As everyone knows, the two elements—wind and lightning—not only appear frequently in various works of literature, used time and again by countless authors, but are also often tied to many distinctive symbolic meanings.
For example: wind represents freedom, intangibility, unpredictability… an omen of rebellion.
For another: lightning represents isolation, violence, the instant shift between stillness and motion… a catalyst for change.
And these two share one more similarity…
That is, they both give people a profound sense of speed.
Now then…
"Kak~"
"Voom~"
Deep within the seventeenth floor of the Dungeon, before the Big Wall of Grief.
After her very first exchange of blades with Keqing, Ais had already confirmed something with absolute clarity—
The purple-haired girl with high twin ponytails and almond-shaped eyes before her was, without a doubt, an opponent she could only hope to defeat by going all out, and even then, only with the slimmest chance of victory.
If it was her…
[Tempest—]
The simulated battle had only just begun, yet Ais—who had never been good at holding back to begin with, and now knew she didn't need to—made a decisive judgment and immediately unleashed her only enhancement magic.
At this moment, as jade-colored wind pressure surged around her body under the effect of Ariel, all of her [Basic Abilities] received a comprehensive boost.
At last, when facing those lightning-fast sword strikes that erupted in flashes of thunder, Ais could barely react.
"CLANG~ CLANG~ CLANG~"
Both sides launched a dazzling high-speed exchange. In the blink of an eye, they clashed blades more than ten times.
It was clear that Ais's self-taught swordsmanship consisted almost entirely of straightforward slashes and thrusts, with very little in the way of refined technique.
Her combat style was, by nature, reckless and forceful.
Ordinary, fragile blades simply couldn't withstand the wear and tear she inflicted on her weapons.
Moreover…
She had been fighting this way for many years. Even if she lacked finesse in terms of technique, her proficiency was unquestionably high.
The angle at which she swung her blade, the way she ensured her thrusts traveled in a perfectly straight line—
Even without deliberate practice, sheer repetition in real combat had long since engraved these instincts into her body.
As for Keqing…
Accustomed to wielding the Yunlai Swordsmanship, she knew how to subtly flick her wrist and finely adjust her grip mid-swing, even without reinforcing herself with Electro.
This allowed her attacks to retain their power while making the trajectories far more difficult to track and predict.
Furthermore, Yunlai Swordsmanship was derived from the ancient Ancient Sword Art of Liyue from several centuries ago.
Though it was an improved form developed from incomplete remnants of the original, it had already evolved into a style with its own distinct strengths and weaknesses.
Broadly speaking, Yunlai Swordsmanship incorporated certain techniques of borrowing force and redirecting power.
The cutting power and striking speed of its sword techniques would gradually stack and amplify.
As a result…
Within the vast birthplace of the floor boss, Ais found herself growing more and more alarmed as the fight dragged on.
Just moments ago, after activating Ariel, she had held the advantage for a time.
One could even say she had briefly suppressed her opponent.
But now—after merely several dozen seconds—Keqing had already adapted to her attack rhythm.
And those sword techniques with their bizarre, elusive trajectories were making Ais increasingly uncomfortable.
Because they were simply too hard to predict.
Suddenly—
Keqing, gripping the Lion's Roar sword tightly in her right hand, abruptly thrust out her left hand in a sword-finger gesture.
A lightning wedge shot forth like a thrown projectile, streaking straight toward Ais's position.
Its speed was astonishing—nearly upon her in the blink of an eye.
Only by using Ariel as propulsion did Ais barely manage to evade it at the very last moment.
At this instant, no one would consider Keqing's move dishonorable.
After all, Ais herself had already used her only magic.
And from the very beginning, this simulated battle had never been restricted to swordsmanship alone.
Under this premise…
"Be careful."
Everything Keqing had displayed so far—those exquisite sword techniques and even the thrown lightning wedge—had merely been normal attacks and elemental skills.
Now, as she spoke this warning and narrowed her eyes, the Yuheng Star was finally preparing to fight while consuming her own magic power.
Simply put: she had switched from Genshin mode to Honkai crossover mode.
In the briefest instant, as Keqing began reinforcing herself with magic power, her lithe figure seemed to split into afterimages.
An illusion?
No—this was no illusion.
They were genuine Electro-element duplicates.
Or rather—phantom bodies.
Look closely…
"Whoosh~"
Keqing's almond eyes sharpened, arcs of lightning flickering within her gaze.
Translucent violet energy began to overflow from her body.
She surged forward—
Whether in Ais's vision or in the eyes of the many spectators nearby, everyone saw Keqing's true body charge ahead first.
And along the path she traversed, several purple humanoid silhouettes followed closely behind.
These were special humanoid constructs formed from Electro elemental power after Keqing began consuming magic.
They could exist independently and could also merge—or rather, overlap—with the main body at any time.
"Even the Raiden Mei from Post-Honkai uses this move,"
Renjiro couldn't help but remark inwardly as he watched.
This technique had immense practical value.
Because once it was activated, it meant—
"Shua~ … CLANG CLANG CLANG~"
"Ungh—"
Ais, her entire body wrapped in jade-green wind pressure, was driven steadily backward by Keqing's sudden offensive.
Because now, every single sword strike from Keqing was equivalent to multiple slashes layered together.
And then—
Ais's eyes widened in shock.
At that very moment, within her vision, Keqing's main body suddenly changed her move and thrust her sword forward.
Yet her phantom bodies attacked simultaneously—one slashing horizontally, one chopping vertically, and one sweeping upward.
Four lines of attack, striking at once…
"Even without pulling out sword-light arcs yet, isn't this already a different kind of Secret Sword: Swallow Reversal?"
Lumine instinctively complained through the mental link.
Without question, when speed was equal—or even slightly inferior—there was no way Ais could fully defend against such a four-pronged, combo-like high-speed assault using only the Sword of Despair.
Which left only one option—
[Tempest—]
By consuming a massive amount of magic power in one go, Ais performed a second-stage release of Ariel.
In an instant, the wind pressure around her expanded violently, transforming into something like a repulsion field that forcibly blasted Keqing away.
As she was sent flying—
Using an elemental skill for rapid repositioning, Keqing effortlessly shed the inertia from the knockback and landed with her sword raised at a short distance.
Her breathing remained calm and steady.
But Ais's combat rhythm had already fallen completely into disarray.
"So amazing!"
Beside Renjiro and Lumine, Tiona and the others exclaimed in amazement.
Gareth tugged at his beard with a gloomy expression.
"This old man is the worst at dealing with girls like that as opponents."
"Still…"
He nodded in genuine approval.
"She truly is a formidable enemy—one perfectly suited to pushing Ais's growth."