After Rios joined, entering the Fatui camp became incredibly simple.
The group was like they had switched to easy mode—the so-called Fatui skirmishers were practically like Hilichurls wielding wooden sticks, taken down in one hit by Rios and knocked unconscious.
In the blink of an eye, Rios had cleared all the obstacles, leading the group to the location of the mystic source mechanism.
"Sister, you're right," Chuychu said to her sister Chasca while walking. "Being by the Pyro Archon's side really is the safest place."
"You only realize it now?" Chasca smiled.
"The next actions require caution," Mavuika said solemnly to everyone in the group. "The Captain should be inside. His strength may have already reached the limits of humanity, and he's no worse than an Archon."
"So impressive?" Paimon said, somewhat surprised.
"The Fatui Harbingers are indeed all very strong one by one," the Traveler wasn't surprised by this.
Even the Servant, who wasn't in the top three seats, had such power—not to mention the First Seat, the Captain.
With the Pyro Archon present, Mavuika still had to remind everyone, which meant that Captain's strength was even more formidable than she had imagined.
On the other side.
The Captain at the mystic source mechanism turned around.
"What's wrong?" Ororon asked curiously upon seeing the Captain's movement.
"Your god has come knocking," the Captain said.
"The Pyro Archon?" Ororon was stunned for a moment, then turned his head, and sure enough, he saw Rios leading a group of people over.
"It's really the Pyro Archon!"
Ororon's breathing hitched.
Then, he saw that Citlali's figure wasn't among the group led by Rios, and he immediately breathed a sigh of relief. "Good thing Grandma didn't come."
If Grandma had come, he would have been in for a scolding.
"Your grandma Citlali didn't come, but there's still a grandma Traveler here?" Rios said to Ororon with a smile.
"You could hear that from so far away?" Ororon was stunned.
"I'll go hold them off. You go activate the mechanism," the Captain instructed Ororon, then flicked his wrist, and a gray-blue longsword appeared in his hand.
"Everyone, be careful!" Seeing the Captain draw his weapon, Mavuika immediately shouted as if facing a great enemy, and the group prepared for battle.
Rios, however, was unhurried. His figure paused, and in an instant, he vanished from everyone's sight.
In the moment before anyone could react, he appeared in front of the Captain, his right hand forming a hand blade that glowed with golden-red light, carrying scorching heat.
Rios's hand blade slashed toward the Captain's ice sword, cutting through it like a kitchen knife through tofu. The Captain's ice sword was cleaved in two, with the upper half flying off to the side.
The broken edge of the ice sword still emitted golden flames, burning the remaining part.
Afterward, Rios didn't pause and quickly arrived behind Ororon. Although the process was described at length, it had actually only taken the time of a blink.
"Step aside!" Rios grabbed Ororon's clothes and tossed him to the side.
Then, he flicked his wrist, and several red glowing orbs flew onto Ororon's body.
"These little things can protect your soul from being damaged by what comes next."
"What?"
Just tossed aside, Ororon hadn't reacted yet, and upon hearing the Pyro Archon's words, he became even more puzzled.
"Pyro Archon, what are you trying to do?"
The Captain, realizing his weapon was broken and that the Pyro Archon had reached the mystic source mechanism, knew the overall situation was set—his plan had failed once again.
But upon hearing Rios's words, the Captain instinctively sensed one thing: the other party might not simply be here to stop them.
"Whatever you want to do, that's what I want to do."
Rios said.
"You want to activate the mystic source mechanism too?"
Ororon was slightly taken aback.
So they were on the same side after all.
[The Pyro Archon's fighting style just now was too cool]
[Can those few moves even count as a fight? The Pyro Archon just severed the Captain's weapon and tossed Ororon aside]
[I thought the Pyro Archon would be a bow character. Even fighting the Captain, it should be with a bow, but this time he used a hand blade to break the Captain's weapon]
[Last time fighting the Captain, didn't the Pyro Archon take some time?]
[How did it end so quickly this time]
[Did the Captain perhaps get stronger in the meantime?]
[Impossible]
[Clearly, the Pyro Archon was holding back last time. This time it was too urgent, so the Pyro Archon had no mood to play around and chose to end the fight with the Captain as quickly as possible]
[Now I'm a bit worried the Pyro Archon isn't a bow character but a catalyst one]
[That hand blade just now really looked like something a catalyst character would do]
[Our catalyst characters embrace all things—whether fighting with fists or directly using elemental power, it's all fine]
[Fighting with a catalyst makes you a catalyst character (×)]
[Not using other weapons to fight makes you a catalyst character (√)]
[I think the Pyro Archon is definitely a bow character. There have been many mentions of him using a bow earlier, so it can't be wrong]
[If miHoYo releases the Pyro Archon and he's not a bow character but uses another weapon, it'll definitely stir up drama again]
[If they arrange it that way, besides miHoYo wanting to troll, I can't think of any other reason]
"Does the Pyro Archon want to activate the mechanism too?" Paimon said curiously upon seeing the Pyro Archon's actions. "But didn't we come here to stop the Fatui?"
If they wanted to activate it too, wouldn't that be like the pot calling the kettle black?
"Earlier, the Pyro Archon mentioned that the Traveler needs the Night God's help to obtain an Ancient Name," Chasca guessed. "To awaken the Night God, the mechanism needs to be activated."
"Oh yeah!" Paimon remembered. "It does require activating the mechanism."
"So this mechanism can actually awaken the Night God?"
Hearing the group's conversation, the Captain finally reacted—this mechanism wasn't as he had thought, able to directly reconstruct Natlan's leylines, but rather to awaken the manager of the Night Kingdom.
"It seems my previous approach was wrong," the Captain dropped his combat stance.
"It's not entirely wrong," Rios said consolingly. "After the Night God awakens, she can also reconstruct Natlan's leylines; it's just not as simple as pressing a button on the mechanism to run it."
With that, Rios pressed the button, and the massive mystic source mechanism began to change.
This feeling...
Ororon furrowed his brows slightly; he could sense the nearby souls becoming restless, and one soul was even trying to attack him.
But the Pyro Archon had set up a barrier around him, and that soul was like a farmer tilling the soil, constantly tapping the ground made of ore with its tendrils. No matter how much effort it put in, it couldn't reach Ororon's soul.
"Rios, did you awaken me?" A gentle, feminine voice echoed through the entire space.
"Is this voice the Night God?" Paimon looked around in surprise but saw no trace of the Night God.
"The voice is probably coming from that mechanism," Chasca said.
"I'm sorry, Night God," Rios said. "For Natlan's survival, I had to awaken you. I hope you don't mind."
"No need to worry," the Night God said gently. "The way you awakened me was very gentle. I didn't feel much pain upon waking."