The sea had submerged all of Fontaine, leaving only the dome of the Opera House visible.
Furina sat dutifully on the Throne, waiting for the flood to engulf Fontaine, just as Fidelle had instructed her.
When that moment arrived, Furina would finally regain her true freedom, free to find Fidelle and pour out the loneliness and pain she had endured for the past 500 years.
-
Beneath the waters of Fontaine, as everyone else was being swept away by the raging currents, Chu Xi stood firmly rooted in the water like a sea-stabilizing pillar.
Her body's high density made it nearly impossible for the currents to move her. Moreover, she discovered that she could remain submerged for extended periods without needing to breathe.
Thus, she began her rescue efforts, focusing primarily on rescuing the elderly and children.
-
After emerging from the Abyss Gate, the Intellitron arrived at the Fontaine Border. Instead of immediately leaving, it began modifying its body.
While this body possessed the combat prowess of a top-tier God, its current form was clearly unsuitable for battle.
The Intellitron sensed that someone had already set their sights on it. This pursuer couldn't be a God, as they currently lacked the means to do so.
The Hexenzirkel possessed many abilities, making them possible suspects.
However, while this possibility existed, it wasn't the most likely.
The oppressive feeling strongly resembled the one Jiang Mumu had encountered back in Inazuma—the Observer of Teyvat, Ruler of Death, Ronova.
If it were her, successfully claiming Fidelle's soul wouldn't be so simple. The current investment was woefully insufficient; more Emotional Value would need to be added.
This raised a crucial question of income versus expenditure. Forcibly taking Fidelle's soul would inevitably require a greater investment of Emotional Value.
Would the Emotional Feedback gained from successfully taking Fidelle's soul be comparable to the Emotional Value invested?
Before Fontaine, Jiang Mumu wouldn't have needed to calculate. Forcibly taking Fidelle's soul would undoubtedly have yielded a greater Emotional Feedback.
But now that they were in Fontaine, players had grown accustomed to the narrative trope: each nation harbored a Pure Soul destined to meet a tragic end at the hands of the Abyss, their souls to be absorbed by the Abyss.
At this point, forcibly taking Fidelle's soul would only confirm the players' expectations, giving them a sense of "just as I thought."
Though still shocking, the impact would be significantly diminished compared to previous instances.
To put it bluntly, the players were tired of the same old tragedy.
Allowing them to succeed even once would instill the belief that, with sufficient preparation, the Abyss wasn't invincible after all.
At least, it wouldn't feel like an arbitrary plot-driven death.
Moreover, leaving Fidelle's soul in Fontaine might generate even more Emotional Value.
Most importantly, Fidelle had promised Furina...
She didn't want to break her promise.
From the very beginning, the "Unceasing Thunder" had referred to this.
-
Fontaine Border.
Whoosh—
Morax and Rukkhadevata had already arrived, and the Intellitron's body had been completely modified.
Its frame had grown massive, towering over six meters tall.
Its once slender limbs had become thick and heavily armored with steel.
This wasn't a modification to increase its Emotional Value; it was a purely functional adaptation for combat.
"It hasn't left. It's been lingering here... Is it waiting for us?"
Rukkhadevata sensed the Intellitron's prolonged presence.
Wary of a potential trap, she warned Morax.
Morax nodded slightly, a Geo Spear materializing in his hand, his gaze sharpening.
"It still managed to catch up."
The Intellitron's crimson mechanical eyes locked onto its target, its massive body settling heavily.
A colossal, heavily armored fist descended like a meteor from the heavens.
Morax remained motionless, his right hand pressing firmly into the Akasha.
A deep, earth-shaking rumble, like the slow, thunderous heartbeat of the planet itself, echoed from the depths below. Several jagged Golden Rock Spines erupted through the roiling dust, meeting the descending metallic fist head-on.
Boom—
The earth-shattering impact reverberated across the land. Shattered stone sprayed outward, spiderweb-like cracks instantly fracturing the spines' surface. Yet the spines stubbornly held, enduring the mountain-shaking blow.
At the moment of impact, countless supple yet resilient emerald vines erupted silently from the shattered earth behind the Intellitron, writhing like awakened serpents of the Ley Line.
They coiled around the Intellitron's ankles and clambered over its gnarled metallic joints, their verdant leaves flickering with faint purifying light dust as they silently eroded the cold metal structure.
The Dendro Archon hovered in place, her hands forming a mudra before her chest, fingertips glowing with an ethereal green light. Her gaze remained focused, as if whispering to the wounded earth beneath her feet.
The restraints brought the Intellitron's colossal frame to a sudden halt.
Morax seized this fleeting opportunity. With a violent sweep of his arms outward, golden light erupted, blazing with sudden intensity!
Around him, several massive, spear-shaped rock prisms materialized instantly, forged from pure Geo energy. Carving through the air with mountain-rending sharpness and crushing weight, they surged silently toward the Intellitron's vine-entangled bulk, targeting its vital energy nodes!
Thwack! Clang!
The dull thud of rock prisms piercing metal flesh and the ear-splitting metallic screech of friction erupted in rapid succession.
The Intellitron's body shuddered violently as an unprecedented surge of chaotic, blindingly intense purple-black light erupted from its core.
The constricting vines and piercing rock spikes, like the icy coils of two ancient Laws—Life and Earth—simultaneously tightened around his once-proud body.
The Intellitron's crimson core pulsed frantically, each flicker accompanied by violent convulsions that wracked its massive frame.
Morax's gaze turned glacial as he prepared to channel the Ley Line Power for a final strike.
But in that instant, the Intellitron's crimson mechanical eyes, previously blazing with fury and chaos, were instantly replaced by a cold, calculating light.
Its colossal body abruptly imploded inward, crushed by the rock spikes and vine restraints!
The Intellitron's hard metallic shell shrieked under the unbearable strain, and countless components exploded, scattering under the extreme overload.
This self-destructive compression—executed at the very last moment, just before Morax unleashed the next wave of Golden Rock Spines from the earth—allowed the Intellitron to forcibly break free of the vine restraints, leaving behind a space vortex twisted by unimaginable force, crackling with dangerous arcs of energy!
The Golden Rock Spines pierced the void with earth-shattering force, only to impale the chaotic afterimage.
Fontaine Border.
The verdant energy swirling around Rukkhadevata's fingertip paused momentarily as her gaze fixed on the rapidly closing spatial vortex.
Morax hovered in mid-air, slowly lowering his hands. His dark robes billowed gently, and his golden eyes stared into the empty void where the vortex had vanished, their depths as profound and immovable as ancient bedrock.
Rukkhadevata: "Over there."
Morax: "Pursue!"
The Intellitron had escaped once again. It hadn't intended to forcibly seize the soul this time, but being captured before all the Teyvat natives had evacuated would have been far too dull.
It still wanted to witness the Hexenzirkel and the Ruler of Death make their grand entrances.
-
Fontaine Border.
The verdant energy swirling around Rukkhadevata's fingertip paused momentarily as her gaze fixed on the rapidly closing spatial vortex.
Morax hovered in mid-air, slowly lowering his hands. His dark robes billowed gently, and his golden eyes stared into the empty void where the vortex had vanished, their depths as profound and immovable as ancient bedrock.
Rukkhadevata: "Over there."
Morax: "Follow it!"