Sacrificing Myself: Nine Transmigrations (Genshin Impact)

"I'm fine, don't worry. This bit of karma can't hurt me. Just focus on your cultivation."

Elliot wasn't a fool. The barrier had been silent until just now, when an unexpected crackling sound appeared.

He immediately realized—Xiao must've gotten distracted.

Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Elliot finally resisted the erosion of the karma.

Then, wielding his spear, he swept through the swarm of monsters with fierce, relentless strikes.

But...

The monsters weren't attacking from one direction—they were flooding in from all sides.

Relying on just a single spear to stop them all was, frankly, unrealistic.

So even though Elliot was fighting with everything he had, the overwhelming numbers left him helpless.

In moments, several monsters were already swinging their blades at Xiao.

Just as one blade was about to land, a spear flew in and pierced through the attacker.

Elliot appeared in an instant, cutting down the surrounding monsters.

But there was barely any room left to maneuver. Monsters swarmed Xiao from all directions, and no matter how hard Elliot fought, it wasn't enough.

As soon as he killed one monster, three more rushed in.

Elliot raised his arms to block.

Thinking he'd be slashed, all he heard was a metallic clang—"clang!"

The blade bent as if it had struck steel.

Sparks flew off his arm, and only then did Elliot remember—he was wearing the magic scale coat!

That coat, made from the scales of a demonic dragon, not only granted immunity to fire and boosted the wearer's fire attacks—it was also incredibly durable!

Elliot made a snap decision, stowed away his spear, and began using his limbs to attack and defend.

After all, the monsters were packed so tightly around him that he barely had space to swing his spear.

Before long, even his limbs couldn't keep up.

Two hands couldn't fend off eight fists, and Elliot was dealing with seven or eight attacks raining down at any given moment.

Forget counterattacking—just protecting Xiao was pushing him past his limits.

"Burn!"

With no other choice, Elliot unleashed the Black Flame once again, igniting all the surrounding monsters in an instant.

In moments, he'd cleared out a wide area.

But his head pounded, his vision blurred, his ears rang, and it felt like his internal organs were churning.

The immense mental strain made him nauseous, like extreme motion sickness.

Elliot retracted the Black Flame, summoned his spear, and forced himself upright.

But as soon as he stood, a powerful shock hit his brain.

A loud "buzz"—his mind went blank.

"Come on... join us... release your true nature..."

"Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill..."

"Stop resisting... accept us... we'll show you the joy of it... the joy of slaughter..."

"Tired, aren't you... It hurts, doesn't it... Sleep... Just sleep..."

Elliot no longer resisted the voices as much. Suddenly, their words didn't seem wrong.

Struggling only brought more pain.

Why not just relax and enjoy it?

Just close his eyes and lie down...

"I haven't seen you before, but since we both have the surname Hu, we should totally be friends!" Hu Tao said with a cheerful grin, hands on her hips.

"Elliot...? Hmm... I don't remember... Do we know each other?" Qiqi tilted her head, eyes wide with confusion.

"Husband? I'm not thinking about that right now. But if you want a girlfriend, I could introduce you to someone in the Knights—maybe you'll click," Shenhe said with a faint smile.

"No!!!!"

Elliot, teetering on the edge of the abyss, suddenly snapped back to his senses.

Right in front of him, a massive battle axe was coming down toward his head.

His pupils shrank rapidly.

Just before the axe struck, a long spear appeared before his eyes.

BOOM!!!!!

A thunderous crash and a powerful impact sent Elliot flying.

When he came to, he saw Xiao standing there, holding his spear, blocking the axe.

Elliot whipped his head toward the barrier—only to see that the breach hadn't closed. Instead, it had grown even larger after Xiao left.

"Xiao, you—"

"There's no time. I need at least half an hour to fix that hole, and you won't last that long in your condition!"

With that, Xiao repelled the monster's attack and skewered it with a clean thrust.

Whoosh!!!

In an instant...

A dark figure shot out from the breach.

Its upper half was a bare-chested man, while the lower half was wreathed in purple demonic flames.

Long iron chains hung from its arms. Its face was androgynous, with long hair the same color as the pale purple fire.

Solomon's 58th Archon—Ami.

Elliot recognized him. While studying the Original Gods, he had learned the backgrounds of each Archon.

All Archons in the Original Gods derived from the mystical "Seventy-Two Pillars of Solomon."

They were Solomon's seventy-two Archons.

Raiden Shogun—Solomon's First Archon, Baal.

Anemo Archon Barbatos—Solomon's Eighth.

Paimon—Solomon's Ninth.

Geo Archon Morax—Solomon's Twenty-First.

Even Albedo and Gouba could be traced back to the Seventy-Two.

...

And now, before them stood Solomon's 58th—Ami.

Judging from appearances, Ami had once fought for a place among the Archons but failed, leading to his suppression by Morax.

"Finally... out at last... Damn you, Morax..."

He spoke slowly, turning his gaze to Elliot and Xiao.

With a lazy wave of his hand, the breached barrier sealed shut.

Seeing this, both Elliot and Xiao instantly understood his intent.

This guy had sealed the way behind him after coming out. He clearly had no intention of freeing the other suppressed Archons—he wanted to keep everything for himself.

Fine by them. That meant they only had to deal with one.

But an Archon...

Wasn't so easily dealt with.

Even the mightiest Adeptus, the Great Saint of Demon Subjugation, lacked the edge needed to take on an Archon.

Though Elliot wasn't weak, his current condition was far from good.

A constant headache pounded in his skull, like ten thousand drills boring into the crown of his head.

"Bane of All Evil"

He donned his Yaksha mask.

He had to go all out for this fight!

Elliot also slowly stood. He was in pain, but that didn't mean he was powerless.

He believed that even an Archon might not be able to withstand the searing heat of the Black Flame.

Especially when paired with the fire-enhancing magic scale coat.

If he could just land a burn...

He might be able to stop this catastrophe...

...