The air in the labyrinth didn't move; it hung heavy and dead, like a shroud covering a corpse's face.
The only sound was the crunch of compacted snow under their boot soles, a monotonous rhythm that slowly eroded sanity.
Keqing walked in front, her steps measured and efficient.
The encounter with the fox-masked man earlier still left a metallic taste on her tongue, a bitter flavor from something she didn't understand.
Amid that gripping silence, Louis's voice shattered the freeze like a stone thrown into a calm lake.
"Do you know who he was?"
The question floated in the cold air, not immediately sinking.
Louis, with the unquenchable curiosity typical of a youth who had never seen the true face of death, turned to look at Keqing's back.
Keqing didn't slow down. She only shook her head slightly, a motion so economical it was barely visible.
She didn't answer.
For her, words were expensive currency in a place like this, and she had no intention of wasting them on futile speculation.
Ignored, Louis didn't back down. That curiosity now mixed with frustration.
"But why did he attack you? An assassin? Or perhaps someone from the past you've forgotten? His movements… those weren't amateur moves."
Keqing remained silent. She kept shaking her head, her amethyst eyes fixed on the path ahead, scanning shadows and light reflecting on the ice walls.
Isabelle, walking beside Louis, sighed harshly. White vapor puffed from her mouth. She felt pity seeing her companion talking to a stone wall, but more than that, she felt disturbed by this figure hiding her identity.
"You should say at least one word rather than nothing at all," Isabelle rebuked sharply, her voice bouncing off the ice corridor. "We're a team. Your silence makes us feel like we're walking with a ghost, not a comrade."
Keqing finally stopped for a moment. She didn't turn fully, only twisting her head slightly, enough to glance at them from the corner of her sharp eye. Her gaze was cold.
"I'm just being myself," she replied flatly.
The sentence was simple, but its impact was like a slap from winter wind.
For her, their validation wasn't needed, and she had no intention of changing herself for others' comfort.
Hearing that, Isabelle's brows furrowed sharply, dipping like a predator bird failing to catch its prey. Her face flushed.
Without retorting, she immediately turned her face extremely quickly toward the ice wall beside her, refusing to look at the girl any longer.
Keqing, unconcerned with the small drama, immediately quickened her pace, creating physical distance.
Haoyu, walking at the very back, could only let out a long sigh. His breath sounded heavy, like the weight of the shield on his back. His weary eyes stared at his companions' backs drifting apart.
"Why can't they get along?" he muttered to the unresponsive wind. "In a place where ice can kill you in your sleep, the warmth of friendship should be the only campfire we guard."
They continued walking in that cracked formation, separated by ego and misunderstandings, until suddenly, Keqing stopped abruptly.
Her body tensed, like a violin string pulled to its breaking point. She raised her right hand.
"What's wrong?" Haoyu hurried closer, his shield already half-raised, his protective instinct taking over. He looked at Keqing's face, trying to read what danger the girl saw.
Keqing didn't look back. Her purple eyes narrowed, her pupils trembling slightly. She stared straight ahead, piercing the thin mist beginning to descend.
"There seem to be other members ahead," she said. Her face was calm, a perfect porcelain mask. But a second later, the mask cracked. Her brows knitted deeper, and she narrowed her eyes sharper.
The wind brought a new scent. Not the smell of ozone or pure snow. It was the scent of copper. The rust of iron. The warmth of spilled liquid on cold ice.
"Something… seems to have happened there."
Without waiting for approval or further questions, she immediately ran. Her steps quick and light, her cloak fluttering behind her like purple raven wings.
Haoyu stared at her receding back for a moment, then looked at Isabelle and Louis.
Without a word, they nodded.
Differences of opinion and personal annoyances had to be set aside when the smell of blood was in the air!
They hurriedly followed Keqing, their boots thudding heavily on the ice, chasing the purple shadow darting ahead.
…
The battered wooden ship finally glided out from the raging storm's jaws, entering Inazuma's calm waters with a relieved groan from every cracked plank.
The deafening wind roar was now replaced by the gentle whisper of waves, and the sky that had been a swirling dark purple vortex now opened, revealing a pale blue expanse of peace.
The sharp ozone and lightning scent slowly gave way to the faint fragrance of cherry blossoms and fresh sea salt, an aroma of life that felt so foreign after days trapped in the storm's fury.
On the wet and debris-strewn deck, the surviving crew, the merchants and sailors who had been captives, finally released their tension.
Some fell to their knees, their shoulders shaking violently with uncontrollable sobs, their cracked lips kissing the wet deck planks as if it were holy ground.
