The Infinite Journey of a Certain Flame

"Uh, hehe... Zaoyou, are you the client?"

"Huh?"

With her finger in her mouth, Zaoyou slowly raised her head to look at Kiana, looking confused as if she didn't understand what she meant.

Seeing this, Kiana could only sigh, and then asked:

"It's a commission, a commission to have Hokuto and the others help investigate the threat to Narukami Island!"

"Oh! It's this... Uh, that older brother told me not to give my name, can I not say it?"

"...What?"

That makes no sense.

When they couldn't get an answer from the client, they instead asked if they could keep the information confidential.

Regarding this so-called 'big brother' who commissioned Zaoyou to come.

Kiana was very curious.

"Can't I really tell you? Who exactly is this older brother you're talking about?"

"Ugh... I really can't say, please don't ask anymore..."

After saying that, as if afraid of being bothered again, Zaoyou turned around and transformed into a roly-poly tanuki toy.

Judging from their posture, are they planning to play the autistic and cute card to get through this?

"That won't do. If you don't tell us, we won't obediently go looking for someone, right, Shadow?"

"Huh? Hmm... Just do as you wish, Kiana."

"Whee!"

After receiving the Inazuma ruler's approval, Kiana looked at Hayasu with great confidence.

Quietly waiting for the tanuki doll, which resembles a roly-poly toy, to speak.

However...

Time passed little by little.

The little ninja disguised as a doll didn't react for a long time, as if she had already fallen asleep.

Seeing this, Kiana thought for a moment, then reached out to pick up a leaf from the ground and examine it.

Right at this moment!

"Gurgle!"

Zaoyou, who had been feigning death since their first meeting, suddenly displayed astonishing resourcefulness when the crisis arrived.

In the blink of an eye, she rolled into a ball, moving at lightning speed just like the baby rock dragon in Liyue next door...

It didn't roll for very long...

"Hey, we've finally found you—oh my!" An unknown white-haired, red-eyed wandering samurai had just finished gathering information from the Kamisato-yashiki and was planning to meet up with Kiana and the others.

As a result, he was accidentally bumped by something and fell to the ground...

Zaoyou rolled and sped away down the mountain road. Because she couldn't get a good view while rolling, and was too eager to escape, she was also unable to do so.

This meant that when Wan Ye suddenly appeared, she was caught off guard and ran over him.

And so, the two Inazuma natives, who were as cheerful as the wind, happily collapsed to the ground.

Unconscious...

"Hey? Zaoyou? Wanye? Are you two alright?"

Upon seeing the two people involved in a serious traffic accident, Kiana leaped between them to assess the situation.

Overall, there shouldn't be any major problems.

"Uh...did I encounter a monster?"

Wan Ye, rubbing his forehead, groggily sat up, then spread his hands in utter helplessness:

"What is this? I've never seen it before."

"Oh, this... Is this a tanuki, a native magical beast of Inazuma?"

Kiana joked half-heartedly.

"What? If it's a demon fox, I've encountered it before... but I've never seen one look like this. What on earth is this...?"

Seeing that Manyo was actually taking the joke seriously, Kiana stepped in to explain.

When Ying slowly approached, Wan Ye roughly realized what had just happened.

"I see? Hmm, that's an interesting interaction. This... little ninja from the final episode?"

Seeing that Hayato, lying in Kiana's arms, had groggily woken up, Wanye stepped forward, half-squatted down, and calmly stated:

"Regarding the task you entrusted to me, I have discovered some clues that seem to be related to the roots of the Divine Cherry Tree."

"What? The roots of the Divine Cherry Tree? How do you know about this, Manyo?"

"This? Hmm... Actually, not long ago, in..." Wan Ye glanced at Ying, who was disguised and whose identity had not yet been revealed, and said with a slightly strange expression, "After the battle of Tenshukaku, I went to Liyue to seek inspiration for my poetry, and I met Ying there. During our chat, we talked about the story of the Great Exorcism of the Divine Cherry Blossom."

