He had been careless. He had already gone to great lengths to create distance, yet she still found him.
The Beautiful Youth watched Durandal warily. To prevent Durandal from discovering him at his weakest, he had specifically come to this remote place, yet he was still found in the end.
He had no choice but to divert some of his attention to Durandal, but doing so prevented him from fully resisting the problem within him, making the expression on his face increasingly pained.
Durandal ignored the Beautiful Youth's wariness. She watched the black mist continuously emerging from his body. This was not elemental power, and it was visible to the naked eye.
"God's Resentment? And so much of it?"
Gods are immortal. Even if their will dissipates, their power and resentment remain.
These residual powers and resentments eventually transform into accumulated filth that constantly harasses ordinary people, and this filth is not something ordinary people can resist.
This Beautiful Youth before her was undoubtedly someone who specialized in fighting against such defilements, but he had slain far too many monsters. Even when these monsters were killed, their resentment would not disappear; instead, it would coalesce on other carriers.
Durandal, however, had no such worries. In the past, to protect Mondstadt, she had eliminated many Gods. The resentment of those Gods ultimately became nourishment for Durandal, having no effect on her.
But others did not have such a special constitution, like this Beautiful Youth before her. The God's Resentment clinging to him was constantly corroding his mind. One careless mistake and he would be completely swallowed by those resentments, becoming a defiled creature.
He had originally intended to suppress the suddenly violent resentment through his own will, but Durandal's appearance disrupted his mind, allowing the retreating resentment to surge back with force.
The situation was very bad, and Durandal also noticed the problem he was facing, slowly walking towards him.
The Beautiful Youth watched Durandal approaching, and with a flick of his right hand, a jade-green spear appeared in his grasp.
Although in a weakened state, he would not be easily defeated. If Durandal showed any intention of attacking, he would strike, even at the risk of being further corroded by resentment.
Just as Durandal was about to reach him, a cold glint flashed, and the spear, at an imperceptible speed, thrust towards Durandal's head.
This strike was swift and without any warning, but the Beautiful Youth had no confidence whatsoever.
If it were an ordinary monster, he was confident this move could eliminate the opponent, but this time, he was facing a God.
Just as he expected, Durandal merely used her index and middle fingers to block his deadly strike. Her expression was very relaxed, showing no sign of effort.
As expected, she is very powerful, a God. Is this... retribution? Has this day finally arrived?
The Beautiful Youth resignedly closed his eyes. He thought of his former companions. Was he also to follow in their footsteps and depart?
He waited for a long time but felt no movement. He opened his eyes and saw Durandal's right hand placed in front of her. With her action, the resentment within him continuously flew out of his body.
The countless resentments accumulated in his body were forcibly drawn out. He clearly saw these resentments, as they were pulled away, transform into expressions of terror, wailing continuously.
No matter how they resisted, they ultimately could not escape the fate of being drawn out. As the power of resentment was continuously extracted, the Beautiful Youth clearly felt his body lighten, and the voices that constantly echoed in his mind gradually weakened, finally disappearing completely.
Because the power of resentment within the Beautiful Youth was too vast, Durandal absorbed it for almost ten minutes before completely extracting all of it.
Such a massive amount of resentment, if it were to materialize, would give birth to extremely terrifying monsters, beings that mortals could not easily resist, probably requiring a God to handle.
Durandal absorbed all this resentment into her body. The originally harmful power of resentment entered Durandal's body, and instead of raging, it became as docile as a kitten, and was completely assimilated in a short time.
After doing all this, Durandal finally released the spearhead from her hand and stepped back a few paces, making the Beautiful Youth understand that she had no ill intentions.
He stood up from the ground with a complex expression. He did not put away his weapon; even though Durandal had saved him, he still needed to be vigilant.
"Why did you help me?" the Beautiful Youth asked, puzzled.
She could have easily killed him while he was weak, and he believed that would not have been difficult for Durandal.
"Because I did not come to Liyue with ill intentions. Doing this is to send a signal to those who protect Liyue: I... am not here to cause destruction."
No matter what one does, nothing can demonstrate one's goodwill more than saving an important member of Liyue.
She did not know this Beautiful Youth before her, but judging from the immense amount of resentment he had accumulated, his identity must not be simple.
By helping him, Liyue would owe her a favor, and favors are the hardest to repay. Doing this could also convince those who were wary of her that she had no malicious intent.
