As the saying goes, "A distant mountain can exhaust a horse before you ever reach it."
Although the humanoid mech was nowhere near mountain-sized, it was still tens, if not over a hundred, meters tall.
That said…
At this scale, it was practically a living target.
Lumine genuinely could not understand why Azar and his group had designed the false god's body to be so awkward in size.
If you called it big,
Azhdaha, in his true form, reached nearly a thousand meters.
If you called it small,
this so-called god was still undeniably over a hundred meters tall.
It hovered in a strangely delicate zone,
too big to be agile, too small to be awe-inspiring.
In simple terms: neither impressive nor practical.
And this was supposed to rival the level of the Seven?
If so, then the title of "Archon" really was cheap.
Lumine sighed inwardly.
"Lumine, we still haven't run into that Harbinger, Scaramouche," Paimon said, puzzled. "Where is he?"
Lumine pointed calmly at the towering mech and replied softly,
"Isn't he right there?"
"Huh?"
Before Paimon could process that, the mech suddenly shuddered violently.
Its lowered head slowly lifted as dense Dendro Archon-level divine power surged through its frame.
The faceplate opened.
Scaramouche's face appeared, twisted with madness and killing intent.
"It was you who destroyed my path to godhood!"
Lumine ignored him entirely, thinking aloud instead.
"So… Nahida's Gnosis is already installed inside the mech?"
"A divine body, a divine heart, plus divine wisdom, and that's a god? That's… brutally simple."
She tilted her head, examining Scaramouche.
"Honestly, this guy just looks insane. Does he really have anything resembling divine wisdom?"
Scaramouche snapped.
"You understand nothing! I was born to become a god! You insects, short-sighted vermin! How could you ever comprehend my destiny?!"
"True," Lumine nodded thoughtfully.
"I can't empathize with lunatics."
Every word pushed Scaramouche further over the edge.
Not having a Electro Gnosis was already enough to drive him mad.
Now, the so-called divine body wasn't complete, the divine wisdom was nonexistent, and the only thing he could rely on was this mech's crude access to the Gnosis's power.
This was a far cry from the god he envisioned, where every gesture carried divine judgment.
And all of it had been ruined by Lumine and her companions.
To be awakened from a dream right before it came true,
That kind of despair and rage was impossible to suppress.
But…
None of that mattered to Lumine.
She was here for one thing only.
"Let's finish this quickly," she said casually. "Ryen's new mod is already live, we need to hurry."
With a flick of her hand, she summoned six dragons.
She glanced at their size, then at the mech.
Her urge to complain intensified.
That supposedly majestic god-mech…
was only about half a dragon taller.
Surrounded by six dragons, Scaramouche looked like a child about to be bullied.
Lumine drew her staff and weapons, then equipped enchanted diamond armor.
Scaramouche's pupils contracted.
He was unhinged, but not blind.
Six dragons alone were already overwhelming.
Continuing to posture would mean genuine insanity.
Without another word, he slammed his hand down toward Lumine.
Brilliant green energy condensed in the mech's chest and fired in a blinding beam.
When the dust settled,
Lumine stood unharmed.
Three shimmering shields rotated calmly around her.
She scratched her head, puzzled.
"That's it? You're really weak… not even close to how scary Ei was when she chased me."
Mentioning Raiden Ei to Scaramouche was the equivalent of deliberate emotional annihilation.
"Don't mention her!"
He erupted in fury.
Pure Dendro divine power poured out in a catastrophic barrage.
But this time, backlash struck him as well.
A Gnosis, despite Zhongli and the others treating them casually, was far from weak.
As an Archon-exclusive artifact, the superior form of a Vision, its power was unquestionable.
Scaramouche, however, was only a prototype puppet.
Even if he could bear divine power, he was incomplete, otherwise Ei would never have discarded him.
Worse still, he was compatible with Electro, not Dendro.
In simple terms:
mismatched equipment.
Backlash was inevitable.
The mech absorbed some of the strain, preventing instant death, but pain was unavoidable.
Even so, the all-out assault still achieved nothing.
Lumine stood her ground, tanking it head-on.
The three shields finally shattered.
She raised an eyebrow.
"Consumables really are inconvenient…"
Scaramouche raised his hand again and slammed downward.
Lumine calmly swapped to another staff.
Five new shields appeared instantly.
"Go on," she said lightly, hands on her hips.
"I want to see how long it takes you to break through my defenses."
Her expression wasn't mocking,
but to Scaramouche, it was unbearable.
From afar, Paimon floated lazily, watching Lumine provoke him over and over.
"Seriously… when did Lumine get this good at taunting?"
Lumine still didn't counterattack.
She stood still, letting Scaramouche strike again and again,
slams, Dendro bombardments, relentless fury.
Eventually, the shields from the second staff vanished as well.
Scaramouche's eyes lit up with excitement.
"I get it now!"
"Your shields forcibly negate one instance of damage, no matter how powerful it is!"
Lumine raised an eyebrow and laughed lightly.
