"Chef Mao, I'll pay for her meal. I don't have that much on me right now, so just put it on my tab."
Keqing walked over and spoke to Chef Mao.
"And you can add the Millelith's expenses to my tab as well."
Hearing Keqing's words, expressions of gratitude appeared on the Millelith's faces.
"Understood, Lady Yuheng."
Chef Mao smiled and returned to the back of the restaurant.
"Thank you."
Artoria nodded gratefully to her.
"I will repay this debt as soon as possible."
"If there is anything you need me to do, you can tell me."
"No need. It's not much money. Consider this meal a welcome gift to you, a guest from another world."
Keqing shook her head and continued.
"I didn't pay for you because I want you to do something for me."
"However, this world is currently in a state of imbalance. Perhaps these words are too forward, but I still hope you can return to your own world as soon as possible."
Afterward, Keqing went on to explain the current situation on the continent of Teyvat to Artoria.
After hearing this, Artoria nodded with a serious expression.
"I never imagined this world would face such a severe crisis."
"My apologies. I do not know why I appeared in this world, and I have caused you trouble."
Artoria bowed slightly. Seeing this, Keqing quickly helped her up, a faint smile on her face.
"Artoria, you truly are a knight of noble character."
"It's a pity you did not appear in Mondstadt; otherwise, I think you would have had many things to discuss with the Knights of Favonius."
"But right now, Mondstadt is far from Liyue, and this world is becoming more fragile by the moment. All we can do for now is try our best to slow down this process."
A helpless smile appeared on Keqing's face. If it weren't for this reason, they would be more than willing to host guests from other worlds.
But now, the more powerful the souls that appeared in this world, the faster the continent of Teyvat would fall into imbalance. Therefore, even though she felt the young woman before her was very strong, she had no intention of letting her stay.
"I understand."
Artoria looked at her surroundings, especially the back hall where Chef Mao was, a trace of reluctance flickering in her eyes before she quickly regained her usual composure.
"Let's go. Take me to the place where I can return to the other world."
Keqing nodded and then spoke to the Millelith.
"Continue eating. Even though our duties are busy, we still need to eat on time, so don't push your bodies to collapse."
Hearing Keqing's words, everyone hurriedly nodded.
"Lady Yuheng, you too! You must take care of your body!"
At this moment, Keqing suddenly remembered her own stomach growling embarrassingly earlier and hastily led Artoria away from Wanmin Restaurant.
Walking on the streets of Liyue, Artoria looked curiously at the surrounding buildings, the ahoge on her head sweeping left and right.
Seeing Artoria's curious expression, Keqing asked.
"Artoria, what is your world like?"
"Everyone is suffering and poor. Most of the houses are very old and lack the grand and majestic appearance of this place..."
A faint smile appeared on Artoria's face as she recalled.
"But everyone works very hard and stays united. Everyone has a common goal."
"It's just..."
Artoria's expression suddenly turned lonely, as if she had thought of something.
"Later, I died and went to a world that was completely white. There was nothing there, not even the concept of time and space. It seemed like I was the only one in the whole world..."
"And then, somehow, I came to this world."
Hearing Artoria's words, Keqing couldn't help but look at her in astonishment. She had never imagined that the other person had actually been to such a terrifying and maddening world before.
Moreover, after staying in that world for so long, her spirit didn't seem to have any problems. This meant that the young girl in front of her had a will that was strong beyond the ordinary realm.
Keqing suddenly stopped. She thought of a question.
If she sent Artoria back to her previous world, would she continue to be trapped in that terrifying world?
The other person had finally come to such a wonderful world, only to learn that she would soon have to return to that hell. Keqing could hardly imagine how desperate Artoria's heart would be if that were truly the outcome.
"Artoria, you..."
Keqing turned around to look at Artoria, wanting to say something, but in the end, she couldn't bring herself to speak.
Teyvat was currently facing the crisis of extinction; what right did she have to show such kindness?
As if sensing Keqing's dilemma, Artoria stood up straight, her right hand gripping the air as if she were holding the hilt of the sword hanging at her waist, and spoke seriously.
