"So many! Besides the usual Hilichurl, there are other monsters I haven't seen before!"
Most of the monsters Beisht summoned were new to Lumine. She had traveled through every region of Mondstadt and Liyue, seen almost every type of monster, and was familiar with each, even knowing their dropped materials by heart.
But this time, the monsters Beisht summoned were entirely new species she had never encountered before. They appeared to be creatures residing in the ocean.
They weren't the common fish and shrimp, but rather monsters living in the deeper parts of the ocean, in areas where sunlight couldn't reach.
"Be careful, these fiends are different from the usual ones; they are much stronger."
The puppet flew behind Lumine, hurriedly casting several layers of defensive spells on her to prevent Lumine from taking DMG.
On the other side, Miss Durandal and Shenhe, who had been inactive, were also targeted by these suddenly appearing monsters. Completely oblivious to danger, they charged at them with bloodlust.
Durandal paid no mind to these reckless monsters approaching; suddenly, two Main Bodies of the black plague leaped out from the ice crystals nearby.
The Main Bodies annihilated all approaching monsters with overwhelming force; not even those that neared Durandal could reach her before collapsing to the ground.
Even the completely frenzied monsters, seeing this, understood that Durandal and Shenhe were beyond their ability to provoke, and could only set their sights on Lumine and the puppet.
Although the number of enemies increased, putting considerable pressure on Lumine and the puppet, they still didn't fall into a disadvantage. While eliminating monsters, they even had leisure to deal with those targeting them.
"Something's wrong. Beisht clearly has three heads, but since just now, I haven't seen the other two heads."
Before the monsters appeared, Beisht's three heads were attacking them simultaneously, but now two of its heads were completely gone, which was very abnormal.
During a lull in the battle, Lumine took the opportunity to observe her surroundings. She didn't believe these two heads were doing nothing; they must be preparing some attack.
"Traveler! Be careful!"
At this moment, Paimon's voice came from the shadows, startling Lumine, who looked to her left and right.
Beisht's two heads appeared from different directions, concentrating destructive energy in the air, ready to unleash beams of destruction upon her.
"I won't be hit that easily."
Lumine nimbly adjusted her body in the air, shifting her position slightly, causing Beisht's first ray to miss. She then adjusted her stance, preparing for the next offensive.
Seeing Lumine successfully evade the first ray attack, a fierce glint flashed in Beisht's Main Body's eyes. It manipulated the water flow, sweeping up a dozen monsters from the ground and flinging them towards Lumine.
The puppet rushed over to assist, and Beisht seemed to have found a way to deal with her, continuously creating rising water currents to send monsters before them.
While Lumine and the puppet focused their attention on the monsters, Beisht's two heads began to gather energy again.
They fired separately; after Lumine dodged the first ray, the second ray immediately shot towards Lumine's position.
Seeing this, the puppet placed her hands in front of her, and a massive trigram pattern appeared before them, forming a shield that blocked Beisht's ray attack.
Under the persistence of Durandal's energy, Beisht's ray did not break through the puppet's defense, but in the momentary gap in their defense, Beisht's Main Body's ray also coalesced.
The puppet's Vision returned to Shenhe's Main Body. Shenhe's eyes widened, and she shouted at Lumine, who was about to take DMG.
"Don't!"
Durandal narrowed her eyes slightly, preparing to formally intervene in the battle.
Suddenly, she felt Shenhe drawing a massive amount of power from her, and her Vision glowed with dazzling light.
Almost instantly, the puppet erupted with immense power, and the power of Cryo Element burst forth terrifyingly.
It didn't Freeze Beisht, didn't Freeze the surrounding monsters, and didn't Freeze the water flow; what it Froze was... this space-time.
During the brief few seconds that space-time was Frozen, the puppet timely embraced Lumine and escaped from Beisht's attack range.
Just as they left Beisht's attack range, Beisht's attack arrived, but the originally certain-hit attack lost its target, and Lumine and the puppet successfully dodged it.
"Shenhe, you..."
Durandal looked at Shenhe with some surprise; this was something she had never anticipated before. She had thought of many ways for Shenhe to use Cryo Element.
But she had never considered what the power of Cryo Element could achieve when pushed to its limit. Now she understood: when the power of Cryo Element reached its limit, even space-time could be Frozen.
Unfortunately, this could not last for too long. For Shenhe, even if all the power used came from Durandal, it could only last for a mere three seconds.
Furthermore, it could not be used a second time within a short period, serving only as a last resort.
But in a duel between masters, three seconds could already resolve many things.
"Durandal, I just..."
