Spare Me

Rite Of Descension

After resting up at the inn for an hour or so, the trio left for Liyue Harbor. On the main road, Lumine broached some topics to break the silence as Paimon warily floated forward just in case she needed to warn the sisters of hilichurl camps.

"I see you've got new katanas after the Stormterror fight," Lumine tilted her head towards where Kaori's sheathed blades were.

"Indeed. Wagner didn't create them- when walking through the underground network, I found these half-buried in some special ice that wouldn't melt to Pyro. I just bashed the chunk of ice and got these katanas," Kaori smiled.

Lumine laughed. "Your brute strength scares me. How strong are you really, though?"

Kaori hummed, walking towards a hilichurl camp that Paimon warned them about. She marched over to a mitachurl, grabbed it and threw it at an explosive barrel which engulfed the entire area in fire.

Lumine blinked as Kaori suddenly appeared behind her, the silver-haired girl looking way too proud for her own good. "So, whaddaya think?"

The blonde-haired traveller shook her head as she looked from a viewpoint, at the edge of a small cliff. She gasped, seeing Liyue Harbor in its glory in the setting sun. The sunbeams showed a small city or large town that was filled with life.

"Liyue Harbor..." Lumine whispered, quickly running down the path towards the wooden bridge where people paid little attention to the new visitors.

Many merchants were settled on the side of the bridge, calling out to sell trinkets and decorations. Kaori blinked as she was offered a coloured parasol, retrieving some Mora as she chose a crimson one.

"Also, a golden one for Lumine and the small pale pink one for Paimon!" Kaori smiled, and the merchant gladly accepted her Mora as he gave Kaori the three parasols.

"We can't actually use these right now, but let's put it in the spatial storage," Kaori said, and Lumine made an agreeing noise as she went to ask around whether there was a hotel nearby.

Paimon floated in the constellations, looking up at a higher portion of the city. "I bet that's where the Rite of Descension will take place! Why are there so many lights, though?..."

Kaori gave a small yelp as she dragged Paimon and Lumine towards the Rite of Descension site. "Venti, that bastard! He confused the dates! It's right now!"

Lumine started running for her life as well, quickly climbing up the cliff as Kaori resorted to the pavement. They both leapt up into the venue, looking at the gathering crowd.

The duo composed themselves, moving to the front as the taller citizens kindly let them pass. Paimon stayed low, not wanting to block anybody's sight as a lady stood waiting for everybody to settle down.

"That's Ningguang!" Somebody from the crowd excitedly said before being silenced by a pointed cough from Ningguang herself.

Ningguang has long platinum-blonde hair and a golden-white outfit. She coughed slightly, making everybody immediately turn silent. She looked upwards at the slightly setting sun, nodding to herself, pleased with the weather.