I'm in the Teyvat running group

Keep in mind that he possesses two divine artifacts, which elevate his combat power to a level surpassing that of an average fifth-ring mage...

But no one expected the lady to be so powerful. Is this the combat power that the Queen directly blessed and elevated to the eighth level?

Forcibly suppressing the pain, Yunxiu activated an Ice Shield, and the reactivated Arcane Protection gave her a brief moment of peace. Then, with another stealth step, she finally reached the place where Diluc and the others had laid an ambush.

"Run? You're so arrogant!" The woman raised the magic orb in her hand, and a series of profound and mysterious runes poured out of her mouth. A huge amount of energy condensed between her hands, and the powerful ice element could be felt even through space, as if it would freeze the entire Mingguan Gorge in the next moment!

"Now!" Yunxiu shouted, rushing behind Commander Qin and hiding.

"A duel of honor!" Jean shouted, pointing her Windhawk Sword at the lady with one hand, causing the eighth seat of the Fools to pause for a considerable time and interrupting her spell.

But she quickly broke free using her legendary resistance and said to Jean, "Acting Grand Master of the Knights? You're not strong enough to face me head-on. You're just a difficult punching bag! Hand over that brat, and I'll spare Mondstadt!"

"Have you ever considered that your opponent is me?" With a loud bang, Diluc's figure instantly appeared behind the lady. The huge wolf's tail gleamed with an iron-like light. Under Diluc's powerful strength, he actually swung this dual-wielded greatsword with one hand and smashed it wildly at the lady!

"Blazing Steel!"

“-21382！-13736！-18104！-23566！-15920！-22474！-14827！”

Seeing the lady reduced to a sliver of health by Diluc's seven frenzied slashes, he raised his greatsword with both hands and unleashed his ultimate attack: "Blazing Scorch!"

"-27573!"

As expected of Mondstadt's second strongest warrior! After using the "Tidal Wave" technique and leaping with immense power, Diluc instantly emptied the lady's health bar in a single close-range attack.

Even this "pseudo-eight-ring" being could not withstand the powerful burst of the eighth stage. Yunxiu took advantage of this time to secretly identify the character and discovered that this was not a simple warlock, but had advanced to a peculiar class called "Crimson Flame Witch".

With a Charisma attribute of 26 points and Intelligence of only 12, but a Constitution of 18 points, the lady has a base HP of 120 points and a shield of 80 points. She is truly worthy of being the executor of the Winter Kingdom!

With the coefficient amplified to nearly 15 after the eight rings, and 25 points of all elemental resistance, it still couldn't stop a burst of damage. Moreover, the 26 points of charm made his eyelids twitch. As a sorcerer, the lady uses charm as the base value for casting spells, but 26 points also means that she has at least one artifact.

If the woman possesses a magical artifact, then it's almost certain that the executive officer also possesses one...

After a series of bursts depleted the lady's health bar, Diluc did not let his guard down, but kept his eyes fixed on the lady's body, saying, "She won't die so easily."

This outburst consumed more than half of Diluc's elemental energy, and even this powerful warrior showed signs of fatigue. If it weren't for the lady's exceptionally high resistance, Diluc's strikes would have been enough to kill a top-tier monster of the eighth ring level...

"Yes, she's about to transform." Yunxiu wasn't overjoyed at the success, because he knew that, according to the game, once the "Ice Witch" was defeated, the "Flame Witch" would break free of the ice.

Sure enough, the woman was not killed, but transformed into a strange "egg". The surrounding temperature dropped sharply, and ice crystals appeared on the trees and rocks nearby. Red lotus butterflies began to scatter everywhere, and the creation formed by the strange fire element energy "floated" up.

Sensing the gradually distorted temperature, Yunxiu pointed at the Crimson Lotus Butterfly and shouted, "Ying, use your elemental control to manipulate the Crimson Lotus Butterfly to attack the lady! Guide the Crimson Lotus Butterfly to attack the lady!"

Ying rushed out from the cover nearby. This strange ice energy seemed to have no effect on her at all. She circled around the "Crimson Lotus Ice Cocoon" and accumulated enough energy in her hands. As a descendant, she did not seem to have any discomfort in controlling the energy. She imbued her weapon with the energy of the Crimson Lotus Butterfly and pierced the outer shell of the Crimson Lotus Ice Cocoon with a few consecutive sword strikes.

