"Buzz—"
On a perilous mountainside, two spatial rifts suddenly appeared, and from them emerged two grotesque and twisted non-human entities.
"Where is this?"
Frostfall surveyed the surroundings; as far as he could see, there were only gray-blue rocks covered in snow. But why did the snow look a bit yellow?
"You… look over there."
Next to Frostfall, his companion's voice came. He looked in the direction Torrent pointed and saw the golden Sky.
The peaks of the towering mountains were no longer sharp and pale; a colossal tree sprouted from the mountainside.
The giant tree emitted a brilliant golden light, its trunk, as massive as a side peak, stretched straight to the Sky, and its sprawling canopy almost covered the entire Sky.
The faint golden hue on the snow was probably stained by the scattered fragments falling from the canopy.
"Before… was that the root of this giant tree?" Frostfall looked at the Golden Tree in the distance, feeling his throat dry for the first time.
When did this tree grow out?
"Probably." Torrent's light blue eyes, hidden beneath his helmet, trembled slightly; his inner shock was no less than Frostfall's.
Frostfall and Torrent stayed put, vigilantly watching the ground beneath their feet, fearing a giant vine would suddenly burst out from underground.
However, they were clearly overthinking it; the Golden Tree didn't notice them, or perhaps it did but didn't pay them any mind.
"Phew—let's go, get closer and take a look." Frostfall let out a sigh of relief. Although he didn't know why, it was best if the Golden Tree wasn't targeting them.
"Mhm." Torrent nodded, then led the way up the mountain.
Although the snow mountain in front of them looked heavily covered in snow, its temperature was not as cold as expected.
Frostfall and Torrent advanced towards the summit, leaping while observing this unfamiliar snow mountain.
But soon, they stopped.
After crossing a side peak, Frostfall and Torrent's view suddenly opened up. The rugged rubble disappeared, replaced by vast green expanses at the foot of the mountain.
And a hazy city surrounded by green.
"That's Mondstadt!" The two Apostles' eyes widened abruptly. The unchanging windmills below, the city walls surrounding the entire city—these features allowed the Apostles to recognize Mondstadt at a glance.
If the city below was Mondstadt, then this should be Dragonspine.
Frostfall and Torrent carefully scanned the sprawling mountain range and indeed found some special landmarks.
As for the rest, it had long since changed dramatically.
Not to mention the terrain altered by the growth of the Golden Tree, just the reduced snow on Dragonspine would probably be enough to make this mountain, once covered in thick snow, completely different from before.
The two Apostles shook their heads, clearly having thought of this point as well. After composing themselves, Frostfall and Torrent continued walking along the gentle terrain.
After an unknown period of walking, the Golden Tree in front of the two Apostles grew larger and larger until it almost filled their entire field of Vision.
At this point, they were not far from the summit.
"Conceal yourselves!"
Just then, Frostfall's gaze sharpened, and after a low shout to his companion, he leaped into the opened Abyss Passage.
Seeing this, Torrent also belatedly jumped in. The once somewhat lively mountainside suddenly fell silent again.
"Rustle, rustle!"
The tranquility didn't last long; the sound of footsteps on fallen leaves echoed through the deserted mountains.
Soon, from among some rocks, a man with a large straw hat and peculiar attire emerged.
The peculiarity was mostly due to the excessively large straw hat he wore, making one wonder if he had torn off some kind of parasol and put it on his head.
"Hmm? Such a familiar aura." Balladeer twitched his nose. Amidst the snow and rubble, he caught a scent that was different.
He was very familiar with that smell, as he had spent a long time investigating the Abyss underground, which was how he climbed to the Sixth Seat of the Harbinger.
"Heh heh, I think if you're not as forgetful as moles, you should know who I am, right?"
Balladeer stopped and spoke to the empty space ahead. He had fought many Abyss Heralds underground, and he believed he must have left a deep impression on those troublesome fellows.
"Hoo…"
A faint breeze blew, swirling withered leaves and weeds on the ground, almost accompanied by the cries of a few crows.
Unfortunately, this area was already close to the summit of Dragonspine, so crows couldn't fly up. Balladeer waited for a long time, but not even the caw of a crow came.
"Hmph, hmph, good. Then let's see who has more patience. Others might not know, but I understand very clearly."
"Staying inside the Abyss Passage must be quite uncomfortable for you, too, right?"
Receiving no response, Balladeer felt a flicker of annoyance. However, he didn't show it on his face; he simply leaned against a rock and waited quietly.
As he said, it was a test of patience. Although he wasn't very patient, Balladeer believed the Abyss Herald would be even more impatient than he was.
Sure enough, Balladeer didn't wait long before the element power beside him began to fluctuate.
The Abyss Passage, which he had seen open many times, opened again, but this time, what emerged first was not the body of an Abyss Herald, covered beneath a robe, but an ice shard radiating chilling cold.
"Oh? Frostfall? Looks like I'm lucky this time!" Balladeer's lips curled into a smile, and Electro element began to surge around his body.
His Delusion was Electro element, perfectly suited to deal with Frostfall, the Abyss Herald who wielded Cryo element.
"Bang!"
Purple lightning clashed with the incoming ice shard, which instantly shattered into pieces. The scattered ice mist finally added a touch of severity to this overly "gentle" snow mountain.
"Hahaha, if you don't escape now, you probably won't have another chance!"
The cold ice mist was no trouble for Balladeer's puppet body. He strode directly through the mist, laughing as he looked at Frostfall emerging from the Abyss Passage.
"Don't assume you know everything about The Order." Frostfall looked at the "human" in front of him; he had an impression of him.
This fellow was a human who had delved deep underground many years ago, seemingly belonging to an organization called the Fatui.
But to the Abyss Order, the Fatui? Knights of Favonius? Millelith? They were all the same—just enemies.
Frostfall's arm immediately glowed with bright white light, and then Cryo element rapidly converged, instantly forming a sharp ice claw that firmly gripped Balladeer in the distance.
"Hmm? So fast!" Balladeer only felt the element converging in his perception. Before he could react, a cage made of solid ice sprouted from the ground.
"But do you think that will work?" Looking at the chilling cage, Balladeer covered his arm with Electro element and threw a powerful punch!
"Click!"
Like shattering an ice shard, Balladeer shattered the ice cage with a single punch.
"I already said, don't assume you know everything about The Order."
Another voice suddenly came from Balladeer's ear, catching him off guard.
Immediately, two water-blue cross-shaped water blades appeared out of thin air in front of Balladeer.
"Two?!"
Balladeer's eyes widened. Two Apostles attacking together? He had never seen such a situation!
And this time, they were two complementary Apostles.
The water blades slashed at Balladeer's side; the sharp pain was secondary, the more troublesome part was the spreading solid ice that threatened to engulf his entire body.
"Ha!" With a surge of electric snakes, the thin ice that had formed on Balladeer's body was instantly shattered.
The Apostles, of course, knew it was impossible to freeze Balladeer with just that; all they wanted was an opening.
"Kid, be more careful next time, don't be careless!" The water-blue arm blade struck Balladeer's crossed arms, and the immense force instantly sent him flying.
"Boom!" Rocks scattered as Balladeer smashed through several stones before finally coming to a stop.
Feeling the unusual sensation on his blade, Torrent nodded to Frostfall beside him, saying with some gravity:
"This guy isn't human."
During his time as a Harbinger, Balladeer didn't have a Vision yet; I forgot that detail earlier.
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