"Hmm?" Hearing the arrogant laughter, Nahida's brow furrowed instantly as she turned toward the sound.
There stood Phandrea, who should have been annihilated by her Superposition Magic, perfectly unharmed, floating in the void. Scarlet mist enveloped the sky and wrapped around her entire body, leaving only her head exposed as she cackled wildly. To the untrained eye, she might have appeared to be a madwoman who had escaped from a mental asylum.
"Strange... even if she somehow evaded the attack, she shouldn't be completely unscathed..." Nahida murmured, her gaze filled with puzzlement as she studied Phandrea.
"Then the answer is quite obvious..."
Her voice, neither loud nor soft, carried clearly to March 7th, Stelle, and the others, causing Nahida's words to appear in the Player's dialogue box.
"Heh heh heh, Nahida, your power is nothing special after all." Though Phandrea was also perplexed by how easily she had withstood the attack, she quickly dismissed the question. Does it even matter?
It didn't matter, not even remotely.
Whether Nahida was too weak, or Phandrea was too strong, or someone had secretly intervened—none of it mattered.
What truly mattered was that Nahida's full-force attack had caused Phandrea no harm whatsoever. Now she could mock Nahida, that little piece of trash, to her heart's content!
Phandrea had already noticed Lumina and her companions' arrival. Knowing she couldn't possibly harm Nahida under Lumina's watchful gaze, Phandrea abandoned all martial arts techniques. Instead, she focused all her power into her voice, determined to deliver one last, vicious verbal blow before her defeat.
I can't disgust that wretched woman Lumina, but surely I can disgust you, Nahida, with your identical face?
Nahida's face was nearly identical to Lumina's. Disgusting Nahida, figuratively speaking, would be like indirectly disgusting Lumina herself, wouldn't it?
And this body Phandrea currently occupied also borrowed Lumina's appearance. Even if she ended up getting thoroughly beaten, by the same logic, wouldn't that be like Lumina getting thoroughly beaten?
Phandrea thought to herself, her mood lifting considerably after delivering those mocking, provocative words.
Has she lost her mind? Lumina and Nahida exchanged wry glances, having overheard Phandrea's thoughts.
"Let's not waste any more time. We'll take her down together," Nahida said, shaking her head and gazing disdainfully at Phandrea, who was enveloped in crimson mist high above.
Hearing this, Phandrea's mocking expression vanished, replaced by a look of intense focus and contemplation. The crimson mist descended from the sky, gradually engulfing everything in its path.
Though Phandrea doubted she could defeat the combined forces of Nahida and Lumina, her pride as a Lord Ravager forbade her from cowering in retreat.
Even if the outcome seemed predetermined, as long as the dust hadn't settled, she would fight with all her might until the very end!
Phandrea felt as though she had entered an unprecedented state, both mentally and physically. Never before had she felt so overwhelmingly powerful!
"Gya ha ha ha! Gya ha ha ha! Gya ha ha ha!"
"Struggle with all your might! Fight to the bitter end!"
Without a doubt, Phandrea didn't care where this sudden surge of power came from. After all...
She had grown larger.
As Phandrea's words echoed, the players' screens shattered, plunging them into battle.
"Why are there still two forms? Mihoyo, please don't pull this crap again!"
Just when Little Bear thought this would be the final battle, he noticed the Boss's health bar still had two dots. Panic surged through him.
The form showcased in the previews hadn't appeared, meaning this Phandrea wasn't the final Boss of Version 1.7... And the Version 1.7 storyline hadn't reached its conclusion.
[Great! Fighting Lumina! We're doomed!]
[Where are all the people who said she was invincible? Still invincible now?]
[I bet a pack of spicy ramen that after this Phandrea fight, there's gonna be an even bigger wave coming! (facepalm)]
[Sword! Sword! Sword! Sword Lumina! Sword Nahida! Sword Little Swarm! Sword March 7th! Sword Stelle! Sword them all! Just end it already!]
[After defeating Phandrea, can I claim her as my spoils of war? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]
The fact that the boss only had two lives, while somewhat surprising, made perfect sense. Most players saw no issue with it.
After all, although several hours had passed, starting the final boss battle so soon felt a little rushed, given the story's progression.
