"Well then, we're off to Mondstadt. The matter of Guizhong is left to the two of you. You should have no problem, right?"
Although Guizhong had not yet awakened, with Zhongli and Azhdaha guarding her, it was believed that even if a God suddenly attacked Liyue Harbor, Guizhong would not be in any danger.
"Hmm, leave it to us. We can handle watching her; it's a small matter."
"In the past, I was held back by other Gods and failed to protect her. This time, even if I sacrifice myself, I will not let her get hurt again."
Hmm, the three of them had such good feelings. Durandal could tell that although they appeared calm, if anyone dared to cause trouble, these two lords would definitely make them understand what 'cruelty' meant.
"Have you not considered it yet, Zhongli? Are you not going to let me remove the erode from your body?"
She had waited for so long, why did this person still have no thoughts? Could it be that he didn't take her words to heart? Or was the erode's impact on him not high?
That shouldn't be. Azhdaha had spoken of the horror of the erode, and Raiden Ei had also created the Raiden Shogun out of concern for the erode.
Even if Zhongli was the Geo Archon, he would still be affected by the erode. At most, it would just be a little later; it couldn't have no impact.
"...I don't want to owe you any more favors, Durandal."
Being able to eliminate the erode within one's body was naturally a good thing, but if possible, he did not wish to trouble Durandal too much.
They were already friends, and it was natural for friends to help each other with small favors, but it had always been Durandal helping him, while he had done nothing.
Even Zhongli, who always let others pay the bill, felt it was too much to continue like this.
"Still talking about this with me? Don't you even consider how many favors you already owe me? Even if this one doesn't count, do you think the previous ones don't either?"
Durandal was truly exasperated that this guy, who often sent his bills to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, would care about such things. If he really cared so much, he should try carrying some Mora with him in the future. He shouldn't not carry Mora just because he was Morax; he no longer produced Mora.
Without waiting for Zhongli to say anything else, Durandal stepped forward and pressed down on Zhongli's body, first absorbing some of the erode from him to let him feel the effect.
Although it was only a small amount, the quantity already surprised Durandal. As expected of the longest-existing Geo Archon, the amount of erode was incomparable to other Gods.
"I'll only help you with this much for now. If you wish to eliminate more erode, come find me next time I return to Liyue Harbor. Remember not to come empty-handed when you come to find me; bring something, it's more polite."
It wasn't that Durandal was greedy for money; she just hoped Zhongli would give her some face and also give her a reason, so she would feel better when taking action.
"Understood. This is basic etiquette, and I will abide by it."
"Then I look forward to what you'll bring me."
After giving a final reminder about what the two needed to pay attention to, she left Liyue Harbor with Lumine and the others, heading towards Mondstadt.
Zhongli stood quietly in place, raising his right hand, slightly concentrating his power, and instantly a small Geo Star formed in his hand, constantly rotating.
"Just a portion of the erode has already made me feel so much better. If all the erode is eliminated, then I..."
He would be able to return to his peak state, and the Morax who dominated the Archon War would return.
"How do you feel, Zhongli? Do you feel a sense of lightness?"
"Yes, it's indeed much lighter than before. Did you feel this way too when the erode was being eliminated from you, Azhdaha?"
"Yes, just like when you helped me take shape, I feel better than ever. I believe you'll feel the same once your erode is eliminated."
Zhongli was somewhat moved. The recovery of his strength wasn't the most important reason; the main factor was the subtle influence brought by the erode.
If all the erode were eliminated, these influences would also disappear. If that were possible, then... it seems next time I see Durandal, I can discuss with her and ask her to help eliminate the erode within my body.
On the other side, Durandal, who was on her way, unceremoniously threw Lumine, who was clinging to her, to the ground. When Lumine tried to rush over, Durandal summoned her clone and had the clone swallow her into its belly, leaving her in a pitch-black space.
"Wait! It's so dark in here! It's a bit scary! I was wrong, Durandal, quickly let me out!"
Paimon hid behind Shenhe, trembling as she looked at Durandal. Lumine had joked multiple times before that she was emergency food, but that was just talk at most. At most, she would trick her into adding carrots to her bathwater... which was also too much!
Cough! Cough! Back to the topic, being called emergency food was just a joke, but Durandal might very well take that meme seriously, just like Lumine's current predicament.
If Durandal, on a whim, locked her in her belly one day, would that count as being eaten?
