On the ocean between Laguna and the Seven Hills, the blue-black surface of the sea was cleanly cleaved apart by a high-speed vessel, splashing up cold, salty spray.
On the ship, the emblem of the Black Shores shone exceptionally brightly under the sunlight. However, this large, highly technological vessel had no time to display its elegance.
It was moving at extreme speed, like a silver javelin, thrusting straight toward the distant coastline of the Seven Hills.
Originally, before leaving Laguna for the Seven Hills, he had planned to head north to the Isle of Lamentation. He wanted to visit two old friends with whom he shared revolutionary ties—Captain Brant and First Mate Rococo. He also wanted to catch a performance by the Fool's Troupe, grab dinner together, and the like...
But now, time clearly wasn't waiting for anyone. Catching up with old friends would just have to wait.
Rover stood at the bow of the ship, letting the strong sea breeze tug at the stray hairs on his forehead.
His golden eyes were not admiring the magnificent seascape. Instead, they narrowed slightly, staring at the cloud layer in the southern sky, which seemed even more gloomy and oppressive than in his memories.
The distant sky was covered in dense, pitch-black clouds. It was not a precursor to heavy rain, but a symbol of the impending descent of the Black Tide upon the human realm.
Countless muddy streams flowing with a pitch-black aura hung down slowly from the clouds. If one were to look closely with high-precision binoculars, countless ferocious Tacet Discords could be faintly seen roaring and howling within them, as if waiting to slaughter their way through the human realm once they descended.
And over there was the Seven Hills—or to be precise, the Sanguis Hunting Grounds south of the main island of the Seven Hills.
Just then, Abby flew out from the Tacet Mark on his hand. It circled around him excitedly, gesturing with its little claws: "Seven Hills! It's the Seven Hills! Rover, we're almost there! I can already smell a different scent in the air!"
"This time, we absolutely must eat our fill of the delicious food at the Blazing Sun Tavern next to the arena! There's fried fish, grilled steak, and little lamb chops covered in olive oil and herbs! And also..."
The little guy seemed to be hungry again after waking up, its gluttonous desires hooked. It chattered non-stop, listing the delicacies in its memory. Though it seemed to be speaking inappropriate words, it was actually trying to dilute the heavy atmosphere before them.
Rover didn't respond. He simply raised his left hand subconsciously, the pad of his thumb gently rubbing against the ring worn on his left ring finger.
On the setting, that unique half of the Gilded Pearl flowed with a warm and mysterious luster under the polarized light of the sea.
Coletta... the Second Young Miss of the Mortari family, his "Opal"... Her final look—forcing calm yet unable to hide her worry—seemed to resurface through this cool touch.
Pulling his commonly used sword, the Blood Oath Covenant, from his Tacet Mark, he seemed to hear Cantarella's bewitching whisper wrapped in the faint fragrance of the purple silk tree.
Gently stroking the holy emblem on his chest, he seemed to see again the tearful gaze—mixing absolute devotion and uneasiness—when Phoebe had handed him that ancient and exquisite emblem...
The short holiday in Laguna was over. The much more complex concerns and responsibilities of the Seven Hills now weighed heavily on his shoulders.
Just then—
"Beep beep beep— buzz—"
The terminal communicator on his waist emitted an unusually urgent vibrating beep. It was an encrypted emergency line from the Black Shores.
Rover immediately gathered his thoughts and swiftly answered it.
A light screen popped up. The comms had no video—only lines of cold text and data streams scrolling rapidly by, accompanied by a slightly rushed audio summary from a Black Shores researcher.
The incoming audio seemed encrypted, or perhaps it was suffering from some sort of interference, as it remained intermittent:
"Lord Rover... supplemental intelligence... hiss... Sanguis Hunting Grounds area in the southern part of the Seven Hills... Black Tide activity monitoring data... abnormally surging! Repeat, abnormally surging!"
"Peak concentration... has reached two hundred and thirty percent of the highest historical record... hiss... and it is still continuing to climb at high speed!"
"Analysis of energy fluctuation patterns... hiss... indicates the presence of strong 'inductive' and 'convergent' characteristics... behind the Black Tide, it is suspected that a higher-order consciousness is taking the lead..."
"In the direction of the Sanguis Hunting Grounds, the last large-scale energy reaction was recorded... hiss... towards the evening... hiss... after which there have only been sporadic signals... inferring from the energy attenuation model... the pressure on the front lines must be immense..."
