Sangonomiya Kokomi had guessed correctly. What Arlecchino truly wanted was indeed the Marks on their bodies.
Earlier, after assessing everyone's strength, Arlecchino had realized that even if she fought with all her might, she would be unable to seize the Marks from them. Therefore, she had temporarily abandoned this idea, even surrendering her own Mark to hide in the shadows.
Arlecchino knew the group would likely go to cause trouble for Persephone, and she also knew their ultimate outcome would certainly be failure. Thus, she had prepared to launch a sneak attack after they were exhausted from their defeat.
Things had gone just as Arlecchino had anticipated. The moment she made contact, she knew that aside from Lumine, the rest of the group no longer had the strength to fight. This was a perfect opportunity.
However, Arlecchino hadn't expected that everyone had completely exhausted the Marks on their bodies.
Seeing that Arlecchino might not believe them, the others showed her the backs of their hands.
"Miss Arlecchino, since you are here, you must know that we challenged Persephone."
"In a battle of that level, it was impossible for us to hold anything back."
Upon hearing Sangonomiya Kokomi's words, Arlecchino tightened her grip on the scythe in her hand before slowly releasing it.
The next second, the blood-red threads floating beside the group all retracted. Seeing this, everyone breathed a slight sigh of relief.
After this, Arlecchino prepared to leave.
Since the group no longer had any Marks on them, they held no value to her. She didn't want to continue wasting her time here. What if, in the meantime, only one Mark-bearer was left?
Seeing Arlecchino about to leave, Sangonomiya Kokomi spoke up hastily.
"Miss Arlecchino, I would like to discuss our alliance with you again."
After personally experiencing Persephone's power, Sangonomiya Kokomi knew that to defeat her, they must unite all available forces, otherwise they would have no chance of victory!
"The remaining Marks are not easy to obtain, and if you want to become the final victor, you will need to fight a god directly."
"Why don't we join forces? As long as we can defeat Persephone, I believe things will surely take a turn for the better!"
However, Sangonomiya Kokomi's proposal held no attraction for Arlecchino.
"No matter how many ants there are, they can never bite an elephant to death. Based on the information I have gathered, defeating Persephone (No. 3) is not something that can be achieved by simply recruiting a bunch of useless people."
"In my opinion, you have no hope of defeating Persephone, and you can't even make her take you seriously."
"Joining you gives me no hope for a turnaround at all."
After leaving those words, Arlecchino departed without a trace of regret.
Perhaps Sangonomiya Kokomi was right that the remaining Marks were extremely difficult to obtain, but it wasn't as if there weren't some that were simple to get.
From the moment Scaramouche and Rosalyne appeared, she had already secured a way out for herself.
If she hadn't misjudged, there were still a few Marks held by people of ordinary strength.
The reason she was in such a hurry to leave was that she wanted to take those Marks before others could make a move.
Then she could focus on setting up traps and await the god's grand arrival.
Even though she knew she would likely have to fight a god next, there was no trace of fear on Arlecchino's face. Instead, an endless fighting spirit rose within her.
She still held a trump card up her sleeve: the Gnosis.
This battle was not completely without a chance of victory.
No, she had to be the one to win in the end!
"She just left like that."
Paimon spoke as she watched Arlecchino's figure gradually vanish.
"She scared me half to death just now. I didn't expect Arlecchino to have been hiding in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity all along."
"Arlecchino might have intentionally conceded defeat earlier. Otherwise, with her strength, it would have been very difficult for us to stop her if she wanted to leave."
Sangonomiya Kokomi also remarked. She had found it a bit strange before that Arlecchino seemed to concede defeat a bit too decisively; so this was also part of the other party's plan.
If they still had Marks remaining on them, and if Lumine's strength hadn't further surged, Arlecchino might have actually succeeded just now.
However, now, with Lumine's strength, she could easily take down Arlecchino, but Sangonomiya Kokomi still informed her of the truth, allowing the other party to voluntarily retreat.
There was no hatred between them and Arlecchino, nor were they enemies. Their enemy from beginning to end had always been Persephone, and there was no need to make an enemy of Arlecchino.
"Everyone, I'm going to speed up. We should get to a safer place as quickly as possible."
Sangonomiya Kokomi thought for a moment and spoke to the group.
"Kokomi, can your body still hold up?"
