"I... understand..." Paimon gritted his teeth, struggling to force out the words.
"Hehehe... That's more like it~~" The Wanderer sneered and tossed the Skyblade to Paimon.
"Whoosh!!"
The Skyblade arced beautifully through the air, and then
landed precisely in Paimon's hand.
"No need to thank me, remember to give it your all~" The Wanderer continued to sneer.
"I... I..." (No... I can't do it... What should I do, is there any other way... Wait... if I remember correctly... Got it! I need to buy some time...)
"This, this... What do we do, what do we do? Hey! You scoundrel! Can't you give us another option?!" Paimon flew angrily to The Wanderer's face and shouted.
(Oh?! Well done, Paimon! As long as we can stall for a bit more time...)
Paimon silently praised Paimon in his heart.
"Heh... I'm afraid not. For me, this is exactly what I wish to see. If you're going to blame anyone... blame yourself for being able to do nothing but watch~"
"You! How infuriating... You've made me lose the mood to even give you a nickname, you bastard!"
"Hmph hmph hmph... Then you can take your time recovering your mood~ As for the two of you, don't keep me waiting too long~"
(Tch... This bastard is hard to fool, but this amount of time is enough...)
"I understand..."
Paimon clenched the Skyblade in his hand and walked step by heavy step towards Lumine.
"Hehehe... Hahahaha! Yes! That's right! The sight of friends being forced to slaughter each other is the most entertaining thing in the world~" As he watched Paimon's approaching footsteps, The Wanderer couldn't help but burst into laughter.
(Transformation time is still in the teens of seconds, whether we can turn the tables depends on that blinding flash of light when I transform back...)
Paimon's mind was racing, and he subtly signaled to Lumine...
(Hmm? Is she telling me to close my eyes?)
Lumine understood Paimon's thought. Although she was still a little confused, she obediently closed her eyes.
(Five... four... three... two... one!)
"I'm sorry!"
Upon hearing Paimon's roar, The Wanderer's eyes widened, wanting to capture every moment. However, what greeted him was a blinding light.
"Ah?!" The Wanderer was instantly blinded. Although he instinctively raised his hand to shield his eyes, he couldn't help but let out a pained cry.
"Now's the time!"
Lumine immediately drew the Aquila Favonia and, relying on her memory of the route, charged forward.
"Swoosh!"
"Pfft?!"
The sword instantly pierced The Wanderer's chest. Realizing that her decisive blow had landed, Lumine opened her eyes and slowly drew the Aquila Favonia from his chest.
"Cough... cough cough... To think you had such a trick up your sleeve... You two are truly remarkable..." The Wanderer said, clutching his wound and kneeling on the ground in pain.
"You lost. Take me to see Ying now!" Lumine said coldly, placing the Aquila Favonia at The Wanderer's throat.
"Hmph... I would if I could, but the place she's in now was created by my abilities, not a room in this base. And I'm already severely injured; the remaining strength I have can only get me back."
"Don't play any tricks!"
"Heh... Don't worry, I always keep my word. If I said I'd let your sister go, I will. Besides, only I know where she is now. You have to trust me..."
"You!" (Damn it!)
"Hmph... Consider yourselves clever this time... But don't celebrate too soon..."
Hehehe... Feelings are indeed a person's greatest weakness...
The Wanderer slowly stood up, using his abilities to stop the blood dripping from his wound before disappearing from the spot. The display screen he had created also vanished with him.
The scene shifts to Ying...
"Cough... cough... That damn scoundrel... to threaten Lumine with me... No... I can't be a burden to them..."
Ying tried to break free from the chains, but for some reason, whenever she tried to struggle, the chains would automatically electrocute her.
"Ah!"
"Ha... ha... Damn it... I can't break free at all..."
"Heh heh... Save your energy. Congratulations, you've been successfully "rescued" by your dear sister. I never expected she had such great power. In my normal state, I'm no match for her~" The Wanderer, who should have been severely injured, emerged from the darkness as if he were perfectly fine.
"The Wanderer?! Hmph... I don't believe you'd be so kind..." After their previous encounter, Ying had no intention of believing this scoundrel would actually let her go.
"Hehehe... You say that, and I'll be heartbroken. Hmm... Although I did promise to let you go... I didn't say what kind of you~"
"?! What do you mean..."
"Mmm-hmm... Actually, my original plan was to incapacitate your sister before letting you go. However... it's not that big of a problem. After all, judging by her performance earlier, she shouldn't hurt you..."
The Wanderer said calmly, and a dark purple energy began to gather in his hand.
"What do you want?!" (Damn it, I suddenly have a very bad feeling...)
"Hehehe... Don't worry, I just want to make you stronger..."
As he spoke, the energy in The Wanderer's hand shot towards Ying.
"What?! This is... Ah! You wouldn't?!" Ying struggled in pain, trying to evade the continuous stream of energy from The Wanderer.
"How is it? Isn't this power something to be yearned for?"
"Stop... please! (≧﹏≦)"
(No... my consciousness is... this energy... does it have the ability to control others...)
"Hmph hmph hmph... I'm really looking forward to the performance of you sisters slaughtering each other~" The Wanderer's lips curled into a sinister smile.
"Lumine... run..."
Ying felt her head growing heavier, her eyes gradually losing their focus, and she slowly passed out...
"Hehehe... The show is about to begin..."
A while later...
The scene shifts to Lumine...
"Lumine, do you think The Wanderer will really let Ying go?" Paimon asked uneasily, while Paimon had already fallen asleep from exhaustion.
"I don't know, so we have to be prepared for any eventuality."
As Lumine replied to Paimon, she was silently contemplating how to deal with The Wanderer next.
(Ying's weapon has been retrieved. Although I don't know how good that scoundrel's own weapon is... I'm sure it's not as good as Ying's.)
(As for Anemo... it was heavily depleted in the recent battle. Even with some recovery now, it's just a drop in the bucket... It seems like next time I'll have to primarily use Geo as my offensive method...)
"Ah! I think I hear footsteps ahead. Could it be that scoundrel returning?" Paimon shook Lumine's body.
"I don't know..." Lumine's eyes were fixed on the door ahead, wanting to know who it was as soon as possible.
"Drip... drip..." The footsteps from the other side grew closer, and soon, someone emerged from the door.
Lumine and Paimon stared in surprise at the young girl who appeared before them. Both of them showed expressions of joy, because the person who appeared before them was not The Wanderer, but someone they desperately wanted to see...
"Ying?!"