At this time, Aether was taking a brief rest in a cave, eagerly awaiting the arrival of his Abyss Monster army.
Suddenly, the air in front of Aether distorted, followed by intense spatial fluctuations. Aether slowly stood up, it seemed his monster army had already arrived.
Not long after, the spatial portal slowly opened.
What Aether found strange was that this spatial portal looked malnourished: not only were the edges crooked, but it was also only half its usual size.
Although he didn't know the reason, Aether still took the initiative to act and stabilize the spatial portal.
Then he waited for a while longer, but still no monsters emerged from the spatial portal.
Just as Aether was hesitating whether to go inside himself to take a look, a very miserable figure fell out of the spatial portal.
Aether's expression immediately changed; clearly, an accident had occurred on the other side.
Aether hurriedly stepped forward to check, only to find that the figure had already drawn its last breath. His heart instantly grew heavy.
Just then, another figure fell out of the spatial portal.
Although Aether temporarily couldn't tell which of these two Abyss Heralds was Lan Yun and which was Lan Yu, both of them were here.
"Prince..."
The second Abyss Herald still had a breath left. Aether quickly leaned in to listen carefully.
"We have another younger brother named Blue Smoke, and he has a playmate named Red Cloud..."
"Please avenge us..."
Before the other could even finish speaking, he directly breathed his last.
At this moment, Aether's expression was incredibly grim, and a terrifying aura erupted from his body.
After consecutive setbacks, even he was starting to lose his patience.
Aether stood up, intending to immediately take the others and avenge this monster army, but he suddenly remembered that the other party had not yet revealed the murderer's identity.
Just then, another figure fell out of the spatial portal. Aether breathed a sigh of relief, for now he could finally ask about the murderer's identity.
He swore, no matter who the murderer was, he would definitely make them pay the price they deserved!
When Aether saw the latest figure to appear, his face froze for a moment, and then a wave of furious aura rippled from his body.
"Dainsleif, you're dead!"
Dainsleif, who was dizzy and confused from being struck by Neuvillette's water currents yet again, heard this voice filled with endless rage and immediately changed expression, his mind instantly clearing.
At this moment, Dainsleif looked at the furious Aether and immediately realized that the other party had misunderstood.
Although he did have some ideas about this monster army, he hadn't even had the chance to act yet!
He wasn't taking the fall for this!
However, Aether told Dainsleif with his actions that he was definitely taking the fall for this!
The battle erupted once again, and in an instant, this cave was completely destroyed by the aftershocks of their fight.
Two minutes later, Dainsleif fled.
His strength was not much different from Aether's to begin with, but he was simply too heavily injured right now!
If he didn't run, he had no doubt that the current Aether would kill him.
Seeing Dainsleif run, Aether pursued him without hesitation. Today, he had to completely eliminate this threat, otherwise how could he face the loyal and martyred Purple and Blue families?!
While the two were fighting, Neuvillette also sensed the commotion in the distance, but he did not go to investigate.
He suddenly remembered later that he had indeed seen that familiar figure before, and it seemed he had even helped the wrong person.
However, Aether gave him no sense of evil aura at all, and he wasn't so sure, so he simply decided to leave this matter alone and let them solve it themselves. In any case, neither of them had the aura of the Mark.
Neuvillette decided to first solve the safety problem of the People of Inazuma and quickly got in touch with the head of the Kujou Encampment.
Here, everyone witnessed the power and miraculous nature of the Dragon Blood Potion. Never mind Liyue, even the people of Fontaine were tempted!
Nowadays, Fontaine is vigorously developing Clockwork Technology, while its research into Life Science is progressing extremely slowly. Neuvillette couldn't understand why, with so many geniuses in Fontaine, not a single one was focusing on Life Science.
Oh, there seemed to be one, Rene, but he had now switched to Clockwork Technology.
If a cooperative relationship could be established with Inazuma this time, perhaps the two nations could complement each other's deficiencies.
Of course, the Head of the Kujou Encampment certainly couldn't make decisions on such an important matter. Soon after, the Head handed over all the matters at hand to Kamisato Ayato.
"Monsieur Neuvillette, the soldiers from Watatsumi Island left some time ago. The second batch of Dragon Blood Potion is already being transported."
