"D-damn it, what... what's going on?" Abyss Fire, having taken a direct hit from the Firebird, collapsed to the ground, already at its last gasp.
Despite this, Abyss Fire's injured eyes still held a look of disbelief. The Abyss Passage had rejected it, something that had never happened before.
"Cough... cough cough! What... what methods did you use!" Abyss Fire had never been in such a bad state. Its once imposing presence was now completely gone.
It endured the pain to prop itself up, shakily raising its arms, and pointed at Diluc and Jean, asking them.
But Diluc and Jean were completely bewildered; they also didn't understand why Abyss Fire had been directly spit out.
However, none of that mattered anymore, as long as they could keep Abyss Fire here. The fellow in front of them was an Abyss Lector, far beyond the Abyss Mages wandering in the wild.
It surely held many important pieces of intelligence! Thinking of this, Diluc's eyes lit up with fervor.
The Abyss Order, in its mysteriousness, was no less significant than the underground intelligence network he was part of in the northern continent.
Abyss Fire felt the intensity in Diluc's eyes and couldn't help but shrink back. What did this human want to do to it?
"You should know, you're Fish on a chopping block now. Cooperate with us, and you might still have a chance to live!" Diluc, uncharacteristically, questioned an Abyss Monster.
Mainly, he had previously encountered an Abyss Mage willing to disclose information, which gave him some hope for Abyss Fire, hoping it was also that kind of "special" existence.
Unfortunately, Abyss Fire was not; it was a standard Abyss Monster.
Abyss Fire burst into laughter upon hearing Diluc's question, "Ha... haha, the Abyss... will devour everything, and we will... will return to the earth!"
Perhaps due to its severe injuries, Abyss Fire paused after every sentence it spoke. But its laughter was incredibly boisterous; Abyss Fire seemed to be caught up in some grand event, forgetting even the pain of its injuries.
Looking at Abyss Fire's fervent and fanatical demeanor, Diluc shook his head regretfully. It seemed he had truly overthought things; this fellow was clearly exactly like the Abyss Mages from before.
If that's the case, then go meet the Abyss!
Just as Diluc was about to swing his sword to kill Abyss Fire, a sharp and familiar voice came from not far away.
"Actually, it wanted to come and check on the Northland Wolf King. What its specific purpose was, I'm not very clear."
Diluc looked in the direction of the voice and saw a strange scene: Lumine and Paimon were chatting and laughing with a group of Abyss Mages, and the one speaking was the leading Pyro Abyss Mage, Enjou.
"It's you!" Diluc recognized Enjou at a glance. Although Abyss Mages all looked similar to humans, Diluc had painstakingly memorized Enjou's appearance.
Not for anything else, but just to be able to recognize it when he saw Enjou. If he accidentally killed Enjou along with other Abyss Mages, Diluc would have nowhere to cry.
After all, an Abyss Mage like Enjou was a rare species and needed to be well protected.
When Abyss Fire saw that Enjou had directly revealed the purpose of its trip to the humans, its laughter abruptly stopped, as if someone had choked it.
After a brief moment of shock, a burst of rage followed. Abyss Fire tremblingly pointed at Enjou, resentfully saying:
"I should have known... I should have known... I didn't expect you to betray The Order! Enjou, do you know the consequences of doing this!"
"You thought nothing of the sort!" Yu Jin walked over, making a mocking downward gesture at Abyss Fire. For Abyss Fire, Yu Jin could only praise how amazing the Abyss Passage was.
Fortunately, the Abyss Passage had no self-awareness, otherwise Yu Jin estimated that the Abyss Passage would probably reject Abyss Fire's teleportation request.
Given this fellow's arrogant and conceited personality, the dangers it encountered would probably be numerous, and it was likely that it brought these dangers upon itself.
However, Enjou heard Abyss Fire's questioning and showed no guilt. It floated beside Abyss Fire and said fiercely:
"Betray The Order? I never said that. From beginning to end, all I wanted was for you to die!"
As it spoke, Enjou seemed to recall the days it was exploited by Abyss Fire before, and its tone became even more intense.
"You're stupid and arrogant. Because of you, how many companions has The Order lost! If you weren't an Abyss Lector, I would have killed you long ago. How could I have let you wreak havoc for so long?"
Enjou grew angrier as it spoke, and by the end, it even pulled Enka and the others into it. The four Abyss Mages, who had long suffered under Abyss Fire's oppression, began to verbally assault Abyss Fire.
Countless vulgarities spewed from their four mouths, hitting Abyss Fire's head and leaving it utterly stunned.
Yu Jin listened for a while, then dug at his ears, and also covered Paimon's ears.
Why, you ask? One can only say that Enjou and the others' vulgarity was terrifyingly bad, and their ways of cursing were never repetitive. Yu Jin was afraid of corrupting the children.
Countless crude words entered Abyss Fire's ears, and its expression barely changed. To be honest, Abyss Fire didn't feel much about insults, not to mention it didn't have many possessions to begin with.
Sometimes, what Enjou and the others said as insults were more like statements of fact.
After chattering for a long time, Enjou and the others finally vented all their dissatisfaction and resentment.
Enjou felt the astonished gazes cast upon it by everyone. It recalled its recent behavior and quickly scratched its head, explaining:
"Hey! You don't have to look at me like that, do you? If you met your enemy, you might be even worse than me!"
"I generally don't engage in verbal sparring." Diluc also dug at his ear, responding with an unperturbed expression.
"Indeed, I usually go straight to action." Yu Jin also nodded in agreement. He never liked to talk much; when he met an enemy, he always went straight to fighting.
"Heh heh, those Abyss Mages, and all of you, exist for The Order's great plan. To sacrifice for The Order's plan is your glory!"
"It's always some great plan, some return to the surface. Can't you change your wording?" Enjou heard Abyss Fire use the same old excuse again and immediately interrupted it impatiently.
"Why don't you explain this 'great plan' to me? Don't just talk about it without saying anything! If you want me to die, at least let me know why I'm dying, right?"
Enjou's mouth moved rapidly; it seemed to be utterly fed up with the "great plan" within the Abyss Order.
"Right! Explain it! To let others die in confusion, you really have the nerve to do such a thing!"
Yu Jin hated two kinds of people the most in his life: one was a riddle-teller, and the other was someone who exposed him when he told riddles.
And Abyss Fire was clearly the former!
Who knew that Abyss Fire, upon hearing Enjou and Yu Jin's words, merely sneered, "Hmph! You want me to reveal The Order's intelligence? Don't even think about it!"
"As for The Order's plan, you will understand. By then, you will realize that all sacrifices are worth it!"
By the end, Abyss Fire's expression again took on a hint of fanaticism, as if it had an unparalleled blind faith in the "plan" it spoke of.
Looking at Abyss Fire, completely immersed in its own world, everyone fell silent. In a sense, such a fellow was quite terrifying.
After all, from Yu Jin's experience, the scope of "disregarding sacrifice" would only grow larger and larger.
In the end, perhaps the benefits of that "plan" would not even be a tenth of the sacrifices made.
"There's nothing to say to this kind of fellow. Let's finish it off." Diluc inexplicably felt a sense of familiarity.
Soon, he understood where this sense of familiarity came from—the Fatui. That organization that also spoke of the Empress's ideals, but when truly questioned, stammered and couldn't say a single word.
It was hard to say which Diluc disliked more, the Fatui or the Abyss Order. Or rather, he disliked them equally.
However, due to the Fatui's human identity, he found it difficult to act against them. Thinking of this, Diluc gradually tightened his grip on his greatsword.
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