"Nice sword."
Rios pretended to weigh the ice sword in his hand, then pointed the blade at the Fatui Harbinger in front of him. "Here, back to you."
The next moment, he fiercely shook his right hand, and blazing flames erupted from his palm, instantly condensing into a dazzling longbow.
Then, he nocked the ice sword onto the bowstring. Flames and ice clashed violently, producing wisps of white steam. He treated the ice sword as an arrow and shot it toward the Captain.
The instant he released the bowstring, a bizarre purple mist suddenly enveloped the Captain's surroundings, swiftly swallowing his figure and the nearby Fatui soldiers, completely vanishing from the Stadium of the Sacred Flame.
Seeing this, Rios casually incinerated and melted the ice sword, then withdrew the blazing longbow in his hand.
[No way, this gap is too huge, right?]
[So much for the Fatui Harbingers' top three having god-rivaling strength? He didn't even have a chance to fight back.]
[Damn, the insiders are lying again. They said the Pyro Archon didn't beat the Captain, and we got fooled.]
[He really didn't win though—the Captain withdrew before losing completely, didn't he?]
[By the way, why did these two suddenly start fighting?]
[Do I even need to think? The Captain came to steal the Gnosis.]
[Do the Fatui Harbingers think stealing a Gnosis right in front of a god is easy because the Lady easily took Venti's?]
[Venti: Hehe, all according to plan~]
[But didn't the Doctor also dare to steal the Grass God's Gnosis? Nahida didn't fight him head-on either.]
[Nahida was too young and didn't have that much power. If the Doctor went to the Pyro Archon for the Gnosis, he'd probably get one-punched into oblivion.]
[Trivia: The Pyro Archon is much younger than Nahida.]
[Pyro Archon: My age isn't even a fraction of Nahida's.]
[It'd be great if the Harbinger in Natlan was really the Doctor. I want to see the Pyro Archon beat the crap out of him.]
[By the way, did no one notice the Pyro Archon used a bow?]
[I did—he even used a blazing bow.]
[Good thing he didn't just smack people with the bow earlier, or he'd really be Flame Dragon Knight.]
"Rios, are you okay?"
The battle had just ended when Mualani quickly ran over, her beautiful eyes filled with worry as she slightly lowered them. Kinich and Kachina followed closely behind.
"Do I look injured?" Rios spread his hands, smiling relaxedly.
"That's good." Mualani gently patted her chest and let out a long sigh of relief. "I originally thought that guy... uh, what was his name?"
"Captain." Kinich reminded in a low voice.
"Oh, he's called the Captain." Mualani nodded, then continued, "I originally thought that Captain was just a bit stronger than ordinary people, but I didn't expect him to be this strong."
"I was full of confidence in you at first, but seeing how amazing the Captain was, I got worried you'd get hurt." Mualani said.
In the original plot, the Captain was capable of engaging in an intense fight with Mavuika after she became the Pyro Archon. Even though Mavuika ultimately won, it was a narrow victory, and her own condition wasn't much better.
To Mualani and the others, what they had just witnessed was a clash at the level of the Archons, with an intensity far beyond human limits.
No wonder Mualani was worried.
"Hard to imagine a human being this strong." Kinich said thoughtfully. "Did that Captain also receive divine power from the Cryo Tsaritsa?"
At this moment, Kinich had obtained part of his power from Rios, far surpassing ordinary people.
Upon seeing the Captain's strength, he subconsciously thought the opponent's power also came from a god.
"That should be his own power, unrelated to the Cryo Tsaritsa."
Rios remembered that the Captain was a Khaenri'ahn, and his heart had a special function.
Moreover, for various reasons, the Captain's strength wasn't even at his peak.
"Lord Pyro Archon, now that the Fatui Harbinger has run away, will he come back for revenge later?" Kachina asked softly, worried.
Hearing the girl's words, Mualani suddenly reacted and quickly asked, "Rios, why did you let the Captain go? With your strength, it shouldn't be hard to keep him here, right?"
In Mualani's view, even though the Captain and the others left in a very strange and swift manner, Rios could easily stop them with his abilities.
"I have no deep hatred with the Captain—there's no need to kill him, right?"
Rios opened his mouth, about to explain it that way.
But before he could speak, Kinich's voice rang out.
"When the Captain left earlier, it seemed like he used the Masters of the Night-Wind's spell."
"I think Lord Pyro Archon realized there's a traitor colluding with the Fatui in Natlan and wanted to follow the vine to catch the culprit, so he didn't stop the Captain from leaving."
Kinich said.
Although he had been standing a bit far away at the time, with his keen observation, he had noticed the peculiar phenomenon before the Captain and the others disappeared.
"There's a traitor among us?" Mualani opened her small mouth, her red beautiful eyes looking over in surprise. "Rios, did you deliberately let the Captain go to catch the traitor?"
"That's exactly what I was thinking." Rios quickly changed the words he was about to say.
If he didn't, he'd become the one colluding with the Fatui.
"Do you have any leads now?" Mualani asked caringly.
"This requires sending people to investigate." Rios actually knew who helped the Captain escape.
It was everyone's good grandson, Ororon.
Ororon had a strong perception of souls from a young age and could sense that Natlan's ley lines were deteriorating.
When he doubted whether the Pyro Archon's actions could save Natlan, he saw hope in the Captain and thus saved him at the critical moment.
Although Rios already knew it was Ororon, he didn't want to say it out now.
Better to let the Traveler investigate properly.
"Lord Pyro Archon, what happened?"
The earlier battle had made a huge noise—even people outside the Stadium of the Sacred Flame could hear it.
Mavuika, who had been chatting with the Traveler earlier, hurried over with people after hearing the sounds of battle.
"It wasn't a big deal—just fought with a Fatui Harbinger." Rios said lightly.
["Just"]
[Fatui Harbingers used to be synonyms for high combat power, but in Natlan, they've become the weak side.]
[No choice—mainly, the gods of other nations haven't really fought Fatui Harbingers. Venti played weak, Zhongli made a deal, Nahida and Furina lacked power, so none of them actually battled Fatui Harbingers.]
[Only here with the Pyro Archon did a proper fight with a Fatui Harbinger happen, so everyone feels this way.]
[Signora: Doesn't my fight with the Raiden Shogun count?]
[But it was the General fighting Signora back then, not the Shogun, right?]
[And Signora got one-shot on the spot—does that even count as a fight?]
[Stop! That doesn't even count as a fight at all!]