As everyone knows, Natlan people have many special ways of moving around.
For example, a certain former Pyro Archon who charges on a motorcycle, or the instantaneous acceleration of the people from the 'Collective of Plenty.'
When players approach the Stadium of the Sacred Flame, they might collide with Natlan people who are rushing along the way, taking corresponding elemental damage in the process of the collision—and if hit by multiple Natlan people, it can even trigger elemental reactions.
The closer to the Pilgrimage of the Returning Flame Saint's Night, the higher the chance of colliding with Natlan people.
This was the gift Rios left for the players; he deliberately placed the collision segment at the end, precisely to stimulate them when they thought they had succeeded and victory was in sight.
The emotional values provided by the players also proved that Rios's approach was correct.
By the way, it's not just the characters from the banner who collide with players—even ordinary Natlan NPCs will pop out and knock players down.
After all, the Pilgrimage of the Returning Flame Saint's Night isn't participated in only by banner characters; running into other NPCs on the road to victory is actually quite reasonable.
[Fuck, I was almost at the finish line, and suddenly a few people popped out and knocked my character dead!]
[That one on the motorcycle—isn't that Mavuika? Her damage is the highest.]
[Doesn't Natlan have any traffic rules for yielding to pedestrians?]
[Mavuika: No idea, I thought it was a speed bump.]
[We're all striving to live~]
Many players, like Reya, realized that fighting the Natlan warriors to the death wasn't the way to go—running away and picking off stragglers was the optimal choice.
But when they maneuvered their characters toward the Stadium of the Sacred Flame, they frequently encountered collisions, and one slip-up would knock their characters dead.
So some players, while rushing along, first had Zhongli put up a shield, then had Kuki Shinobu activate her Elemental Skill, before they could finally rush toward the Stadium of the Sacred Flame with peace of mind.
As for players without those characters, they could only keep their eyes peeled in all directions, spotting in advance who was coming over, then dodging in an S-curve pattern to finally reach the Stadium of the Sacred Flame.
"Oh my god!"
Genshin Impact world.
The commentator for the Pilgrimage of the Returning Flame Saint's Night, upon seeing the Traveler arrive at the arena, said in a very loud voice with surprise: "The traveler from afar is undoubtedly the biggest dark horse of this competition. Participating for the first time, she only brought a floating spirit with her, yet advanced from the team event—truly too impressive!"
You have to know, Natlan is full of hidden talents, and everyone gives their all for honor—even seasoned players who bring a few people to form a small team aren't guaranteed to advance.
Yet the Traveler, as an outsider unfamiliar with the Pilgrimage of the Returning Flame Saint's Night, advanced on her very first participation in the event, which truly surprised the Natlan people present.
However, one person wasn't happy.
"Who are you calling a floating spirit?" Paimon angrily stomped her little feet in the air.
"Paimon, don't be mad," Lumine gently rubbed her little companion's head, comforting her. "I've never treated you like a floating spirit."
"Of course not," Paimon squinted her eyes in a smile. "After all, we're the best par..."
"I've always treated you like emergency food."
Before Paimon could finish her words, Lumine spoke the truth.
"Paimon's not emergency food!" Hearing the Traveler's words, Paimon got even angrier.
"I'm so mad—later at dinner, I'm definitely eating twice the usual amount, no, three times as much!" Paimon said, puffed up with anger.
"Are you trying to eat me out of house and home?" Lumine felt a bit numb.
Though they had just arrived in Natlan and didn't know the prices here yet, they surely weren't much cheaper compared to other countries.
If Paimon ate that much, she'd have to hustle at the Adventurers' Guild again.
"That's exactly what I'm trying to do—eat you poor." Seeing Lumine's expression, Paimon smiled in satisfaction.
Not long after.
Mualani and the others also passed the team event.
"Traveler, you guys are really fast."
The girl from the 'People of the Springs' blinked her red beautiful eyes in surprise: "I originally thought that with Aunt Atea helping, our team's speed would definitely be the fastest—didn't expect you to be even better."
Lumine satisfiedly placed her hands on her hips, her eyes curving into beautiful crescent moons.
[Next time, still filling in Very Easy (black and blue)]
[The you who chose Easy Mode for the Pilgrimage of the Returning Flame Saint's Night.jpg]
[The planners are really something—do they think that with Easy Mode as a safety net, they can infinitely ramp up the difficulty of other modes? I died so many times, couldn't take it anymore and chose Easy difficulty, only to find Easy difficulty is just like a baby bus—my mindset nearly exploded]
[Normal Mode isn't that bad. I used Venti to group them up and wipe them out in one go. However many come, I take them all down.]
[I used Venti too—the Natlan small fries auto-apply elements during combat, and once Venti groups them, Swirl reactions take care of them.]
[Venti: Soup's on, family!]
[Actually, Kachina is enough—the Natlan warriors often apply Pyro to themselves, and Kachina can explode Crystallize; just hold the skill to blow all the monsters up.]
After clearing the Pilgrimage of the Returning Flame Saint's Night in Normal Mode, players began discussing their clearing methods.
They then discovered that it seemed like as long as you used Kachina, you could breeze through this mode.
[Then what was the point of me brute-forcing through with Raiden/ Clorinde/ Navia (and dozens more characters omitted)?]
[Count yourself lucky you can even tickle them.]
Stadium of the Sacred Flame.
Paimon was chatting with Mualani and the others about the funny argument she just had with the Traveler.
"Kachina, Mualani, after the match later, let's all go eat together—the Traveler's treating."
Paimon said with a happy smile: "The Traveler's got plenty of money, so don't hold back."
"Hey," Lumine shot Paimon an annoyed glance. "How are you already siding with outsiders?"
"Hehe, the more people eating together, the livelier it is," Paimon said with a laugh.
"Paimon's right—the more people eating together, the livelier and happier it gets," Mualani nodded, then continued, "But Paimon's plan for the Traveler to treat might fall through."
"Why?" Paimon tilted her head in confusion.
"Because Mavuika will reimburse us," Mualani pointed not far away. "See, that's her."
Following the direction the girl pointed, Lumine and Paimon soon spotted the red-haired woman who was maintaining her greatsword.
"It's the first one to reach the arena!"
Before Lumine and the others arrived at the Stadium of the Sacred Flame, they had seen someone riding a motorcycle arrive at the finish line first.
Red long hair, wielding a greatsword, with a Pyro Vision, and extremely wealthy.
Wasn't this basically a gender-swapped version of Grandpa Diluc?
Lumine and Paimon exchanged a glance, confirming from each other's eyes that their views on Mavuika were the same.
Sugar mommy, please take care of us!