[ Waaah... this is too tragic! ]
[ How could so many people die at once? This... this is just too much! ]
[ Is this what war is like? I can now imagine the war in Khaenri'ah five hundred years ago—the war that annihilated a nation! ]
[ Kinich... ]
[ Is this plot serious? If it is, I'm going to start cursing! ]
-
Scions of the Canopy
After confirming no monsters remained nearby, Lumine silently led Paimon away.
"Are we... just leaving like this?" Paimon asked.
"Let him have some peace for a while," Lumine replied.
Paimon glanced back at Kinich before hurrying to catch up with Lumine.
Since morning, Paimon had shed enough tears to fill a small pond. Her eyelids were still swollen and red, and her heart felt like half of it was missing, aching with a pain that was almost unbearable.
The pair arrived at the Children of Echoes, only to find the situation identical to the Scions of the Canopy—
The tribe had been overrun by the Abyss, its structures destroyed, and all its warriors slaughtered...
Unlike the Scions of the Canopy, this tribe's ruins were still teeming with monsters.
Lumine, her expression cold and impassive, systematically hunted down and slaughtered every last one of them.
She desperately wanted to collect the bodies of the fallen warriors, but the commotion on the battlefield was growing louder, and there was only so much she could do alone.
-
On the front lines of Natlan,
After dealing with the monsters, Ei transformed into a bolt of Electro energy and flew toward the battlefield where Neuvillette and the others were clashing with the Umbral Scion. Nahida followed after finishing her healing duties.
Seizing the opportunity to catch their breath, the Natlan warriors quickly began rescuing the wounded.
The Fatui forces were in a similar state, having suffered heavy casualties.
With "The Captain" temporarily absent, Angie took command, seizing this rare respite to reorganize the troops.
Ailina, injured in the earlier battle, sat as Angie bandaged her wounds. Suddenly, a familiar voice called out from the distance:
"Little Sister!"
"Brother?"
Tartaglia sprinted forward, arriving in a blur. Seeing Angie unharmed, he visibly relaxed.
On his frantic journey, the sight of corpses strewn across the road had haunted him, conjuring visions of his sister wounded. His anxiety grew with each step, driving him to push his speed even further.
"Brother, what brings you here?"
"The changes in Natlan have far-reaching consequences. Her Majesty the Tsaritsa has ordered all Harbingers to assemble—not just me. Everyone has come except for 'The Rooster',The Regrator, and the Director."
Hearing this, Angie glanced behind Tartaglia.
Tartaglia: "They're still behind me. I was worried about you, so I rushed ahead."
Boom—
Another massive explosion rocked the battlefield. This time, the impact was even greater. Angie broke off her conversation with Tartaglia, her expression turning grave as she stared toward the epicenter.
Ororon and the others were similarly drawn to the spectacle.
Even from such a distance, the sheer scale of the battle's impact was staggering. What on earth is happening over there?!
The Pillar of Light had been destroyed, and the Electro Archon had already rushed to the scene. Just what kind of enemy could possibly...
As everyone stared into the distance, a black dot hurtled toward them at tremendous speed, its friction with the air leaving a long, fiery trail in its wake.
"Watch out!"
Angie quickly assessed the trajectory, realizing it was headed straight for their position. She urgently ordered the Fatui Soldiers to relocate.
As the black dot drew closer, they finally recognized who it was—Traveler Lumine!
Thud!
Lumine crashed heavily into the ground, creating a massive crater before being flung skyward again, only to slam down even harder the second time.
"Traveler!!!"
"Are you alright, Traveler?!"
Seeing this, Angie, Xilonen, and the others rushed forward to check on her, even the wounded dragging themselves over.
Lumine lay face-down, completely buried in Natlan's earth, utterly motionless.
Just as Angie reached out to touch her, Lumine suddenly pulled herself free from the earth. She wiped the mud and sand from her mouth and coughed several times.
Everyone around her watched with anxious concern. After all... such a violent descent couldn't help but raise alarm!
After Lumine caught her breath, Angie asked anxiously:
"Traveler, are you alright? What exactly happened?"
Lumine pressed a hand to her forehead, struggling to recall the events.
After leaving the Children of Echoes, Lumine, still seething with anger, teleported herself and Paimon directly to the battlefield.
Though the commotion from that direction indicated formidable enemies, Lumine believed she could hold her own. To her shock, she was instantly blasted away the moment she teleported in, before she could even get a clear look at the enemy.
She couldn't even put up any resistance!
Oh, right! Paimon!
Lumine leaped to her feet, ready to rush back and find Paimon, when the little sprite flew over from the distance.
"Waaah~ Lumine, are you okay?!"
Seeing only a bit of dirt on Lumine's face, Paimon dove in for a tight hug.
"Waaah, I was so worried! We'd just arrived, and that guy sent you flying with a single whoosh! I didn't even have time to react! I'm so glad you're okay... if anything had happened to you, I... I don't know what I would have done! Waaah..."
Lumine patted the back of Paimon's head, comforting the little sprite.
However, Paimon's words left the surrounding crowd in stunned silence.
The Traveler had been knocked flying?!
Everyone present knew the Traveler's power rivaled that of a God. Yet this mighty Traveler had been sent flying without even a chance to resist?!
Hiss—
How formidable must that enemy be?
Paimon continued, "If it weren't for Neuvillette's help, I might have been sent flying over here too..."
Paimon's small hand pointed toward the battlefield. Just as the little one finished speaking with a sob, an ear-splitting screech tore through the sky once more!
Another black dot, plummeting even faster than Lumine's earlier fall, tore through the heavens, enveloped in roaring flames and a sonic boom cloud. It hurtled straight down!
"Another one?! Scatter!" Angie roared, her voice strained to the breaking point. The Fatui Soldiers, well-trained, swiftly executed their emergency evasion maneuvers.
This time, everyone clearly saw it—the black dot wasn't a single figure, but two entangled silhouettes falling together, completely out of control!
BOOM!!!!!
A deafening explosion, far more thunderous and terrifying than Lumine's crash, erupted!
The ground trembled violently as if an earthquake had struck.
A searing shockwave, mingled with smoke, dust, and flying debris, shot skyward, carving out a massive crater. The surrounding earth and rock were instantly melted into glassy slag by the extreme heat.
As the smoke gradually cleared, the crowd gasped in horror at the scene within the crater.
The two figures in the crater were none other than The Captain and the Pyro Archon Mavuika.
The Captain was in dire straits, desperately trying to prop himself up with his broken sword. He suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood, which dripped from beneath his mask. His towering frame swayed precariously, threatening to collapse again.
The flames burning around Mavuika had dimmed to a faint glow, as if on the verge of extinguishing. Each breath she took was ragged, filled with pain and searing heat. Yet compared to the Captain, her injuries seemed somewhat less severe.
Their positions revealed the sequence of events: the Captain had stood in front of Mavuika, apparently shielding her from the initial attack before both were hurled away.
"Pyro Archon!"
"Mavuika!"
The warriors of Natlan cried out in horror. Xilonen, Kachina, and the others recklessly plunged into the crater, frantically trying to help Mavuika.
Meanwhile, Angie and Tartaglia, leading a squad of elite Fatui soldiers, unhesitatingly jumped into the pit from the opposite side.
"Captain! Are you alright?!"
The Captain raised a hand to halt their approach.
His movements were labored, yet his authority remained unquestionable. Through the shattered mask, his gaze locked onto the direction they had come from, his voice a raspy, gravelly rasp like sandpaper scraping against stone, each word heavy with dire urgency:
"...Notify... all units... evacuate this area immediately. Clear the battlefield. That entity... is beyond our ability to confront directly..."