"Watch out!"
Sensing danger, Fidelle stepped in front of Paimon, shielding the small creature behind her.
"Chu Xi, snap out of it! Don't let the Doctor use you!" Lumine refused to accept this outcome and continued trying to awaken Chu Xi's consciousness.
But alas, Chu Xi was beyond reach. The pitch-black pupil in her right eye, which should have been her own, revealed that someone else was controlling her body.
The Energy Core in Chu Xi's chest pulsed faster and faster, and her body's energy threshold continued to surge.
"Dottore, you bastard! Get out of Chu Xi's body!"
Rukkhadevata, stunned by the overwhelming energy radiating from Chu Xi, tried to suppress the surge while explaining to the others:
"The Doctor's consciousness isn't actually here. What you saw in Chu Xi's Consciousness Space was a figment of her imagination. The Doctor destroyed Chu Xi's physical body, and this body was her only hope of returning. This blow was too much for her to bear. She hates the Doctor with every fiber of her being. Under the influence of the approaching Forbidden and her increasingly negative state of mind, the Doctor manifested within her consciousness."
"But she left with the Doctor!" Lumine protested.
"Do you remember why she agreed to cooperate with the Doctor's Plan?" Rukkhadevata asked gravely.
"To become stronger and take revenge!" Lumine replied.
Rukkhadevata said gravely, "Her leaving with the Doctor means that even though her consciousness has been largely corrupted, her subconscious still yearns to become stronger... This isn't good news. Chu Xi may have abandoned everything else, determined to grow stronger at any cost... We must prepare for the worst-case scenario!"
Rukkhadevata felt increasingly strained suppressing the energy emanating from Chu Xi. This level of power shouldn't be something Chu Xi could possess... Had some unforeseen change occurred?
As Chu Xi's energy fluctuations intensified, the crypt began to shake violently. Stone fragments and dust rained down from the ceiling.
"This is bad! We can't stay here any longer! Let's move!"
Seeing the energy continuing to surge, Rukkhadevata swiftly erected an energy barrier, enveloping Lumine, Paimon, and Fidelle. With explosive speed, they raced out of the crypt, charging toward the Mausoleum of King Deshret's exit.
"No—Chu Xi hasn't come out yet!"
Paimon's voice tore through the air, almost piercing their eardrums.
Lumine gripped her small hand tightly, pulling her along like a feather caught in a gale.
Paimon twisted her head back, reaching out a small hand toward the collapsing Crypt, her fingers splayed wide, as if grasping at some phantom hope.
Tears blurred her vision, glistening droplets spilling from her eyes, leaving a broken, shimmering trail behind her.
Chu Xi...
Memories crashed against her small chest like a relentless tide.
Their first meeting in Liyue Harbor, when she learned of Chu Xi's tragic past.
The endless treks through the Sumeru Rainforest, their shared adventures, and the quiet nights by the campfire, listening to Paimon's endless complaints about the food not being tasty enough.
Outside the thunder-racked tenshukaku in Inazuma, it was Chu Xi who silently caught her as she collapsed, sobbing uncontrollably. That embrace trembled with suppressed emotion and equally profound sorrow.
And Fontaine... that land reborn. The faint yet genuine smile that touched Chu Xi's cheek as the water level slowly receded and sunlight pierced through the storm clouds.
After such a long journey, after facing life and death together so many times, they were bound by ties stronger than family.
"Ugh..."
A massive sob choked in Paimon's throat, her chest heaving violently. More and larger tears cascaded down like pearls snapped from their string:
"I can't... I absolutely can't watch you die again! Not even once!!"
An unprecedented, searing pain clenched her heart, followed by an overwhelming, undeniable surge of power.
In that fleeting moment, unnoticed by anyone, Paimon's usually bright eyes—brimming with innocence and a love for food—suddenly deepened into an ancient, majestic amber hue, as if molten gold flowed within their depths.
With every ounce of her strength, she reached out and clenched her fist fiercely in the air toward the figure about to be consumed by destructive energy!
-
Crypt Core.
Chu Xi floated in mid-air, surrounded by energy that had materialized into a pitch-black storm. It roared and howled, pulverizing the surrounding walls into dust, inch by inch.
She herself was the eye of the storm, the embodiment of the end.
The process of destruction was reaching its climax, poised to unleash a force capable of reshaping the land and obliterating all traces from the desert.
Of course, she would emerge unscathed.
The moment had arrived—peak energy output achieved!
Yet, in the very instant before the cataclysmic explosion should have erupted, the roaring, surging negative energy that threatened to tear apart the void was abruptly strangled by an invisible hand.
Its expansion ground to a halt—not dissipating, nor being countered, but violently and absurdly compressed back into her body, as if time itself were reversing under a more domineering, irrefutable will.
The storm ceased abruptly, leaving utter silence in its wake.
The space, which had been brimming with destructive energy moments before, was now eerily desolate, save for the slowly settling dust.
Chu Xi's hyper-focused will froze, a fissure appearing in her flawless control—an anomaly that should never have existed.
For the first time, cracks appeared in the resolute, calm expression on her face, replaced by pure, utter astonishment.
Chu Xi: "...???"
-
Player World, Live Stream.
The scene of Paimon being dragged away from the Crypt was captured in its entirety on the game screen. The moment players witnessed this, they erupted into ear-splitting screams!
Chen Xiyao's jaw dropped in shock, rendering her speechless.
This was the first time Paimon had revealed even a sliver of her true power—or rather, a clue to her true identity—before the players' eyes. Paimon, their best companion!
Players had long speculated about her identity, but without official confirmation, it remained mere conjecture. Now, they were finally seeing it! ! !
The live stream chat exploded with excitement:
[!!!]
[PAIMON!!! (voice cracking!)]
[ly shit, what's happening? My emergency food just transformed like that?!]
[AAAAH! Let's get hyped, everyone! I knew she wasn't ordinary!]
[That eye color... holy crap, the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles... So it was you who attacked me at the beginning?!]
[Too much information! I need to take a break... I need to breathe...]
-
Inside the Crypt, a flicker of clarity returned to her eyes, only to be quickly swallowed by darkness once more.
Who is it?!
The Dendro Archon? No, if she possessed such power, she wouldn't have fled. Sensing the direction of the energy, Chu Xi's eyes darted around.
The energy was forcefully suppressed, yet she couldn't fully calm down.
Whoosh—
Chu Xi chased after the Dendro Archon and her companions in the direction they had just fled.