"Mm."
Neuvillette nodded, and he couldn't help but feel a bit of anticipation for the results.
At this moment, Kamisato Ayato also received definite news: his sister had indeed gone to Seirai Island, and her situation was unknown.
Although Sangonomiya Kokomi was with her, Kamisato Ayato still couldn't feel completely at ease.
Sensing the worry in Kamisato Ayato's heart, Neuvillette thought for a moment and decided to deepen the friendly relations with Inazuma.
"Head of the Kamisato Clan, since you are so worried, I will go and investigate your sister's situation for you."
Hearing Neuvillette's words, Kamisato Ayato felt a surge of joy, but he could not agree to it directly. After all, Neuvillette's status was equal to Inazuma's Raiden Shogun. To have such a figure personally make a trip for his family matters was truly a bit improper.
"I am also worried about the Traveler's safety. Head of the Kamisato Clan, there is no need to feel bad about it."
Kamisato Ayato nodded.
"Then I will have to trouble Monsieur Neuvillette to make the trip."
After hearing this, Neuvillette first arranged some matters with Clorinde, then rose into the air and flew rapidly toward Seirai Island.
On the other side, Sangonomiya Kokomi and her party, leading cats of all sizes, had already retreated to a safe distance. At this moment, the outline of Seirai Island could almost no longer be seen.
Only now did everyone's hearts finally settle down. Just now, they had truly been incredibly close to death, but they were pulled back from the Gates of Hell by Sangonomiya Kokomi and Daphne together. They felt it was truly good to still be alive.
"I've exhausted a lot of energy this time, so I'm afraid I'll have to sleep for a while."
After leaving these words, Daphne returned control of the body to Gorou.
When Gorou regained control of his body, everyone could see his face turn noticeably pale. Obviously, the previous events were a bit too stimulating for him, and he still hadn't quite recovered.
Sangonomiya Kokomi used her power to soothe Gorou's spirit, and only then did he feel much better.
"Sorry, there is actually something I have been hiding from everyone!"
Because he had used his own power before, Gorou knew he couldn't hide it anymore and had already made up his mind to reveal the truth to everyone.
"Traveler, Paimon, actually I am not Miss Hina, I am Gorou!"
Gorou closed his eyes and spoke with difficulty, his face flushing red.
Gorou thought he would hear everyone's surprised voices and was already prepared to prove himself, but the expected situation was delayed.
Finally, Gorou couldn't help but slowly open his eyes, only to find that everyone's expressions seemed a bit too calm.
"I really am Gorou!"
Gorou thought everyone thought he was joking, so he hurriedly emphasized.
"I'm not joking!"
"Shinobu, who's Gorou again? Is he someone famous?"
Arataki Itto turned his head with a confused expression and asked Kuki Shinobu.
"Boss, don't ruin the mood at a time like this!"
Kuki Shinobu looked helpless, directly dragged Arataki Itto to the side, and then shot the others a "you guys go on" look.
Afterward, Kuki Shinobu leaned closer to Arataki Itto's ear and whispered.
"Boss, you've been calling him 'Puppy General' this whole time."
Hearing Kuki Shinobu say this, Arataki Itto thought for a moment and finally remembered, a look of sudden realization appearing on his face.
However, very soon, an expression of extreme shock surfaced on Arataki Itto's face.
"What, he was a woman all along?!"
"Sigh, I was originally going to take him in as a subordinate, how could he be a woman... mmm mmm mmm!"
Kuki Shinobu once again covered Arataki Itto's loud voice, then gave Gorou an apologetic look, and quickly dragged Arataki Itto away.
Gorou's reaction was much more normal, which made him certain that he had just revealed an incredible secret. Yet, why were the others so calm?
"We believe you, Gorou."
Paimon flew over and spoke to him.
"Wait, Paimon, aren't you surprised to hear this?"
Seeing this, Gorou was a bit bewildered. Paimon and Lumine exchanged a glance, then put on exaggerated expressions.
"Oh my god, you're actually Gorou! This is just too unbelievable!"
"Gorou, how did you end up looking like this?!"
Watching Paimon's performance, the expressions on everyone's faces turned a bit strange.
