Sangonomiya Kokomi's head was spinning. If such a terrifying conjecture became reality, even if they paid an infinite price to defeat Persephone now, it would be impossible to defeat the even stronger No. 1!
Although the ranking of the Numbered Members probably wasn't based solely on strength, to control these people, as No. 1, his strength would definitely not be weaker than any other Numbered Member!
That would truly be a despairing future!
Just as Sangonomiya Kokomi felt extremely helpless and uneasy in her heart, a hand was placed on her shoulder.
When Sangonomiya Kokomi snapped back to her senses, she saw Daphne with a faint smile on her face.
"Alright Kokomi, you should rest for a while. Leave the rest to me."
"Wait a minute, Daphne?!"
Sangonomiya Kokomi didn't quite understand what Daphne meant by this. Just as she was about to ask, she saw the other woman withdraw her hand and leave.
Afterward, Daphne appeared beside Neuvillette, who was rising from the ruins, and spoke.
"Neuvillette, I will buy you all the time you need for the final evacuation."
"I took some of your blood earlier, and now it's time for me to repay you."
Neuvillette seemed to sense something from Daphne's words and immediately asked.
"Daphne, what are you planning to do? Will this have any impact on you?"
However, Daphne did not answer Neuvillette's question. Next, even her spiritual body detached from Gorou's body.
When Gorou saw Daphne's full form for the first time, his mind went blank for a moment, but he quickly snapped back to his senses and spoke to Daphne with extreme worry.
"Daphne, come back! Didn't you say appearing in the world this way would affect you?!"
"Alright, Gorou, I know what I'm doing."
Daphne smiled dismissively, then raised her hand to pat Gorou's shoulder in comfort.
"Sorry, I was actually just trying to scare you with what I said before, but I did use too much of my own power, and it has had an effect on you."
"Of course, just as I said before, if you work hard to improve your strength, there is still a good chance you can return to your original form."
"Of course, there is nothing wrong with giving up now. In fact, I prefer your current appearance."
Suddenly, Daphne thought of something, and the smile on her face deepened.
"Even from a practical standpoint, your popularity is much higher now than before. At the very least, it will boost your troops' combat power by thirty percent."
"Daphne, why are you saying this?! Wait a minute!"
Gorou seemed to realize something and reached out to grab Daphne's body, but his hand passed right through her.
Gorou stared blankly at his own hand, then a look of sadness appeared on his face.
"Alright, alright, it's just putting everything back on the right track."
Seeing Gorou's such sad appearance, Daphne spoke comfortingly.
"Next, all of you need to listen carefully."
Daphne used telepathy magic to speak to everyone who was fighting Persephone.
"With the pure elemental Dragon Blood in my hands, I can forcibly raise my status by one level in a short time, which means I can reach a level of power close to Persephone's."
"If Persephone is not hiding her strength, I can then use all my power to restrict her movements, and you can take this opportunity to evacuate everyone."
"This time will not be too short, but you must also hurry up to avoid any accidents."
"If you want to rely on this opportunity to defeat her, it's impossible. In your current state, it's already very difficult to hurt her. You need to look for other opportunities or unite more forces."
At this point, Daphne paused, then continued.
"When the time comes, the Raiden Shogun of Inazuma will likely try to stop you from leaving, but you will have to rely on yourselves."
After she finished her last sentence, several small bottles containing golden blood materialized around Daphne. She then controlled the bottles filled with Dragon Blood to break one after another. The blood quickly gathered around Daphne and adhered to her soul, actually constructing a new body for her out of thin air!
The moment Daphne's new body was completed, a terrifying aura that could not be ignored emanated from her. Even Persephone turned her gaze upon her, her eyes filled with anticipation and excitement.
"To think you could possess such power. It seems I have still misjudged you a bit," Persephone said with some emotion, then beckoned Daphne with a wave of her hand.
"Come, let me test your mettle!"
The moment Persephone finished speaking, Daphne tore through space in the next second and abruptly appeared in front of her. She held a uniquely shaped staff that emitted faint golden light, then looked Persephone in the eye and spoke word by word.
"Persephone, remember my name."
"My name is Daphne!"
Just as her voice fell, brilliant starlight erupted from Daphne's body, and the aura around her became more profound and mysterious!
