Lumine looked at the bizarre, non-human entity before her, surprised, and raised her weapon to her chest.
"What kind of monster is that?!" Paimon exclaimed, turning to Lumine in shock upon seeing Childe in his Foul Legacy Transformation.
"Keep your voice down, you idiot!"
Lumine stared intently at Childe, who was covered in deep purple armor. A suffocating aura emanated from him, making Lumine's breathing heavy.
"I don't know either. This guy is very strong. At least stronger than Childe. You hide well later," Lumine instructed Paimon.
This guy was enough to make the current Lumine give her absolute best. If she had to look after Paimon, Lumine estimated she would be unable to.
"Mm! I understand. When you two start fighting, he definitely won't find me!" Paimon nodded.
Her escape skills were among the best in Teyvat. Little Childe, Paimon could disappear in an instant.
"Haha, don't you recognize me? We were 'friends' for a few days, after all. That makes me a little sad."
Childe jumped from the top of the pill furnace to the ground, causing the entire Golden House to shake several times.
"You're Childe?!" Lumine's eyes widened. She re-examined the tall, humanoid creature before her and indeed found a few traces of Childe's appearance.
"Don't act like a child who hasn't seen the world. This is just one of my many techniques." Childe's voice in his Foul Legacy Transformation was particularly hoarse. There was no trace of the vitality of Childe's original age.
"Whether you're Childe or some Hilichurl, how dare you use us! Lumine will teach you a lesson until you're picking up your teeth from the ground!"
After realizing the person in front of her was Childe, Paimon immediately stomped her feet in anger. The thought of Childe using them these past few days made her furious.
And she thought she was going to make a rich friend this time!
"Use? Not really, is it? How nice it would have been if you two could have pretended not to know anything. Then perhaps we could have maintained that false friendship."
Childe flicked his blade, shaking off the golden liquid clinging to it. If he lingered, his weapon would be corroded and unusable.
"I don't need false friendships." Lumine's surroundings began to stir with flowing wind, blowing her golden hair back. Her eyes also became sharp.
"You want to fight? That suits me perfectly!" Childe felt Lumine's aura gradually rising, and the hot blood in his heart began to boil.
"You probably haven't seen a Harbinger's strength, have you? Perfect, this time will be unforgettable for you—" Childe hadn't even finished speaking when he transformed into a surging bolt of lightning and lunged at Lumine.
"Buzz—"
The sound of blades rubbing against each other rang out, like sharp needles pricking the eardrums.
Lumine met his attack with her sword, slightly shifting her body, and completely deflected Childe's heavy force.
The lightning dissipated, and Childe turned to look at Lumine. The force of his previous attack had been deflected by the young lady by eighty to ninety percent.
This unpleasant feeling reminded him of his experience in Tianqiu Valley. Yelan had used the same method to counter him back then.
"A Harbinger? I've wanted to see one for a long time." Lumine straightened her body. Childe's strength and speed, among humans, were indeed the strongest she had ever seen.
But after that brief exchange, the heavy stone in Lumine's heart finally settled a bit.
Her strength and Childe's were evenly matched.
"It seems this will be a very satisfying [struggle] for me." Childe raised a hand, seemingly sighing with emotion.
He had been in Liyue for a long time. Because of his plans, because of his identity, he was constrained everywhere. Childe even felt that his time in Liyue had been overly boring.
But now, something exciting seemed to have appeared.
"Come on, use all your strength and make me happy!" Childe roared, then raised the double-headed blade in his hand, and a purplish-black bowstring wrapped around it.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Surging water cannons roared deafeningly. Lumine blocked with her sword, but the powerful force of the water cannons made her unsteady.
She made a decisive decision, abandoning the idea of competing with Childe in strength. She directly stepped on the breeze, dodging the remaining water cannons.
"Bang!"
Water splashed against the walls of the Golden House, but the Golden House only trembled a few times before nothing further happened.
It made sense; as a Mora mint, the Golden House's construction materials were naturally chosen from the best. Destroying it would probably be no easier than building it.
"It's not good to keep hiding." A hoarse voice came from Lumine's side and behind her, startling her.
"Clang—"
Almost instinctively raising her sword to defend, Lumine immediately felt a huge force transmit through her right hand holding the sword.
"Your strength is too small!" Childe's tone carried a hint of triumph. He increased his strength. As he expected, Lumine's arm immediately bent.
But the next moment, Childe suddenly felt his hand lighten—Lumine had retracted the dull sword in her hand.
Caught off guard, Childe staggered a few steps. This created a slight opening in his previously impenetrable stance.
"This is what I wanted!" Lumine's eyes narrowed. Her left hand, which had been preparing for a long time, extended and swung, and in her palm was a condensed ball of wind.
"Boom!"
The compressed green wind exploded. Wind blades pushed Childe away while also cutting into his body.
"Not bad, it's been a long time since I've been injured." Childe, who had stabilized himself not far away, looked at Lumine with admiration.
Several deep scratches had indeed appeared on his Foul Legacy Transformation armor.
"But, this is still not enough!!!"
Childe leaped out, seemingly transforming into a bolt of lightning. Lumine quickly looked up at the sky, but found no trace of anything on the dome of the Golden House.
This time, Childe seemed to have become something invisible.
Suddenly, Lumine only felt her scalp tingle. She was surprised to find that at some unknown point, a light blue triangular mark had appeared on her body.
The light blue triangular mark rippled, like a beacon, guiding Childe's attack.
Lumine didn't have time to think. Besides the light breeze, her body also gained the heaviness of rock.
Bright yellow Geo element power gathered around Lumine's body. In a short moment, Lumine was completely enveloped by the topaz she had summoned.
"Screech—boom!"
The next moment, a thick purple lightning bolt descended from the sky. The flashing dark purple even dispelled the gold of the Golden House.
"Rumble!"
The floor of the Golden House could not withstand this fierce blow and instantly disintegrated. With countless brokenstones and dust, it fell into the ocean of Mora stored beneath the Golden House.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
Accompanied by coughing, Lumine pushed away the brokenstones pressing on her. She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, but found Childe looking up in a certain direction, unmoving.
Lumine looked up and saw a waterfall of Mora continuously falling from above the Golden House.
"So this is how Mora is forged?" Paimon appeared from nowhere, her eyes gleaming as she looked at the Mora waterfall.
She then looked up at the pill furnace standing steadily above the broken section and rubbed her hands. She suddenly wanted to steal that pill furnace.
"Hehe, the Qixing. I really don't know if it's confidence or arrogance. Even like this, they're still thinking about forging Mora." Childe saw the continuous output of Mora beneath the pill furnace and excitedly muttered to himself.
Since it could produce Mora, it meant the Gnosis must be inside.
He turned to look at Lumine, grinning, "You're Lumine, right? You're very strong, but I have important business to attend to now. So, please stay here for a while!"
With that, Childe took a big leap onto the broken section of the Golden House. Looking at the huge pill furnace before him, a brilliant idea suddenly popped into Childe's mind.
Could he perhaps tip over this pill furnace?
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