Although a Realm-Crossing Talisman was a bit pricey, its effect was quite reliable. A single talisman covered a one-way trip, and once arrived, there was no time limit—you could stay as long as you liked.
To leave, you simply had to buy another.
Moreover, each Realm-Crossing Talisman could only transport a single person.
This was precisely why the other group members hadn't been able to help Sakura; even if they managed to pool enough points for a ticket there, they wouldn't have been able to return once it was over.
Furthermore, the only ones with the capability to deal with the old worm and resolve the lingering problems left behind by Tohsaka Tokiomi were Fujimaru Ritsuka and Daigo, but both of their respective worlds required their constant presence.
Transporting a Heroic Spirit also required purchasing an additional Realm-Crossing Talisman.
As a result, the matter had been shelved until now.
Guixu informed Lumine of his intentions, planning to head over to Sakura's place right away so that resolving the issue early would bring peace of mind.
"Alright, I understand. The City of Mondstadt is not far now, and with Paimon here, I won't get lost. You go ahead without worry."
Lumine nodded, understandingly choosing not to say much more. She also felt deeply sympathetic toward poor little Sakura; if her own powers were still intact, she would have rushed over there long ago.
Paimon patted her little chest and offered her guarantee.
"Exactly, exactly! Brother Guixu, you can go ahead and not worry! With me, Paimon, around, I will definitely bring Lumine safely to the City of Mondstadt!"
Seeing the dependable Paimon, Guixu nodded and took out two small blue-and-white spheres, handing one each to Lumine and Paimon.
"Hold onto these. These two spheres contain a sliver of my power, which will protect you."
Even though he could tell that Paimon was merely a phantom body and wouldn't get hurt, he didn't want to play favorites and gave her one as well.
"Mm, I know. Thank you."
"Wow! Thank you, Brother Guixu!"
Lumine didn't refuse, nodding to accept Guixu's goodwill, while Paimon stomped her feet in midair, overjoyed that Guixu hadn't left her out.
"Then I'll be off."
With a parting farewell, Guixu sent a message to Sakura in the chat.
[Guixu: Sakura, find a place where no one is around. I'm coming to pick you up now.]
Meanwhile, sitting on her small bed in her room, Sakura suddenly felt a wave of panic wash over her.
"Ah?!"
Guixu's sudden visit caught Sakura completely off guard.
She hastily checked her room to make sure it was neat and clean, with no messy spots in sight.
Then she hurriedly ran to the door to lock it, took quick little steps over to the window to close it, and drew the curtains shut.
After that, she hurried back to the bed and sat down with a sense of nervous anticipation.
[Sakura: Brother Guixu, you can come over now.]
Upon receiving the reply, Guixu clicked on the Realm-Crossing Talisman and activated it.
Sakura accepted Guixu's request to use the talisman.
A glowing white portal materialized before Guixu.
Guixu glanced at the portal in front of him. A dense aura of spatial laws washed over him, causing him to nod involuntarily.
It seemed this Realm-Crossing Talisman was actually somewhat reliable.
It was leaps and bounds better than the Halloween Queen's methods.
Guixu took a single step forward and entered the portal.
The portal instantly closed and vanished.
Seeing Guixu leave, Lumine and Paimon resumed their journey toward Mondstadt.
...
Guixu felt himself completely enveloped by an exceptionally dense spatial aura as he traveled through the void.
He could sense that if he were to forcibly break free, he would likely be torn out of the transit space and cast directly into the uncharted expanse of the universe.
With virtually no concept of time, Guixu arrived at his destination in the blink of an eye.
Inside Sakura's room, a glowing portal abruptly materialized, startling the young girl sitting on the bed.
After a brief moment of thought, she fixed her gaze on the portal with a mix of anticipation and apprehension.
"I wonder what kind of person Brother Guixu is..."
At the same time, Gilgamesh, lurking within the estate, suddenly raised his head to look in the direction of Sakura's room. He narrowed his crimson eyes slightly, and his figure dissolved into spirit form, vanishing from sight.
(Because of the existence of the Chat Group, Sakura hadn't given up at the very beginning; she had tried to persuade her father to give up on transferring her adoption. But even though she managed to sway her mother and, by using the few points in her hands to showcase her magecraft talent ahead of time, it only managed to buy her some time—dragging it out right up until the eve of the Holy Grail War, just as Tohsaka Tokiomi finished summoning his Heroic Spirit and she was about to be sent away once more.)
Stepping out of the portal, Guixu's first sight was the young girl sitting by the bedside with a nervous expression on her face.
Those bright, expressive eyes and timid demeanor instantly stirred a deep sense of pity in anyone's heart.
Guixu walked slowly over to Sakura, squatted down gently, and flashed a warm smile.
That reassuring face and the matching short black hair instantly warmed Sakura's heart, melting away a great deal of her fear.
"Are... are you Brother Guixu?"
Clasping her small hands together, Sakura asked in a soft voice.
Guixu smiled and nodded, replying gently.
"Mm, it's me."
"Brother Guixu, you look so handsome..."
Sakura's face turned flushed, and she cast her gaze downward shyly, not daring to stare directly at Guixu's face.
Although she had seen Guixu's appearance from his profile picture, actually facing him in person still made her feel quite bashful.
Guixu chuckled softly and offered a compliment in return.
"Sakura is very cute, too."
"Hehe... Sakura isn't..."
Sakura blushed even harder. Although others had called her cute before, for some reason, receiving the praise from Brother Guixu felt completely different.
Perhaps it was simply because of Guixu's exceptional looks.
