My Next Life in Teyvat: I Just Wanted Friends, Not Every Girl's Love!-Chapter 197 - 196: Evil Heretics

"Careful!"

Agalu reacted quickly. She stood in front of everyone, using Cryo Element to condense a shield in front of her, helping everyone block this attack.

But Agalu’s skill was clearly not enough; her shield only held for a moment before showing signs of breaking.

Shenhe, who also wielded Cryo Element, stepped forward and pressed Agalu’s hand, helping her reinforce the shield, which prevented it from breaking.

Not only that, but she also helped Agalu guide the Cryo Element on the shield. A bird condensed from Cryo Element flew out, heading towards the direction of the attack.

This move was easily destroyed, but it wasn’t meant to attack the opponent. Instead, it was meant to see who this guy, hiding in the shadows and taking the opportunity to ambush them, truly was.

With the explosion of the ice bird, the surrounding area was covered with a thin layer of frost. Reflected by the faint sunlight, the person hiding in the shadows finally revealed his true form.

"...A person? With this attire, are you from Sumeru?"

Lumine had seen Scholars from Sumeru in Mondstadt and Liyue, including those wearing robes with dark skin.

The seemingly very evil guy in front of her clearly had a Sumeru style, which made Lumine say this the moment she saw him.

The other party didn’t answer, only letting out a few very hoarse laughs. This sound was as grating as scratching glass with a sharp object, making the other people present frown.

"I didn’t expect you to be able to make it here despite the onslaught of so many Rifthounds. You really do have some skills." 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"Hey, you gloomy guy! Was it you who brought these monsters to Liyue?"

With so many helpers on her side—Lumine, Xiangling, Shenhe, and Agalu—Paimon’s worries grew, and he directly stepped forward, pointing at the other party and questioning him.

"Oh? An interesting little thing. I wonder how you float in the air. I’d like to see your body structure."

After speaking, the other party let out another sharp laugh. This sentence scared Paimon and also made him feel a deep sense of disgust towards this guy.

While Paimon was questioning the other party, Xiangling behind him gently touched Lumine’s finger, her eyes indicating the magic array next to her.

Just now, because of this Sumeru person, the magic array was not destroyed. To prevent more Rifthounds from appearing and affecting them later, it would be better to destroy the magic array as soon as possible.

Lumine, who had the blessings of several Adeptus powers, was very suitable for this task. To create an opportunity for Lumine, Xiangling stepped forward to attract the opponent’s attention.

"Why are you doing this? You are from the Sumeru Akademiya, aren’t you? Don’t you worry about the Sumeru Akademiya’s punishment for doing such a thing?"

Xiangling wasn’t very clear about what kind of existence the Sumeru Akademiya was, but she occasionally heard from Scholars who came to Wanmin Restaurant for meals that there was indeed a lot of knowledge in the Sumeru Akademiya, and the people inside were also very eager for knowledge, but they would absolutely not do such things as summoning Rifthounds, unsealing a God, and endangering Liyue.

If this matter were to reach the Seven Stars of Liyue, the Seven Stars of Liyue could completely use this matter to confront the Sumeru Akademiya.

If this person was not a member of the Sumeru Akademiya, it would be nothing, but if he was, then the problem would be extraordinarily huge.

"Sumeru Akademiya? Hehehe~ You mean those guys who are afraid of death and dare not touch great knowledge? What if it’s known? When I saw my mentor’s eyes, I understood that those people are ultimately just mortals."

There was a lot of knowledge in the Sumeru Akademiya. Besides the positive ones, there were naturally some that could not be read by others and had to be sealed away.

When he first learned that the Sumeru Akademiya had such a place, he used his mentor’s high regard for him to find an opportunity to enter there and gain access to this great knowledge.

Those people were so ridiculous for being afraid of death and not daring to touch these things. If they were unwilling to touch these things because of fear of death, humanity would not be able to progress. Didn’t they understand this principle?

Ultimately, they were just a group of mortals. After realizing this, he took some books from the forbidden room and was expelled from the Sumeru Akademiya. By studying the knowledge within, he mastered the ability to summon Rifthounds.

Of course, this process was not smooth. When he first summoned the Rifthound, he was attacked without exception.

It took him a great deal of effort to command the Rifthound’s actions. Just reaching this point had already made him look like this ghastly figure.

But none of that mattered. He was gradually approaching greatness. He believed that after the God awakened and he reached an agreement with the God through the contents of the grimoire, he would be able to advance to the next stage.

"Your so-called greatness is predicated on causing DMG to others. This is an evil path! This is unacceptable!"

"Hmph! Any great endeavor is accompanied by sacrifice. If progress requires some cost, this small sacrifice is nothing at all."

"Evil demon, heretic! You evil demon, heretic!"

Paimon was infuriated by this person’s words, and Xiangling had the same reaction.

At this moment, Lumine was also almost ready. She condensed the power granted to her by the Adepti into her weapon and fiercely struck the magic circle.

The barrier on the magic circle could not withstand this blow at all, shattering into pieces like broken glass.

