Chapter 110. Trying to escape?!
The moment the verdant light swallowed the Lady, Dottore, and Scaramouche, their forms vanished entirely from sight.
"Lord Harbingers!!!"
The remaining Fatui soldiers stared in open disbelief, utterly unprepared for the Archon Buer to materialize out of nowhere and seal away all three Harbinger Lords in a single stroke.
Had this happened at any other Time, this particular soldier might not have felt any real concern at all — she might even have laughed at the very notion, scoffed at the idea that the Archon Buer posed any threat whatsoever against monsters like Scaramouche and Dottore.
You're practically begging for death, she would have thought.
But now, everything had changed.
Futsu Mitama and his group were closing in fast, and even the briefest delay now could mean death.
As that grim realization settled over the soldier, Alhaitham had already made his decision — he turned and left the area without a single word of explanation. He spared no thought for Firnas, still unconscious on the ground behind him.
Nahida herself had told him, in the instant she'd shielded him from Scaramouche's attack, to get clear of this place as quickly as possible, because unless something entirely unforeseen occurred, what came next here would be a battle beyond anything ordinary.
In truth, Alhaitham would have fled regardless of her warning. From the exchange he'd overheard between the Lady, Dottore, and Scaramouche moments earlier, he'd already gathered that none of them had wanted to provoke Futsu Mitama's group directly — not yet, not like this.
It was only Lesser Lord Kusanali's sudden intervention that had trapped them here against their will. Which meant, inevitably, that a battle of staggering scale was now unavoidable.
By Scaramouche's own reckoning, this would be a clash between Archons themselves. A confrontation of that magnitude had no place for a mere Scribe like himself to interfere in. And so Alhaitham made his choice without hesitation, running swiftly toward whatever safety he could find.
Elsewhere, the Fatui's elite soldiers raised their weapons, throwing themselves desperately into the path of Futsu Mitama's advancing group, determined to hold the line by any means necessary.
"Stop them!! For the Harbingers! For Her Majesty the Tsaritsa—"
The soldier never finished the sentence. A shadowed tentacle lanced through him mid-word, and he crumpled lifeless where he stood.
"No!!!"
An Electro Cicin Mage, witnessing her comrade's death, let out a scream of fury and sent a swarm of Cicins surging forward in a frenzied assault. But one bubble of water after another rose from the empty air, swallowing the attacking Cicins whole. A single flash of lightning followed, and the Mage herself dropped lifeless to the ground alongside them.
Crack! Crack! Crack!!
A bitter, freezing chill swept through the underground passage, and one by one, the Fatui soldiers still fighting were sealed into statues of solid ice where they stood.
"These Fatui are out of their minds."
Shinobu wiped a bead of sweat from her brow, her voice grave.
"Is it truly necessary? Fighting to the death, when they already know they stand no chance against us?"
Black Aila materialized beside Kuki Shinobu, her voice level and unbothered.
"It's not so strange, really. In Snezhnaya, a Harbinger's order is absolute, and the Cryo Archon's word sits above all else."
"A Harbinger clearly gave them a death sentence disguised as an order — hold the line, no matter the cost, even if it costs them their lives. So don't hold back on any of them. They certainly won't extend you the same courtesy. Show them mercy, and they'll still find a way to take a piece of you with them."
Sangonomiya Kokomi, drifting nearby atop her jellyfish, nodded in quiet agreement. She'd very nearly spared a handful of Fatui herself moments earlier, intending to simply let them go rather than kill them. But the moment she'd released them, they'd detonated their elemental weapons without hesitation, willing to die if it meant dragging her down with them.
People like that were genuinely terrifying.
She found herself grateful, in hindsight, that the Resistance had never once faced soldiers of this caliber during their own struggle — a single Fatui elite of this mindset could likely have cut down a dozen Resistance fighters without much trouble.
Had enemies this fearless, this willing to throw their lives away, ever formally joined the conflict between the Tenryou Commission and the Resistance, the entire course of that war might have tipped into an outright massacre.
It was only by luck that their focus had remained fixed on Watatsumi Island, leaving her and Miko the opening they'd needed to wipe them out.
"Let's move on." Futsu Mitama tightened his grip on Seven Thunder of Retribution: Narukami, casting one last look over the scattered Fatui corpses with a weary sigh. Had they simply laid down their arms and surrendered, he and his group would have left them be without a second thought.
But they had chosen to fight to the very last breath instead.
Everyone held their own beliefs, and he respected that much — but respect alone wouldn't stop him from protecting his own people, which was exactly why he hadn't held back even slightly in the fight just now.
