"I swear to the Reignbow Arbiter—I will avenge my comrades!"
Stelle: "…When will Master Diviner Fu probably return?"
Cloud Knight: "Unknown. We can only wait for news."
Stelle exchanged glances with her companions and nodded silently.
[Not long ago, deep within the Alchemy Commission…]
"Hm?"
Ah Xian paused, guessing.
"Fu Xuan's plot?"
Seeing the CG start playing, she took her hands off the keyboard and mouse, watching leisurely.
A large Cloud Knight army roared into battle, clashing blades with the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus traitors.
As soldiers tasked with eradicating abominations and protecting the Xianzhou, how could mere traitors compare?
Soon, the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus were pushed back step by step.
However, the good times didn't last.
When an extremely faint mist drifted onto the battlefield, the retreating side suddenly surged like they'd been injected with chicken blood, their combat power skyrocketing.
At the same time, gigantic, terrifying-looking creatures poured in from all directions.
That was still manageable—
What truly darkened the Cloud Knights' faces was when some comrades suddenly attacked indiscriminately, launching fatal strikes at their own.
In the unprepared few seconds, many lost their lives to allies.
Fu Xuan's expression sank; the third eye on her forehead flashed purple light as she shouted coldly.
"All troops, hold your breath! Do not inhale the mist!!"
The Cloud Knight army obeyed, and the situation improved significantly.
But… this could only temporarily alleviate the crisis. How could one hold their breath indefinitely in war?
In less than five minutes, Cloud Knights began going mad, branches and leaves sprouting from their bodies.
"Hahahaha! Useless—do you think you can hold your breath forever?"
Green Mallow laughed maniacally.
"Fu Xuan, I never imagined you'd lead the army. Since you delivered yourself, we'll gladly accept!"
Purple Aster had already transformed into the Medicus King form, charging at Fu Xuan with a massive spear.
How could the Cloud Knight army let him breach the line? A squad immediately moved to surround and block him.
Yet Fu Xuan's face grew even darker.
The source wasn't Purple Aster and the others—it was the increasing number of soldiers falling into Denizens of Abundance.
Through her third eye, she observed that most affected Cloud Knights had served over three hundred years.
Looking up at the endless, increasingly impenetrable mist, she felt the situation was thorny.
"Damn it… if only the Sky-Faring Commission's warship fleet were here…"
Unfortunately, the Alchemy Commission delve was still unlocatable by ports.
The coordinate used for the surprise attack couldn't accommodate a large number of flying warships.
Otherwise, with the warship fleet, they could form a special attack array to disperse the mist.
Ordinary humans couldn't summon wind and rain.
Within the Xianzhou Alliance, only exceptionally powerful Vidyadhara could.
Even among Vidyadhara, only a rare few like the High Elders possessed such abilities.
But the current Vidyadhara High Elder…
Couldn't help for now.
"All troops, switch to rapid assault formation—end this quickly!"
Purple Aster: "I've been waiting for you to switch. Abundance spirit beasts—tear them apart!"
Dozens of mountain-high gray apes flooded the battlefield, unleashing astonishing destructive power.
Anyone hit by their giant fists flew backward, knocking down over a dozen others along the way.
Seeing those beasts, Fu Xuan's expression instantly paled, her eyes filled with disbelief.
"Those are… the rare war beasts bred with esoteric arts the last time the Ambrosial Arbor stood, according to historical records?"
"Weren't all breeding secrets destroyed? Where did the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus get them?!"
Misfortune never comes alone. Just as Fu Xuan spoke, another change struck the Cloud Knight army.
Even Cloud Knights with less than three hundred years of service began showing signs of falling into Denizens of Abundance.
They had to fight tough enemies while watching for allies who might turn at any moment.
Under this mental and physical pressure maxed out, more and more fell into dire straits—or outright doom.
Cloud Knight scout: "Master Diviner, the situation grows increasingly unfavorable for our forces."
"Though we fear the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus not at all, frequent Denizens of Abundance outbreaks in each unit greatly disrupt morale."
"Formations are hard to maintain. If this continues, the consequences are unpredictable."
"I know."
Fu Xuan rapidly weighed pros and cons, looking toward the mist's source, her expression flickering.
Just as she opened her mouth, a wave of dizziness hit her head.
An inexplicable irritability surged in her heart.
"…Relay the order—withdraw all troops."
"Understood!" The scout moved without hesitation.
Suppressing the strange emotion, Fu Xuan felt a chill run through her body.
"I'm still young… yet even I'm affected by the mist…"
"Damn Disciples of Sanctus Medicus…!"
The Cloud Knight army halted their advance and switched formations. Purple Aster noticed instantly.
He had once been a Cloud Knight—he saw through their intent immediately.
"Want to leave now? Too late!"
Green Mallow shouted arrogantly: "Hey, pink-haired shorty over there—already chickening out?"
"Hah, is this all the Cloud Knight army amounts to under you? Think you can escape?"
Fu Xuan knew full well this was provocation.
She could ignore it—but still couldn't help clenching her fists.
The Disciples of Sanctus Medicus had lurked far too long—even the Matrix of Prescience Ultima inside the Divination Commission had been sabotaged.
Though repairable later, some data was lost.
Multiple factors compounded, triggering a butterfly effect and insufficient warnings.
That strange mist causing Denizens of Abundance caught her completely off guard.
For the first time in a long while, Fu Xuan felt stifled—and wronged.
She didn't understand.
Why did Jing Yuan clearly guess someone might target the Divination Commission, yet still send her out to capture the criminal Kafka?
If not for that, how could the Matrix have malfunctioned?
If not for that, she might have foreseen the current crisis and prepared countermeasures in advance.
She clearly had the ability and confidence to prevent the crisis, not end up like this…
Fu Xuan was lost in thought for half a second. Suddenly, wails and frenzied roars on the battlefield increased sharply.
Focusing, she saw they came from Cloud Knights who had fallen into Denizens of Abundance—or suffered fatal wounds.
Even she herself felt a sudden, intense stabbing pain in her brain.
"Urgh…!"
[???]
[Holy crap, a knife?]
Players who had watched the long CG knew full well this symptom meant signs of falling into Denizens of Abundance.
[Stop it, MiHoYo—she hasn't entered the pool yet!!]
At that moment, the camera abruptly panned sideways, pulling back with motion blur.
A gust of wind blew from who-knows-where, instantly dispersing all the mist permeating the area far away.
Fu Xuan gently inhaled, catching a faint, refreshing fragrance.
The stabbing pain in her brain rapidly eased—and she even felt refreshed.
Like waking naturally after sleeping early and deeply, full of energy.
"Mmgh…"
"Ah…"
The wailing didn't lessen—in fact, it grew louder.
But now—
It came from the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus and the Abundance spirit beasts they controlled.
Some Cloud Knights whose conditions had been extremely unstable briefly froze, confusion fading from their eyes before they struck hard at the enemy without hesitation.