However, a tremendous amount of energy erupted from the ice cocoon, and the power of a "Flame Witch" whose body was stained with demonic fire was released, forcing everyone present to take a few steps back!

She let out a shrill and bitter scream, flashed in front of Diluc, and raised her hand to cast a banishment spell!

"Your teammate's exemption score is 19. This exemption requires a luck check of DC22. The assessment has failed!"

"Exile spell activated. Your teammates will be exiled to a demiplane for at least one minute!"

broken!

"Diluc!" Yunxiu shouted. He could even vaguely see the huge fire element emanating from Diluc in the "demiplane," but it was firmly locked in the space.

"Trust Diluc." Jean patted Yunxiu on the shoulder: "If he hadn't left the Knights, he would be the Grand Master now."

Just then, the lady, who had almost lost her mind from being burned by the demonic fire, roared and teleported in front of Yunxiu. Just as she was about to unleash her skill to send Yunxiu to hell as well, a slender and beautiful knight's one-handed sword was placed between her and Yunxiu!

"Now, let's see just how difficult I am to handle!" Qin said with a smile, but her expression was as cold as the storm in the Wind Dragon Ruins.

"The wind of dandelions!"

Chapter 38 The Lady Cannot Escape

A dandelion-filled realm, shrouded in a thousand winds, rose from the ground, firmly protecting Qin, Ying, and Yunxiu within it.

"Your teammate activates the 'Dandelion Wind' skill, which removes all negative status effects from your body every two seconds and restores 2D6+9 health!"

A blue light emanated from Jean's body, firmly protecting Yunxiu and Ying behind her. This most powerful knight in Mondstadt displayed extremely strong protective abilities, standing firm despite the lady's relentless bombardment.

With an AC of 38, the lady's output was either missed or reduced to only a few hundred points due to the resistance. The lady even had the leisure to constantly use Wind Pressure Sword to protect herself. Yunxiu kept casting various skills and spells on the lady, especially after casting Flame Shield on her. Combined with the lady's strong resistance, the lady's damage was reduced to single digits!

With a health bar of 190,000 and the ability to recover thousands of health points every two seconds, the woman felt as if she had encountered an impenetrable steel wall.

Although Jean doesn't have the powerful attack power of Diluc, nor does she have a special ability like Tidal Wave that allows her to instantly close the distance, her strong defensive capabilities are the key to her standing firm on the battlefield. For an army, this is often more important than powerful warriors!

Unable to endure the prolonged war of attrition any longer, the woman suddenly took to the air, her entire body almost transforming into pure, concentrated fire element.

She chanted obscure and complex incantations, and the entire Brightcrown Gorge was enveloped by a massive fire elemental force field. Several fiery whirlwinds began to rage as the woman's figure disappeared!

"The Final Judgment!"

Although Qin could withstand the powerful yet ineffective spell, she didn't have a good way to control the opponent.

If Yunxiu hadn't been applying buffs to Ying while constantly using gravity fields and ice spheres to control the battlefield over a wide area, Qin would indeed have been a wall of sighs. If it were just her alone, she could have easily kept the fight going.

However, the battle has now lasted for nearly two minutes, and the Fools will surely realize the current situation. If their forces arrive quickly, it will be difficult to end the battle.

Moreover, Ying and Yunxiu were almost taken down by the explosive AOE damage; the lady's terrifying damage could take away a large chunk of health just by glancing at her.

Yunxiu could barely withstand the attack with her own shield, but Ying was in trouble. Even with Yunxiu's projectile shield and fire shield constantly helping her, plus the healing from Dandelion Wind, Ying's health bar was visibly fluctuating rapidly...

As expected of the Flame Witch...

Yunxiu sighed. This witch's reason and humanity had been completely twisted. She was willing to tear her own body apart to gain immense power.

"This can't go on." Seeing Jean's anxious eyes, Yunxiu released a gravity field towards the landing point of the small whirlwind before saying to Jean, "The banishment spell should last for about a minute. I believe Diluc should still have other methods. Can Captain Jean find a way to control the lady for two seconds?"

Qin looked into Yunxiu's eyes and nodded.

Just then, outside the space that had been "exiled" by the banishment spell, a massive burst of fiery energy erupted, shattering the alternate dimension instantly. A fiery red figure wielding a greatsword charged out!

