Seeing the figure of Rex Lapis, both the soldiers of the Liyue Expeditionary Force and Keqing's group were incredibly excited.
They had encountered so many enemies today that their situation was extremely dangerous, but Rex Lapis's appearance undoubtedly greatly increased their chances of victory.
However, when everyone clearly saw the figure standing not far from Zhongli, their excitement turned into extremely complex emotions.
Guizhong, the God of Dust.
She had once been the guardian god of their Liyue, but now she was brandishing a butcher's knife against them.
Of course, everyone knew she was under the control of Persephone (No. 3), but this scene still made their hearts feel incredibly conflicted.
Still, no one present had a more complicated mood than Zhongli's at this moment.
Looking at Guizhong, who had once loved humans even more than he did, yet was now attacking the very things he had once protected, Zhongli could hardly imagine how much pain she must be feeling inside.
"Lord Rex Lapis, we meet again."
Guizhong suddenly spoke, her voice calm.
"I knew you would definitely come back, that you would definitely come to stop me."
"I didn't want to do this either, but I couldn't refuse her."
Guizhong slowly raised her hand, and a misty sphere of energy appeared in her palm, emitting terrifying Geo Element fluctuations.
Then, the dust on the ground flew into the sky, and the dust-filled air once again caused the world to gradually darken.
Only at this moment did everyone realize with shock that the surrounding ground was already covered in fine dust. In this environment, the aura on Guizhong's body grew even more intense.
As it turned out, she hadn't simply been attacking the barrier erected by the Jade Chamber earlier, but had been altering the nearby environment to prepare for the current battle.
But why hadn't Zhongli stopped her sooner?!
Keqing was filled with confusion.
Although her own strength was far too low to have noticed this, she believed it was absolutely impossible for this to have escaped Zhongli's perception. Yet, he hadn't acted before.
Suddenly, Keqing recalled Liyue's past history.
Could it be that the reason Zhongli hadn't stopped her earlier was out of a sense of guilt and a desire to make amends?
Had Zhongli always been blaming himself for failing to protect Guizhong back then, ultimately allowing her to accidentally perish in the Archon War?
Although this was only her own speculation, Keqing believed it must be close to the truth.
Just then, a voice of absolute rage screamed in Keqing's mind.
"Gods! You all deserve to die!"
"I will hack their filthy bodies apart! Slice them open! Chop them into pieces!"
Seeing one's enemies always brings out the red-eyed fury. Keqing knew that Aatrox's chance to be "picked up" by her was largely thanks to Zhongli dealing him a severe blow earlier. Moreover, Aatrox had never held the gods in any regard. Over the past few days, she had gradually pieced together his own backstory from his constant grumbling.
Having been imprisoned for so many years, Aatrox was bound to hold a grudge against the gods.
Keqing picked her ear, feeling that Aatrox's voice was only getting louder. Though she didn't need to worry about him forcibly seizing her body for now, the noise pollution was still hard to bear.
"Sigh..."
At that moment, Zhongli let out a low, gentle sigh. Immediately, a dazzling golden light erupted from his body. His long robes billowed without any wind, and layers of golden ripples radiated outward from him.
The golden ripples struck the smokescreen of dust, washing over it time and time again. However, as Guizhong's aura suddenly surged, the dust managed to hold its ground, refusing to be completely dispelled by Zhongli's power.
However, seeing this scene, Guizhong's expression remained utterly calm.
"You've regressed, Rex Lapis."
Guizhong spoke softly.
"I'm the kind of god who isn't very good at fighting. If it were the you from back then, even if my power were several times stronger, I wouldn't have much ability to resist you."
"I have lost too much, and I myself have been declining under the attrition of time."
Zhongli spoke, explaining to Guizhong.
"I am already gathering my power, and I should be able to recover some of my former glory when the time comes, but I still need some time."
"It seems my luck is not too bad."
Guizhong smiled.
"If I can defeat the Geo Archon, Rex Lapis, who stands at the peak of the gods, it will be a good topic of conversation in the future."
As soon as Guizhong's words fell, she struck again.