Lumine was locked up for about five minutes. When she was finally released, her eyes were vacant, as if she had lost her soul.
"Are... are you okay, Lumine? Don't scare Paimon."
Paimon nervously poked Lumine's cheek. She was a little worried if Lumine had been traumatized inside Durandal's clone's belly and had gone completely silly.
Lumine slowly came to her senses, looked at Paimon, blinked, and suddenly hugged her, tears streaming down her face.
"It's so dark in there, it's really scary."
Lumine babbled about what she had experienced inside the belly. It looked so small, but it was actually terrifyingly huge. She had walked for a long time inside, and the scenery was always the same.
Is... is that so? Durandal blinked. She had never been inside, so she really didn't know what it was like. Listening to Lumine's description, it sounded quite impressive.
"Could it be a space similar to an immortal's cave? If there's ever a place where we can't open the Serenitea Pot, we can ask Durandal to summon her clone and let us rest inside its belly."
What... what kind of bizarre idea is that? You can't be serious, Paimon.
Lumine and Shenhe's expressions conveyed this meaning, but only Durandal was deep in thought, seemingly considering the feasibility of Paimon's idea.
But in the end, she shook her head and rejected the proposal. Firstly, if the clone encountered an attack, would it affect the others inside? Secondly, if the clone was instantly killed, would there be any serious consequences?
These were all concerns, and besides, Durandal couldn't really let people live inside her belly; that would be too strange.
"Do you still dare to cling to me while walking?"
Miss Delezie looked at a pouting Lumine with feigned strictness and asked, "Next time if you do something like this again, I'll have my clone swallow you whole again, understood?"
"Wuwu~ Wuwuwu o(╥﹏╥)o~"
Lumine didn't answer, she just sat on the ground wiping her tears, preventing Durandal from seeing her true state, which gradually softened the heart of a slightly irritated Durandal.
Did she go a bit too far? Lumine only acted this way because of Durandal's words a while ago. If it weren't for those words, Lumine wouldn't have done such a thing.
Thinking of this, Durandal wanted to do something, but with her personality, it was impossible for her to directly apologize to Lumine, so she could only resort to other methods.
She reached out and stroked Lumine's head, then took out dozens of Primogems from her personal space and placed them in front of her.
Lumine, who had been crying, immediately stopped when she saw Durandal take out the Primogems. Her eyes stared intently at the Primogems, like a child whose attention had been caught.
"Stop making a fuss, okay? If you promise me, these Primogems are yours, alright?"
"Mhm, mhm."
Lumine agreed to Durandal's request without hesitation, snatching the Primogems from Durandal's hand. After confirming they were real, she let out a silly laugh.
She still had tears on her face, yet she was smiling so happily. Anyone who didn't know better would think she was some kind of fool.
"Can't you just make things a little easier for me?"
Durandal habitually said, then paused right after, her expression sinking.
A while ago, Lumine's behavior was quite reassuring. She was well-behaved during adventures and didn't do anything troublesome.
But it was precisely because she was too well-behaved that Durandal felt quite bad.
This girl... when she's well-behaved, it's unbearable, and when she's not, it's also unbearable. Is there never a time when she makes things easy?
Forget it, forget it. I'll talk to Shenhe first. Let Paimon deal with this girl. If I talk to her, I'll die of anger.
"Durandal!"
Suddenly, Lumine jumped onto Durandal's back, clinging tightly to her, with no intention of letting go.
"You idiot, what are you doing? Relax a bit."
"No way! Just let me hug you for a bit, just a little bit."
"Then hug properly. What's with putting your entire weight on me like this? Don't you know you're heavy?"
"How rude! How can you call a girl heavy? That's not right."
"And is hanging on someone else like that very polite? Come down now, I'm getting angry."
"Just let me hug you for a bit, just a bit is enough."
Although hugging like this felt nice, to avoid making Durandal angry, Lumine obediently returned to a normal posture, holding Durandal in her arms.
"You can't lock me in that place anymore, okay? It's like a dark room, a bit scary."
Durandal somewhat understood the terror of a dark room. She couldn't stand being locked up for just a few minutes. How did those who were locked up for days, weeks, or even months endure it?
"If you behave a bit, I might consider it."
"Oh, I see."
So, she's telling me not to behave? Hehe~ I can do that.
Lumine, who thought she understood Durandal's meaning, smiled, indicating that she was best at this and would definitely not disappoint Durandal.
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