"So you're not completely stupid after all! Still pretty brainless though. Ei figured this out back when she broke my sixth shield."
Whether intentional or not, Lumine repeatedly brought up Ei right in front of Scaramouche.
The fleeting joy Scaramouche felt at uncovering her secret vanished instantly. He stared at Lumine coldly.
"Your shields are gone. I will use your life as the sacrifice for my ascension to godhood!"
Unhurried, Lumine pulled out yet another staff. Familiar shields reappeared, revolving around her body.
"Yeah, yeah. The shields are gone. Go on, keep going."
"..."
Scaramouche fell silent.
Even in his rage-fueled, near-mad state, he began to question reality itself.
This kind of ability,
Forcibly nullifying all damage…
Should something like this really exist?
And not just once,
But this many times?!
"Why did you stop attacking?" Lumine asked curiously.
"Or maybe… try a little harder? I only brought three staves. This really is the last shield."
Scaramouche said nothing. Dense clusters of Dendro projectiles formed around him. The increasing backlash drained the color from his face; even his body was beginning to give out.
"Die!"
The elemental barrage surged forward and swallowed Lumine once more.
Not far away, Paimon yawned lazily.
"Paimon, Lumine, "
Dehya's anxious voice rang out as she rushed over.
In the distance, Rahman was busy beating something that barely looked humanoid with his Eremite companions, wearing an expression of immense satisfaction.
"Dehya, you're done already? That was fast," Paimon said cheerfully.
Dehya pursed her lips. "We should go help Lumine."
"Help her with what?" Paimon asked, confused, pointing at Scaramouche.
"Can't you see she's having a blast? Besides, he's about to kill himself. No need to worry about her."
"But…"
Dehya still looked uneasy as she glanced at the dense barrage.
"Attacks at that level, "
Before she could finish, Lumine's voice rang out again.
"Oh no! My shield's gone again! Whatever shall I do?"
The shameless tone killed Dehya's concern on the spot.
Scaramouche's pupils shrank. He shot into the air, clasping his hands together.
This time, there was no taunting,
He fully unleashed divine power.
A towering emerald beam erupted from the ground, completely engulfing Lumine.
The next moment, the mech slammed heavily into the earth.
Inside, Scaramouche stared feverishly at the pillar of divine light.
"This time… let's see how you, "
The light faded.
Lumine stood there unharmed.
And on her body,
Four shields.
"..."
Scaramouche went silent. After a long moment, he snapped in frustration.
"Damn it! Damn it! Just how many of these freakish things do you have?!"
"Are you kidding?" Lumine scoffed.
"Would you ever tell your enemy your full arsenal in a fight?"
That single disdainful glance hurt Scaramouche more than the backlash ever did.
Realizing she might be bullying him a little too hard, Lumine scratched her cheek and shrugged.
"Actually, I didn't lie. I really only have three staves, but…"
She waved the staff apologetically.
"Just like your elemental skills have cooldowns, my Lich Barrier does too."
"Unfortunately for you, the cooldown on my first staff is already over."
At that moment, Scaramouche felt his vision go dark.
How was he supposed to fight this?
From start to finish, she rotated three staves,
Maintaining invincibility nonstop,
Standing still while tanking his full output.
Just when victory seemed close, she calmly told him the cooldown was done.
And if you thought about it,
The other two staves' cooldowns would finish soon as well.
Which meant,
Permanent invincibility.
From beginning to end, she had never been vulnerable.
What was the point of fighting anymore?
Lumine hadn't even counterattacked,
And Scaramouche was already on the verge of collapsing.
So then…
Why did she even summon those six dragons?
Just to let them watch the show?
At that moment, Scaramouche's entire sense of self-worth was obliterated.
He suddenly didn't want to become a god anymore.
Seeing him looking utterly broken, Lumine scratched her head.
"Hey… you okay? Don't be like this. I promise I won't bully you anymore."
"If you shut down like this, I won't be able to explain it to Makoto, you know!"
She was genuinely worried,
If she bullied Scaramouche into emotional collapse, wouldn't Makoto, as his aunt, scold her?
She truly meant it.
But to Scaramouche,
That only made things worse.
What could be more devastating than an enemy's concern in the middle of battle?
He felt completely hollow.
Fight,
Can't break the shields.
Don't fight,
Gets mocked anyway.
For the first time in his existence…
Scaramouche wanted to cry.
"Lumine! Stop messing with him!" Paimon shouted, hands on her hips.
"If he shuts down completely, Makoto's really gonna be mad! Just dismantle the big toy and drag him away already!"
Lumine nodded, hoisting an RPG onto her shoulder.
"Scaramouche, hold on a moment. I'll take apart your big toy first, then bring you to see your aunt."
Inside the mech, Scaramouche lost all will to resist.
The next instant, a rocket slammed into the mech,
And the dragons began mercilessly piling on.
Scaramouche had never imagined a day when he would be bullied like this.
That bright, cheerful girl across from him,
She wasn't human at all.