Looking again at the incredibly gaunt face on the screen, Lumine felt as if her heart was being brutally torn apart, causing her unbearable pain…
That was a total of twenty-two thousand monsters… How did Ying endure it all…
It was all her fault… If only she could have guessed Ying’s thoughts back then, if only she could have discovered the Doctor’s scheme sooner, if only she had become a little stronger, Ying wouldn’t have had to suffer like this.
Lumine, you swore countless times, said repeatedly that you would never let your sister be in danger again. You've poured so much effort into this very idea, yet why were you still unable to protect her…
Lumine’s heart was filled with self-recrimination. Unconsciously, her eyes gradually became moist, crystal-clear tears slowly slid down her cheeks, dropping onto the ground and splashing into tiny blossoms.
After a long while, Lumine gradually stopped crying, her expression returning to one of cold detachment. It wasn't that she had come to terms with it, but rather that the pain was so extreme that it paradoxically brought a sense of calm.
She reached out to wipe the tear from her eyelash and glared with icy eyes at the Doctor’s back as he smiled and watched the screen. Her lips parted slightly, “Ying, I promise you, he will never leave this island alive… Absolutely not…”
Inside the Spiral Abyss…
As a desolate star descended, the last Geovishap vanished at Ying’s feet.
Watching it gradually disappear, Ying couldn’t help but smile inwardly, shaking her head.
“You defeated me once, I’ll slaughter a thousand of yours. It’s only fair.”
Only after seeing the key to this floor disappear from her sight did Ying begin to walk, step by labored step, towards the teleporter leading to the next level.
Floor seven…
Upon arriving at this floor, the usual sardonic voice did not appear, which made Ying momentarily pause. She strained her eyes slightly, looking around. She found that the scenery of this floor was unlike any before, inexplicably feeling as if it had been custom-made for the colossal mechanism before her.
And upon seeing Ying reach the seventh floor, the Doctor’s excitement reached its peak.
“Hehehe… The show is finally about to begin…”
His voice was not loud, yet everyone present heard it clearly.
Nahida, who had been quietly staying put, doing who knew what, suddenly opened her eyes and looked up at the large screen.
This ominous feeling… Could it be…
Inside the Spiral Abyss, Ying slowly approached the massive mechanism. As if sensing her movement, with a jolt, the mechanism’s hatch slowly opened, and a familiar figure appeared within Ying’s field of vision.
“You’ve finally arrived…”
Looking at the man slowly standing up from the mechanism, Ying narrowed her eyes slightly and asked in a low voice.
“From the way you speak, it seems you’ve long anticipated my arrival here?”
“Of course.”
The Scaramouche chuckled, covering his mouth.
“How could those monsters possibly stop you.”
Scaramouche’s compliment did not bring Ying any joy. She directly began to taunt him.
“Hmph… To think that a dignified Fatui Harbinger would be reduced to a pawn of the Doctor. How pathetic.”
Upon hearing this, Scaramouche frowned in annoyance.
“Watch your words, mortal. It is not I who became his pawn, but a god who deigned to assist him.”
“Oh? A god?”
Ying playfully observed Scaramouche’s appearance. After a moment, she shrugged.
“I’m sorry, I only see a clown, and a mechanism slightly larger than a clown. I don’t see the god the clown speaks of.”
“Ha… Ha… Hahaha!”
Upon hearing Ying’s words, Scaramouche couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
A moment later, Scaramouche composed himself, his laughter subsiding. He replied word by word.
“Indeed, you are utterly unqualified to witness the great god. The great god disdains to interact with lowly mortals like yourselves. It is understandable that you would not know.”
“Is that so?”
Ying shrugged indifferently.
He hasn't even investigated his own past clearly. It seems he truly is inferior to the Doctor, and merely a clown.
However, to buy herself more time to breathe, Ying didn't mind chatting with this clown a bit longer and played along by asking,
“Don’t you think it’s rather humiliating for a god to need the help of a Harbinger to lure me here?”
“Furthermore, as a god, you dare not confront me directly, but choose to let a large number of monsters exhaust my strength as a mortal first. Don’t you think your actions are a disgrace to a god?”
“Heh…”
Scaramouche scoffed, his face filled with arrogance.
“Mortals often need to undergo trials from a god before they can meet one. If one cannot even pass these minor trials, then naturally, they are unworthy of meeting a god.”
For this explanation, Ying first gave him an eye-roll. Estimating that enough time had passed, she directly retorted,
“Heh…”
“You speak grandly, but in reality, you’re just afraid of losing to me again, aren’t you?”
Scaramouche’s gaze turned cold.
“Mortal, you are blaspheming against a god…”
【Whoosh!】
Before he could finish speaking, a gust of wind blade instantly struck.
Seeing that Ying ignored his words and initiated the attack, Scaramouche frowned and directly controlled the mechanism to block the incredibly sharp attack with its hand.
“Your actions will only hasten your death…”
【Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!】
Ying paid him no mind and sent several more sharp wind blades tearing through the air.
Scaramouche’s expression turned completely frigid. He swept his gaze coldly, and an invisible ripple emanated outwards, nullifying all these wind blades.
Such immense power instantly repelled Ying over ten meters back, almost causing her to fall.
“Mortal, you have thoroughly enraged me. Since you are so eager to die, I shall oblige you.”
With that, a buzzing sound suddenly arose. The mechanism’s arm instantly condensed a large amount of Electro energy, transforming into a rain of lightning that surged towards Ying’s position.
【RUMBLE!!】
Amidst flashes of lightning and peals of thunder, watching as a sea of lightning suddenly appeared, engulfing the entire space and pouring down upon her, Ying’s pupils contracted sharply. She quickly manipulated Geo to condense a turtle shell, encasing herself within.
“Ying?!”
Paimon, standing outside the teleporter, was so startled she covered her eyes, anxiously looking at Lumine’s face. She found that Lumine wasn’t looking at the screen but was constantly observing her surroundings.
Paimon instinctively wanted to ask, but after much thought, she ultimately couldn't utter the words.