Others just stood silently, staring at the Inazuma land stretching in the distance with blank gazes, still unable to believe they had survived hell.
However, amid that emotional outpouring, Charles just stood silently at the ship's bow. His body straight as the mast itself, his hands gripping the cold and wet railing tightly, his knuckles white.
The sea wind blew his tattered cloak and disheveled hair, but he didn't budge. His sharp eyes stared at the land ahead with an unreadable cold expression, as if the beautiful view before him was nothing more than another plain he had to conquer.
I'll come for you, Ei…. he thought. Smiling.
At that moment, a figure approached from behind him. The footsteps sounded hesitant and full of respect on the wet deck.
It was the merchant, the man who had become the unofficial leader of the newly freed crew.
The man stopped a few steps behind Charles, not daring to come closer, his body slightly bowed, his hands wringing nervously. "Captain," he called, his voice hoarse and trembling, a mix of gratitude and deep fear. "We… we can't dock at the main harbor. There's the Sakoku Decree… they'll capture and possibly execute us all as soon as we approach."
Charles didn't immediately turn. He let the man wait in tense silence, his eyes still fixed on the purple cliffs in the distance.
After several moments that felt like forever, only then did he slowly turn his head, his cold and emotionless eyes staring straight at the merchant.
He pulled out a map he had looted from the ronin captain's cabin, its worn paper flapping in the wind. His injured finger traced the map, stopping at a small red ink mark hidden on the coast.
"We go there," he ordered briefly, his voice flat, leaving no room for debate.
…
Keqing stopped at the end of a crevice opening into a vast natural ice cave. Her breath, which had been steady, now caught in her throat, snagged by the horrific scene unfolding before her.
Her eyes widened, her eyelids refusing to blink, as if afraid that if she closed her eyes for a second, the nightmare in front of her would become more real.
Haoyu, Isabelle, and Louis arrived behind her a few seconds later. Their feet rooted to the ground as if frozen by ancient magic. The chill crawling up their spines wasn't from the sub-zero temperature in the place, but from the horror gripping their bone marrow.
Before them, on the white clean ice floor, a terrifying abstract painting had been drawn with blood.
Bodies scattered among cracked ice and broken stalagmites. They wore adventurer uniforms, light armor, and thick cloaks—comrades who had set out with them from the harbor, people who shared campfires and stories of home.
Now, they were just silent heaps of flesh, broken and torn like discarded rag dolls by a tantruming giant child.
The snow around them was no longer white, but a deep red beginning to freeze into horrifying ruby crystals.
In the middle of the cave, one life still struggled not to extinguish.
A young warrior, his body enveloped in an emerald green wind aura—an Anemo Vision user—was fighting desperately. He stood in front of a monster that made the Ice Golems they had fought before look like children's toys.
This Golem was a giant. Twice the height of a regular golem, its body composed of rough and sharp ancient glacial ice blocks colored dark blue, almost black.
On its back, giant ice spikes protruded like dragon thorns. Its blue eyes glowed.
The Anemo warrior shouted, a desperate voice swallowed by the roar of the wind he created himself.
He held the giant Golem's hand with his large Claymore sword. Its steel blade vibrated violently, emitting a painful humming sound as it clashed with the diamond-hard ice fist.
His arm muscles tensed until veins bulged out, his face flushed red holding the thousands of tons pressing down.
Every clash forced his body to bend lower. His knees trembled, his feet sinking into the ice below. His breath shattered the cold air in quick and short panicked puffs. He was alone. His friends had died around him.
And he knew, in seconds, his defense would shatter, and he would join them.
"HOLD ON!" Haoyu shouted, his instinct taking over, ready to charge forward with his shield.
But before Haoyu could take a single step, a purple flash had preceded him.
At that moment, the world seemed to slow for Keqing.
Keqing's body was enveloped in purple lightning all over. Her long hair lifted, defying gravity, charged with static electricity making every strand glow.
Her cloak fluttered wildly not from the wind, but from the Electro aura exploding from her core. Her Vision at her waist pulsed with blinding light, as if the thunder god's heart was beating there.
"Don't blink," she whispered to herself.
Then, she vanished.
A thunderclap exploded where she stood before, leaving scorch marks on the ice.
She didn't run; she became the lightning itself!
She crossed tens of meters in the blink of an eye, piercing the space between her and the giant.
Keqing reappeared in the air, floating high above the giant Golem's head.
Gravity seemed to forget her existence for a moment.
She hung there, like an avenging angel descending from Celestia.
In her hand, her slender sword was no longer mere metal.
It had transformed into a blinding lightning needle, coated in Electro energy so dense the air around it hissed and distorted.