Looking at Sakura and thinking of her destined fate, a surge of fiery anger rose within Guixu once more.
Yet, facing Sakura, Guixu maintained his gentle demeanor as he spoke.
"Sakura, although I can probably guess your answer, I still want to ask you face-to-face."
"Have you truly decided to leave your mother and sister, and come with me?"
Hearing Guixu's question, Sakura fell silent.
Though parting with her mother and sister brought her immense sorrow, when she thought of that father of hers and the old worm of the Matou family...
She truly did not want them to hurt her ever again.
Lifting her resolute little face, Sakura reached out and wrapped her small arms around Guixu's neck.
"I've decided. I want to go with Brother Guixu."
"Sakura can cook, wash clothes, and even warm—anything and everything that Brother Guixu needs, Sakura can do and learn."
"Sakura just wants to leave this place with Brother Guixu."
Listening to Sakura's slightly choked voice, Guixu felt the arms holding him tremble ever so slightly.
It made it utterly impossible for Guixu to utter a single refusal.
So Guixu gently picked Sakura up, sat down on the bed with her, and patted her back softly to comfort her.
"There, there, Sakura, don't be afraid. From now on, Brother Guixu will protect you."
"From now on, you'll be Brother Guixu's little sister. How does that sound?"
As a divine being, he had never needed to weigh considerations so heavily.
If he wanted to, he would do it.
No one could change his mind.
"Mm~"
Sakura buried her little face against Guixu's chest and gave a muffled assent.
Guixu didn't mind that the little one's tears were dampening his clothes; he simply held her close, letting her vent to her heart's content.
What a pitiful child!
She couldn't even bring herself to cry out loud.
Guixu sighed softly and turned his gaze toward the door.
After a while, Sakura finally stopped crying, lifted her head from Guixu's embrace with a blushing face, and looked at the wet patch on his chest. Feeling both shy and guilty, she wanted to pull away, yet was reluctant to leave the warmth of his embrace.
Seeing that Sakura had calmed down, Guixu looked toward the door once more and spoke in a calm tone.
"Consider yourselves fortunate today to have known when to back down; otherwise, this deity would have made you pay for this."
"Crash!"
The locked door instantly flew open, and a blonde young man clad in golden armor and a middle-aged man in a suit stood outside.
"Sakura!"
Tohsaka Tokiomi anxiously tried to step into the room, only to be yanked back by Gilgamesh standing beside him.
"Tokiomi!"
Gilgamesh stared with a solemn expression at Guixu sitting by the bed, treating him like an enemy of the highest order.
"Do not act rashly. That fellow is not someone to be trifled with."
Though anxious upon seeing his daughter in the arms of a stranger, Tohsaka Tokiomi did not entirely lose his composure.
He still knew better than to ignore Gilgamesh's warning.
Stopping in his tracks, he called out toward Sakura.
"Sakura, come back here at once! Come to your father!"
Seeing Tohsaka Tokiomi's anxious display, Sakura, nestled in Guixu's arms, felt a strange sense of absurdity wash over her.
Thus, ignoring Tohsaka Tokiomi's plea, Sakura burrowed even closer into Guixu's embrace.
Seeing his daughter's attitude, Tohsaka Tokiomi shouted angrily.
"Sakura, what are you doing?"
"If you don't come back right now, I'm going to be very angry!"
As if she hadn't heard a word, Sakura remained completely unmoved.
Holding Sakura, Guixu stood up. The warm expression vanished from his face, replaced entirely by the cold detachment belonging to a divinity.
"Silence!"
A force akin to an absolute law instantly sealed Tohsaka Tokiomi's lips, rendering him completely unable to make a sound.
Meanwhile, little Sakura in Guixu's arms was not idle; she secretly notified Guixu in the chat before opening a livestream.
She wanted to share the handsome and heroic image of her Brother Guixu with everyone.
[Ding! Group member Xing has entered the livestream.]
[Ding! Group member Lumine has entered the livestream.]
[Ding! Group Leader Beautiful Girl Tiantian has entered the livestream!]
Daigo and Gudako hadn't joined in; they were likely busy with something.
[Xing: Is that really the Golden King? He's actually not looking down his nose at people?]
[Group Leader--Beautiful Girl Tiantian: Well, he is facing a supreme bigwig after all. At the very least, a two-digit bigwig is among the absolute top powerhouses in the entire Type-Moon universe. What Heroic Spirit would dare to act presumptuously in front of Guixu-dalao? Even if the Golden King has chuunibyou tendencies, he isn't stupid.]
Zhuge Tiantian watched the livestream where the Golden King acted as if facing a mortal threat, and couldn't help chiming in with a complaint in the chat.
[Lumine: Speaking of which, what level is this "two-digit" tier anyway? I know Guixu is strong, but I really don't have much concept of just how strong.]
[Group Leader--Beautiful Girl Tiantian: Well, in Little Garden, a three-digit is called omniscient and omnipotent, while a two-digit is called the Authority Domain. Since there isn't much detailed information in the original work, I feel like the two-digit tier probably converges the concepts of laws or truth into oneself—meaning one becomes the very concept of truth itself.]
[We'll have to ask Guixu-dalao about the specifics when he has time; I'm not entirely clear on it either.]
The chat's introduction to the classification of the myriad worlds was merely a brief description.
Glancing casually at the messages in the chat, Guixu didn't pay them much mind.
Instead, he looked at Gilgamesh before him and spoke.
"A Heroic Spirit? A rather curious existence indeed, but you alone cannot stop me."
Fixing his gaze on Guixu, Gilgamesh let out a cold snort but offered no retort to Guixu's words.