Chapter 513: The God of Dust: Guizhong (2-in-1 Chapter)

The lightning that surrounded Raiden Ei seemed similar on the surface to the Electro wielded by Keqing, who possessed an Electro Vision. But in essence, they were fundamentally different.

After all, hers was lightning condensed through the divine authority of an Archon—far more powerful at its core. Dispersing the formation before them with such thunder was no real challenge.

But just as Ei prepared to destroy the formation and retrieve the ancient evil artifacts sealed within...

The formation before them suddenly reacted, as if sensing danger. A faint figure with short teal hair emerged above the array.

She wore a white halter off-shoulder dress, her snow-white legs extending from the hem, bare-footed.

Her white sleeves were wide, more like those of a robe than a regular dress, and were separate from the skirt. The cuffs were so long that her hands were entirely hidden within.

"Hmm?" Raiden Ei paused, halting her attack. The lightning that had been crackling around her also subsided. "A God?"

"A God?"

Hearing her words, Nolan and the others were surprised as well. But when he turned to look at the projection, he immediately recognized her.

Wasn't that Guizhong—the God of Dust?

He had seen her before in the cutscenes of the game. And with his current memory, once he had seen someone, he could recall them almost instantly.

Though in the game's lore, she had supposedly perished long ago. For her to appear here... could it be a remnant of her consciousness?

That seemed likely. After all, her current state was much like that of the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata and Ei's true form—remnants of divine will.

"Greetings. I am Guizhong, the God of Dust—a trace of residual consciousness left within this formation," said the teal-haired girl.

"Raiden Ei."

Though Guizhong seemed to be only a fragment of what she once was, Ei gave her the respect due to a fellow God.

"I left this wisp of my will behind to maintain the array. The formation seals remnants of the Cursed God, and they are extremely dangerous. Please, I ask that you do not attempt to take them."

The two longer locks of teal hair hanging down either side of her face swayed gently as she explained the origins of the ancient evil artifacts sealed within—and earnestly requested that they not be taken away.

"But this formation already has flaws," Nolan pointed out. "Even if we leave it alone, it won't last much longer, will it?"

"You're right," Guizhong admitted. "When my true form perished, this consciousness was also pulled into slumber. That lapse allowed the evil's will to slip through the cracks.

"But just now, feeling the divine authority of Lady Ei awakened me. From here on, I will begin repairs on the formation myself. You needn't worry about the evil escaping again."

Guizhong's projection floated in the air as she calmly explained.

"What do you plan to do?" Ei nodded, indifferent to whether they retrieved the ancient evils or not. She turned to Nolan and asked:

"What's your take on this?"

"Uh..." Nolan had initially thought the broken formation posed a risk—the evils could escape again at any time. That's why he considered forging them into armor or something similar.

But now that the domain's owner had clearly voiced her opposition to dismantling the formation, it didn't feel right to force the issue. That would be too overbearing.

After thinking it through, he said, "Alright then, we'll leave them."

"Phew, thank you."

Hearing his agreement, Guizhong gently pressed her hand to her modest chest and let out a soft sigh of relief.

With only a sliver of strength left, if they had insisted on destroying the array and taking the artifacts by force, she would have had no way to stop them.

[Guizhong Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 360 Affection. Current Affection Level: Lv.3 (60/300)]

Seeing yet another girl warm up to him, Nolan suddenly didn't feel all that disappointed about not getting the ancient artifacts anymore.

Just as he was about to ask Guizhong if they could help repair the formation, the evil will sealed inside unexpectedly lashed out in protest.

"Oi oi oi! Are you humans really that stupid? You just believe whatever she says?!" the will of the evil artifact howled in disbelief upon hearing Nolan so readily agree to Guizhong's request.

Its power was that of curses. Though its main body had been destroyed and only the faintest trace of its cursed power remained—and even that could not be recovered after use—

Still, with that remaining curse energy, it could transfer its will into other cursed beings in the world.

The only condition? The damn formation sealing it had to be completely gone. Without that, it couldn't channel its power at all.

