Chapter 379: Intense Battlefield
Before Hu Tao could press him for more details, Venti waved a dismissive hand. His steps faltered slightly, swaying as he retreated a few paces to lean his weight against a relatively intact shipping container.
"Alright, alright, the opening act is officially over. The 'main event'and the'cleanup' are entirely in the hands of you two frontline combatants. I need to... hmm, find a safe spot with a good view. Take a breather, and cheer you both on from the sidelines."
He gestured toward a makeshift high platform bordering the plaza, a jagged structure formed by overturned crane components and stacked cargo containers. "Director Hu, Mr. Zhongli, stay safe out there! And especially you, Director—don't go charging in too recklessly!"
Without waiting for Hu Tao's retort, the bard scrambled up the metallic incline. He handled the treacherous gaps between the containers and protruding steel frames, panting slightly with the effort, but maintaining a surprisingly decent speed. Within seconds, he vanished into the upper shadows, leaving only the faint, emerald glow of his eyes tracking the battlefield below.
Hu Tao stared at Venti's retreating figure, exasperated by his blatant attempt to slip away. She opened her mouth to yell after him, but ultimately swallowed her questions.
Roooooar—!
A deafening bellow, thick with pain, humiliation, and unadulterated fury, snapped her attention violently back to the center of the plaza.
The parasitic Hati-tou Hound finally dragged itself upright from the crater of shattered Geo crystals and the mangled wreckage of the mechanical guards. It looked utterly wretched. The imposing, purple-red Aether crystal armor that had once encased its massive frame was now stripped away. Only a few jagged, shattered fragments clung stubbornly to vital areas like its thick neck and the exposed core of its spine.
Yet, the severe trauma did nothing to strip the Ethereal of its ferocity. Instead, the pain acted as a catalyst, fully igniting the beast's primal rage. Behind the cracked visor of crystal shards, its blood-red eyes locked onto Zhongli and Hu Tao. The beast bared its fangs, radiating a suffocating, murderous intent.
It didn't immediately lunge. Instead, the massive hound planted its clawed feet into the concrete, raised its scarred, hideous snout toward the towering, oppressive dark dome of the Hollow, and drew in a massive breath.
Awooooooo—!
A long, shrill howl erupted from its throat, carrying a frequency sharp enough to pierce through solid layers of metal and rock. The sound vibrated with strange, erratic Aether fluctuations, rippling outward in all directions through the Hollow like a dark, ancient summoning ritual. It was calling for backup. It wanted to drag every wandering Ethereal in the vicinity straight to their location.
BANG!
Almost the exact millisecond the howl began, the thunderous roar of a heavy shotgun shattered the air.
Zhongli had silently closed the distance. The moment the Hati-tou Hound tilted its head back, exposing the vulnerable flesh of its throat, the former Archon decisively pulled the trigger. The heavy slug, wreathed in the faint, unyielding golden light of the Geo element, slammed directly into the junction of the beast's jaw and throat. The kinetic force snapped the monster's massive head backward, violently cutting its summon short and reducing the terrifying howl to a pathetic, gurgling whimper.
Thwip—thud!
A split second later, the sharp crack of a suppressed sniper rifle echoed from the high platform. An armor-piercing round, trailing a weak but incredibly pure slipstream of Anemo energy, drilled precisely into the Hound's open maw. It detonated against the soft tissue of its upper palate, sending a spray of dark, corrupted blood misting into the air.
"Director Hu, we must finish this quickly," Zhongli said. His deep voice remained perfectly steady, though his footwork had noticeably quickened. He fluidly pumped the shotgun, ejecting the smoking shell casing before sliding another round into the chamber. "This beast's habits closely mirror those of a wolf. That howl was a clear attempt to summon the rest of its pack. We cannot afford any delays."
Hu Tao's heart gave a sharp jolt. She instantly grasped the gravity of the situation. Dealing with one mutated Ethereal boss was already a massive headache; if a swarm of reinforcements flooded the plaza, the three of them—especially with Venti currently acting as a semi-crippled sniper—would be completely overrun.
"Understood!" she barked back.
Without a second of hesitation, Hu Tao sprinted toward the Hati-tou Hound. She raised her submachine gun, tracking the beast's movements through the iron sights, determined to coordinate with Zhongli and lay down heavy covering fire.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
A relentless barrage of scorching, advanced ammunition tore through the air. Infused with volatile Pyro energy, the bullets rained down upon the Hound's exposed wounds and battered torso.
