To avoid attracting attention, Kuro temporarily put away the Music Box after closing it. After all, in this situation, no one would feel comfortable leaving such a thing lying around.
At least Kuro, Manner, and Chesper had no reaction to the Music Box's music, but others might. Kuro also didn't feel comfortable leaving Noah alone, so after putting away the Music Box, she temporarily left the scene for Manner to handle.
Manner looked at the tragic scene at the Howling Guard, remained silent for a long time, and then asked Chesper, who was already tied up.
"Is this what you wanted?"
"You know what I'll answer."
Chesper slightly raised his head, a faint glimmer still in his eyes. Manner looked at him and slowly sighed. She took out a cigarette from her top pocket, one she rarely smoked and kept specifically for giving out, put one in her mouth, and offered one to Chesper. Chesper naturally took it with his mouth and closed his lips.
Manner didn't light his cigarette; she just made him temporarily shut up—back when they were still together, Tolan often used this method to make Chesper shut up. After all, this upright young Knight was a bit too talkative for the Sarkaz Knights—they still had that name at the time. At times like these, putting something in his mouth could effectively silence him. In the past, it was candy, or snacks from hand, or even sugarcane and wheat stalks freshly broken off by the roadside.
But now Manner had nothing, so she could only give him a cigarette.
Manner stood there for a while, then slowly turned around and took out her phone.
"—Hello, it's me." Manner rarely made this call, but she had never deleted it from her contacts. After all, she knew she would eventually need some help.
Like now—
"At the Howling Guard, please bring people to deal with this. It needs to be done before dawn, otherwise there will be big trouble."
—
When Kuro rushed back to Noah's side, Noah was quietly sitting there, head bowed, as if listening to the rain.
Kuro's footsteps unexpectedly didn't elicit any reaction from her. Kuro's heart skipped a beat, and she immediately took a few steps to her side and asked. "What happened?"
"…" Noah didn't respond, only shook her head slightly, and then spoke. "Is everything alright?"
"Everything's fine." Kuro didn't tell Noah what had happened inside the Howling Guard, only replied, "Manner didn't kill his friend, and he wasn't injured, as you wished."
"…Mm, that's good." Noah then looked up, smiled, "Let's go back, I'm tired."]}
"Alright, let's go back." Although Kuro felt that Noah's mood wasn't quite right, she didn't press the issue and pushed Noah's wheelchair away from the distance. Noah didn't say anything either; this time, she seemed much more silent than before.
After returning to her room, Noah told Kuro to rest early. She then wheeled herself into her own room. She didn't know when it started, but her eyes, which were initially pure black, slowly became tinged with red. Then, the music box Kuro had given Noah was placed on her lap. The fragmented scores, extracted and preserved inside, now lay quietly as if in their owner's palm.
Noah actually knew exactly what had happened over there…
She had gained control of the Procedure, then seized its dominance, and finally designated Kuro, Manner, and Chesper as the three individuals not to be attacked before the Procedure went out of control. As a result, although the Procedure's rampage was inevitable, she still felt as if she had actively killed everyone in the Howling Guard. This included not only the Witch King Remnants but also the ordinary people who were stranded in the Howling Guard. However, this was already her limit.
Being able to categorize Kuro and the others outside the attack range was the most she could do… She couldn't distinguish between the ordinary people and the Witch King Remnants, and could only watch as these fragmented scores unleashed their true power, destroying everything nearby. The fragmented scores in this music box had the ability to change people's souls, even directly twisting them. That's how those High Tower Sorcerers became bloated masses of flesh… blood clots.
The essence was the result of twisted souls—sinners who attempted to manipulate the unknowable Procedure, even to alter it, received punishment from the music itself.
Although, strictly speaking, she wasn't the one who killed them, she could clearly hear their wails, pleas, and even deathbed curses from within the music. These emotions all entered Noah's heart along with the music. She felt as if she was in the center of an infernal hell, yet she could only watch it all unfold until the music itself was sated, finally shrinking back into the music box.
This music box, which devoured life and souls—could it be the Dustworld Sound that the Witch King Remnants sought?
No… this broken and fragmented Procedure didn't seem like the work of the Witch King. It was probably something they themselves had altered. They didn't understand the danger of such a thing. For Noah, who could perceive emotions, she was certain that this type of Procedure involved souls and forbidden things.
It was difficult for her to know if the Witch King Remnants had created more of these inferior objects, but she understood that what these Witch King Remnants truly wanted was not the Witch King's wisdom and knowledge. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to create such… shoddy Procedure.
What they wanted and craved… was merely the Witch King's power.
It was ironic, in a way. The very thing they painstakingly created allowed Noah, when perceiving the creator's own will, to discover… what was truly hidden within.
Dustworld Sound—
Noah opened the music box and wound it up. As a seemingly rhythmless, noisy sound slowly began to play, Noah reached out, touching the notes that once again flowed from the music box as if playing a zither. With the rhythm of her fingers, these notes rearranged themselves, changed their order, and finally formed a melody that, though incomplete, was far more beautiful than before.
After this string of notes was completed, it instantly radiated a completely different color. As it danced around Noah, she felt as if she had touched the door of a treasure vault—inside, there was definitely vast and dangerous knowledge, but Noah, with her willpower, refused the temptation to push open that door.
She withdrew her hand—and spoke to the scattered notes in the music box.
"I will not be your successor, Witch King."
---------------------------------
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