"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
The thunderous sound of clashing metal echoed repeatedly through the thick black mist, striking everyone's heart like a heavy hammer.
Lumine gritted her teeth, sweat trickling down her forehead and splashing onto the blade of the Prototype Rancour, sending up tiny droplets.
The Geo element flowed across the blade, emitting a heavy, pale golden glow. Yet, each time she parried Yunqin's Rock Blade Glow, her arms would go numb from the shock, and a dull ache throbbed in the webbing between her thumb and index finger.
Yunqin's attacks grew increasingly ruthless. Her obsidian-black armor emitted a dull metallic scraping sound with every movement, sounding exactly like the roars of Abyss monsters.
The dark purple Blade Glow, shrouded in dense dark energy, aimed each strike directly at Lumine's vital points. Yunqin no longer held back as she once had; her eyes were mad and fanatical, and a strange smile twisted her lips, as if she relished the pleasure of driving her former comrade into a desperate situation.
"Traveler, with this level of skill, you think you can stop me?"
Lumine nimbly sidestepped a Blade Glow aimed at her shoulder. Anemo energy instantly condensed beneath her feet, and using the recoil, she leaped back several steps to create distance.
She looked at Yunqin, who remained completely unscathed, and felt a surge of both urgency and pain. Yunqin's speed and strength had all multiplied several times over, nourished by Abyssal Power.
What was more terrifying was that she completely disregarded her own defense!
Every move was a mutually destructive attack, giving Lumine no chance to even catch her breath.
"Yunqin, wake up!" Lumine roared, her voice filled with heartache. "You aren't like this! You used to fight with all your might to protect the people of Liyue. Don't be fooled by the Abyss!"
"Heh." Yunqin scoffed, her laughter dripping with mockery.
Her wrist snapped around, and the dark purple Blade Glow instantly formed an arc, striking toward Lumine's waist like a venomous snake flicking out its tongue.
"That so-called caring was nothing more than shackles binding me! Only the Abyss can give me true freedom!"
Her movements grew faster and more cunning, her pale purple figure darting through the black mist, gradually forcing Lumine into a purely defensive posture.
Just then, the Abyss Knight, who had been watching coldly from the sidelines, slowly started to walk forward. His icy boots tapped on the ground, producing a sound so faint it was almost inaudible, yet it struck Lydia's heart like a heavy hammer.
The young girl instinctively shrank her body, hugging her knees tightly with her arms. Her snow-white eyelashes trembled violently, her eyes filled with terror, and even her breathing became rapid.
The Abyss Knight knelt down in front of Lydia, leaning her body forward slightly. Her voice was extremely soft, carrying a magnetic quality that could bewitch people's hearts, forming a bizarre contrast with her cold eyes.
"Lydia, my dear 'sister,' look." She raised her hand, pointing to the two fighting women, "Lumine is already struggling to save herself. She can't even protect herself, how can she protect you?"
Lydia bit her lip hard, her lower lip already bitten pale. Tears fell like broken beads, sliding down her cheeks and dripping onto the cold ground, spreading into a small patch of water.
She shook her head, her voice as weak as a mosquito's hum: "No... Venti will come to save me... Lumine will too... They won't leave me behind..."
"Venti?" The Abyss Knight chuckled softly, her eyes full of mockery, a cold light flashing within them, "He is now trapped in Old Mondstadt from a thousand years ago, where even the wind cannot flow freely. He can't even save himself, how can he come to save you?"
"As for Lumine," she paused, her tone filled with disdain, "she can't even save her own friend. How much longer can she protect you?"
"When she is defeated by Yunqin, the next one will be you."
The Abyss Knight raised her hand, a wisp of faint dark energy swirling around her fingertips. The dark energy writhed slowly as if it were alive, exuding a familiar Abyssal aura.
She pointed at Yunqin, her voice growing gentler and gentler, like a viper's flicking tongue, gradually eroding Lydia's will: "Look at Yunqin. She used to be just like you: weak, helpless, bound by Liyue's rules, restricted by the Adepti's constraints, left for anyone to slaughter at will."
"But ever since she returned to the Abyss and obtained power, no one has been able to hurt her again. She can get whatever she wants."
"Have you forgotten?" The Abyss Knight lowered her voice, a hint of imperceptible temptation in her tone, "the taste of being bound by Abyssal Chains, their barbs embedded in your bones, enduring bone-marrow-melting pain day and night; the despair as you watched your soul be gnawed away piece by piece by the dark energy, your consciousness about to vanish; the helplessness as you called out other people's names, yet no one answered..."
These words were like a series of dull knives, stabbing viciously into Lydia's heart.
Her body began to tremble violently, and painful memories once again flooded her mind: in a pitch-black space without light, cold chains tightly bound her limbs, and every struggle was accompanied by heart-wrenching pain.
The Abyss's dark energy seeped into her body through her wounds, coursing through her veins, dragging her back and forth between consciousness and madness.
She desperately called out Venti's name, but could only hear her own echo...
These images, interwoven with the Abyss Knight's words, began to shake her consciousness, the resolve in her eyes gradually replaced by confusion.
"Look at you now, so fragile." The Abyss Knight reached out, trying to touch Lydia's cheek. "If you just nod, all of this can end."
"You and I were always one. Together, we will take back everything that belongs to us and make those who once hurt us pay the price."
Lydia lifted her head, her eyes teary as she gazed at the Abyss Knight's face, which was identical to her own: the same snow-white hair, the same contours of her eyes and brows.
But in those eyes, there was no trace of her own weakness and confusion, only steely determination and ice.
She then looked at Lumine, who was being pushed to the brink by Yunqin. Lumine's arm had been slashed by the Blade Glow, and blood dripped down, staining her sleeve crimson.
Lumine clenched her teeth, still fighting desperately, but her movements had already slowed down, clearly on the verge of collapse.
Lydia's inner struggle reached its peak, the Festering Desire resonating wildly within her body as dark purple runes flashed with a blinding light.
The Abyssal aura surged like a tide, tempting her to give up her resistance.
"I... I..." Lydia's voice was choked with tears, filled with confusion, "I don't want to suffer anymore... I don't want to be protected by others anymore... I want to become strong... But..."
"There is no 'but'." The Abyss Knight interrupted her, her gaze turning resolute, her tone carrying an unquestionable power, "Power is everything! Only with power can you be truly free, and only then can you protect the people you want to protect!"
"Do you want to watch Lumine die while trying to protect you? Watch Venti be trapped in the past forever, never to return?"
These words were like a sharp thorn, piercing Lydia's heart.