Hearing Paimon's concern, Sangonomiya Kokomi nodded.
"I'm fine. There is a continuous replenishment of power over the sea, which is barely enough to maintain it."
After saying so, Sangonomiya Kokomi exerted her full power, rapidly leading everyone forward at nearly twice their previous speed.
However, after moving some distance, Sangonomiya Kokomi suddenly felt a surge of vigorous power rushing into her body, and her speed instantly multiplied several times over.
Carried by Sangonomiya Kokomi's power, the group nearly stumbled as they lost their balance due to the sudden acceleration.
Only after Sangonomiya Kokomi brought their speed back under control did everyone feel slightly better, and they all turned to her with questioning gazes.
"Sorry, something seems to have happened to the ocean..."
Sangonomiya Kokomi didn't know what was going on either. It was as if the sea had suddenly become much stronger. If the power it had provided her before was like dripping water, now it was a water pillar.
"Is there something more in the seawater?"
With Sangonomiya Kokomi's perception, she soon discovered the ocean's anomaly. However, she could not recognize the Primordial Sea Water; she only sensed that this purple seawater was very mysterious and powerful.
Sangonomiya Kokomi was utterly bewildered. Could the ocean actually evolve on its own, developing antibodies when faced with a massive threat?!
"Traveler, look at the seawater!"
Paimon noticed the seawater's color looked familiar. After a moment's thought, her eyes suddenly lit up, and she shouted to Lumine.
"Doesn't this color remind you of the Primordial Sea Water we saw in Fontaine?"
Hearing Paimon's description, Lumine hesitated for a moment before nodding. Paimon's tone immediately became even more astonished.
"Why would Fontaine's Primordial Sea Water appear in Inazuma?"
"Wait, could it be that Neuvillette has already arrived?!"
After considering this possibility, Lumine and Paimon froze for a moment, and then an incredibly strong sense of security surged in their hearts.
The invincible Neuvillette had finally arrived!
Now Inazuma was saved!
Although some time had passed, Neuvillette's invincible figure from back then was still fresh in Lumine and Paimon's memories.
"Primordial Sea Water?"
Everyone looked at Lumine and Paimon in confusion, and then Paimon shared what they knew with the group.
After learning about Monsieur Neuvillette's strength, everyone's eyes lit up slightly. It must be said that the name itself truly radiated a sense of security!
"In that case, Monsieur Neuvillette is likely trying to slow the Electro Elemental Power's erosion of the sea."
Very soon, Sangonomiya Kokomi figured out the reason and couldn't help but feel even more grateful to Monsieur Neuvillette.
His intervention this time could save at least tens of thousands of people in Inazuma. The debt they owed him was simply too great.
"It seems we need to find Monsieur Neuvillette quickly and share the information we've gathered about Persephone with him."
"Everyone, hold on tight!"
The moment Sangonomiya Kokomi's voice fell, before the others could even prepare, their speed suddenly surged.
Then, everyone enjoyed a thrilling boat ride over the sea...
-
As Neuvillette was swiftly approaching Seirai Island, he suddenly felt the fluctuation of a Mark rapidly moving toward him. Realizing the other party had marked him as their prey, he gradually came to a stop, waiting for them to arrive.
After a short while, a purple light appeared in the distance. It quickly grew larger in Neuvillette's vision, only coming to a halt when it reached an altitude of several thousand meters above him, at which point Neuvillette finally saw the newcomer's appearance clearly.
"Are you the Raiden Shogun of Inazuma?"
Neuvillette had never seen Raiden Ei's face before. Of course, even if he had, he would likely have misidentified her if he hadn't carefully memorized it.
Neuvillette was judging based on the aura emanating from her. Her control over Electro Elemental Power was so astonishing that she could be mistaken for Lightning itself.
Someone who could give him this feeling? Neuvillette figured there could be no one else but the Raiden Shogun of Inazuma.
However, he had misidentified her. She was Raiden Mei.
She was indeed the Ruler of Lightning, but from another world.
Of course, it wasn't strange that he had mistaken her for someone else. Even the people of Inazuma would have to think twice and again before making a final judgment upon seeing her.
Upon hearing Neuvillette's words, Raiden Mei showed no intention of speaking. Instead, she immediately attacked.
