Early the next morning, the moment the guards at the Knights of Favonius headquarters unbolted the front gates, they found a man in black clothing hog-tied and lying right on the threshold.
A guard quickly stepped forward to check on his condition.
After a few firm shakes from the guard, the man finally groaned and blinked awake.
“Weiwei, what on earth happened to you?” the guard asked anxiously.
“I…
I don’t remember,” the man said, looking utterly bewildered.
“All I know is I’m here to turn myself in!
Last night…”
The man proceeded to spill his guts, confessing to every single criminal act he and his associates had committed, both recently and in the past.
He even named the innkeeper as their primary accomplice.
Naturally, he didn’t utter a single word about Eve, nor did he mention anything about a murder taking place.
After all, Eve had already taken the liberty of rewriting those specific segments of his memory using her powers.
With any luck, he’d turn over a new leaf and become an upstanding citizen.
As the man poured out confession after confession, the guard’s expression grew steadily grimmer.
He hauled the man straight into the headquarters interrogation room and immediately sounded the alarm for backup.
Within moments, a heavily armed platoon of knights streamed out of the main doors, marching with grim determination straight toward Morning Glory Inn.
Just as they arrived outside the building, Lumine and her group happened to be stepping out of the inn, having finished packing up their things.
As they walked past, the innkeeper shot Lumine a look of sheer, unadulterated disbelief.
Though he wouldn’t have the luxury of dwelling on it for long.
The moment Lumine departed, the Knights of Favonius swarmed the establishment.
“Hey, Lumine, why do you think so many knights are rushing over here this early in the morning?” Paimon asked, peering back at the squad of armored guards with a puzzled tilt of her head.
“Hmm…
Maybe they’re looking to book some rooms?” Lumine joked with a faint smirk.
“No way that’s it!” Paimon shot back immediately.
As for the actual truth behind the raid, probably the only one who knew was the little entity currently tucked safely inside Lumine’s arms.
That very morning, every single inn within the walls of Mondstadt underwent a thorough, unannounced sweep by the Knights.
Lumine soon arrived before the gates of the Knights of Favonius headquarters.
Waiting for her there were Kaeya Alberich, Amber, Lisa Minci, and Acting Grand Master Jean Gunnhildr.
“Did something happen in the city today?” Lumine asked as she approached.
“Well, with a commotion that loud, it’s only natural you’d notice,” Kaeya Alberich replied with an easygoing grin.
“The Knights are simply conducting a thorough sweep of unregulated inns within the city limits,” Jean Gunnhildr explained, her expression severe.
“Ah, I see,” Lumine nodded.
“Right, let’s put that aside for now.
We have a plan to finish from yesterday—that takes top priority,” Lisa Minci chimed in smoothly.
“Then we’ll proceed according to the original plan.
Everyone disperse and head to your designated spots.”
“Amber, make sure you look after Lumine and the others,” Jean Gunnhildr instructed.
“Leave it to me, Acting Grand Master!” Amber gave a confident salute.
“Then…
let’s move out,” Jean Gunnhildr declared.
Just north of the city walls, Amber led Lumine, Paimon, and Eve toward the Temple of the Wolf.
“Right here. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
One of the abandoned temples of the Four Winds.”
Amber pointed toward a weathered ruin nestled against the cliffside.
“These temples have been abandoned for years now, and the people of Mondstadt practically never come out this way.”
“So there’s a pretty good chance we’ll find wild beasts nesting inside, or maybe even a Hilichurl camp,” Amber added, looking somewhat concerned.
“After all, even Stormterror himself abandoned his own temples,” she said with a hint of regret.
“Sigh…” Lumine sighed right along with her.
“Anyway, we can worry about that later.
Did you feel that?”
“The wind inside this place feels a bit off,” Amber noted, testing the current with her hand.
“I felt it too,” Lumine agreed.
“In any case, let’s head inside and take a look.
Be careful, Lumine—the dragon’s power is warping the energy around here,” Amber warned.
Inside the ancient ruins, Lumine and her companions fought their way through a series of mechanical traps and minor monsters, finally reaching the innermost chamber.
“Look, right there!
That’s the source of the anomaly disrupting the leylines and the wind,” Amber pointed ahead.
At the far end of the chamber stood a monolithic structure pulsing with trapped elemental wind.
“Quick, smash it!” Amber urged urgently.
