One versus two?
One versus two!
Xbalanque originally thought Rios was just confident, but now it seemed not just confident—it was simply arrogant.
However, seeing Mavuika's expression beside him was quite grave, he knew Rios wasn't arrogant but really had the ability.
"I never thought Natlan would produce such a god."
"It's got me all excited."
Xbalanque brought the surrounding people into the mental space.
Not only the combatants Rios and Mavuika, but even the Traveler and the others entered as well.
"In this domain, I can use the power from my peak period without reservation."
Xbalanque clenched his fist: "Show me if your strength is as impressive as your mouth."
"Not that weak," Rios said.
At the same time.
The players going through the plot had their screens go black, and then they discovered that the only character left in their party was Rios.
[He's really going to do one versus two?]
[And he has to fight Mavuika too?!]
[This is way too hard!]
Previously, in the 5.0 Returning Flame Holy Night Pilgrimage event, many players were badly bullied by Mavuika's Flamestrider.
Moreover, there was that move "Listen to the Roar of the Sun," which could directly deal massive damage, enough to one-shot a 70,000 HP Nilou shielded with Raincutter and Jadefall's Grace.
Some players had once tried attaching Cryo to their characters to help Mavuika trigger Melt damage, only to get hit with a nearly million-damage nuke in one go.
If the Mavuika in this legendary quest was that strong too, what was the point of even playing?
"Listen to the Roar of the Sun!"
As soon as the fight started, Mavuika drove straight over and released her burst, killing Rios.
[What the hell, how are you supposed to beat this?]
[It's impossible to win, right!]
[This Mavuika doesn't play fair—coming in with a burst right away. Shouldn't she drag it out for a bit first?]
[And Mavuika's car speed is so fast; even if we wanted to run, we couldn't.]
While some players were complaining about the difficulty being too high, another group of players proposed strategies.
[When Mavuika bursts, you burst too.]
[Don't you know about the iframe on burst?]
[Forget iframes—after Rios bursts, he can even revive downed teammates. Even if Mavuika's roar kills you, you'll revive quickly. That's the correct way to play.]
[Hoyo, you've successfully made me realize how important Rios's revival ability is.]
After seeing other players' suggestions, those who couldn't beat it earlier restarted, then without a word, activated the burst.
Rios got chopped down.
Rios revived again!
After enduring this first assault, the players had an opening to output damage.
After using the Elemental Skill, Rios would apply marks to surrounding enemies, and the charged shot time would shorten.
The two-stage charged shot would directly hit all marked targets.
Though in previews and discussions with netizens, Rios was positioned as a support.
But because his support abilities were too strong, able to carry himself into a powerful damage dealer, players didn't find it strenuous when fighting Mavuika and Xbalanque.
1500 ATK, Super-Nightsoul, and 20% DEF shred—whoever uses it knows.
Moreover, players discovered that because Rios's Elemental Burst was based on Fighting Spirit, and Fighting Spirit was converted from twice the Nightsoul value.
So after activating the Elemental Skill, it wouldn't be long before the consumed Nightsoul value could be doubled into Fighting Spirit, then allowing the burst to be activated.
After the burst released, it would fill Rios's Nightsoul value, and soon after, fill the Fighting Spirit needed for the next burst.
In other words, for this character Rios, aside from needing the Elemental Skill at the very start to charge the burst, afterward, the burst itself could charge the next burst.
He was easier to burst than characters requiring 40 energy, a powerful character that even noobs could cycle solo without pressure!
[Rios is strong, but he has no interruption resistance.]
[Yeah, I checked the constellations; none of them mention interruption resistance for Rios. Looks like he needs teammates to provide shields.]
[After all, his positioning is off-field support plus sub-DPS. His on-field damage is strong, but ultimately, he's meant to go off-field to support others.]
[Wait, during the previous plot where we controlled Rios to traverse, didn't you notice that Rios can jump as high as Ororon?]
[If you're afraid of Rios getting interrupted, just jump up and shoot the enemies.]
[And like Ororon, Rios doesn't fall when charging in mid-air.]
[???]
[Wait, doesn't that mean...]
[We can attack infinitely in the air?!]
PC players immediately held down the spacebar, and Rios jumped in place to a high altitude.
During the charged attack, Rios stayed in the air without falling and automatically aimed at all enemies present.
[The strong one is full of surprises everywhere.]
[Mavuika and Xbalanque can't hit Rios, but Rios can attack them.]
[At this moment, it feels like Neuvillette's circle-strafe isn't that impressive anymore.]
[Neuvillette, don't call me anymore; I'm afraid Rios will misunderstand.]
[Damn it, Hoyo is toxic; how could they not mention such a powerful feature?]
[They did mention it; it's just that everyone treated Rios's high jump as an overworld traversal thing and never thought to use it in combat.]
[Red hair, bow, high jump... I thought of a certain character.]
[It's you, Shirou Emiya!]
After mastering the high-jump arrow-shooting method, everything became boring for the players.
And in the Genshin world, Rios was fighting intensely with Mavuika, Xbalanque, and the others.
After all, with so many people watching, if he went all out and beat the two right away, it would be too disrespectful to them.
So in the earlier part of the battle, Rios only defended and lightly countered with some power.
After fighting for a while, until Mavuika and Xbalanque were exhausted, Rios suddenly burst forth, knocking the two to the ground.
As the two struggled to get up, Rios's hands released fiery blades pressed against their throats, signaling the end of the battle.
"I surrender," Xbalanque said directly. "No wonder you dared to fight both me and Mavuika at the same time."
"On strength, I would call you the strongest."
Having received recognition from the first Pyro Archon, Rios retracted the fiery blades, pulled them up with his hand, and then said: "Actually, you're strong too; you're just a bit behind me."
"You're pretty good at joking," Xbalanque said. "You didn't go all out from start to finish. Even if I wanted to be stubborn, I wouldn't have the face."
Just as he finished speaking, Xbalanque's shoulder was patted by Rios.
"Growing up in Natlan for so long, you're the only one who's said I'm good at joking," Rios said in a heavy tone.
"This..." Xbalanque was stunned for a moment. "If I say I was just being humorous earlier, would you believe me?"
"No."