The hem of the dark cloak fluttered slightly as Scaramouche stepped to the edge of the rooftop, gazing into the distance.
Reflected in his eyes was that awe-inspiring figure — the one who could command even the thunder itself.
"Why would she suddenly make such a move…? What's happened lately?"
From the shadows behind him, dark mist rolled forth.
Two masked agents knelt down on one knee — their raven-like masks concealing most of their faces.
"My lord," one of them said respectfully, "according to our informants within the Tenryou and Kanjou Commissions.
There were no signs of irregular behavior from the Raiden Shogun. She accepted the proposal to hold the hundredth Vision Hunt ceremony as planned."
"Even today's proceedings were entirely by the book."
"But during the ceremony, two unknown individuals suddenly appeared…"
The man bowed his head even lower, humbly detailing every aspect of what had transpired.
"Oh?" Scaramouche's brows furrowed, a flicker of surprise crossing his violet eyes.
"A blonde girl… a black-haired boy… and a mysterious floating creature… Don't tell me—them?"
There was no mistaking it.
There wasn't another creature like that floating companion anywhere on Teyvat.
Coupled with a golden-haired traveler, the identity was obvious.
They'd met before — briefly, but memorably.
He'd thought about capturing them then and there, but that meddling astrologer had ruined his plans at the last second.
"Yo~"
A familiar, cheerful voice suddenly echoed behind him.
The blonde girl appeared out of thin air, waving lightly with a gentle smile — as if greeting an old friend.
"Hey there, Scaramouche the Wanderer. Long time no see~ Just chatting with your subordinates? Mind if I join?"
"E-Eh!?" Paimon blinked in confusion.
'Wasn't that guy one of the Fatui Harbingers Mona warned us about!?'
But—how did Lumine know he was here!?
And where was Nagami? Or anyone else for that matter!?
She came alone!? Was she actually planning to solo a Harbinger!?
Paimon immediately ducked behind Lumine's back, expertly pushing all responsibility elsewhere.
What could she possibly do here?
Choke him to death?
Scaramouche's tone grew colder.
"So you already know who I am. And yet you came alone. Should I call that confidence… or arrogance?"
He still remembered their last encounter — back then, Lumine could barely wield two elements.
She'd been no real threat, maybe a bit stronger than the average adventurer, but nothing more.
Now she stood before him with a calm, smug smile.
His lips curved into a chilling grin.
He clapped his hands once.
From the shadows, three more figures emerged to join the two already behind him — forming a tight circle that cut off every escape route.
"I'm curious," Scaramouche said, stepping closer with unhurried grace, "how exactly did you alter the Raiden Shogun's consciousness?"
Lumine tilted her head, hands on her hips, wearing that signature confident grin.
"Oh, that? Easy." Her voice carried a teasing lilt. "Because I'm your parent~"
It sounded like a joke — but in this case, it was technically true.
"Heh… You've got a death wish."
Before his words even faded, the agents lunged forward.
Purple lightning crackled from the Fatui electro mage's hands, tearing through the air toward Lumine.
"Hmm~" Lumine's expression didn't waver.
Still smiling, she dropped straight into a glowing rift beneath her feet—vanishing before their eyes.
"What the—!?"
"Where'd she go!?"
"Wait—AAAH!"
The unlucky Fatui who'd charged forward couldn't stop in time and ran right into their ally's lightning bolt.
Scaramouche's eyes went wide.
His instincts screamed danger.
He jerked backward just as a blinding flash tore through the darkness—
A streak of violet light slashed past where he had stood a heartbeat ago.
"Nice reflexes," Lumine's voice teased from behind him, her tone sing-song and mocking. "Not bad for the Raiden Shogun's little prototype. General Lightning Cannon, wasn't it~?"
If anyone could provoke someone's temper to the limit, Lumine was certainly no worse than Scaramouche himself.
"Impossible…! That's impossible!!"
His scream wasn't from fear of her spatial powers, nor from anger at her taunting nickname—
It was because of the weapon she now held.
"That sword…! Why is that sword in your hands!?"
His eyes went wide with disbelief, staring at the violet blade sparking with divine lightning.
The same weapon that symbolized the authority of the Almighty Shogun herself.
"Oh, this?" Lumine twirled the sword playfully, the lightning tracing elegant arcs through the air.
"Yeah, it's a pretty good blade. The normally violent electro energy is being so well-behaved today." She smiled sweetly. "As for why it's in my hand—didn't I already say?"