…
They managed to reach that secluded bay as dusk began to fall. The sun set on the horizon, painting the sky with strokes of orange, pink, and purple so beautiful it felt painful.
The bay was perfectly hidden among high cliffs overgrown with twisted pine trees, its clear and calm water reflecting the twilight sky colors.
The gentle crash of waves on the white sandy beach became the only accompanying music as they dropped anchor.
After the ship was secure, Charles jumped down to the beach. He walked toward the crew gathered nervously near the small boats they would use to leave.
He said nothing.
He just opened his inventory and tossed a heavy leather pouch onto the sand in front of them. The clinking sound of hundreds of Mora coins clashing was so loud amid the bay's silence, making everyone jolt in surprise.
He looted the Mora from the ronin.
Charles slipped his hand into his pocket, his body radiating an aura of exhaustion and danger that made no one dare meet his eyes.
"Go," he said in a low voice. "Don't mention my name to anyone. This ship… is mine now."
The crew exchanged glances, their eyes filled with confusion and fear. But captain… we don't even know your name… how can we report you? they thought simultaneously, but no one dared say it in front of him.
They didn't want holes in their heads!
The merchant was the first to move. He bowed so deeply his forehead nearly touched the sand, then hurriedly gathered his family and pushed them toward one of the boats.
One by one, the other crew followed, moving quickly and silently, as if afraid their mysterious and terrifying new captain would change his mind.
The family was the last to go. They rowed their boat away from the beach with panicked motions, leaving Charles alone on the now empty and silent ship.
He stood there for a long time, staring at the small boats until they became black dots vanishing on the horizon.
The ensuing silence felt so strange and deafening after days filled with storm roars and battle cries. Only the gentle crash of waves and the creak of the old ship now his companions.
Soon after, he sighed.
…
Furina hugged her arms tightly to her trembling body, her stiff fingers clutching her own cloak fabric.
Her breath came out as thick white mist, a clump of life vibrating in the frozen air every time she tried to draw new oxygen into her stinging lungs.
Her jaw clenched, her facial muscles tensed against spasms, and her teeth chattered with uncontrollable clattering sounds.
She stopped for a moment, turning her body to look around.
There was nothing there.
Only rubble of ice-covered buildings, rusted metal statues, and slippery stone streets. No applause. No stage lights. No people adoring or judging her.
She was alone here, amid the world's stage abandoned by its audience.
That solitude hit her harder than the snow wind.
She closed her eyes briefly, trying to recall memories of warm afternoon tea and sweet cakes, but what came was only darkness behind her eyelids.
With a heavy sigh that immediately froze, she forced her feet to keep stepping.
Suddenly, something flickered at the edge of her vision.
Before her eyes, floated a transparent interface glowing soft blue, contrasting with the gray world around her.
A System!
"So this… is the system Charles and Arthur meant…," she whispered, her voice hoarse and weak, swallowed by the wind. "This looks… amazing."
She exhaled a long breath, her white vapor passing through the hologram screen.
With trembling hands, she raised her finger, touching empty air. Her fingertip triggered light ripples on the interface. She opened the Inventory menu, seeing empty boxes waiting to be filled. She opened the Skill menu, reading rows of words promising power she didn't fully understand yet. Finally, she opened the Quest menu.
A sense of awe briefly bloomed in her chest. However, that admiration slowly faded, melting like watercolor hit by rain, as reality bit her again.
This system is sophisticated, yes.
She was still alone here, standing amid a frozen grave with a game menu floating in front of her face.
At that moment, her sharp ears caught something. A sound that should be impossible in this dead place.
The sound of laughter!
It was a child's laughter, crisp and pure, breaking the silence like a silver bell struck at midnight.
Furina's eyes widened.
Is this a hallucination?
Has this cold finally driven me mad?
Without thinking, she closed her system screen and immediately moved, her feet that had felt heavy now lightened by burning curiosity and hope. She ran lightly toward the sound's source, turning at the corner of a ruined bakery.
Arriving there, she froze.
In a small square sheltered from the wind by collapsed walls, there were two small children. They wore thick patched clothes, their cheeks flushed from the cold, but their eyes shone bright.
They were playing snowball fight, throwing snow clumps at each other, laughing happily as if the world around them wasn't in apocalypse!
Furina couldn't help but feel surprised and smile. The smile bloomed slowly on her stiff face.
Life. There was still life here!
And not just the children.
Right ahead, walking toward the children, was another girl.
The girl was of medium build, her skin pale but looking healthy, different from the corpse pale around her. Her eyes were bright turquoise, radiating an unquenchable journalism spirit even at the world's end. Her salmon pink hair flowed to her shoulders, its color so vibrant amid this monochromatic landscape, like a flower blooming on snow.
