Morax, Barbatos, and the others stood silently watching from the sidelines, refraining from interrupting Lumine. The scene froze in place at that moment.
Nahida's expression was dazed, her beautiful eyes trembling slightly.
Far from the battle, yet still within reach of its aftershocks, Paimon's tiny body huddled behind a massive, scorched boulder. Only her tear-filled eyes peeked out, watching the unfolding tragedy with profound sorrow.
When she saw Lumine's sword finally pierce Chu Xi's chest, Paimon clapped both hands tightly over her mouth, stifling a sob that nearly escaped her lips. Her shoulders shook violently.
She watched the last glimmer of light fade from Chu Xi's eyes, and witnessed Lumine's silent, heart-wrenching breakdown.
Paimon's wide eyes instantly filled with disbelief and overwhelming grief, followed by a surge of intense, pent-up anger.
Her small fists clenched tightly, her body trembling with raw emotion.
"Idiot... Chu Xi, you big idiot..."
Paimon whispered hoarsely, her voice choked with tears. "...And that... damn Doctor... Bastard... Bastard!"
As she watched Lumine cling motionlessly to Chu Xi's lifeless form, Paimon suddenly whirled around and buried her burning face against the cold stone. Finally, she couldn't hold back any longer and let out a stifled, animal-like whimper, large tears rolling down to splash against the scorched earth.
-
Snezhnaya's border, high in the sky.
The Doctor, his most powerful segment piloting a flying vehicle, raced toward Natlan while calculating how to regain control of the Umbral Scion and salvage the situation.
Suddenly, his body stiffened!
Though he had lost direct control of the Umbral Scion, remnants of his earlier precautions still allowed him to vaguely sense her condition.
But now, that ethereal connection had snapped completely, without warning.
All that remained was an empty, deathly silence.
The expression on Dottore's face froze, morphing into shock.
"How is this possible?!" he murmured in disbelief. The Umbral Scion's vessel possessed power far exceeding that of ordinary Gods—how could it be so easily and utterly annihilated?
After the initial shock, a chilling dread surged up his spine.
The Umbral Scion, his greatest liability, had apparently been eliminated.
But who had done it? Had Her Majesty the Tsaritsa intervened personally? Or had multiple Gods joined forces? Either scenario meant he—Dottore, the mastermind behind this entire crisis—would be the next target for reckoning!
Without hesitation, Dottore abruptly steered the flying vehicle away from the chaotic battlefield, abandoning the conflict zone without a second glance. He sped toward the icy wastelands of Snezhnaya, leaving behind the consequences of his machinations to fester.
-
In the center of the battlefield, Lumine slowly composed herself. She lifted Chu Xi into her arms, Chu Xi's blood staining her clothes, but she didn't care in the slightest.
Lumine nodded to each of the gods in turn before carrying Chu Xi away.
The gods watched Lumine's retreating figure, silent for a long moment.
Although the Abyss had been completely purged from Natlan's lands, everyone knew this was merely a superficial victory. The Abyss would inevitably resurge.
"We must initiate the Seven Souls Plan without delay," Rukhadevata declared.
Chu Xi's rampage and death were inextricably linked to the Abyss. During the battle, Lumine had discovered that the energy within "Chu Xi" wasn't solely Forbidden Knowledge; a significant portion was Abyss Energy.
With their current strength proving insufficient to protect Teyvat, they needed to resort to unconventional measures.
The Tsaritsa approached them. She wasn't privy to the specifics of the Plan, only aware of the Pure Soul's immense attraction to the Abyss and the critical need to safeguard it.
Rukhadevata made no attempt to conceal the truth—there was no time for half-measures.
However, the dense Abyss aura made this an unsuitable place for discussion.
The Gods, Dragon Sovereigns, and others followed Rukhadevata to deliberate on the Plan elsewhere.
Venti, ever cautious, left behind wisps of wind near the Arena, serving as his eyes and ears.
-
Outside the Stadium of the Sacred Flame, Mavuika and Capitano were coordinating the evacuation of the wounded and the reorganization of defenses.
Although nearly all the monsters had been cleared, a few stragglers remained.
Most people had taken refuge inside the stadium, but Mavuika, The Captain, The Marionette, and others remained outside.
Despite the extreme distance from the main battlefield, the cataclysmic energy waves emanating from afar continued to batter their senses like relentless hammer blows.
The ground beneath their feet rumbled incessantly with a muffled roar, as if some colossal entity were thrashing wildly deep beneath the surface.
The distant horizon was intermittently illuminated by eerie, sudden flashes of pale white or dim purple light, and the Elemental Energy in the air surged with frenzied unrest. The protective barrier at the edge of the Stadium of the Sacred Flame rippled violently.
If the battle were to spill over to their location, Mavuika vowed to protect the people of Natlan to the best of her ability, even if it meant her own death.
Mavuika clutched her arm, protecting the partially healed wound, her crimson eyes fixed on the source of the surging energy. Her expression was more grave than ever before.
With each pulse of energy, she could clearly sense that the raw destructive force far surpassed even her own maximum power output.
This wasn't a clash of techniques or Authorities, but a primal collision and annihilation of forces closer to the world's very foundation!
"This power..." she murmured, a hint of dread creeping into her voice without her even realizing it. "...Even at my peak, wielding the Gnosis, I could never unleash such...scale of destruction."
She couldn't even begin to imagine what the center of the battlefield must look like.
Beside her, Capitano, the Captain, stood silently, his gaze locked on the distant horizon.
His heart, hardened by countless battles and long since devoid of its capacity for surprise, now felt a long-dormant weight settle upon it once more.
-
Paimon floated leisurely out of the Stadium of the Sacred Flame, hovering near its shattered entrance. Her small hands twisted together anxiously as her swollen, tear-reddened eyes stared unblinkingly at the distant horizon.
She had returned before Lumine, wanting to keep her absence a secret.
When the familiar golden figure finally came into view, her little body trembled violently.
Lumine's movements were slow, almost sluggish.
She descended slowly from the sky, cradling a figure in her arms—a figure barely covered by a tattered white cloth she had somehow found.
Lumine's face was utterly expressionless—no tears, no anger, only a deathly sorrow that seemed to have drained her of all emotion.
Those golden eyes, usually gleaming with unwavering determination, now stared blankly ahead, unfocused. She even stumbled slightly upon landing.
Mavuika stepped forward, but sensing Lumine's fragile state, she held her tongue.
The Knave and the other Fatui Harbingers exchanged glances but remained silent.
"Lumine..."
Paimon flew closer, her voice small, hoarse with crying, and filled with overwhelming concern. "Are... are you okay? What... what happened over there?"
Lumine slowly turned her head, her gaze taking what seemed like an eternity to focus on Paimon.
She opened her mouth, her voice as dry and rough as sandpaper, managing only a few words:
"...The Pillar of Light... is resolved. The Abyss... has temporarily retreated."
Beyond that, she said nothing more.
She offered no explanation of the process, made no mention of anyone's sacrifices, and didn't even glance at the white cloth-covered figure in her arms.
It was as if all her words and emotions had been completely burned away with that single strike of her sword.
With Chu Xi in her arms, she walked step by step, silently and heavily, toward the inner reaches of the Stadium of the Sacred Flame.
Her back was ramrod straight, yet it radiated a heartbreaking loneliness and exhaustion.
Paimon watched her pass, her gaze fixed on Chu Xi's limp, ice-cold hand dangling from her arms. Her little mouth trembled, and her large eyes instantly welled with tears, but she stubbornly refused to cry aloud.