Her golden eyes gleamed mischievously.
"Because I'm your parents. But only for today~"
Her voice, usually soft and ethereal, carried that cheeky confidence that clashed hilariously with her fairy-like beauty — a perfect mix of grace and chaos that made Scaramouche grind his teeth in rage.
Nagami's projection of the Dreamed Unity was indistinguishable from the original — the only difference being that it lacked Shadow's consciousness as an anchor.
Otherwise, it was flawless.
Though it couldn't compete with the Divine Key of the Honkai world, it still ranked among the top-tier armaments in this realm.
Even the once-constant plain blade that had accompanied her for ages had long since been discarded by Lumine somewhere inside a rift as a mere collectible.
Humming a cheerful tune, Lumine's delicate face softened into a warm, indulgent smile.
"Even though I get along with that young man, today you're staying put, General Lightning Cannon."
If that lady happened to be there, well — Lumine wouldn't hesitate to deal with her too.
The woman named Rosaline Cruzshika Loevafeld may once have had an innocent past.
But when her sight was consumed by roaring flames, that innocence burned away.
People like her weren't rare in Lumine's wanderings: lost souls who'd surrendered to their own desires, trading virtue for power and becoming sadists in the process.
If Rosaline were still weak, Lumine might have toyed with her, letting her live and grow.
But now—
"You fiend!!!" Scaramouche's composure cracked.
The Dreamed Unity's presence had rattled him in a way he couldn't tolerate.
Some lightning-hot hatred rose in him, uncontrollable and raw; he ground his teeth and spat, "You don't need to know how you came to wield that sword. All you need to know is that you die here today!"
A spear of savage electro formed in his outstretched palm, crackling like a starstorm.
His face twisted into a grotesque mask of fury. "I am the transcendent one — even the Archons cannot bar my fate! A mere foreigner dares to try and kill me!?"
Fatui soldiers materialized from the shadows one after another, drawn out by the chaos at the Vision-hunting ceremony and the Shogun's actions.
The city's hidden operatives revealed themselves all at once.
"You call yourself transcendent, but you're nothing but scrap tossed aside by Shadow," Lumine said coolly — a cutting barb.
In a game long ago, Scaramouche had deliberately baited Nagami's wrath with similarly stinging words, using the Makigami of spite to pin him down.
Now the same tactic had been repaid in kind.
Lumine wanted to see who could rile whom more.
"I will kill you!!!" His roar unleashed a tempest.
Lightning detonated across the area, filling the air with thunderous light.
Lumine watched with a breezy, almost amused smile — "I wasn't even trying that hard yet, and you're already collapsing?" — then slipped away again into a rift.
Scaramouche stood motionless where she'd been, fighting to suppress the rising tide of emotion.
How could someone traverse space at will with no elemental trace — like moving by instinct? It unnerved him.
His expression darkened as he surveyed the scene, heightening his guard.
"I'm right here."
Suddenly he looked up.
Red-shadowed eyes fixed on the tiny breach where only Lumine's head had once poked through.
In that instant the surrounding soldiers screamed.
A slashing purple blade, wrapped in furious lightning, swept out of the rift.
It moved at an impossible speed, beyond what ordinary eyes could track.
Combined with the unpredictable spatial ability, even Shadow would have found this hard to counter — ordinary soldiers had no chance.
Lumine's silhouette darted like a sprite through the breach; each graceful swing of the blade claimed another life.
Yet the scene never felt crude or gory.
Instead, it carried a refined, almost ceremonial beauty.
This was artistry: the art of Space.
Compared to Lumine, mundane foes looked shamefully clumsy — like the difference between toddlers and adults.
'Okay, that metaphor might have been a bit harsh.'
She showed no mercy to the Fatui.
Those with a personal stance, the few who could be called comrades-in-arms, were rare; most of them were terrorists, and while killing all ten might risk collateral damage, leaving nine dead and one fleeing would still ensure the threat was broken.
Lumine's white-and-blue figure paused. She curled the hint of a smile and stared at Scaramouche, whose face had gone pale beyond bearing, as she resumed her mock-serious, theatrical posture.
"Is that it? Is that all you've got?" she teased, overdoing the incredulous expression for comic effect. "This the level of a Fatui Harbinger?"
Scaramouche's arrogance had been tightly controlled up until now — a difficult restraint to maintain. But whatever held him in check finally snapped.
"I will kill you." His voice went cold and mechanical, utterly devoid of feeling.
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