"Ms. Keqing, there's no need to try to change anything."
"In fact, being able to come and see this world has already satisfied me, I cannot ask for more."
"I was supposed to stay in that place forever; it is my punishment."
"Punishment?"
"Yes, as a knight, I ultimately failed to protect the people behind me. This is my sin, and I deserve to be punished."
"I have thought about it for a long time. If it had been someone more suitable than me, perhaps those ordinary people wouldn't have suffered the pain of war."
Artoria's expression was somewhat sad at this moment. Keqing wanted to persuade her not to think this way, as she must have already done her best, but she suddenly realized how similar the other's thoughts were to her own and couldn't help but smile bitterly in resignation.
If she couldn't even console herself, how could she possibly console someone else?
"Anyway, I am very grateful to Ms. Keqing for treating me to this meal. I will forever remember today's events in my heart."
Artoria bowed to Keqing and then continued.
"Please take me to the portal back as soon as possible."
Looking at Artoria's calm eyes, Keqing was deeply touched. What kind of noble character was this!
Keqing couldn't hold back any longer and spoke to Artoria.
"Artoria, before you leave, let me buy some food for you to take along..."
Before she could finish, a monstrous killing intent soared from the nearby street, and the sky was almost completely stained crimson. Keqing's expression changed drastically.
"Who?!"
This killing intent was truly terrifying; just sensing it felt like being submerged in a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, affecting even her consciousness. Thousands of voices seemed to cry out in her ears:
"Kill, kill, kill!"
At this moment, Artoria's expression likewise changed. Her hands raised to draw her sword, but Keqing saw no sword in her grasp.
"Ms. Keqing, it seems I can finally repay a fraction of the kindness you've shown me today."
With that, Artoria leaped forward, covering over a hundred meters in a single bound. The bricks on the ground where she had stood were cracked into several fissures.
Seeing this, Keqing's pupils constricted sharply, confirming her earlier suspicions.
So strong!
The opponent had achieved such speed through sheer strength alone, and she still seemed to have strength in reserve. It was truly incomprehensible how she had trained to reach such a frightening level of power.
What was most striking was how young she looked, perhaps even a bit immature.
The situation was too urgent for Keqing to dwell on it. Her body turned into a bolt of lightning as she pursued.
Even though she mastered the Electro Elemental Power known for its speed and had focused her training on it, sacrificing attack power to continuously approach the absolute limit of speed, Keqing still couldn't keep up with Artoria's pace, for the gap in their strength was as vast as a chasm.
Having fought Adepti before, Keqing could sense that the power Artoria was now unleashing was absolutely no weaker than that of an Adeptus, and she was once again shocked.
To be able to invite such an existence to take action for the price of a meal was considered a huge win for her.
As the distance rapidly closed, Keqing's back was already soaked in sweat. She realized that she was simply no match for a being that could emit such killing intent. If she didn't have Artoria, she could only risk her life to buy a little time and wait for the Adepti to arrive.
Although Keqing ultimately failed to catch up with Artoria, she hadn't been left too far behind either. After some time passed, both she and Artoria saw the being that was emitting such terrifying killing intent.
It was a man, who was also wearing the standard uniform of the Millelith. In his hand, he held a dark red demon sword with a serrated blade. The blood-red color on the sword's body pulsed rhythmically like veins. Just seeing it at a glance caused boundless fear to arise in one's heart.
Around the man, hundreds of bodies had already fallen, and scarlet blood had stained the street a piercing red.
After the fear receded like a tide, endless rage surged in her heart!
The opponent seemed to have sensed Artoria and Keqing's presence as well. As he turned around, the scene before her eyes made Keqing's heart tremble once more.
She was very familiar with his appearance. Just a short while ago, she had treated him to lunch at Wanmin Restaurant. She still remembered that he was the captain of that Millelith squad.
Keqing's gaze searched the ground for a moment, and then she saw several figures also wearing the standard Millelith uniforms. Because their clothes had been completely stained red with blood, Keqing hadn't noticed them at first.
