Welcome to the Mirror Dungeon! The Abyss Mages Driven Mad
On the outskirts of Stormterror's Lair, the storm barrier, where cyan gales had howled year-round, had taken on a bizarre form unfamiliar to the natives of Teyvat.
The Anemo no longer flowed. Instead, it had solidified into countless glass crystals that refracted dark red and blue light.
The entire ruin seemed to have been enclosed in a massive kaleidoscope.
"W-what the hell is that?" Paimon hid behind Wei Zhenzu's head, half her body peeking out.
"Did someone smash the Anemo Archon's barrier and glue it back together?"
Acting Grand Master Jean looked grave. She stepped forward and tried to draw on the Anemo power within her to probe the crystal barrier.
"Wind, answer me!"
Jean swept out one hand, forming a textbook Gale Blade. Yet the moment the cyan blade of wind touched the crystal barrier, the expected elemental collision never happened.
The Anemo power simply dissipated.
[Special area: Mirror of Wind and Dragon] [World laws overwritten]
The corner of Wei Zhenzu's eye twitched wildly as a wave of "doing hard time" PTSD washed over him.
"Crap, it's coming for me."
"Now that's one hell of a mutated barrier. Isn't this the Mirror Dungeon? We're standing right at its entrance."
"Mirror Dungeon?" Eula frowned slightly. "What kind of new Abyss magic is that?"
"It's complicated. To put it simply, we have to explore this maze governed by its own laws." Wei Zhenzu turned to Jean and Eula, his gaze sharpening.
"Explore nodes, deal with events, get gifts, and kill our way through to the end."
The Knights of Favonius stared at him blankly, their faces saying, "What nonsense are you talking about?" Wei Zhenzu sighed.
Just then, a translucent holographic map that only he could see popped up on his retinas.
The ruin's once-tangled pathways had vanished from the map, replaced by nodes connected by lines.
[Combat node], [Abnormality event node], [Rest stop]...
Jean took a deep breath and forced down her doubts.
She walked up to Wei Zhenzu and solemnly gave him the highest salute of the Knights of Favonius:
"Mr. Liangzi, I withdraw my earlier accusation."
"Right now, the Knights of Favonius are facing an unprecedented struggle for survival. Since you possess a power that defies common sense... in my capacity as acting grand master of the Knights of Favonius, I hereby appoint you temporary assault captain for this rescue operation in Stormterror's Lair."
"All right, then. From here on out, please follow my orders to the letter." Forced to get to work, Wei Zhenzu instantly slipped into Dante's mode.
"Klee, no throwing bombs around. Eula, when we run into monsters, wait for my signal before you move."
He pointed to a passage where the crystals had broken apart. "Let's test the waters over there first. Everyone, move out."
After passing through the crystal passage, the group arrived in a spacious ruined corridor. Before they could take cover, a shrill, utterly harrowing scream rang out ahead.
Wei Zhenzu and Jean exchanged a glance, immediately drew their weapons (pulled out a big iron pot), and charged over.
Yet the scene before them shattered the worldview of every Knight of Favonius present.
In the center of the corridor, three Abyss Mages-Hydro, Pyro, and Cryo-who usually ran rampant in the wilds of Mondstadt and were known as "the three of us" had huddled together back-to-back, sobbing with snot and tears streaming down their faces.
Surrounding them were several [Tier 1 Lust Peccatula] that looked like big pig brains, along with several [Tier 1 Gluttony Peccatula].
"The Abyss Order?" Eula froze and instinctively tightened her grip on the Song of Broken Pines.
"Watch how they attack."
Wei Zhenzu folded his arms and, rather than going to help, leisurely began explaining from the sidelines like a veteran player watching a beginner's tutorial.
The Hydro Abyss Mage waved its staff and desperately unleashed its signature skill, [Bubble Confinement].
"Die, you filthy, lowly creatures!"
Several bubbles drifted unsteadily toward a Gluttony Peccatulum.
According to common knowledge in Teyvat, anyone who touched a bubble would be trapped fast.
Yet the Gluttony Peccatulum made no attempt to dodge.
Its enormous jaw snapped open with a strange hiss, and a dark red, bloody glow spread across the surface of its body.
With utterly unreasonable ferocity, it charged headfirst straight into the bubbles.
Bang.
The bubbles burst instantly, like balloons caught in a hydraulic press.
The Gluttony Peccatulum plunged through the spray and slammed a furious headbutt, carrying pure malice, into the Hydro Abyss Mage's prized elemental shield.
The shield remained intact, but the Hydro Abyss Mage seemed to suffer a terrifying internal shock. Its eyes rolled back, it spat up a mouthful of sour fluid, and a glaring red status, [Stagger], immediately appeared above its head.
"W-why...?" The Hydro Abyss Mage fell to the ground, twitching in despair. "My shield is still up... why does it hurt so much...?"
"This is killing me. These backwoods mages don't understand the mechanics at all."
Wei Zhenzu laughed callously from the sidelines.
"Peccatula deal sin damage and attack types. In the calculations, that elemental water shield of yours counts as a defense level increase at best. If you don't defend, clash, or evade, damage that hits you directly will hurt like hell."
The Knights of Favonius, who had been braced for a formidable enemy, stared in stunned disbelief at the comical scene.
As if it had heard Wei Zhenzu laughing, the Cryo Abyss Mage, which had yet to be knocked unconscious, whipped its head around.
When it saw the familiar figures of Acting Grand Master Jean and Eula, what burst from its eyes was not hatred, but an intense longing, as though it had seen its own parents.
"It's the Knights of Favonius! The Knights of Favonius are here!"
The Cryo Abyss Mage was so excited that it even threw away its staff. It scrambled over to Eula, wrapped its arms around her booted leg, and cried through a flood of tears:
"Lady Spindrift Knight, Lady Acting Grand Master! Please, arrest us! Lock us up in the Knights of Favonius' confinement room! Even a life sentence would be fine!"
Startled by the Abyss Mage suddenly clinging to her leg, Eula took half a step back, her face full of disgust. "A-are you crazy?"
"I'm not crazy! This place is crazy!" The Cryo Abyss Mage pointed at the Peccatula still closing in behind it, crying like a two-hundred-pound Cryo Slime.
"Take us back to a cell in Mondstadt! At least the Knights' prison food is pretty tasty, boo-hoo!"
Watching the Abyss Mage suffer a mental breakdown under the mechanics of The City and beg to be imprisoned, Wei Zhenzu sighed helplessly.
"Ah, these days, I even have to take jobs rescuing Abyss Mages."
Wei Zhenzu walked up to the Cryo Mage and patted its dog head.
"Watch closely, locals. Today I'll show you what high-level play in The City looks like."