The silence between them shattered like glass in an instant.
Robin lunged first. With a single beat of her massive wing, she shot forward, the sheer force of her movement fracturing the space behind her. Her scythe gleamed, slicing a black arc through the air, aimed directly at Zhongli's throat.
The earth answered him before he moved in that moment.
A monolithic pillar of golden stone erupted from the sand, intercepting the strike. Robin's scythe met resistance, but instead of cutting clean through, it screeched against the divine rock, sending sparks of abyssal energy crackling outward. She clicked her tongue and twisted, vanishing into a blur of darkness before reappearing at his flank.
A volley of razor-sharp feathers exploded from her wing, each one laced with abyssal corruption, each one sharp enough to carve through steel. Zhongli extended a hand, palm facing outward. In an instant, the sands trembled, and golden constructs of ancient shields materialized in a semicircle before him, intercepting the incoming barrage. The impact sent shockwaves through the battlefield, dispersing the surrounding sand into thick clouds.
Through the haze, Robin's form twisted. Shadows coiled around her, and she spun midair, bringing her scythe down in a vicious, crescent arc. This time, Zhongli moved. His body blurred as he sidestepped, the blade carving through empty space where he had stood. The sand beneath them responded to his presence, hardening into golden rock to grant him footing, while Robin's very presence corroded the ground beneath her into nothingness.
She grinned.
"Faster than you look, old man."
He remained silent, his gaze locked onto her. Then, without warning, the air itself cracked.
Zhongli slammed his foot into the ground. The dunes split apart, and massive stone spears burst forth, spiraling toward Robin in an unrelenting onslaught. She flipped backward, her wing unfurling in a powerful gust that sent her soaring above the assault. But Zhongli wasn't finished. The moment she took to the sky, he raised his hand.
A massive meteor, wreathed in golden sigils of ancient power, materialized above. The weight of it alone sent a deafening boom across the desert, bending the air, warping reality itself with its sheer presence. Robin's eyes widened slightly before narrowing. With a single thought, the abyss surged around her.
Tendrils of darkness erupted from the shifting void above, latching onto the meteor like monstrous hands. They pulsed, struggled, attempting to crush the divine rock before it could descend. Robin snarled, pouring more of her energy into the writhing abyssal mass.
For a heartbeat, the battlefield stood in a deadlock—an unstoppable force against an immovable object.
Then Zhongli exhaled sharply. With a flick of his wrist, the weight of eons came crashing down.
The meteor broke free, shattering the abyssal tendrils in an instant. It fell with the fury of a collapsing world, and Robin barely had time to react. She thrust her scythe forward, and a gash in reality itself split open, swallowing her whole an instant before impact. The moment the meteor struck the earth, the world trembled. A golden explosion of energy radiated outward, consuming everything in its path, vaporizing the very concept of resistance.
For a moment, there was nothing but golden light and obliteration.
Then, from the fringes of existence, a whisper slithered into being.
Robin reappeared amidst the devastation, her form flickering, unstable, her body shifting as though struggling to maintain its presence. Yet she was smiling. Her mask was cracked, barely clinging to her face, but the abyss still pulsed around her, wilder, more frenzied than before.
She laughed.
"Alright, Zhongli. That was impressive."
She lifted her scythe once more. The abyss roared in response.
"But let's see how long you can keep up."
She struck again, faster this time. Her scythe blurred in the darkness, carving through the very fabric of space. Zhongli raised his arm, and golden barriers snapped into place. The impact sent ripples of force tearing through the desert, shattering dunes and sending golden shards flying like deadly shrapnel.
Robin didn't relent. She spun midair, her wing flaring, sending a surge of abyssal energy crashing down. The sand beneath Zhongli's feet darkened, turning into an endless void. He reacted instantly, tapping the ground with his heel. Pillars of earth surged upwards, forming a bridge as he leapt to higher ground.
Robin's eyes gleamed. She extended her free hand, and from the abyss, twisted, skeletal hands erupted, clawing at the air, grasping at Zhongli's foundation. He countered with a mere gesture, and the ground answered. The sand solidified into impenetrable stone, forcing the abyssal limbs back into the void.
Robin snarled, her form twisting into a blur of shadows. She reappeared above him, scythe raised high, bringing it down in a devastating arc. But Zhongli was no longer there.
The moment before impact, the battlefield shifted. The entire desert trembled. From deep below, an ocean of golden light erupted upwards. Massive stone dragons, ancient and gargantuan, coiled from the earth, their bodies shimmering with celestial power. They roared as they surged toward Robin, their golden eyes burning with judgment.
Robin twisted midair, her wing shifting, propelling her away from their onslaught. But they were relentless. One dragon lunged, jaws open wide, snapping at her with divine fury. She barely managed to dodge, the sheer force of its passing sending her spiraling.