Countless Magic Arrays expanded with Daphne's every gesture, and all kinds of restriction magic directly locked onto Persephone's body. In an instant, Persephone's movements seemed to be paused by a freeze button, and the terrifying pressure she brought upon others suddenly lightened, but she still had a smile all over her face and spoke without being affected at all.
Then, the space Persephone was in slowly began to shift, and not long after, Daphne banished Persephone with her to another space.
"This is the time."
At the last moment, everyone present heard Daphne's reminder, and a strong sadness welled up in their hearts.
Almost no one wanted Daphne to sacrifice herself to buy their continued survival, but Daphne had already made her choice. If they failed to live up to her goodwill, it would all be for nothing.
"Let's go!"
Aether looked at Lumine with a worried face and spoke again.
"This really is our last chance."
Lumine was just about to nod, however, a soaring dark purple light shrouded the sky of Narukami Island.
Lumine's heart pounded in shock, and then she immediately realized what had happened. The Abyss had broken through the Sacred Sakura Tree's suppression once more and was using it as an entry point to re-invade Teyvat!
Sure enough, the worst had happened. If Persephone hadn't been held back by Daphne through some unknown means, their situation would be even worse.
At the same time the Abyss broke out, Keqing's condition also deteriorated further, as a deeply ominous aura completely enveloped her body.
The next moment, a soaring demonic energy and the pungent stench of blood erupted from Keqing's body, and her aura surged to an unimaginable level. However, her eyes had turned into deep black, devoid of any light.
With a shink, Keqing brought down the demon sword in her hand, sending a dark red sword qi slashing directly toward Ganyu, who was closest to her.
Seeing this, Ganyu was shocked and raised her bow to block at the last moment. Although she successfully deflected the sword qi, the power it contained caused her figure to vanish instantly.
"Keqing!"
Paimon saw this and immediately cried out in alarm.
Then, a teal-clad figure rushed towards Keqing. To prevent her from attacking ordinary people, he came without hesitation to fight her head-on.
"To think there would be a surprise like this. Truly rare!"
Persephone pulled a grand throne out of the void right in front of Daphne and then sat directly upon it. The next second, she also pulled a pot of tea out of the void to brew for herself and even extended an invitation to Daphne.
"Maintaining this space is hard work, isn't it? Why not come over and take a seat?"
Persephone's words completely disregarded Daphne, turning her expression extremely ugly.
Although Persephone had not directly taken action against her, she did not dare to let her guard down for a single moment.
It seemed that Persephone was not doing anything, but the opponent's attention had been constantly focused on her. Once she showed any flaw, the situation would completely collapse.
On the other side, Keqing, who had been completely controlled by the Demon Sword, was actually able to hold a considerable advantage while facing the siege of five Guardian Yakshas simultaneously.
Under the influence of the blood qi, any slight injuries that appeared on Keqing's body would immediately and rapidly heal back to normal.
Meanwhile, the Guardian Yakshas were already carrying considerable injuries and simply couldn't resist the current Keqing at all.
Under the influence of the Demon Sword, Keqing's strength had now completely crossed the threshold of the gods. Aside from Neuvillette, Zhongli, Lumine, and Aether, no one else could gain even a slight advantage against Keqing.
And Neuvillette and Zhongli were currently busy joining forces to fight Raiden Ei, so the final task of stopping Keqing was placed on Lumine and Aether.
It is worth mentioning that when Raiden Ei saw Zhongli among her opponents, her strength improved considerably. She also basically ignored Neuvillette, focusing all her attacks on Zhongli, making it hard to say there was no retaliatory psychology involved.
Aether looked at Keqing at this moment and couldn't help but frown.
"She has completely lost herself, even becoming a very twisted existence. Even her soul has been polluted."
After hearing Aether's words, Lumine hurriedly cast an inquiring glance at him.
Aether understood what Lumine wanted to ask, shook his head, and said.
"There is no way to make her recover anymore. Now she has become a beast that only knows how to fight and slaughter. Give her a quick death."
Lumine hurriedly shook her head. She was unwilling to accept this reality; there must be other ways to make Keqing regain her reason.
But no matter what, they still had to try to restrict Keqing's movements as much as possible at this moment.
