Durandal and Kiana appeared at the entrance of World Serpent together.
Kevin already knew they were coming.
Therefore, he arrived at the entrance immediately.
Looking at the two of them, he felt confused.
"What is it?"
Durandal and Kiana faced the man before them feeling immense pressure.
After all, this was practically their ancestor.
Durandal took a deep breath and said:
"We're here to find my father."
"Takumi said he's with you."
Hearing this, Kevin raised an eyebrow.
After glancing at Durandal, he replied:
"Siegfried?"
Both girls nodded quickly.
That's right—it was her father, Siegfried.
"Yes!"
Kiana echoed.
Kevin looked at them for a moment, then said:
"Follow me."
He turned and walked inside.
Kiana and Durandal exchanged a glance before following.
As they entered World Serpent headquarters…
Otto, who had been spying, frowned deeper.
What were they doing?
He felt even more uneasy.
Had Durandal betrayed him?
Once the thought surfaced, Otto could not shake it away.
Everything felt out of control.
Just as he was stewing in agitation, something struck him.
"Wait!"
Why was Durandal suddenly so close with Kiana?
And appearing together in World Serpent?
Could it be…
Had Durandal recovered memories?
Otherwise, her relationship with Kiana would not look like this.
The fact that both appeared together in World Serpent reminded Otto of one name:
Siegfried.
Siegfried being in World Serpent?
Otto's face darkened further.
Why was nothing under his control anymore?
The agitated Otto took a deep breath and contacted the Schicksal operatives.
Hurry up—bring me that Divine Key!
Preparations had to be made in advance.
Time passed.
Teyvat quietly entered June.
The weather was getting hotter.
After waking up one morning, Ningguang said to Takumi:
"Let's go to the snow mountain."
"The ore there has almost been mined out."
"If we want to dig deeper, there are problems."
"Because of the permafrost below, current tools can't break through."
"So let's go inspect it."
She explained the situation.
Since last year, Liyue had been mining the snow mountain continuously.
All surface-level ore had already been extracted.
But the deeper layers were nearly impossible to break.
The frozen soil below was as hard as steel.
Mining difficulty had skyrocketed.
Hearing this, Takumi raised an eyebrow.
"Alright, I'll go with you."
He had heard about the problem.
Traffic to and from Mingyun Village had significantly decreased due to the dwindling ore shipments.
In the past, trucks exited the snow mountain every ten minutes.
Now only one truck came out every hour or two.
The mining difficulty was obvious.
He might as well inspect things in person.
And solve the problem along the way.
Technically, the easiest way was melting the interior.
But that wasted time.
They couldn't send Pyro Vision holders into the tunnels permanently either—that was unrealistic.
Strangely, Takumi thought of Inazuma's elemental anomaly, the "Phaseless Pyre."
Inazuma didn't use it because they didn't need it.
Electricity flowed naturally from the lightning-rich environment.
As the land of the Electro Archon, it would be embarrassing if they lacked electricity or needed power plants.
Just the ambient Electro element alone was enough for centuries.
If that didn't work, they had the Thunderbird.
And if that didn't work, Raiden Shogun herself could power the region.
Power plants were unnecessary.
If Inazuma didn't use the Phaseless Pyre…
Perhaps it could be relocated here.
It could melt the deepest ice easily.
But for now, they needed to visit the mine first.
After breakfast, Takumi and Ningguang departed.
He opened a space portal, and they arrived within the snow mountain.
As soon as they arrived, they heard clanging sounds everywhere.
Below, excavators hammered against frozen ore.
Fortunately, the workers were already acclimated.
Otherwise, they would have frozen stiff.
Takumi and Ningguang frowned at the sight.
The situation was more difficult than expected.
The ore was simply too hard.
"Any ideas?"
"This won't work much longer."
"If necessary, we'll have to abandon this mine."
Ningguang sighed helplessly.
Hearing her, Takumi nodded.
"I'll go to Inazuma and bring back the Phaseless Pyre."
"For now, I'll assist them."
He activated the Herrscher of Flames.
Heat surged downward.
The permafrost began to melt, stunning the miners.
Takumi's voice echoed:
"Keep working."
"I'll resolve the deeper issue later."
The miners quickly reacted.
They looked up and recognized him.
"Lord Takumi!"
They greeted him excitedly.
Takumi nodded, then found the person in charge.
"Find an open spot later."
"I'm going to Inazuma to retrieve the Phaseless Pyre."
"It will stay here permanently afterward."
"This will make mining far easier."
Hearing this, the supervisor broke into cold sweat despite the freezing temperature.
The Phaseless Pyre?
"M–Master Takumi…"
"That… that thing isn't easy to control."
He was terrified.
The Phaseless Pyre—one of Inazuma's most terrifying elemental phenomena.
He had seen videos of people getting obliterated by going near it.
It was violently destructive.
Of course he was afraid.