Seeing Lumine's ferocious power, the others were instantly terrified.
As their leader ordered a retreat, the group quickly fell back.
"Retreat!"
"Traveler, don't let them escape!" Paimon shouted from behind. Of course, even without Paimon's urging, Lumine had no intention of letting them go.
However, after venting some of her anger, Lumine gradually regained control of her emotions and held back against the Matra.
She wasn't worried about retaliation from the Akademiya, but about the people in the Restricted Zone.
As for the Fatui soldiers, Lumine showed no mercy. While she didn't deny that some Fatui might be decent people, the ones before her certainly weren't among them.
Unwilling to waste any more time, Lumine decided to end the fight quickly.
At that moment, an intense green light erupted from her body—a green so vibrant it was unsettling.
Countless vines burst from the ground, coiling around every enemy on the field like striking snakes, completely restraining them.
The battle ended in an instant. Lumine's overwhelming power left her enemies utterly stunned.
Yet, after accomplishing this, when Lumine tried to retract her control over the Dendro Elemental Power, she failed.
Lumine discovered that her once-obedient Dendro Elemental Power was now out of control. It wasn't that the power was disobeying her; rather, it was simply unable to carry out her commands. The reason was that her body was overflowing with an overwhelming amount of Dendro energy.
To put it vividly, it was like asking a man weighing hundreds of pounds to roll over without any help—it would practically kill him.
This was precisely the situation inside Lumine's body. The Dendro Elemental Power wasn't receding; instead, it was growing even more concentrated. Visibly, her body began to glow an increasingly vibrant, oily green.
"Traveler, why are you so... green?" Paimon asked, her curiosity piqued by Lumine's current state.
Lumine tried to respond, but her mind suddenly went blank with a deafening boom.
The excessive Dendro Elemental Power had momentarily shattered her consciousness.
When Lumine came to her senses again, she found Paimon and Dr. Edward staring at her with expressions of utter shock.
Confused, Lumine wondered why they were looking at her like that...
No, they're not looking at me!
Lumine caught a much stronger scent of blood in the air and suddenly realized something. She whipped her head around and saw the Matra and Fatui soldiers—all of them now impaled like porcupines.
The vines that had once restrained them had pierced their bodies, sprouting countless thorny branches that ran them completely through. Blood streamed down the vines, pooling on the ground. The scene was utterly hellish.
In the instant Lumine had lost consciousness, her power had gone berserk, slaughtering every enemy on the field.
Seeing this, Lumine's brow furrowed tightly. This is bad. With so many Matra dead here, the Akademiya—unless they were utterly spineless—would surely take action against the Restricted Zone.
Events had spiraled far beyond her control, and Lumine's mood soured.
But what was done was done. Now, she had to focus on damage control.
On the bright side, she thought, at least my rampaging elemental power didn't attack Paimon or Dr. Edward.
After the outburst, the Dendro Elemental Power within Lumine became much more manageable. It was like a 550-pound man who'd suddenly shed 220 pounds—still difficult to command, but at least somewhat obedient now.
Lumine tried to suppress the Dendro power, but her body continued to emit a green glow, standing out starkly against the breaking dawn.
With great effort, she finally managed to fully rein in the power, and the verdant light finally faded. Lumine let out a sigh of relief.
"Traveler, what happened to you just now?" Paimon flew over anxiously as Lumine approached.
Lumine shook her head and turned to Dr. Edward.
"Your body is truly extraordinary," Dr. Edward said, shaking his head in amazement. "To be able to contain such a massive amount of Dendro Elemental Power... If I hadn't been with you this whole time, I might have mistaken you for the human incarnation of our Dendro Archon."
He continued, "I don't know if this is related to the medicine I gave you earlier, but now isn't the time to discuss it. We need to check for survivors immediately."
Lumine and Paimon immediately agreed. The three of them then split up to search for survivors.
However, as Lumine's gaze swept over the bleeding bodies scattered across the ground, her heart grew heavier.
The victims' bodies were either torn apart by powerful attacks or had their throats slit with clean precision. The attackers had clearly intended to kill them all.
In the end, they found only a handful of survivors, many of whom were barely clinging to life.
Dr. Edward immediately opened his satchel, rummaged for medicine, and began carefully stitching their wounds and applying ointment.
"Cough, cough... Dr. Edward."
The middle-aged man who had welcomed them earlier—the elected leader of the Restricted Zone—had regained consciousness.
"Dr. Edward, the medicinal herbs... are they safe?"
Dr. Edward rushed over to stop him from trying to sit up. "The herbs are fine," he said firmly. "You're severely injured. Don't move."
"Hahaha... That's good... cough, cough!"
"I told you, Dr. Edward," the man gasped, blood trickling from his lips. "Even if it cost me my life, I would never let those bastards from the Akademiya steal the medicinal herbs. I did it."
Watching him speak while coughing up blood, the hearts of all three clenched in anguish.
"You did well," Dr. Edward urged, his voice strained. "Don't talk anymore. Your body can't take it!"
"Don't waste your energy on me. I know my own condition."
"As long as the herbs are safe, I can rest easy."
"Dr. Edward... the rest... I'll have to trouble you with it..."
The light faded from the man's eyes, and finally, even his faint breathing ceased completely.
Dr. Edward sighed deeply. He gently closed the man's eyelids with his hand, then removed his own coat and draped it over the body.
The scene struck Lumine and Paimon with unbearable sorrow. Just moments ago, this man had warmly invited them to taste Sumeru's specialties and chatted with them. Now, in the blink of an eye, he was a cold corpse.
They knew Dr. Edward had known the man far longer and must be in even greater agony.
"Dr. Edward... d-don't be too sad," Paimon offered, her attempt at comfort clumsy.
