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Although Childe often claims that the bow is the weapon he is least proficient with, his mastery of it is still far beyond that of any ordinary archer. The arrows, condensed from pure Hydro energy, whistled through the air one after another.
Each shot that missed Xu Luo blasted deep craters into the rocky earth, sending shards of stone flying in every direction. Xu Luo didn't just defend; as he dodged and wove through the barrage, he retaliated with a volley of Mirage Blades. His magical energy recovered at an incredible rate, allowing him to fire the ethereal swords like a continuous stream of projectiles that could seemingly last for hours without end.
Before long, Childe found himself falling behind in the long-range exchange. The sheer volume of Xu Luo's Mirage Blades began to overwhelm his archery. However, the eleventh Fatui Harbinger was never one to stay at a distance for long.
He thrived in the heat of melee combat. Dissolving his bow into shimmering blue light, Childe summoned two Hydro daggers and charged forward with a manic grin. If Childe wanted to close the distance, Xu Luo was more than happy to meet him with cold steel.
Hahahaha! Now this is more like it!
Seeing Xu Luo take the initiative to meet his charge, Childe's fighting spirit reached a new peak. The Hydro daggers clashed against the Yamato, and the resulting explosion of magical power and water elements created a violent gust of wind that swept through the mine. The two fighters became blurs of blue and silver, their blades moving so fast they were airtight, leaving only afterimages in their wake.
Every collision sent shockwaves rippling through the ground, cracking the floor and kicking up clouds of dust. After a few intense rounds of rapid-fire exchanges, Childe began to feel the mounting pressure.
In terms of raw strength and reflexive speed, Xu Luo was proving to be the superior combatant. With a powerful, sweeping swing of his saber, Xu Luo forced the Harbinger back. Childe skidded across the dirt for more than ten meters, his boots carving deep furrows in the earth before he finally came to a halt.
His hands were slightly numb from the impact, but the sensation only served to fuel Childe's excitement. Having an opponent strong enough to push him back made the fight worth every second. He stood tall, the water energy swirling around his weapons.
The next part is the real show! Get ready!
Childe's smile widened, and he activated his Foul Legacy transformation, though he kept it to a manageable surge of power rather than the full armor. As a member of the Harbingers who utilized a Delusion, he had access to levels of strength that most mortals couldn't even comprehend. His speed and power soared instantly. The daggers in his hands elongated and shifted, transforming into two Hydro spears—one long and one short. He lunged forward, thrusting the weapons toward Xu Luo with blinding speed.
Xu Luo held his ground, his movements precise and economical. The Yamato parried the spear tips with clinical accuracy. The ground beneath them shattered into a massive spider-web pattern as the force of their struggle intensified, and the shockwaves cleared the area of any remaining loose ore.
Childe swung the shorter spear in a vicious horizontal arc, but Xu Luo's body flickered with blue light as he took a single, calculated step back to avoid the strike. The moment the spear passed him, Xu Luo pivoted and sprinted forward, slashing the Yamato toward Childe's shoulder in a sudden counterattack.
The move was lightning-fast, but Childe was a veteran of countless battles. You don't become a Fatui Executive without having more than a few tricks up your sleeve. Sensing the danger, Childe condensed his Hydro energy into a localized shield around his body.
The Yamato struck the barrier with a dull thud, and Childe immediately crossed his spears, pushing outward with a burst of force to drive Xu Luo back. He followed up with a series of rapid stabs, his spears becoming a blur of blue light, but he only managed to hit the fading afterimages left behind by Xu Luo's high-speed movement.
It's not over yet! Not even close!
Childe unleashed a relentless flurry of thrusts, his weapons dancing in a complex pattern. However, Xu Luo had faced this exact combat style countless times while fighting Childe in the Golden House during his time as a player.
He knew every rhythm and every tell. He dodged and parried with an effortless elegance that seemed to mock the Harbinger's efforts. Childe's frustration began to grow alongside his fighting spirit; he was tired of being evaded. He decided it was time for something much bigger.
Exterminate the water light!
Childe leaped back and raised his Hydro weapons high, concentrating his elemental power into a single point. He slashed downward diagonally, releasing a massive crescent-shaped wave of water that spanned nearly eight meters. The Hydro blade tore a jagged crack into the mine floor as it surged toward Xu Luo. Xu Luo didn't flinch.
He channeled his demonic energy into the Yamato, raising the blade and swinging it down in a mirrored arc. A trail of deep blue magical power extended from the steel, meeting Childe's attack head-on. The two slashes collided with a thunderous roar, blasting a massive hole in the ground between them.
Smoke, dust, and gravel filled the air. Taking advantage of the obscured vision, Childe switched back to his longbow and fired a rapid succession of Hydro arrows into the cloud of debris. The arrows exploded on impact, further churning the smoke and eventually clearing it away. To Childe's surprise, the center of the crater was empty. Xu Luo was nowhere to be seen.
On top!
Childe's battle-honed instincts screamed at him, and he looked up just in time to see Xu Luo descending from the shadows of the mine ceiling. He quickly raised his bow to block, and the Yamato slammed into the frame of the weapon with enough force to send Childe reeling back several steps. As soon as the Harbinger regained his footing, he noticed Xu Luo standing perfectly still, his hand resting on the hilt of his sheathed sword.
Childe was no stranger to this specific stance. He had fought samurai from Inazuma before and recognized the posture as a precursor to an Iaijutsu draw. However, the distance between them was far too great for a standard sword strike to land. Despite the logic, Childe felt a cold shiver of mortal threat crawl up his spine. His experience told him that something fundamentally wrong was about to happen.
Xu Luo moved. He didn't draw the blade fully; he only flicked the hilt upward a few inches. Childe didn't wait to see what happened. He exerted every ounce of his strength to leap away from his current position at full speed. In the very next heartbeat, a chaotic sphere of blue, razor-sharp slashes erupted out of thin air exactly where Childe had been standing.
It was as if the space itself had been shredded by an invisible blade. The air hummed with the residual energy of a Dimensional Slash, leaving the Harbinger wide-eyed and breathing heavily as he realized just how close he had come to being torn apart.
The mine fell silent for a moment, the only sound being the settling dust and the crackle of lingering elemental energy. Childe looked at the distorted space and then back at Xu Luo, his excitement now tempered by a newfound sense of genuine danger.
This wasn't just a fight between two Vision holders anymore; this was something on a completely different level. Xu Luo remained in his calm, grounded stance, the Yamato clicked back into its scabbard with a soft, final sound. The battle was far from over, but the rules had clearly changed.