Chapter 19: Master Paimon Strikes Again!
The chat group was buzzing with lively anticipation over the upcoming World Event. Everyone was eager to participate—except for Zhongli. The retired Geo Archon, already advanced in his years, had long passed the age of chasing after youthful thrills. Sitting quietly with a cup of warm tea, he mused that if the opportunity arose, he should definitely ask Lumine to pull Director Hu into the group. Hu Tao was exactly at the age where she thrived on chaos and play; an interdimensional event would undoubtedly be right up her alley.
As the night deepened, the flurry of messages in the chat slowly dwindled. It was time to rest.
In Natlan, Lumine and Paimon were already dead to the world. Their day had been exceptionally fulfilling—a true masterclass in time management. Not only had they traveled to an entirely different universe, but they had also made it back in time to cheer for Kachina during her fierce competition. Afterward, they had soaked in the rejuvenating hot springs with Mualani, capping off the evening by enthusiastically planning a surprise hot spring party for Atea.
Their peaceful slumber didn't last.
In the dead of night, chaotic sounds shattered the tranquility outside their window. Clashing metal, monstrous roars, and frantic shouts pierced the air. Before Lumine could even reach for her blade, the door burst open. Mualani rushed into the room, her usual cheerful demeanor replaced by urgent panic.
She quickly led them outside. The sight that greeted them was a nightmare. The once-peaceful tribal grounds were swarming with Abyss monsters. The People of the Springs patrol team was locked in a desperate, bloody struggle against the encroaching darkness.
Paimon rubbed her eyes, her sleepy confusion instantly vanishing into shock. "Why are there so many Abyss monsters?!" she squeaked, hovering close to Lumine's shoulder.
Mualani gave a rapid, breathless explanation. Initially, she had intended to escort her two guests straight to the safety of the underground shelters. However, the situation was deteriorating too fast. Across the village square, several patrol members were already buckling under the relentless assault.
"Mualani—come quickly! Help us!" a desperate voice cried out from the front lines. "We can't hold them back much longer!"
Mualani didn't hesitate. She summoned her surfboard, ready to dive into the fray.
Lumine was already a step ahead. With a flick of her wrist, her sword materialized, humming with volatile elemental energy. She fell into a combat stance beside Mualani, her golden eyes locked onto the shadowy beasts.
The addition of two exceptionally powerful fighters instantly turned the tide of battle. Lumine darted through the chaotic battlefield like a golden flash. She fluidly shifted between the elements, her blade crackling with Electro before erupting into a violent Anemo gale. Every strike was precise, maximizing elemental reactions to tear through the Abyss creatures' defenses.
Within minutes, the immediate threat in the Hot Spring Village was neutralized. They rescued numerous battered patrol members along the way, all of whom looked at Mualani's guests with deep gratitude. Lumine's terrifyingly smooth mastery over multiple elements had left them in awe.
But the battle was far from over. Slaughtering the monsters was merely treating the symptoms; to cure the disease, they had to locate and seal the Abyss Gate.
The group quickly rallied and headed toward the command center to find Amina, the leader of the People of the Springs. As the one responsible for personnel coordination and overseeing the tribe's defense, Amina would have the latest intelligence on the Gate's location.
They arrived at the emergency shelter. The tribe's rapid response protocols had worked flawlessly; the elderly and children were already safely evacuated inside. Casualties appeared miraculously low.
Amina stood at the center of the command post, her expression tight with stress until she saw them approach. "Mualani, and our two honored guests," she breathed, offering a weary but deeply grateful nod. "I heard you helped repel the main swarm. Thank you so much."
She gestured to the tactical map spread across a stone table. "Although we made extensive preparations beforehand, we simply lacked the manpower. The monsters still managed to breach our outer defenses and flood the tribe. Fortunately, thanks to your timely intervention, there have been no fatal casualties so far."
Listening to Amina's calm, pragmatic assessment, Lumine realized a grim truth: Natlan was essentially the permanent front line in the war against the Abyss. These tribes didn't just fear the darkness; they were seasoned veterans, constantly prepared for its inevitable return.
Mualani skipped the pleasantries, her voice all business. "Where did the invasion originate this time?"
"To the east," Amina replied, pointing at a marked location on the map. "We've already pinpointed the exact coordinates of the Abyss Gate. However, our forces are spread too thin defending the perimeter. We haven't been able to gather enough warriors to launch a counter-offensive."
She frowned, her finger tracing another path. "And judging by the sheer volume of monsters, there is likely more than one Gate this time. Our scouts are still desperately searching for the others..."
"In that case, we'll go seal the eastern Gate first," Mualani declared. She turned to look at the golden-haired traveler and her floating companion. "Lumine, Paimon... I know you're guests, but I won't pretend to be polite right now. Can I ask you to lend me a hand?"
Lumine offered a confident smile, spinning her sword. Paimon puffed out her chest. Naturally, they wouldn't refuse.
They didn't waste a single second on the road. Whenever they encountered a patrol squad pinned down by stragglers, Lumine didn't even bother slowing down. She simply smashed a devastating Elemental Skill into the center of the mob, instantly suppressing the monsters and breaking their formation. She left the cleanup to the patrol members, keeping her eyes fixed on the true objective. The Abyss Gate was the root cause; until it was sealed, all other efforts were just delaying the inevitable.
They reached the eastern hillside. There, pulsating with sickening purple energy, stood the Abyss Gate. Guarding it was a pack of over a dozen Rifthounds, their jagged, mimicry-type bodies floating menacingly in the air.
