Chapter 157: General, after finishing this battle, you won't succumb to the Mara, will you?
「 "Jing Yuan! Jing Yuan!"
The surrounding dust still swirled, and the shattered branches of the Ambrosial Arbor plummeted from the sky. Jing Yuan, slowly regaining consciousness, finally recognized the person before him… It was Dan Heng who had caught him steadily during his fall.
"Not bad, General of The Hunt..."
A wisp of spectral flame hovered in mid-air. Even with her body utterly annihilated, Phantylia's insolence remained shockingly unyielding: "But I've lost nothing more than a flesh puppet I casually molded. As for you, how much longer can you hold on?"
"The destruction of the Xianzhou... is nigh."
"Heh heh…"
With Dan Heng's support, Jing Yuan managed to rise from the ground. He chuckled softly, raising a hand to wipe the blood from his lips: "Be gone… little pawn of Destruction."
"Tell the Legion: The Hunt's vengeance… will fall upon them."
Jing Yuan extended his right hand, giving a light flick that completely extinguished the spectral flame before him. Carried by the wind, Phantylia's low, mocking laughter gradually faded into the distance. 」
「 .....」
〜Genshin Impact World〜
Teyvat, Liyue—
"Phew, it's finally over… right?"
Keqing, as if her supports had given out, collapsed onto the stone table, letting out a long sigh of relief. Recalling the moment Phantylia had seized him, she couldn't help but marvel: The General of the Xianzhou possessed truly audacious courage!
"To use oneself as bait, solely to attract Phantylia's attention… That's far too risky."
While the outcome was favorable, Ganyu didn't quite endorse Jing Yuan's adventurous strategy. Should there be even a single oversight, the entire Xianzhou Luofu risked capsizing—it was, without a doubt, an extremely perilous gamble.
"Heh heh, Ganyu, Keqing, to defeat Phantylia… how can one seize that sliver of victory without taking risks?"
Madam Ping put away her usual benevolent smile, a hint of admiration gracing her wrinkled face:
"On the contrary, for General Jing Yuan, as the leader of a Xianzhou Luofu to bravely and unhesitatingly put himself in harm's way… that decisive resolve alone is truly admirable."
"If he hadn't used himself as bait, then how do you think Phantylia could have been defeated?"
"Hmm…"
Madam Ping's rhetorical question silenced both Ganyu and Keqing for a moment. They pondered deeply for a long while, eventually giving up and shaking their heads gently.
In Keqing's mind, she would likely have had Dan Heng carry Jing Yuan away the moment he was injured. After all, the Ambrosial Arbor was in Scalegorge Waterscape; Phantylia couldn't simply carry it off.
Moreover, Phantylia needed to be connected to the Ambrosial Arbor's roots to unleash the power of 『 Abundance 』. If things truly spiraled out of control, calling for aid from other Xianzhou would be her first choice.
As for Ganyu's thoughts… given her personality, she would likely have been stationed by Jing Yuan at the entrance of Scalegorge Waterscape to assist Fu Xuan, never even getting a chance to confront Phantylia herself.
—
「 Watching Jing Yuan sway precariously, March 7th worried, "General, are you… alright?"
Jing Yuan shook his head: "…Still holding on."
He turned to Dan Heng, a strained smile gracing his lips as he said weakly, "It seems our old synergy hasn't faded after all…"
"Phantylia is truly a terrifying foe." Jing Yuan said with lingering trepidation: "If she hadn't tried to infuse the power of 『 Destruction 』 into me, I'm afraid victory would have been far from certain."
" Phantylia had established a link between me and herself. Your well-timed strike gravely injured her — thus, her connection to the Arbor was severed."
"So that's it!" Little March clutched her chest, still anxious: "When I saw Dan Heng stab you with his spear, I was so scared…"
"Is that thing… dead?" Stelle asked.
Jing Yuan sighed, "Regrettably, an Emanator of Destruction is not easily destroyed, however…"
"Phantylia won't be able to stir up trouble again for a while, and there's no need to worry about her tainting the Ambrosial Arbor. However, sealing the Stellaron will still take some time." Welt proactively interjected, picking up where Jing Yuan left off.
"These matters… Leave that to the master diviner... I'm afraid I may be... somewhat spent..."
Having spoken thus far, Jing Yuan finally could no longer support himself.
His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the ground. Moments later, Stelle and March summoned Fu Xuan and the Cloud Knights.
The group boarded a starskiff and flew towards the Exalting Sanctum.」
「 .....」
〜Chainsaw Man World〜
"After this battle, will Jing Yuan… succumb to Mara-Struck?"
Denji suddenly blurted out, munching on popcorn.
Beside him, Power, who had been absolutely hyped by Jing Yuan and Phantylia's epic clash, suddenly went pale.
"Denji, how could you say something so insidious and twisted? It must be because you've spent too much time with Makima and got infected!"
"No way? Miss Makima is clearly so cute."
Denji grabbed a handful of popcorn and stuffed it into his mouth.
"Elderly Xianzhou natives are prone to becoming Mara-Struck, aren't they? Have you forgotten Jingliu?"
"Jingliu also fell into Mara-Struck after a great battle, eventually fighting her disciple Jing Yuan, though she wasn't cleaved to death by the Lightning-Lord, thankfully."
Popcorn crumbs flew as Denji spoke,
"Applied to Jing Yuan, it would mean directly falling into Mara-Struck, then causing chaos in the Xianzhou. Even though he just defeated Phantylia and saved Xianzhou, Yanqing would still have to tearfully slay his master. How about that, sounds pretty reasonable, right?"
"…"
Power stared blankly at Denji for three seconds.
Then she let out a piercing shriek.
She pounced on Denji, straddling him and furiously shaking his neck:
"You're a devil from hell! Denji! You trash don't deserve popcorn! Spit it out, out, out!"
—
「 Jing Yuan was sent back to the Seat of Divine Foresight, where Bailu personally attended to him. She ultimately concluded that while his life was not in danger, he would require a period of quiet recuperation to fully recover.
Until then, the Astral Express Crew were welcome to stay and enjoy their leisure on the Xianzhou, with all expenses covered by the Seat of Divine Foresight.
"Yay!" March 7th jumped with joy. She had long wanted to explore Xianzhou with everyone, but unfortunately, there hadn't been any time before.
However, March and Stelle's excitement was short-lived. No sooner had they stepped out of the Seat of Divine Foresight's gates than they received a text message from the Realm-Keeping Commission.
The sender was Official Dahao of the Realm-Keeping Commission Chancery.
The reason was simple: before the incident on the Xianzhou, the General and the Master Diviner suspected that suspicious individuals had brought some dangerous contraband onto the Luofu. After a thorough investigation by their two departments, they hadn't found any suspicious persons, so they had to seek help from Stelle and her companions.
If convenient, Dahao suggested Stelle bring a few companions along to help them identify the individuals. Of course, remuneration would be provided afterward.
Stelle inquired about Welt's thoughts, and he agreed to go. However, Dan Heng had expended too much energy in the recent battle and needed a few days to recuperate, so it would just be the three of them for this trip. 」
「 .....」