Lumine materialized her Silver Sword and shattered the crystal structure with a single decisive strike.
With a sharp *CRACK!*, the shattered stone dissolved into a gust of wind and vanished into thin air.
At the same time, the entire temple shuddered violently.
This meant the elemental turbulence in this sector had officially been cleansed.
“Awesome…”
Lumine barely had time to start celebrating when a volley of hydro projectiles came whistling straight toward her.
“Watch out, Lumine!” Paimon shrieked in immediate panic.
It was already too late to dodge.
“Forest’s Blessing,” Eve’s voice rang out.
A vibrant green Dendro barrier instantly materialized, enveloping Lumine in a protective shell.
The water projectiles struck the barrier and dissipated into mist the exact moment of impact.
The shield itself remained completely unblemished.
The group snapped their heads toward the source of the attack.
A blue Hydro Abyss Mage hovered in mid-air, relying on its own floating magic.
“Damn meddling pest!” The Abyss Mage glared furiously at Eve.
If that little thing hadn’t gotten in the way, its sneak attack would have landed cleanly.
“It’s an Abyss Mage!” Amber shouted, nocking an arrow in one fluid motion.
“Lumine, get ready to fight!
These things are extremely dangerous—you can’t deal any real damage to them until you break their elemental shields first!”
“Hahaha!
Under the protection of the Abyss, you miserable mortals stand no—” the Abyss Mage cackled aloud.
Before it could even finish its gloating, a concentrated glob of Dendro energy fired directly from Eve’s position, flying straight toward the Abyss Mage’s protective water barrier. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
*POP.*
With a soft sound, the shield shattered instantly.
“What?!” It wasn’t until the Abyss Mage tumbled out of the air and landed flat on its rear with a painful thud that the reality of the situation set in.
What just happened?
Aren’t you supposed to follow procedure and exchange dramatic dialogue first?!
*Eve: Just one-shot it.
What’s there to talk about?
It’s much easier to interrogate them after you’ve tied them up anyway.*
“Lumine, hit it!” Eve commanded sharply.
Lumine was still standing there looking just as bewildered as the Abyss Mage.
It wasn’t until she heard Eve’s prompt that she snapped back to reality.
Whipping out her Silver Sword, she sprinted straight toward the fallen spellcaster.
Without its protective shield, an Abyss Mage was astonishingly squalid in close quarters; it only took Lumine a few swift strikes to beat it down to its knees, begging for mercy.
“Wait, wait, stop!
I’ll tell you anything you want to know!”
Eve hopped gracefully onto the top of Lumine’s head, looking down at the groveling Abyss Mage with an expression that clearly read, *Are you an idiot?*
Since you showed up here of all places, wasn’t the answer to every possible question already glaringly obvious?
“Lumine, finish it,” Eve instructed casually.
“Mm.” Lumine raised her blade and brought it down in a clean arc, ending the Abyss Mage on the spot.
With a bitter, resentful expression, the creature dissolved into a cluster of blue light pixels and vanished.
Eve hopped down from Lumine’s head, returning to the comfort of her arms, where she gave a little contented nuzzle against Lumine’s collarbone.
“Lumine, let’s go.
Mission accomplished.”
“Yeah.” Lumine stroked Eve gently, stowed her sword away, and turned around.
“Amber, Paimon, time to head back.”
“Yay!” Paimon cheered, zipping over to join them.
At that moment, Amber jogged up, looking slightly exasperated.
“You guys wrapped that up way too fast!
Didn’t you even want to ask what their plans were?”
“Amber, Abyss Mages are bad news,” Lumine reasoned calmly.
“Since it showed up here, it was obviously up to no good.”
“Besides, appearing in a place like this means they were clearly targeting us and Stormterror all along.”
“Of course we had to take care of it quickly.” Lumine’s logic was airtight.
“Uh…
I suppose you’ve got a point,” Amber conceded with a helpless shrug.
The group cleared the exit of the temple and set off on the road back to Mondstadt.
By the time they stepped back through the city gates, the suffocating pall of the storm that had choked the entire region was entirely gone.
The gloomy, ash-colored skies had vanished, replaced once again by a vast, brilliant expanse of blue.
“Looks like Acting Grand Master Jean and the others successfully cleared out the anomalies in the other temples, too!”
Amber said, gazing up at the brilliant blue sky with visible excitement.