Just then, a black figure flitted across the battlefield like a ghost, moving so fast it left only an afterimage, charging straight toward Beisht, who was pinned to the deep sea by a Stone Spear.
It was Xiao Qin!
She hovered before Beisht, the dark energy churning around her unusually subdued. A faint ripple of emotion flickered in her pitch-black eyes.
It was the grievance of a "daughter."
"Mother, they bullied me, and they also bullied... my other self." Xiao Qin's voice trembled imperceptibly.
Pinned to the seabed by the Stone Spear, Beisht's serpentine body twitched slightly from the excruciating pain. Black blood seeped from the gaps between her scales, spreading through the seawater in inky ripples.
But when she saw the dense Abyssal aura on Xiao Qin, saw her face, which was identical to Yunqin's, and recalled the consciousness waves she had sensed earlier, the waves of her daughter's consciousness being torn into fragments.
A towering rage instantly ignited in her serpentine pupils, and her originally murky vertical pupils turned crimson: "My daughter..."
Her hoarse voice carried a fierce, gritted-teeth intensity, each word squeezed through her teeth: "Who let you touch her?! Who gave you the audacity?!"
Xiao Qin said no more, simply raising her hand slowly and aiming it at the Stone Spear pinning Beisht's serpentine body.
Dark energy swiftly condensed in her palm, transforming into a longsword that shimmered with an eerie black light, the Abyssal Moon patterns on the blade constantly shifting.
She swung the sword down with a sudden, powerful strike!
CLANG!
With a thunderous crash, the Stone Spear, which contained Zhongli's divine power, was actually shattered out of sheer force, turning into a sky full of stone debris that scattered across the sea surface.
The moment she broke free from her restraints, Beisht let out a roar that shook heaven and earth. The Hydro Element and Abyssal aura around her body frantically intertwined and consumed one another. Her already massive body, nourished by Xiao Qin's power, actually expanded to a size comparable to Osial's.
Her serpent scales shimmered with a black-purple luster, and her serpent claws were as sharp as knives, gleaming with a cold light. Her eyes were filled with world-destroying rage!
"I don't care who you are, whether you are gods or humans. Dare to hurt my daughter, dare to tear her into pieces, and you will all die!"
She didn't even ask about the cause or the consequences, nor did she care about the right or wrong of this battle. She only knew that her daughter had been bullied and split apart. This pure motherly love transformed into the wildest force, allowing the Abyssal aura on her body to soar and her strength to multiply several times over.
The next second, Beisht transformed into a black torrent, charging straight toward Zhongli and Venti, who were casting their spells, with an irresistible and devastating force!
"Not good!" Zhongli's face changed drastically, and alarm bells rang out in his heart. In his haste, he could only divert a portion of his Geo Element to condense into a Geo Shield.
But Beisht's serpent claws, imbued with the power to tear everything apart, slammed viciously into the Geo Shield.
With a thunderous BOOM, the Geo Shield instantly shattered into countless fragments.
The serpent claws, their momentum undiminished, struck Zhongli's shoulder heavily.
Zhongli let out a muffled groan and stumbled back several steps, a trickle of blood escaping the corner of his mouth, instantly staining his divine robes red.
The Geo Seal he had laid down, deprived of its divine power, instantly collapsed into chaos, its golden light dimming by more than half as it threatened to dissipate.
Osial seized this fleeting opportunity, violently breaking free from his restraints. A colossal tentacle, carrying world-destroying power, slammed down toward Venti.
Venti was forced to interrupt his spellcasting, hastily transforming into a wind shadow to barely evade the attack, yet the shockwave kicked up by the tentacle sent his internal organs churning.
The sealing plan, meticulously crafted by the Dual Gods, had completely failed under Beisht's surprise attack!
Osial and Beisht stood side by side upon the sea, the auras of two god-level beings intertwining to form a suffocating field of pressure.
The entire heaven and earth trembled, and even the distant embankments of Liyue Harbor continuously shed crumbling stone.
Xiao Qin stood between the two gods, her pitch-black eyes sweeping over the disheveled Dual Gods as a cold smile curved her lips: "Now, it's time for you to taste the feeling of losing what is most precious to you."
-
Inside the shelter, although the heavy Stone Gate blocked out most of the booming sounds from outside, it could not stop the terrifying pressure that weighed down on her heart like a tangible force.
Lumine pressed her back tightly against the cold Stone Gate, her muscles tensed all over, her heart feeling as if it were being squeezed by an invisible hand, while anxiety surged like a tide over and over again.
The newly risen power was too violent, almost able to transmit the Dual Gods' current plight and struggle clearly to her before her eyes through the Stone Gate.
Her fingertips unconsciously scraped the dust in the crevices of the Stone Gate, and she was completely unaware that her fingernails were stuffed with stone chips.
The images of the Dual Gods fighting fiercely against the god replayed in her mind, and even her breathing became heavy.
Just then, a warm palm gently patted her shoulder.
Lumine turned her head abruptly like a startled beast, meeting a pair of clear eyes so familiar they made her nose sting—it was Yunqin!
The young girl's dress was still stained with undried sea foam, her face pale and tired from having just awakened from unconsciousness, yet her eyes hid a gentle concern.
"Are you alright?" Yunqin's voice was as soft as a feather, carrying the hoarseness of just waking up, instantly shattering the defenses Lumine had been desperately holding up for so long.
Tears rolled down Lumine's face without warning.
She recalled how Yunqin had been cornered by the Millelith and pelted with stones by the townspeople in the illusion. She remembered her own determination as she pointed her sword at Yunqin to "awaken" her, and how Yunqin had curled up in the darkness, weeping and begging, "Don't abandon me."
The guilt and heartache in Lumine's heart broke like a dammed flood, leaving her unable to hold back any longer.
Lumine threw her arms around Yunqin and hugged her tightly, crying out loud, "I'm sorry... Yunqin, I'm truly sorry! I was too stupid. I shouldn't have let you endure so much alone..."
Yunqin froze for a moment in the hug, then gently raised her hand and patted Lumine's back.
Feeling the girl's shoulders trembling from sobbing, Yunqin's voice held a smile of helpless yet aching fondness: "Alright, don't cry anymore. Listen..."
She tilted her head, gesturing for Lumine to listen to the sounds inside the room.
"Little Paimon and the other children are still sleeping inside. If you cry too loudly and wake them up, don't complain when you have to soothe them back to sleep."
Lumine choked back her sobs and looked up, her tear-filled eyes meeting Yunqin's gentle gaze, with teardrops still clinging to her long eyelashes.
Just as she was about to say something, a clear, cool voice, identical to Yunqin's, drifted over with a hint of playfulness: "Who would have thought? The battle-hardened Traveler actually has such a fragile side?"
Lumine turned toward the voice and saw Hydro Qin leaning against a stone pillar in the corner. Glistening water droplets clung to her long hair, dripping from the ends. The starlike glow on her abdomen still shimmered, though it was softer than before.
She was already awake. Her eyes still held the aloofness of a stranger, but the previous hostility had faded.
The young woman glanced at herself with a touch of arrogance, then swept her gaze over the three unconscious Adepti, her brow furrowing slightly.
"Instead of wasting time weeping here, you'd better think about how to deal with my furious parents."