The instant Lin Qingyue activated her Character Card, the entire battlefield seemed to freeze in time.
This wasn't Aeldara's all-consuming Silent Judgment that stripped away all power, but something far more bizarre, utterly incomprehensible to this world.
A halo of interwoven pink and blue light engulfed Lin Qingyue like a tidal wave.
Against the grim backdrop of death, blood, and steel, this burst of girlish radiance stood as a blatant defiance of the scene's very aesthetic.
"What's that?!"
"That priestess... what is she doing?"
Whether bloodied knights or advancing undead, every creature slowed to a crawl, their gazes riveted to the blindingly girly halo.
In the distant, climactic battle, Aeldara's crimson eyes twitched violently.
An ominous premonition pierced her skull, identical to the sensation she'd felt when the pink-haired girl had asked if she could change her armor's color.
"Hollow theatrics!" Death Lord Mograss roared, his voice like thunder. "Kill her!"
The order was given, but it was too late.
The light dissipated.
Lin Qingyue's plain priest's robe vanished, replaced by a lavish Deaconess's dress adorned with lace and bows.
Her long hair was styled into playful spiral pigtails that bounced jauntily at her shoulders.
The most jarring element was the champagne-gold and sky-blue assault rifle clutched in her hand, its cold, murderous aura utterly at odds with her sweet appearance.
"She's here! She's here!" Lin Xiyue exclaimed, clenching her fists excitedly, her eyes shining. "It's Sis's strongest Heroic Spirit! We've got this now! Go get 'em, Sis! Crush them!"
"This is... what they call 'stable Heroic Spirit Possession'?" Su Wan groaned, clutching her forehead, forcing herself to look away, though the corner of her eye betrayed her, remaining glued to Lin Qingyue.
Xia Lian let out a long sigh of relief, patting her chest. "Thank goodness, it's just a fancier outfit. I can handle this."
But before her relief could fully settle, the ultimate social humiliation descended.
Above Lin Qingyue, the war-dust-shrouded dome suddenly cracked open, revealing a colossal virtual screen!
The screen lit up.
A deafening blast of high-octane rock music, with a metallic grinding edge, instantly detonated across the battlefield!
Immediately afterward, a line of blood-red text, accompanied by the crisp click-clack of a bullet being chambered, slammed fiercely into the center of the screen.
Barbara: Medicine can't save Mondstadt (Chambering)
On the screen, a two-dimensional, anime-style Lin Qingyue's sweet, practiced smile gradually vanished, replaced by an icy indifference that screamed, "I'm done pretending."
She yanked off her hair accessory, letting the ribbon flutter to the ground.
Then, under the deathly silent gaze of the entire battlefield, she reached beneath her voluminous, ornate skirt and pulled out a monstrous weapon with a rotating barrel, gleaming with the metallic sheen of death...
A six-barreled Gatling gun?!
The entire battlefield fell into absolute silence.
Every knight, living or dead, tilted their heads back to gaze at the colossal screen in the sky, at the ruthless girl wielding the Gatling gun, their expressions beneath their helmets twisted to the breaking point.
Their combat instincts remained sharp, but their brains had blue-screened.
What... is this thing?
Some kind of... Mental Pollution magic?
Why is strange music playing in my head?
S-so... cool... Wait! I'm a noble Death Knight! What am I thinking?!
An Apprentice Knight even unconsciously swayed his head to the rhythm, only to be jolted awake by his comrade's sword hilt smashing against his helmet.
Pfft—
Su Wan choked, nearly suffering a Magic Power backlash on the spot. The last video wasn't like this at all!
The color drained from Xia Lian's face in an instant, her mouth gaping in an "O" shape as she let out a bewildered whimper. "How... could it come from under her skirt?"
Even more horrifying, she realized her leg was involuntarily twitching to the explosive drumbeats.
"Stop! My leg! Make it stop!"
Xia Lian stared in horror at her disobedient body, instinctively covering her face with both hands and crouching down on the spot, desperately trying to shield herself with a single blade of grass.
"Save me! I don't know her! I don't know her..."
Lin Qingyue lowered her head, tugging at the slightly tight fabric across her chest, feeling the surge of newfound power coursing through her veins.
This feeling of being the center of attention... this damned craving for performance! Why does it feel so exhilaratingly insane?
She lifted her head, a bizarre smile—identical to the one on the screen, a twisted mix of sweetness and coldness—spread across her face. She even playfully winked at her dumbstruck allies.
"Barbara, shining debut~♪"
She recited her entrance line in a voice so sickeningly sweet it could curdle milk.
Then, she pointed the muzzle of her Sky AK47 at the dark, swarming ranks of Death Knights ahead.
"Alright, fellow patients, please line up in an orderly fashion—no cutting! Sis's treatment is coming right up~♪"
A dangerous smile stretched across her lips, her eyes turning icy cold.
"First, let's deal with the most disobedient ones in the front! The concert... starts now!"
The trigger pulled.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
It wasn't gunfire, but the roar of a metallic behemoth tearing through the eerie silence.
A raging storm of countless golden Holy Light bullets, dense and relentless, poured forth with unrestrained fury, sweeping across the battlefield between the warring factions!
[Ding! The Host has stunned the entire battlefield with an overwhelmingly impactful display, simultaneously plunging the Silent Watch Knight Order and the Blighted Legion into cognitive dissonance! Elation Value +2333!]
[Ding! Teammate Su Wan's psyche has been profoundly shaken, and she is currently reshaping her worldview! Elation Value +666!]
Ding! Teammate Xia Lian's embarrassment level has exceeded the threshold! Elation Value +666!
[Ding! Teammate Lin Xiyue is cheering you on! Elation Value +666!]
Hearing the notifications flooding her mind, Lin Qingyue felt her body surge with power.
This is awesome!
Nothing could be more exhilarating than holding a concert on the battlefield while simultaneously using her AK to save the masses!
As she frantically sprayed bullets, she strained her voice, shouting in Barbara's voice:
"Lord Barbatos will surely forgive you!"
"So, let Sis's Sky AK47 send you to meet Him!"
If Lin Qingyue's transformation had initially delivered a mental shock to everyone on the battlefield, the moment the Sky AK47 opened fire, it unleashed a devastating dual-dimensional strike—both physical and magical—that tore through reality itself.
The golden bullet storm was so dense and violent that it tore through the air, leaving a deafening, piercing wail in its wake.
"Defense!"
The Death Knights in the front ranks snapped out of their stupor, instinctively raising their shields and weapons to block this unprecedented attack.
But their efforts were futile.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The deafening cacophony of impacts coalesced into a continuous, ear-splitting din.
The golden Holy Light bullets struck the Death Knights' heavy, rune-inscribed armor and tower shields, not with the resounding clang of metal-on-metal impact, but rather with soft, yet lethally radiant, bursts of golden light.
"What kind of attack is this? So... gentle..."
The thought had barely crossed one Death Knight's mind when, in the next instant, his Soul Fire froze.
He watched in horror as his once-proud black iron armor, now coated in golden light, melted silently like hot wax, emitting purifying black smoke and rapidly disintegrating.
The malevolent runes etched into the armor wailed under the strain, one after another exploding and extinguishing.
"My armor! No!"
"This is the power of Purification?! It's evaporating my Power of Death!"
Panic, like a plague, instantly erupted through the undead ranks.