After entering Stormterror’s Lair, Neo immediately pulled out a huge ice shield with one hand and used it as a weapon, sending the Hilichurls blocking his path flying with several bangs.
After dealing with the Hilichurls along the way, Neo soon arrived near the tower.
The normal path to the tower was blocked by small storm barriers, so the only way up was through the wind currents around it.
Fortunately, although Neo didn’t have a Wind Glider, he could also use the airflow from the wind currents to jump up quickly, so getting to the top of the tower was no problem.
Just like that, Neo made his way to the top of the tower, where he could even see a Teleport Waypoint.
“I remember this place should… first disable the Guiding Light mechanism?”
Neo recalled for a moment, then looked around.
Soon, he spotted a pillar not far away.
It should be the main body of the Guiding Light mechanism.
Thinking of this, Neo immediately went over, wanting to see if he could unlock the Guiding Light mechanism himself.
He remembered that this thing was pretty simple…
The instant Neo touched the Guiding Light mechanism, light lit up on the pillar, and mysterious symbols floated in midair, connecting to the surroundings.
Then, Neo saw many different transparent components scattered around in various locations, more than a dozen of them.
“?”
Neo stared blankly at the transparent components scattered around, then turned back to look at the Guiding Light mechanism in front of him.
“That’s not how it was in Genshin! I remember there were at most three, weren’t there?!”
Even so, Neo still got to work, trying to bring the scattered transparent components back and place them on the main body of the Guiding Light mechanism.
However, Neo discovered that as soon as he got the order wrong, the Guiding Light mechanism would reset, and all the components would return to their original positions.
And after carefully counting them, there were twelve transparent components in total…
“I… I think I’ll just wait here for the Traveler…”
After using some simple math to calculate how many possible arrangements there were for twelve components, Neo gave up on the idea of unlocking the seal himself and going to meet Dvalin first.
Perhaps unlocking the Guiding Light mechanism required combining other clues together.
In any case, Neo couldn’t do it.
And just as Neo gave up on unlocking the Guiding Light mechanism himself, at the entrance to Stormterror’s Lair.
“W-what is this thing?”
Flying in midair, the white-haired little girl wearing a crown stared in shock at the ice wall standing beside them, as if it reached straight into the sky.
“It looks a little like something created by elemental power, but it’s a bit too sturdy.”
Among the group, the red-haired man named Diluc was the first to notice this. This story is hosted at g.com.
“Yes. Normally, an elemental construct should soon show signs of melting on the surface without a continuous supply of elemental power, but this ice wall…”
“It’s as if it’s in the extreme cold of Dragonspine. The surface is smooth, with no trace of melting, and even when you touch it, your hand doesn’t get wet.”
Beside Diluc, the blonde woman with a single ponytail named Jean stepped forward to examine it and explained Diluc’s observation to the others.
“Could it have been left behind by the Abyss Order?”
A white-haired little girl hurriedly backed away, putting more distance between herself and the towering ice wall.
“But there’s no trace of Abyssal power on it.”
“Still, we have to be careful. Perhaps it’s someone other than the Abyss Order.”
Jean, who was closest to the ice wall, shook her head and gave this warning.
Next, according to their original plan, a black-haired bard in the group plucked the lyre in his hands, dispelling the storm barrier sealing off the entire Stormterror’s Lair.
Only then did everyone enter Stormterror’s Lair from the entrance.
“These monsters… Uh, they’ve all been dealt with?”
After entering Stormterror’s Lair, Jean and the others found quite a few monsters along the way, but all of them had already been defeated.
“Could the Abyss Order have done this?”, The white-haired little girl couldn’t help asking.
“Probably not. These monsters are basically Hilichurls. Hilichurls should stay away from places rich in elemental power. Their presence here is more likely to be because of the Abyss Order.”, The black-haired bard shook his head and explained.
“I’m afraid it was the person who created that ice wall earlier.”
At this moment, the blonde outlander girl with a flower ornament in her hair, who had been standing beside the white-haired little girl, voiced this possibility.
“Very possible. Perhaps they climbed over the storm barrier from a high place using the ice wall.”
Jean also thought of this possibility and nodded in agreement after hearing the blonde girl’s words.
“Oh, oh, that does explain it. No wonder there was such a tall pile of ice there!”
“But if that’s the case, doesn’t that mean we’ve gained another helper?”
The white-haired little girl nodded in understanding and thought of this possibility.
After all, the other person had dealt with the monsters sent by the Abyss Order, which counted as helping them.
“We can’t confirm whether they’re an enemy or an ally. Better to be careful.”, Diluc reminded them.
The white-haired little girl could only respond, and then everyone continued toward the tower.
Along the way, they could see even more defeated monsters.
These monsters clearly looked as though they had been sent flying after being struck by some blunt weapon, so there were no blade wounds on their bodies.
Continuing deeper like this, the group soon used the wind currents to enter the tower through an opening on the top floor.
“Yo, you finally made it up. I’ve been waiting for you for ages!”
“Uh, no, no, this doesn’t work. It feels a little too familiar…” This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
“Ahem, you’re pretty slow. You made me wait so long that I was getting anxious.”
“No, that doesn’t work either. It feels a little too much like a villain…”
After they landed, they suddenly discovered that there was actually someone on top of the tower.
The other person was standing at another opening on the tower, gazing toward the entrance of Stormterror’s Lair, clearly having noticed that the storm barrier had been lifted.
But he hadn’t noticed them.
At this moment, he was muttering something to himself, “H-he wouldn’t happen to be waiting for us, would he?”
Hearing the other person’s muttering, the white-haired little girl scratched her head in confusion.
“Could this be an ambush by the Abyss Order? Or maybe that person who entered Stormterror’s Lair ahead of us…”
Noticing that the person not far away hadn’t seen them, Jean lowered her voice and speculated.
“Should we sneak attack him? How about I go up and say hello first?”
Beside her, the blonde outlander girl couldn’t help suggesting this.
The other person didn’t look like a monster from the Abyss Order, so she naturally didn’t think a direct sneak attack was a good idea.
What if he was just a passerby?
“Yes, then we’ll leave greeting him to the Traveler. We’ll follow behind and keep an eye on things for you.”
“Okay…”
After discussing it briefly, the blonde girl slowly walked forward, with the others following closely behind.
“Hm?”
As the blonde girl approached, Neo, who was thinking about what line he should use to welcome the Traveler, finally heard the movement and turned around in confusion.
“…”
“Uh… hello.”
Seeing Neo turn around, the blonde girl stopped, hesitated for a moment, then raised her hand in greeting.
Neo stared blankly at the familiar-looking blonde girl in front of him.
Then he immediately glanced at Jean, Diluc, and the others behind the blonde girl to confirm whether the person standing before him was the “protagonist” or the “antagonist protagonist.”
It was his first time truly seeing the protagonist, and Neo’s feelings were far more complicated than he had imagined.
After all, before transmigrating, he had played the game and learned about this world through the protagonist’s perspective.
“Outlanders, you…”
For a moment, Neo forgot the line he had spent so long thinking about and blurted it out instinctively.