Two hydro dragons launched the first attack, and Tartaglia swiftly dodged.
Tartaglia charged toward Lucian, but pillars of fire erupted along his path, blocking his advance, followed closely by the pursuing hydro dragons.
Tartaglia, now afflicted with Pyro, had no choice but to evade, leaving him unable to close the distance to Lucian.
After a prolonged struggle, both Tartaglia and Lucian were heavily drained of stamina.
Perhaps due to exhaustion, Tartaglia managed to spot an opening in Lucian's defense.
This time, Lucian failed to summon a fire pillar in time to stop him, giving Tartaglia the chance to get close.
Just as Tartaglia lunged at Lucian, a bolt of lightning struck the ground in front of him.
The brief obstruction in his vision cleared—only for Tartaglia's figure to have vanished.
Such an obvious flaw naturally made Tartaglia suspect a trap, so he played along, feigning an approach before abruptly altering his attack trajectory at the last moment.
However, Lucian had already anticipated Tartaglia's counterplay—he knew the battle-savvy Harbinger would see through the deliberate opening.
The moment Tartaglia reached Lucian's side, a pillar of fire erupted beneath him.
The attack came too fast. Tartaglia, unable to halt his momentum, had no time to dodge.
Lucian still preferred to hold back in battle. Tartaglia had assumed that within Lucian's ring of fire, all pillars struck at the same speed.
But that wasn't the case—the closer to Lucian's center, the faster the attacks.
Lucian had intentionally made the outer flames match the inner ones in speed, all to catch Tartaglia off-guard when he closed in.
From the very beginning, the fire ring had been nothing but a decoy.
The flames engulfed Tartaglia. Though the damage wasn't severe, the force of the blast immobilized him.
"Paimon, play some music!" Lucian raised two fingers with a flick.
"Huh? What music?" Paimon didn't get it.
A hydro dragon surged forth, swallowing both the flames and Tartaglia in its torrent.
Hydro against Pyro—double the Vaporize.
Under the violent impact of the hydro dragon, the already strained ground finally reached its limit.
The floor collapsed, sending everyone tumbling to the level below. Tartaglia seemed to have been buried under the rubble.
"Told you to be careful. Now we're gonna have to pay for the damages." Lucian shrugged.
I warned you the ground couldn't take it. See? You should've listened to the Prophet.
"Cough." Tartaglia emerged from the wreckage, kneeling on one knee. He could no longer sustain his Delusion's transformation.
"Even if we have to pay, I think you should be the one covering the costs," Tartaglia said weakly.
"Impressive. To think the Prophet possesses such combat prowess." Signora clapped in mock praise.
"Seems this toy salesman is about to become the Twelfth Seat." She cast a sidelong glance at Tartaglia.
Tartaglia remained silent. A loss was a loss.
Even if he won next time, that was for the future—this time, he had been defeated.
"I lost. As per our wager, my life is yours." Tartaglia stated.
Rising to his feet, he summoned several Sigils of Permission around him.
"But before that, I must fulfill Her Majesty's mission."
"Partner, hand over the Gnosis, and I'll stand down."
"Then you might as well unleash Osial." Lucian shrugged. Where would I even get a Gnosis?
Besides, if you don't free Osial, how will Zhongli's trial proceed? You want me to play the villain and fight all of Liyue? Me?
"Think I won't?" Tartaglia unleashed the power of the Sigils of Permission.
The earth trembled, waves churned—Osial's seal had been broken.
Under the cover of the Sigils' power, Signora took the exhausted Tartaglia and fled the Golden House.
"I thought they didn't get along. Didn't expect her to drag him along while escaping." Paimon remarked.
"Signora isn't The Doctor, after all."
"Let's go. We should head to the harbor too." Lucian said.
"Mm." Lumine nodded, raising her arm to rest a hand on Lucian's shoulder.
In the blink of an eye, the two—plus one tiny Paimon—returned to Liyue. Such was the convenience of Lucian's mass teleportation.
Back at the Golden House, Signora and Tartaglia found their escape blocked.
"Fatui Harbingers—did you really think you could just leave after unleashing Osial?" Yelan stepped into their path.
Signora tossed Tartaglia aside, eyeing Yelan warily. She could sense this woman was no pushover.
Normally, she wouldn't mind a fight, but she had just battled the Traveler. Though uninjured, her stamina was far from recovered.
In this state, engaging a strong opponent would force her to assume her true form—the Crimson Witch of Flames.
Yelan raised a hand, each slender finger entwined with shimmering hydro threads.
The surroundings were already laced with her hydro net, like a spider's web, with Signora and Tartaglia as the trapped prey.
"I'd advise against moving." Yelan flicked a finger, sending a hydro thread slicing past the two, leaving a gash in the ground.
Already weakened and caught in a pre-laid trap—this was far from ideal.
"Eleventh Seat, this is what happens when you refuse to bow to me. Maybe you should stick to selling toys." Signora scoffed.
"I'll hold her off." Tartaglia forced himself upright.
"In your state? You'd just drag me down." Signora sneered.
Flames began coalescing around her. Even if she didn't want to, she had no choice but to embrace the Crimson Witch.
"Futile resistance." Yelan's delicate brows furrowed as she manipulated her threads, sending several lashing toward Signora.
A surge of flames swept in, evaporating the hydro threads before they could reach.
Oddly, Signora halted her transformation—this fire wasn't hers.
"Miss Yelan, regarding this incident, the Fatui will provide Liyue with an explanation."
"However, we'd prefer to settle this at the negotiating table—not in a prison cell."
The Knave, Arlecchino, stepped forward, her tone measured and calm.
Her mission involved the Hydro Archon and Lucian. The former could wait, but with Lucian in Liyue, she had followed.
"The Fourth of the Fatui Harbingers—The Knave?" Yelan's gaze sharpened on Arlecchino.
Arlecchino merely smiled, neither confirming nor denying, nor assuming a combat stance.
The tables had turned. Liyue's forces were busy preparing for Osial, leaving Yelan without reinforcements.
Facing two Harbingers at once—one of them the Fourth Seat—even Yelan stood little chance.
As for Tartaglia? Lucian had already drained him. Hardly a threat.
"Tch. Seems my mission's a failure." Yelan lied smoothly.
Her actual task was only to protect Lucian. Attempting to capture the Harbingers had just been a bonus opportunity.
No need to share that intel with the Fatui.
Yelan raised her bow and fired a hydro arrow.
Arlecchino snapped her fingers, summoning a lance of flame to intercept it.
By the time the elements dispersed, Yelan was gone.
===✧✦✧===
Character Voice-Over · Yelan: About Lucian · II
"I've always wondered just how much the Prophet knows—and whether my interrogation methods could pry it out of him."
"Pity. Given our relationship, I'll never get the chance to try."