Genshin Impact: Watch me turn the tables and kill my servants at the start!

The coastline of Ba Yun Island shimmered with a grayish-white luster in the afternoon light. Fanes stood at the highest point of the makeshift spectator stands, clutching a rented pair of binoculars, adjusting the focus to try and bring the open area marked as the dueling zone in the distance into a clearer field of vision.

The spectator stands stretched along the coastline, several rows of wooden seats rising gradually on a gentle slope between the rocks, already full of people. Many more stood in the back rows, hands on the backs of their chairs, craning their necks to look in the same direction.

Hisaki Shinobu sat beside him, holding a whiteboard and drawing an arc on the page with the tip of her pen to indicate the change in wind direction: "Preparations are complete. The site has been cleared, and isolation zones and safety cordons have been set up at the edges as required. Both sides participating in this duel have confirmed their positions, and the necessary security forces have been deployed around the area."

Fanes put down his binoculars: "Alright, we'll tally it up after the fight."

Fanes raised his binoculars and looked back at the center of the field. D'Artagnan was standing to the left of the center line, his hands hanging at his sides, not holding any weapons, his gaze fixed on the opposite side.

General Thunder stood to the right of the center line, his long sword drawn, the tip pointing diagonally at the ground, without making any unnecessary movements.

The battle began when a gust of wind swept across the center of the arena. Lightning struck first.

General Thunder's movements didn't seem like a test—she moved very quickly, and the blade was already at the height of Datalia's waist almost the instant she raised the hilt.

D'Artagnan took a half step back, his right hand already forming a water blade, which he held horizontally in front of him to block the path of the blade's light.

When the water blade touched the lightning, it splashed up a layer of white mist that spread out to both sides along the blade's trajectory. Without waiting for the light to completely recede, he turned around in a dodge stance, and the water blade swept diagonally downwards along an arc toward the Lightning General's calf.

General Thunder stepped aside, the hilt of the sword swung around in her hand for more than half a turn, and when she gripped it firmly again, the tip of the sword was already pointing at D'Artagnan's shoulder.

D'Artagnan dodged the attack just as the tip of his blade was about to touch the edge of his shoulder armor, and the water blade reformed in his hand.

Tartaglia's offensive became more intense in the following exchanges—his speed didn't change significantly, but the pace gradually quickened. He no longer waited for General Thunder's blade to land before making a judgment, but instead began to anticipate and adjust his position before she had even completed her slash trajectory.

The water blade changed direction three times in succession, each time getting closer to General Thunder's defensive space than the last, constantly applying pressure as she retreated, forcing her to constantly adjust her position to cope with his frequency.

General Thunder adjusted her position the instant the water blade sliced ​​through from the side. Instead of retreating, she turned the blade to the side, catching Datalia's attack head-on, and then smoothly shifted to the other side, redirecting the momentum into empty space.

General Thunder's movements were not fast, but each step landed earlier than he expected, forcing him to constantly adjust his path and rhythm during the intervals between attacks.

After the interception, D'Artagnan created distance again. His breathing was slightly faster than before, but his posture remained unchanged. He deliberately broke away from General Thunder, taking a half-step back to the side, creating a gap of nearly ten paces between them.

D'Artagnan withdrew the water blade from his palm, adopting a more direct stance. The instant he completed that stance, the black patterns on his body began to spread outwards along the seams of his armor, unfolding into a pair of folded, dark red wings along the contours of his arms and shoulder blades, their edges trembling slightly in the air, like a curtain lifted from the ground by the wind and about to unfurl in the sky.

He opened his eyes, and an amber light slowly emerged from the surface of his pupils, gradually spreading along the edge of his iris into a uniform glow.

The moment the Thunder General's body underwent a transformation, the blade he had been holding sideways returned to its center position. His gaze shifted from those amber-colored eyes to the pair of dark red wings that were now fully unfolding behind him, and he did not immediately make a move.

Tartaglia's next attack was completed within half a breath of his transformation. His speed had increased to a whole new level.

The water blade left a pale white trail in the air as it slashed out. When it touched General Thunder's blade, it no longer produced a crisp metallic clang, but a more muffled echo, closer to a collision of energy levels.

