"Cousin."
"Hm?"
"Stop eating sunflower seeds and come watch your cousin."
"You watch her yourself. It's such a great opportunity."
"I've got something urgent."
"What? Going to the bathroom?"
"..."
Xia Zhi couldn't be bothered to answer her.
He could sense the emotions of that devoted follower of his.
Right now, she seemed ready to die.
She'd probably run into some huge trouble.
He had to get over there quickly.
With a single long-range spatial transfer, Xia Zhi appeared right in front of her.
The girl was covered head to toe in mud and water…
Oh—turns out she was being chased by a Thunderhelm Lawachurl that big… and it even had a golden progress bar above it.
Alright, he'd pretty much figured out the situation.
Xia Zhi first froze time across the surrounding area, then swapped out his own tattered clothes. After that, he released the time stop on the girl alone.
Fischl felt the world around her suddenly go deathly silent.
The sound of the wind was gone.
The sound of rain was gone.
Even the trembling of the ground was gone.
What… just happened?
She slowly opened her eyes, only to see that everything in front of her was frozen unnaturally in place.
She was dazed.
Then a warm, familiar voice spoke from behind her: "Miss Fischl, are you alright?"
She whipped around—and there, standing behind her, was her beloved idol.
She blinked in shock. "Mr. Xia…?"
Xia Zhi nodded lightly. "Mm."
Fischl blurted in surprise, "Why are you here?!"
Xia Zhi smiled a little. "Why are you here?"
"I… I saw you leaving the city, so I followed. But after you went into the forest, you disappeared. I searched around, and when I heard thunder, I thought I'd better head back… and then…"
She glanced toward the massive, frozen Lawachurl not far away.
"I see," Xia Zhi said with a nod.
Fischl lowered her voice. "What's wrong with it? Why isn't it moving?"
"Because its time is frozen."
Her eyes went wide. "Its… time is frozen?"
Only then did she notice that not even the leaves or grass around them were moving.
"Where's your partner?" Xia Zhi asked.
"My partner…"
The moment he asked, her eyes reddened.
She was just a girl with an overactive imagination. With no friends, she'd turned to books—until, by some twist of fate, she'd gained Oz as a companion.
But now Oz…
"He… stayed behind to hold it off for me…"
"I understand. You must've come from over that way, right? Hold on."
Xia Zhi's figure vanished.
Fischl stared blankly at the spot where he'd been.
Moments later, he reappeared—holding a rather miserable-looking Night Raven.
"Oz!"
Fischl gasped.
Xia Zhi lifted a hand and cast Healing.
Oz was instantly restored.
"My lady!"
Releasing him, Xia Zhi let Oz fly to Fischl's shoulder.
Girl and raven spoke at the same time: "Are you alright?"
Then they both replied in unison: "I'm fine."
Xia Zhi couldn't help but chuckle at the exchange.
Flushing, Fischl stood up from the muddy ground and gave him a polite, earnest bow. "Thank you for saving Oz, Mr. Xia."
Her upbringing was obvious.
Xia Zhi waved it off. "No need to thank me. You two have a great bond. Funny enough, I also have a close bird companion—but she's a crane… Anyway, Miss Fischl, after going through this, do you have any thoughts?"
"Thoughts?" she echoed blankly.
He pointed at the hulking Lawachurl. "Are you afraid of it?"
Following his finger, she gave it a glance. "…Yes."
"And why are you afraid of it?"
"Because it's a terrifying monster."
"No. Not because it's terrifying—because you can't beat it."
His tone was serious as he shook his head.
"If you could defeat it, no matter how scary it looked, you wouldn't fear it. It's like flies or spiders—blown up in size, they'd look horrifying too, but you can crush them easily. Fear wouldn't leave you muddy and bedraggled like this…"
Fischl was silent for a moment, then rasped, "You're right. I'm afraid because I can't beat it."
Lowering his head, Xia Zhi peered at her over his sunglasses. "Then… do you want the power to beat it easily?"
"Ah?"
She seemed not to follow.
He repeated softly, "Tell me, Miss Fischl—do you want the power to beat this monster without effort?"
She hesitated.
On her shoulder, Oz spoke up. "And the price, Mr. Xia? What would it be?"
"The price?"
Xia Zhi smiled.
"That's something you've already paid."
"I… already paid it?" Fischl asked in confusion.
He nodded. "Yes."
"What was it?"
"Your faith," he said quietly.
She didn't quite understand.
But Oz stiffened as if struck by lightning. Staring at the young man before them, he blurted, "You—no, could you be…?"
Xia Zhi only smiled, not answering.
He bent down, summoning a stream of clear water to gently wash the mud from her face and hair.
Maybe because he was so close, Fischl felt her face heat up again.
Oz didn't dare say a word.
When he finished, Xia Zhi tucked the hair at the side of her face behind her ear.
It was a practiced motion—he often did the same for Shenhe and Ganyu.
His fingers brushed her ear, and the sensitive skin flushed bright red.
"You look very cute like this."
"R-really?"
"But… I prefer you with an eyepatch."
"M-my eyepatch… it got torn off just now… I could go back and look—"
"No need. I happen to have one with me."
