On the other side of the portal, the Pyro Abyss Mage braced himself nervously for the coming fight.
This massive gateway, created by the formation at Guyun Stone Forest, was unlike the Abyss Order's internal corridors. It could not repel intruders at will, nor could it be shut down instantly.
This mission had only been assigned to him, the Cryo Abyss Lector, and another Pyro Abyss Mage. Their forces were already stretched thin. Here, to receive them, there were only a few Abyss Mages. It was nowhere near as dangerous as the Cryo Abyss Lector had tried to make it sound. If not for the mission, he would have fled long ago.
And, as fate would have it, the enemy poured out of the portal in full force—completely unfazed!
The Pyro Abyss Mage's face twisted with unease. He glanced at the Cryo Abyss Lector, silently begging for a retreat order.
But the Cryo Abyss Lector looked utterly confident. In a sharp voice, he declared to the intruders:
"Bold indeed. Since you dare pursue us here, then this shall be your grave!"
Brother, if we keep fighting, it'll be us who end up staying here forever!
The Pyro Abyss Mage frantically sent him signals with his eyes.
The Cryo Abyss Lector ignored him, clapping his hands sharply. Immediately, the ground shook with heavy footsteps. From the slopes on either side, two towering figures—five meters tall—leapt down. One was a Stonehide Lawachurl, the other a Thunderhelm Lawachurl.
Brother—since when did we have reinforcements? Why didn't I know about this?!
Relief washed over the Pyro Abyss Mage. Raising a hand, he pointed across the six intruders. "Keheheh—you've walked right into our trap!"
"Less talk, more fighting. Go!"
"Eh?"
"You and the two Lawachurls hold them off for a while. Just until our forces gather."
The Pyro Abyss Mage unwillingly moved to the front.
"You lot—summon every nearby fighter at once! Wipe them out!"
The Abyss Mages chanted in their incomprehensible tongue. Three of them raised their staves high, calling for reinforcements.
"I must deliver Osial's remains back without delay. The rest is up to you."
Leaving those words behind, the Cryo Abyss Lector picked up the giant remains of the defeated god and bolted.
He ran.
This was entirely in line with Victor Wang's impression of Abyss Lectors—either they entered fleeing, or they ended up being beaten and running.
"You think we came here to play around?!"
Fatty shouted what everyone was thinking. None of them wanted to waste time. All tried to break past the Lawachurls and chase the Cryo Abyss Lector.
"Keheheh! Even if it costs me my life, I'll hold you here!" shrieked the Pyro Abyss Mage, unleashing a massive fiery bombardment to cut them off.
The Lawachurls and Abyss Mages surged into action. Parts of the two Lawachurls' bodies gleamed with crystallized elements, their movements followed naturally by elemental power without deliberate channeling. Their sheer size and weight made their attacks more oppressive than even the Lector's. Striding through fire, they charged with crushing force—no one dared meet them head-on.
"We don't have a Geo user! Fighting the Stonehide Lawachurl puts us at such a disadvantage!"
"I'll handle it."
Victor could only fire simple Geo projectiles, chipping away at the Lawachurl's armor piece by piece.
"You… how can you use two elements?"
The others couldn't help but be stunned. Only Ye Caizhen began to suspect the truth.
"Everyone has their secrets. Let's not pry." She shielded Victor and commanded: "The Pyro Abyss Mage goes to Xingqiu and Tang Guo. I'll take the Thunderhelm Lawachurl. Jiang Hao, Ruan Zhi—you two deal with the Abyss Mages."
Fatty Jiang Hao wielded an Electro Vision. The mature and graceful Ruan Zhi carried a Pyro Vision.
"Everyone, finish this quickly!"
"Finish quickly? You underestimate us far too much!"
The Pyro Abyss Mage truly was burning his life away. Already forced into an elementalized state, his body blazed like a humanoid flame. With no chance to rest, he now poured out energy like it cost nothing.
"Tide, rise!" cried Tang Guo, sending waves crashing forward.
