Stellar Train: I Open a Small Shop on the Train-Chapter 125

Nahida responded by introducing her,

"This is my good friend, the Archon of Fontaine, the Hydro Archon Focalors."

Hearing Nahida's introduction, Furina placed a hand on her hip and snapped her fingers.

"Rejoice! Cheer! Be glad to witness the arrival of the mighty Archon Focalors!"

Everyone present was shocked.

What! The Hydro Archon?!

This girl was the legendary God of Justice, Her Majesty Focalors—the Archon of Hydro!

Furina sneaked a glance at the crowd and was quite pleased with their reaction.

Wahahaha! I, Furina, am the greatest! See? Just saying my name leaves them speechless in awe.

Nahida asked Furina,

"Furina, why are you here?"

Furina replied,

"I came to help you. I just stopped by Ye Yun's shop and heard from Himeko that there was going to be a battle here, so I came to lend a hand.

And of course, I also get to hang out with Stelle and the others for a bit. Things in Fontaine have been so boring lately~"

Nahida was thrilled to hear that Furina had come to help.

"Thank you, Furina."

Furina slung her arm around Nahida's shoulder and pulled her closer.

"Hey~ don't mention it, we're good friends~ Where's Stelle and the gang? I wanna go hang out with them."

Nahida smiled.

"They're in the valley. I'll have someone take you there."

Furina agreed and followed a villager from Aaru Village toward the valley.

Nahida then looked at everyone present.

"Everyone, disperse. It's getting late—rest up early."

The surrounding mercenaries began to scatter.

They were still murmuring among themselves.

"I Didn't expect for the Lesser Lord Kusanali and the Hydro Archon to be so close."

"Yeah, yeah, even the Hydro Archon came personally to help us—this war is as good as won!"

"That's right! Let's all work harder. When Lesser Lord Kusanali returns to Sumeru City, we'll finally have good days ahead."

"Exactly! That dumb Grand Sage should step down. He's the one who made life so hard for us desert folk."

Furina's arrival had greatly boosted the morale of the mercenaries.

With two Archons on their side, what could Azar possibly fight them with? He was going to get his head bashed in.

Soon after, Furina found Stelle, March 7th, and Firefly.

The four of them sat on small folding stools in the valley, munching on snacks and cakes while chatting.

Lancelot stood guard nearby with a few knights.

Ye Yun was playing around the village with the six little ones.

The six quickly made friends with the village children.

A large group of children ran joyfully through the village, laughing and playing.

Under a big tree, Ye Yun had set up a tea table and was leisurely sipping tea.

At that moment, Ye Yun sensed someone approaching and looked up.

It was Jing Yuan, Dan Heng, Blade, and Jingliu.

"Yo, you're finally back."

Jing Yuan casually pulled out a small stool, sat beside Ye Yun, and poured himself a cup of tea from the table.

"Yeah, we're done. Aside from the five taken by Sparkle and Lord Elation, the rest have been humanely destroyed."

Jing Yuan sipped the tea.

"Mmm~ This tea tastes better than usual, doesn't it?"

Ye Yun replied,

"Of course, this tea cake cost me a full 10,000 credits."

Jing Yuan was a bit surprised.

"This tea is that expensive? Mind sharing some?"

Ye Yun rolled his eyes.

"Aren't you a general? You seriously want to mooch tea off me?"

Jing Yuan chuckled.

"People don't understand how expensive daily necessities are until they manage a household. I stretch every coin like it's two."

Ye Yun raised an eyebrow, took out a box, and put a quarter of the tea cake inside.

"Here, this should last you over half a month."

Jing Yuan happily accepted it.

"A month wouldn't be a problem! With tea this good, I've got to savor it."

Jingliu glanced at them and asked,

"Ye Yun, is Bailu here?"

Ye Yun nodded.

"Yeah, she's playing over at the plaza."

Jingliu gave a slight nod and headed toward the plaza.

Dan Heng and Blade considered it and decided to stay behind, each dragging over a stone to sit by the tea table and sip tea.

