Counter-intuitively, the third stage of the battle did not last very long.
Under Skirk's "possession," Lumine's every move seemed to land in places Childe couldn't predict, but since it wasn't a real "possession," Childe couldn't tell that Skirk was helping her.
The Foul Legacy's attacks missed time and again, while Lumine's attacks landed repeatedly.
So familiar.
This feeling of being completely overwhelmed was so familiar.
Childe thought to himself, how long has it been since he last encountered this? It seemed like it hadn't happened since his master threw him out of the Abyss Space as a child.
This feeling was quite strange; even though he was fighting an enemy, there was a sense of familiarity, like facing a father holding a Seven Wolves belt.
Every strike that landed hit a familiar spot, making Childe feel as if his body, encased in the Foul Legacy, had returned to that most helpless age.
Even though this was his strongest form, and every attack under the Foul Legacy was a revolutionary improvement over before, why was he being toyed with like a child now? Even if the opponent was strong, he had also grown stronger; shouldn't the gap have narrowed?
Forget counterattacking, he didn't even have the chance to summon the giant whale.
Finally, feeling that if he continued to be beaten, it might awaken some bad psychological shadows, Childe decided to use his strongest strike to end the battle!
He suddenly pulled back, gripping the Electro blades in a reverse hold: "Watch closely, Traveler, this strike will decide our victory!
A flaw, gone in a flash!"
The Electro light flared brilliantly, erupting from Childe's body. The twisting and discharging ribbons of lightning were like crocodiles tearing at prey, constantly lashing the surrounding buildings until bricks and stones flew everywhere.
With the enhancement of a massive amount of Electro element, Childe's figure vanished instantly.
"Extreme Evil Technique — All-Consuming Flash!"
Created by Surtalogi and passed down from Skirk, Childe, in his Foul Legacy form, unleashed his strongest strike.
If this strike landed, he believed Lumine would surely be defeated!
However, the moment he moved, Lumine moved as well.
She held the two swords, which had been violently fused together, in a reverse grip, mirroring Childe's posture.
"What?!" Childe was struck with horror, an ominous feeling rising in his heart: "Can someone really learn my technique in an instant?!"
In the next moment, Lumine's figure also moved.
"Extreme Evil Technique: Annihilation!"
The simple and unadorned sword move and the long blade formed from Electro element crossed paths, and the two stood back-to-back, maintaining their finishing poses.
Paimon flew anxiously between the two, looking left and right, not daring to approach either side. Finally, after a crackle of lightning, Lumine half-knelt, seemingly struggling to stay up.
"Lumine!" Paimon flew over worriedly, only to find Lumine raising a hand to signal she was fine.
"I won," Lumine said.
Paimon couldn't read the situation and was just blindly worried about Lumine's safety. At that moment, Childe spoke: "Why?"
Lumine asked back, "What do you mean?"
Childe added, "Why is it that with the same technique, yours was able to overpower mine?"
Lumine: "Because I finished saying the name of the technique faster than you!"
Childe was dazed.
Once upon a time, his teacher Skirk had said the same thing when he defeated Childe with the same technique.
"Who is your teacher?"
"His name is Orion."
"Orion... I see. There is an old saying in Liyue: 'Blessing is where woe lurks, and woe is where blessing leans.' It is I who have lost."
Finally, after all the defeat lines had finished playing, Childe deactivated the Foul Legacy and fell heavily to the ground.
Lumine didn't give Childe much time to rest. Once her body, paralyzed by the Electro element, could move again, she immediately used her sword for support to stand up.
Paimon hurried over to check on her. After Lumine signaled she was okay, she turned and walked toward Childe.
"Hahahaha! I haven't had such an exhilarating fight in a long time!" Childe, lying on the ground, laughed heartily.
"Heh!" Lumine sneered. "You find getting beaten up exhilarating? I think you're a bit abnormal."
"You don't understand. I see the shadow of an old acquaintance in you. Do you know Skirk?"
Skirk: [I don't.]
Lumine: "I don't."
"Fine..." Childe propped himself up. "Sigh, I didn't expect we'd both be played..."
Lumine stopped and asked in confusion, "Played? Who played me?"
"Morax," Childe's tone became serious. "He's not dead at all. Impressive. For someone who can create stone whales and stone eagles, a fake Exuvia could probably be made in an instant. Yet, such a fake managed to lead everyone by the nose, drawing out the Qixing's attitude, the Fatui's intentions, the Adepti's thoughts, and your stance. Those thousands-of-years-old geezers really aren't to be trifled with."