She wore wine-red toned attire combined with black and gold accents—consisting of a layered top with sharp cuts, fashionable puffy sleeves, and a neatly fringed short skirt allowing free movement. Her look was completed with an iconic red hat with swaying feather adornment, a white belt full of pouches, and matching short boots. Around her neck hung a camera-symbol accessory, a silent witness to thousands of news she had captured.
It was Charlotte!
The tireless Steambird journalist was hugging a stack of canned food and dry bread to her chest, as if it were the most precious treasure in Teyvat.
Seeing Furina's figure standing conspicuously at the street's end, Charlotte's turquoise eyes widened. Pure shock painted her face, as if she had just seen a goddess's ghost.
However, that shock quickly melted, slowly widening into a genuine smile that seemed to penetrate her entire face, warming the air around her.
"Lady Furina!" she shouted, her voice full of relief and joy.
Charlotte waved her hand enthusiastically, nearly dropping the food she carried.
The children engrossed in their snowball fight suddenly fell silent hearing the shout.
They turned, looking toward Furina. Their eyes rounded, recognizing the figure who had once been their nation's symbol of justice. Shy smiles appeared on their faces.
They dropped their snowballs and were about to run toward Furina.
DUM!
The ground under the children's feet shook violently.
KRAAAK!
The sound of cracking ice was deafening.
From under the thick snow layer, right between the children and Furina, a massive hand made of solid ice and frozen rocks burst out.
The creature crawled up, its large body towering high, blocking the dim sunlight. It turned its head jerkily, its ice joints creaking horribly, before finally its coldly glowing blue eyes looked down.
Straight at the small children.
One of the children froze. His shoulders tensed, his body petrified instantly like a small animal seeing an ancient predator. Cold sweat flowed from his temple, sliding down his flushed cheek, though the air around was freezing. His breath raced, his chest rising and falling rapidly and shallowly like someone just chased by an invisible ghost. He couldn't run.
Time seemed to slow.
Knowing the Ice Golem raised its massive fist to crush the two small children into red stains on the snow, Charlotte didn't hesitate for a second.
"LOOK OUT!"
She released her hold on the precious food. Cans and bread fell to the snow, forgotten. Charlotte's hand moved quickly to her waist, where her Cryo Vision shone brightly.
She immediately aimed her camera.
At that moment, a Cryo energy explosion in the shape of a photo frame shot out, hitting the Golem's leg and freezing it instantly, pinning the creature to the ground before it could step forward.
On the other side, Furina's stage instinct immediately took over.
She drew her rapier from empty air. Her Hydro Vision suddenly glowed brilliant blue.
She shot forward. Gliding on ice, her body light and graceful. Three water creatures—an octopus, seahorse, and crab—appeared from water bubbles she created, immediately attacking the Golem from various directions.
The water creatures fired high-pressure water projectiles. The water hit the Golem's ice body.
At the same time, Charlotte continued bombarding the Golem with Cryo energy.
The water fired by Salon Solitaire soaked the Golem's body, seeping into its cracks. And the next second, Charlotte's Cryo energy froze that water again.
KRAK!
The frozen water inside the Golem expanded, creating immense internal pressure.
Large cracks appeared on its chest. The blue light in its eyes flickered in panic.
The Golem's ice structure couldn't withstand it!
Furina jumped high into the air, her dress fluttering beautifully. She aimed her rapier downward, right at the Golem's core.
She thrust down. Her sword tip, coated in swirling water like a drill, pierced the Golem's head and shattered its core.
BOOM!
The Golem exploded into thousands of glittering ice shards, falling to the ground like a deadly but beautiful diamond rain.
Silence descended again, but this time, it was a relieved silence.
Furina landed gracefully on the snow, her rapier vanishing in water foam. Her breath slightly gasping, but her eyes sparkling. She felt… alive. For the first time since waking in this place, she felt useful.
Charlotte lowered her camera, her breath also racing, but a wide smile still etched on her face. She quickly ran toward the children, checking them deftly.
Furina walked closer. She and Charlotte stood before the two still trembling children.
They both turned simultaneously, looking at the small frightened faces. Their voices blended, saying:
"Are you alright?"
…
A/N: Hopefully this story doesn't get more chaotic. I hope there are readers who realize this story is getting more chaotic xD
Btw, I'm still expecting comments!
If you want to read the 7 advanced chapters with a faster update frequency than the webnovel, you can read it on my patreon whose link is below:
https://www.pâtreon.com/Junxt
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