Lucian thought to himself, "Good thing I took Lumine to unlock Fontaine in advance. The current Lumine is strong enough to defeat Rosalyne."
"Signora!" Tartaglia frowned slightly, annoyed. They had agreed not to interfere!
Rosalyne replied calmly, "No need to rush. I won't lay a hand on Shikikan. I'll deal with this Traveler instead, how about that?"
As she spoke, Rosalyne's ice arrows shot toward Lumine.
With a flick of her hand, Lumine summoned a Geo spike that collided with the ice arrows, shattering both elemental constructs simultaneously.
"Oh? Interesting." Rosalyne realized this Traveler was even stronger than the records suggested.
Seeing that Rosalyne's target was herself, Lumine distanced herself slightly from Lucian to prevent him from getting caught in the crossfire.
"I'll kite her. Tartaglia is yours."
While maneuvering, Lumine launched a continuous barrage of Hydro spears at Rosalyne, keeping her too occupied to focus elsewhere.
Seeing the two already engaged in battle, Tartaglia's fingers itched for a fight. He gazed at Lucian with burning combat intent.
"Honestly, partner, if you were the Geo Archon, I might've been even more excited!"
"But no matter. A battle against a prophet sounds just as fun."
Knowing Lucian wasn't Rex Lapis, Tartaglia didn't immediately activate his Delusion.
He decided to conserve some energy first, testing Lucian's strength and fighting style.
Tartaglia drew his bow and fired three Hydro arrows in rapid succession.
The arrows flew much faster than they did in the game, but thankfully, Lucian was prepared.
A familiar Hydro dragon coiled in front of Lucian, blocking all three shots.
However, Tartaglia took advantage of the dragon obstructing Lucian's vision. Surging forward on a wave of water, he dashed past Lucian's side, appearing behind him.
Having bypassed the dragon and closed the distance, Tartaglia aimed his bow at Lucian.
"One Arrow to End All Waters!"
A swift Hydro arrow shot straight toward the back of Lucian's head. From this angle, with such speed, evasion seemed impossible.
Water splashed violently. When the spray settled, a Hydro dragon glared fiercely at Tartaglia.
Lucian indeed couldn't dodge in time—but his high Elemental Mastery wasn't for nothing. If I can't dodge, my dragon can block for me.
"As expected of a prophet. Did you foresee this move too?" Tartaglia marveled.
Blocking such a rapid attack meant his opponent understood his fighting style well.
Lucian couldn't help but sigh inwardly. He truly wasn't as tactically sharp as Tartaglia—his defensive openings were too obvious. Good thing my stats are high.
"Just a slight edge in skill," Lucian replied.
Tartaglia wanted to say more, but Paimon's cheers interrupted his train of thought.
Peeking out from behind a pile of Mora, Paimon kept shouting encouragements nonstop.
"Tch, what a noisy little thing." Tartaglia shot Paimon a glance.
"Let's continue."
As Tartaglia spoke, elemental energy began condensing around him in massive quantities.
Seeing this, Lucian understood—he was preparing to summon the whale.
"Try not to wreck the place. Repairs won't be cheap," Lucian warned.
"Don't worry. The Northland Bank will cover it."
The moment Tartaglia finished speaking, his attack was fully charged.
A colossal Hydro whale breached an imaginary "surface." Regardless of its actual power, the spectacle alone was breathtaking.
Little Paimon immediately ducked back down, hiding completely.
The commotion was so huge that even Rosalyne and Lumine paused momentarily to look over.
Lumine wanted to help, but Rosalyne kept her locked in combat.
Their battle had been fierce—frozen icicles and Geo pillars littered the surroundings.
At that moment, Lumine's Harbinger of Dawn, infused with Hydro, was tightly entangled by Rosalyne's whip, the blade and lash frozen together.
"As long as it's paid for."
With a flick of his fingers, Lucian's Hydro dragon rapidly expanded, matching the whale's size.
The dragon coiled around the whale, clashing head-on to halt its momentum before slamming it violently into the ground.
The earth cracked. The whale dissolved into Hydro particles, vanishing without a trace, while the dragon shrank back to its original size.
"See? I told you to be careful. Now it's wrecked," Lucian said, spreading his hands.
"..." Tartaglia was speechless. You're the one who smashed it! Shouldn't you be the one paying?!
Relieved to see Lucian unharmed, Lumine exhaled. With her right hand's sword trapped, she formed a "Spiral Sphere" in her left and lunged at Rosalyne.
Rosalyne shattered the ice binding them, leaping back to evade Lumine's strike, then lashed out with her whip.
Lumine used the recoil from her Anemo blade to backflip away, dodging the attack. The two resumed their stalemate.
"Alright, warm-up's over." Tartaglia had mostly grasped Lucian's fighting style—relying entirely on his dragon.
Slowly closing the distance, water currents swirled around Tartaglia.
"Let's get serious now."
Electro energy surged through the scarf behind him as a mask materialized over his face.
Stowing his bow, he conjured twin Electro blades in his hands.
Tartaglia gazed at Lucian, a smirk hidden beneath his mask, as if he wanted to say something.
"Let me guess—were you going to say, 'The bow is my least proficient weapon. Only now am I fighting seriously'?" Lucian cut in first.
"..." Tartaglia fell silent.
This guy keeps stealing my lines! I haven't been able to finish a single cool speech around him!
Such a dramatic transformation scene, and you won't even let me deliver my line properly?!
Tartaglia charged at Lucian, slashing with his Electro blades. Twin arcs of lightning flashed, bisecting Lucian's Hydro dragon instantly.
Then, merging the blades into a single Electro spear, he hurled it at Lucian.
Lucian raised a Hydro shield to block—only for the spear to vanish abruptly, startling him.
Tartaglia reappeared behind Lucian, swinging his blades downward.
"Zap—!"
The sound of electricity crackled—but the "Lucian" he struck dissolved into a puddle of water.
The Hydro dragon reformed, forcing Tartaglia back.
"Impressive." Lucian was genuinely amazed. Fighting Tartaglia had taught him many new tactics.
He truly hadn't reacted to that last strike. Fortunately, he'd been cautious from the start, using Hydro Mimicry and Refraction.
His actual position had been slightly offset from where Tartaglia perceived him.
"Huh? You predicted this too?" Tartaglia was mildly shocked. If Lucian had foreseen even this, his foresight was terrifying.
This wasn't a premeditated technique—just an improvised move Tartaglia hadn't fully thought through. If Lucian could anticipate even that, no other prophet came close to such precision.
Yet instead of dampening his spirits, this only fueled Tartaglia's excitement further.
"My vision's a bit off..." Tartaglia abandoned visual tracking, focusing instead on elemental detection.
"Here!"
A ring of Electro suddenly materialized in the air beside Lucian.
A bolt of lightning struck down. Lucian blocked with his shield, reluctantly revealing his true position.
Now that Tartaglia had found him, there was no point wasting elemental energy on tricks.
===✧✦✧===
Character Voice: Tartaglia – About Lucian (II)
"Sigh, this partner of mine really fooled me good. I've never once gained the upper hand against him.
But fighting him is exhilarating. I'd love a rematch—I'd even bet my life on it again."