"Control!" Yunxiu shouted. Qin bit her tongue without hesitation and spat out a mouthful of blood onto her armor. In an instant, the armor shone brightly, and a phantom of a woman with fiery red hair appeared behind Qin.

Wielding a greatsword, clad in armor, her face as cold as frost, her fiery red hair flowing behind her, and even bearing several twisted scars on her face, she resembled a female war goddess who had just emerged from the battlefield. She chuckled softly, transforming into a stream of light and attaching itself to Qin's Windhawk Sword. Qin roared, "In the name of the Lion of the South Wind, I initiate a duel of honor!"

With a soft snap, the lady was abruptly pulled out of her spatial teleportation state. Although her legendary resistance allowed her to avoid the control effect of Jean's taunt, it could not prevent the forced confrontation judgment of the honor duel. After all, she was not the real Winter Queen herself, while Vanessa was once a genuine god-level combatant!

Just as she was stunned, Yunxiu raised her hand, and a series of lights flashed continuously!

"Unrestricted actions activated! Your opponent's next assessment will default to a roll of 1!"

"Mana Points cost, the duration of your next spell is doubled!"

"Web Spell! Your spell's DC score for this spell is 18 points!"

"The opponent threw 1 point, resulting in a clearance decision of 8+3=11, a major failure!"

A huge spider web enveloped the woman. Under the powerful curse of the Unfettered Curse, the woman was powerless to resist this spider web spell and was firmly bound to the ground by the sticky web!

Legendary resistances can only be used three times a day. The lady has almost exhausted all her resistances in the fight. Even if she uses dispel magic, she needs to chant to cast a spell to counter it. The lady, blinded by anger, no longer has the intelligence to use zero-ring tricks and spell counterspells to bait skills at the beginning.

"Filthy rats... all of you!" The woman spat out a string of Winter's curses, seemingly wanting to unleash all her anger on the spider web, but Diluc, as a powerful warrior, even though he had already expended a great deal of energy breaking through the banishment spell's seal, had already charged directly in front of her through two bursts of energy!

"Steel Blaze!" A flash of light appeared on the massive blade of Wolf's End, and the powerful warrior did not hesitate, immediately unleashing four slashes!

"-15920! -24658! -7181! -31213!"

The woman's health was reduced by more than half in an instant, but as a character with a stat line comparable to an eight-ringed character, even after taking four hits, she finally released her first spell since being bound: "Dispel Magic!"

Her body instantly broke free from the spider web spell, and with a quick step, she flashed into the air. She glared at the group of people with hatred, and her body began to shimmer with teleportation light.

"She's trying to escape!" Yunxiu, who was very knowledgeable about magic, recognized the spell immediately and shouted to Jean and Diluc, "Interrupt her casting!"

Qin nodded immediately, and Yunxiu immediately mobilized the magical energy in her body to cast a flight spell on Qin. Qin stomped heavily on the ground, and a beam of cyan light shot straight towards the lady in the air. A wind pressure sword directly slammed her to the ground!

The woman glared at Yunxiu, continuing to chant magic runes, her eyes burning with fury that seemed to devour Yunxiu!

Yunxiu chuckled, raised her spellbook, and threw out the Ottiluc Ice Sphere and Gravity spell again, once again creating a "frozen hell" centered on the lady, with the huge ice ball crushing towards her already ragged body.

Having exhausted her legendary resistances, the lady no longer had the ability to resist the Frozen Hell. Although Yunxiu's 25 points of elemental resistance prevented her from dealing much damage, the 18 points of strength made it difficult for the lady to break free from the Frozen Hell. She could only watch helplessly as Jean and Diluc charged toward her!

Jean and Diluc easily knocked out the exhausted lady with three punches. They then used a pair of anti-motor shackles to completely bind her. Diluc then carried the tightly bound lady on his back and strode towards Cider Lake, wading through the water all the way to Mondstadt.

Qin quickly cleaned up the battlefield with Yunxiu and Ying. Yunxiu used elemental arrows to clear away the large areas of scorched earth in Mingguan Gorge that had been destroyed by the group. She then threw a few grass elemental arrows to make the ground grow flowers and grasses that were different from before but didn't look too different. Then she cast a few flight spells on Qin, Ying, and herself and quickly flew towards Fruit Wine Lake.

This battle, which seemed earth-shattering, actually lasted less than five minutes in total, from the initial luring to Diluc's burst of power that cut off the first layer of the lady's health, to the banishment and the barrage of attacks, and finally the decisive blow!

