Gazing at the snow-capped mountain towering into the clouds before her, Eula couldn't help but feel her own insignificance.
Halfway up the mountainside, the slopes were shrouded in blizzards all year round—an ordinary person could never possibly climb up there.
Even with an Eye of God, breaking through the wind and snow would be extremely difficult.
And so, for years on end, the accessible region of Dragonspine had only ever been below the mountainside.
Yet even the halfway point was riddled with danger.
Watching the enveloping blizzard, Ye Xi found it rather troublesome as well.
That blizzard just now had spread all the way down from the summit.
He could use the Stand[Weather Forecast]to disperse most of the wind and snow, but any higher up, it seemed to no longer fall under the domain of weather.
Those winds and snows were more like the domain of that Skyfrost Nail.
It was a protective force field released by the nail—one his Stand had no way to interfere with.
Even so, these winds and snows couldn't inflict any real harm on him either.
Thinking of this, he stretched out his hand and said, "I can fly you up there. Do you want to go take a look?"
"Fly?"
Eula was slightly stunned, but she quickly came to terms with it.
Ye Xi was already omnipotent—what was so surprising about him being able to fly?
She remembered that back when Dehya and the others had spoken of Ye Xi defeating The God of Righteousness, he had been fighting The God of Righteousness while soaring through the sky.
"Won't it be very dangerous?"
"It won't."
"Then... will I be a burden to you?"
Ye Xi smiled and waved his hand. "Don't worry. The environment up there is terrible, but for me it's nothing. Sheltering you is more than easy enough."
Hearing this, Eula finally nodded.
She had been worried she would slow Ye Xi down.
But since Ye Xi was so confident, she wanted to go take a look too.
She felt this was perhaps the one and only chance in her entire life to witness the scenery atop the snowy summit.
Perhaps, in all of Mondstadt, apart from the Anemo Archon Barbatos, no one had ever seen the beauty of the mountain's peak.
She reached out and took hold of Ye Xi.
"Alright then, let's set off!"
Ye Xi used the skill[Walk on the Wind].
A colossal surge of Anemo elemental power carried him steadily rising toward the sky.
"Eee—!"
Eula was startled.
Holding on with just one hand, there was no way she could keep her grip!
Instinctively, she hurriedly threw her arms around Ye Xi's waist, and only then did she barely steady herself.
Ye Xi chuckled and said, "Hold on tight, or you'll fall."
Hearing these words, realization suddenly dawned on Eula.
"You did that on purpose, didn't you?!"
She understood now!
Ye Xi had simply wanted to seize this opportunity to make her ask to be held of her own accord!
And yet Ye Xi deliberately put on a look of utter bewilderment.
In truth, this was inspiration he'd drawn from an experience with Keqing not long ago.
During the campaign against Azhdaha, Keqing—because she hadn't worn Wind Gliders—had clung to him in the sky.
Now that the perfect opportunity had arisen, of course he had to try it out on Eula!
He really wondered—if Keqing found out that Eula had claimed a spot in his embrace, would she get jealous?
Seeing Ye Xi playing dumb and feigning innocence, Eula gave a huff. "This grudge—I'll remember it!"
"Now don't go slandering me. I didn't lay a single finger on you."
Ye Xi wore a face full of innocence, and even as he spoke he raised both hands, indicating that he was the true victim.
Eula, however, was startled.
Without Ye Xi's hand holding onto her, if she wanted to avoid falling from the sky, she had no choice but to hug him even tighter!
"You... you should hug me too...!"
Eula stammered out the words, but her voice seemed to melt into the wind, on the verge of being scattered away at any moment.
Ye Xi pretended not to hear and asked, "What did you say? Louder—I can't hear you!"
At this, Eula's face flushed red at once, and she had no choice but to raise her voice and say it again.
Then she didn't forget to tack on one more line: "You did this on purpose! You jerk!"
"I'll remember this grudge too!"
Ye Xi burst into laughter and reached out to wrap an arm around Eula's slender waist, while his other hand cupped Eula's perky little bottom.
"Eh!?"
Eula gave a start, her heart brimming with even greater embarrassment.
She never imagined Ye Xi would actually... cup her there!
But the firm, powerful support from that strong arm made her feel a great deal more at ease all at once.
As embarrassed as she was, it felt very safe.
She couldn't help muttering in her heart that Ye Xi was a jerk and the like.
Actually, though she thought this way in her heart, her subconscious hadn't resisted at all.
She had Wind Gliders—if she truly despised it, she could have shoved Ye Xi away entirely and glided back down to the ground.
The reason she wasn't angry was, in fact, that she had tacitly permitted Ye Xi's little liberties.
Had it been someone else, she absolutely wouldn't have allowed it—but if it was Ye Xi, it seemed she wasn't all that resistant after all.
Holding Eula, Ye Xi made his way up above the mountainside, to where the region was shrouded in wind and snow.
To pass through that blizzard, even he would be frozen into an icicle.
But... he summoned another Stand!
[The World!]
The flow of time suddenly came to a halt!
The raging blizzard froze in place, the biting gale pressed onto pause.
The entire snowy mountain fell into silence, and the whole world sank into a shade of grayish white.
Eula was not a God, so at this moment she too had become part of the[Background].
Carrying Eula, Ye Xi shuttled upward through the frozen space and time.
Dragonspine was very tall—even flying up into the clouds, the summit still felt utterly out of reach.
But this was no obstacle for one who could race against a tengu.
With all his might, like a shooting star, he pierced through the wind and snow in an instant.
Within that blizzard that acted like a protective barrier, this upper half of the mountain was just like the lower half—utterly tranquil.
The wind and snow seemed to be only that single layer; the interior was calm and still.
The span of time he could pause was actually already quite long—it could even last a full hour.
But this place gave him no chance to show off that ability.
Seeing that there was no longer any wind or snow near the summit, he proactively withdrew the power of his Stand.
The world regained its color once more, the wind and snow as before.
Eula's face was instantly covered in question marks. "Eh!? Wh... what just happened?"
Just as they had been about to plunge into the blizzard, she had been terribly worried.
Yet in less time than it took her to blink, the scenery before her had undergone an earth-shattering transformation!
It was too unbelievable!
While she was still dazed, they had finally arrived at the summit of the snowy mountain.
What unfolded before her eyes was a sight almost impossible to imagine.
The summit of the mountain was pierced through by a single nail, and everywhere around the peak was nothing but white snow.
Eula felt her heartbeat quicken a little.
In all likelihood, no one had set foot in this place for years on end!
To be able to climb to the summit was an experience to be etched into her heart forever!
"This is absolutely incredible!"
She couldn't help but let out a cry of admiration.
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