Player World, Chen Xiyao's Live Stream
The screen froze, as if time itself had stopped.
A massive shockwave of energy surged outward. The Gods, who had moments before been attacking like a tidal wave, were sent flying backward like leaves scattered by a gale, crashing heavily to the ground.
The Geo Archon knelt, coughing up blood. The Electro Archon braced herself with her blade. The Dendro Archon slumped, utterly drained. The Anemo Archon's wings drooped. The Hydro Dragon Sovereign struggled to stand. The Cryo Archon's face was deathly pale, and even the Traveler, who had just joined the battle, lay prone on the ground...
The entire scene was one of utter devastation, a twilight of the Gods.
The live stream fell into a brief, deathly silence.
The chat box seemed to freeze, remaining completely empty for a full two or three seconds.
Then, an avalanche of comments flooded the screen, burying it completely!
[ Holy shit!!!!!!!!!! ]
[ They... they all lost?! ]
[ What the fuck?! What the fuck?! What the fuck?! What did I just witness?! ]
[ The Seven Archons + the Hydro Dragon Sovereign + the Traveler... got... one-shot?! ]
[ What kind of sick joke is this?! How is this even possible?! ]
[ This boss is hacking! Did the writers go insane?! ]
[ My mind is blank... completely blank... ]
[ Venti's wings! Waaah, my Venti! ]
[ The Geo Archon coughed up blood! Aaaaaah, holy shit! ]
[ The Traveler just stepped onto the field and immediately collapsed... ]
[ What's the point of even trying?! How are we supposed to fight this?! ]
Chen Xiyao froze before the screen, her mouth slightly agape and eyes wide. The expression on her face wasn't one of exaggerated shock, but rather a stunned, blank confusion—a complete inability to process the information before her.
Several seconds passed before she gasped for air, as if she had just been pulled from the water. Her voice came out distorted and disjointed:
"N-no... it's not... what... what is this?! Aah?!"
She leaned closer to the screen, her finger almost poking the collapsed characters:
"One move? Just one move? And they're all gone? Even Zhongli is kneeling? This..."
She slumped back in her chair, her gaze fixed on the screen. "No... isn't this power scaling a little absurd? What kind of monster did the Doctor create...?"
The comments continued to flood in frantically, filled with "???" and "!!!" alongside desperate cries and incredulous gasps. Every viewer was reeling from the overwhelming and utterly unexpected display of combat power, a crushing force that felt almost hopeless.
-
Natlan Battlefield.
A few kilometers outside the battlefield, Paimon's small face turned deathly pale in an instant. With a whoosh, she shot forward at an unbelievable speed—far beyond what she should have been capable of!
This was a speed Paimon shouldn't possibly possess!
But just as Paimon surged forward, she sensed an immense surge of energy hurtling toward her from another direction at an equally impossible speed.
Paimon abruptly swerved, changing course.
"That's..."
-
In the heart of the battlefield, Lumine struggled to her feet, having endured attacks equal to or even greater than those faced by the other Gods. Yet she still stood...
This immediately caught the attention of the Umbral Scion, who had been surveying the surroundings. The Scion charged toward her, launching an attack.
"Traveler!"
Just as Barbatos was about to unleash his Anemo Element, a golden shield enveloped Lumine—Morax had intervened.
A pillar of water surged toward them as well.
Boom!
A thunderous crash reverberated, but it wasn't the sound of the Umbral Scion striking Lumine. Instead, it seemed as if an Abyss creature had collided head-on with the Scion as she lunged toward her.
Moving too fast for Lumine to discern the figure's identity, the mysterious attacker seized the Scion and plunged them both into the earth. The impact shook the ground, triggering a minor earthquake!
The force of their subterranean clash sent black lava erupting from the ground like surging waves, creating a breathtaking spectacle.
After a brief pause to regroup, the Gods pursued them into the depths.
The Umbral Scion was dragged underground for over ten kilometers by the mysterious figure before finally seizing her wrist and hurling her out of the earth. The Scion then leaped out herself.
By the time Lumine and her companions arrived, they caught sight of the figure being hurled from the ground—Chu Xi, who had vanished some time ago!
"Chu Xi!"
Lumine's heart clenched painfully as her gaze locked onto that familiar yet utterly alien figure.
Chu Xi... it was really her!
-
[ It's Chu Xi! She's here to save us? ]
[ It has to be! After all, we were such good friends when we traveled together! ]
[Sobbing I'm so touched... Even though she doesn't remember anything... ]
[ This is the power of bonds! ]
[ Chu Xi—! (Runs wildly) (Trips and falls) (Continues running wildly) ]
-
Lumine lunged forward, but Rukkhadevata stopped her.
"Traveler, don't rush in. Let's observe a little longer."
The two figures across from them were enveloped in a dense aura of Forbidden Knowledge and Abyss-infused power, making them extremely dangerous. With the situation still unclear, it was best to avoid any rash moves.
Lumine obeyed, but her eyes remained fixed on the long-unseen figure.
Chu Xi's white robes were tattered, reduced to mere strips of cloth. Her eyes still lacked rationality, showing no signs of awareness.
But Lumine refused to believe this.
During the recent attack, Chu Xi had arrived just in time to save her. Without Chu Xi, she didn't know what would have happened!
"Chu Xi..." Lumine murmured, her voice trembling uncontrollably.
Gazing at the crisscrossing scars—old and new—on Chu Xi's exposed face, Lumine recalled the unbearable suffering she had endured and her current inhuman form. Her heart twisted with a pain like being stabbed with a knife.
She would rather Chu Xi rest in peace than see her resurrected in such a state, reduced to a mere weapon of war!
Just then, the Umbral Scion, forcibly pushed back over ten kilometers, erupted in fury. The red glow in her mechanical head locked onto Chu Xi as she let out a piercing, inhuman shriek. The black-purple Abyss Energy surrounding her erupted like a boiling volcano, instantly melting and collapsing the ground beneath her feet.
Chu Xi seemed to sense the same source of power, yet one that felt far more menacing. The chaotic darkness in her eyes intensified, and pitch-black energy erupted wildly from the seams of her mechanical body, seemingly even more frenzied and unstable than the Umbral Scion's.
In the next instant, the two figures collided like twin black comets!
BOOM!!!
A terrifying shockwave surged outward, as pure, extreme dark energy corroded and annihilated each other.
The aftershocks rippled outward, barely contained by the combined efforts of the Gods.
Their combat was brutal and primal.
No finesse, just the raw clash of pure strength and energy!
The Gods watched in stunned silence.
Lumine stood dumbstruck, her mouth agape. Chu Xi... had grown even stronger, but... she had also become even more unhinged...
Chu Xi's mechanical fist, wreathed in pitch-black flames, smashed viciously toward the Umbral Scion's head. The Umbral Scion precisely blocked the blow, her other hand darting straight for Chu Xi's chest.
Claws scraped against mechanical armor, emitting an ear-splitting screech and showering sparks in all directions.