For three full days, Bronya carefully swept through the surrounding territory, advancing cautiously and never lowering her guard.
Finally, as night fell, she spotted two figures ahead.
One big.
One small.
"Eh…? Hu Tao is with her?"
The discovery immediately dampened Bronya's mood.
Based on her teammates' assessments, she wasn't confident she could defeat Hu Tao head-on.
If Hu Tao and Paimon stayed together, then this ambush was almost certainly doomed to fail.
[Bronya]: Everyone… I've found Paimon, but Hu Tao is escorting her the whole time.
[Jing Yuan]: I see… that's unfortunate.
[Feixiao]: Didn't expect them to be this cautious.
[Seele]: It's fine. It's just Paimon—she got lucky this time.
[Herta]: If you can't get Paimon, just come back and take the Angel Alliance.
[Bronya]: Understood—wait… they split up!
[Serval]: There's actually such a good thing?!
[Seele]: Good. Paimon won't escape this time.
[Jing Yuan]: They split up… Miss Bronya, please be careful. You're deep in enemy territory.
[Bronya]: It's fine. I'll eliminate Paimon and leave immediately.
I got a tome of Earth magic earlier in the Dragon Palace—
It includes Town Portal.
[Robin]: There's magic that convenient?!
[Sampo]: Damn, why don't I ever get that kind of luck?
At the same time.
In the Teyvat players' channel—
[Yae Miko]: Little Hu Tao, Bronya is hiding in the forest to your left.
[Hu Tao]: Copy that, copy that.
[Paimon]: Leave it to me!
[Lumine]: Paimon, good luck—this whole plan depends on your performance.
[Navia]: You have to take down that annoying Bronya this time.
[Paimon]: Got it! You can leave everything to Paimon!
With the plan Hu Tao had come up with earlier, Paimon felt fearless.
A mere Bronya?
Bring her head.
"Paimon, you can head back from here. I won't escort you any further."
Hu Tao pointed in Bronya's direction, signaling that the rest was up to her.
"Y-You won't walk me just a little more…?"
"I don't have that kind of time. Behave yourself—there's no danger."
With that, Hu Tao turned her horse and galloped off in the opposite direction, disappearing beyond the horizon in moments.
"Why are you like this…"
Paimon pouted, then slowly drifted toward Bronya's position.
"She's close."
After carefully scanning the area, Bronya confirmed it—
Paimon was approaching alone.
She immediately burst out of cover, charging straight toward her.
"Waaaah! I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die!"
Paimon screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Pfft—"
Watching Paimon shriek while riding her tiny horse, Bronya nearly laughed out loud.
But then—
"Hm?"
Something felt wrong.
Paimon was panicking… but she wasn't turning around to run.
No attempt to flee at all.
Bronya's eyes sharpened.
She recalled the Earth magic tome she had obtained earlier—it contained every Earth spell, including one specifically for reconnaissance.
Eye of Insight.
Without hesitation, she cast it.
Paimon
Attack: 12
Defense: 20
Carried troops:
Vampire Lords — several
Dark Knights — a few
Wraiths — many
Skeletons — countless
"…Hiss—!"
Countless?!
Bronya's scalp went numb.
As she closed the distance, she even caught a glimpse of a smug curve at the corner of Paimon's mouth.
"This is a trap!"
Her heart jolted violently.
Without a second of hesitation, Bronya activated Tier-4 Earth Magic — Town Portal.
"She's coming, she's coming!"
Seeing Bronya rapidly closing in, Paimon dropped the act entirely, a triumphant grin spreading across her face.
The feeling of luring out and eliminating the enemy's main force was amazing.
Sure, Bronya had a lot of troops—but there was no way she had more than Hu Tao's skeleton army.
With a skeleton sea backing her, how could she possibly lose?
Flash—!
A burst of light erupted.
Bronya vanished.
"Eh?"
Paimon froze.
Completely dumbfounded.
How did she just… disappear?
Was that invisibility?
Not far away, Yae Miko, who had been quietly observing everything, let out a disappointed sigh.
"As expected… Paimon is unreliable."
When Hu Tao first suggested handing all the troops to Paimon and using her as bait, Miko had actually thought it sounded plausible.
But this performance—
Way too exaggerated.
[Paimon]: Wait… why did she disappear?
[Lumine]: What do you mean?
[Kaeya]: Don't tell me you didn't catch Bronya?
[Paimon]: She… she she she… she vanished!
[Hu Tao]: Vanished?
[Zhongli]: Tier-4 Earth Magic—Town Portal. Returns the caster to their city.
[Lisa]: So… Bronya escaped?
[Raiden Ei]: You blew it. You exposed yourself, Paimon.
[Paimon]: I didn't! Paimon totally didn't get exposed!
[Yae Miko]: Still denying it? With that acting, who were you fooling?
[Furina]: Sigh…
[Nahida]: Such a pity…
[Venti]: Should've let me act instead.
Regret filled the channel.
The more hopeful they'd been at the start, the greater the disappointment now.
After all, Bronya was clearly the opponent's strongest player—
If she'd been eliminated here, the advantage would've been enormous.
But it failed.
And chances like this… probably wouldn't come again.
[Hu Tao]: Useless. Give me my troops back.
Meanwhile, back in her own city, Bronya was still shaken.
She had almost been caught.
Only now did she fully realize that Paimon had been carrying Hu Tao's troops, deliberately trying to bait her into a fight.
Luckily, she had checked with magic first.
Otherwise… she probably wouldn't even know how she died.
[Bronya]: Everyone… I'm back.
[Feixiao]: Huh? Still couldn't take down Paimon?
[Herta]: What happened?
Herta was puzzled.
Wasn't this supposed to be a perfect ambush?
[Bronya]: My position was likely exposed early.
Paimon was carrying Hu Tao's skeleton army.
[Silver Wolf]: Damn… that's dirty.
[Jing Yuan]: !!!!!!!!!
Jing Yuan was shocked.
That was vicious.
If Bronya hadn't escaped, their side would've suffered a catastrophic loss.
And worse—
This plan had been his idea.
If Bronya had been eliminated, he'd be carrying that blame forever.
[Seele]: It's fine. Just Paimon—she can't cause much trouble alone.
[Natasha]: Exactly. She's only strong when following Hu Tao.
[Pela]: Right. Once our levels catch up, she's nothing.
Seeing the operation fail, the Belobog group quickly stepped in to reassure her.
Honestly, this wasn't Bronya's fault at all.
If anything, her quick thinking had saved her life—
If it were anyone else, they might not have made it back.
[Feixiao]: Bronya, come to my position.
The Angel Alliance is here—take it.
At this point, Angel Alliance had already been transferred to Feixiao.
She'd been absolutely tearing through enemies with those artifacts these past few days, leveling up like crazy.
But her troop count was still insufficient.
For now, it was best handed over to Bronya.
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