Seeing that Victor Wang had finished what he wanted to do, he returned to the palace hall. Bennett said, "Alright, let's start. Just touch the key and think 'Activate.'"
Victor Wang did as instructed, reaching out toward the illusory crimson key. Once he felt like he'd made contact, he focused: Activate.
Bennett and Fischl followed suit. The crimson key dissolved from bottom to top, then reformed into glowing red numbers projected onto the ceiling of the palace: 1:00.
"You've made the wrong choice."
"Time for a little break!"
Two fat Treasure Hoarders, two thin ones, and one burly man wielding a sledgehammer suddenly appeared in front of the trio.
"It's a timed challenge," Bennett explained, seeing from Victor Wang's earlier behavior that this was his first artifact domain. "We need to defeat enemies before the timer hits zero. Each enemy we beat adds more time. If time runs out, we fail."
57, 56…
Victor Wang was puzzled. Wasn't this domain supposed to include five Treasure Hoarders, a Debt Collector, and an Electro Cicin Mage? Did they change the layout?
As the numbers ticked down, one of the thin Treasure Hoarders shouted, "Opportunity!" and flung throwing knives at them.
Victor Wang saw clearly—those knives traced arcs through the air with slicing gusts trailing behind. Even the most basic Treasure Hoarders had been enhanced in this domain, capable of generating blade winds.
But the attack was weak. The three dodged with ease.
Bennett rushed in.
Oz transformed into a hovering Electro orb. Each time Fischl loosed an arrow, Oz unleashed a bolt of lightning, which exploded on impact with the enemies.
The Treasure Hoarders, despite their wounds, bled no blood. Like Hilichurls, they seemed impervious to pain, shrieking and howling as they closed in.
Whatever these constructs were, they weren't real humans.
Whatever. Doesn't matter. Let me test my sword.
Victor Wang took a deep breath and stepped in.
The fat and thin Treasure Hoarders mostly fought with basic martial arts. The thin ones kept to the back, throwing knives, while the front line was held by the fat Hoarders and the hammer-wielder.
Bennett was already engaged with one fat one. Victor Wang faced off against the other and the hammer brute.
"Take this!"
The fat Hoarder aimed a high kick at Victor Wang's head. Victor raised his sword horizontally to block, but the impact was powerful—he was pushed back several steps.
The hammer-wielder raised his weapon in a two-handed grip and swung a half-arc down toward Victor's chest like a human pile driver.
Victor ducked and twisted, planting his left hand on the ground for leverage as he slashed upward, cutting into the hammer-man's arm.
Despite the sharp wind energy trailing his blade, it felt like slicing into stone. The Wentian Sword cut in, but didn't go far. Beneath the "skin" was what seemed to be pure energy.
Just then, the fat Hoarder leapt at Victor with another flying kick, forcing him to retreat again.
Elsewhere, Bennett was fending off the two thin Hoarders. Thankfully, Fischl's unrelenting arrows pinned one down. His battered head was finally blown apart—his body vanished into nothing, and the countdown jumped up by 30 seconds.
The remaining thin Hoarder aimed another volley of knives at Victor, but Fischl skillfully shot them down mid-air.
Bennett downed his opponent, and Victor cleaved halfway through the hammer-user's neck.
Victor refrained from using elemental power—his aim was to hone his technique. But he noticed Bennett and Fischl weren't using much elemental energy either.
"What're you doing?!"
"Another test subject!"
One enemy fell, another took its place.
This time, it was a Pyro and an Electro Potioneer. They tossed area-effect explosives into the field, raising the threat level. Fischl finally got serious.
"By royal decree!"
Her raven Oz materialized, now in full-body lightning form, pelting the enemies with Electro orbs—far more powerful than her arrows. It took just a few volleys to eliminate a Potioneer.
Bennett began imbuing his sword with Pyro and unleashed his skill.
An Electro Potioneer tracked him closely, tossing vials that spread lightning energy around. When Bennett's Pyro skill hit the field, it triggered an explosion through an Overloaded reaction. All three—two Potioneers and Bennett—were blasted away.
Bennett, clearly experienced, recovered mid-air with a roll. The Potioneers were already heavily injured—Victor finished them off with clean slashes to the throat.
A Debt Collector appeared—and immediately vanished.
"Careful!" Bennett moved closer to Fischl and Victor. "We don't have the ability to see through invisibility!"
Victor raised his sword and launched a dozen Anemo blades into the air. He controlled them to swirl around the trio in a widening circle.
Clang!
A wind blade struck something. The Debt Collector parried with a ceremonial dagger.
"There!"
"O shadow raven, let night fall—!"
Fischl merged with Oz and launched a barrage of lightning bolts, charging straight at the enemy.
No! That burst has no invincibility frames!
Victor didn't get the words out in time. He controlled the remaining wind blades to strike in unison, now tinted purple by Fischl's lightning.
To avoid Fischl's charge, the Debt Collector had to first deflect the wind blades. A chorus of clanging rang out as he swung his dagger.
Bennett was holding back waves of grunts. Victor gathered elemental power beneath his feet, launching himself toward the Debt Collector for a quick finish.
Oz's glide came to an end. Though battered and dazed from the lightning-wind combo, the Debt Collector still raised his dagger to cleave Oz in two.
But Fischl twisted mid-air. Before landing, she pushed off the dagger's flat with her foot, flipping over the Debt Collector in a graceful arc. Had she learned a palm-strike from above, or wielded a sword, it would've been a fatal plunge.
Victor arrived at the same moment. He casted a wind vortex with his left hand to pull the enemy closer, sword poised in his right.
The Debt Collector poured more elemental energy into resisting the suction. Just then, Fischl came crashing down, kicking him in the head. Victor released the vortex's force—under the triple impact, the enemy was hurled back into the palace wall with a sickening thud that made Victor's own head ache.
Cornered, the Debt Collector prepared to unleash his ultimate.
"Gale Blade!"
Victor reacted swiftly, drawing the foe into the air, interrupting the cast. He flung him even higher and smashed him back against the wall again—this time, the drop left him barely standing.
Fischl summoned Oz once more. Victor followed with a wind vortex that spread Electro energy. The combo ended the Debt Collector.
The battle wasn't over. Several minions still remained. The domain kept five active enemies at all times.
One of them made Victor laugh—a fat Treasure Hoarder with a shovel, digging into the absurdly solid floor. Despite no visible damage, he somehow flung chunks of rock and soil into the air.
You're telling me this guy doesn't use Geo? Who would believe that?
With the Debt Collector gone, the trio quickly dispatched the rest. The time above had stretched to 6:22, several times the starting count.
"Did you come… to play with me?"
As another enemy fell, a new figure appeared—an Electro Cicin Mage.
Though not as voluptuous as a Mirror Maiden, her curves and tight purple outfit still drew attention.
Victor Wang's eyes were already glued to her. Wait, is Sucrose moonlighting in here?
The Cicin Mage waved her lantern, summoning three glowing Electro Cicins that zipped into the air and began firing crackling orbs—not as fast as Oz, but still dangerous.
Victor glanced at Oz—both had wings, both flew, both were Electro, both used basic projectile attacks. One clear conclusion formed: Electro Cicin—Oz: Youth Edition.