General Thunder was pushed back half a step the instant the impact landed. The blade was still held in front of her, blocking the frontal impact, but a shallow, extending line appeared on the ground beneath her feet, as if something was slowly altering the contours of the landscape.

Lightning crackled from the edge of her blade, coalescing into a flowing barrier beside her, blocking Tartaglia's next attack before it could reach her. While defending, she swung her blade at him—at a lower angle than before, aiming for his legs.

D'Artagnan dodged the blade's flash by sidestepping it, and then slashed out with a diagonal arc in the direction of D'Artagnan's final movement. The slash did not cause any obvious damage when it hit her side armor, but D'Artagnan shifted her center of gravity slightly at the moment of impact.

During that brief gap, D'Artagnan took two steps forward, trying to shorten the margin she needed to swing her sword, pressing her into a rhythm that required constant adjustments to maintain balance.

General Thunder had already adjusted his center of gravity before he was fully within her attack range. Instead of retreating, she unleashed her fastest strike of the night just as he was about to take his final step.

D'Artagnan's vision was filled with both the flash of blades and the lightning in that instant. Before the white light fell, he had already decided to dodge backward.

The light fell on the spot where he had been standing. The edge of the blade grazed the edge of his breastplate, without cutting into the inside of the armor. However, the impact transmitted through the armor plates made him feel a vibration spreading outward from the point of contact, along his sternum to both sides.

D'Artagnan didn't stop. He adjusted his center of gravity, and the water blade reformed. Using the momentum of the swirling wind, he swung his blade forward, deflecting General Thunder's attack head-on.

In their subsequent clashes, the two no longer bothered to count the number of attacks and defenses. The intersecting traces of lightning and water blades left slowly fading arcs in the center of the arena; some lingered in the air for a long time before disappearing, while others were instantly covered by the next impact.

General Thunder tilted his head slightly as he blocked her sixth strike. Her blade stopped less than a finger's width from the edge of his shoulder armor, without pushing forward—as he completed this defense, her other hand was already raised, palm facing him, lightning gathering into a streamlined beam between her fingers.

The instant she raised her hand, D'Artagnan reacted by moving backward, displacing his body as he retreated. The bolt of lightning passed through the spot where he had been standing, exploding in the ground and creating a slowly healing crack that stretched a distance along the surface before stopping.

General Thunder did not immediately pursue after firing the beam. She withdrew her hand, straightened her grip on the hilt of her sword, and paused for a moment on the black armor on his body, which already had several cracks: "The power on you is not your own."

Dardaria stood there, several cracks in his black armor slowly healing, and spoke: "But it's mine now."

General Thunder glanced at him, turned the hilt of his sword half a turn, and sheathed it: "Then let's fight again after it has fully become your power."

General Thunder turned and walked towards the edge of the arena.

D'Artagnan stood there, watching her retreating figure: "Are you sure you don't need to settle things?"

General Thunder didn't stop: "Victory or defeat doesn't need to be determined by fighting. The fact that you've lasted this long already proves you deserve this stage."

The crowd in the stands was gradually getting up. Some were organizing their belongings, while others were still looking towards the center of the arena, confirming that the traces of the battle were being blown away by the wind and gradually faded to the point where they could be erased by the next wave.

Fanes lowered his binoculars, and Hisaki Shinobu closed his scoreboard: "Neither side stopped fighting due to exhaustion, nor did either side make any obvious mistakes or retreat during the exchange. Based on the records, the result of this duel can be defined as a draw."

Fanes descended the steps of the spectator stands and walked along the coastline toward Datalia.

Tartaglia had already put away his black armor and the abyssal energy he was releasing, and was squatting on the shore, washing away the sand that had seeped into the gaps in his armor with seawater.

Fanes walked over and squatted down beside him: "How are you feeling?"

D'Artagnan rinsed the last crevice clean and shook the water droplets off her hands. "Feels good. She's stronger than I thought, but I'm not much worse off."

Fanes stood up and dusted off his clothes: "That's fine then. Go back and get some rest, and we'll ask her to play again next time."

Tadalia: "I'll definitely win next time."