Zephyr's face changed instantly, and he grabbed Paimon to make a run for it. A few seconds later—BOOM!
The explosion roared like a real nuclear detonation.
"Holy—!"
The blast was so intense that part of the building actually collapsed. Luckily, he was quick on his feet and had healing items to recover—he managed to bring his HP back up in time.
Paimon trembled and asked, "W-What just happened?"
"D-Do you think… that cursed spirit is dead?"
"Logically speaking… yeah, it should be."
But—the domain wasn't dissipating. That meant it wasn't dead. Zephyr's expression turned serious.
The cursed spirit, now covered in injuries, somehow forced itself back to its feet from the rubble, roaring in rage!
Hiding behind a large boulder with Paimon, Lumine whispered, "This cursed spirit is way too tanky. It survived that kind of explosion?!"
"It's a cursed spirit. High regeneration is expected."
Looking at its HP bar—it had only dropped to about halfway. And to make things worse, it was slowly regenerating.
Zephyr frowned. "Fighting this kind of cursed spirit boss… you can't whittle it down. You have to one-shot it. If you take your time, it'll heal faster than you can damage it."
At this moment, he really started missing the Hilichurls.
Compared to cursed spirits, Hilichurls were so cute, so easy to fight, and they dropped so much loot.
But cursed spirits? Not only are they tanky and tough, but aside from some extra XP, they drop absolutely nothing. Not even a chest at the end. Flat broke.
"ROAAAARRRR!!"
"Ah! That cursed spirit looks super pissed!"
"Well, yeah, duh. I'd be mad too."
"And what do you do when you're angry?"
"I once got so furious, I ate an entire Paimon."
Paimon jolted in shock.
"That's why… you're actually just a clone of Unit-01. Got it?"
The cursed spirit let out another enraged howl. Even though it hadn't seen Zephyr, it still charged straight at him.
"How did it find me? Sound? Scent? Elemental energy?" Zephyr muttered in confusion.
The cursed spirit responded with a roar of pure rage.
With a helpless sigh, Zephyr threw out a Rasengan.
Green energy orbs burst from the cursed spirit's body and floated toward Lumine, merging into her.
These were Energy Particles. In Genshin mechanics, any time a small skill hits an enemy, these particles spawn.
They float briefly in the air, and when absorbed, they boost the ultimate (burst) energy gauge.
When fighting monsters, Energy Particles also drop when the enemy hits half health or dies. Some bosses will even drop them in multiple waves.
Normal attacks can also contribute to the ultimate gauge, but the energy they provide is minimal.
At this moment, since Lumine had already pushed the boss down to half health and landed a skill hit, a flood of energy particles floated into her body.
In an instant, her ultimate gauge was full again.
"You're way too ugly—I really don't want to fight you in close combat."
She launched another ultimate straight at it.
The cursed spirit looked visibly shocked. The last explosion had been the result of two ultimates colliding, and now it was clearly afraid of a repeat. It tried to dodge, but the consistent wind-element suction force pulled it straight into the storm.
"Gyaaah!!" the cursed spirit cried out in pain. It was baffledyou just used your ultimate! How are you already using another one?! Are you hacking?!
Strike while the iron's hot—go for the kill!
Lumine suddenly stomped down on Paimon, using the boost to leap high into the air.
Plunge attack!
Normal attack, normal attack, normal attack—Rasengan!
The cursed spirit's HP bar dropped to one-third… then one-fourth… then one-fifth…
Then—her ultimate gauge filled again.
Another ultimate—launched right at it.
Zephyr turned away slowly.
A real man never looks back at explosions.
The cursed spirit let out one last, unwilling roar—then collapsed, lifeless.
"Hey! Didn't you say you didn't want to fight up close?!"
"Wait, why'd you stomp on Paimon?! That hurt, you know!"
"No choice! I don't have any other ranged skills besides my ultimate. If I don't hit with normal attacks too, I won't generate enough energy. I had to go melee."
Now that he thought about it, Lumine really didn't have any reliable ranged attacks besides her burst.
The only semi-ranged option was from her second constellation—Wind Blade. It triggers at the end of her normal combo and sends out a blade of wind. It barely counts as a ranged move.
Other than that—nothing.
"Hey! Don't change the subject!"
"Isn't there some way to learn a ranged skill or something…"
Zephyr could only hope for better things in the future. He walked over and picked up a finger from the ground.
"Well, would you look at that…"
It was over.
With the cursed spirit's death, its domain naturally faded away. A golden light shimmered from Lumine's body—she had leveled up.
"You leveled up?"
Zephyr was surprised. That boss had bumped her straight to Level 19.
Not bad at all.
Just one level short of hitting 20. Unfortunately, this world didn't have Windwheel Asters, so even if he did reach 20, he couldn't ascend.
To break through, they'd have to return to Teyvat.
Zephyr let out a sigh.
"Good thing that cursed spirit was just born. Otherwise, we might've really lost."
It was clear the spirit hadn't fully utilized the power of its domain. If it had, there's no way they could've won so easily.
Outside the school, Ijichi had been waiting for a long time.
"Miss Lumine, you're finally out! I'm so glad you're okay."
Paimon crossed her arms proudly.
"With Paimon watching over the Traveler, how could anything possibly go wrong?"
Ijichi gave a couple of awkward chuckles.
"So… what was the situation inside?"
"The cursed spirit has been exorcised," Lumine replied calmly.
"R-Really?! That was a Special Grade cursed spirit! Miss Lumine, that's incredible!"
At first, Ijichi was a bit skeptical. But after seeing that the domain had vanished, she had no choice but to believe it.
"Uh, Miss Lumine… about the people inside…"
Lumine shook her head.
"I see… As expected. Life and death are part of fate. Please accept my condolences. A cleanup team will handle the aftermath. I'll escort you back."
The trip back to the school was silent.
"You're finally back, Big Sis! I was worried sick!"
"So, Big Sis! What happened with the incident? Did you get the cursed spirit?"
Fushiguro Megumi said, "You're getting ahead of yourselves. Even if Lumine is strong, she's still a first-year student like us. Just coming back uninjured is already impressive. Let's not—"
Paimon puffed up and cut in.
"Blacky, you got that wrong!"
"B-Blacky?!"
"We teamed up and defeated that cursed spirit!"
"For real?! That's our Big Sis for you!"
"Naisuu Big Sis!"
Fushiguro: "..."
The slap in the face came faster than a tornado. He turned to Ijichi beside him.
"Ijichi-san, is this… true?"
"Yes, of course. We've thoroughly inspected the site. The cursed spirit has been 100% exorcised."
"..."
"Oh my, Blacky, what's that expression?"
Paimon floated over with a mischievous grin.
"...It's already late. Time to sleep. Good night."
"Look! He's running! Blacky's escaping!"
Itadori Yuji threw an arm around Fushiguro's shoulders.
"Come on, Megumi, it's still daytime—who sleeps now? We gotta celebrate with Big Sis!"
"Celebrate?"
"Of course! We gotta celebrate Big Sis taking down a Special Grade cursed spirit! Come on, Megumi, just one drink!"
"No thanks. I don't drink."
"Aw, don't be such a downer! Let's gooo!"
//END