However, Hu Tao ground her teeth in frustration. The rounds slamming into the beast's thick, leathery hide did little more than leave shallow, charred craters. The bullets that did manage to pierce the outer layer were immediately caught by the incredibly dense, resilient muscle tissue underneath. They completely failed to achieve the deep penetration or the explosive burning effect she had anticipated. The monster's mutated skin clearly possessed an absurdly high resistance to elemental damage, severely dampening the lethal bite of her Pyro enchantment.
"Tsk, talk about thick-skinned!" Hu Tao spat. She slammed a fresh magazine into her weapon, racking the bolt as she adjusted her aim, targeting the beast's softer vulnerabilities: its glowing eyes, its snout, and its open maw.
But the Hati-tou Hound wasn't stupid. Having already tasted the searing heat of her flames, it had learned its lesson. The three massive, bladed scorpion tails erupting from its back whipped wildly through the air, acting as a grotesque shield to deflect the incoming fire. It thrashed its head violently from side to side, making it nearly impossible for Hu Tao to land a clean, precision shot.
The submachine gun boasted a phenomenal rate of fire, but its single-shot kinetic stopping power was laughably inadequate against an Ethereal of this caliber. She watched as Zhongli stepped forward, using the deafening, bone-rattling blasts of his Geo-infused shotgun to successfully draw the Hound's primary aggro. He was deliberately creating a massive opening for her to flank, yet she was stuck here, completely unable to break through its defenses.
Hu Tao let out a heavy sigh.
"Looks like this Director's self-proclaimed title of 'sharpshooter' will have to be put on hold for today," she muttered to herself.
Her plum-blossom eyes suddenly sharpened, losing all traces of their usual playful warmth. She didn't waste another second forcing a failed tactic. In one fluid motion, she shoved the half-empty submachine gun back into her multi-functional tactical backpack.
Planting her feet firmly on the cracked concrete, she reached her right hand out into the empty air.
Staff of Homa.
A blinding flash of crimson light erupted from her palm. Hu Tao gripped the flaming polearm with both hands. The weapon, towering significantly taller than her own frame, pulsed with life. She felt the familiar, comforting warmth radiating from the dark crimson shaft, connecting as if it were directly tethered to her very bloodline. She could sense the indescribable, ancient power contained within those spectral flames—a heat that bypassed the physical body and burned straight to the spirit.
A faint flutter of nervousness brushed against her chest, but it was instantly swallowed by an overwhelming surge of curiosity and a burning eagerness to test her limits.
The ethereal flames dancing at the tip of the spear sliced through the stagnant Hollow air, leaving a scorching, brilliant crimson trail in their wake. Hu Tao deftly flipped her wrist. The heavy polearm spun effortlessly through her fingers, creating a deadly, captivating flourish. The spectral butterfly flames clinging to the blade rotated in tandem, trailing a radiant, colorful exhaust of pure Pyro energy. It was as if the weapon itself was eagerly warming up, preparing to deliver the ultimate "transcendence" ritual to the monster before her.
"Here I go!"
With a sharp, spirited shout, Hu Tao pushed off the ground. The concrete cracked beneath her boots as she leaned forward, executing a flawless, explosive lunge. She blurred into a crimson arrow released from a high-tension bowstring, fiercely plunging straight into the chaotic, brutal melee between Zhongli and the Hati-tou Hound.
Meanwhile, Zhongli, who was currently bearing the absolute brunt of the monster's fury head-on, displayed a level of combat composure that could only be described as high art.
Every violent pounce, every sweeping tail strike, and every snapping bite from the parasitic Hound carried enough raw kinetic force to tear through solid steel plates and shatter the earth beneath them.
Yet, Zhongli's footwork remained impossibly steady and precise. He moved through the chaotic flurry of lethal strikes as if he were taking a leisurely, uninterrupted stroll through a gentle rainstorm.
He rarely made large, sweeping evasions. He needed only a seemingly microscopic yet perfectly timed sidestep, a smooth slide, or a measured half-step retreat to let the beast's lethal attacks graze past his coat by a mere hair's breadth. And the heavy shotgun in his hands—acting as a brutal, modern extension of his ancient fangs—always capitalized on the exact microsecond between dodges. He struck in that fleeting window when the Hound's attack missed, when its momentum was entirely spent, and before it could muster the strength to strike again.
BOOM!
The dull, thunderous roar of the shotgun echoed relentlessly. Zhongli pulled the trigger with the smoking muzzle pressed almost flush against the Hound's wounded flank, its thick forelimb joints, or directly into its massive jaw as it lunged in for a bite.
The heavy slugs, packed with the fine, impossibly dense golden light of the Geo element, delivered devastating, point-blank kinetic impacts that utterly eclipsed the stopping power of Hu Tao's submachine gun.
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