The tactic was designed as follows: Yunxiu lured the lady to the ambush location, Diluc was responsible for outputting damage, Jean was responsible for control and tanking damage, and Ying needed to figure out how to deal with the Crimson Butterfly in a short time. Although it was the first time the group had cooperated, their level was quite good, and they captured the eighth seat of the Fatui in a short time.

After a few people quickly cleared the battlefield, less than ten minutes had passed. By the time the Fools and the Knights of Favonius arrived and confronted each other, fifteen minutes had already passed.

By this time, Diluc had already carried the lady to the small island in the middle of Cider Lake to rest, and Yunxiu and the others arrived at the island ten minutes later.

After resting for another ten minutes to recover their strength, Yunxiu cast flight spells on everyone. In less than 20 minutes, they returned to Mondstadt through a small gate in the back wall.

They brought the lady to the Knights of Favonius' basement, locked her in an anti-magic cell, and prepared to hand her over to Kaeya for interrogation. The group finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although the ambush had been fraught with difficulties, they had ultimately succeeded in achieving their goal.

Jean, in particular, visibly looked much more relaxed. Mondstadt was facing the Dvalin catastrophe and the oppression of the Winterlands, so the Grand Master of the Knights was already under immense pressure. In this context, gaining a considerable bargaining chip through a fierce but not too risky military adventure was the best news for Jean.

"Now let's see how much information our interrogation master, Kaeya, can get from the lady." Diluc was no longer as cold as before, and even laughed heartily.

“I think we should be more worried about the delegation from the Winter Solstice Kingdom. Who will be the next ambassador?” Even Qin, the almost always serious acting head of the delegation, couldn’t help but laugh.

"Is God's blessing really that powerful?" Yunxiu was still somewhat apprehensive. "Is every Winter Solstice Executor like this?"

Jean and Diluc exchanged a glance and then said:

"Yes, but no."

Chapter 39 The Existence of Lightning

“The Executors’ strength comes more from themselves; the Ice Queen’s blessing is merely icing on the cake,” Diluc said. “I have fought against many Executors.”

"Many of them were already powerful enough before becoming executives, and they were powerful allies that the Ice Queen found from various countries on the continent."

Qin pondered for a moment, as if she had thought of something: "However, what is interesting is that the executives seem to come from different countries or regions. For example, the lady is from Mondstadt, the rich man seems to be from Liyue, and the original sixth seat, Raiden Tsukihime from Inazuma, left the Fatui, and another great Onmyoji from Inazuma, Yuugami Seinosuke, took her place and joined the Fatui."

"So we've also thought about whether the country represented by each seat is fixed, but we can't be sure."

Yunxiu had actually thought about this problem before, and finally realized that it might really be true. At first, she thought that eleven executives couldn't cover all seven kingdoms, but later she discovered that there were also factions like Nordkalai, Moon Goddess, and Kanria. For example, the girl was from Nordkalai, the servant belonged to the Kanria Red Moon Dynasty, and the sage was from the Kanria Black Sun Dynasty...

"Oh, the deity of Inazuma is named Raiden. It seems that this Raiden Tsukihime has a close relationship with the deity of Inazuma... Wait! What is her name, Raiden?"

“Thunder Princess Tsukihime.” Diluc answered with his arms crossed, “She is now the commander of the Inazuma Otsume group, leading the hatamoto warriors and Otsume group under the command of Inazuma Thunder God, and also undertaking diplomatic missions.”

The Okuzume-shu and the Hatamoto warriors are the core guards of Raijin, and they are the troops that guard the castle tower. However, these troops are not very useful to Raijin, since in a real battle, Raijin will most likely be the one protecting the Okuzume-shu. Therefore, the role of these guards in most cases is just to help Raijin with some miscellaneous tasks and to make Raijin's daily life a little quieter.

"The winery contract we negotiated with Dawn Winery was signed by her and that Shrine Master of Narukami Taisha, Tsukigami Saimiya," Qin added. "Whether it's Inazuma or outside the tavern, these two appearing together almost always represent the Thunder Ruler himself."

Huh? Raiden really created Raiden Tsukihime? Wait, Kitsune-no-Miya! Kitsune-no-Miya didn't die? Does this mean that the calamity Inazuma suffered 500 years ago was far less than the one in the original timeline?