The entire ruin was in chaos. Most of the Knights were already injured, and the ground was littered with dark husks of armor and the corpses of Rift Hounds.
At that moment, Lumine was locked in fierce combat with a massive hunting beast, while Kaeya was fighting six dark husks at once. Judging from their condition, they would not be able to hold out much longer.
Standing beside Su Han, Shenhe asked, "What should we do?"
"Go help Kaeya, the man with the eyepatch. I'll support Lumine. Remember, finish quickly. Our mission is evacuation."
"No problem."
The two of them split apart in midair.
Kaeya, who had been fighting the six husks, finally collapsed to one knee from exhaustion. Just when he thought everything was over, a strange figure appeared from nowhere and blocked the incoming blow. Its entire body glowed icy-blue like a Cryo Slime, radiating a chilling cold.
"What is this?"
Kaeya was startled. Then a silver-haired woman descended from above, holding a crystal-blue talisman. She shouted, "By the decree of righteousness!"
Boom.
A burst of white light exploded outward, and an endless tide of frost swept across all the enemies. Moments ago the dark husks had been roaring arrogantly, yet now they were all frozen solid like ice sculptures.
Kaeya was stunned. Where had this expert come from? Her strength was overwhelming.
Shenhe, seeing Kaeya still standing there instead of pulling back, frowned. "Go! I can only hold them for a short time."
"Hm? Yes. Thank you for the help, miss!"
Once Kaeya snapped out of it, he understood she was here to assist him, so he turned and ran without hesitation. Soon the dark husks broke free from the ice and turned their attention to Shenhe, launching new attacks, but they were immediately frozen again by another surge of frost.
On the other side, with Lumine—
After an entire day of nonstop fighting, even the powerful Traveler was nearing her limit. Worse, she had to protect the injured at the same time.
Paimon was panicking beside her. There were too many monsters nearby, and evacuating the wounded was impossible. Just as the little companion grew anxious, a terrifying bolt of lightning fell from the sky.
Even though Rift Hounds were swift and unpredictable, they could not dodge lightning. They were struck heavily and collapsed. Lumine immediately realized this was an opportunity, followed up, and finished them off. The beasts howled briefly before falling silent forever.
Just as Lumine was wondering who had come to her aid, she heard Paimon cheer, "Wow, it's Su Han! What are you doing here?"
Lumine looked up and saw a familiar figure in the sky waving at her.
"Yo, long time no see. But now's not the time to catch up. Get everyone below out of here first."
"Alright. Everyone, fall back quickly!"
Hearing the command, the injured Knights helped one another and retreated. Although more monsters approached, with Su Han summoning lightning, they posed no real threat. Half an hour later, everyone finally escaped Stormterror's Lair.
Su Han was still wondering where Venti had gone when a violent gust of wind erupted from the center of the ruin. The next moment, he saw Venti slowly descending from the heavens. But the bard's expression looked grim.
"You went to find Dvalin? How is the situation?"
Facing Su Han's question, Venti shook his head. Things were worse than he expected.
"Dvalin had two sources of corruption removed. I thought I could approach him now, but once I slipped inside, I discovered the entire ruin was filled with Abyss energy and evil magic circles. Those people want to turn Dvalin into their weapon. I destroyed most of the magic circles, but I woke him up in the process. The rest you saw yourself. To prevent him from coming out again, I had no choice but to seal him."
Paimon listened and asked in confusion, "So that means the problem still isn't solved?"
"Yes. But Dvalin's strength has dropped a lot. At least for the next week, we don't need to worry about him causing trouble."
Hearing this, Su Han said to Kaeya, "Given the current situation, I recommend retreating. I still have some strength left, but I can't keep fighting. Lumine is the same."
"Then retreat. Everyone pull out!"
Kaeya trusted Su Han completely. If he said they could not continue exploring, then they definitely couldn't.
On the way back, the cavalry captain asked about Mondstadt. When Su Han told him that Jean had been gravely injured and saved by him, Kaeya stopped walking.
"Thank you, brother. Without you, Mondstadt would have fallen into chaos."
"Instead of thanking me, think about how to handle what's coming. Jean won't be able to work for at least two months. And the Fatui, who were restless before, vanished after the Knights' reforms. I'm telling you, they won't give up."
Hearing this, Kaeya set aside his usual laziness and replied seriously, "Don't worry. We won't disappoint Jean. Tell her to rest well. As for the Fatui, Diluc has been investigating them quietly. He won't let them resurface."
"As long as you're confident." Su Han smiled lightly. Then he turned to Lumine and Paimon. "Want to fly back? It'll be much faster."
"Really? Then let's fly back, Lumine! If we walk, it'll be dark before we reach home."
"Well… alright. I'll trouble you."
Originally, Lumine did not plan to return with Su Han. But after seeing Paimon's exhaustion, and after discovering those traces in the ruins—she agreed. Because among those traces, Lumine had found footprints belonging to her brother.
After Lumine agreed, Su Han wrapped an arm around them both and soared into the sky.
Above the clouds, Paimon looked at the view ahead and gasped, "Wow! The sunset is so beautiful, Lumine. This is the first time I realized sunsets can look like this!"
Lumine had been absorbed in her thoughts. Hearing Paimon, she finally snapped out of it. Looking at the golden clouds, she smiled. "It is beautiful. It's my first time seeing scenery like this."
On beaches back in the day, the sunset was pretty, but experiencing it above the clouds felt entirely different.
About half an hour later—
Su Han returned to the rooftop of the manga shop with Lumine and Paimon. There were still many customers downstairs, but no one noticed their arrival.
Seeing the two exhausted travelers, Paimon volunteered cheerfully, "You've both worked so hard today. How about I go buy food? What do you want to eat?"
"Mondstadt grilled fish for me! And a meat pie."
"What about you, Su Han?"
After thinking for a moment, Su Han replied, "Tomato beef brisket with noodles will do."
Paimon jotted it down and flew off. Once her figure disappeared, Su Han turned to Lumine.
"You were deep in thought earlier. If there's something you want to ask, you can ask now."
"Su Han… what is the relationship between my brother and the Abyss?"
When she spoke those words, Lumine's voice trembled.
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