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Meanwhile.
Stadium of the Sacred Flame.
"Rios, please."
Mualani came to the upper part of the commentary stand, pleading with the young Pyro Archon in front of her.
However, no matter how many times she pleaded, the final response she received was always the same.
"Mualani, I've said it many times already. The Night Warden Wars will not start again." Rios's tone was somewhat helpless.
This girl had pleaded with him so many times in just half an hour; even he was starting to feel overwhelmed.
If not for the fact that he still needed to wait for someone, he would have run far away long ago.
"Kaiulani finally won in the Pilgrimage of the Returning Flame on the Sacred Night. If she can't participate in the subsequent Night Warden Wars, wouldn't that be too regrettable?" Mualani continued.
"Not regrettable at all." Rios comforted her. "Actually, regret is also a kind of beauty. Leaving a little regret occasionally is quite nice."
Hearing this, Mualani furrowed her brows. "Rios, that joke isn't funny."
"I'm not telling you a joke." Rios said, "I'm reasoning with you."
"But what you're saying doesn't make any sense."
Seeing the two arguing, Kachina and Kinich, who were standing nearby, looked at each other.
"Brother Kinich, should we stay a bit farther away?"
Kachina had come up with Mualani, but as soon as she arrived, she saw the two talking about things she couldn't interject into.
"We should give Lord Pyro Archon and Mualani a chance to communicate."
Kinich also felt it wasn't appropriate to stay any longer and wanted to take Kachina and leave together.
And at that moment, he keenly noticed someone intruding into the Stadium of the Sacred Flame.
That person was tall, wearing a black mask that covered his face, and behind him followed several elite Fatui soldiers.
It was actually a Fatui Harbinger... the Captain!
"Lord Pyro Archon, there's a situation." Kinich reminded him.
"I know." Rios had long sensed the Captain in the Stadium of the Sacred Flame. "He finally came."
[The Pyro Archon just said "finally came," right?]
[Why does he seem to be looking forward to the Fatui coming?]
[The Pyro Archon didn't collude with the Abyss, but instead colluded with the Fatui?]
[Maybe the Pyro Archon colluded with both the Abyss and the Fatui.]
[Why such a big opinion on the Fatui? You can tell from the knave incident—not every Fatui Harbinger is bad, right?]
"Fatui?" Mualani also recognized the other's identity and blinked her eyes in confusion. "What are they here for?"
"Maybe they're here to get beaten." Rios smiled. "Mualani, don't move from here. I'll go down first."
The next instant.
Rios's figure appeared in front of the Captain.
"Natlan's god, it seems you already know my purpose."
As a battle-hardened warrior, the Captain could sense that the Pyro Archon currently had no killing intent but was emanating powerful fighting spirit.
In other words, the Pyro Archon knew he was here to seize the Gnosis.
"Since that's the case, there's no need for further negotiation."
The Captain raised his hand, and a longsword made of ice appeared in his grasp. In an instant, his entire body erupted with powerful momentum.
[The Pyro Archon is going to fight the Captain?]
[Is the Captain crazy? Daring to fight the Seven Archons head-on—does he think his life isn't long enough?]
[Trivia: The power of the Fatui's top three seats is not weaker than the Seven.]
[I saw an insider say the Captain is Teyvat's strongest human. Maybe the Pyro Archon can't even beat him.]
"What an amazing momentum."
"It's practically like a god."
Feeling the momentum emanating from the Captain, Kachina, standing above the arena, uneasily looked toward the two fighting in the arena.
"Will Lord Pyro Archon be okay?" Kachina said worriedly.
"He should be fine." Kinich said. "Although the Captain gives off a very strong vibe, I can't imagine Lord Pyro Archon losing."
"Of course!" Mualani said with a firm expression. "That's Rios—he couldn't possibly lose."
"Rios, go for it!"
Hearing the girl's cheering, Rios, who was in the arena, smiled. Looking at the several Fatui soldiers behind the Captain, he teased, "It seems my cheer squad is livelier than yours."
The Captain said nothing and instantly vanished from his spot, leaving only a black afterimage. Then, the ice longsword arrived in front of Rios in the blink of an eye.
Rios had no intention of dodging at all. He simply raised his palm toward the Captain's abdomen.
"Boom!"
The next instant, accompanied by a massive roar that seemed capable of shattering eardrums, a Pyro Archon Cannon blasted from his palm. The Captain couldn't dodge in time and was directly hit, sent flying backward into the air.
Fortunately, the Captain was rich in combat experience. After flipping in the air, he quickly spun once and thrust his longsword into the ground to stop his continued retreat.
"As expected of Natlan's Pyro Archon—his reputation is well-deserved."
With that said, the Captain's figure vanished once more, launching attacks at Rios from different directions.
Every slash was merciless, each strike aimed at taking Rios's life.
From that earlier blow, the Captain had already realized the vast gap in strength between himself and Rios.
If he didn't fight with the determination to kill the opponent, there was no chance of victory at all.
However, even after the Captain went to such extremes, he still couldn't injure Rios.
Facing the relentless attacks, Rios merely twisted his body slightly to dodge them all.
This wasn't because he had mastered Ultra Instinct—it was simply that the Captain's movements were too slow in his eyes, like slow motion, making it all too easy to evade.
"It's about time to end this."
For the Captain's next attack, Rios no longer dodged.
Seeing this, the Captain immediately increased his power output, intending to inflict damage on Rios with his strongest force.
Boom!
The Captain's attack landed on Rios's body. The shockwave from the battle stirred up dust, instantly enveloping the entire arena in smoke.
Once the smoke cleared, the Captain's movements froze.
Rios had raised a single finger, blocking his attack.
At the same time, Rios's other hand was clenched into a fist, surging with overwhelming Pyro elements as it struck out, directly hitting the Captain's abdomen.
Boom!
Another explosion-like roar.
The Captain was sent retreating several meters before stopping. He could barely muster the strength to stand, kneeling on one knee on the ground.
Although he wasn't sent flying far, Rios's attack had caused severe internal injuries to his body.
"The energy gathered in that punch wasn't much, but when it hit, it unleashed several times the power."
"The Pyro Archon's control over power far surpasses mine!"
The Captain tried to use the ice sword to stand and continue fighting, only to find his hand empty at some point.
Looking up, he saw the ice sword in Rios's hand.