Chapter 205: The Ethereal Echo

The golden light of the Cosmic Metronome fades, leaving Echo and Li Wei standing amid the stillness of the "Mechanical Melody" dimension. The automata have powered down, their metallic forms glinting like silent sentinels in the dim light. The Clockwork Conductor lies motionless, his gears finally silent, a testament to the harmony they've restored.​Nova's avatar flickers into view, her sensors pinging with relief. "Dimension stabilization at 98%," she reports. "The Cosmic Metronome is recalibrating to its natural rhythm. Well done—though I've detected anomalous energy signatures rippling through the multiverse. Something's stirring in the 'Ethereal Echo' dimension."​Chen Jiuzhang's hologram materializes beside her, his expression grave. "That realm is woven from sound and memory," he explains. "Every echo carries a fragment of a forgotten melody, every whisper holds a piece of a soul's history. But the 'Resonance Reavers' have begun harvesting these echoes, weaponizing them into a 'Silencing Symphony' that erases both music and memory."​Echo's peace drum vibrates faintly, as if responding to the mention of lost melodies. "If they succeed, entire civilizations could be erased," she murmurs. Li Wei nods, his charge flaring with quiet resolve. Together, they step through the portal Nova opens, bracing for whatever lies beyond.​They emerge into a world where the air shimmers with translucent waves—sound made visible. Floating orbs of light drift past, each humming a different tune: a lullaby, a battle cry, a lover's serenade. But beneath the beauty, there's a hollow ache. Some orbs are dim, their melodies fractured, as if someone has siphoned away their essence.​A low, discordant drone rumbles in the distance. Following it, they reach a chasm where the Ethereal Echo dimension's fabric is unraveling. Shadows cling to the edges, their forms shifting like smoke. These are the Resonance Reavers: gaunt figures with voids for faces, their hands outstretched to pluck at the floating orbs. Each time they seize one, the orb dissolves, and a wail of forgotten memory echoes through the air.​"Look," Li Wei whispers, pointing to a Reaver clutching a particularly bright orb. As it crushes the light, a village materializes in the distance—a bustling square with musicians playing, children laughing—then flickers and vanishes, as if it never existed.​Echo's drum beats once, a mournful tone that ripples through the chasm. The Reavers turn as one, their void - faces 锁定 on the intruders. "Interference," one hisses, its voice a chorus of stolen voices. "Your memories will feed our symphony."​They attack, sending waves of silence crashing toward Echo and Li Wei. The air thickens, muffling sound—Echo's drumbeats fade to whispers, Li Wei's charge sputters like a dying flame. A Reaver lunges, its hand grazing Echo's arm; she gasps as a fragment of memory flashes before her eyes: a childhood piano lesson, her mother's voice guiding her—then it's gone, leaving a hollow ache.​"Fight through it!" Li Wei shouts, his voice barely audible. He channels energy into his charge, forcing it to glow brighter, and fires a beam at the nearest Reaver. The creature staggers, its form flickering, and the stolen orb it held clatters to the ground, reforming into a wisp of light that floats away.​Echo slams her drum against the ground, pouring every ounce of will into the rhythm. The sound fractures the silence, creating a shockwave that sends Reavers scrambling. "They're vulnerable to their own stolen music," she realizes. "If we can return the echoes, we can weaken them."​Li Wei nods, and they split up: he targets the Reavers, disarming them of their stolen orbs, while Echo catches the fleeing lights, guiding them back to the chasm's edges. Each returned orb reignites a fragment of the dimension— a melody swells, a memory blooms—and the Reavers shrink, their shadows thinning.​But the largest Reaver, a towering figure with a cloak woven from shredded sheet music, steps forward. It raises its hands, and the air vibrates with a deafening chord—a preview of the Silencing Symphony. The floating orbs shriek, their light dimming, and Echo feels her own memories fraying at the edges.​"We need to counter their symphony," she shouts to Li Wei. "With something that binds memories together—something unbreakable."​Li Wei's eyes light up. He 想起 the lullaby his grandmother used to sing, a tune that had comforted him through every storm. He begins to hum it, soft at first, then louder, his charge pulsing in time. Echo joins in, her drum keeping rhythm, and together they weave the melody into the air.​The lullaby wraps around the Reavers like a net. The largest one howls, its form dissolving as the familiar tune seeps into its void. The other Reavers falter, their stolen echoes breaking free, flooding the dimension with a cacophony of restored memories—laughter, music, life.​As the last Reaver dissolves, the chasm glows with light. The Ethereal Echo dimension rebuilds itself, orb by orb, memory by memory. But as Echo and Li Wei catch their breath, a single, fractured note hangs in the air—a dissonance that doesn't belong, a hint of a greater threat still lurking in the multiverse's shadows.