Mr. Pantalone has no crazy plans today.

If he successfully escapes to the vicinity of Mondstadt, even the soldiers of the Fatui vanguard who are chasing him will not be able to continue their pursuit, as long as he successfully returns to Mondstadt.

Then he will definitely be able to get rid of this passive situation and report the information he obtained in the Fools' stronghold research institute to Grand Master Falgar.

If only I could get to that place... if only I could get to that place...

Just as such thoughts filled Diluc's mind, feeling his stamina about to run out, he, who was originally in a bad mood, suddenly saw the bridge outside Mondstadt shrouded in a gray fog in his line of sight.

This gave Diluc, who was originally in a passive position and was being constantly pursued by the advance troops of the Fatui from behind, an unexpected surge of joy.

This made him glance back at the Fools' vanguard soldiers who were relentlessly pursuing him. He then made up his mind to fight back with the last of his strength.

With his greatsword on his back, Diluc decided to stop running. Instead, he drew his greatsword, glanced at the Fatui vanguard soldiers behind him, and then took a step forward.

"flame--"

"Burn it all!"

After Diluc used all his strength, his elemental power erupted once again.

Driven by Diluc's deliberate actions, a powerful elemental force erupted from his body, propelling him forward in his escape.

This caused Diluc, who had been closing in on the advance troops of the Fatui, to instantly distance himself from the Fatui advance troops chasing him.

Having regained his composure, he charged straight into the mist within the bridge outside Mondstadt.

After Diluc charged into the mist surrounding the bridge outside Mondstadt, the Fatui commander, who had been filled with murderous intent, changed his expression upon seeing the mist.

The advance troops of the Fools, who had originally rushed to the bridge, now stopped in front of it.

This caused the soldiers of the Fatui vanguard, who were originally chasing Diluc, to look at each other in bewilderment and ask questions while looking at the figure of the Fatui commander.

"Sir, should we continue the pursuit...?"

What they were referring to was that continuing would lead them into Mondstadt, which would then provoke a conflict with the Knights of Favonius, a situation that would undoubtedly be very disadvantageous for them.

Regarding their questions and confusion, the Fool's commander looked at the mist over the bridge outside the city and spoke to the Fool's vanguard soldiers beside him.

"No need to chase him anymore. The higher-ups said that if we fail to catch him, the Executor 'Doctor' will personally handle the matter, and that guy will face only endless despair."

Upon hearing that it was actually "Doctor" who was handling this matter, the expressions of everyone present changed to varying degrees.

If they were to ask which executive they least wanted to come into contact with, then without a doubt it would be the "Doctor," the second-in-command of the Fatui.

Anyone who has ever worked under the executor "Doctor" knows better than anyone else how terrifying "Doctor" is. Working under that executor is undoubtedly like serving a tiger.

They could even imagine the utter despair the other party would face when confronting "The Doctor".

"Clean up the mess quickly and find a way to cover this up. We've done what Master Pantalone asked us to do, so it's no longer our responsibility to deal with this."

"Yes."

After the soldiers of the Fools' advance force received their orders, the commander glanced at the mist over the bridge and felt an inexplicable sense of dread.

He then suppressed the nameless fear in his heart and led the fools and advance troops present to clean up the mess and retreat, hiding themselves and making preparations for the cleanup.

Just as the Fools commander led his vanguard of soldiers in a retreat...

Meanwhile, Diluc, who had just entered the thick fog, noticed something amiss after running for a while.

After running for a while, he clearly noticed that the Fools' advance troops who were supposed to be chasing him seemed to have disappeared and had not caught up.

This caused Diluc some confusion. At first, he thought it was because the other party didn't dare to enter Mondstadt territory, but after running for a while, he realized that the reason was that the other party was not daring to enter Mondstadt territory.

When he discovered that he did not see the gates of Mondstadt as he had expected, he realized that something was clearly wrong.

According to his memory of the distance to the bridge outside Mondstadt, he clearly remembered that the bridge was not this long, but he had already run several hundred meters.

But he still couldn't see the gates of Mondstadt. The eerie feeling spreading in the air made Diluc realize something was wrong, and when he turned around...

Suddenly, he realized that the bridge behind him was shrouded in a thick fog, making it impossible to see the path he had taken. The fog itself was quite incongruous.

He saw that the road in front of him and behind him seemed endless, and the distance across the bridge outside Mondstadt was definitely not that long. This situation made him realize that something was wrong.

He realized just how strange this fog was. Logically speaking, there had never been such a thick fog in Mondstadt in his memory. What on earth was going on...?

He realized that the scenery before him seemed to have changed, at some point, from the world he knew to the world he was no longer familiar with.

This eerie feeling, as if he had entered another world, sent a chill down his spine.

Just as Diluc's brain was working frantically, trying to figure out what had happened...

A sudden, cool sensation hit his face, causing Diluc, who was pondering what was happening, to pause slightly in surprise.

When he reached out and looked at the water droplets hitting him, he suddenly understood what was going on with these suddenly appearing droplets.

"Is it... raining?"

After he discovered where the inexplicable raindrops came from, the raindrops that fell on him seemed to have triggered some kind of signal, and countless water droplets began to fall suddenly.

It soon turned into a light drizzle, causing Diluc to pause for a moment.

It started as a light drizzle, but only for a short while.

The drizzle gradually turned into an unimaginable downpour. The large raindrops hitting him made him feel slightly uncomfortable, and the rain soaked his clothes, making him feel heavier.

The torrential rain quickly soaked the ground beneath our feet. The mist and fog combined with the rain further reduced visibility, which was already shrouded in fog.

Diluc realized that if things continued like this, he would eventually get lost in the thick fog and lose his way.