The moment her words fell, Artoria swung down the longsword that had already been rendered in dazzling golden light. In the next instant, heaven and earth lost their color.
The blinding golden halo occupied almost the entire world, and the torrent of energy that condensed will and power completely swallowed Aatrox. At this moment, everyone seemed to have lost the ability to speak, deeply shocked by the scene before their eyes.
Because the direction Artoria swung her sword was aimed at the sky, the terrifying torrent of energy only destroyed nearby and taller buildings.
As the light gradually faded, Aatrox appeared before everyone, his left arm and a large portion of his body completely gone. Everyone also saw the cloudless sky behind him, and the blood-red aura in the air seemed to have been completely purified.
Artoria plunged her sword into the ground, leaning on it to support her body. Seeing Aatrox still standing after her ultimate attack, her expression turned grave.
Though he appeared heavily injured and his aura had significantly weakened, this body was merely a tool that the Demon Sword could replace at any time!
"Tell me your name, woman!"
Aatrox, having suffered such a devastating blow, glared with crimson eyes and roared at Artoria.
"Artoria Pendragon."
"Artoria, you're dead!"
Blood-red light once again clung to Aatrox's body, and an extremely ominous aura emanated from him. Though weakened, a terrifyingly powerful presence was still brewing within him.
"Do you think you can kill me?"
"I am a Darkin! I am immortal!"
"I... will... not... die!"
"You cannot destroy me!"
"My will transcends death!"
"Witness... immortality!"
Under everyone's stunned gazes, Aatrox's body actually began to regenerate at an incredible speed, and the overwhelming blood-red aura once again stained the sky a blinding crimson.
"Monster..."
Many Millelith soldiers muttered in low voices, deep despair etched on their faces.
They had worked together, fighting alongside the Adepti, and Artoria had even unleashed such immense power, yet they couldn't even defeat a body that the enemy could discard at any moment.
Faced with this brutal reality, nearly half of the Millelith lost the will to fight. Their bodies grew weak, and the only reason they didn't retreat was out of a final, desperate sense of duty.
Ningguang and her companions also saw their expressions change. They never expected that the body Aatrox inhabited could regenerate.
Artoria's brilliant sword strike had nearly stripped the enemy of most of his combat power, giving them a glimmer of hope. But now, that hope had been completely extinguished.
Though Aatrox's aura had weakened, they were in no better shape, if not worse. Aside from Madame Ping and Ganyu, almost everyone else was at their absolute limit. Now, the gap between them and their enemy was even wider.
"We must stop him!"
Hearing Ningguang's words, everyone snapped back to their senses and then fought with all their might.
Even Artoria, whose body had grown somewhat transparent, forced herself to rally her spirit, once again raising her sword to her chest, then suddenly exerting force from her feet.
"Challenge me, mortal! I am right here!"
Facing the group's renewed assault, Aatrox simply raised his Demon Sword high, then swung it down.
A single strike swept away all attacks, sending Artoria and Keqing flying.
"I will settle all your accounts!"
The second sword strike was swung toward the Millelith, its dark red sword slash flying that way with the momentum to sweep everything away.
"Every dream is a candle waiting for me to extinguish... I am the darkness!"
Seeing this sword slash that radiated a suffocating killing intent, the faces of everyone present changed. The Millelith facing the sword slash directly even dropped the weapons in their hands, completely giving up on struggling.
"Madame Ping!"
Ningguang's breathing grew ragged as she called out urgently.
But Madame Ping had already moved before she could even speak, her body transforming into a streak of azure light to intercept the sword energy. However, a golden figure moved even faster than she. Artoria stood before the Millelith, her body solidifying once more, her scorching will and conviction drawing the gaze of everyone present.
"Before I fall, I will not let anyone else get hurt!"
Even though Artoria's body had weakened to the utmost, she still charged toward that terrifying sword energy without any fear.
"Artoria!"
Keqing cried out in alarm. She never expected that this friend she had known for only an hour would go to such lengths for Liyue.
It was just the cost of a single meal. It wasn't worth it at all!
How could she ever repay this debt of gratitude?
With a booming crash, Artoria's body flew into the distance like a kite with its string cut. Although she couldn't fully block the sword slashes, she had weakened it significantly, and Madame Ping, who arrived moments later, struck it down.