Fires raged in Keqing's eyes, and the hand gripping Lion's Roar trembled slightly.
Just as Keqing was about to rush forward, he moved.
In just an instant, he arrived before them, bringing a horrifying killing intent, the Dark Red Demon Sword in his hand emitting an aura of destruction.
"Lady Keqing, please step back!"
Artoria's body seemed to radiate a golden glow as she stepped heavily forward with her right foot, gripping the invisible sword with both hands and slashing forward.
"Clang!"
A dull metallic collision sounded, and the bricks beneath the Millelith Captain and Artoria's feet cracked inch by inch, the ground violently collapsing several inches.
Seeing this scene, Keqing, swinging Lion's Roar, felt her eyelid twitch. The fear that had previously surfaced in her heart emerged again, but in just a single breath, she tightened her grip on the sword in her hand, and then dozens of lightning bolts erupted around the Millelith Captain.
"With sword comes shadow!"
Artoria also spoke up to warn her at the right moment.
"He is already dead, his body possessed by this Demon Sword!"
As Artoria spoke, she swung her sword several more times to neutralize the opponent's attacks one by one, creating an opportunity for Keqing.
However, his originally fragile body now seemed as tough as refined iron. Keqing slashed dozens of times at the Millelith Captain's seemingly about-to-shatter body almost all at once, but only left shallow sword marks on it.
Blood-red aura condensed and exploded, instantly blasting Keqing away. Then, the violent shockwave collapsed the surrounding buildings.
Keqing's body smashed into several houses in succession, finally being buried under a pile of rubble, remaining motionless for a long time.
"Lady Keqing!"
Artoria raised her hand to condense a layer of Invisible Air to block the impact, then again raised her sword and struck out with a powerful, heavy blow diagonally upward.
Artoria's speed was not very fast, but this sword strike seemed to carry an endless, scorching momentum, locking down all the Millelith Captain's evasion routes and crushing him head-on.
"Clang!"
A dull impact sounded again, but this time the two sides were not evenly matched. The dark red Demon Sword was knocked upward.
Artoria stepped forward forcefully with one foot, twisting her body to let the sword in her hand spin rapidly in a full circle before striking again at nearly the same angle. The red blood-red aura was completely torn apart by this slash.
"Slash!"
The Millelith Captain failed to dodge in time, and one of his arms was sent flying high into the air. Yet, the expression on his face remained vacant, as if he were completely unaware of it. He swung the Demon Sword with his remaining hand, smashing it down hard toward Artoria.
Artoria raised her sword with both hands to block. The blow smashed her legs, just above the knees, directly into the ground.
Golden light suddenly erupted. Artoria forced the Millelith Captain back against the tide, pulling her legs from the ground. Then, with a thunderous boom, the two collided again, their golden and red auras suppressing and devouring each other.
At this moment, Keqing pushed aside the building rubble pressing down on her and stood up again, leaning on her sword.
Looking at the scene before her, Keqing once again felt Artoria's power with absolute clarity.
Keqing tightened her grip on Lion's Roar, her heart wildly craving strength.
It was the same last time, and the same this time. As a member of Liyue's Qixing, she was completely powerless against everything happening before her eyes. She couldn't protect Liyue's people at all. With her strength, she couldn't do anything.
Even though Artoria had created such a perfect opportunity for her to attack, she had barely dealt any damage.
In fact, Artoria had known her strength from the very beginning, which was why she had let her fall back. It was Keqing who had recklessly charged forward, only to disrupt the opponent's attack rhythm.
A miserable, bitter smile appeared on Keqing's face. The murderer who had slaughtered hundreds of Liyue's people was right in front of her, yet she could only watch. The opponent's mere burst of blood-red aura had almost sent her to meet her ancestors in heaven.
She couldn't interfere in the battle before her at all. I'm afraid she would be torn to shreds by that sky-piercing blood-red light if she got close.
In the end, Keqing slumped back to the ground, watching as the battle between the two destroyed everything in its path.