"I didn't train this hard just to grow stronger for missions!!"
"Well said... everyone, let's make a race of it! The last one to break their tower's defense treats the rest to drinks!"
"No problem at all, Sister Beidou!"
"Then let the operation begin!"
The teams scattered into the fog. Soon, the sounds of intense combat erupted from various corners of the misty abyss. Su Han turned to Lumine. "Let's go."
The girl nodded silently, following Su Han as they soared toward the center. Since the Dainichi Mikoshi was currently locked in "Evernight," the surrounding ruins were shrouded in pitch blackness. They had to navigate by instinct and elemental sight.
Paimon, floating alongside them, sighed. "It's so dark... it's creepy! Su Han, did the people who lived down here have no eyes? How could anyone live like this?"
"Not at all. The people of Watatsumi are the descendants of the people of Enkanomiya—Byakuyakoku. That shrine up there literally flew up from down here!"
"What? So the people on the surface are actually from this hole?"
"Yes. It was originally the land of the White Night. The Dainichi Mikoshi is currently shrouded, but once we flip the mechanism, the sun will return. However, with the Abyss in control, I expect plenty of traps. Stay close."ā
"Hehe, I'll be right behind you," Paimon said, tucking herself safely into Su Han's wake.
As they flew, roars echoed from the shadows. Su Han flicked his sword tip, sending out a concentrated Gravity Wave. Voom. The screeching stopped before the enemies even materialized.
They touched down in The Narrows, where ten mutated Vishaps—each over ten meters tall—lunged at them. Lumine stepped forward, her blade trailing a sharp gale. With a single vertical slash, a Vishap was cleaved in two.
Suddenly, over a hundred Shadowy Husks emerged from the gloom, led by several Abyss Heralds.
"Su Han... are you really not afraid the 'Jellyfish' will die?" the Herald hissed.
Su Han's response was a silent, terrifying horizontal slash. The shockwave leveled a nearby ruin-peak. He was done with words. In this state, anyone in his way was a corpse.
"Lumine, take the Husks. I'll clear the Vishaps."
"Understood!"
[The Global Broadcast]
The audience watching the TBN livestream sat in stunned silence. What had just happened? Su Han hadn't even looked like he swung his blade, yet the monsters simply... disintegrated.
"Heavens... is that Lord Su Han's true power?"
"It's terrifying. Those Vishaps were huge, and he erased them like dust. He's surely at the level of the Gods now."
In Watatsumi, the Raiden Shogun watched the screen with a faint, satisfied smile. As his wife, seeing his strength grow filled her with pride. On Seirai Island, Inukimi (Lady Moon) turned to her Youkai subjects. "Do you see? That is the Lord's power. How can mere monsters compare to him?"
Even in the Inuyasha World, the broadcast reached Kaede's Village. Miroku, the monk who had recently joined the alliance to seek a cure for his Wind Tunnel, stared at the screen. "So this is the husband of the Thunder Goddess... truly a terrifying man."
[The Tower Breakthroughs]
On Watatsumi's surface, Katakuri was clearing Abyssal remnants with ruthless efficiency. His Mochi-Mochi powers, enhanced by Haki, acted as a total suppression field against the void creatures. Nearby, Inuyasha and Sesshomaru were also slaughtering monsters, though they couldn't help but glance at the sky projections.
The camera feed suddenly switched to the first tower. Beidou's team had arrived.
"Heh... did you think these toys could stop me? Bankai: Thunder Sovereign!"
The pitch-black Abyss was momentarily blinded by a pillar of violet lightning. Beidou descended like a god of war, her blade vaporizing thousands of monsters in a single strike.
"Is that all? Boring," Beidou scoffed. "Kikyo, Shinobu, the seal is yours!"
Kikyo loosed an arrow of white light that pierced the gloom, and as the tower began to rotate, a sliver of artificial sunlight bloomed, purging the surrounding miasma. However, Beidou frowned. "The resistance here was too light. Something's wrong."
"Maybe we're just too strong?" Kuki Shinobu suggested.
"No... the Abyss has planned this for too long," Beidou's expression shifted. "Their real target isn't the towers. It's the center. They're all at the Dainichi Mikoshi."
[The Final Confrontation]
The second and third towers fell shortly after. Keqing and Hu Tao cleared their sector with a flurry of sword-light and spirit-flame, while Diluc and Lisa stabilized the final tower in the deepest reaches of the Abyss.
"All towers are online," Lisa reported, using her lightning to reinforce the seals. "The Abyssal flow has been throttled. Now, it's up to Su Han."
At the heart of the realm, Su Han, Yoimiya, and Lumine finally arrived at the foot of the Dainichi Mikoshi.
The area was a literal sea of monsters—tens of thousands of them. The Abyss had pulled all its forces here. Suddenly, the sea of monsters split apart, forming a wide path.
A blonde young man in crimson-accented traveler's garb walked slowly toward them. His eyes were clear but held a streak of cold ruthlessness. Behind him stood an honor guard of high-ranking Abyss Lectors.
"Lumine... we meet again," the man said. "What do you have to say to me this time?"
It was Aether, the Prince of the Abyss—Lumine's brother.
Lumine's response was cold and filled with a sharp, biting pain. "Looking at you like this... it makes me sick."
"Lumine, you—"
"How many lives must you destroy to be satisfied?" she interrupted, stepping in front of Su Han. Her voice was freezing. "How many people have to die for your 'grand plan'?"
Through her time in Teyvat with Su Han, Lumine had found a home. She had found a man who supported her silently, who understood her loneliness, and who had even secretly draped a coat over her shoulders when she trained late into the night. She loved this world now—and she loved the man standing beside her. She would not let her brother destroy either.
100+ chapters are available now and daily updates! @patreon.com/Zefyrus