The next day arrived.

The thirty-man group of mercenaries from Caravan Ribat marched out toward Aaru Village.

Upon receiving the report, Aether immediately ordered all desert mercenaries to gather and intercept.

The two forces met in the desert. The leader of the thirty-man group scanned Aether and the others.

"As expected. Desert folk can't be trusted. Men, charge! Capture them all!"

The thirty-man group charged toward the desert mercenaries.

Seeing this, Rahman hoisted his greatsword onto his shoulder and looked at Aether.

"Aether, give the order."

Aether looked skyward.

"No rush."

Rahman followed his gaze.

High above the battlefield, Nahida and Furina floated in the air.

Nahida didn't want to see mass bloodshed—these mercenaries were just following Azar's orders.

"This is... the Hall of Wisdom!"

Nahida unleashed her divine power, and a massive palace of Dendro energy materialized above the battlefield.

Then, countless thick vines erupted from the ground, binding the thirty-man mercenaries.

Furina swung her staff.

"Sing my praises! Forbidden Spell—Deep Sea Prison!"

A giant cage of flowing water appeared out of nowhere, imprisoning all of the thirty-man mercenaries inside.

Aether shouted,

"Thirty-man mercenaries! These two are Lesser Lord Kusanali and the Hydro Archon, Lady Focalors!Will you continue to resist? Lay down your weapons, and Lesser Lord Kusanali will pardon your offenses!"

Hearing this, most of the thirty-man group dropped their weapons—faced with such divine power, they knew resistance was futile.

Seeing this, Aether turned to his desert mercenaries.

"Everyone! Lesser Lord Kusanali has given them a chance! For those who still resist—leave no one alive! Attack!

For Lesser Lord Kusanali! For Sumeru!"

At Aether's command, the desert mercenaries charged forward shouting.

Just as Aether said, Nahida had already given them a chance. Those who surrendered would be forgiven.

As for those who chose to keep fighting—too bad for them.

***

Under the leadership of Aether and Dehya, the remaining Thirty Mercenaries who had stubbornly resisted were completely wiped out.

At this moment, everyone was cleaning up the battlefield.

Furina, accompanied by several knights, walked toward Stelle and the others.

"Stelle! Wasn't I super cool just now? Hmph hmph~"

Stelle nodded.

"Cool as hell! But... there were a few flaws.

Come, let me tell you—if you're going to show off, then do it to the max!

Think about the lines you just said. Didn't they sound a bit low-level? What if you changed it to something like..."

Stelle and Furina put their arms around each other's shoulders, analyzing the shortcomings of Furina's dramatic performance.

Suddenly! A supposedly dead mercenary behind Furina sprang up, slashing at her with a broadsword.

Just as the mercenary thought he would succeed, a flash of cold light appeared.

A knight blocked the strike with his rapier, deflecting the mercenary's broadsword.

With a twist of the wrist, the knight thrust forward, piercing the mercenary's heart, then kicked the body away.

Other knights quickly surrounded Furina, shielding her in the center.

Seeing this, Aether was alarmed and immediately ordered Rahman:

"Rahman! Take your men and search again! Be thorough!"

Rahman, equally shocked by the ambush, cursed internally—these bastards are sneaky!

Luckily, Lady Furina wasn't harmed. If that little bastard had succeeded, it would've been a disaster.

"Brothers! Anyone lying on the ground—cut their throats just to be sure!"

The desert mercenaries responded and began rechecking the corpses.

Furina, still shaken, glanced at the fallen mercenary's body with lingering fear.

Lancelot walked over.

"My lady, I have failed you. Forgive me for letting you be frightened."

Furina shook her head.

"It's fine, it's fine. You all did very well."

Lancelot gathered all the knights to guard closely around Furina.

Over an hour later.

With the battlefield cleared, Aether led the army toward Sumeru City.

Furina summoned her seahorse carriage again, taking Ye Yun, the six little ones, and Nahida with her.

At the same time in Sumeru City, inside the laboratory beneath the Sanctuary of Surasthana—

A mercenary burst into Azar's office in a panic.