Standing up slowly, Childe turned to look at Lumine and Paimon: "You won. I didn't expect you to be so strong. But you only won against me in our battle.
As for seizing the Gnosis, we might not necessarily lose."
Lumine warily pointed her sword at Childe: "Tartaglia! What are you trying to do now?"
Childe smiled slightly: "We had four contingency plans. I originally thought we wouldn't have the chance to use this fourth one, but it turns out the last and most reliable one is this one."
Childe pulled a bright yellow talisman from his robes. Adeptal light flickered on it, and countless yellow talismans emerged from the surroundings, rotating around Childe.
Seeing this, Lumine felt a bad premonition. Although she didn't know what Childe was going to do, she felt she had to stop him. She raised her sword and rushed at Childe with her maximum speed!
Childe held the talisman high and shouted, "Let me see the power of this [Simulated Black Hole Talisman]!"
Lumine slammed on the brakes, grabbed Paimon, turned around, and ran back.
Childe:???
What happened?
Did I say something abnormal just now?
But in reality, what was in Childe's hand was not a [Simulated Black Hole Talisman], but the remaining dozen or so Talismans of Forbidden Covenants. The reason he arrived late was that he had gone to arrange for people to place the [Simulated Black Hole Talismans] near Guyun Stone Forest, which would then be detonated using the Talismans of Forbidden Covenants in his hand.
The dozen or so Talismans of Forbidden Covenants channeled adeptal energy, and the [Simulated Black Hole Talismans] that had been deployed beneath the sea in the distance were detonated one after another.
For a moment, the entire Liyue Harbor felt the vibration from the sea.
"What's happening?! What's going on!" At the outpost on the mountains near Liyue Harbor, the Millelith looked out at the nearby sea, trying to see what had caused the violent tremors.
When they looked toward Guyun Stone Forest, a shocking scene was reflected in their eyes.
On the sea, countless black suns actually rose slowly! But those suns did not radiate light; instead, they continuously swallowed seawater and rocks, like dozens of hungry giant beasts.
Eventually, the countless suns gradually shrank and vanished, but the gap in the ocean formed by the swallowed seawater did not disappear. A hole had been broken in the sea.
"Wooo—"
A strange cry echoed from the depths of the ocean. It was precisely because of this large hole that air rushed into the seabed; with the air acting as a medium, the sound from the sea reached the ears of the Millelith on guard with extreme clarity. Countless soldiers actually fainted, their orifices bleeding from the intense shock to their minds.
On the Jade Chamber, Ningguang, sensing something was wrong, quickly had Baiwen, Baixiao, and the others lead all non-combat personnel to leave the Jade Chamber and return to Liyue Harbor. Meanwhile, the group of Adepti stopped their conversation and came outside one after another to look at the distant sea.
The sky was stained with ink-like colors, and dark clouds filled with the sound of thunder covered the entire sky. They had seen this kind of scene on the day the Rex Lapis was assassinated.
The first drop of rain fell, followed by a torrential downpour. Ningguang summoned the Geo element shield built into the Jade Chamber, which allowed everyone to maintain clear vision.
Xiao looked at the large hole on the distant sea, his heart shaking with fear: "This aura, could it be..."
Just then, Ningguang felt a floating platform return to the Jade Chamber. He hurriedly opened the barrier, only to find Lumine and Paimon had arrived.
Lumine ran over quickly. She took a quick look at who was present and rapidly explained what had happened earlier at the Golden House. She glossed over Morax's life or death since she wasn't sure, but recounted everything else truthfully.
"Childe somehow got hold of the Simulated Black Hole Talismans made by Master. I suspect he has some deeper motive!"
"No need to suspect," Moon Carver True Lord said, looking into the distance. "If you turn around now, you'll see it."
Hearing this, the humans led by Ningguang, the group of Adepti, as well as Lumine and Paimon, all looked over.
It was as if the sea had come to life.
Formed from seawater, spinning at high speed yet maintaining its shape, a monster with over a dozen heads slowly rose from the ocean. The pressure of a God rippled out; had there not been Adepti present to protect them, the humans on the Jade Chamber would likely have lost consciousness instantly.
The multi-headed sea serpent's eyes glowed like torches, and more than ten pairs of eyes, over a thousand meters above the sea, looked toward Liyue Harbor simultaneously.
"That is the great enemy from a thousand years ago, the Vortex Demon God — Osial."
Liyue Harbor, crisis descends.
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