At that, Dr. Edward straightened up, his voice calm as he spoke. "Thank you, but I have no time for grief. We must hide the medicinal herbs in a new location immediately and figure out how to deal with the Akademiya's next move."
Hearing this, Lumine looked at Dr. Edward with a hint of apology in her eyes.
"It's not your fault," he said, noticing her expression. "I know you meant to leave them alive. Your power just surged out of control, leading to this outcome."
"But in a way, this makes me feel better. Those people finally got what they deserved."
"Now, could you please help me move the herbs over here?"
Lumine nodded. After receiving her confirmation, Dr. Edward went to the surviving men and began treating their injuries.
As time passed, more and more people arrived at the scene.
Upon seeing the bodies strewn across the ground, some stared in stunned disbelief, others beat their chests and wept bitterly, while still others were consumed by rage.
Once they understood what had happened, their emotions ran high. They were desperate to charge out of the Restricted Zone and seek revenge against the Akademiya.
But Dr. Edward stopped them. Such an act would spread the contagion to other areas, ultimately harming countless innocent people.
Yet they couldn't simply swallow this injustice. Besides, with so many Matra dead, the Akademiya was unlikely to let the matter rest.
It was then that Lumine had Paimon reveal the plan she had been pondering for a long time.
"You want to kidnap Great Sage Azar?"
At Paimon's words, shock spread across everyone's faces.
"And you're going to do it alone?!"
"And me!" Paimon piped up, pointing to herself.
However, the addition of one more person did little to reassure the crowd; instead, it only deepened their concern.
"This plan is far too difficult to succeed."
"Even if you knew where Grand Sage Azar is right now, how would you evade the Akademiya's Matra and the encirclement by the Corps of Thirty's mercenaries?"
"We don't need to hide! We can just fight our way through!"
Paimon, brimming with confidence in Lumine's abilities, spoke up again.
"The Traveler is incredibly strong! Didn't you all see? She handled every single enemy who came here."
Even with Paimon's reassurance, the crowd remained unconvinced.
"I trust them."
At that moment, Dr. Edward stepped forward and addressed the group.
"As the Traveler's attending physician, I am the most qualified to speak on her physical condition."
"She possesses a unique potential that none of us have. With her strength, even if the plan fails, I believe she can escape unscathed."
Seeing Dr. Edward speak up finally eased some of their worries.
"Traveler, we will gather your payment for this operation as quickly as possible. May we ask what your fee is?"
"N-No, that's not necessary! We don't want any money."
Paimon waved her hands frantically. These people had already suffered so much; she couldn't possibly bring herself to accept payment from them.
Worried they might try to force the payment on them, Paimon quickly added, "Actually, we're not just doing this to help you. We have our own personal reasons."
"We need to ask Lesser Lord Kusanali some questions, but after asking around, it seems impossible to meet her through normal means. So, we figured we'd just kidnap the Great Sage. That should get us an audience with the mysterious Dendro Archon, right?"
After Paimon explained their reasoning and firmly refused payment, the crowd finally gave up on the idea of compensating them.
"We can't delay any longer! Let's move out now and try to capture Great Sage Azar before he becomes suspicious."
Paimon, acting as Lumine's mouthpiece, continued to convey her thoughts.
"Dr. Edward, we need you to stay here this time. Bringing you along would likely make the operation much more difficult."
"Understood. Don't worry about me. I'll stay hidden and wait for your safe return."
"But before you go, would you like me to check your condition one last time?"
Lumine hesitated for a moment, then shook her head.
"No, Dr. Edward. There's no time."
Hearing Paimon's reply, Dr. Edward nodded. After a moment's thought, he took a dark brown pill from his satchel and handed it to Lumine.
"This pill can temporarily unlock the user's full potential. Take it, just in case you need it."
Hearing this, Paimon quickly waved her hands. "No way, Dr. Edward! This pill is too precious!"
"Take it. If you don't end up using it, you can always return it to me later."
Only after Dr. Edward insisted did Lumine nod gratefully and store the pill in her four-dimensional backpack.
Dr. Edward then described the general layout of the Akademiya, hoping to help them find Great Sage Azar more quickly.
"By the way, if you're planning to infiltrate the Akademiya, you should ask Miss Faruzan for help."
"Although she's part of the Akademiya, she has always opposed the policies that turned the Restricted Zone into what it is today."
"Because of her stance, she's been effectively sidelined and even had her freedom restricted. I'm sure she'll help you if you explain your intentions."
Dr. Edward paused for a moment before continuing.
"Oh, and remember: sincerity is the ultimate weapon. Don't lie to her, and be sure to address her as 'Senior' with the utmost respect."
"If you manage to win her over, she might even join you directly and help you kidnap Great Sage Azar."
Dr. Edward's words left Lumine and Paimon completely stunned.
That's possible too?
After a moment, the two snapped back to reality, and Paimon quickly spoke up.
"Okay, we'll remember that."
"Leave this to me! Paimon is the best at sweet-talking people!"
"I guarantee I'll charm Miss Faruzan so much she'll be putty in our hands! She'll go and gift-wrap Great Sage Azar and deliver him right to us!"
Hearing Paimon's overconfident boasting, Lumine shook her head helplessly.
"We're off! Wait for our good news!"
Lumine and Paimon waved goodbye to everyone. Then, Lumine grabbed Paimon, and with a flash of movement, they vanished from sight, accompanied by Paimon's shriek of "This is too fast!"
Lumine's display of power undoubtedly boosted everyone's confidence. However, not long after, Lumine and Paimon reappeared before them.
"Um, could someone show us the way out? We forgot where the exit is..."
Paimon relayed Lumine's message, and both of them scratched their heads in embarrassment.