Just as Diluc stepped forward, preparing to understand Abyss Fire, Yu Jin extended a hand, stopping him.
Diluc glanced at Yu Jin in surprise, but still retreated. Regardless, Yu Jin had brought the intelligence this time, so Abyss Fire should rightfully be handled by him.
Yu Jin stopping Diluc wasn't out of generosity, but because he had thought of a good idea. An idea that would make Abyss Fire wholeheartedly convinced.
A slight smile played on his lips beneath his helmet, and he said to Abyss Fire, "You mean, in front of some great existence, individual sacrifices are negligible?"
"Of course! The Order's plan is beyond what insignificant beings like you can imagine!" Abyss Fire turned its head, looking at Yu Jin, and said with absolute certainty.
Under the glory of The Order, a small sacrifice was nothing at all!
Yu Jin nodded at its words, then said, "In that case, please die."
"I also have a plan, and believe me, it's definitely grander, vaster, and more exciting than The Order's!"
"It just has one small drawback…"
As Yu Jin spoke, he extended a palm towards Abyss Fire.
"That is, it requires your life!"
His palm clenched into a fist, and an immense pressure instantly descended around Abyss Fire.
The sound of "crackle-crunch" of bones breaking rang out. Under this immense pressure, Abyss Fire didn't even have time to scream before it was compressed into a dense, black-red sphere.
Yu Jin always preferred to convince with reason, so Abyss Fire should have no complaints now. After all, it was also sacrificed for some great plan, though Yu Jin hadn't quite figured out what that plan was yet.
Soon, a profound darkness enveloped the sphere floating in the air, devouring the last remnants of red light on it.
The sphere, which had originally glowed faintly with red light, now completely transformed into a black box. It was shrouded in darkness, and no one knew what was happening inside.
"Hiss! Hiss!"
"Buzz! Buzz!"
"Caw! Caw!"
...High-frequency, dense gnawing sounds emanated from the pitch-black sphere, as if countless small insects were tearing at something beneath the darkness.
"Hiss—" Everyone present covered their ears, letting out cries of pain. The insect-like sounds were like tiny needles, constantly pricking their eardrums.
A loud ringing echoed in the minds of Diluc and the others, making them unable to hear anything else.
Fortunately, this buzzing did not last long. Soon, there was no more movement inside the sphere—whatever was inside had been completely devoured.
Venti, too, had stopped playing amidst the buzzing. He looked at Yu Jin and asked, "What was that just now?"
The ringing in his ears didn't affect him as much, which allowed Venti to hear deeper layers within the sounds.
He understood profoundly that if the ringing sound stayed in one's mind for too long, it would cause things that shouldn't grow to grow in the mind.
"What was it?" Yu Jin thought for a moment, found it difficult to explain, and so waved his hand, saying, "It's something to purify the Abyss, of course!"
As he spoke, the blackness on the sphere in front of them gradually receded. Beneath the darkness, tiny starlight dotted a silver-blue curtain—a scene of the starry sky.
"This is…" Diluc looked at the magnificent, miniature starry sky sphere before him, and began to recall the intelligence he had seen.
Unfortunately, he couldn't find any related information. Apart from astrologists, it seemed no one in Teyvat studied the starry sky.
Therefore, knowledge about the starry sky was scarce, both in academia and among the populace.
"Such… such stable Abyss power!" Enjou answered the doubt in Diluc's heart. He looked at the sphere before him, his eyes revealing a deep longing.
Such stable and gentle Abyss power, he had never even heard of it, let alone seen it.
Even an organization like the Abyss Order, which utilized the Abyss with utmost proficiency, had to be extremely careful when dealing with it. As for stabilizing Abyss power, that was simply unthinkable.
Those who sought to control the Abyss were, without exception, all devoured by the Abyss.
"It's for you!" Yu Jin waved his hand, and then this miniature starry sky flew directly into Enjou's body.
"Wait…" Enjou hadn't had time to say anything before this pure Abyss power began to flow through his body, transforming it.
The external Abyss power resonated with the Abyss power already present in Enjou's body, and his body began to undergo a peculiar change.
A white light enveloped Enjou's body, and then the Pyro element in the air seemed to be drawn by something, rushing into Enjou's body all at once.
The dense Pyro element turned the surroundings crimson, and even the air that had previously settled began to stir again.
"What… what's happening to it!" Enyu felt the scorching heat before him, and the staff in his hand had begun to emit a faint blue glow.
If anything happened to Enjou, he would save Enjou no matter what.
"Don't worry, Enjou is just evolving!" Yu Jin's gaze penetrated the dazzling white light, seeing Enjou within.
Enjou's strength was originally top-tier among the Abyss Mages; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to wander the world with his three companions.
Now, with the addition of the pure Abyss power Yu Jin had given him, Enjou's strength had risen another level, and his body was evolving in a familiar direction.
The white light grew larger and clearer, transforming from an original halo into a blurry human figure. But strangely, the more people looked at the figure, the more familiar it seemed?
Not long after, Enjou's transformation was complete. The white light dissipated, replaced by an uncontrollable madness and a scorching heat that seemed to burn everything.
A vast aura completely spread out, causing everyone to squint their eyes.
Once Enjou familiarized himself with his newfound power, this aura and heat were quickly drawn back into his body.
Slender, fierce eyes, a robe that billowed without wind, and the circular spiral codex floating before him—all revealed his identity: an Abyss Lector, a high-ranking combatant of The Order!
"Clang—" Diluc and the others almost reflexively drew their weapons. The humming sound of vibrating blades once again resonated on the small hill.
"You… you are Enjou?" Enyu asked, somewhat uncertainly, upon seeing Enjou's drastically changed appearance.
The Enjou before him exuded an aura of a superior being, just like Abyss Fire before. Enyu feared that Enjou would also turn out that way.
"No way? It's just a change in appearance, is it really that big a deal?" Enjou, seeing everyone's wary expressions, immediately abandoned the idea of showing off.
He casually tossed the codex in his hand to Enyu, making a shrug gesture.
At this action, both Diluc's group and Enyu's group collectively breathed a sigh of relief.
Enyu's short arms held the codex Enjou had thrown over, his heart filled with immense gratitude. He was grateful that Enjou was still the same Enjou.
The codex was taboo for an Abyss Lector, and apart from Enjou, it was unlikely that The Order could find a second person who would throw the codex to him so casually.
"Apologies, you know. To us humans, you all look too similar," Diluc said, seeing Enjou's action, and sheathed his weapon.
His words just now were, of course, merely an excuse, but none of that mattered as long as there was no conflict.
Yu Jin looked at Enjou, compared him to his previous appearance, and then curiously said, "By the way, do all your Abyss Heralds and such in The Order evolve like this?"
Enjou was momentarily stunned by the question, then thought for a moment and replied, "Most of them do, but a small portion are born directly."
"So they can also evolve?" Yu Jin asked, looking at Enyu and the others who were fiddling with the codex behind Enjou.
"Of course," Enjou nodded.
"Since I've reached this level, I definitely have to bring them along with me."
"After all, they're the only ones in The Order I get along with."
At the end, Enjou's eyes held an unparalleled determination.
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