He held out his palm, revealing a black eyepatch.
It was a transformation item he'd made before—similar to the Key of Light he'd given Qiqi.
[Eye of Darkness]
Quality: Platinum.
Type: Rechargeable Item.
Traits: Divine Blessing, Transformation.
Effect: Absorbs faith power to charge; when fully charged, the wearer can transform into a Divine-Blessed form.
Hidden Effect: The purer the faith in darkness, the stronger the transformed powers.
Recyclable: 1000 points.
He'd been wondering who to give it to—and here was the perfect candidate.
In his hand, a white sphere of light appeared: faith energy from those who'd worshipped him these past days.
He poured it into the eyepatch until it was ready for use.
"Tell me—do you want that power?"
"…I do." She bit her lip, answering firmly.
He held the eyepatch out to her. "Then put it on—and you'll have the power you seek."
Without hesitation, she took the eyepatch and slipped it over her eyes with practiced ease.
The Prinzessin der Verurteilung seemed to have returned.
"Feel it?"
"I… think I do…"
"Then try transforming."
Closing her eyes, she felt the eyepatch connect to her very soul—a strange, exhilarating sensation welling up inside.
Transform.
The instant she thought it, pure, potent darkness surged from the eyepatch. Oz immediately took to the air.
The dark power enveloped her in a huge black sphere.
It wasn't ordinary dark-element power—it was divine darkness.
It even felt familiar to Xia Zhi, almost like his own.
At the same time, an odd sense of intimacy bloomed within him.
The system's voice rang in his mind.
"Loyal follower's prayer detected.
Respond?"
Not as fanatical as Qiqi's, but strong enough.
"Yes," he replied.
A panel unfolded before him.
It was a character interface—he recognized it from when Qiqi transformed.
The silhouette was clearly Fischl's—down to each strand of hair—and she wore nothing, her form entirely natural.
Shifting his god's-eye view away, he looked to the top left.
[Available Points]: 100.
He began shaping her appearance.
First, undergarments.
Then a perfectly fitted black dress.
Accessories:
A pure black necklace.
A pure black hairband.
A pure black leg band.
And lastly—her weapon.
"Oz, what weapon does Fischl prefer?"
"My lady favors the bow."
Then a pure black bow it was.
Done.
He closed the panel.
The black sphere around her dissolved, revealing a transformed girl.
For her, it had been just an instant.
She'd prayed for transformation, and the next moment—she looked entirely different, a rush of foreign, mighty power flooding her veins.
"Mr. Xia."
"Mm?"
"I… did it?"
"Yes. You've transformed successfully. You should now be able to use all Tier 4 and below dark magic."
"I… think I can."
She raised her hand, and a cluster of dark light appeared in her palm.
"Good. You have five minutes to get used to this state."
"Ah?"
"In five minutes, the time stop will end—and you'll have to face that Lawachurl."
"I—"
"The clock's already ticking. Get used to it."
"…Understood!"
She said no more, focusing on adapting to her new power.
Oz seemed like he wanted to speak, but stayed silent, watching.
Xia Zhi walked up to the Thunderhelm Lawachurl and tapped its mask, curious.
Five minutes later, he'd maxed out its progress bar and claimed a golden treasure chest.
With a wave, he released the time stop.
The massive Lawachurl saw the sudden appearance of a person and a raven, froze for a second, then continued lumbering toward them.
Fischl was visibly nervous.
She raised her bow, drew it taut.
A dark arrow formed between her fingers.
She let go.
The arrow passed cleanly through the Lawachurl's body.
It froze in place, unmoving—then, seconds later, crumbled into ash.
Fischl stared. "It… just… died?"
"What else?" Xia Zhi chuckled.
Using a platinum item to one-shot a golden monster—perfectly normal.
She lowered her gaze to the bow in her hands, hardly able to believe it.
Was this… the very power of judgment she'd dreamed of in her fantasies?
"Alright, that's taken care of. You'd better head back before your family worries."
As he turned to go, she blurted, "Mr. Xia!"
He glanced back. "What is it?"
She scrambled for words, mind racing, before blurting, "I… lost the autograph you gave me when I was running…"
"If you lost it, so be it. In this weather, it's probably soaked through by now—it's just an autograph."
"I…"
"If you want, I can sign another for you next time."
"Okay! Thank you, Mr. Xia!"
"You're welcome. Oh—and that eyepatch's power isn't for casual use."
Oz tensed. "Does it have side effects?"
"Side effects? No. It just needs recharging."
"Recharging?"
"Think about me often, say my name—that'll recharge it. Alright, I have things to do. I'm off."
His figure vanished.
Think about Mr. Xia… say Mr. Xia's name…
Fischl stood there, those words echoing in her mind, her face heating.
Oz landed back on her shoulder. "My lady, stop daydreaming—let's head back."
"Alright."
Fearing other dangers on the way, she kept her transformed state. Running, she realized her stamina was far greater than before.
Soon, Mondstadt's gates came into view.
The ground was littered with monster corpses.
Up on the city wall, a little girl in red held a long tube, gleefully firing downwards in a chain of booming explosions.
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