The Sumeru man was slightly stunned at the sight, not showing the angry expression Lumine had expected, but calmly watching them.

"So what if you destroyed my magic circle? As long as I wish, I can create countless such summoning circles."

"Do you think we will give you that chance?"

Xiangling walked up to Shenhe with her spear: "We will defeat you here, and your conspiracy will not succeed!"

"Just you all? Indeed, you have more people, and you carry the power of other Adepti. But... my research over these years wasn’t for nothing. You will soon understand how great what I have done is."

The Sumeru man threw open his robe, and everyone saw various black patterns on his body. These black patterns continuously glowed with red light.

At the same time, a magic circle appeared on the ground beneath the Sumeru man’s feet. Dark, ominous magical energy continuously emerged from the magic circle, flowing into his body.

"Shenhe!"

Lumine wasn’t going to give the opponent enough time to transform. It wasn’t like a Kamen Rider transformation with invincibility frames. Lumine intended to disrupt the process while he transformed.

As soon as Lumine called out to her, Shenhe took action. The puppet immediately rushed towards the Sumeru man’s position, while Shenhe used Adeptus Arts, attempting to completely Freeze the area where the Sumeru man was.

"It’s useless, useless. Did you think I hadn’t prepared anything?!"

Before the puppet’s attack could land, a transparent barrier blocked her attack. Even the Cryo Element cast by Shenhe was perfectly blocked.

It seemed that before they arrived, the opponent had already considered that someone might come to disrupt the situation, so he had set up this defensive barrier around himself in advance, to prevent anyone from disturbing him when he used his trump card.

As more and more black mist entered his body, a painful expression gradually appeared on the Sumeru man’s face, but the fanaticism and madness in his eyes did not diminish in the slightest due to the pain.

These powers of the Abyss, and he could even feel the aura of a God mixed within them.

To contain both the Abyss and the archon residue at the same time, was this person suicidal? An ordinary person’s body simply couldn’t contain these two powers.

It seemed that a difficult battle was coming, but they had so many people here, and she and Xiangling also had the power granted by the Adepti. She was not at all worried that their side would lose.

Besides, if they couldn’t handle it, weren’t there still a bunch of Adepti guarding outside? At their speed, they probably had almost finished dealing with the Rifthounds. If any problems arose here, they would definitely come in to help immediately.

Just as Lumine thought, Azhdaha and the others, who had already dealt with the Rifthounds, were standing on a high mountain, watching the battlefield of Durandal and Stolas from afar.

"It’s really intense, their battle. I hope they can maintain the current intensity, otherwise, if they cause too much DMG to the surroundings, it will be troublesome to repair."

Taking the wine handed to him by Jiang Li, Azhdaha looked at the damaged terrain around him, saying helplessly.

"This Immortal thinks she is already very restrained. Don’t forget the battle with Osial. If she turns into that state again, the vicinity will all become ruins."

"Then Stolas’s Main Body wouldn’t be able to be preserved to the maximum extent. Don’t forget her purpose; she is preparing to use Stolas’s meat as ingredients."

When Matterhorn, the True Lord of the Mountain Overlays said this, Mountain Shaker, the True Lord of the Stone Cutting Peak’s mood became unusually complex.

"You all say, if she tastes the deliciousness of God’s meat this time, will she target Gods for that reason?"

"Isn’t that a good thing? If she can eliminate those Gods on the land of Liyue, our troubles would also be greatly reduced."

"But the seals of Gods cannot be moved casually. She must wait for the day the God breaks the seal. If she can’t wait, will she find other targets to strike?"

At this, Cloud Retainer and Matterhorn, the True Lord of the Mountain Overlays also knew what Mountain Shaker, the True Lord of the Stone Cutting Peak wanted to say. Their current forms could, to some extent, also serve as ingredients, couldn’t they?

There shouldn’t be any need to worry. Durandal is not the kind of person who would do such a thing... probably.

Azhdaha laughed heartily as he listened to the Adepti’s discussion. Fortunately, his Main Body was made of Shitou, so he didn’t need to worry about such things at all.

He let out a long sigh of relief. Fortunately, he discovered the anomaly here before the God’s seal was broken and arranged for a clone to call Durandal over, otherwise Liyue Harbor would have been affected.

Although the commotion here was great, it was some distance from Liyue Harbor. Residents preparing for the Moonchase Festival in Liyue Harbor would at most hear a little noise. It would take a few more days to understand the situation here, and it would probably just become a topic of conversation over meals and tea in the end, so there was no need to worry too much.

Hmm? Azhdaha suddenly noticed a figure standing on a distant high mountain. It was none other than Zhongli, whom he had called over.

He didn’t make a move the entire time, just stood there watching. He would only intervene if an unexpected situation occurred.

"You... well, you are already ’dead’ anyway. If you also join the battle and are discovered by the Millelith who come later, you will be exposed."

Regardless, Liyue Harbor now owes Miss Durandal a tremendous favor; they’ll have to think about how to repay it later.

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