Lydia took a deep breath and wiped the tears from her face, the warmth of the wind still lingering in her palm.
"Lumine, I'm coming to help you!" Lydia ran toward where Lumine was locked in a fierce fight with Yunqin, the hem of her snow-white dress carving a sharp arc in the air.
She wielded the Festering Desire, forming a fierce yet not dazzling Blade Glow, and swung it toward Yunqin's back with a sound that pierced the wind.
Yunqin, who was pressing Lumine back step by step, instantly sensed the attack from behind and her expression changed drastically.
She never expected Lydia to suddenly regain her senses, let alone launch a direct attack.
She was forced to abandon her almost-successful strike, turn abruptly, and condense Abyssal aura into a dark purple Abyssal Blade Glow to hastily block the blow.
Clang!
The Festering Desire and the Abyssal Blade Glow collided violently, producing a deafening crash as sparks flew.
Yunqin was thrown back three steps by this sudden force, the rubble beneath her feet crunching loudly.
She looked at Lydia blocking Lumine, her eyes full of disbelief, her voice trembling: "You... You actually didn't fall into corruption? Why didn't you choose power!"
Lydia stood before Lumine, her snow-white figure not tall, yet like a small sapling growing against the cold wind, exuding an inviolable resolve.
She watched the madness and paranoia churning in Yunqin's eyes, her eyelashes trembling slightly, her voice filled with heartache, yet no longer wavering in the slightest.
"Power has never been an excuse to hurt others! True freedom is protecting those you care about, is consciously choosing the light, not letting the Abyss devour your reason and reducing you to a puppet of hatred!"
Lumine clutched the still-bleeding wound on her arm, and taking advantage of the gap while Lydia spoke, she quickly condensed Geo energy into a pale gold film of light to cover the wound, temporarily stopping the bleeding.
She took a deep breath, tightened her grip on the Prototype Rancour, and stood side by side with Lydia, forming an indestructible line of defense.
The pale gold Geo light and the dark purple runes of the Festering Desire shone together, carving a brilliant streak of light through the black mist.
"We won't give up on you, Yunqin! No matter how deeply you are controlled by the Abyss, we will pull you back!"
Before her words had even fallen, the two moved simultaneously.
Anemo energy swirled around Lydia's feet, and her figure shot forward like an arrow from a bow, the Festering Desire carving a sharp arc of light in her hand, dark purple sword aura wrapped in the wind's sharpness, pressing directly toward Yunqin's lower body.
Lumine condensed Geo energy onto her blade, leaped into the air, and the heavy blade cleaved down toward Yunqin's head like Mount Tai pressing down, the air roaring in its wake.
One fast, one heavy, one attacking and one defending, they were as perfectly synchronized as if they had practiced a thousand times. That was the trust forged from countless battles fought side by side.
Yunqin's expression changed drastically as she hurriedly condensed an Abyssal Blade Glow to parry.
"Clang—!"
The Festering Desire and the dark purple blade glow collided violently, sending sparks flying. She felt a wave of numbness shoot up her wrist as her blood surged.
Before she could recover, Lumine's Prototype Rancour smashed down, the fierce wind of the strike stinging her cheek.
She rolled backward in disarray, barely dodging the fatal blow, but a wind blade from Lydia, who had closed in right behind, slashed a long gash into her back.
Black mist oozed from the wound, carrying a pungent, putrid stench that made her groan softly.
"You two..." Yunqin stumbled to her feet, her obsidian-black armor covered in scratches. The madness in her eyes faded slightly, replaced by profound pain and struggle.
As she watched the two fight in perfect harmony, memories of their beautiful days in Liyue flashed uncontrollably through her mind.
These images flashed through her mind like a revolving lantern, the scene before her gradually blurring as Lydia's figure seemed to overlap with her own.
She fantasized that the ones fighting side by side right now were not Lydia and Lumine, but herself and Lumine.
The two of them were still those companions who marched forward together to protect Liyue, with no Abyss, no betrayal, only pure trust and tacit understanding, and wherever their sword light pointed, that was the land they protected.
"No... That's not right..." Yunqin clutched her head and roared in agony as crimson bloodshot veins quickly spread across the whites of her eyes, entangling like a spider web.
The Abyssal Power raged wildly within her body like an uncontrolled beast, trying to suppress these sudden memories and drag her completely into the darkness.
The obsidian-black armor on her body suddenly erupted with a blindingly bright dark light. The dense dark energy coiled around her limbs like vines, burrowing through her pores into her skin and devouring her last remaining shreds of reason piece by piece.
"Ah—!"
"Little UFO!"
A howl of extreme anguish erupted from Yunqin's mouth. Her eyes were completely filled with crimson, and the gaze that still held a glimmer of lucidity was now replaced by a beast-like savagery.
She slammed both hands onto the ground, and the Abyssal aura surging from her palms flowed into the earth like a black tide.
The ground instantly cracked with spiderweb-like fissures, and dark energy surged from the gaps, bringing a suffocating pressure that made even the air turn viscous.
"BOOM!"
A deafening roar echoed as the earth violently shook, sending debris flying. A colossal dragon-shaped monster burst forth from the ground!
Its entire body was covered in scales as black as ink, with dark purple Abyssal Venom flowing between them. Everywhere the venom dripped, small pits were instantly corroded into the ground.
Its massive wings unfurled, nearly blotting out the sky, each beat kicking up gusts of freezing wind.
Sharp claws gleamed with a cold light, their tips still stained with debris of soil and rock.
Its head was hideously grotesque, with dark purple flames burning in its hollow eye sockets. It threw back its head and unleashed a deafening roar, the shockwave causing the surrounding black mist to churn violently and the distant rock walls to tremble slightly.
Lydia and Lumine instinctively retreated several steps, the crushed stone beneath their feet crunching, their faces filled with shock and grim determination.
The aura of this dragon-shaped monster was several times denser than any Abyss monster they had encountered before, radiating pure darkness and malice.
Its eyes were empty yet fierce, clearly a Cursed Dragon completely controlled by the Abyssal Power, devoid of any independent will.
"Is this... Little UFO?" Lumine gripped the Prototype Rancour, fine cold sweat beading on her forehead and trickling down her cheek. "Has the Abyssal Power within Yunqin already grown this strong?"
Lydia's expression also turned exceptionally grim, the Festering Desire in her palm heating up slightly as if warning her of the danger ahead.
She took a deep breath, her voice carrying a faint, barely perceptible tremble, yet remaining firm: "She is completely controlled by the Abyss... Her reason has been utterly devoured."
"We must defeat this Cursed Dragon first, then find a way to awaken her! We can't let the Abyss keep using her!"
The dragon-shaped monster roared, its massive head lowering slightly. Its hollow eye sockets locked onto Lumine and Lydia as it suddenly dove straight toward them.
Its colossal claws, carrying the force to tear through the air, whipped up gusts of freezing wind as they aimed for Lumine's chest, intent on delivering a fatal blow.
Lumine and Lydia exchanged a glance, needing no words, as they saw resolve and trust in each other's eyes.
They nodded in unison. Lumine's figure blurred as she concentrated Geo element on her blade and charged toward the monster's sharp claws, intending to draw its attack.
Lydia, meanwhile, felt the wind rise beneath her feet. The emerald Anemo element lifted her into the air, and she slashed fiercely at the monster's outstretched wings, the key to restricting its movement.