"Ping!" After a clear, pleasing chime, an elemental reaction involving the very essence of Teyvat occurred nearby.
Three pale golden Geo constructs, glowing with the light of a crescent moon, appeared out of thin air. These were Lunar Cages, constructs produced when Geo and Hydro reacted after being elevated by Kuuvahki.
"Lunar Crystallize?" The corner of Tang Wang's eye twitched. "Right, the Hydro Abyss Herald applies Hydro to itself. That makes sense."
"Danika! Over here!" Tang Wang hurriedly shouted.
Danika had no time to wonder how the newcomer knew her name. Wounded in the arm and abdomen, she immediately stumbled toward the voice.
"Dark Wave Annihilation!" Another Hydro blade flew toward Danika from behind.
But Tang Wang had already crossed the distance through the Shadow Realm, placing himself precisely behind Danika.
"Hah-" He took a deep breath, and golden protective qi instantly coiled around his body. Without making any move to defend himself, he took the blow head-on.
"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Danika turned her head just in time to see it. Even as she cursed him on instinct, she started to turn back and push Tang Wang aside, to keep the Hydro blade from cutting him in two.
But to her surprise, after the Hydro blade struck the golden light, Tang Wang did not even sway. Apart from the golden light around him dimming and partly dissipating, he showed no reaction.
"Yahoo!" While both the Hydro Herald and Danika were stunned, Lumi had already swung a hammer into the Hydro Herald from the side.
Within both of its hammers, Linaya's Geo energy shone brightly. Layer upon layer of white radiance extended to the Lunar Cages and Tang Wang as well.
The radiance was faint, so faint it was hard to notice. Yet the Abyss Herald was already in intense pain because of it.
"Lunar Reaction..." Ronava murmured the name instinctively. "An elemental reaction... closer to the essence of Light Realm Power..."
"Xin!"
"Yahoo..." After the blow, the Herald slashed wildly with both blades, sending Lumi flying. Wounds of varying depths marked its body. They were somewhat less severe than Danika's, but not much better.
"Lumi!" Linaya hurriedly channeled her elemental power, and through some inexplicable connection, Lumi returned to her side.
Danika came limping over as well-Ronava had signaled for her to hurry.
"My elemental power is especially suited to healing." As she spoke, a heart-shaped Geo glow appeared in her palm. "Miss Danika, please come a little closer."
Seeing this, the Abyss Herald had intended to attack even more fiercely. Unfortunately for it, Tang Wang's golden-glowing body already stood between it and the women.
"You're facing me." He casually flicked the White Tassel in his hand, sending sparks of golden light flashing around it.
"Echoes of Extinction!" the Hydro Herald shouted as it swung its blades and engaged Tang Wang in close combat.
Gold and blue light alternated at an astonishing speed. Before long, Tang Wang's spear pinned the Herald's twin blades. He raised a leg with blinding speed and sent the Herald flying with a side kick.
It was hard to imagine that a Hydro Abyss Herald, known for its strength, could be completely overwhelmed in close combat by a human without a Vision.
"Yahoo!" At the same time, the fully recovered Lumi appeared near the Hydro Herald once again. Its attacks were not as swift and fierce as Tang Wang's, but with every hammer blow, its own Geo power severely suppressed the Abyss within the Herald.
"Destruction..." The dense Abyssal power around it, visibly greater than that of a normal Herald, began to boil. "Cannot be stopped!"
A shield shimmering with Hydro light appeared around him. It was what Tang Wang found most troublesome-an elemental shield.
It could only be broken by using up elemental power. And if he could not break the shield, he could not truly kill the Abyss Herald.
Clearly, whatever Human Realm Power he used did not, at present, have the ability to break shields efficiently.
"Hyah!" Danika, however, swung her lightning-wreathed greatsword and swiftly slashed at the Herald.
Lightning struck the shield around him, instantly triggering an Electro-Charged reaction. But it consumed a negligible amount of elemental power.
"Bang!" Meanwhile, Ronava had not been idle either. The Pyro energy she had gathered finally blossomed against the Hydro Herald in the form of feathers and palms.
"Hiss! Hiss!" Clouds of steam billowed out; it was a Vaporize reaction. Although Ronava's attacks lacked damage, the amount of elemental power she could call upon was considerable.
"The final..." The Hydro Herald ignored every attack. Its body whirled wildly in place, and countless phantoms emerged around it.
"Danger!" Tang Wang recognized the move. After immediately pushing Lumi aside, he grabbed Danika and pulled her behind him with terrifying force, shielding her with his body.
"What are you doing-"
"Judgment!" Before Danika could finish her question, the Herald's movements abruptly stopped. Several blade flashes slashed outward in every direction from around its body, with a terrifying force that tore through space.
Danika saw clearly that one of the blade flashes was headed straight for her. If Tang Wang had not blocked it, she would have been cut in two.
"Is this Herald really supposed to be this strong?" After letting go of Danika, Tang Wang stared at the golden light around him, now dim, his eyes full of shock.
This was not his first fight to the death with an Abyss Herald. Normally, when he fought one, he had no need even to dodge.
A punch from one, a kick from the other-pure combat, fighting with techniques on full display. He would battle them head-on like that until their elemental power ran dry. That was how he always did it when Linaya was not around.
The "protective qi" his traditional martial arts secret method constantly produced and accumulated in battle allowed him to come through the process completely unharmed. At least, it should have.
"Embrace the Abyss, embrace your new life!" Excess Abyssal power boiled ceaselessly around the Abyss Herald.
Without giving Tang Wang time to hesitate, it closed in on him again. Then its blade rose and fell, cleanly severing his left arm.
"Tang Wang!" Seeing this, Linaya shouted anxiously and loosed another arrow.
Strangely, the arrow seemed far more effective than all of Tang Wang and Danika's previous attacks. The Abyss Herald recoiled, looking somewhat pained, giving Tang Wang a chance to open up some distance.
"I'm fine." Looking at his cleanly severed arm, Tang Wang calmly staunched the bleeding on the side closer to his heart.
The injury was not serious. As long as he could get close to Linaya, her elemental properties would allow her to heal him quickly.
The problem was that the current situation gave him no time to heal.
"Take it down first!" With his remaining right hand, he raised the White Tassel once more.
The dim golden light gathered and took the shape of Tang Wang's left hand.
"What a terrifying will to fight..." Danika remarked from the side, lifting her greatsword as well.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..." In the sky, black eyes finally opened completely, one after another. Only indifference remained on Ronava's face. Now, she too seemed to have found a little meaning in fighting.
A fierce battle began.