Signora's gaze fell upon Jiang Bai, a hint of surprise flickering in her eyes. "Oh? To think you've grown this much since last we met."
"What can I say—I'm a genius, after all." Jiang Bai flashed a mock-narcissistic grin, but the vigilance in his eyes didn't relax even a fraction.
Although he'd never fought Signora properly, he could tell from their brief clash at Mondstadt's cathedral—she was far stronger than Childe.
Not in skill—just purely, overwhelmingly stronger.
Signora walked forward slowly, her gaze leisurely drifting onto the Exuvia. "I have no interest in exchanging pointless banter with you. Since the [Gnosis] isn't in the Exuvia, that leaves only one possibility."
Childe spat out a mouthful of blood, his bruised and swollen eyes barely opening a slit, confusion etched upon his face.
Even though his head was muddled, his vision blurry to the point of blindness, he could still manage basic thinking.
Wasn't the [Gnosis] already taken by that Traveler next to them? Why did her tone suggest otherwise?
Or was it that the [Gnosis] had never been inside the Exuvia at all?
With a flick of Signora's wrist, countless Sigils of Permission drifted up from Childe's body, floating to revolve ominously around her, emanating an unsettling aura.
"Allow me to help you finish the plan you failed to complete—I'll prepare a special gift for Liyue."
"What are you trying to do?" Jiang Bai instantly summoned [Baiyuan] into its firearm form, opening fire to interrupt her ritual.
He didn't know what she was attempting, but he absolutely couldn't let her succeed!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A hail of bullets poured forth, only to be blocked entirely by a wall of solid ice.
A cruel smile crept onto Signora's lips. "Of course—I'm waking the ancient god slumbering beneath Guyun Stone Forest."
"A god?!" Paimon exclaimed in shock.
"Osial, the Overlord of the Vortex. He lost to Morax—the Geo Archon—during the Archon War, and was sealed beneath the sea with stone spears. This was originally my backup plan."
A bitter, difficult smile twisted onto Childe's face.
How pathetic—he didn't even have the strength left to activate his own backup plan.
"Once that ancient god strikes Liyue Harbor, which no longer has a deity to guard it, surely that Geo Archon who's been calmly watching from the sidelines will have no choice but to step forward!"
Signora's smile widened with satisfaction, as if picturing the deity's inevitable humiliation when forced to intervene.
"You mean—the Geo Archon isn't dead?! All this was just his own performance?!" Jiang Bai was clearly more shocked by this revelation than the unsealing of an ancient god.
He'd been guessing all along—even coming up with wild ideas about Zhongli staging a coup—but the Geo Archon had never actually died at all! Everything was planned from the start!
Jiang Bai's head felt ready to explode.
If so, then what role had Zhongli played in all this?
Had Zhongli been secretly laughing at him this whole time?!
And who exactly was the Geo Archon? Could it really be Zhongli himself…?
I can't keep thinking about this—I'll lose it if I do!!!
Forcefully cutting off his chaotic thoughts, Jiang Bai forced himself to calm down.
Who exactly the Geo Archon was—right now that wasn't important. It could wait. What mattered most was handling this immediate crisis.
Paimon hid nervously behind Aether, curiosity overcoming fear as she piped up, "But the Archon War ended over two thousand years ago! How can you awaken an ancient god from that long ago?"
"Through these Sigils of Permission, naturally."
Signora had no intention of hiding it. She'd already activated the Sigils, and at this point, she wanted them to fully grasp the hopelessness of the situation.
"He didn't replicate so many Sigils of Permission for nothing. With the power from these numerous Sigils combined, and the strength bestowed upon the Harbingers by Her Majesty, temporarily unsealing the suppression of the stone spears isn't impossible."
As she spoke, Signora didn't miss the chance to step on Childe further. "Though admittedly this plan is a bit crude, it does have its uses."
"I remember now! The adepti said there's divine Geo energy in the Sigils of Permission!" Paimon caught the crucial detail.
"Then we absolutely can't let her succeed!"
Jiang Bai's attacks never ceased, bullets poured endlessly from [Baiyuan], every shot targeting Signora.
"Heh. Since I dared show myself, naturally, I have absolute confidence in awakening the ancient god." Signora continued driving the Sigils without moving an inch herself.
Having watched the entire previous battle, she'd long prepared for Jiang Bai's tactics.
Thick walls of ice formed in front of her, layer upon layer, wrapping her like an onion.
Breaking one layer just revealed another, endlessly regenerating.
Though energy-intensive, her goal was merely to stall for time—consumption didn't matter.
Seeing the shield replenishing itself endlessly like a turtle's shell, Jiang Bai cursed inwardly, abandoning [Baiyuan] and preparing to shatter the platform itself to interrupt her ritual.
But it was already too late.
Fully activated, the Sigils erupted skyward, piercing through the ceiling in a blinding pillar of light.
At that instant, far away in Guyun Stone Forest, the sea shook violently. Beneath the depths, an ancient deity opened its enormous eyes.
Immediately, overwhelming pressure surged forth from the awakened god. Dark clouds gathered above all of Liyue Harbor, unleashing torrents of rain.
Feeling the terrifying aura of the ancient deity, Jiang Bai's eyes flashed coldly.
He stomped sharply, and the sturdy stone platform cracked and splintered apart, fragments tumbling downward.
Baiyuan became a golden longsword in his hands. Jiang Bai propelled himself upward by stepping on the falling stones, giving Signora no chance to breathe as he rushed straight toward her falling form.
Golden sword-lights flashed, weaving a web in midair. Each slash brimmed with lethal sharpness.
Facing Jiang Bai's relentless assault, Signora calmly swung a thorn-covered whip upward, latching onto a huge rock still suspended above. She used it as leverage to leap higher, narrowly evading the strikes.
Shwing!
Blade and stone collided, the massive rock neatly sliced into several smooth fragments as cleanly as if by a mirror's edge.
One could imagine clearly what would happen if such blades touched flesh.
Signora unfurled immense crimson wings behind her, scorching heat radiating outward.
Leaping rapidly upward from stone to stone, Jiang Bai moved like a fleeting shadow. Golden bullets continuously fired from his gun, pulverizing every stone blocking his path.
Amidst flying debris, a single bullet pierced the dust, flying directly at Signora—Rosalyne's—forehead.
Rosalyne's pupils shrank, her figure instantly vanishing from sight.
Bang!
The bullet slammed into the distant wall, exploding a huge crater into the stone.
Aether lay flat on the ground where he'd fallen, staring upwards blankly at Jiang Bai and Signora battling ferociously midair.
Looking at Signora, who was temporarily forced into retreat, he couldn't help the astonishment rising inside him.
Just how long had it been—how did Jiang Bai become this insanely strong?
Even if he'd swapped weapons, wasn't this a little too exaggerated?
Turning his head, Aether glanced at Childe, who'd fallen alongside him. Already seriously injured, Childe had crashed hard onto the ground. Though the rock prison trapping him had shattered on impact, the damage from the fall made him cough up several more mouthfuls of blood, knocking him completely unconscious.
---
T/N: power of love
bonus chaps
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300 stones -> 3 chapters
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