Feeling the odd gazes from all around, Paimon couldn't help but turn back to Lumine and ask.
"Traveler, was my performance not good?"
"You all knew I was Gorou all along?!"
At this point, Gorou finally understood, and couldn't help but cry out in shock.
After hearing this, everyone hesitated for a moment before nodding one after another.
Suddenly, Gorou's body trembled, and the light faded from his eyes.
So everyone had known his identity from the very beginning but hadn't said anything, yet he had gone to such great lengths to conceal his true identity to avoid the social death of Gorou, only for them to watch his joke?!
"Gorou, are you okay?"
Paimon hesitated for a moment before speaking with concern, looking at Gorou whose mind had completely broken.
"Look on the bright side, Miss Hina was actually designed based on your image."
"So when you said you were Miss Hina, we obviously knew your identity immediately."
Gorou: "???"
Gorou heard another bombshell piece of news, and his head started buzzing.
"Miss Hina was designed based on my image?!"
"Yeah, actually the Traveler and I knew it for a long time, we just didn't know how to tell you."
"Don't you love writing letters to solve other people's problems? Miko helped you sign the letters as Miss Hina, and in the end, she even specially designed a concrete image."
"Yae Miko!"
Gorou's heart sank halfway. He once again recalled the time he ran into Yae Miko. To hide his true identity, he could only submit to her humiliations and have a bunch of incredibly embarrassing photo albums taken.
And now they were telling him that Yae Miko had known all along?!
After hearing this truth, Gorou already wanted to move to another world.
"How about it, Gorou?"
"After hearing all this, do you feel a bit better... Waaaah!"
Lumine quickly covered Paimon's mouth, afraid that if she kept talking, Gorou would do something desperate and jump straight into the sea!
Look at Gorou's expression right now. Does it look like he's okay? He clearly has a huge problem, alright!
"Brother Gorou, look on the bright side."
Thoma cleared his throat twice before offering Gorou some comfort.
"Although you lost a lot, you also gained a huge number of fans!"
"Actually, I'm quite jealous of you!"
"Really? Then I'll ask Daphne if there's any way she can help you out."
"Cough, cough, cough, cough, I think there's absolutely no need to trouble Her Excellency Daphne!"
Thoma quickly slipped away; he didn't want to experience the feeling of losing Little Thoma at all.
"Those fans were mine to begin with!"
Gorou clenched his small fists in anger.
"That hateful fox woman, in the future I will definitely... avoid her at all costs!"
Hearing Gorou's words, Lumine couldn't help but glance at him a few more times, very curious how he could say such a cowardly thing with such spirit.
"But Gorou, if you hadn't used Miss Hina's image, you wouldn't have so many fans," Paimon added, twisting the knife.
After hearing this, Gorou pondered for a long time, finally sighing helplessly, forced to admit that Paimon's words were indeed correct.
He was so angry. When would they male doggies finally stand up for themselves?!
"You guys really... tricked me so badly..."
Gorou looked at everyone with a very resentful gaze, clearly holding a grudge over how they had all tacitly kept him in the dark for so long.
Paimon was about to say something when Lumine's expression suddenly changed. She immediately grabbed Paimon with one hand and drew the Dull Blade with the other, slashing forward.
Clang!
The sound of clashing metal rang out, and a crimson scythe appeared in everyone's field of vision.
Everyone's pupils constricted instantly, and they immediately thought of the owner of this crimson scythe.
Arlecchino!
Why was she here?!
Before anyone could think further, countless crimson threads appeared around their bodies. A black and red figure hung upside down from a crimson thread in the sky, her cold eyes staring down at them.
Arlecchino raised her hand and gestured, and the crimson scythe flew back to her, caught once again.
Immediately after, the tattered wings behind Arlecchino spread out, and a dense aura of blood and killing intent rushed toward everyone.
Arlecchino snapped her fingers. In that instant, all the crimson threads began to tighten, and she herself charged toward the group with a terrifying aura.
"Wait, Miss Arlecchino."
"We no longer have the Marks on us!"
Sangonomiya Kokomi knew what the other woman wanted and spoke up immediately.
And just as Sangonomiya Kokomi's words fell, Arlecchino's movements came to a halt.