Mavuika: "I've never heard these secrets before, Traveler. How did you learn..."
Lumine: "Sumeru's Pure Soul recalled a fragment of memory through a special method and shared it with me. The Abyss may be far more powerful than we imagined. The Abyss Natlan currently faces is likely just a small part leaking from its seal. Its true scale is unimaginably vast!"
"The gods of other nations have already initiated plans to counter this threat. This isn't just Natlan's problem—it's a war that directly threatens all of Teyvat."
As Lumine spoke, she retrieved the bouquet of Cecilia Flowers and plucked one to hand to Mavuika.
"I once gave one of these Cecilia Flowers to Ishkab. Crushing it will alert the gods of other nations, but we shouldn't use it carelessly unless absolutely necessary..."
Mavuika clasped the Cecilia Flower in her palm, nodding solemnly.
Lumine: "Currently, the Abyss has obtained three Pure Souls. Sumeru's Pure Soul evaded the Abyss's grasp through a special method, but the cost was her annihilation. The three remaining Pure Souls are Fidelle of Fontaine, Ishkab of Natlan, and Angie of Snezhnaya."
"According to the Anemo Archon and the other gods' analysis, if the Abyss obtains another Pure Soul, its influence over Teyvat will expand exponentially. At that point, it will become an insurmountable threat beyond the current power of Teyvat to resist."
Mualani: "Then... is there really no other way?"
Lumine: "Of course there is. This sword has already gathered four souls. If we can gather seven souls, we can either be guided to the Goddess's Slumbering Place or awaken a portion of her power, allowing us to fight back against the Abyss!"
Kachina's face turned deathly pale. "Se-seven souls? Does that mean Ishkab-Sister and the others..."
"Kachina, gathering souls doesn't require sacrifice," Lumine immediately reminded her young apprentice.
Kachina sighed in relief, then frantically waved her hands. "I-I didn't mean for them to be harmed! I just..."
Mualani patted Kachina's head. "It's alright, Kachina. Everyone knows what you meant."
Mavuika remained silent for a long moment before finally speaking. "Thank you, Traveler. Your information is vital to Natlan. I will reassess the Abyss's threat level. However, the current Plan must proceed as scheduled. If the Abyss truly launches a full-scale invasion, we can't afford to delay strengthening Natlan's combat capabilities by even a moment."
Lumine continued to share more details with Mavuika and the others present. Paimon chimed in with additional insights, and the atmosphere in the Speaker's Chamber grew increasingly tense as the discussion continued.
-
Snezhnaya.
Within the main experimental workshop of the Fatui Harbinger Second Seat, "The Doctor," Dottore, the air hung cold and heavy, thick with the mingled scents of disinfectant, molten metal, and a deeper, more unsettling stench of decay.
This was the very place where Mechanical Chu Xi had been created, now birthing an even more terrifying creation.
Dottore, clad in a pristine white lab coat, stood in stark contrast to his almost fanatically neat attire, his bloodshot eyes burned with boundless excitement and fervor.
He had been stationed here almost without sleep, his gaze fixed on the massive cylindrical nutrient tank before him with a mixture of extreme scientific curiosity and near-religious reverence.
The tank was filled with a murky green maintenance fluid, bubbles slowly rising through its depths.
Suspended within was a being that inspired awe and dread in equal measure.
It was a humanoid creature roughly resembling a young woman, but most of its body was covered in thick, jet-black scales, as if dredged from the depths of the Abyss.
A viscous, pitch-black miasma seeped endlessly from the gaps between the scales, swirling and tainting the surrounding preservation fluid with streaks of inky darkness, as if the very body were constantly polluting its environment.
Yet her head was not of flesh, blood, or scale, but a precisely engineered mechanical skull that shimmered with an ethereal blue glow, its lines cold and sharp, exuding a futuristic, high-tech aura.
This high-tech head, brutally fused with the primitive, malevolent, and scaled body, created a jarring visual dissonance that sent chills down one's spine.
The corners of Dottore's lips twitched upward, betraying absolute confidence.
He had poured countless resources and painstaking effort into obtaining this formidable body, then employed every technology at his disposal to enhance and modify it. Finally, he had successfully connected it to the mechanical head he had designed himself—a pinnacle of Snezhnayan technology.
This would be the perfect weapon, surpassing even the creations of the gods—a fusion of raw power and absolute control!
"Perfect... Utterly perfect..."
He muttered to himself, his voice hoarse with manic excitement:
"This immense power, this profound darkness... all within my grasp! They will become the sharpest blade!"
Aetheric power, drawn from beyond the world, could still be wielded by humans. The gods couldn't achieve this, but he could!
The Doctor sliced and stitched fragments of his powerful consciousness into the creature, seeking to dominate its formidable body.
Unbeknownst to the Doctor, deep within Jiang Mumu's Consciousness Space, Jiang Mumu watched his every move with rapt attention.
After countless late-night gaming sessions with Yuna and the others, Jiang Mumu finally had to admit:
Silaya's skills weren't even that great—she couldn't carry their team of four at all!
After days of relentless grinding that actually cost them several ranks, Jiang Mumu finally retreated to her Consciousness Space, ready to stir up trouble.
The minor villain from the Night Kingdom? She added that herself. The Black Gold Wolflord? She tweaked it slightly.
Now, she was observing the Doctor working for her... well... creating one of Sumeru's villains for her!
The Doctor believed that the precise calculations of the mechanical skull, combined with his own control, would be sufficient to harness the body's immense power. However, he failed to truly comprehend the ancient, violent will slumbering beneath the pitch-black scales—Jiang Mumu's will!
This was no mere energy; it was a primordial force imbued with intense self-awareness and corruptive potential!
Far from achieving complete control, the mechanical skull's connection acted as a key, inadvertently prying open a corner of the sealed prison.
The ceaselessly seeping black mist was not merely energy leaking away; it was the ancient will attempting to break free of its shackles, turning its corrosive might against the mechanical control core itself.
Lost in the euphoria of creation, the Doctor overlooked the subtle anomalies in the data streams.
He had forged a formidable weapon, yet he had also personally planted an extremely unstable, doomed-to-explode core of destruction deep within his own domain.
The seeds of disaster had been sown, awaiting only the arrival of a critical threshold. At that moment, this perfect creation would bare its fangs to its creator, proving that some powers can never be coveted or controlled by mortal hands.
Three days later, the Umbral Scion emerged from the Doctor's experimental workshop.
She wore... a black robe...