"Nahida's spoken up in the Chat Group." Shenhe, calamity queller resting easy in her grip, relayed the message without ceremony. "She says she's trapped La Signora, along with Scaramouche and Dottore, and needs us to hurry."
"Good."
Relief and satisfaction lit up Futsu Mitama's expression at once. They'd finally cornered her — the Lady wouldn't be slipping away today.
She'd always moved like some elusive rodent, stirring chaos from the shadows before vanishing without a trace the moment her work was done. Catching her now, at last, counted as excellent news by any measure.
"Young Master, might we take on Dottore?"
Aila spoke up suddenly, and it was clear from her tone that she meant to face him personally.
"Hm?"
Futsu Mitama's steps slowed, hesitation flickering across his face. He'd originally intended to handle Dottore himself.
Based on Nahida's observations from her covert surveillance, Dottore stood as the strongest of the three by a clear margin, with Scaramouche following behind him, and the Lady trailing distantly in third. No matter how fiercely she fought, she posed no real threat to a being operating at Demon God Realm strength — handling her had already been assigned to Sangonomiya Kokomi and Shenhe.
Kuki Shinobu, meanwhile, would hold the perimeter, ready to intercept any Fatui reinforcements attempting to join the fray. Should any additional Harbingers appear, she'd hold them off temporarily while Klee and Albedo, stationed on the outskirts, moved in to reinforce the line.
All of this, naturally, rested on the assumption that Futsu Mitama himself would take on Dottore directly, while Aila and Black Aila, once fused, worked alongside Nahida against Scaramouche — a configuration meant to bring the entire battle to the swiftest possible close.
"Young Master, I feel the same way." Black Aila added her voice without delay.
The plan to face Dottore themselves had been something the two of them discussed long before this moment arrived. Both Aila and Black Aila carried a hatred for him deep enough that neither could simply stand aside and watch someone else settle the score.
Because of Dottore, a single person had been split into two — and Black Aila, in particular, had endured hardships beyond counting throughout her time in Snezhnaya.
Aila herself had only survived by the good fortune of crossing paths with Futsu Mitama; without him, she would have frozen to death in Inazuma City long before any of this unfolded.
And no matter how much happiness the two of them shared now, none of it changed the debt that remained unpaid. Had Futsu Mitama never possessed the Chat Group, never signed in for a Fusion Card, Aila and Black Aila would still be locked in a fusion battle to this day — one where only one of them could have walked away alive.
So they wanted this reckoning. Even if the Dottore before them now was merely a segment.
Weak segments held no appeal for either of them; killing one meant nothing, would earn them nothing but a faint, indifferent smile from the man himself. An Archon-level segment, however, was something else entirely — likely the only Demon God Realm segment he possessed.
Killing it, or even simply beating it down, would mean collecting a measure of interest, however small, on everything Dottore owed them.
"Are you certain you're ready for this?"
Futsu Mitama studied the two of them, his tone serious.
"I want to be honest with you both — even after fusing, even with Demon God-level combat strength at your disposal, there's still a 'break-in period' before that power can truly be wielded to its fullest. After I reached this realm myself, I spent considerable time entering 'Raiden Style: Martial Arts,' training until I stood on equal footing with the Shogun there."
"That's precisely why I chose to take on the toughest opponent myself."
He'd never once stopped pushing his own strength forward, not for a single moment — because he understood all too well what it meant to fall behind: a beating, sooner or later, was the inevitable price.
Being an Archon offered no guarantee of survival either; plenty of Demon Gods had perished during the Archon War itself.
Even Lumine and Aether, siblings who carried genuine Archon-level combat power in their own right, had faced the Shades of Heavenly Principles and come away with one sealed away and the other bound to the Abyss Order as its Prince.
Only once the Chat Group reached LV5 — a threshold placing its holder above the Archons entirely — could anyone claim real safety on the continent of Teyvat.
Of course, the Chat Group currently sat at LV4, and it was far too soon to be dreaming of LV5 just yet. Even so, through relentless tempering, Futsu Mitama had carved out a place for himself within the Demon God Realm that no one could dispute.
Aila and Black Aila, by contrast, held the combined power of dual authorities after their fusion — but they had never passed through that critical break-in period. Simply put, their mastery over that power remained incomplete, untested.
Pitting them against someone as battle-hardened and ancient as Dottore left Futsu Mitama genuinely uneasy.
"It's alright, Young Master — Nahida will be there with us." Aila's voice stayed calm and sure. "Two against one, and Nahida holds the Dendro Gnosis. She can restrain him even if we can't land the finishing blow ourselves. At the very least, we can hold him in place and hit him a lot."