"Bad—bad news!!!"

Annoyed, Azar glanced at the mercenary.

"Such rudeness. Don't even know how to knock? Get out and come in properly."

The mercenary awkwardly exited, knocked, and waited.

Only then did the tension on Azar's brow ease.

"Come in."

The mercenary entered and saluted.

"Report! The front line has suffered a crushing defeat! Caravan Ribat has fallen! The desert mercenaries are on their way to Sumeru City!"

Azar jumped up in fury, eyes wide.

"What?!"

The mercenary repeated.

"Caravan Ribat has fallen, Lord Azar!"

Azar waved his hand angrily.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! I stationed 50,000 soldiers there—50,000! Even if they were being slaughtered like pigs, it wouldn't be over in one day!

Guards! Drag this lying spy out of here!"

Hearing the order, two guards rushed in and grabbed the reporting mercenary.

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The mercenary struggled and protested.

"Lord Azar! I'm telling the truth! The desert mercenaries will be at the gates any moment now!"

Azar snorted coldly and waved his sleeve.

What a joke—if the desert mercenaries could take Caravan Ribat in a day, they'd have turned the world upside down years ago.

As for Nahida, to Azar, she was just a child.

Nahida had been imprisoned for 500 years. During that time, the people of Sumeru hadn't seen a single divine sign.

Thus, both the people and Azar forgot one crucial thing: the terror of the Archons.

He didn't understand what an Archon represented in Teyvat—it meant the power to change the fate of an entire nation.

Even if Nahida wasn't skilled in combat, she still had the strength to overturn a battlefield.

After the mercenary was taken away, Azar thought for a moment and decided to visit the factory.

As long as the God-Creation Project succeeded, he could lead Sumeru back to its prime.

At that point, even Liyue and Snezhnaya would be rivals he could challenge.

Azar left the office and headed toward the factory.

At this moment, Scaramouche was just one step away from becoming a god.

His eyes were filled with malice, and his body radiated resentment.

"Baal... Just wait! I'm coming for my revenge!"

In Liyue Harbor—

Barnabas arrived at the entrance of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's internet café.

At the entrance, temporary net admin Zhongli was leisurely sipping tea.

Tsaritsa entered the café and noticed Zhongli.

Zhongli glanced at him and said:

"She's still in the esports room."

Tsaritsa nodded slightly in thanks and went straight to the third floor.

She brought Childe and La Signora with him. As VIPs of the internet café, the staff let them pass without issue.

Tsaritsa stopped outside Calestia's room and said to Childe and Signora:

"You two wait here—I'll go in alone."

She pushed the door open and went inside.

Childe and Signora exchanged glances.

"Milady," Childe asked, "what's wrong with Her Majesty? She seems to be in a bad mood."

Signora nodded.

"Indeed. But I don't know the reason either."

In the esports room—

Tsaritsa quietly waited for Calestia to finish her game.

She had a rule: if she was gaming when someone came to talk business, they had to wait until she finished.

Calestia won first place in that match and was in high spirits.

She turned and looked at Tsaritsa.

"Alright, speak. What brings you here?"

Tsaritsa reported the incident—Jingliu storming into Snezhnaya and killing the Doctor.

Calestia frowned, not sure what was going on either.

"I'm not sure. I'll ask someone."

She pulled out her phone and called Hu Tao.

"Hey? Boss, where are you?"

Hutao's voice came quickly.

"I went to Wuwang Hill last night. I'm on my way back with Huohuo now.

Let me tell you, Huohuo is amazing. She caught a bunch of ghosts this time."

Calestia replied:

"Got a question. Do you know why Jingliu went after the Doctor?"

Of course Hutao knew—she loved lurking in chat groups and collecting gossip.

"You didn't hear? The Doctor tried to kidnap Bailu for experiments.

Then Stelle filed a report, and General Jing Yuan, Dan Heng, Blade, and Jingliu went to hunt him down."

Calestia nodded in understanding.

"Alright, got it. I'm hanging up—safe travels!"