Chapter 271: A Furious Reunion
"Trying to run?!"
A blazing fury ignited in Lumine's golden eyes, incinerating the last vestiges of sentimentality and hesitation. The power of Anemo erupted from her feet, and her form blurred into a golden streak of light, closing the distance between them at a speed that shattered Aether's expectations.
One of Lumine's hands shot out, aiming straight for Aether's arm. Her other hand clenched into a tight fist, whistling through the air as it rocketed toward his face.
Aether clearly hadn't anticipated such an intense reaction, nor her astonishing burst of speed. Caught in his haste, he had no time to fully enter the portal behind him. He twisted aside at the last second, a uniquely shaped one-handed sword materializing in his grasp to form a horizontal block.
"Clang—!"
Fist met blade, the impact unleashing a thunderous roar. A powerful shockwave radiated from the point of contact, blasting dust and debris across the cavern floor.
Aether's arm trembled, and a flicker of genuine surprise crossed his features. He hadn't expected his sister's strength to have grown so much. The sheer power behind that punch had far exceeded his estimations.
Her progress… was too fast.
Lumine used the momentum to flip backward, landing lightly on her feet. She shook her slightly numb wrist and glared at Aether, her eyes burning like molten gold.
"I originally wanted to have a proper 'reunion'with you, big brother," she said, her voice tight with fury, "but you really know how to make me furious! I've searched for you for so long, traveled through so many countries, and you just want to dismiss me with a'still need time'?!"
"Dream on! If I don't teach you a good lesson today, then my name isn't Lumine!"
Before her words had even faded, she attacked again, fiercer than before. This time, she held nothing back. The elemental powers of Anemo, Geo, Electro, Dendro, and Hydro surged around her, converging into a torrential storm of attacks that enveloped Aether, leaving him no room to escape.
Aether's brows furrowed slightly. He could only continuously swing his sword to block and parry, his movements becoming a desperate dance of evasion. His swordsmanship was exquisite, his footwork elusive, and he always managed to defuse Lumine's onslaught at the last possible moment, maintaining an outward appearance of ease.
But it was clear he had no intention of truly fighting her to the death, focusing entirely on defense and evasion.
"Lumine, stop. Now is not the time," Aether pleaded, fending off a sharp gust of wind.
"Not the time? Then when is the time?!" Lumine didn't listen, her attacks growing even more relentless. "When you've finished whatever it is you're doing with the Abyss? Or when the world is destroyed?!"
A hint of helplessness flashed in Aether's eyes. He sensed a familiar tracking aura approaching and knew he could no longer delay. After another clash of sword and fist, he used the force of the blow to leap backward. At the same time, his left hand secretly formed a seal, activating the massive, dormant cluster of abyssal tendrils nearby.
As if injected with a furious command, the enormous vine cluster suddenly awakened.
Countless thick, dark purple vines rose like giant pythons, their shrieking cries tearing through the air as they coiled and struck at Lumine from all directions. The sudden assault instantly interrupted her pursuit.
"You!" Lumine was both shocked and enraged; she hadn't expected Aether to use such a method to block her.
Aether took one last, deep look at his sister, now temporarily trapped by the writhing vines. He no longer hesitated. He turned and stepped into the stable portal.
With a flash of violet light, the portal and his figure vanished, leaving only faint, rippling spatial eddies in their wake.
"Aether! You stop right there! You bastard brother! If you have the guts, don't run!" Lumine cursed at the spot where he had disappeared, but her only response was the maddening swarm of Abyss vines attacking her.
With nowhere else to vent her pent-up fury, the monster Aether had activated to obstruct her became the perfect punching bag.
"All of you… get… out of my way!!!"
Lumine completely erupted. The five elemental powers were at her fingertips, weaving together in a destructive symphony. Anemo blades sliced through the air, Geo spears erupted from the ground, Electro lightning burst in brilliant flashes, Dendro seeds spread a creeping decay, and Hydro waves crashed against the abyssal flesh.
She even used the purple trait she had obtained from the Chat Group's lottery—[Ectoplasmic Void: Devour].
The incoming energy-based attacks were forcibly consumed, converted into her own power to replenish her reserves. She was like an elemental goddess descending into the Abyss, a highly efficient killing machine moving unimpeded through the countless wildly dancing vines, utterly invincible.
The attacks from the massive vine cluster seemed clumsy and powerless before her, serving only as a target for her to vent her anger and test her new abilities. She even actively closed the distance, using her devouring power to frantically absorb the Abyss energy within the monster, strengthening herself while accelerating its decay.
When Paimon, carefully cocooned in protective starlight, finally overcame the whispering interference and complex terrain of the tunnel, she found the underground plaza. What she saw was Lumine, like a berserk war goddess wreathed in a colorful elemental glow, unilaterally pummeling the abyssal vine cluster that was dozens of times her size.
Under her torrential attacks, the monster let out pained wails. Its thick vines were severed inch by inch, its main trunk covered with charred, frozen, and corroded wounds. Its massive body was teetering, on the verge of collapse.
The battle was already nearing its end.
Lumine slammed one last, massive torrent of energy—a mixture of all five elemental powers—fiercely into the core of the monster's main trunk.
"Rumble—!!!"
The giant abyssal vine cluster let out one final, unwilling lament. Its massive body began to disintegrate from within, shattering into a sky full of dark purple light particles and withered vine remnants that dissolved completely into the air.
Within the deep underground ruins, the pervasive Abyss aura gradually thinned with the monster's annihilation, and the mind-disturbing whispers receded like the tide. Only the residual elemental turbulence in the air and the scattered vine remnants on the ground proved how intense the one-sided battle had been.
Paimon looked at the lingering anger on Lumine's face and flew around her worriedly. "Lumine, what's wrong? You've seemed to be holding in a lot of anger this whole time. That big guy shouldn't have been that hard to deal with, right?"
Lumine took a deep breath, trying to calm her turbulent emotions, but the moment she thought of Aether's attitude, her temper flared again.
She huffed indignantly and explained, "It's nothing. I just saw my bastard older brother."
"Eh?! Your brother?! He was here?!" Paimon covered her small mouth in surprise.
"Mhm," Lumine nodded, a trace of complexity flashing in her golden eyes. "But that guy, when he saw me, he was still the same. Only speaking in riddles that no one can understand! Something about 'still needing time,'something about'the official reunion having to wait a while'..."
"And then he tried to open a portal and run off again! It just made me so furious!" The more she spoke, the angrier she became, and she couldn't help but wave her fist, as if Aether were still standing right in front of her.
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