"Yes." Black Aila nodded, just as resolute. She shared the same conviction entirely.
Even if killing him outright proved beyond them, they could still serve as a delaying force — and more importantly, this was a fight they had wanted for a very long time. Even failing to end Dottore's life, simply landing a lot of blows against him would bring Aila and Black Aila genuine satisfaction.
"Alright."
Futsu Mitama finally relented, though his instructions carried a note of firm caution.
"Just remember — your own safety comes first. I ask nothing more of you than that. If it truly becomes impossible, preserve a single breath, split away a fragment of your soul if you must. We can still bring you back from that."
This was the absolute minimum he required of them: that Aila and Black Aila survive, in whatever form that survival might take.
As long as some fragment of their soul endured, they could follow the same path as Raiden Makoto, Maha Rukkhadevata, Guizhong, and Bosacius — carrying, at the very least, the hope of eventual resurrection.
Futsu Mitama hadn't lost sight of why they'd come to Sumeru in the first place. Neither the Electro Gnosis, nor aiding Lesser Lord Kusanali, nor even saving Maha Rukkhadevata had been the original goal driving this journey.
The true purpose, from the very beginning, had simply been to gather "materials" from Irminsul itself.
Zhongli and Albedo wanted to determine whether the modified branches of Irminsul served as the core material behind the special husk dolls. If their theory held true, then Raiden Makoto, Maha Rukkhadevata, and Bosacius might all stand a genuine chance at resurrection.
"Understood." — twice over, in unison.
Aila and Black Aila both nodded, their meaning clear, and warm smiles spread across their faces. Being cared for this way, they had to admit, felt genuinely good.
"Alright then — let's press forward."
With the exchange settled, Futsu Mitama and his group resumed their advance deeper into the facility. Along the way, the Fatui's resistance only grew more frenzied, soldiers transforming themselves into living bombs, detonating raw elemental power in a desperate attempt to slow the advance.
It accomplished nothing beyond their own pointless deaths — not even a half-second of delay against Futsu Mitama's group. Futsu Mitama simply activated Chakra Desiderata, casting each attacker straight into a spatial rift the instant they charged.
Charge forward, and they met death outright; hold back, and they became little more than fireworks regardless.
The gap in power between them was simply too vast to bridge, rendering the Fatui's resistance almost absurd to witness.
From their shouted battle cries, Futsu Mitama gathered that this particular contingent answered directly to Dottore — which explained their reckless devotion easily enough. Though Dottore appeared little more than a madman to Futsu Mitama's group, the people of Snezhnaya regarded him as something closer to a hero, eccentricities and all.
And truthfully, for a man capable of crafting so many elemental weapons and Delusions besides, a touch of eccentricity seemed a small price to overlook.
Beyond that, in the eyes of these Fatui soldiers, the three Harbingers were currently engaged in a mission far too critical to interrupt, and defending that mission against any intruder was simply their sworn duty.
That conviction alone fueled the ferocity now on display.
Before long, Futsu Mitama's group arrived near the God Creation Project's experimental site. Within the Chat Group, Nahida's messages had already begun pouring in, increasingly desperate.
[Nahida: "Help, this is far too hard to manage!!!" Scaramouche I can handle — I can still read his movements well enough. But this Dottore is simply strange. It's not only the Cryo Archon's authority he wields. He can call upon every elemental power there is, and even Abyssal Power on top of it."]
[Nahida: "Futsu Mitama, Aila, I can't hold this much longer."]
[Azhdaha: "It's been under two minutes, hasn't it? What happened to your Gnosis?"]
[Nahida: "I'm using it right now. Without it, I'd likely already be beaten."]
[Guizhong: "Wait, what? That's far too fast. I managed over half a day before I finally died."]
[Raiden Makoto: "Is the current Dendro Archon really that weak?"]
[Raiden Ei: "She still has much tempering ahead of her."]
[Maha Rukkhadevata: "She's still a child, in truth — five hundred years old, and four hundred of those spent imprisoned. Don't set your expectations for her too high."]
[Venti: "Oh dear, fighting and killing were never really our strong suit, were they. Still, Futsu Mitama and the others should be arriving any moment now. Don't worry too much — worrying won't change the outcome either way."]
[Venti: "Though—even with the Gnosis, you still can't hold out for long? "]
[Cyno: "Esteemed elder Archons, Lady Nahida is still quite young."]
[Albedo: "Even among Archons, differences exist."]
[Klee: "Go, Nahida!! Don't let them beat you!!!"]
