Of course it takes a moment to get used to…
Staring up at the Hilichurls streaking off like meteors, Su Mo felt a weird mix of amusement and disbelief.
He only wanted to test how strong Kallen from Honkai actually is — and then a golden chain launched a big-axe hilichurl so hard it might already be sharing the sky with the sun. Terrifying.
Taking his gaze away from the distant trail of light, Su Mo relaxed a little. Now that he could carry Tewarlin by himself, the only problem left was where to hide a dragon. You can't exactly keep a dragon lounging at Stormterror's Lair if your goal is "borrow it permanently."
First things first — go inspect the Dragonspine ruins.
Another group of Hilichurls. Ugh. They never learn. Time to send them off.
As soon as Su Mo reached the edge of the ruins, a handful of Hilichurls noticed him and charged. He sighed, and then the sky answered.
"Wah—"
"Raa—"
"Ahhh—"
"AAAH—"
Screams echoed, and in a blink the Hilichurls were streaks of light across the sky. If they yelled "I'll be back!" as they flew, nobody heard it.
After dealing with them, Su Mo approached the ruins' barrier: a wind barrier shimmering dark teal, blocking the way to the tower.
"Will it bounce me back?"
Expecting some game-like knockback, he reached out to test it — and his hand passed clean through. No resistance. No force. He, too, could walk straight through like the barrier didn't exist.
Weird. Okay. Hope Tewarlin's still here.
Past the barrier, the tower rose before him. The closer he got, the thicker the Anemo presence — the wind howled like a chorus of ghosts, clouds swallowed the sun. Another wind barrier ringed the tower's base, but Su Mo didn't bother with the obvious route. He sprinted, leapt, and vaulted through a broken hole high on the tower's flank.
Why take the road everyone else uses? Let the others be the slow NPCs.
A voice called from above.
"What business have you here?"
Great — one of those voices. Su Mo glared up and saw two Cryo Abyss Mages floating in the broken aperture. Of course they'd show up.
What made him angrier than their faces was their shields. He remembered grinding to break shields before — the Abyss Mages lounging behind protective wards as they taunted. He hated those wards.
"What are you?" he answered coldly.
The mages sneered, "You think you can stop—" — and their words dissolved into shock. Golden chains whipped from Su Mo's hand and pierced through their shields, wrapping both mages up like zongzi.
They felt something clamp down on the Abyss energy itself; struggling did nothing. Death's scent crept close.
"How—how are you even from Mondstadt? Our intel never mentioned—"
"You're not worth my explanation." Su Mo dragged them down and planted them at his feet, deadpan as ever.
The remaining mage stammered, utterly rattled. If Su Mo hadn't wanted a quick message delivered, she might have finished them. But she left them alive — for now — because she needed a courier.
"You won't die yet. I need you to take a message to Prince."
The mage trembled — a courier to the Prince? This was big. And dangerous.
"You'll tell him: I, Kallen Kaslana, am sent by the Anemo Archon to rescue Tewarlin. Don't do anything foolish."
"Kaaaah—" the mage yelped, then was sent flying off like a kicked dog.
Su Mo watched the one that remained, then asked in low, amused voice: "You heard what I said earlier, right?"
"Y-Yes. I heard. I heard everything…"
"Then leave. Now."
"Yes! Right away! I'm gone!" The mage fled without looking back — clearly not intent on dying.
An angry roar reverberated inside the tower's seals.
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