This only enraged it more. It mocked Guizhong directly:

"Ha! So what if you try to repair the formation? With your pathetic sliver of leftover consciousness, do you even have enough power to fix the seal? You'll probably dissipate halfway through!"

"Oh?" Nolan turned to Guizhong with a look of doubt.

After all, such a remnant surely didn't have much strength left. If she were to vanish while trying to repair the array, would it even be worth it?

Besides, it wasn't like they had no way of dealing with the ancient evil themselves.

Guizhong didn't deny it. She nodded lightly. "Indeed, I don't currently have enough strength left to complete the repairs. If you're willing... I'd like to ask for your help."

"Help? How exactly?" Nolan asked in detail.

"If possible, I will guide you step by step to repair the formation. The damage isn't too extensive, so it shouldn't be too difficult," Guizhong said, her appearance still that of a young girl.

Nolan hesitated. If they had to get hands-on, he actually preferred simply destroying the evil's will and forging its remains into armor.

That would be a clean, permanent solution—and they'd gain a powerful artifact in the process.

After a moment's thought, he asked Ei mentally, "Ei, do you have any way to prevent the evil's will from escaping?"

"I'm not very familiar with curse-type powers. You should ask the God of Wisdom," Ei replied honestly.

That made sense. So Nolan turned to the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata instead. As an embodiment of the World Tree, she likely knew a thing or two about curse suppression.

"Cursed power is similar to the power of fate," she answered. "And can be countered with comparable forces. If your spiritual will is strong enough, you can forcibly suppress it."

"How strong are we talking?" Nolan asked.

After all, he didn't possess any direct methods for dealing with curses. But he did have something that touched the realm of fate—namely, Mona's affection skill.

But that skill was passive—he couldn't actively control the "The Magus of Mocking Fate" to interfere with fate, so he had no choice but to ask about the requirements in terms of spiritual power instead.

"That depends on the strength of the curse," Greater Lord Rukkhadevata replied. "If it's weak, you can try to capture it yourself. If it's strong, let Lady Ei handle it. She's already one of the most powerful Archons in Teyvat.

"I doubt any curse you encounter would surpass Lady Ei's strength. Otherwise, that Cursed God wouldn't have perished in the first place."

Her voice carried a soft chuckle.

"Got it, I understand now."

Nolan wasn't very knowledgeable about curse-type powers, so he had just been cautious in asking.

Turns out, the countermeasure wasn't all that complicated. As long as your spiritual will was strong enough, you could interfere with it.

That made sense. Neither the God of Dust, Morax, nor the Adepti were known to wield the power of curses or fate.

And if they could seal such a being using formations alone, it probably came down to overwhelming power.

Now that the Cursed God was reduced to just a shred of awareness left in a few remains, even if it still had cursed power, it couldn't be that strong.

Nolan figured that even he might be able to suppress it with spiritual force—but just to be safe, it was better to have Ei take action.

With that plan in mind, he voiced his thoughts.

"But…" Guizhong hesitated. Cursed power was too strange and unpredictable—if it escaped, it could bring unimaginable disaster.

"Don't worry. Ei is the current Electro Archon—one of the strongest beings in all of Teyvat. There's no way it can get away," Nolan assured her.

After a few minutes of persuasion, Guizhong finally gave in to the temptation of resolving the issue once and for all. Though hesitant, she reluctantly agreed.

"Yes, yes! That's right! Break the seal and deal with me! Isn't that better?!" the evil will chimed in smugly. It didn't believe anyone could actually stop it.

Hmph! The moment the seal was broken, it would escape at once. After a few decades of regaining power, it would turn every creature in this world into cursed puppets!

"Hmph. Let's see if you're still so arrogant in a minute," Nolan said, clearly displeased as he glanced at the evil will. Then he turned to Ei.

"You can begin."

"Mm." Raiden Ei responded calmly.

Now that it was confirmed spiritual force could suppress cursed power, she didn't believe there was any chance she'd fail.

After all, her years of meditation had not been in vain—her spiritual power had already reached a level where her soul could manifest physically.

