"Traveler, are you okay?"
"Traveler, you seem a bit down. Tell Paimon about it. Helping a companion sort out their feelings is also part of a guide's duty," Paimon said, following behind Lumine with a worried expression. After spending several months with Lumine, this was the first time she had seen her so dejected.
"I'm fine, just a bit tired," Lumine forced a smile and shook her head. As for what she was truly feeling inside, only she knew.
"Traveler…" Paimon tugged at Lumine's sleeve.
"Paimon, I'm really fine," Lumine reached out and gently pinched Paimon's cheeks. She was grateful to have someone who cared about her.
"No, Traveler, I mean… doesn't something feel off? It's way too quiet around here," Paimon escaped Lumine's grasp and looked around uneasily.
"Something's off?" Hearing Paimon's words, Lumine finally snapped out of her daze. She had been so lost in her emotions that she hadn't noticed her surroundings.
Now that she had calmed down, she carefully observed the area. Somehow, the usually bustling entrance of the Cathedral of Favonius and the Anemo Archon Statue Plaza had become eerily quiet.
Even though it was almost noon, it shouldn't have been this deserted.
"Paimon, hide," Lumine said, summoning her Dull Blade and staying on high alert.
"Traveler, why did you stop?" Venti, who had come out a bit later, caught up to Lumine and asked curiously.
"Venti, watch out!" Lumine shouted. In the next moment, she appeared behind Venti and used her Dull Blade to block a sudden blade attack from the shadows.
After blocking the attack, another blade flashed from the shadows, this time aiming for Lumine's neck. A cold glint flashed, and if it had hit, blood would have splattered everywhere.
"Whoosh!" An Anemo-infused arrow struck the arm of the Fatui Agent holding the blade, forcing him to drop his weapon.
"Gust Surge!" Lumine blocked the attack with one hand while gathering Anemo energy in her other palm. She slammed it into the Fatui Agent's chest, sending him flying.
"Ugh!" The Fatui Agent spat out blood as he fell to the ground, unconscious and in critical condition.
"For the Harbinger, charge!"
Before the two could catch their breath, two fully equipped Fatui Skirmisher squads appeared out of nowhere and charged at them.
"Yah!" Two Electrohammer Vanguards swung their massive hammers at the duo.
However, the two were faster. They had already retreated before the hammers could land. Unfortunately, the stone pavement beneath them shattered under the force of the hammers.
Whoosh! Whoosh! The sound of bullets cutting through the air reached Lumine's ears. She used her sword as a shield, deflecting the flaming bullets.
"Let's play together!" With a playful voice, Venti unleashed his Elemental Skill. A powerful gust of wind erupted beneath the Fatui Skirmishers, catching them off guard and sending them flying into the air.
"Traveler, now's the chance!" Venti shouted to Lumine.
"Let the wind lead!"
Elemental Burst: Wind's Grand Ode!
A massive tornado engulfed the still-airborne Fatui Skirmishers. However, perhaps due to Lumine's Anemo energy not being strong enough, the attack only dealt moderate damage.
"Don't try to run away!"
Venti drew his bow, the Anemo energy on the arrowhead so dense it was almost tangible.
Whoosh!
The arrow shattered mid-air, forming a vortex. The powerful wind pressure crushed the elemental equipment on the Fatui Skirmishers, triggering a violent Swirl reaction. A kaleidoscope of colors danced in the whirlwind, a final farewell to the lives lost.
"Looks like the little mouse has finally come home," a tall, voluptuous woman appeared on the battlefield, followed by two Electro Cicin Mages—La Signora.
"Who are you?" Lumine asked warily. Her millennia-honed instincts told her that while this woman might not be a threat at her full power, in her current state, she was extremely dangerous.
"She's the Ninth Harbinger of the Fatui, La Signora," Venti explained to Lumine, a hint of guilt flashing in his eyes.
He tried to speak: "Rosalyne…"
"Shut up!" La Signora harshly cut him off.
"You don't deserve to call me by that name, you hypocritical god, hypocritical Barbatos!" La Signora roared, her body engulfed in black and red flames as she transformed into the Crimson Witch of Flames.
"This is the power of a defeated god's remnants. You've chosen this path?" Venti recognized the power Rosalyne was using. It was the result of fusing with a defeated god's remnants, not her original witch powers.
"Ahhh!!!"
Endless black and red flames rained down on the two, engulfing half of the Anemo Archon Statue Plaza.
"This is a bit unexpected," Yun Fan, sitting on a windmill not far away, munched on Fisherman's Toast while watching the events unfold at the Anemo Archon Statue Plaza. Compared to the intense battle there, he was quite relaxed.
"I didn't expect La Signora to fuse with a defeated god's power. She's truly a madwoman," Yun Fan didn't think La Signora could withstand the erosion of a defeated god's power. Since the Archon War thousands of years ago, there had been countless cases of people being corrupted by such power, but very few survived and mastered it.
"But I should be careful. I can't let La Signora hurt my dear Lumine," Yun Fan took another bite of his Fisherman's Toast and continued watching the battle.
As for Venti's safety, well, that guy couldn't die anyway, so there was no need to worry. However, when La Signora went for his "heart," Yun Fan had to make sure to capture the moment with his camera. He'd have a good laugh about it for the next two and a half years.
Oh, and when La Signora realized there was no Gnosis after all that effort, how would Venti handle it? Hehehe…