Mualani and Lumine moved in perfect synchronization.
Mualani struck first. She launched herself off her surfboard, unleashing a devastating Sharky's Surging Bite. A massive, exploding missile of high-pressure water crashed into the center of the pack, creating a massive Hydro splash that drenched the demonic hounds.
Capitalizing on the wet status, Lumine dashed forward. Her blade crackled with violent purple lightning as she slashed out several Electro shadow blades. The resulting Electro-Charged reaction paralyzed the Rifthounds, their bodies spasming violently.
Without missing a beat, Lumine channeled Anemo energy into her palm. She thrust her hand forward, unleashing a towering Anemo Tornado. The vortex of wind sucked the paralyzed monsters into its center, violently repelling them away from the portal.
While the hounds were trapped helplessly in the swirling tempest, Lumine and Mualani sprinted past them and slammed their hands against the Abyss Gate, channeling their energy to force the rift shut. With a deafening crack, the portal shattered into dissipating purple glass.
They quickly turned around and mopped up the remaining, heavily injured Rifthounds.
But the nightmare wasn't over. Just as the last hound dissolved into ash, a fresh wave of monstrous roars echoed from behind them. They spun around, tracing the sound back to the direction of the abandoned hot springs they had cleared earlier that day—the exact location they had painstakingly prepared for Atea's party.
Panic gripped Mualani's heart. They sprinted back down the hillside, praying the area hadn't been completely destroyed.
When they arrived, the party decorations were in ruins. But worse than the property damage was the sight of Atea. The older woman was slumped heavily against a jagged rock. She was covered in brutal external lacerations, but the true danger was far more insidious. Viscous, purple-black Abyss energy was actively overflowing from her wounds, violently eroding her life force.
Mualani's breath hitched. To her, Atea wasn't just a neighbor or a fellow warrior; she was a beloved elder who had watched over her since childhood. The thought of losing her to the agonizing erosion of the Abyss was unbearable.
Two young tribe members, who had been helping set up the party earlier, ran over from their hiding spots. Seeing them, Mualani's voice cracked with desperation. "Hurry! Find a doctor! Atea is critically injured!"
The youths took one look at the terrifying purple mist radiating from Atea and understood the grim reality. Even as Atea weakly raised a hand to stop them, coughing up dark blood, they turned and sprinted toward the shelter to find the tribal healers.
Lumine stared at the corrosive energy eating away at Atea's flesh. Her brows locked in a tight, grim furrow. Traditional medicine wouldn't save someone this far gone. She turned sharply to her floating companion.
"Paimon, try your ability!" Lumine's voice was deadly serious. "Her condition is critical."
Paimon's usually carefree little face tightened with fierce determination. "Leave it to me!"
With a thought, she summoned her bizarre system cheat. A heavy, metallic wrench materialized in her tiny hands. She flew directly to Atea's side.
"Mualani, move aside," Paimon ordered, her tone surprisingly commanding. "Let me try."
Mualani opened her mouth to question what a floating mascot with a wrench could possibly do against Abyssal corruption, but the sheer, uncharacteristic gravity in Paimon's eyes made her swallow her words. She stepped back.
Paimon gently pressed the head of the wrench against Atea's chest. Just like before, the solid metal seemed to turn ethereal, sinking effortlessly into Atea's body.
Instantly, a brilliant golden magic circle, roughly three feet in diameter, flared to life beneath Atea. A glowing phantom projection of the wrench appeared above the injured woman's head, slowly beginning to rotate.
Lumine stepped forward, her grip tightening on her sword. She positioned herself between Atea and the perimeter, her golden eyes scanning the shadows with hawkish vigilance. She trusted Paimon's bizarre healing mechanics completely, but her nerves remained taut, ready to slaughter any stray monster that dared interrupt the process.
The cleansing was astonishingly smooth. The phantom wrench above Atea's head didn't stutter or stall; it rotated with a steady, rhythmic hum. As it spun, the lethal Abyss energy was forcibly extracted, transforming into thick plumes of purple-black mist that rapidly dissolved into the night air.
The entire process took less than ten seconds.
As the golden light faded, Atea suddenly gasped. The crushing, suffocating weight on her chest vanished. The agonizing, sharp pain of the Abyssal erosion had subsided by more than half, leaving only the dull ache of her physical wounds.
She looked down at her own hands in absolute shock, then slowly raised her head to stare at the tiny, floating fairy. Her eyes were wide with utter bewilderment.
As a veteran warrior and a Candle Keeper of the People of the Springs, Atea had spent her entire life battling the Abyss. She knew its horrors intimately. Yet, in all her decades of warfare, she had never witnessed anything—or anyone—capable of directly and instantaneously purging Abyssal energy from a living body. It was completely unheard of. It defied the very laws of Teyvat.
Mualani dropped to her knees, seeing the color return to Atea's face. She let out a massive, shuddering breath of relief. When she looked up at Paimon, her eyes were swimming with a complex mix of deep disbelief, overwhelming gratitude, and a faint trace of awe-struck fear.
Being the center of such intense, reverent stares made Paimon squirm. She twisted her small body in the air, scratching the back of her head. "Hehe... don't stare at me like that. It's embarrassing!"
Then, remembering a crucial detail, she flew forward and pressed a tiny finger against her lips. "Shh! But you have to promise to keep this ability a secret! Lumine said we absolutely can't let too many people know about this yet!"
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