At the end of the temple, Kaeya froze.
"The fact that she could sense the Abyss Mage's presence already surprised me."
"I never expected her to notice you, too."
"Even I only picked up on your presence a minute ago..."
"Ah, what an extraordinary woman! Anyone who didn't know better would think she was a seasoned warrior."
Kaeya looked at the red-haired man walking deeper into the temple and teased him.
"What is it? Were you worried about my safety, or couldn't you stop worrying about her?"
Diluc gave Kaeya a cold glance without saying a word. He charged straight ahead with his flaming claymore, shattered the Abyss Mage's ice shield with a single slash, then followed up with several swift, fierce attacks that cut it down.
"The Knights of Favonius are as inefficient as ever. Without her help, you might have taken another two or three hours to get here."
Diluc spoke coldly.
"Yes! Thank goodness for her."
Kaeya shrugged nonchalantly. "A beautiful lady is a delight to watch, no matter what she does~"
"Ah, you have no idea how much I enjoyed watching her valiant figure in battle along the way."
"Too bad someone arrived too late to see it."
At those words, the corner of Diluc's eye gave an almost imperceptible twitch.
At the entrance to the Temple of the Lion of the South Wind.
"Oh my, little Ellin, I'm so happy you could come and help."
Wearing a witch's hat and a dark blue dress, Lisa stood in slender high heels with her hands resting in front of her stomach and a natural smile on her face.
"With little Ellin's help, the rest of our journey should be much easier."
"Let's go!"
Lisa took Ellin's hand of her own accord.
The gesture made Ellin instinctively