A large hand formed of dust quickly condensed, then grabbed toward Zhongli.
Zhongli also reacted in time, pushing his hands outward.
"Solid as a Rock!"
An indestructible barrier appeared around Zhongli's body, and he remained calm and unmoved in the face of Guizhong's grand attack.
In the end, the large hand grabbed Zhongli, but instead shattered itself.
However, this strike was merely a probing attack by Guizhong; her true expertise lay in mechanics.
Dozens of Guizhong Ballistae rapidly assembled around her, arranging themselves in a specific formation. A massive array materialized beneath her feet, and immediately after, the ethereal scene of an Adeptus's dwelling gradually appeared behind her.
Without hesitation, Guizhong raised her hand, and the dozens of Guizhong Ballistae unleashed a terrifying attack in unison.
The Guizhong Ballistae controlled by Guizhong herself were not just several times more powerful than those on the Jade Chamber!
The sky was nearly completely obscured by the vast curtain of light. Simultaneously, the array beneath Guizhong's feet rapidly extended toward Zhongli, instantly appearing beneath him. Then, a terrifying pressure was exerted on Zhongli, restricting his movements.
However, Zhongli had no intention of dodging in the first place. He slowly raised his hand, and in the next second, countless stone pillars rose from the ground, precisely blocking the path of all the light curtains. At the same time, a bright yellow array connected each stone pillar, sharing the impact they were about to endure.
With a deafening sound, cracks actually appeared in Zhongli's array. However, as the God of Rock, Zhongli could receive a continuous supply from the Ley Lines as long as he stood upon the earth. The cracks on the array were quickly repaired, while Guizhong's attack, conversely, seemed to run out of steam.
But just at this moment, a massive amount of multicolored immortal light erupted, passing directly through the Rock Ridge Guardian and the Geo Element Barrier around Zhongli, shining upon him. Zhongli then felt a powerful attraction.
After a failed attempt to resist, Zhongli was pulled by Guizhong into another unique area.
This place was surrounded by a crimson Gobi Desert, stretching endlessly into the distance. Three suns hung in the sky, continuously emitting astonishing heat, and the air temperature should have been around 200 degrees Celsius.
Of course, this kind of climate posed no threat to Zhongli, but at this moment, he vaguely felt a dense sense of crisis coming from all directions. Therefore, he extended his perception as far as possible, hoping to receive a warning before the crisis arrived.
However, this was indeed futile. Zhongli saw nothing but the sand on the ground.
The sky was also clear and transparent, making it almost impossible to be attacked.
So, the only place left was underground.
With this thought, Zhongli immediately extended his perception deep underground, and sure enough, he discovered hundreds or thousands of entities continuously moving toward him.
Zhongli immediately stomped heavily on the ground, and his body shot into the air.
Just as his foot left the ground, a massive area of cyan-colored objects also burst out from beneath the sand, forming a long spear that shot toward Zhongli.
Zhongli did not dodge. After a moment, he condensed a Stone Spear with a heavy aura in his hand, then briefly gathered all his strength and thrust the spear toward the incoming long spear.
After a brief pause, the attacking long spear directly disintegrated, continuously dropping out beetle-like mechanical creations, each no larger than half a hand.
Zhongli also used the impact of the collision to soar higher. Crossing his arms over his chest, he slowly spoke in a majestic and solemn tone.
"Planet Befall!"
A massive meteorite directly tore through the space of this world. The sky above Zhongli's head was ripped open, and then a meteorite containing a dense suppressing power descended from the heavens, falling violently toward the sandy ground below with unparalleled momentum.
Those mechanical creations formed a giant palm again, attempting to catch the meteorite directly. However, the moment they made contact with the meteorite, they were crushed back down with overwhelming force.
With a resounding "Boom," the meteorite's complete descent unleashed terrifying sand waves that swept outward across the world, while the space at the point of impact was shattered.
Seeing this, Zhongli did not hesitate to flash to the shattered space and immediately entered it.
This time, Zhongli arrived in a world filled with a faint, immortal aura. Besides a few giant ancient trees and scattered floating islands in the sky, there was nothing else.