On the other side, Ye Caizhen unleashed a flurry of icy blades, shattering several electro-crystals from the Thunderhelm Lawachurl's body. Roaring, the beast lunged at her. Missing its strike, it tore off fragments of crystal from its back and hurled them like deadly grenades. The area erupted in storms of lightning.
Victor's battle was far easier—though the Stonehide Lawachurl was strong, it could not fly.
It could leap over ten meters into the air, but it was like firing a cannon at a mosquito—or in Teyvat's terms, like swinging a claymore at a firefly. It lacked the ability to lift rocks beneath its feet to soar. All it could do was leap or throw slimes and boulders. Naturally, Victor kited it with ease.
Taking advantage of this, Victor experimented with different Geo attacks. Spears of stone, jagged spikes, crashing rocks—every idea he had, he tried on the Lawachurl.
The opponent was strong and durable, and its dense Geo concentration resisted other elements. Only Geo-on-Geo consumed its armor effectively. And once the shield was down, if its Geo resistance was too high? He could simply switch to Anemo.
The battle tilted steadily toward victory. Fatty and Ruan Zhi were also nearly done with the Abyss Mages. But before they could finish, reinforcements from the Abyss Order arrived.
From every direction, birds scattered, beasts fled—the Hilichurl army was coming!
Just as Ye Caizhen severed the Thunderhelm Lawachurl's stony neck, she looked up at the swarming Hilichurls blocking the Cryo Abyss Lector's retreat. She sighed helplessly.
"Change of plans. We withdraw."
"Withdraw? You underestimate us far too much!"
Their orders were to destroy the intruders, not to retreat. For them, there was only battle to the death.
The Pyro Abyss Mage threw his Abyssal Codex into the air. Though his elementalized body was being smothered by water, he forced himself to rise once more, drawing a black-violet flame from his very life.
"Pitiful creatures… let me grant you grace."
His gaze softened with false compassion as the unholy flame consumed the tome. The cursed script scattered into glowing violet sigils.
In that moment, even ordinary Hilichurls—who had never touched fire—felt affinity with Pyro. Their clumsy blows suddenly carried the strength to topple Vision bearers.
"Keheheh! Wipe them out—that is our mission!"
With one last shriek, the Pyro Abyss Mage crumbled into ash.
The remaining Abyss Mages wailed. Three staffs crossed, ancient words roared forth. At the climax of the chant, one shouted defiantly: "Kill these humans!"
And then, the three collapsed powerless to the ground.
But the Hilichurls, newly empowered by Pyro, erupted into frenzy. Their eyes glowed crimson as they rushed forward faster than ever. Even the headless corpse of the Thunderhelm Lawachurl rose again under their command.
"What the—what's going on?!" Fatty shouted.
"Doesn't matter. We cut a path out!"
The Thunderhelm Lawachurl gripped two lightning chains. Every lash dragged thunder down from the sky.
The North Wing regrouped, dodging carefully as they dismantled the twisted corpse, piece by piece, until it finally lay dead for good.
Victor was still trading blows with the frenzied Stonehide Lawachurl. It seemed to have grown smarter, sending Geo spikes upward to strike at him, even conjuring a massive eight-meter stone pillar to wield like a club.
A fierce gleam passed through Victor's eyes. Instead of flying higher, he went closer—meeting it head-on. Circling the stone pillar, he dove low, striking the Lawachurl's head with Wentian Sword. It was like cutting stone. With a grim smile, he followed with a colossal Erosion Blast, sparks screeching against rock.
Kill!
The oncoming Hilichurls loosed volleys of arrows—mad with frenzy, they struck allies and foes alike.
The powerless Abyss Mages were skewered by their own kin. The Stonehide Lawachurl stood firm under its rocky armor. Victor raised a Geo shield, the others layered ice and water to defend.
After several waves, the Hilichurl vanguard was nearly upon them.
Ye Caizhen took to the sky, scanning. "This is near Mt. Aozang. We should break south."
"Then let's go already!"
Hilichurls swarmed with blazing clubs, Mitachurls with axes and shields, shamans chanting their spells.
