[The Fantastic Compass's location seems the same?]
[It's like it was a sapling there, and now it's a tree trunk.]
[Wow, you guys notice such details?]
[With time and space all messed up here, it's gotta be designed that way, right?]
[So it's the same place, but at a different time.]
Lumine and the others took a closer look and realized the same thing.
This was the upside of having more people.
Someone always notices the details.
This was why Yanfei chose to team up with Lumine.
Though she wasn't rich in combat experience,
she could handle exploring a domain on her own.
"We only met up with you because we adjusted this."
"I'm guessing it's a miniature version of that giant Fantastic Compass in the sky, tied to the whole space."
Yelan looked at the Fantastic Compass, feeling a sense of familiarity but unable to place it.
While Lumine operated it, she sank into deep thought.
— — — — — —
Guinaifen was stumped.
The puzzle-solving pro got stuck on the plot.
She turned left and right, unable to find the key to the puzzle.
[Streamer, stop spinning, you're making me dizzy.]
[My blood pressure's spiking.]
[Streamer, are you a pig? I need oxygen.]
'Thanks to Mu Yang for the highlighted message': Go back and break the glowing sapling, and you won't be stuck anymore. (10,000 yuan)
Having streamed for so long and being thick-skinned,
Guinaifen didn't blush at all over this small issue.
She even scored a paid message from big shot Mu Yang.
This was already soaring into the stratosphere.
— — — — — —
Back in Teyvat,
Lumine and the others had entered another new space.
"If the space follows the same rules, there's got to be a small Fantastic Compass somewhere here."
They didn't know if the Fantastic Compass was here,
but Xiao was.
He stood in the center of the battlefield, spear in hand.
"…Bosacius, how could someone like you become an underground spirit?"
"Xiao?!"
Yelan scanned the surroundings, staying alert.
She didn't see anyone else.
"No enemies?… Wait, something's off…"
"The enemy… are they hiding?" Yanfei said, pulling out her book and charging up a fireball to rush forward.
Lumine and Yelan flanked from both sides.
But their movements were halted by Xiao's loud shout.
"Don't come closer!"
He didn't look their way, still staring at the empty battlefield.
"This is my fight alone… Stay back."
The three exchanged glances and wisely stepped back.
They'd already guessed that Xiao's opponent was likely Bosacius, one of the five Yakshas.
Interfering now would be unwise.
This was indeed Xiao's fight…
The three left the battlefield to Xiao.
The invisible enemy slowly revealed a trace of its form.
It seemed to wield Electro elemental power.
Fragmented voices echoed through the battlefield,
likely words Bosacius had spoken in life.
'Filthy beasts, how many died because of you…'
'Luring you into this underground space was exactly because I found your weakness.'
Attacking from the shadows while hidden was Bosacius's usual tactic.
The voice came from all directions,
not from the phantom in the field.
This made it hard for Xiao to pinpoint him, putting him at a disadvantage.
As he prepared to dodge a lightning strike,
he suddenly heard, 'Die here with me!'
Xiao froze for a moment and was struck by the lightning…
"…Hah… Someone as valiant as you, how could you die here…"
Clearly, Xiao still couldn't believe Bosacius would fall to mere beasts.
Seeing Xiao hit by lightning, Paimon grew anxious.
"This won't do. If this keeps up, Xiao's in trouble…"
She tugged at Lumine's arm. "Think of something quick…"
Lumine shook her head. This was Xiao's fight.
Besides, Xiao wasn't losing—he just wanted to hear that voice from the battlefield…
[Feels like Xiao doesn't want to finish the fight.]
[If he destroys this phantom, he'll never hear big brother's voice again.]
[We've got no beef, so why stab me with these comments?]
"It's fine. I know the outcome."
Perhaps to ease Paimon and Yanfei's worries,
Xiao said this.
The voice in the battlefield was starting to sound weary.
Now it was Xiao's turn.
"Bosacius, Marshal Tengshe… your strength wasn't limitless."
"This phantom of you isn't you. The real you at your peak wouldn't be like this."
Xiao finally put on his Yaksha mask.
"If Rex Lapis saw his foremost Yaksha reduced to this… what would he think?"
But the voice in the battlefield kept recounting events from five hundred years ago.
This 'dialogue' was just Xiao's wishful thinking.
The voice rose again. '…Go! I'll hold the rear. Don't let the beasts reach the surface.'
'Remember, everyone, hold the line two hundred li outside the Chasm!'
[??? Why's it suddenly so hype?]
[Holy crap, is this a replay of the battle back then?]
[That line hits hard!]
Hearing those words, Xiao seemed to understand everything.
He stood his ground, waiting for the phantom clone to charge at him…
"Enough… Be destroyed, hollow phantom!"
Xiao roared, sweeping his spear and unleashing his power.
Finally, he vanquished Bosacius's phantom.
He gently removed his Yaksha mask.
Already heavily injured, he shouldn't have fought like this.
The phantom wasn't even his match.
It was just… just…
Was this his way of bidding farewell to his big brother?
"Xiao, are you okay?"
The group approached, asking with concern.
"It had to be this way. Don't worry about me."
Yelan spoke up. "That invisible opponent just now, was it the legendary Marshal Tengshe, Bosacius?"
Xiao turned his back to them, still gazing where the phantom had vanished.
"It was him."
After a pause, Xiao continued.
"Don't blame me for acting alone. Bosacius has been missing for centuries. That fight might've been my last chance to see him."
[Ugh, I can't hold it together anymore.]
[Poor kid. The one who survives doesn't have it easy either.]
[Especially since he's the only one left. If there were two, they could at least talk.]
"What he shouted about holding the line…"
Xiao turned around. "He fought here. The unnamed Yaksha from the legend… it was him."
Paimon asked, "Didn't you say he liked to announce his name in battle?
Why didn't we hear him mention it in all those lines?"
"…"
Paimon's question left Xiao silent.
After a long pause, he said, "I don't know. Maybe because… he forgot who he was."
Yakshas are burdened by karmic debt.
When Bosacius met Mu Yang, he was already in a rare moment of clarity.
Even then, he mistook Mu Yang for someone else.
His memory had likely been failing for a long time.
This battle confirmed Xiao's suspicions.
Bosacius had indeed fought the beasts here.
He discovered their weakness and lured them into this underground space.
This eerie space consumed both the Khaenri'ah beasts and the Yaksha.
The smart move was to leave as soon as possible.
Xiao raised his Primordial Jade Winged-Spear. "Time to move forward."
"That was a good fight. Farewell, Bosacius."
=====
New Story posted:
Crossover: My Daily Life as a Transmigrated Psychic