[I hope we don't have to fight Phandrea several more times.]
Since this was a boss battle in the main story, auto-battle was disabled. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem; the first time fighting a boss still felt fresh, so manual combat was fine.
But the issue was, Little Bear had already fought Lumina's first and second forms countless times... once on the Xianzhou Luofu, and three or four times here in Sumeru?
Even with the absolute counter provided by the true god Character Lumina, Little Bear was practically on the verge of throwing up from the endless battles...
No matter how delicious something is, eating too much of it will eventually make you feel nauseous.
Hmm... except for certain things ԅ(♡♡ԅ)
Sighing, Little Bear listlessly gripped the mouse, lazily controlling his character to attack the Boss.
Thanks to Little Bear's character's absurdly high proficiency, the Boss was swiftly defeated once again.
After the Boss fell, the screen went black, transitioning into the usual cutscene.
"Ahem, ganging up on me? What kind of skill is that? Come at me one-on-one!"
With Nahida and Lumina present, Stelle and March 7th refrained from using the power within their rings. Though Little Swarm was a Pseudo-Emanator, her contribution in a battle of true Emanator-Class magnitude was negligible.
The trio were essentially just bystanders, with Nahida and Lumina carrying the brunt of the fight.
Neither Nahida nor Lumina could stand up to Phandrea in a one-on-one fight, let alone both of them teaming up against her...
Phandrea had no means of resisting and was thoroughly pummeled by the duo. She quickly lost all ability to retaliate, and the dream realm she had created began to crumble.
With a dizzying flash, the dreamscape that had blanketed the entirety of Sumeru's back mountains vanished instantly. Stripped of the Dream Authority's power boost, Phandrea reverted to her true form: a scarlet, mist-like entity.
"Come on, then! If you've got the guts, wait till I recover for a real one-on-one fight, you wretched woman!"
Despite being utterly powerless, Phandrea's pride as a Lord Ravager remained unshaken. She threw her head back and roared defiantly, her stubbornness unwavering.
"You really talk too much." Nahida, unwilling to waste further words, casually flicked a ball of green energy toward Phandrea.
The moment the green energy touched Phandrea's Main Body, she was instantly enveloped in its emerald light. The energy compressed her relentlessly, crushing her into a sphere no larger than a thumb.
To the very end, she uttered not a single scream.
"Huh, she didn't even cry out?"
Seeing this, a flicker of surprise flashed in both Nahida and Lumina's eyes.
The soul-piercing, bone-chilling, and seemingly soul-annihilating pain hadn't even elicited a single sound from Phandrea. Nahida and Lumina couldn't help but feel a grudging admiration, silently saluting her in their hearts as a true warrior...
But the truth was far simpler...
Phandrea hadn't made a sound because she had fainted from the pain before she could even scream...
Well, I guess I was overthinking it, both Lumina and Nahida mentally added, seeing the scene unfold.
"Is it over?" March 7th asked, seeing the super boss defeated so easily.
"Yes, the matter with Phandrea is resolved," Nahida nodded, gesturing to the green orb before storing it within her Great Book.
"The matter with Phandrea? Does that mean there's something else we need to deal with?" Silly March 7th, as if suddenly unlocking a cheat code, instantly seized upon the crucial detail in Nahida's words.
Upon hearing March 7th's question, Nahida didn't immediately reply. Instead, she turned to Lumina.
"Let's go. We have one last thing to do."
Lumina smiled at Nahida's glance, offered no further comment, and stepped forward to lead the way.
"..."
Nahida watched Lumina's retreating figure, a flicker of unreadable thoughts crossing her eyes. She seemed lost in contemplation.
"Nahida, what are you thinking about?" March 7th called out after they had walked a short distance, noticing Nahida still standing in place, her head bowed in thought.
"It's nothing," Nahida replied with a shake of her head, stepping forward to catch up.
If it's truly as I suspect...
So, in the end, you couldn't endure it after all?
As Nahida's thoughts ceased, two lines of her inner monologue appeared in the Player's dialogue box.
[Can't endure it? What can't she endure? Can the riddler just get the hell out of Sumeru!]
Little Bear erupted into a string of profanities upon seeing these cryptic, blade-sharp words.