"Victor! This way!" Xingqiu shouted toward a clearer path.
But the Stonehide Lawachurl swept its giant pillar in a ten-meter arc. None could get close—not the North Wing, not the Hilichurls. Only the "fly buzzing around" remained in its reach.
"We'll have to take it down. Otherwise, it'll keep chasing."
"Who can even step in now? None of us are as agile as that guy."
"I'll help him."
Ye Caizhen, the only one able to fly, carefully joined the fight. But Victor shot her a furious glare. "Stay out of this!"
Kill!
Murderous intent surged through him—especially at the sight of this woman.
With his left hand, he summoned a distant fire arrow. A Pyro-infused Erosion Blast formed instantly. Pressing his right hand on the hilt, he conjured an Electro-infused Erosion Blast above the blade tip. The overload combo detonated on the Lawachurl's head.
Amid the explosion, Victor charged forward. His Geo shield glowed like an eggshell barrier as he pierced into the opening, slicing through bone and churning the crystalline brain inside.
The Lawachurl shrieked, exploding with unnatural speed. Its glowing hands clamped Victor's waist, trying to crush him to pulp.
"Victor!"
"I said stay out of this!"
The Geo particles in his body instinctively clustered at his waist. His very flesh began to glow like the Lawachurl's hands. Agonizing pain wracked him, as though his organs had been scrambled—yet Victor only licked his lips in savage excitement.
Surrounded by murderous sword qi, the Wentian Sword carved clean through the Lawachurl's fingers and palms. Spiraling up its arm, he cleaved head and body apart.
The Stonehide Lawachurl was truly dead.
"Victor—this way, now!" Xingqiu shouted again.
Locking eyes with him from afar, Victor's gaze flared crimson. He turned away, bellowing: "I know! I know! Just kill! Kill!"
Subconsciously, he distanced himself from the others. Riding his sword into the air, each dive was a hawk's strike, every slash taking a life. Both hands swung twin Erosion Blasts, shredding everything they touched.
The North Wing stared in bewilderment, finding no explanation.
"Follow him! Fight our way out!" Ye Caizhen commanded.
Kill! Kill! Kill!
His hands dripped black blood, the stench intoxicating him. More… I need more…
Beneath his mask, one of his five extra eyes burst with black light.
Still not enough!
A sweeping wind blade tens of meters wide sliced through the horde like wheat before a scythe.
Fatty gasped sharply behind him.
"Killkillkillkillkill!"
Victor soared skyward, staring blankly at his hands glowing black. With a slight lift, countless screams erupted from below.
"Victor…"
Xingqiu gaped at the forest of Geo spikes stabbing skyward, every one impaling a Hilichurl corpse. In an instant, the encirclement shattered.
"Victor!!"
He shouted, as Ye Caizhen took to the air again in pursuit.
"Kill! Kill them all! Kill the humans!"
Victor clutched his head, his mutterings carried perfectly to Ye Caizhen's ears.
"You—! That was… from the Abyss just now?!"
"Kill! Kill me! No—no, wait! I'll kill you!"
Spiraling stone pillars warped around her, threatening to crush her—but trembled and faded.
"I'll kill the humans! I don't want to kill humans! Humans—stay away from me!"
Victor fled on the Wentian Sword. Ye Caizhen gave chase, but ice could not match wind for speed. Frustrated, she sighed, then returned to the others. She crafted an excuse and said: "The circle is broken. You return first. I'll chase him."
"I'll go with you!"
Seeing Xingqiu's firm resolve, Ye Caizhen relented.
Fatty finally breathed in relief. On the return path, he whispered with the others: "Did either of you feel like… some terrifying presence was watching us?"
"…It was worse than the Lord of Vishaps. The air felt like a swamp. My body sluggish, and it was as though countless cold serpents slithered over me, into me—into my very soul." Ruan Zhi shuddered as she described it.
"Yes, yes! And the moment Victor left, it disappeared… Don't tell me he—he's a god?"
"…Better not to speculate. Best to pretend… nothing happened at all."