<h4>Chapter 31: Viin Simtor, Ch 31</h4>


    Of course, this also included the vine in the Tsaritsa''s mouth.


    However, now wasn''t the time 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 ss container imprisoning Scaramouche into pieces with a single strike.


    The ss had been specially reinforced, but even that couldn''t withstand Lucas''s de. As the ss shattered, the corrosive liquid inside spilled out, and Scaramouche''s body slipped out with it. Upon contact with the air, her body immediately began to emit white steam.


    "Scaramouche! Scaramouche!" Lucas shook her body, but she appeared to be in a deepa, showing no reaction.


    Without hesitation, Lucas pulled out a syringe from his coat and injected it directly into Scaramouche''s chest. Her body convulsed immediately, and with a deep gasp, she woke up.


    Seeing Scaramouche regain consciousness, Lucas finally exhaled in relief. His previously tense face softened atst.


    "Cough... cough..."


    Scaramouche blinked as she woke up, still not fully aware of her surroundings. Her confused gaze wandered around beforending on the Tsaritsa, who was pinned to a pir.


    The mighty Tsaritsa, usuallymanding 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 memory was still stuck on the moment she was struck by the Tsaritsa''s giant ice arrow. At the time, she had thought for sure she was doomed.


    "Of course not!" Lucas replied with exasperation. "I brought you back!"


    "Pfft!"


    At that moment, the Tsaritsa bit through the vine in her mouth and spat it out, but the sap sttered 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 y 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.


    Meanwhile, a new arm quickly grew from Lucas''s severed stump. Though his natural healing factor wasn''t enough for limb regrowth,bined with the Dendro Archon''s genes, he was able to rapidly regenerate a new limb, made from both flesh and nt 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 plummeted. From the pce''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 pce 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 mes erupted behind them, instantly vaporizing the advancing ice.


    Lucas was startled and turned to see a familiar figure. Standing behind them, surrounded by zing 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 eximed in surprise. "You..."


    "Eighth Harbinger of the Fatui, La Signora, herebymits the grave sin of defying Her Majesty the Tsaritsa," Rosalyne said seriously, wrapped in mes. "It seems you''ll have to take me with you when you escape."


    Lucas was momentarily 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 me 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 oue.


    "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 pce, it was immediately 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 pce in every direction like an imprable wall.


    "Boom!"


    With a loud crash, the pce doors behind them copsed as the Tsaritsa emerged 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 me, they are mere 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 bloomed. 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 bloomed across the ranks, spreading like crimson ink in clear water.


    More than half the soldiers quickly transformed into puppets, their bodies taken over by the blood-flower parasites. Those unaffected were attacked by theirrades, 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 red at him. "What... what are you nning 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''te any closer! I''m giving you onest chance..."


    "You think you''ve been giving me chances this whole time? No, it''s been me 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."


    Something simr had happened 500 years ago, but this time, Lucas had no intention of holding back.


    The Tsaritsa''s relentless pursuit had forced him to open this Pandora''s box.


    "Die!"


    Countless ice des materialized behind the Tsaritsa and shot toward Lucas. With a sharp sound, one of the des pierced through his abdomen, leaving a gaping hole.


    "Doctor!" Rosalyne cried out in rm.


    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 me. This entire city is my nourishment." Lucas''s voice was cold. "Your Majesty, tell me... are you satisfied now?"


    "No... don''te closer!"


    The Tsaritsa could no longer maintain herposure. She unleashed all of her icy divine power.


    "cial Freeze!"


    "Absolute Zero!"


    "Frost Ray!"


    "Multi-Ice Arrows!"


    "Furious Blizzard!"


    "Cold Wave Assault!"


    She unleashed a barrage of her most powerful ice-elemental 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 time 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 time, 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 time... but as a tree."


    More vines extended from his arm, wrapping around the Tsaritsa''s body. These agile vines quickly invaded every essible part of her body.


    After a brief, painful struggle, the Tsaritsa''s expression turned nk, her will to resistpletely extinguished.


    The surface of the vines pulsed, delivering nutrients to the Tsaritsa as her body transformed into a towering tree, standing in front of the pce with only her face visible. From her vine-covered mouth, muffled words could barely be heard:


    "Kill... kill me..."


    "Don''t worry, everything dies eventually," Lucas said, detaching his arm once more. "You''ll probablyst a few thousand years... in this form."


    [Achievement Unlocked: Godyer]


    [Talent Acquired: yer of Archons]


    [Effect: Damage against all Archon-ss targets is increased by 100%]


    Well, this talent is like getting a Lamborghini coupon for five dors.


    No matter how powerful Lucas became in the simtor, it was still just a simtion. 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 Immersive 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 epted the deal.]


    [Age 543: Snezhnaya publicly dered that a devastating gue had ravaged the nation, killing over 70% of the poption. The Tsaritsa had exhausted her divine power in trying to contain the gue and went into seclusion. The Harlequin assumed temporary leadership of the Fatui.]


    [This great "cmity" forced other nations to abandon any ns to hold Snezhnaya ountable, including the issue of Scaramouche and the Gnosis. Everything was swept under the rug.]


    [Snezhnaya''s national power plummeted from being the strongest of the Seven Nations, leaving it in a weakened state. The Gnosis Collection n had to be postponed indefinitely.]


    [You, Scaramouche, and Lady retired to a vineyard in Sumeru, changing your names and living in seclusion. You spent your days leisurely, asionally helping nearby vigers with minor medical issues.]


    [Since Sumeru 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 escted, especially at night, when things became 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 emergency foodpanion. She seemed 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 be prominent figures in various fields in Sumeru.]


    ...


    [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 emerged from her body. You discreetly returned it to Inazuma.]


    ...


    -----


    Author''s Note: Happy Ending?