"Amon..."
Sophia tilted her head back and gazed at Amon seated upon the golden throne as she called his name.
Amon held a scepter in his hand, one that resembled the staves used by Cyno and certain desert priests. In truth, however, those staves had all been modeled after the one in Amon's hand.
"Welcome to my realm, Lord of the Rainforest, Lord of Hydro," Amon said slowly, looking at Sophia and Lora.
"Why didn't he greet you?" Lora whispered to Apep.
Apep shook her head. "Who knows? Maybe being swallowed by me in his previous life left him with a little trauma."
Sophia said to Amon, "Amon! You still remember us?"
"Of course I remember." Amon nodded slowly, then continued, "I had planned to come find you a little later, but since you have already come here yourselves, that saves me the trouble."
At that, he stood and went on.
"Now, you have two choices. The first is to join me, become warriors of my kingdom, fight for me, and assist me in ruling all of Teyvat."
"We'll choose the option where we don't join you," Lora said, raising her hand.
"Lord of Hydro, that is not a very wise choice," Amon said, his gaze fixed on Lora, his tone rather cold.
Sophia continued, "Amon! Have you forgotten what happened back then? Teyvat can no longer withstand a war on the level of gods! Your people are waiting for you to return!"
"No... they are not my people."
After hearing Sophia say this, Amon slowly shook his head and denied her words.
"I am the King of Red Earth, the Sovereign of Endless Sands, a noble god. Frail humans are not my people."
Amon stared at Sophia, his gaze without the slightest ripple of emotion as he spoke those words slowly.
"I am a solitary sovereign. The yellow sands are my people."
"He's changed. He no longer remembers how to love humanity," Lora said with a sigh as she looked at Amon.
A god who no longer loved humanity and had become even more powerful was, without question, a tremendous disaster for the humans of Teyvat.
Sophia stared at Amon and remained silent for a long while before finally saying, "Then... let's do this."
She may have found it hard to make a decision, but when a decision had to be made, she would not hesitate.
Apep flew high into the air, a massive dragon-shaped phantom shimmering behind her. Sophia and Lora rushed toward Amon from the left and right, intending to restrain him as quickly as possible.
Amon looked at them with cold eyes.
"Useless, Lord of the Rainforest, Lord of Hydro."
As soon as he said this, the Eremites under his control twisted their necks and looked toward Lora and the others.
In the next instant, they all rose into the air and blocked the two women's path.
Although the Eremites, infused with Amon's divine power and stripped of their own will, could not defeat Sophia and Lora, they could still cause the two of them some trouble.
Unlike Amon as he was now, Lora and Sophia still could not bring themselves to attack those innocent people.
Apep charged toward Amon.
Compared with Sophia and Lora, she had no such hesitation about striking humans, and Amon understood that. That was why he did not spare any of his already limited pawns to stop Apep.
In almost an instant, she arrived before him.
Yet Amon's expression remained calm.
He swung his scepter and slammed it down hard between himself and Apep.
The tremendous impact immediately forced the distance between them open again. Then, before Apep could steady herself in midair, Amon, already prepared for battle, appeared before her and swung the scepter down.
Although the blow did not cause Apep any serious injury, it still smashed her from the sky down to the ground.
Apep crashed into the floor, kicking up a massive wave of dust.
"Cough, cough..."
Lora took a step back, waving a hand in front of her face to brush away the dust.
Sophia immediately went over and helped Apep up from the ground. "Apep, are you all right?"
"What a joke. He is only a god. What could possibly happen to me?" Apep snorted, making it clear she was fine.
Amon hovered in the air, standing on an unseen platform as he looked down at Lora and the others below. Endless dust gathered behind him, like a massive eye slowly opening.
"Be careful, you two. He is very powerful. That strike just now did not do much to me, but he is far stronger than he was in the past," Apep said, looking up at Amon as she warned Lora and Sophia.
Lora looked toward the Eremites under Amon's control and said in a low voice, "He knew we wouldn't attack these innocent people, so he deliberately used them to block us!"
"They have been strengthened by Amon's power, and we cannot control them." Sophia frowned. "So if we want to resolve this, we have to sever their connection to Amon! Apep, holding Amon back is up to you."
"Do not speak as though you are commanding me in battle."
That was what Apep said after hearing Sophia's words, but her body was far more honest. She flew into the sky once more and faced Amon.
"An Ancient Dragon, yet you stand with gods. Apep, is this your choice?" Amon asked as Apep flew to the same height as him.
"Do I need to explain my choices to you?" Apep glanced at Amon, then launched another attack.
This time, she took the fight more seriously and gave him no opening to exploit.
While Apep restrained Amon above, Sophia and Lora swiftly began rescuing the Eremites below.
Before their combined power, Amon's control over body and mind was nothing more than a brittle shell.
With the power of Pure Water and emerald-green divine life force working together, his hold over the Eremites was soon severed.
The moment the connection snapped, Amon sensed what was happening below. During a gap in his battle with Apep, he looked down, his expression faintly displeased.
"You have freed my servants?"
"They are not your servants, Amon," Sophia said coldly, looking up at him.
Apep instantly appeared in front of the distracted Amon, clenching her fist.
"Brat, getting distracted in the middle of a fight? Are you asking to be hit?"
As soon as she finished speaking, she smashed her fist into Amon's face, knocking him straight from the sky to the ground, where he crashed through the golden throne.
The Eremites looked at one another, still not yet recovered from what had happened.
Dehya noticed Lora and hurried over to her. "What is going on, Miss Lora? Why are you here? And this is... Greater Lord Rukkhadevata?!"
...
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