I didn't originally plan to add an extra chapter, but a certain esteemed reader gifted me a major certification, so I'm adding a chapter specially for this esteemed reader.
Paimon: Balala energy, wukala, little fairies, transform!
She didn't quite understand why they started transforming mid-battle.
"Well done, but everything has a price!"
Childe, in his Foul Legacy form, beckoned and summoned the twin blades crackling with purple lightning into his hands. He then looked coldly at the two facing him.
The next moment, Childe's body vanished into the void, leaving behind dissipating starlight.
*Hum—*
His presence preceded his attack. A rift in the starry sky appeared before Lumine, and a lightning-infused blade emerged from it, slashing towards Lumine's head.
Lumine instinctively parried with her sword, but was still pushed back several meters by Childe.
Childe stepped out of the starry rift and immediately charged at Lumine, launching a series of rapid attacks.
"You got the Gnosis first, didn't you?! Were you faster than me, or was the intelligence about the Golden House also deliberately leaked to me?"
Childe attacked furiously, grumbling his questions.
"Whichever it is, hand over the Gnosis now, don't make me take it myself!"
With his greatly enhanced strength, Childe completely dominated his opponents, believing it was only a matter of time before he defeated them.
"Damn it, it wasn't us!" Paimon clenched her fists anxiously from the side, infuriated by being falsely accused of stealing the Gnosis.
Moreover, Lumine was no match for him in his transformed state, having narrowly avoided being hit several times. If this continued, things would get serious.
She should have stopped Lumine from coming if she had known it would be this dangerous.
"You think you can fool me!"
His opponent's denial only made Childe angrier, and his attacks grew more ferocious.
A flicker of resolve flashed in Lumine's eyes. She took out the golden letter given to her by Feng Yi and swallowed it.
Feng Yi had said that this letter could help her escape a desperate situation.
The next second, Lumine felt her entire body radiating a dazzling golden light. She had an innate sense that in this state, her opponent could not harm her.
Paimon stared blankly at the glowing Lumine, having never seen this move before. It looked incredibly powerful!
"This is..."
The pupils behind Childe's mask constricted sharply. The golden light emanating from Lumine's body instantly reminded him of his past sparring sessions with Feng Yi.
In the next moment, his rage-clouded mind was filled with Feng Yi's past admonitions to him...
As the fight progressed, Lumine gradually noticed that Childe's attacks had slowed considerably. Seizing an opening, she slanted her sword upwards, and with the force of a geyser summoned from the ground, she struck Childe in the chest.
*Crack—*
A crack appeared in Childe's Foul Legacy armor, while Lumine remained unharmed, buffeted by the water column.
Childe, now lucid, voluntarily deactivated his Foul Legacy form, gasping for breath while clutching his chest.
"Hoo... I need to calm down. Feng Yi was right, that Foul Legacy form really took a toll on my body, and it made me prone to anger..."
Being wounded even while borrowing external power, Childe conceded defeat.
It seemed that the Delusion not only burdened the body but also affected his emotions; he wouldn't have gotten so angry so easily before.
Upon calm reflection, he realized it was indeed unlikely that Lumine had obtained the Gnosis before him.
"You won. I suppose the Gnosis has nothing to do with you?"
"Yeah, we already said it wasn't us!"
Paimon wondered if his reaction time was that slow to only realize it now.
But Paimon was happy that they had finally won the battle!
So tired!
Even though she hadn't done anything, she felt exhausted.
No, she had cheered and prayed for Lumine!
"I acknowledge your strength. I am satisfied with this battle!"
Childe's breathing gradually returned to normal. He nodded to Lumine in affirmation.
"We are both pursuing strength, we are both friends, although this form of friendship can only be through mutual combat..."
In a sense, Childe now considered Lumine a friend.
There was an old saying in Liyue, "We meet through conflict." Forging a friendship through battle, Childe felt that was what it meant.
"That's a rather strange view of friendship."
Paimon found Childe's thought process utterly incomprehensible.
"However, for now, we must temporarily put aside our intellectual exchange and return to my mission."
For Childe, the Tsaritsa's mission took precedence over his personal feelings.
Regarding the disappearance of the Gnosis, after calming down, he had some new thoughts:
"If the Gnosis wasn't taken by someone, could it be... that it was never in the 'Ancestral Artifact' in the first place? Further thinking, could the 'Ancestral Artifact' itself be merely a distraction?"
"Ah, you mean to say..."
Paimon gasped. Childe had proposed a shocking conjecture: the deceased immortal body was fake, or rather, the Geo Archon was not dead at all!
"Heh, interesting, isn't it? As expected of the protector of the city of commerce, adept at 'clever tricks beyond contracts'."
Childe applauded, a light chuckle escaping him.
When exactly had Morax treated him as a pawn?
Was it when the Archon was attacked and he rescued Lumine on the Jade Chamber?
Or was it when he received the Tsaritsa's orders?
Zhongli: No, to be precise, it was the first moment I laid eyes on you...
"However, with this development, I must proceed with the backup plan."
Childe hadn't wanted to use this plan because it would affect the weak. But ultimately, the world belonged to those who pursued strength, and he usually paid little attention to the uninteresting weak.
Unfortunately, as a Fatui Harbinger, he couldn't be picky about his methods, much like a child sometimes had to learn to eat disliked carrots.
"Backup plan? So... what exactly do you intend to do?"
Paimon suddenly had a bad feeling.
"I will awaken the dormant Archon in Guyun Stone Forest!"
At this point, Childe no longer concealed his intentions, frankly telling them.
"An Archon?!"
"The Hydro Archon, Osial, was defeated by the Geo Archon, Morax, during the Archon War and was sealed beneath the sea by Geo constructs. If a former Archon were to attack Liyue Harbor, which has lost the protection of its deity... do you think that Geo Archon who played us all for fools, can still remain peacefully on the sidelines and watch?"
Childe spread his hands. If he could have obtained the Gnosis smoothly, he wouldn't have done something like this, as it went against the natural order...