Of course, this also included the vine in the Tsaritsa's mouth.
However, now wasn't the ti to dwell on these random thoughts. Lucas knew very well that, given the Tsaritsa's power, he could only restrain her for less than a minute.
Lucas swiftly turned and swung Oni-Cutter, slicing the glass container imprisoning Scaramouche into pieces with a single strike.
The glass had been specially reinforced, but even that couldn't withstand Lucas's blade. As the glass shattered, the corrosive liquid inside spilled out, and Scaramouche's body slipped out with it. Upon contact with the air, her body imdiately began to emit white steam.
"Scaramouche! Scaramouche!" Lucas shook her body, but she appeared to be in a deep coma, showing no reaction.
Without hesitation, Lucas pulled out a syringe from his coat and injected it directly into Scaramouche's chest. Her body convulsed imdiately, and with a deep gasp, she woke up.
Seeing Scaramouche regain consciousness, Lucas finally exhaled in relief. His previously tense face softened at last.
"Cough... cough..."
Scaramouche blinked as she woke up, still not fully aware of her surroundings. Her confused gaze wandered around before landing on the Tsaritsa, who was pinned to a pillar.
The mighty Tsaritsa, usually commanding in her presence, was now wrapped in twisted vines, with one stuffed in her mouth, looking utterly humiliated.
"Am I... already dead?" Scaramouche murmured. "Why... am I seeing such a strange sight?"
"I told you, I wouldn't let you die here." Lucas pulled her into his arms and said, "We have to leave right now!"
"Doctor!" Scaramouche, now fully recognizing Lucas, said excitedly, "I'm not dead... I'm really not dead?"
Her mory was still stuck on the mont she was struck by the Tsaritsa's giant ice arrow. At the ti, she had thought for sure she was dood.
"Of course not!" Lucas replied with exasperation. "I brought you back!"
"Pfft!"
At that mont, the Tsaritsa bit through the vine in her mouth and spat it out, but the sap splattered all over her face, making her look even more disheveled. "You won't escape. As soon as this arm lets go, I'll break free... and I'll repay this humiliation tenfold!"
"In that case, I'll leave this arm for you to play with."
Without hesitation, Lucas swung his sword and severed his own arm. Despite being cut off, the arm continued to writhe, tightening its grip around the Tsaritsa.
anwhile, a new arm quickly grew from Lucas's severed stump. Though his natural healing factor wasn't enough for limb regrowth, combined with the Dendro Archon's genes, he was able to rapidly regenerate a new limb, made from both flesh and plant matter.
"Ugh..."
The Tsaritsa groaned as the vines tightened around her, squeezing her body. She spat out a mouthful of blood and coldly muttered, "With blood as my offering, I summon the Frostbound Tomb!"
As her words faded, the temperature in the air plumted. From the palace's floor and ceiling, countless ice spikes surged forth, rapidly spreading toward Lucas and Scaramouche. Anything in their path was instantly frozen solid.
Clearly, the enraged Tsaritsa had unleashed her full power. Though Lucas wasn't afraid, the weakened Scaramouche wouldn't survive any more injuries.
Carrying Scaramouche, Lucas dashed toward the palace doors. Yet, even as he ran, the ice spread faster than he could move. Just when the freezing cold was about to engulf them, a wall of flas erupted behind them, instantly vaporizing the advancing ice.
Lucas was startled and turned to see a familiar figure. Standing behind them, surrounded by blazing fire, was none other than Rosalyne—the Fair Lady—in the exact form she had taken when they had burned together 500 years ago.
"Signora!"
Lucas exclaid in surprise. "You..."
"Eighth Harbinger of the Fatui, La Signora, hereby commits the grave sin of defying Her Majesty the Tsaritsa," Rosalyne said seriously, wrapped in flas. "It seems you'll have to take with you when you escape."
Lucas was montarily stunned but then gave a wry smile. "That's fine, the vineyard I bought is pretty big."
