Hearing Paimon's cry, Lumine instinctively turned her head, but what greeted her was not a fluffy puppy, but a ferocious Rifthound.
"Roar!!!"
A roar of fury erupted from its gaping, foul-smelling maw, as if in warning, or perhaps calling to its kin.
After its howl, the Rifthound paused briefly, then unhesitatingly raised its sharp claws and swiped down towards Lumine.
Feeling the slight gale brought by the beast's claws, Lumine's eyes narrowed slightly, then she instinctively dodged to the side.
Bang—
The Rifthound's sharp claws did not hit Lumine, but instead struck a broken wall squarely.
Whether it was because the wall had been eroded by time or because this Rifthound's strength was significantly greater than its kin, the broken wall instantly collapsed the moment it came into contact with the beast's claws.
Lumine glanced at the broken ruins with lingering fear, then unhesitatingly pulled out her Wu Feng Sword, ready to fight the Rifthound in front of her.
As for Paimon... Lumine never intended to rely on her in combat, only hoping she could find a place to hide herself.
A thought flashed through her mind, and the silver-white blade in the young girl's hand was suddenly coated with a shimmer of water element.
—Since coming to Fontaine, she had never used water element before!
After imbuing her sword with water element, Lumine actively charged towards the creature, which was two or three times larger than an ordinary Rifthound.
The Rifthound naturally sensed Lumine charging towards it, and after a roar, it vanished into thin air.
Lumine, who had been in a sprint, stopped upon seeing this, then slowly closed her eyes, sensing the changes in the space around her.
If this Rifthound were facing someone like the Fontaine Guard... its tricks might still work.
But it was facing a ruthless individual who had hunted Rifthounds all the way from Inazuma's Tsurumi Island to Fontaine, someone who could even treat their leader, the "Gold King Beast," as prey, so this move was naturally ineffective.
The next moment, Lumine's brilliant golden eyes snapped open, and she unhesitatingly slashed at the air behind her—
"Roar!!!"
A pained roar came from the spatial rift, and then, a sharp beast claw fell out of thin air, before the Rifthound's figure slowly materialized.
Just as the beast was still wailing because its claw had been severed, a golden flash streaked across its head—
"Starfall!"
Accompanied by the young girl's delicate cry, a massive Geo construct descended from the sky, landing squarely on the Rifthound's head.
Bang—
With a crisp sound, Lumine leaped up, a flash of sword light streaked, and the Rifthound's head fell in response.
It didn't even have a chance to let out a wail... it had already vanished from this world.
Lumine, meanwhile, skillfully severed several of its claws, then stored them in her four-dimensional backpack.
For her, these guys were just here to provide materials.
Paimon, at this moment, floated out from some corner, then said with some delight:
"See~ I'm actually a little useful in combat~"
Hearing this, Lumine gave Paimon a rather speechless glance, then nodded helplessly, as if acknowledging her usefulness.
Children, after all, always need a little affirmation.
"But... speaking of which, why are there Rifthounds in this place?"
However, just as Lumine and Paimon were about to continue deeper into the ruins... more mournful roars came from the spatial rifts.
Before Lumine and Paimon could react, the space around them was torn apart, and Rifthounds, emanating an eerie aura, crawled out from these spatial rifts.
"Uwaah, why are there so many Rifthounds here?! Lumine! Quick, think of something!"
Paimon shouted loudly while tugging on Lumine's sleeve, as if the person who had just claimed to be somewhat useful wasn't her.
"Roar!!!"
Dozens of Rifthounds simultaneously raised their heads and howled, their piercing roars making Lumine feel as if the ground beneath her feet was trembling.
Lumine looked at the numerous Rifthounds in front of her, who regarded her as prey, and a dark glint flashed in her eyes.
To be honest, dealing with one or two, or even three Rifthounds simultaneously... Lumine could still do so without a scratch.
But facing these dozens of Rifthounds... she probably didn't have that ability.
"...Must we postpone exploring the ruins...?"
Lumine tightened her grip on the Wu Feng Sword, rapidly thinking of a way to escape with the least cost.
But contrary to her expectations, these Rifthounds seemed to have some kind of commanding consciousness, as they all disappeared from their original positions and re-entered the spatial rifts.
Seeing this scene, Lumine's eyes widened slightly, as if she realized something was wrong.
Monsters like Rifthounds... they only appear in groups when a large Rifthound leads two or even three smaller ones.
The Rifthounds' inherent strong aggressiveness destined them not to roam in groups of three or five after reaching adulthood, let alone in their current state.
Thinking of this, Lumine's heart trembled slightly, then she grabbed Paimon beside her and ran towards the exit of the ruins.
—Rather than getting injured here and becoming a burden to the team, it would be better to wait until Neuvillette arrived and explore together.
However, before Lumine could take a few steps, a cold, gleaming beast claw emerged from the spatial rift in front of Lumine, then unhesitatingly grabbed at Paimon.
"Uwaah!"
Paimon was greatly startled by this claw, and quickly closed her eyes, like a salted fish that would never resist.
But the imagined sting did not come, which allowed Paimon to slowly open her eyes, only to see Lumine holding the Wu Feng Sword in one hand to fight the Rifthound, and in the other hand, carrying Paimon while running forward.
As the saying goes, two fists are no match for four hands. Lumine herself had to face the encirclement of dozens of adult Rifthounds alone, and also had to ensure Paimon's safety.
This meant that... Lumine had to face more than twenty claws with a single fist.
The frantic escape and intermittent confrontations greatly depleted Lumine's stamina, and soon, her reaction time also slowed down.
At this moment, a dark beast claw extended from the spatial rift behind her, and just as it was about to grab Lumine, a water element-blue beam of light descended from the sky.
Bang—
The Rifthound that had ambushed Lumine struggled painfully amidst the surging water element energy, and before it could even let out a wail, it was completely annihilated by the continuous beam of light.
As the Rifthound died, a majestic blue figure streaked across the sky.
His sea-blue staff gently tapped the ground, and the water element energy in the air instantly began to condense into countless tiny water droplets, which then shot out towards the Rifthounds.
"I apologize, I'm late. Are you hurt?"
Looking at the tall figure standing in front of them, Paimon, who had been somewhat scared, suddenly became excited, as if she had seen some hope.
"Neuvillette! You're finally here!"
Neuvillette, who was called by name, turned his head slightly and nodded gently, then began to control the water element energy in this space, and an intricate elemental array immediately appeared before him.
As he gently tapped the ground with the staff in his hand, an even stronger elemental fluctuation than before emanated from the array.
The next moment, a water element-blue beam of light surged out from the array, and in just a moment, it completely annihilated the Rifthounds that had been chasing Lumine.
Although Neuvillette is not a complete dragon now, in terms of combat power... he is close to the peak existence on Teyvat, killing a few dogs... is still effortless.
As the Rifthounds turned to dust and dispersed, the intricate elemental array in front of Neuvillette also disappeared.
He turned around, looked at Lumine, who was leaning against the wall and adjusting her breathing, and asked with a hint of doubt:
"Traveler, I remember... you fought the Raiden Shogun in Inazuma, so why...?"
Neuvillette did not continue to ask, he believed Lumine understood his meaning.
Lumine, meanwhile, pointed at Paimon symbolically, then pointed deeper into the ruins and said:
"We need to speed up the exploration of the ruins. The water here... has been contaminated by Seawater."
Neuvillette was first startled, a look of understanding appearing between his brows, then he nodded and walked into the ruins first.
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