"Ha!!" With a burst of speed, Lars rushed towards the serpent and sent a Haki infused punch to its main body. Electricity coursed through the malfunctioning snake's body as part of it's internal body was destroyed by his punch.
The snake tried charging up a beam to fire at him. Lars noticed before he rushed towards the serpent's head, jumping up before punching it hard and send it coursing back, slamming on the ground yet again.
While still in the air, Lars dove down towards it. He pulled back his fist and grinned.
"Take this!" A giant explosion occurred as he punched the snake with all his might. The punch shattered the head of the snake, sending mechanical parts flying everywhere.
Lars exhaled hugely, standing on the disabled Ruin Serpent, relief that it was all over. He looked over at his shattered blade and sighed.
"I think Xamaran would be sad if I told him it was destroyed." He shook his head. "Nevermind that, I'm injured, and this place definitely does not have supplies to heal me. I need to get out now."
He took a final look at his defeated opponent before jumping down. It wasn't long before he arrived at the main entrance to the Chasm's underground mines.
Lars had long known that there was no one to come down to save him. From what he remembered, the Liyue Qixing had closed the mine due to a series of unfortunate accidents occurring in said mine. They had put an array, the Seven-Star Array, barring entry for everyone.
"Looks like I have to punch my way through this." He muttered as he stared up, straight at the golden barrier. " Oh... I can almost feel the sunlight from here..." He muttered, noticing how bright it was.
It was a very weird thing for a human being to say. But considering Lars has been stuck in the Chasm gathering his strength for Archons know how long, it's justifiable.
Lars squatted a little before he leaped with all his might. The pain in his body was still thankfully overridden by the adrenaline. He came close with the barrier before he pulled back his fist.
He reached for that feeling again, that feeling of power. His fist was once again coated in the same black tint as before. He yelled, as he slammed his fist into the barrier. A loud boom rang through the area.
"The hell was that?" A patrolling Millelith soldier turned his head towards the Seven-Star Array, feeling the vibration from the ground below him.
He widened his eyes as he felt it for a second time. Not wanting to charge in and potentially meet his doom like a dumbass, he ran straight towards his guard post where his superiors were.
"Sir! There is a strange occurrence at the Seven-Star Array. It's like something's coming out." He reported to his senior officer.
"Guess it wasn't just me then." The officer whispered as he looked around as soldiers gathered around waiting for orders.
"Men! Grab your weapons and head there now!"
"Yes sir!"
In the Chasm, Lars was still punching the barrier as hard as he could. But it didn't show signs of breaking anytime soon. So he increased the frequency of his punches, giving his all into it, for the sake of feeling the sunlight again.
"Man, this thing really is trying to get out." Outside, the Millelith soldiers were clenching their spears tightly as the ground below them was shaking crazily like an earthquake.
"No way it's that robot snake right? It's not even tall enough to reach the barrier...." One whispered.
"Whatever it is, it definitely packs a punch."
"This kind of stuff is for the Qixing, what the hell are we doing here? We're gonna be fodder for whatever this thing is."
"We've already notified the Yuheng, she'll be here in a flash."
"She better be..."
Lars yelled as he kept up his punches. He could see it, the barrier was about to break. With one final pull of his fist, he swung it forward.
"HAAA!!!"
The array shattered into pieces as Lars flew out of it. The Millelith noticed something rushing out and stood ready. Lars landed in front of them, his hands returning to their original skin tone.
He looked at the burning sun above him, and held out his hands. He grinned in delight as he feit the warmth of the sun course through his body.
"I'm finally free.... " He whispered, laughing a little as he then took in more of his surroundings. "Ehe?" He noticed a bunch of Millelith soldiers, about 10 to 20 of them surrounding him with spears pointing directly at him.
"What's up guys? Nice meeting you here...." He waved at them, before wincing a little as the pain slowly returned. It seems his adrenaline rush was gone. His body was feeling quite dizzy for some odd reason.
"What is the meaning of this?" The soldiers glanced at a purple haired woman walking towards them, blade in hand. She stared straight at Lars.
"Are you the one who's causing this disturbance?" She asked without hesitation. Lars walked towards her, eliciting reactions from the soldiers.
"Don't move!"
"Get away from her!"
"Miss Keqing, please stay back. He's dangerous." One of the officers advised her. The Yuheng of the Liyue Qixing, Keqing shook her head.
"It's fine, soldier. It seems he doesn't have any strength to attack me." Keqing calmly replied as Lars stopped just a little bit away from Keqing.
"Catch me..."
"What—" Keqing widened her eyes as Lars fell towards her without warning. She caught his falling body and quickly laid him down on the ground.
'He's full of cuts and bruises. He looks malnourished too. Looks like he just got out of a fight judging from the fresh wounds.' Keqing thought as she checked his physical condition before looking at the Millelith behind her.
"Medic squad! Get him to Bubu Pharmacy now! The rest of you follow me, we're heading down there to investigate!"
"Yes ma'am!!"
...
"Ma'am, we found a pile of destroyed ruin guards over there." A soldier reported to Keqing who nodded as another soldier approached her.
"Ma'am, you should come with me, there's something you need to see." The soldier said with absolute seriousness in his eyes. It unsettled Keqing a little, setting questions in her mind. What does he want to show her?
They arrived in front of a cave. "Soldier, this is the Ruin Serpent's cave, why are you bringing me here?" Keqing asked suspiciously.
"That's the thing ma'am, it's no longer its hideout anymore."
"What? " Keqing whispered as a possibility came to her mind. "No, impossible." She rushed into the cave and set her eyes on what the soldier wanted to show her.
The destroyed Ruin Serpent still laid there, black smoke coming from its body, sparks of electricity occasionally appearing here and there.
"It seems that before he exited the Chasm, the strange man had destroyed the serpent." The soldier muttered to her.
"Does he have a Vision?" She asked him.
"We can't say for sure, ma'am. You did kinda haul him off immediately after he fainted, so we couldn't get a good look. But from what I remember, there was nothing resembling a Vision on his attire. Wait.... you're saying he defeated this thing with pure physical strength?"
"...." Keqing remained silent. The Ruin Serpent isn't your usual machine. It's a lot tougher than the material of the usual Ruin Guard, so normal blades wouldn't work, even so for punches.
"Then there's only one reason he could defeat it then break the barrier...."
"What do you mean—Oh...." The soldier blinked a couple of times before nodding, understanding what the purple haired woman implied.
"First he appears out of nowhere, in a sealed off area.... Then apparently he has the strength to defeat this thing..." She stared at the smashed head of the serpent.
"What kind of anomaly are we dealing with now?...."
To be continued...