Of course, the bed was also big.
"Why?"
The Tsaritsa's voice was icy. "Why would you betray too? Don't you know that he abandoned you for another woman?"
"I know. No one hates him more than I do for that decision," Rosalyne nodded, smiling coldly. "That's why I'm going to punish him by haunting him for the rest of his life."
Looking at the smile on Rosalyne's face, Lucas suddenly felt a chill down his spine. Maybe dying here would have been the easier outco.
"You will all..." The Tsaritsa's once-beautiful face now twisted with rage. "...pay for this."
...
As the three of them rushed out of the palace, it was imdiately engulfed in ice.
However, the sight before them caused them to halt in their tracks.
A massive army. The Fatui, over 100,000 soldiers strong, fully equipped and blocking the Tsaritsa's palace in every direction like an impenetrable wall.
"Boom!"
With a loud crash, the palace doors behind them collapsed as the Tsaritsa erged from the swirling frost.
"It seems your so-called 'spores' were just a bluff. My army is perfectly fine," the Tsaritsa said with a cold smile as she surveyed her troops. "Or did you have a sudden change of heart and decide not to kill the Snezhnayans who admire and respect you?"
"To , they are re ants. The only reason I didn't crush them earlier was that it wasn't necessary,"
Lucas sighed. "But if those ants stand in my way, that changes things. Now, Your Majesty, watch closely..."
"Bloom, flesh flowers."
Lucas's voice was as ominous as a whisper from the god of death. Suddenly, a piercing scream split the air as a soldier's eyeball popped out of its socket, and from the hollow eye, a blood-red flower blood. Then another soldier, and another...
Screams, curses, and wails filled the air. What had been an orderly army was now a chaotic scene as blood-colored flowers blood across the ranks, spreading like crimson ink in clear water.
More than half the soldiers quickly transford into puppets, their bodies taken over by the blood-flower parasites. Those unaffected were attacked by their comrades, their throats torn open, their spines snapped, their bellies ripped apart as chaos descended upon the once-disciplined army.
"You really did it..." The Tsaritsa murmured in disbelief. "You would trade an entire nation for one person. Is it worth it?"
"For Scaramouche, I'd trade everything."
Lucas handed Scaramouche to Rosalyne and whispered, "And of course, you too."
"Tch, so I'm just a bonus?" Rosalyne glared at him. "What... what are you planning to do?"
"Nothing much," Lucas said without turning back.
"I'm just going to kill a god."
Watching the man approaching her, the Tsaritsa, who had been so sure of her victory, suddenly felt a wave of nervousness. "Don't co any closer! I'm giving you one last chance..."
"You think you've been giving chances this whole ti? No, it's been giving you chances." Lucas continued walking forward, undeterred. "You wanted to see rivers of blood? Fine, I'll give you more blood than you could ever imagine."
Sothing similar had happened 500 years ago, but this ti, Lucas had no intention of holding back.
The Tsaritsa's relentless pursuit had forced him to open this Pandora's box.
"Die!"
Countless ice blades materialized behind the Tsaritsa and shot toward Lucas. With a sharp sound, one of the blades pierced through his abdon, leaving a gaping hole.
"Doctor!" Rosalyne cried out in alarm.
But Lucas did not stop. He stepped on a nearby soldier's corpse, which dissolved into a mass of blood and flesh. Absorbing it, his wound healed instantly.
"You can't kill . This entire city is my nourishnt." Lucas's voice was cold. "Your Majesty, tell ... are you satisfied now?"
"No... don't co closer!"
The Tsaritsa could no longer maintain her composure. She unleashed all of her icy divine power.
"Glacial Freeze!"
"Absolute Zero!"
"Frost Ray!"
"Multi-Ice Arrows!"
"Furious Blizzard!"
"Cold Wave Assault!"
She unleashed a barrage of her most powerful ice-elental abilities, sparing no effort, but no matter how severe the injuries these attacks inflicted on Lucas, his body would instantly heal by absorbing the flesh and blood of the corpses beneath him.
