Mu Qingxu was stunned by her sister's outburst, freezing in place, afraid to speak.
"Childe?"
Tartaglia, having cleared the nearby monsters, glanced over.
"Please, she's my only sister!"
"I..."
Tartaglia looked at Qingge, whose gaze was resolute, yet seemed to carry a faint plea.
Finally, Tartaglia nodded in agreement.
"Don't worry, I'll protect her!"
Hearing Tartaglia's assurance, Qingge felt half the weight in her heart lift.
She turned to her sister, whose small face was now streaked with tears.
"Sister, please don't go down there," Qingxu begged.
All the monsters were surging up from below. The dangers lurking in the abyss were unimaginable. Her sister might be strong, but even the strongest couldn't possibly fight off so many monsters!
Qingge erected a protective shield between herself and her sister, gently wiping away the tears at the corners of Qingxu's eyes.
"I am the Kaiyang of the Seven Stars, Marshal of the Millelith. Defending Liyue is my duty. If I retreat, everyone here—including you and me—will be worn down and killed. I've taught you these principles; you should understand."
"And who says I'd lose?"
Qingxu's spear was stained with the blood of monsters—or at least what passed for blood in their realm—suggesting she had already been in battle.
Not a single scratch marred her body. Truly, she was her sister's equal!
"Alright, no time to linger. Stay strong, and remember—you're the Kaiyang's sister!"
Qingge patted Qingxu's head one last time, then turned resolutely and charged toward the Chasm Entrance, leaping down without hesitation.
"Sister—!"
Her sister's voice slowly faded in her ears. Qingge couldn't resist glancing back at the Chasm Entrance.
She trusted Tartaglia implicitly. It was the unspoken understanding between warriors. Having siblings himself, he would surely grasp her resolve.
Deep within the vast cavern of The Chasm, Qingge's descent triggered a swarm of Abyss Monsters, previously crawling upward, to lunge at her. The sight alone would have sent any sufferer of trypophobia into a dead faint.
But Qingge barely needed to defend herself. The Mystic Barrier activated automatically, repelling every Abyss Monster that lunged at her.
Upon landing, she immediately executed a plunging attack, instantly blasting away the monsters in a wide area below.
-
Player World
The moment Ningguang mobilized all of Liyue's available combat forces to reinforce The Chasm, the players' perspectives shifted here.
[I just realized Qingge has a younger sister! A new character?]
[Too slow, too slow! When will the reinforcements arrive? So many Millelith have already fallen.]
[Do you think everyone can teleport like the protagonist? It takes time!]
[Holy shit, where are we now?]
[What the hell? So many?! Most are just regular monsters, but isn't this quantity a bit much?!]
[At this rate, we're just throwing our lives away!]
-
Beneath The Chasm.
Protected by the Mystic Barrier, Qingge could focus entirely on offense, abandoning all defense.
Yellow Geo Elemental Power clung to the tip of her spear, each sweeping strike decapitating swaths of monsters.
While facing higher-level monsters could be troublesome, they proved no match for Qingge's relentless assault.
Moreover, her purpose here was to resolve the problem, not to engage in mindless slaughter.
Forcing a bloody path with her spear, Qingge charged straight toward the source of the monster horde.
She slaughtered her way through the ranks, ordinary monsters falling before her in a single exchange. Even higher-level creatures succumbed to her skill.
Qingge had fully unleashed her power. As Liyue's new generation's strongest warrior, she was far more than just a pretty face!
"This is..."
Leaping into a lower chamber, Qingge finally spotted her objective: two Abyss Gates loomed ahead, spewing forth an endless stream of Abyss Monsters.
"The Abyss Gate? That bastard?!"
These two gates were clearly not unique, and the monsters emerging from them weren't particularly high-level, but their sheer numbers made them overwhelming.
While these monsters posed little threat to Qingge personally, they were formidable adversaries for the Millelith soldiers.
Qingge swiftly advanced, swinging Vortex horizontally with all her might. The Abyss Gate shuddered violently under the impact, its structure visibly destabilizing.
This can be destroyed with brute force!
Qingge's attacks grew even faster. Finally, through her relentless efforts, the Abyss Gate shattered and vanished completely.
Soon, the other gate was destroyed as well.
ROAR—
The destruction of the gates seemed to have attracted something's attention. An enraged roar echoed from the depths.
Still battling monsters, Qingge glanced toward the source of the sound and saw a Primo Geovishap, twisted into an abyssal variant.
And beside it, materializing silently—Malice!
-
In the Player World, the moment Malice appeared, Chen Xiyao's live stream chat exploded with messages, completely flooding the screen.
Chen Xiyao: "Wait, how did this thing get here? What's it doing here?"
[Bastard! What are you planning?!]
[No! Not my Qingge!]
[Can Qingge beat it? She should be able to, right?]
[One-on-one, I could still fantasize about her winning, but this isn't a one-on-one, damn it!]
[She should be fine, right? After all, it's the New Year...]
[Aaaaaaaah! Mihoyo, if you dare kill Qingge, one of us has to die!]
-
The Chasm Entrance.
After Qingge jumped down, Tartaglia had to restrain himself for a long time to resist the urge to follow.
Instead of pulling Qingxu away as Qingge had suggested, he allowed her to fight the swarm of monsters, though he remained close by at all times.
"Qingge, we're here!"
Lumine and Paimon rushed in from a distance, searching the battlefield in vain for Qingge. They only found Qingxu engaged in combat.
"Why is Qingxu out here? Didn't we tell her to wait for us?"
The tide of battle was already turning against them. Lumine drew her sword.
"Paimon, find somewhere safe to hide!"
"Okay, okay."
Paimon obediently scurried to the rear lines.
Qingxu still had some fighting strength left, but Lumine was completely exhausted.
As soon as Lumine joined the fight, she moved close to Qingxu.
"Qingxu, where's Qingge?"
Qingxu swept her spear horizontally, sending an Abyss Monster flying. Her stance as she struck even bore a faint resemblance to her sister's.
"Traveler, my sister went below. She said she had to find the source and resolve this completely. Did you manage to get reinforcements?"
"Liyue is in complete chaos! The Geo Archon and the Adepti are battling an even more powerful enemy. Reinforcements have already been dispatched, but it will take them a considerable amount of time to arrive!"
"What? How could this happen..."
Considerable time?
Every minute her sister spent in this situation meant another minute of danger. If not for the sliver of rationality that told her rushing down would only hinder her sister, she would have already jumped in.
"Traveler, I know this is selfish, but my sister said you're incredibly strong. You can..."
Qingxu trailed off, unable to bring herself to ask a stranger to take such a tremendous risk. The moral barrier within her heart proved insurmountable.
Lumine noticed the number of monsters had significantly decreased. The previously swarming masses of low-level monsters had suddenly thinned out dramatically.
Looking toward the Chasm Entrance, she saw far fewer monsters emerging.
"Tartaglia, Qingxu is in your care!"
With those words, Lumine leaped into the Mouth of the Chasm.