Shenhe hadn't yet realized what she had just done. She only remembered seeing Lumine about to be hit by Beisht's attack, wanting to protect her, and then seeing everything around her stop. She used those few seconds to save Lumine.
Although all the power was consumed from Durandal, she inexplicably felt very fatigued, and even the puppet's movements were affected.
Durandal used her ability to absorb all the fatigue Shenhe had just incurred from using her ability and said,
"Those things, we'll talk about them after the battle. For now, let's deal with the immediate problem, understood?"
"Mm, I understand."
Shenhe once again focused her attention on controlling the puppet. With the previous lesson, Lumine and the puppet's movements became more cautious.
To alleviate their pressure, Durandal's Main Bodies also joined the battle. The help of the two Main Bodies greatly reduced their pressure, allowing them to concentrate on dealing with Beisht.
Seeing the situation become increasingly unfavorable, Beisht let out an angry roar. Its three heads gathered together, concentrating their energy and firing a beam into the sky.
The beam disintegrated in the air, and one energy projectile after another rained down, assaulting them like raindrops.
If they couldn't fly, this move would have a huge impact on them, but they could control their movements freely, which naturally greatly reduced the impact of this move.
"It's time... to end all of this!"
Lumine and the puppet exchanged glances. With the puppet's help, Lumine approached Beisht's head at an extremely fast speed.
Beisht continuously launched energy spheres in an attempt to stop Lumine's approach, but with the puppet's assistance, Beisht's actions were utterly unable to halt Lumine's advance.
Lumine condensed all her Geo Element onto her Sword, just like Noelle's Elemental Burst. Golden Geo Element continuously extended from the Sword, transforming into a blade several meters long.
Lumine frowned tightly; this was still not enough. Just this wouldn't be enough to kill Beisht; she needed even greater power.
"Let me help you."
Durandal's voice echoed in her ear, and Lumine felt a warm hand grip the Sword's hilt.
With the appearance of this hand, the Geo Element on the Sword rose again, reaching a height of over ten meters.
"Durandal!"
The one who appeared beside Lumine was indeed Durandal, but unlike usual, the Durandal who appeared beside her this time was a phantom. Her Main Body was still with Shenhe, helping Shenhe control the puppet's movements.
"Don't be surprised. The materials used to create this weapon were extracted from me, so I can naturally link to this weapon to provide you with power."
Lumine and Durandal stood side by side, gazing at Beisht, which was close at hand, and said, "Now, let us deliver the final blow to Beisht together."
"Mm! Together!"
Lumine nodded vigorously. With Durandal by her side, she immediately felt her body filled with power again. The two of them raised the Sword together.
Beisht panicked. If this attack struck, it couldn't possibly withstand it. It wanted to escape, but the surroundings were Frozen, leaving no opportunity to flee.
"This is my... full power!! Take this, Beisht!!"
The moment she swung the Sword, Lumine immediately used the Geo Element's ability to "increase the weight of objects," adding several degrees of force to the swing.
Beisht could only watch helplessly as the towering golden light cleaved down towards it, utterly powerless.
Thus, the people of Liyue who had come out to watch the spectacle by the sea witnessed an unforgettable sight.
A towering golden greatsword appeared on the sea, fiercely cleaving down towards the surface.
The moment it struck, the sea itself parted due to the blow, like a divine miracle—something even the Geo Archon himself could not accomplish.
"How... how amazing, the sea... the sea has parted."
It wasn't an attack that healed quickly, but one that lasted for more than ten seconds. Only after the power dissipated did the sea return to its original state.
Although it lasted only a brief ten-odd seconds, this scene was deeply etched into everyone's hearts.
Under this blow, Beisht was undoubtedly eliminated. And when a God is eliminated, the impact of their death causes severe destruction to the surroundings.
At this moment, Durandal, who had been helping Shenhe operate the puppet, flashed before Beisht, condensing all the power generated by Beisht's death in her hand.
Thus, a crisis that should have affected Liyue Harbor was resolved.
Looking at Beisht's final power in her hand, Durandal integrated it into her body, allowing it to gradually become a part of herself.
After completing these tasks, the group arrived on a nearby shore, looking at the calm sea, and everyone exchanged smiles.
"Finally done, I'm so exhausted. When we go back, Paimon needs a good meal to replenish her energy."
"You didn't help fight the enemies, so why are you tired?"
"I... I cheered you on, and I got tired from shouting!"
"Oh, you..."
Paimon's remarks made everyone laugh. After their smiles, they looked towards Liyue Harbor.
"Let's... go home."
"Mm! Home!"
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