A bolt of lightning flashed on the ground. At that moment, the Vision on Keqing's body emitted an incredibly blinding purple light. Her body burst forth with a speed far beyond her limits, instantly appearing by Artoria's side and catching her in an embrace. Then the two of them crashed through several houses together, buried under a pile of architectural ruins.
The scene before him aroused no pity in Aatrox's heart. On the contrary, he even let out a mocking laugh.
"Ha... ha... ha... ha!"
"So many lives, all shall be ended by me!"
"I will use a sea of blood... to drown them!"
The wings behind Aatrox flapped violently several times, and his body soared instantly over a hundred meters high. Finally, gripping the Demon Sword wrapped in dense blood energy with both hands, he swung it down one stroke after another. Streaks of Deathbringer Stance sword energy descended, as if doomsday had arrived.
Countless people looked up in despair at Aatrox in the sky, who resembled a Blood Sun, and stared in despair at the descending streaks of Deathbringer Stance sword energy.
The Millelith had almost completely lost their will to fight. Hu Tao and Ningguang were exhausted, while Keqing and Artoria's fates were unknown. Even Ganyu and Madame Ping had little strength left, making it impossible to intercept all the Deathbringer Stance sword slashes.
If only the Jade Chamber were here.
Ningguang couldn't help but think at the last moment.
This time it wasn't that she refused to use the Jade Chamber, but rather it was still under repair.
Cloud Retainer had even specifically told her to take her time fixing it before leaving Liyue, and that she would further strengthen the Jade Chamber for her after she returned from the Fontaine Research Institute's academic exchange.
However, even if it were repaired, it likely couldn't change the current situation, after all, the Jade Chamber was simply too large to be deployed effectively within Liyue Harbor.
Suddenly, stone spires jutted out from the ground, rapidly soaring upward to destroy the descending Deathbringer Stance sword slashes. Though they were destroyed in the process, more spires immediately erupted from the earth, gradually converging like ten thousand stone spears, ready to surround and kill Aatrox!
Aatrox flipped over and swept away all the stone spires before him with a single sword strike, then gripped the sword with both arms and smashed it downward with all his might. The power of this strike was so immense that it caused the air to let out a heavy, muffled boom. Many spires were disintegrated by the bloody hurricane kicked up by the Demon Sword before they even made direct contact, and the rest were all destroyed by the single blow.
"Rex Lapis has taken action!"
Seeing this, the Millelith's hope was rekindled.
Although Rex Lapis's Invincible Golden Body had been shattered the last time, many people still revered him immensely.
The moment they saw Rex Lapis act, their hearts finally settled.
"Gods and mortals... all deserve to die!"
Sensing the aura of this attack, Aatrox instantly flew into a greater rage, a frenzied killing intent pouring out of him in endless waves.
"I am the God-Killer!"
A dense, crimson light erupted from Aatrox's massive form, and a rain of blood fell from the sky.
Of course, it wasn't actual blood, but killing intent so dense it had materialized.
As the blood rain fell, a frenzied bloodlust surged in the hearts of countless people. At this moment, they only wanted to seize their weapons and plunge them into the bodies of others, slicing them open and chopping them to pieces!
Either destroy others, or destroy themselves!
In an instant, all of Liyue Harbor fell into complete chaos, and many people began to brutally attack those around them.
By the time Zhongli saw this, it was already too late. Many people in Liyue Harbor had been affected by the killing intent in the blood rain, swinging their weapons and slaughtering each other.
The blood rain echoed with shrill screams, furious roars, and desperate cries for help. At this moment, Liyue Harbor was like a purgatory.
Zhongli had never expected Aatrox to directly attack the civilians. The enemy was a madman, yet he was a calculating madman.
Zhongli had been secretly observing the battle. Earlier, Aatrox had attacked the Millelith, forcing Artoria to confront him head-on so that she wouldn't fall too deeply into a disadvantaged position.
Now Zhongli, donning his cloak, abruptly appeared high in the sky, not far from Aatrox.
The moment Zhongli appeared, a bright yellow barrier of light instantly enveloped the entire Liyue Harbor, blocking the blood rain from the sky.
"It's Rex Lapis! Rex Lapis has taken action!"
"Great! We're saved!"
"Wake up! Rex Lapis has come to save us! You have to hold on!"