Among the Seven Archons, this placed her at the very top.

Her long, deep purple braid swayed gently. Unlike earlier, she didn't attack the formation directly.

Instead, she first released her spiritual energy, enveloping the altar holding the three ancient evil artifacts along with the evil will.

She continued to increase her spiritual output, sealing the entire space tightly so there was not even the smallest chance for the evil will to escape.

Feeling the immense spiritual force surrounding it, the evil will grew a bit anxious. No way... could they really...?

It began to doubt even its own cursed power.

Still, it refused to show fear and barked defiantly, "Petty tricks! You still have time to back down. If you don't—once I'm out—arghhh!!"

"Hmph!"

Raiden Ei didn't even let it finish speaking. She unleashed a burst of lightning within the spiritual barrier, instantly vaporizing the altar. The already-damaged formation collapsed completely under the impact!

Purple lightning struck the evil will, annihilating it in an instant—but it quickly revived within the three artifacts.

The raging lightning continued to bombard the ancient artifacts. The evil will was repeatedly destroyed, only to resurrect again and again.

However, since the lightning also carried Ei's spiritual power, the weak evil will was frequently erased the moment it made contact.

The remaining lightning then began to heat the artifacts, trying to melt them down for weapon forging.

"Damn it! Bastard!"

The evil will grew visibly weaker from being destroyed so many times in such a short span. It never expected that purple-haired woman could obliterate it dozens of times in an instant.

The pain was so intense that it couldn't even activate its curse power properly. In a desperate effort, it unleashed its final shred of strength to barely withstand the lightning for a moment—

Then rapidly activated its curse!

The artifacts instantly turned into black light and attempted to flee, following some mysterious cursed law—but the massive spiritual force clung to them like glue.

They could barely move—completely immobilized!

"What—How is this possible?!" the evil will cried out in disbelief, only to be blasted into dust by the next bolt of lightning.

Nolan saw that the spiritual power was working and finally let out a small breath of relief.

Even though the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata had said it should work, he hadn't felt completely sure without seeing it in action himself.

"AAARGHHH!!"

Several minutes later, the evil will's cursed power was completely depleted. The artifacts dropped to the ground—clearly, it hadn't escaped.

More lightning crashed into them until they were too weak to make even a sound. Under the extreme heat, the artifacts began to liquefy, slowly merging into a single mass.

"I'll help too."

Seeing that the evil will was almost completely gone, Nolan began channeling Electro himself, attacking alongside Ei in hopes of landing the final blow.

After all, this was a level-90+ evil entity. Defeating it meant earning close to 100,000 EXP!

And using his character interface to confirm its elimination was far more reliable. What if the evil will had some sneaky means of lying dormant?

There were plenty of scenes like that in TV dramas—where the villain rises just when everyone lets their guard down.

Naturally, Nolan had to play it safe.

He specifically targeted the evil will, and as the saying goes: hard work pays off. Soon, he successfully landed the final hit—

[You Defeated A Powerful Enemy. Obtained 92,355 EXP.]

Seeing the prompt pop up on his character panel, Nolan let out a quiet sigh of relief. This cursed thing really was a pain to deal with.

"It's done. I can no longer sense its presence."

Arms crossed over her chest, Raiden Ei parted her lips and spoke calmly.

The evil will had disappeared completely, and the three artifacts had fused into a single black liquid mass.

Its form may have changed, but its core power hadn't been damaged—there was no risk of disaster.

However, given enough time, it might develop a new consciousness. And with the three sources now fused, that new being could become even stronger.

Still, no matter how powerful it became, it would never reach the heights of the former Cursed God.

Now they could start adding other materials into the black liquid to forge armor. With Raiden Ei's power, it wouldn't take long.

"You really did it... thank you."

The teal-haired girl, Guizhong, could no longer sense the evil will's presence either. She bowed her head slightly, once again expressing her gratitude to Nolan and the others.

[Guizhong Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 460. Current affection level: Lv.4 (220/400)]

"No need to thank me."

Nolan smiled. After all, he had simply chosen the most profitable path.

(End of Chapter)

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