The Adepti halted, turning back in astonishment, seeing Ningguang's eyes, which were practically burning.
"Are you going to rush up there just to die?!"
Ningguang pointed at the all-consuming darkness outside the window, and the unspeakable, terrifying God at the darkness's source:
"Look at what happened to the Divine Lord and the Electro Archon; even they were instantly defeated!"
"What makes you think you can fight that kind of monster?"
"If you rush up there, what good will it do besides adding a few more wronged souls?!"
The Adepti froze on the spot, blushing furiously, yet unable to refute her words.
Ningguang was right.
The gap in strength was too vast.
It was a chasm that could not be filled by courage alone.
Ningguang took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the trembling throughout her body.
She turned around and dropped to her knees before King with a "thud."
"Mr. King!"
Her forehead struck the floor tiles heavily.
The head of the Liyue Qixing abandoned all her dignity at this moment, pleading:
"I beg you! Please save Liyue!!"
She raised her head, her forehead red and swollen, tears streaming down her cheeks:
"Mr. Zhongli made it clear long ago that you are an unparalleled powerhouse in this world!"
"Although he did not explicitly state how strong you are, to earn such solemn respect from the Divine Lord..."
"Your power must certainly be far superior to the Divine Lord's!"
"The lives of Liyue's millions of inhabitants are hanging by a thread right now!"
"Only you can turn the tide of this disaster!"
"Ningguang knows she is unworthy to ask, but for the people of Liyue, Ningguang humbly begs you to intervene here. Ningguang is willing to give everything, and Liyue is willing to bear any cost!"
Keqing, Ganyu, and even the Adepti were deeply shaken to see the usually proud and composed Ningguang begging so humbly, and a strong sense of hope immediately surged within them.
King looked at Ningguang, who was kneeling and kowtowing, his face devoid of expression.
Intervene?
Of course, he could slap that noisy stitched-up monster outside to death.
But... Corrupted Ocel wouldn't have appeared for no reason, nor would it have become this strong, even embedded with an inverted Statue of the Anemo God and the mechanical core of Khaenri'ah.
This was clearly a weapon of war deliberately manufactured by someone.
Having played the game, he naturally knew the plot.
This must definitely be the Abyss Order pulling strings!
Those guys are always messing with the "Loom of Fate," trying to use inverted statues to corrupt Gods, and attempting to shake or even overthrow the throne of the Heavenly Principles.
The mastermind hasn't shown up yet.
Intervening now would be alerting the enemy, which is not the best strategy.
King decided to wait a little longer.
Wait for that "viper" hiding in the shadows to reveal itself.
King's gaze drifted toward Dainsleif, who had been sitting quietly in the corner of the private room, seemingly detached from the situation.
In the game, he hadn't yet played the part where Dainsleif took action.
But for someone who could constantly chase Aether around and tangle with the Abyss Order for five hundred years, this guy was definitely not simple.
His strength probably far surpassed the Seven Archons.
He should be able to exchange blows with a monster of this "throne-shaking" caliber, right?
Meeting King's sweeping gaze, Dainsleif's poker face twitched slightly.
He understood the meaning in King's eyes.
It's your turn, buddy.
"Sigh..."
Dain sighed, filled with deep resignation.
He hated the Seven Archons, holding no goodwill whatsoever toward the former "victors" like Morax and Beelzebul.
However—
He hated the Abyss even more.
Those compatriots who were immersed in the false glory and twisted hatred of the past, dragging more innocents into the darkness, and attempting to "save" Khaenri'ah using the Abyss, were the enemies he had to stop.
"A creation of the Abyss..."
Dainsleif muttered softly, killing intent igniting in his deep-set eyes.
He took a step, and his figure vanished from the spot like a phantom.
The next moment, he appeared above the sea outside Liyue Harbor, standing in stark opposition to the massive, defiled God.
There was no grand display.
Dain merely extended one hand calmly.
His palm faced upward, fingers slightly spread.
"Buzz—"
The sky dimmed for an instant.
The sea ceased its roaring.