"Oh, I see?"

"Hehe, your martial arts are truly exquisite. We might spend our entire lives... but we still wouldn't be able to reach the level you've achieved."

Wan Ye smiled and then turned around.

"Please follow me, I will lead you to those... the targets entrusted to me."

"Oh, Shadow. Shall we go?"

"Ok."

Kiana and Shadow then held hands and began to walk towards the roots of the Divine Cherry Tree...

The location is the tree roots on the side of the Kamisato-yashiki.

I vaguely remember that Ying had suffered a lot here in the past.

And now, on an island that reaches right up to the roots of the tree.

I don't know when it happened, but there are now a huge number of scammers and fraudsters everywhere.

These purple, flower-shaped monsters seemed to be controlled by some terrifying force, their bodies shrouded in thick, dark mist.

It looks... strikingly similar to the aura emanating from those sea demons influenced by the resentment of those who worship gods.

You could even say they're... exactly the same.

"Watch out, there are two of them."

Standing atop the wave-riding boat, Man'yō spoke slowly to Kiana and Kage, who were flying in mid-air:

“Those swindlers are quite powerful, and a rash attack would put us under immense pressure. However, if we want to investigate the situation... we must eliminate them.”

"Leave it to me, Shadow. Let's go!"

"Ok!"

As Shadow responded, Kiana slowly summoned the Flame King Sword, then swung the greatsword down in a vertical slash.

'boom!'

The scorching flames erupted instantly, engulfing the deceptive flowers in a sea of ​​fire...

The Battle Between Flame and Lightning and the Abyss (Genshin Impact): Chapter 8 - The Abyss Apostle Intending to Corrode the Divine Cherry Tree

In just a moment, more than half of the Phantom Flowers were killed or injured by the scorching waves, and many disappeared on the shallows of the island.

In an instant, the small island was filled with the acrid smell of burning monsters.

After the initial attack, the remaining monsters began to gather their strength in an attempt to fight back.

However, before they could make a move, the shadow who had rushed over swiftly drew his sword, and purple light flashed across the bodies of these lightning-deceiving flowers.

Even with excellent resistance to lightning, the opponent still couldn't escape death in front of the Shadow.

Soon, all the monsters were wiped out.

After successfully joining forces to eliminate the enemy, Ying casually flicked her hand, and the purple katana vanished into thin air.

"Well played."

"Haha, you're not bad either, Shadow."

"Hmm, no need to flatter me... never mind, this is our victory."

The two exchanged a smile and then prepared to go downstairs.

Before they could even set off, Wan Ye, who had arrived later, jumped off the boat.

"Gentlemen, please be careful. As per the previous plan, the ninja from the client's side and I will be waiting on the shore. If there is any danger, you can call for help at any time, and I will be there immediately."

Although Manyo also wanted to go down, he had no choice but to stay above because Ying had specifically warned him about the dangers of the lightning.

Otherwise, even if they go down there, it will probably only cause Kiana and the Thunder General unnecessary trouble.

Kiana was quite pleased that he had thought things through so carefully.

This will also save us from having to trouble Yae no Miko again due to the dangers of the lightning.

"Haha, thanks. But it's not necessary. Just keep an eye on Zaoyou and protect her if anything unusual happens."

"I will." Wan Ye slowly drew his sword, his face full of serious affirmation.

With his promise, Kiana and Kage felt much more at ease.

The two sides then slowly began to enter the cave.

On their way to the roots of the Divine Cherry Tree, the two of them encountered many monsters that shouldn't have been there.

Most of them are mutated creatures influenced by the lightning element, including even abyssal lightning mages who can protect themselves with lightning element shields.

"A mage from the Abyss Order? How strange, why are there traces of Abyss mages here?"

Thanks to the system's assistance, Kiana was very clear about the so-called Abyss Cult.