The night curtain hung low, stars woven densely across the sky. Bonfires blazed across the Sanguiis Hunting Grounds as the triumphant people reveled in the joy of victory.
"A great tide that comes once in a century, the prophesied end has concluded! A toast to our victory and Ephor Augusta!"
The gladiators drank and made merry in high spirits, dancing in circles around the bonfires. The orange-red firelight illuminated everyone's faces with warmth and brightness.
Everyone was happy, except—
"Damn it." Elder Falco slapped his thigh heavily, covering his face in extreme annoyance:
"I shouldn't have brought those gladiators over. Now look at this — she really became the Hero King. Everyone I brought saw it. From now on in Septimont, she calls the shots."
"Hey, Elder Falco..."
The originally arrogant voice softened halfway through, carrying a hint of pleading. Elder Falco turned his head and saw the blue twin-tailed girl:
"Oh, it's Iuno. What's the matter?"
"..." Iuno hesitated before finally directing a question at the noble she had always disliked:
"Did you see Noah?"
"Noah? What Noah?" Elder Falco waved his hand impatiently and turned his head away:
"I don't know him."
"Hey!"
Iuno stamped her foot and spoke urgently:
"This afternoon you went to find Noah, invited him to join the Elder Council, and promised him a position second only to one and above ten thousand. Have you forgotten?"
Hearing these anxious words, Falco immediately scoffed and looked toward the other nobles gathered around the bonfire, mocking:
"Listen to that. The genius Priestess says I invited someone to the Elder Council and allowed him to stand above ten thousand people. Tell me, does that sound right?"
Sure enough, his words immediately provoked loud laughter from the crowd:
"Hahaha, how is that possible?"
"Has the genius Priestess gotten drunk? She's starting to talk nonsense."
"How can just anyone enter the Elder Council? Stop joking around, Iuno."
"..."
The waves of mocking voices made Iuno gradually clench her teeth, her fists tightening.
She raised her moon bow, pressing the sharp silver-white edge against Elder Falco's throat, her voice suppressed with anger:
"I'm not joking. Take this seriously."
The atmosphere around this bonfire froze for a moment, then boiled over like cold water poured into hot oil:
"Priestess Iuno is trying to kill someone!"
One shout drew the gazes of all the gladiators across the camp. They saw Iuno holding her moon bow pointed directly at Elder Falco's throat and were all greatly alarmed.
"Iuno, what are you doing?"
"Put down your weapon quickly."
"You've just become a hero of Septimont, don't do anything foolish."
Countless voices called out. Iuno finally lowered her moon bow and instead raised her gaze to look around at everyone present.
The usually proud girl looked like she had lost something important. She spoke carefully yet with utmost sincerity:
"Everyone — have any of you… seen Noah?"
Silence. No one answered.
"Everyone, don't let a small interlude ruin the mood."
Augusta walked out from the crowd to help Iuno out of the situation, then gave her a look and spoke softly:
"Iuno, come with me for a moment."
As the two women left, the people in the camp began whispering again, though the subject of discussion had changed.
"Who is Noah?"
"The Priestess seems to care about him a lot?"
"What exactly happened? I feel like… Iuno seems really sad."
...
"Iuno, what exactly are you looking for?"
Augusta asked with doubt in her voice:
"Ever since the Murmurstown incident ended, you've been acting strange. Who is this Noah you're looking for?"
"..." After a long silence, Iuno finally spoke:
"Augusta, do you remember those Overlord-class Dark Tide creations that suddenly appeared on the Asphodel Barrens?"
"I remember."
"Who killed those Dark Tide creations?"
"It was the gladiators working together as one, along with Miss Cartethyia who came from afar. We joined forces to kill those Dark Tide creations."
"Then why, in front of such powerful enemies, did not a single person from Septimont die? Are every one of the gladiators as strong as you?"
Augusta fell silent.
The question was too sharp — so sharp that she could not find any answer.
After a long time, she spoke hesitantly:
"Iuno, could you be under some illusion and imagined a person called Noah…"
Before she could finish, Iuno's eyes suddenly reddened. She turned and fled in a hurry, leaving Augusta standing there reaching out helplessly:
"Iuno, hey, Iuno—"
...
Tetragon Temple.
Iuno sat high up on the building, looking up at the bright moon in the sky. The moonlight was cold and bleak, weighing heavily on her heart and making it hard to breathe.
She opened her Terminal, clicked on Quick Tone, and searched for the name Noah had once left behind, but found nothing.
"Idiot… what an idiot."
She curled up her legs, buried her head between her knees, and murmured in a whisper that only she could hear:
"I already told you my Resonance power has side effects. Once it's used up, it disappears. Why didn't you listen? Why?"