The Beautiful Youth accepted this explanation. Durandal had shown no hostility from beginning to end; the only time she acted was to block his attack.
She had also helped him by absorbing the power of resentment that had been corroding his mind. This kindness was something he could not repay, at least it was a very significant favor to him.
Thinking of this, the Beautiful Youth put away his weapon, signifying his initial trust in Durandal.
"...Thank you."
Seemingly unaccustomed to expressing gratitude, the Beautiful Youth spoke very awkwardly, but Durandal did not mind.
"I only did this to gain trust. Was it also you who was peering at me from Stone Gate?"
The Beautiful Youth nodded. His peering had indeed not escaped her eyes.
That's true. As a God, if he couldn't even detect this level of prying, then he would be too useless.
"I have sensed your goodwill. I can trust you, but the other Adepti of Liyue won't be so simple."
He was willing to trust Durandal, but the other Adepti of Liyue were different. Although they lived in reclusion in the mountains, they also had the duty to protect Liyue.
Even if Durandal had helped him, the other Adepti might not trust her as he did. At most, they would dispel their hostility towards her, but suspicion would still remain.
"It doesn't matter. They will see my goodwill. I came here not to bring destruction and ruin. As long as I don't do evil, even the Geo Archon has no reason to attack me."
If they attacked her indiscriminately, Durandal wouldn't be polite to them. If it was war, then it was war; she had never feared anyone.
She didn't like to stir up trouble, but if someone deliberately sought trouble with her, she wouldn't be a pushover.
Having almost finished what she needed to do, there was no need to stay. Durandal turned and left, deciding to look for local Liyue specialties nearby before returning to Lumine.
Watching Durandal's retreating figure, the Beautiful Youth was silent for a moment, then said, "If you encounter trouble, just call my name."
Durandal stopped and looked at the Beautiful Youth.
Facing Durandal's gaze, the Beautiful Youth continued, "Even if you are a God, there will be many things you cannot handle. As long as you are within Liyue's borders, call my name, and I will hear it and come immediately."
The Beautiful Youth's tone was so natural, as if he were stating something self-evident.
"The Three-Eyed and Five-Eyed Adeptus — Xiao — will answer your call at any time."
Without answering, Durandal nodded, "If you need to cleanse the resentment within your body, you can also come to me."
With that, Durandal transformed into a black mist and vanished. Xiao, seeing this, also departed.
Since he was no longer corroded by the power of resentment, he also had to fulfill his duty and eliminate the corrupting entities lingering in Liyue.
How long had it been since he had fought so freely? Xiao had forgotten. What should have been a joyful thing, yet he felt a strange sadness.
His other Yaksha companions had all been slain because they couldn't withstand the corrosion of resentment. If they had known earlier that Durandal possessed such an ability, would they not have perished?
Durandal didn't know what Xiao was thinking. She wandered near Wangshu Inn, searching for interesting local specialties.
She had already found the jueyun chili that Xiangling had shown her last time, and there was quite a lot of it. There was also a plant called Qingxin.
She wasn't sure if this could be eaten, but it looked quite beautiful, which piqued Durandal's curiosity. She couldn't help but pick one, extract its pollen, and prepare to add a new member to her flowerbed.
She wasn't sure if Liyue's flowers could be cultivated in Mondstadt. She hoped they wouldn't suffer from unfamiliar soil and climate.
After about an hour, when Durandal returned to Wangshu Inn, Lumine and Paimon had already checked into a room... well, just one room.
Why just one room? They clearly had enough Mora for two rooms. Even if not, they could at least get a large one. Why a standard room? And with only one bed?
Durandal looked at Lumine. Facing Durandal's gaze, Lumine explained with a serious expression, "You can't blame me. I didn't expect so many guests at this inn. By the time I finished helping the owner and came up to book a room, this was all that was left."
"Yeah, yeah! The owner only gave it to us because we fixed the stairs. Otherwise, we wouldn't have a room and would have to sleep outdoors."
...I understand.
This reason sounded plausible, and Durandal somewhat accepted the explanation, but... she still felt something was off.
Seeing Durandal accept her explanation, Lumine showed a 'plan successful' expression, quietly high-fiving Paimon to celebrate the plan's success.
Tonight! They could snuggle!
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