The audio abruptly cut off. At the end of the transmission, a high-precision satellite scan image was sent over. Its edges seemed to have blurred due to intense interference, but the central content still clearly displayed the core area of the Sanguis Hunting Grounds.
There, a massive, ferocious Black Tide vortex was forming, continuously spinning and expanding like a pitch-black eye leading to a bottomless abyss, gazing coldly at this world.
Rover's heart suddenly sank.
The situation before him was even worse than he had expected. This intensity of activity and speed of convergence far exceeded the conditions of the original storyline in his "player" memories!
He suddenly thought of Yuno... that lively Oracle with blue-black twintails, who seemed to have an awkward personality but was actually tough on the outside and soft on the inside—a textbook tsundere...
Given her resilient personality and paranoid dedication to her responsibilities, facing such a desperate situation, the only choice she would likely make was—
To sacrifice herself, shooting that single arrow with the Golden Bough Moon Bow. At the cost of her own "existence", transforming herself into a lunar phase to lock onto the tide, forcibly manifesting the "Counterfeit Divine King" acting as the core of the Black Tide, just to create that single possible kill opportunity for Augusta.
In the storyline from his memories, although he had never anticipated the full scope of her plan, relying on the bracelet Yuno had given him and using himself as an anchor, he ultimately managed to pull her back from the absolute brink of her "existence" vanishing from this world.
But what about now?
The timeline had already changed. The crisis erupted prematurely, its severity intensified, and he hadn't even obtained the bracelet yet...
Could Yuno's manifestation ritual still proceed smoothly?
And would Yuno's "existence" completely dissipate due to this stronger impact of the Black Tide, unable to ever be salvaged?
An unprecedented sense of urgency gripped his heart.
Once, the "player" memories had laid out his past entanglements with Phrolova before him, yet he had not cherished them.
Carrying the suspicion and caution rooted deep in his heart for ten thousand years, and their absolute opposition in stances at the time, he had ultimately parted ways with her after a passionate night at the Shores.
Now, the tragedy belonging to Yuno was about to replay before his eyes. A fall into the pit, a gain in your wit. This time, he would absolutely not sit back and watch the same thing happen again.
Perhaps, if he had the chance to meet Phrolova again, he would also find a way to change her ending...
Rover suddenly fell silent. The "player" memories only extended up to the end of the Seven Hills disaster. As for what happened after that—besides the premonition of the inevitable descent of the Roaming Heaven, its creator the Threnodian "Leviathan", and the Fractsidus who would definitely come to cause trouble—he didn't know what else would occur.
However, he wouldn't just sit and wait for death. Once the crisis in the Seven Hills was resolved, he would immediately launch into intensive preparations for his next steps.
Although he was out in the open and the enemy was hidden in the dark, he couldn't let them lead him by the nose forever.
Especially that 'Chris-dog' who made both him and the "player" gnash their teeth in hatred—the "player" memories seemed to have always referred to that playwright this way, and he found the nickname quite catchy.
So this time, he would take the initiative to attack.
But at this moment, Rover still had to focus his energy on the current crisis in the Seven Hills.
He could even faintly feel the subtle Lament coming from the southern continent, permeating the air in a way ordinary people couldn't perceive. It was the howl on the level of the laws of nature brought about by the expansion of the Black Tide, and also... some kind of omen, brimming with massive malice, resembling a fetal movement.
"Accelerate," Rover's voice was calm to the point of being cold. He relayed an order to the cockpit through the ship's comms system. "I don't care what the load limit of this ship's engines is. Push it to the absolute highest value they can spin. Destination: Seven Hills Port. We must dock at maximum speed."
"Yes, sir!" came the unhesitating response of the ship's pilot from the other end of the comms.
The roar of the engines abruptly rose a level. The hull trembled slightly as its speed increased once more, truly shooting like an arrow loosed from its string toward that continent shrouded in ominousness.
Abby was so scared it hurriedly hid back inside the Tacet Mark, muttering quietly: "Uwaah... s-so fast... I'm feeling a bit seasick. Call me out when we get there..."
Rover said no more. He merely cast his gaze southward once again, the sharp light in his golden eyes condensing into something almost tangible.
Augusta, Yuno... you guys must hold on.
I'm coming.
This time, an ending I'm not satisfied with must be completely rewritten.
_____
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