadn’t felt like time moved that fast during his fight with Scar.
Oh no, oh no!
Going to Mt.
Firmament takes time, finding the Sentinel takes time, solving puzzles takes time, saving Jiyan takes time.
Everything takes time, but Jiyan wouldn’t last until tomorrow!
There was no time left!
*Jiyan, I’m so sorry!* You Luoming wailed in his heart.
If the Rover were here, they would have done far better than him.
No one would have died in this crisis.
“Thank you for your hard work, You Luoming.
You must be exhausted.
Would you like some water?” Beside him, Yangyang handed over a waterskin.
You Luoming took it casually and drank deeply from the mouth of the pouch.
“Thanks, Yangyang.” After fighting for so long, he was parched.
“Cough, cough…” Jinhsi struggled to stand up from the ground, looking around at the surrounding ruins, a flicker of confusion in her eyes.
“Where…
is this?” “Magistrate, this is Jinzhou City,” Chixia answered eagerly from the side.
The instant she heard those words, Jinhsi felt as if she had been struck by lightning.
Her legs buckled, and she nearly fell again.
Was this tragic ruin really her prosperous, bustling Jinzhou City, where the people lived in peace and happiness?
If they hadn’t told her this was Jinzhou City, she would have thought she had stepped into another Tacet Field.
“This is Jinzhou City…
Then, where are the citizens?” “Most were rescued.
A small group is in Taoyuan Village, another small group turned into Tacet Discords and were slain, and…” Chixia looked troubled, biting her lip before revealing the harsh truth: “Most of the surviving citizens of Jinzhou have had their minds corrupted by Threnodian power.
They’ve become muddled and lifeless, like living corpses.
What’s more…
Taoqi, Yuanwu, and General Jiyan are severely injured right now, hanging by a thread.” Hearing this, Jinhsi felt a heavy tightness in her chest.
An overwhelming wave of sorrow and heartache turned her eyes red, and tears fell uncontrollably.
“I’m sorry…
It’s my fault for failing to protect everyone.
I’m so sorry.” The people around were deeply moved, gathering around the Magistrate to comfort her: “Magistrate…” “There is no need for words.” Jinhsi wiped away her tears and removed a mysterious ring from her finger: “The Sentinel foresaw this long ago and bestowed upon me this creation, capable of rewinding time.
Though it cannot bring the dead back to life, it can restore the living to normal.” Hearing this, everyone showed expressions of pleasant surprise.
“Magistrate, do you mean the corrupted and severely injured can return to normal?” “Yes.” Jinhsi nodded heavily and issued her command: “Gather all the victims of this invasion here.
I…
will ensure Jinzhou and everyone are restored to how they were!” Under the starlight, her words were resolute.
Yet, the white cracks covering her body showed signs of spreading further.
A Sentinel creation was no simple thing to activate, let alone performing a heavenly defiance such as reversing time.