The [Darkness] that was corroding everything suddenly stopped when it reached a certain boundary in front of Dain, like a tide crashing against a dam, and then began to surge violently!
"Hmm?"
Corrupted Ocel's multi-toned gibberish contained surprise for the first time.
"Khaenri'ah...?"
"Traitor."
"Disgusting."
"You want to stand against the Abyss too?"
Dain did not reply.
The strange power in his palm suddenly contracted, transforming into a fine blue line that slashed toward one of Osial's waving tentacles.
"Sizzle—!"
That tentacle, powerful enough to shatter mountains and wrapped in dense Power of the Abyss, "vanished" silently the instant it touched the fine line!
The cross-section was smooth as a mirror, without blood, as if the tentacle had never existed.
"Roar!!!"
Osial let out an angry roar, and more tentacles frantically lashed out at Dain, while purple-black Abyss Energy erupted like a tsunami!
Dain's figure flickered, weaving through the wildly dancing tentacles and the tide of energy; it looked perilous, yet he always managed to avoid them.
The fine blue line flashed from his hand occasionally, and each time it left an unhealable "absence" on Osial's massive body.
Their battle lacked the splendor of Zhongli and Raiden Ei's elemental clash, but it was far more dangerous, striking directly at the essence of existence!
For a time, the two were surprisingly evenly matched!
"What kind of power is that?"
Keqing murmured, her purple eyes filled with shock.
"It doesn't belong to Elemental Power, perhaps not even to Teyvat..."
Ningguang was also stunned; she hadn't expected this blond man, who had always seemed unremarkable, to possess power capable of rivaling that monster!
Inside the private room, everyone had just breathed a slight sigh of relief because of Dain's intervention.
Suddenly—
"Ooh..."
Paimon, who had been floating beside Lumine, anxiously watching the fight, suddenly swayed, and the light in her large eyes quickly dimmed.
"Paimon?!" Lumine cried out in alarm.
The next second, Paimon fell straight down from the air like a kite with a broken string.
A large hand reached out just in time and caught her securely.
It was King.
He looked down at the little one who had suddenly fainted in his arms, his brow slightly furrowed.
Paimon's tiny body was curled up, her eyebrows tightly furrowed, seemingly caught in some uneasy dream.
Around her, silver specks of light were faintly appearing, and the surrounding space was rippling.
"Space clearance?"
King's eyes moved.
It was Asmodeus.
The Ruler of the Sky sensed a danger great enough to threaten "Paimon."
She was instinctively waking up, ready to "log in and take over."
King gently adjusted his arm, allowing Paimon to rest more comfortably against his chest, and then wrapped her in his trench coat, isolating her from the outside noise.
"King, Paimon is..."
Lumine rushed to King's side, her eyes filled with panic, her voice trembling slightly.
Paimon was her most important friend, and she absolutely could not bear the consequence of losing Paimon.
King raised his free hand and gently patted Lumine's head.
"Don't worry."
His voice was steady, carrying a reassuring strength.
"I'm here."
Those three words instantly dispelled most of the panic in Lumine's heart.
She looked at King's calm profile, felt the warm touch on her head, and her wildly beating heart gradually calmed down.
That's right, King was still here.
He was so strong; he would definitely be able to protect Paimon.
[Ding! Detected strong feelings of worry, dependence, and subtle heart-fluttering emotion from Lumine. Emotion Points +50,000!]
King ignored the system notification sound, turning his gaze toward the window.
The battle between Dain and Osial had entered a white-hot phase.
The collision of the fine blue line and the purple-black Abyss.
Two powerhouses with the strength to shake the foundations of the world clashed fiercely, their aftershocks spreading wildly.
Even though Dain deliberately tried to control it, the scattered energy shocks still swept toward Liyue Harbor like a destructive storm!
If they made contact, half of Liyue Harbor would likely be reduced to dust!
Just at this critical moment—
"Oh dear, it's quite lively, isn't it~"
A light, slightly lazy youthful voice sounded above Liyue Harbor without any warning.
Immediately following that, a gentle wind blew in from an unknown direction.
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