The moment Zhongli took action, Liyue Harbor erupted in thunderous cheers.
However, even with his intervention now, many people had already been affected. For a time, Liyue Harbor suffered massive casualties, and the vast amount of blood and energy gathered together, ultimately being absorbed by Aatrox. The aura on his body began to gradually recover to its peak!
"God!"
"I will hack your filthy body to pieces! Slice it open! Chop it to bits!"
"Killing you a thousand times will not be enough!!!"
The moment Aatrox saw Zhongli, an incredibly terrifying killing intent erupted from his body, and he charged forward without hesitation.
Zhongli's expression was indifferent, his eyes cold. He slightly raised his hand, and a Stone Spear appeared in his grasp.
Zhongli raised the Stone Spear and pointed it toward Aatrox's body. The next second, under everyone's gaze, Aatrox's body suddenly froze in midair. The Blood Sun in the sky withered in an extremely short time, like a punctured balloon, and then cracks began to appear on Aatrox's skin.
"God!"
"You deserve to die!"
Aatrox's body swelled in size several more times. Ignoring his already collapsing form, he condensed all the blood and power on his body into the Demon Sword, which was also his Prime, and then swung it forcefully at Zhongli.
A Deathbringer Stance sword slash spanning several hundred meters formed from the blade. The very instant the Deathbringer Stance appeared, several chains burning with flames tightly bound Zhongli's body.
The power of this strike was already incredibly close to the Archon-level. Even Zhongli took it slightly more seriously, crossing his arms over his chest as his indifferent words reached everyone's ears.
"This is Order!"
The Deathbringer Stance sword slash, spanning several hundred meters, struck a colossal meteorite measuring tens of thousands of meters in diameter and was undoubtedly completely suppressed.
In the end, the Deathbringer Stance sword energy left only a slash over a hundred meters long and several dozen meters deep on the meteorite before dissipating, and then the meteorite crashed down toward Aatrox with unparalleled momentum.
"You cannot destroy me!"
"As long as life exists, as long as time has meaning, I will, never, relent!"
Aatrox roared, then swung the Demon Sword in his hand, striking the massive meteorite like a mayfly shaking a tree.
However, the meteorite did not pause for even a moment, directly crushing Aatrox's body into powder, and then continuing to suppress his Prime.
Ultimately, the meteorite, trailing a long bright yellow tail, crashed into the sea at Liyue Harbor's port, instantly churning up colossal waves, but they were completely blocked by the barrier.
"Is it over?"
After seeing this scene, the people of Liyue Harbor erupted into waves of cheers, and the riots all over the place also gradually subsided as the blood energy was continuously filtered by the majestic Geo Elemental Power.
"Long live Rex Lapis!"
Zhongli did not respond. His brow furrowed slightly as he realized that the Demon Sword had not been sealed or suppressed by him, but had instead slipped away unnoticed at the very end.
The Demon Sword's seal resistance was incredibly high, and its own hardness had far exceeded his expectations. His previous attack had been a serious one, yet the enemy had not sustained a single scratch.
Zhongli wanted to pursue the Demon Sword to eliminate the threat forever, but no matter how he tried to sense it, he could not detect its presence at all. It was as if it had vanished into thin air.
Zhongli searched that area of the sea for a while, refusing to give up, but still came up empty.
Just then, Zhongli suddenly remembered that the Demon Sword was actually a [Heroic Spirit]; it was just that its form was so different that he hadn't made the connection immediately.
The enemy only needed to stop using spiritual energy to maintain its sword form to easily escape.
Thinking of this, Zhongli sighed softly. In the end, he could only reluctantly give up and instead strengthen his perception of the area around Liyue Harbor to ensure he would know immediately if it ever reappeared.
After doing this, Zhongli vanished directly from everyone's sight.
On the other side, Ningguang commanded the Millelith to use stretchers to carry the heavily injured and unconscious Keqing, as well as Artoria, who was extremely weak, to another place for recuperation.
What no one saw was that just as the Millelith were carrying the unconscious Keqing, a dark red shadow quickly rushed over here. Without anyone noticing, it drilled straight into Keqing's body without leaking a single wisp of aura.
The only difference was that at this moment, Keqing's brow furrowed slightly, as if she were having a not-so-pleasant nightmare...