These "spores," created by Lucas, infected any living thing they touched, allowing him to use their bodies as fuel to restore his health.
After the thirty-fourth ti his head was partially shattered and healed, Lucas finally reached the Tsaritsa. She, a proud goddess, now realized she couldn't kill this man.
"S-stop... enough already!" The Tsaritsa's spirit was finally broken. She muttered, "Go... just go! I... won't try to stop you anymore... mmm!"
Once again, Lucas extended vines from his arm to silence the Tsaritsa by covering her mouth. However, this ti, the vine slipped down her throat.
This act forced the Tsaritsa to roll her eyes in agony, all grace and dignity vanishing from her face.
"Don't worry, I won't kill you. The death of a god would draw the attention of Celestia," Lucas said calmly. "Instead, I'll make sure you live for a very long ti... but as a tree."
More vines extended from his arm, wrapping around the Tsaritsa's body. These agile vines quickly invaded every accessible part of her body.
After a brief, painful struggle, the Tsaritsa's expression turned blank, her will to resist completely extinguished.
The surface of the vines pulsed, delivering nutrients to the Tsaritsa as her body transford into a towering tree, standing in front of the palace with only her face visible. From her vine-covered mouth, muffled words could barely be heard:
"Kill... kill ..."
"Don't worry, everything dies eventually," Lucas said, detaching his arm once more. "You'll probably last a few thousand years... in this form."
[Achievent Unlocked: Godslayer]
[Talent Acquired: Slayer of Archons]
[Effect: Damage against all Archon-class targets is increased by 100%]
Well, this talent is like getting a Lamborghini coupon for five dollars.
No matter how powerful Lucas beca in the simulator, it was still just a simulation. In reality, he'd be lucky to even scratch the Tsaritsa. Even with a 100% damage boost, 1 point doubled is still just 2 points!
[Exiting Imrsive Mode]
[Entering Text Mode]
[Age 542: The Harlequin and the Director returned to Snezhnaya and were shocked by the events that had transpired. However, rather than confront you, they proposed a "deal."]
[Snezhnaya would no longer pursue the matter of the Doctor, Lady, or Scaramouche's actions, but you had to contain the spread of the spores. You accepted the deal.]
[Age 543: Snezhnaya publicly declared that a devastating plague had ravaged the nation, killing over 70% of the population. The Tsaritsa had exhausted her divine power in trying to contain the plague and went into seclusion. The Harlequin assud temporary leadership of the Fatui.]
[This great "calamity" forced other nations to abandon any plans to hold Snezhnaya accountable, including the issue of Scaramouche and the Gnosis. Everything was swept under the rug.]
[Snezhnaya's national power plumted from being the strongest of the Seven Nations, leaving it in a weakened state. The Gnosis Collection Plan had to be postponed indefinitely.]
[You, Scaramouche, and Lady retired to a vineyard in Suru, changing your nas and living in seclusion. You spent your days leisurely, occasionally helping nearby villagers with minor dical issues.]
[Since Suru didn't prohibit polygamy, your three-person household didn't raise any suspicions. However, Scaramouche and Rosalyn continued to butt heads, leaving you stuck in the middle of their frequent conflicts.]
[Their disputes escalated, especially at night, when things beca even more intense... though the only one left utterly exhausted was you.]
[Age 544: One day, you encountered a golden-haired girl with an unusual ergency food companion. She seed to be searching for her brother.]
[Age 545: You adopted a few children.]
[Age 546: You established a trade partnership with Mondstadt's Dawn Winery.]
...
[Age 570: The children you adopted grew up to beco prominent figures in various fields in Suru.]
...
[Age 580: Rosalyn passed away peacefully after the fire within her finally burned out.]
...
[Age 584: Scaramouche passed away, and when she died, the Gnosis erged from her body. You discreetly returned it to Inazuma.]
...
-----
Author's Note: Happy Ending?
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