"So this is what happens after the Resonance power disappears. Everything about you ceases to exist, and everyone forgets you."
"So cruel… even crueler than death… It should have been me who died. How could you, an outsider, disappear in my place…"
He disappeared in her place.
The more Iuno thought about it, the sadder she became. Intense guilt and remorse pierced her heart like a sharp blade, her voice growing lower until it became almost a sob:
"You were clearly the Hero King of Septimont. Why have they all forgotten you while I still remember?"
"Iuno!"
A call made Iuno look up sharply. Following the sound, she finally saw the person approaching — it was Granny Lillibet, the most senior member of the Tetragon Temple who had always taken care of her.
"Good child, come down." Granny Lillibet called to Iuno and continued:
"I heard you've been looking for someone named Noah all day. Tell me about it."
Facing the closest person to her, Granny Lillibet, Iuno naturally held nothing back and recounted everything related to Noah.
"So you're saying there was a person who used your Resonance ability and therefore completely disappeared?"
After listening to Iuno, Granny Lillibet pondered for a moment and slowly analyzed:
"A person who completely disappears does not need to be fictitiously declared dead; a person who is truly dead cannot be felt to exist by anyone."
"What do you mean, Granny?"
"…He should have been a person who disappeared, but because you remember him, his existence has not completely vanished. To a certain extent, you have anchored him."
Iuno was stunned.
She had anchored him? When…
That's right! The time before last at the Ephor's Palace, when she and Noah bumped into each other at the entrance. The small orb she created with her anchoring Resonance power was picked up by him.
It was because of that that she could still remember him!
"Granny, is there any way to re-manifest his existence?"
There was — it required Iuno to use herself as a vessel to manifest all memories, emotions, and connections related to Noah within the Chaos.
But it was far too risky.
Chaos was the totality containing all concepts and matter, all causes and effects. Once lost inside, it would be nearly impossible to return.
"There is no way." Granny Lillibet shook her head and comforted her: "The deceased has already passed. Try to let it go."
"I don't believe it. I'm going into the Chaos to find Noah!"
Iuno turned and fled once more. The words she left behind made Granny Lillibet's face fill with horror:
"Don't — Iuno, come back—"
Leaving the Tetragon Temple, riding a griffin, the determined Iuno returned to Murmurstown under the moonlight.
Following her memory, she arrived at the spot where she first encountered the False Sovereign that afternoon.
Here, a huge crater smashed by Augusta's giant sword still remained. This should also be the last place Noah appeared.
What was Noah thinking at that moment?
Having used so much anchoring Resonance power, he probably knew he was going to disappear.
The enemy he faced at the end was definitely not just that one Overlord-class False Sovereign. Yet even after giving everything, that False Sovereign was still left behind.
So, was he thinking that if he tried just a little harder, he could eliminate all the Dark Tide creations?
If he tried just a little harder, he could save Septimont — but he fell short by just that little bit. If only he had a little more, perhaps he wouldn't have had to disappear.
If only she had been a little faster back then… Thinking of this, Iuno felt a sting in her nose.
Even if she had arrived earlier, what could she have done? Just anchoring that Overlord-class False Sovereign had already consumed most of her anchoring Resonance power. She couldn't have done more.
No wonder when they were on the Asphodel Barrens earlier, Noah wouldn't let her anchor the Remnants. He had been protecting her fragile pride.
Now that she understood everything, she felt even greater respect in her heart.
"A long, long time ago, I heard the name of the savior from Augusta's mouth and was very curious what kind of person the savior was."
"Later, when I first met you and saw that your future involved entering the girls' bathhouse, I assumed you were just like those nobles in the Elder Council — someone with filthy, unspeakable hobbies hidden beneath a glorious surface."
"At that time, I thought the so-called savior was nothing more than an ordinary mortal who had a few more opportunities than me. The people in this world more worthy of being remembered should be those like me, willing to sacrifice their own lives to save others' fates."
It was only later that she truly saw what kind of person he was.
He was the one truly worthy of being remembered by everyone.
Yet he was the only one everyone had forgotten.
"You had no connection to Septimont at all, yet you stood alone with your sword, fought alone, spared no effort to resolve this catastrophic disaster, and protected Septimont. Did you think you were really cool—"
So fucking cool.
Iuno raised her moon bow high. The arrow she shot radiated a moonlight-like deep blue glow, illuminating her eyes.
No one knew that in the currently silent Murmurstown, in order to retrieve another person's existence, she was willing to pay with her life.
She whispered softly, gentle yet resolute:
"Noah, I'm here to save you in the Chaos!"
[Main Quest: "By Moon's Fated Light" has been activated.]