The moment Zhongli appeared in this realm, countless mechanical creations of various sizes and functions appeared in his field of vision, then launched a fearless assault against him.
In addition, many turrets rose from the ground, all locking onto Zhongli's position and unleashing their firepower at will. Various Elemental Powers intertwined, and after fusing, they erupted with even greater power.
Seeing this, Zhongli raised his hand, and a bright yellow long spear reappeared in his grasp. He then actively charged into the fray, fighting with the utmost speed. Countless parts and fragments flew into the air as the mechanical creations were destroyed in large numbers. Even the turrets were not spared, all sustaining varying degrees of damage.
After taking some effort to clear the surrounding area, Zhongli stood before a small mountain of rubble and slammed the Stone Spear heavily into the ground.
The sound of a mirror shattering echoed as the ground beneath Zhongli's feet collapsed, and his figure plummeted rapidly downward.
After falling for a while, Zhongli finally landed back on the ground. Before him now stood an ancient, dilapidated labyrinth, from which a faint sense of danger emanated.
Zhongli gazed at the scene before him, recalling the sights he had seen earlier. Even with his strength, he had found almost no flaws. He could not help but marvel at the divine mastery of Guizhong's Mechanics.
However, considering the situation outside might be dire, Zhongli did not want to waste too much time here. A terrifying aura erupted from his body once again, causing this world to even begin distorting slightly.
Zhongli aimed his Stone Spear in a random direction, then concentrated all his power into a single point and unleashed a strike. The terrifying force instantly blasted open a new path before him.
-
At this moment, seeing Zhongli's figure disappear while Guizhong remained within everyone's sight, all the people immediately became vigilant.
This was a god, not someone they could easily deal with.
However, judging by the extremely unstable aura emanating from Guizhong, it seemed that bringing Zhongli to another world was no easy task for her.
Clorinde glanced over at Xiao. At this moment, Xiao, whose Mark's energy was completely depleted, was still fighting the other three Yakshas in a fierce, evenly matched battle and would absolutely be unable to provide any support right now.
The same went for Artoria and Ganyu. Their opponents' strength was very close to that of a god, which forced them to activate their Marks just to temporarily suppress their foes.
It seemed they would have to take action themselves!
Thinking of this, Clorinde immediately ordered all the mechs brought for this mission to be activated. A massive amount of energy erupted from behind the five black mechs, and then, driven by their engines at full power, the mechs charged toward Guizhong at extreme speed.
Under Clorinde's command, the five mechs immediately used their powerful firepower to clear the nearby smoke and dust after leaving the barrier, slowing down Guizhong's subsequent measures.
After completing these actions, the black mechs threw themselves into the battle, delivering a truly impressive performance the moment they struck.
Clearly, Guizhong had not anticipated that the Fontaine Expeditionary Force still had such a simple yet powerful trump card left to use. Coupled with the immense combat power of these five mechs and the fact that she had to dedicate a vast amount of her mental energy to suppress Zhongli, whom she had pulled into another world, she momentarily appeared somewhat disheveled.
"Ms. Keqing."
At this moment, seeing this scene, Clorinde breathed a slight sigh of relief and then continued to speak.
"I'll leave the rear to you."
Hearing these words, Keqing forced Aatrox, the noise-making machine, down and then nodded.
"Alright, Miss Clorinde. Please, you must prioritize your safety."
"I will also have the Jade Chamber provide you with support at the appropriate moment."
"Then I will be troubling you."
After leaving this final remark, Clorinde's body, wielding Absolution, instantly transformed into a flash of lightning and joined the battlefield at extreme speed.
Knowing her own strength was insufficient, Clorinde, just as she was about to engage Guizhong, activated two Marks simultaneously without hesitation. Her aura then surged several-fold, and terrifying lightning continuously erupted from her body, making her seem like a god who wielded the lightning.
This was the first time Clorinde had ever felt so powerful, and her confidence grew significantly. She then launched a fierce assault on Guizhong without hesitation, leaving Guizhong even more exhausted from trying to cope. However, completely defeating her was still not something that could be achieved in a short time.