Realizing he had been tricked, Tartaglia brandished his lightning spear and wildly unleashed terrifying elemental energy against the Golden House, blasting straight through its floor and sending the entire level crashing down.
Lumine and Paimon were caught in the disaster through no fault of their own, falling straight down amid the sudden upheaval.
Since Paimon could fly, this turn of events was not much cause for concern for her; she only needed to avoid the falling rocks. Lumine, however, could not fly, and the tumbling debris prevented her from opening her Wind Glider, leaving her to plummet.
Lumine squeezed her eyes shut, ready to grit her teeth and endure the impact, when she felt herself caught in a warm embrace. Whoever held her then made several leaps with her before finally landing safely.
Lumine cautiously opened her eyes and discovered that the person who had caught her was none other than Yucheng. He gently set her down, and as she looked at the man before her, she felt that everything about him was a mystery.
Tartaglia descended from above in his Foul Legacy form, glaring fixedly at Yucheng. "Hand over the Gnosis, and I can spare your life."
"If I said the Gnosis wasn't with me either, would you believe me?"
Yucheng's answer came in the form of Tartaglia's lightning spear, which shot toward him and Lumine amid sharp blades of water. Both swiftly dodged.
[Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Fire Claw Crimson]
Yucheng's fingers swiftly formed hand seals, and a string of small fireballs spewed from his mouth, flying toward Tartaglia.
Only then did Tartaglia and Lumine notice in surprise that a Pyro Vision had appeared at Yucheng's waist at some point. So he was a Vision bearer too. They had never noticed before.
Watching the small fireballs fly toward him, Tartaglia could not help scoffing. How much power could fireballs that small have? My armor alone should be enough to block them.
Clink! Clang! The instant the fireballs struck Tartaglia's armor, they actually made metallic sounds.
Only then did he truly see that each fireball concealed a rapidly spinning throwing star. The scorching throwing stars struck his armor, and the combined physical and magical assault made Tartaglia stop taking them lightly. He knocked down every remaining fireball.
"Lumine, you can use Anemo, right? Back me up."
Lumine nodded instinctively, and Yucheng swiftly began forming hand seals. [Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique].
An enormous fireball burst from Yucheng's mouth. Though shocked, Lumine did not hold him back. Holding her one-handed sword, she instantly stirred up a surge of Anemo.
[Wind's Breath Surge]!
Bolstered by the flames, a powerful tornado swiftly transformed into a flaming tornado and advanced ferociously toward Tartaglia. Although its forward speed left something to be desired, the Golden House's cramped layout actually provided favorable conditions for the flaming tornado to work.
Tartaglia decisively summoned Hydro to shield himself, but the flaming tornado's heat was astonishing. Water that had originally been at room temperature rapidly heated up, forcing him to keep channeling Hydro to produce fresh streams of water to cool himself down. Otherwise, he would end up a boiled duck.
The tornado dissipated in less than ten seconds. Without Anemo to bolster them, the flames alone lost much of their power. Tartaglia seized the opportunity to close the distance in an instant, twirling his spear before bringing down a sweeping slash that sent both of them flying.
"Lumine, don't take him head-on. His Foul Legacy puts an enormous strain on his body. He can't keep it up for long."
Hearing this, Lumine abandoned the idea of clashing directly with Tartaglia and chose to keep her distance and maneuver around him instead. Even if I can't beat you, can't I run?
Sure enough, before long, Tartaglia's hands began to tremble as he continued his fierce assault, and his movements grew unsteady. In the end, he could no longer maintain even his Foul Legacy armor and sank to one knee, panting heavily.
"It's about time... I calmed down. That Foul Legacy really did put a huge strain on my body. It kept me from thinking clearly."
"Tch, isn't that obvious? You're a human through and through, yet you use a Delusion to force Electro into your body. You already have a Vision, but you're still keeping that Delusion. Are you trying to get yourself killed sooner? Don't tell me a Fatui Harbinger like you doesn't know the side effects of Delusions."
"Hmph, of course I know. But this is a gift from the Tsaritsa. As long as it makes me stronger, what do the side effects matter, however severe they are?"
"When you die young, what do you think will happen to your younger brother and sister, Teucer and Tonia?"
"You even know about them? Never mind. Since you say the Gnosis isn't in your hands, I'll take your word for it. Then there's another possibility: the Gnosis was never inside the Exuvia at all. In fact, could the Exuvia itself also be a smokescreen?
"In other words, Rex Lapis isn't dead at all, and the dead divine body is a fake. Interesting. In that case, I'll have to activate the backup plan."
"Backup plan?"
"I wasn't planning to use it, because it would drag innocent weaklings into this. But ultimately, this world belongs to those of us who seek strength. As for dull, uninteresting weaklings, I usually can't be bothered with them. But as a Fatui Harbinger, sometimes I can't afford to be picky about my methods."
At that moment, a great number of Sigils of Permission suddenly floated out around Tartaglia. They were counterfeits, of course.
"So many Sigils of Permission? Come to think of it, we did discover that the Fatui were copying these sigils. What exactly are you trying to do?"
Just as Tartaglia was about to explain, Yucheng interrupted from the side. "Isn't it obvious? He wants to use the power of the Sigils of Permission to undo the suppressive power of the stone spears at Guyun Stone Forest, thereby releasing Osial, the Vortex Vanquisher, whom Rex Lapis sealed away."
"The Vortex Vanquisher?"
"Basically, a nine-headed sea serpent, an overlord of the ocean. During the Archon War, Rex Lapis pinned him beneath Guyun Stone Forest with stone spears. Having a god who utterly despises Rex Lapis attack Liyue Harbor, the city Rex Lapis himself founded, to force him to appear-it's certainly a good plan."
"Hmph! When you saw through our counterfeit Sigil of Permission at a glance back then, had you already thought of this?"
"Ah! Yucheng, did you tell the Liyue Qixing about something this serious so they could prepare in advance?"
"I only gave Ningguang a slight hint about it. As for what response Liyue Harbor can come up with, honestly, I'm curious too. After all, human strength is utterly insignificant before a god at full power. But the Vortex Vanquisher has been suppressed by Rex Lapis for thousands of years, and he now has less than a tenth of his strength left. Perhaps there's still a slim chance of victory."
"In that case, let's wait and see! Will a nation that has lost its god be swallowed once more by ancient malice? Still, if you want to drown alongside the people of Liyue, have fun."
With that, a stream of water enveloped Tartaglia, and he surged skyward against its flow, leaving the Golden House. The Sigils of Permission surrounding him shot like meteors straight toward the waters near Guyun Stone Forest and plunged into the sea.
At once, dark clouds filled the clear sky. Wind and clouds surged over the sea, several waterspouts shot into the heavens, and torrential rain poured down. An oppressive sense of an approaching storm immediately shrouded all of Liyue Harbor.
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