She laughed through ragged breath. "Fine, then! Let's raise the stakes!"
She flared her wing outward, and the darkness answered. The abyss twisted and pulsed, bringing forth abominations of writhing shadow. Towering creatures with shifting, indistinct forms clawed their way into reality, their eyes glowing with malice.
Robin's grin widened, her body flickering in and out of stability as she hovered above the carnage, her eyes alight with something between madness and exhilaration. She swept her scythe outward, the fabric of reality itself splitting apart in a jagged arc, a gateway into oblivion yawning open before her. From its depths, spires of blackened bone and eldritch tendrils surged forth, piercing through the air like spears aimed at Zhongli.
He did not flinch. With a measured breath, he extended both arms, his fingers curling into the air. The golden radiance beneath him pulsed, and the sand trembled as it transformed. Monolithic walls of stone erupted, ancient carvings of celestial sigils blazing across their surface. The abyssal projectiles struck them but did not shatter; instead, the stone absorbed the impact, rippling like liquid gold before hardening once more.
Robin's expression flickered with something like respect. "Not bad. But let's see how well you handle this."
With a beat of her wing, she vanished, reappearing directly above him, her scythe already descending in a vicious arc. Zhongli met the strike with his arm, a golden shield materializing in a split-second to intercept the abyssal blade. The clash sent shockwaves outward, cracks forming in the air itself as raw energy erupted from the impact. Robin twisted, using the recoil to propel herself into a whirlwind of slashes, each one faster than the last, her blade seeking any weakness in his defense.
Zhongli did not yield. His movements were precise, deliberate, every block and parry a calculated response. His golden barriers shimmered and shifted, reshaping themselves with every impact, forming layers upon layers of unbreakable defense. Yet Robin was relentless. She danced between shadows, her form shifting unpredictably, forcing him to remain on constant guard.
Then she changed tactics.
With a sudden shift, she abandoned the direct assault and instead lashed out with her abyssal energy. The darkness surged forward in a great tidal wave, crashing against Zhongli's defenses like an ocean of consuming night. The golden earth beneath them buckled under the weight of the encroaching void, struggling to maintain its divine integrity. Zhongli narrowed his eyes.
He raised a single hand. The world answered.
From deep within the earth, titanic chains of molten gold burst forth, each link engraved with ancient seals of power. They shot toward Robin like celestial vipers, weaving through the air with terrifying speed. She barely managed to dodge the first wave, but more came, shifting unpredictably, seeking her out with unerring precision. One wrapped around her arm, another her leg, dragging her downward as their divine energy burned against her abyssal form.
Robin hissed in frustration, shadows writhing around her in an attempt to break free. The chains tightened. Zhongli clenched his fist, and the heavens rumbled. The chains began pulling her downward, toward a massive glyph that had silently formed on the battlefield—an intricate sigil of golden energy, pulsing with power ancient beyond measure.
Robin's eyes widened. "Oh, hell no."
Summoning all her strength, she unleashed an explosion of abyssal energy, shattering the chains that bound her. The resulting detonation sent her flying back, but she recovered midair, her scythe spinning in her grip. She landed atop a spire of blackened stone she had conjured, glaring down at Zhongli with renewed fervor.
"Alright, old man," she panted, her grin returning despite the strain evident in her stance. "You got me good with that one. But I'm done playing."
The abyss pulsed violently around her. The air twisted, and the very concept of space seemed to fracture. A deep, guttural sound reverberated through the battlefield as the darkness behind Robin began to shift—no longer mere tendrils, no longer formless shadows. Something vast and terrible stirred within the abyss, something ancient and beyond mortal comprehension.
Zhongli's expression did not change, but his stance shifted ever so slightly, a silent acknowledgment of the escalation. He reached behind him, and in a single motion, summoned his polearm—a weapon of exquisite craftsmanship, its golden surface inscribed with the weight of forgotten millennia. The air grew heavier, the battlefield frozen in a moment of tense anticipation.
Robin's grin turned razor-sharp. "Let's see how you handle a real god's wrath."
She raised her scythe high, and the abyss answered. From its depths, an enormous clawed hand emerged, black as void, seething with abyssal corruption. It tore through the battlefield, reaching toward Zhongli like a harbinger of annihilation.
Zhongli took a slow breath, and then, with the weight of eons in his voice, he spoke.
"Tianheng—awaken."
The desert responded. The ground trembled as ancient mountain roots, long buried beneath the sands, erupted into the battlefield. Towering formations of divine rock surged skyward, each one glowing with celestial power. A deep, resonant hum filled the air as the golden dragons coiled around the landscape, their forms merging with the rising mountains, their energy intensifying.
"Let us dance once more! Robin!"