Neuvillette never expected that the "Raiden Shogun of Inazuma" would start attacking him the moment she saw him. Besides his confusion, he also felt a surge of dissatisfaction.
After all, his status in Fontaine was equal to hers, so such an insolent act was truly unbearable for him.
But considering that Fontaine was also preparing to build a friendly and cooperative relationship with Inazuma, Neuvillette still held back.
Just like that, Neuvillette kept trying to reason with Raiden Mei as he fought her.
He started with the topic of friendly exchanges between the two nations and moved on to the concept of the common prosperity of the Teyvat continent.
However, Raiden Mei was completely unmoved. No matter what Neuvillette said, she did not reply with a single word, only fully focusing her energy on the fight.
Because Neuvillette had to divide his attention to think about his next words, he suffered several minor setbacks and his clothes were slightly damaged.
Finally, Neuvillette was genuinely enraged. A dazzling azure aura burst forth from his body.
"Tides, I have returned!"
Under Neuvillette's full-power eruption, Raiden Mei was forced into a steady retreat. After she realized that she was no match for Neuvillette's strength, she turned into a purple light and fled into the distance.
Neuvillette watched Raiden Mei disappear into the distance. After hesitating for a long time, he ultimately decided not to pursue her. He knew it wouldn't do any good, and he wasn't willing to fight her to the death over such a minor matter.
What kind of mess was this?
Neuvillette continued on his way, feeling a bit depressed. He found this "Raiden Shogun of Inazuma" to be more troublesome than Sumeru's Great Desert.
After all, the desert still absorbed rainwater, but this "Raiden Shogun of Inazuma" was completely impervious to it!
Forget it, I should just keep going to Seirai Island to gather information.
With this thought, Neuvillette's body suddenly accelerated, and he soon vanished from this place.
Meanwhile, the battle was captured by Aether, who immediately stopped his pursuit of Dainsleif.
Looking at Dainsleif's fleeing figure, Aether began to wonder if his sister might be where the commotion had come from.
By this time, Dainsleif's injuries had worsened considerably. However, because they had traveled together for many years, they knew each other very well, so Aether had no way to capture him in a short time.
Aether had never expected Dainsleif to be such a fast runner. No wonder he had caused the Abyss Order so much trouble all these years, yet his subordinates could never catch him, only being played with by him.
After chasing for so long, Aether's anger had subsided a lot, and his desire to capture Dainsleif was no longer as strong.
Capturing Dainsleif would be simple, but the difficult part was how to deal with him afterward.
If he just locked Dainsleif up and ignored him, his subordinates would certainly not be pleased, after all, Dainsleif had caused the Abyss Order so much trouble.
But eliminating him directly was also impossible; Aether still remembered the time they had traveled together.
So that was why Aether had turned a blind eye before, but after he had considered so much for Dainsleif, the other party just kept causing him trouble.
In the end, Aether gave up on continuing to pursue Dainsleif and instead headed toward the location where the commotion of the battle had come from.
Whether his sister was at that place or not, he had to go see for himself first.
If he really saw his sister, he had to take her away from Inazuma; continuing to stay in Inazuma was simply too dangerous.
As for the remaining Abyss Monsters by his side, he had already ordered them to go back and gather more men, naturally without neglecting Blue Smoke and Red Cloud.
Spy-I for the life of me dont remember the names of these guys but I assume its more random subordinates that MC randomly spawned for Aether.
Although it was a bit embarrassing for him to be so reliant on this network of connections, he truly had no suitable subordinates at hand right now, so this was his only option.
Thinking of this, Aether felt another surge of annoyance toward Dainsleif. If the other man hadn't caused trouble, he would have sent his subordinates to scatter and gather intelligence long ago. He might have found his sister's location by now and quickly left Inazuma.
As a result, he now had to investigate every suspicious place one by one, completely stripping him of any dignity as the Abyss Prince.
But what else could he do? With the situation already like this, Aether could only curse Dainsleif in his heart while checking each place one by one.
And Dainsleif, seeing that Aether hadn't chased after him, continued to stay hidden.
Aether's attitude toward him this time was so unusual; clearly, his actions had severely disrupted the Abyss Order's plans.
Although he still didn't know what the Abyss Order's plan was this time, he decided to just go for it!
Thinking of this, Dainsleif hid himself again, waiting for the next opportunity to act.