[Nahida: "I'm trying, truly—but right now I'm mostly just getting hit and running in circles. One minute — maybe three at the absolute most — is all I have left in me. Please, hurry as fast as you possibly can! If there's truly no other way, I'll simply hold on a little longer, somehow—"]
[Maha Rukkhadevata: "@Futsu Mitama @Aila @Sangonomiya Kokomi @Shenhe @Kuki Shinobu."]
[Futsu Mitama: "Almost there, almost there. Nahida, can you release Signora and Scaramouche for now? We're close to your position — roughly half a minute out. Aila will enter your domain and fight at your side. I'll take Scaramouche on outside, and Kokomi, Shenhe, and Shinobu will handle the Signora between them."]
[Kuki Shinobu: "I'm covering the outer perimeter. Strictly speaking, I won't be the one leading the charge against the Harbinger."]
[Sangonomiya Kokomi: "I'm mostly a strategist here at most as a Support control— I don't carry that kind of raw power myself."]
[Shenhe: "Then leave the Harbinger to me alone. I welcome a strong opponent."]
[Nahida: "Wait — you want to send Aila in? Is that really wise? This Dottore is genuinely strange, he seems to know absolutely everything. Abyssal Power, elemental power, even the Cryo Archon's own authority, and the authorities of Archons long since dead — he can wield every one of them."]
[Raiden Ei: "Jack of all trades, master of none, then."]
[Azhdaha: "Having many tools at hand isn't always the advantage it seems."]
[Raiden Makoto: "In a way, he genuinely is a gifted individual — though he does seem to lean rather heavily on borrowed strength."]
[Aila: "It's fine. If it truly doesn't work out, we can still buy time and let Young Master step in himself."]
[Nahida: "Okay, okay, okay, okay — just tell me the moment you arrive!"]
[Futsu Mitama: "We're here now. You should be able to sense us already. Pull Aila and Black Aila in together — they're ready to fight."]
[Nahida: "Already?! Alright! Understood!"]
With the exchange settled, Futsu Mitama and his group finally reached the entrance of the God Creation Project's site, where shouki no kami, the prodigal, loomed in the distance like a mountain given shape.
"Is this truly something the Akademiya built?"
Kuki Shinobu stared up at the colossal machine, a flicker of genuine admiration crossing her face despite herself. To construct something of this scale must have consumed an almost unthinkable amount of Time and material.
"How astonishing..." Sangonomiya Kokomi murmured, equally stunned by the sight.
"Destroy it now." Shenhe's thought settled into resolve almost instantly; she meant to tear the thing down on the spot.
Futsu Mitama shared the same instinct. A construct this massive would only become a liability later in the fight if left standing — better, then, to bring it down before it ever had the chance to matter.
Just as the thought crossed his mind, a verdant light bloomed beside Aila and Black Aila, wrapping around them both at once.
Whoosh!
Neither of them offered any resistance. In the next instant, they were simply gone from where they'd stood.
Then, without warning, two figures plummeted from the sky.
They were Signora and Scaramouche, both forcibly expelled from Nahida's domain in a single decisive strike.
"Heh. Buer amounts to nothing more than this."
Scaramouche sneered, brushing off the fall, then let his gaze sweep the battlefield ahead. Almost immediately, he spotted Futsu Mitama standing there, Seven Thunder of Retribution: Narukami resting in his grip.
Delight flickered across Scaramouche's face at the sight, his lips curling into a wild, hungry grin.
Was today simply his lucky day? Everything he could have wished for seemed to be falling into place at once.
Beside him, Signora caught sight of Futsu Mitama as well, and her expression darkened noticeably. She clearly hadn't anticipated his group breaching this deep in barely a minute and a half.
Swish—!
Without a word, Signora chose flight over confrontation. Whatever battle was about to unfold here, it was not one she could afford to be part of.
"Hmph! Running, are you?"
The instant Futsu Mitama caught her movement, he stepped forward and triggered Chakra Desiderata. Space folded beneath him, and he appeared directly in Signora's path, Seven Thunder of Retribution: Narukami already swinging toward her in a single fluid arc.
"!!!!!!!!!"
Signora's pupils constricted sharply as she registered the incoming slash. Flame and ice erupted from her body in the same instant, clearly summoned to meet the strike head-on with everything she had.
Clang—!!
A sharp, ringing clash cut through the air. Scaramouche had stepped in to intercept the blow on Signora's behalf, an unsettlingly pleasant smile spreading across his face as he turned toward Futsu Mitama.
"Your opponent is me, Futsu Mitama."