As a player, Little Bear hated this kind of thing the most: full of cryptic riddles while simultaneously being packed with gut-wrenching cruelty.
[I have a theory: Nahida and Lumina might be sisters, both born from Irminsul. This would explain why they're so familiar with each other, yet have so little direct interaction.]
[Got it! Either Lumina dies, or Nahida dies. One of them has to go. No way around it. (Covers face)]
[Alright, place your bets! Lumina dies or Nahida dies? I'll go first: I bet on Nahida dying. A whole pack of spicy noodles on it!]
[Low stakes, man. I bet they both die. Then March 7th and the others have their memories wiped, leave Sumeru for Penacony. After a while, the Abyss invades, the Sumeru Star System is destroyed, and its existence is erased by the Abyss, becoming a forgotten system in the Cosmos...]
[Can't even flame this. This guy's a real-life King of Hell. (Covers face)]
[Still confused about Lumina's death? Still grieving Nahida's demise? [Lumina x Nahida's Corruption: The Unspeakable Secrets Beneath Irminsul Multi-CharacterLong FicCollection]. Not 999, not 888, just 8.88!]
"Oh, only scamming for 8.8 yuan this time?" Perhaps due to his special ability, Little Bear could always precisely pinpoint any message posted by the Doujinshi Seller amidst the rapidly scrolling comment section.
Little Bear sneered, his tone dripping with mockery.
"I remember seeing these doujinshi priced at several hundred yuan before. How did they suddenly drop to 8.8 yuan? What's this? No suckers fell for the hundreds-of-yuan scam, so now you've lowered the price to 8.8 yuan?"
Initially, these scam artists had actually made a tidy sum. But as time passed, anyone familiar with the doujinshi scene knew that any doujinshi claiming to feature Lumina was impossible to create, let alone sell...
Anyone still daring to peddle such garbage deserved Little Bear's grudging respect.
As for the buyers...
Very good! Little Bear had no words. These people deserved to be scammed out of 8.8 yuan.
Without further thought, Little Bear flicked his finger and immediately kicked the Doujinshi Seller out of the live stream, permanently adding him to the blacklist.
Once the comment section calmed down, Little Bear resumed progressing through the game's storyline.
Little Bear had a premonition: the main quest of Version 1.7 was about to reach its conclusion...
-
[Spy-Big author note incoming]
(Author: These plot points were poorly written. The narrative jumped between three perspectives: the Player's, Lumina and Nahida's, and the Reader's. Managing three distinct storylines proved beyond my capabilities. /(ㄒoㄒ)/~~
If I had erased Lumina's memories from the start—cutting myself first before cutting others—it would have been much smoother.
Nahida's portrayal was a misstep; I shouldn't have revealed her thought process so explicitly.
The Abyss invades, Irminsul is corrupted. Nahida senses this, understanding her duty. Though there's still time, she isn't in a hurry. The arrival of the Player party piques her interest. She cons them out of their Sumeru City sightseeing funds while observing them (Nahida is perpetually broke). After understanding Lumina's intentions, she ventures to the mountains behind Sumeru City, where she falls into a dream realm crafted by the Abyssal Sovereign Phandrea. Lumina intervenes to save her.
There are many types of Abyssal Sovereigns. Typically, during each Abyss invasion, a single Sovereign leads the charge. The Sovereign specializing in Dream Authority caught Nahida off guard, causing her to fall into their trap.
---The protagonist group awakens in the wooden cabin within the Eternal Garden. For reasons unknown, Little Swarm has transformed into human form. Nahida meets Lumina and makes no attempt to conceal her dislike and suspicion, suspecting Lumina of manipulating events from the shadows. However, the presence of the protagonist group prevents Nahida and Lumina from coming to blows. The group searches for traces of Phandrea's dream manipulation, defeats Phandrea, and Nahida solidifies her resolve.---???
(The true relationship between Nahida and Lumina, as seen from the Player's perspective, will be explained later.)
This is how the story unfolded from the Player's perspective, but what I've presented to the readers has been completely altered. (╥_╥)
Truth be told, it's poorly written and confusing. I should have had Lumina take a hit before the plot even started...
Guess I should just stick to writing stories about Lumina and beautiful girls becoming friends.)