After thinking of this, Lumine's body turned into a grayish-white stream of light, arriving in front of Keqing, and then her Domain of Nihility spread out to cover Keqing.
Aether had also long predicted Lumine's choice. He shook his head again, then followed closely behind Lumine to arrive in front of Keqing.
With Lumine and Aether joining the battle, the vast majority of Keqing's energy was concentrated on them, and the pressure on the Guardian Yakshas was greatly reduced at this moment.
However, to their surprise, even with their combined efforts, they were unable to subdue Keqing in the short term.
It wasn't that Keqing's strength had reached such a level, but rather that her fighting style was completely reckless, even trading injuries for injuries.
Facing this former comrade, the group naturally couldn't be absolutely ruthless, so they were far behind in morale.
And with Lumine constantly watching him, Aether also found it difficult to take action.
But continuing like this was no solution; no one knew how much time Daphne could buy for them.
"Abyss Monsters are here!"
Suddenly, an incredibly panicked voice came from somewhere, and then everyone else looked around and finally spotted the Rifthounds appearing in swarms.
"Damn it, everyone, take up weapons with me! If we couldn't beat Persephone (No. 3), can't we beat this pack of little puppies?!"
"Kill!"
As if to vent their inner helplessness and fear, the battle cries of the group charging the Rifthounds were exceptionally vigorous and full of spirit.
However, because they didn't dare leave the area protected by the barrier, the battle took on a somewhat skirmish-like feel, since those monsters had no chance of breaking through the barrier anyway.
But these were just the vanguard of the Abyss Monsters. Further away, Lumine faintly sensed several powerful auras.
By now, both Neuvillette and Zhongli were physically exhausted enough. If the number of monsters increased, they might very well break through this barrier.
Lumine looked at Aether at this moment, and he immediately shook his head in explanation.
"Sorry, Lumine. I can't control these Abyss Monsters either. They have been too heavily corrupted by the Abyss, have basically lost their consciousness, and won't obey my orders."
After hearing this, Lumine nodded. Actually, she had already roughly guessed this outcome.
Unlike Enjou, who could communicate clearly and had a distinct personality, these Abyss Monsters simply killed anyone they saw. They seemed to lack all reason.
"We must evacuate as soon as possible!"
This time, Lumine was not as opposed to Aether's suggestion.
But even if they wanted to retreat, it was not that simple.
They couldn't just escape on their own; they also had to evacuate all the residents of Inazuma City to a safe place.
Persephone could break free from Daphne's restraint at any moment. When she returned to the battlefield, it would be completely over.
They had to let the others leave first, and then they would figure out how to evacuate themselves.
Clearly, Neuvillette also realized this. Seeing that he truly couldn't interfere in the battle between Raiden Ei and Zhongli, he exchanged a few words with Zhongli and led the others to evacuate first.
With Neuvillette's addition, Keqing's side finally calmed down completely. She had temporarily lost consciousness and was carried away with the others.
In the short time they were delayed, a vast army of monsters had already swarmed outside Inazuma City.
At a glance, there were at least several thousand of them.
Their bodies were shrouded in a purplish-black Abyss Aura, and they let out terrifying roars and charged forward the moment they saw living people.
There were even Hilichurl Kings among them, their towering figures exerting considerable pressure.
Of course, compared to Persephone, they were completely insignificant.
Neuvillette took the lead, working with others who had reached Archon-level strength to clear the monsters ahead of the line. He singled out and killed the most powerful figures, leaving the remaining fodder to the Expeditionary Force, who were protecting the ordinary people. The entire group's retreat was carried out with great speed.
This scene was witnessed by Persephone from afar. She showed no anger at being trapped in a small space by Daphne and unable to escape. Instead, a healthy smile appeared on her face.
"It's about time. My army should make an appearance."
Just as Persephone finished speaking, she clapped her hands. A mysterious and profound light erupted from her body, ignoring the spatial displacement and shining directly upon Inazuma City.
Then, under the terrified gazes of countless people, countless transparent bodies materialized out of thin air within Inazuma City, their figures gradually becoming solid.
Among those figures, the faces of Liyue people and Fontainians even appeared!
At a glance, there were at least tens of thousands of them!
And this number was extremely close to the current casualties in Inazuma City!
The next second, their eyes all turned this way at once, and then they slowly raised the weapons in their hands...