When Lumine and Paimon arrived at the Temple of the Falcon, Dainsleif was already there.
"The Falcon of the West… though it soars on the wind, it can never escape circling beneath the light of the gods…"
Dainsleif's gaze lingered on the temple ruins, his tone heavy.
"What are you even talking about?"
Paimon tilted her head, baffled.
"Nothing. Let's head inside."
Without further explanation, Dainsleif strode in first.
"Ugh, this riddle guy is so annoying!"
Paimon stomped her little foot, pouting.
"Come on."
Lumine chuckled softly, then followed him inside.
But to their surprise, the temple was empty. Not a trace of the Abyss Order.
"…Strange. Could my intel have been wrong?"
Dainsleif frowned.
"Maybe it's because Lumine came through earlier, so now they're too scared to show up?"
Paimon guessed.
Dainsleif thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Possible. Let's try Wolvendom."
The three hurried to Wolvendom, but again—nothing.
"Could it be they knew we were coming… or something happened that forced them to pull out early?"
Dainsleif's mind spun with possibilities.
"Hey, Riddleman, I'm telling you now—even if we don't find anything, you still owe us the reward. At most, I'll give you a small discount!"
Paimon reminded him with great seriousness.
"Relax. You'll get paid. But let's head to Stormterror's Lair next. We might find something there."
Dainsleif replied calmly.
Lumine and Paimon exchanged a helpless glance. They'd already agreed, so what could they do but follow?
Soon, they reached Stormterror's Lair. This time, luck was with them—they spotted hilichurls and Abyss Mages gathered near the Light Guiding Monoliths.
"Hehe, finally! Lumine, shall we?"
Paimon's eyes sparkled.
"You?"
Dainsleif eyed her suspiciously. This little floating mascot could fight?
"Don't look down on me!"
Paimon puffed up angrily. She clasped her hands, whispered a chant—
Poof!
A puff of smoke cleared, and standing there was a deep-blue Abyss Mage.
Lumine had seen this before, so she wasn't shocked.
But Dainsleif? His expression darkened, immediately stepping back into a fighting stance.
"…An Abyss Mage?! So that's your true form!"
He looked at Lumine with complicated eyes.
Could it be… she too had chosen that path?
His former companion had fallen to the Abyss. Was history repeating itself?
A storm of thoughts raced through his mind.
Paimon: (⊙⊙)
Lumine: (⊙⊙)
All that just from a transformation trick? Why did he look like he'd seen his nemesis?
"This is a reward from Boss Han's manga shop. It's called Art of Transformation. Lets you turn into anyone you've seen."
Lumine explained quickly.
"…Art of Transformation?"
Dainsleif muttered, still skeptical.
"Riddleman, look closely—like this!"
Paimon clapped her hands again.
Poof!
Now she was a hilichurl.
"Hsss…! To think such a power exists?!"
Dainsleif's eyes widened in disbelief.
But seeing her change twice in front of him, he finally believed. This wasn't an Abyss mage trick.
"…That shop really is extraordinary. There's nothing it doesn't have."
He lowered his stance, murmuring in awe.
"Of course! You'll know once you visit yourself. Now, I'm going to sneak in and gather intel. You two wait here."
Paimon smirked, turned back into an Abyss Mage, and boldly waltzed straight into the enemy ranks.
None of the other Abyss Mages or hilichurls reacted.
"Hehe, they didn't notice a thing! Awesome!"
Paimon's heart swelled.
So this was the joy of infiltrating the enemy like Sun Wukong from the manga—right in front of their faces, yet none the wiser!
"Hey, why are you still hanging around here? Hasn't His Highness left yet?"
An Abyss Mage suddenly walked up, suspicious.
"His Highness? Who's that?"
Paimon blurted without thinking, then quickly covered it up.
"Oh! His Highness told me to stay behind and check things. You lot keep working."
The mage nodded, sighing.
"Hopefully His Highness gets something good from that manga. If he does, then we'll finally have hope."
The Abyss members had all heard the rumors—
A mystical manga shop in Mondstadt, where one could obtain unimaginable power.
Their prince was particularly interested and was planning a visit.
"…Your leader—this 'His Highness'—is going to the manga shop?!"
Paimon gasped, so much that she nearly exposed herself.
The Abyss Mage gave her a strange look.
"I-I mean… of course! But I'm new, so I'm not really clear on the details. Can you tell me more?"
Paimon hastily tried to pry further.
"…New? We had new recruits?"
The Abyss Mage frowned in confusion, but not sensing anything too odd, began explaining.
From the cliff above, Aether's golden eyes narrowed.
"That Abyss Mage… something's wrong with it."
He had recently ordered the Abyss Order to pull back, to avoid unnecessary conflict while he investigated the manga shop. But upon hearing his sister's presence here, he rushed over—only to see this peculiar mage.
With a thought, he sent a command down to the Abyss Mage below.
The mage stiffened, then glared sharply at Paimon.
"Who are you?"
"M-me? I'm an Abyss Mage, of course!"
Paimon forced a laugh, trying to bluff.
"Then give me the passphrase."
"…Passphrase?"
Paimon's eyes went round.
Wait, they had a secret code?!
"You don't know it?"
The mage's voice grew icy.
"O-of course I do! Give me a sec, let me think!"
Paimon began wildly guessing.
"Uh… Abyss Mages are the coolest? Long live the Prince? Abyss Order forever?"
…None of it felt right.
"No need to guess. You're a spy. Because we don't even have a passphrase!"
The mage rasped.
(⊙_⊙)
"Wha—?! No passphrase?! You tricked me?!"
Paimon was dumbfounded. She had been outsmarted—by Abyss Mages of all people!
"Seize this impostor! Bring it to His Highness!"
The mage commanded.
"Help! Lumine! And you too, Riddleman!"
Paimon panicked, instantly dispelling the transformation and bolting, with a horde of monsters chasing after her.
Lumine and Dainsleif charged in to fend them off.
"Hehe, so what if I got caught? I've got backup!"
Paimon perched proudly on Lumine's shoulder.
"You dare disrupt His Highness' plan? None of you will leave alive!"
The Abyss Mage hissed, unaware of Lumine's identity.
"Hmph. Watch this!"
Lumine smirked, pulling out her Mini Golden Gourd.
She popped the stopper and aimed it at the Abyss Mage.
"Abyss Mage! I call you once—dare you answer?!"
Dainsleif: (⊙_⊙)
…Was this really how one used a weapon?
These two were anything but normal.
From the cliff, Aether's eyes widened in confusion.
"What is she doing…? And that gourd in her hand… what is it?"
Both he and Dainsleif were utterly baffled by Lumine's bizarre move.
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