Genshin Impacti: This Priest is Cringe, But She's Also Unbeatable — Chapter 99

Chapter 99: They Respect the Weapon, but Spurn the Wielder

The journey to Dawn Harbor was suspiciously smooth.

Perhaps Celeste’s “Purification Concert” had been so thunderously effective that it had scared every monster and beast within a hundred-mile radius into packing their bags and moving away overnight. Whatever the reason, they didn’t encounter so much as a single, directionally challenged beast along the entire route.

Half a day later, the silhouette of a city finally broke through the endless sea of trees at the horizon.

It wasn’t a city built at the edge of the forest; it was a city that had become one with the forest itself. The architecture was a living miracle, with structures grown from the colossal roots and interlocking branches of ancient, towering trees.

This was Dawn Harbor.

Vines, pulsing with life, spiraled up walls that gleamed like white jade, blooming with tiny, star-like flowers. The city’s spires didn’t pierce the sky with harsh angles; instead, they were gracefully woven into the canopies of the great trees, appearing as natural as the leaves themselves. The air was a refreshing mix of sweet floral fragrances and the damp, clean scent of earth after a recent rain, a perfume that seemed to cleanse the very soul.

“Is this… a town straight out of a fairy tale?” Xia Lian murmured, her eyes wide and sparkling with unconcealed amazement.

Celeste had to agree, nodding to herself. The place was undeniably elegant, possessing a vitality and spiritual grace that the steel-and-stone fortresses of humanity could never hope to replicate.

However, this tranquility and harmony shattered the very moment they stepped through the city gates.

The streets of Dawn Harbor were filled with slender, handsome elves, and the entire city was bathed in a leisurely, peaceful atmosphere. But when Eldara led her squad of knights, clad in their imposing black runic heavy armor, into the city, the air on the street instantly curdled.

The gentle buzz of conversation died as if a switch had been flipped.

Elven vendors at the roadside stalls froze, their hands hovering over their wares as their gazes sharpened with undisguised wariness. Children playing in the shade of the trees were swiftly pulled behind their parents, who shielded them with their bodies and whispered urgent warnings. The children’s small faces were a mixture of confusion and fear, their eyes asking, ‘Mama, what is that? It looks so scary.’

Even the city guards, who had been standing at ease, went rigid. Their backs straightened into ramrods, and their hands instinctively found the hilts of the swords at their waists.

There was no open hostility, no attempt to drive them away. But the rejection and alienation, a deep-seated aversion that seemed to stem from their very bloodline, condensed into an invisible wall, isolating Eldara and her knights from the rest of their world.

“They… don’t seem to welcome these knights at all,” Selene whispered, leaning close to her sister’s ear.

“Yeah,” Celeste replied, her eyes scanning the surroundings, taking in every subtle detail.

She noticed that the elves’gazes toward Eldara were incredibly complex. There was fear, certainly, and a healthy dose of disgust. But beneath it all was a deep pity, the kind one reserves for a pariah—as if they were looking at a compatriot who had strayed from the path, betrayed the glory of their race, and become a source of deep, unending grief.’Oh, yikes,’Celeste ranted internally.’The way these elves are looking at Eldara is exactly like watching a Harvard valedictorian suddenly announce they’re dropping out to become a K-pop idol trainee. It’s that perfect mix of heartbroken disappointment and being too scared to intervene in case you get your ass kicked.’Eldara and her apprentices, however, had long since grown numb to such treatment. They stared straight ahead, their expressions unreadable behind their helms, ignoring the sea of gazes as they marched silently down the street. Their steps were heavy, yet each one landed with an unshakable firmness as they made their way toward the city center with a clear purpose.’Man, the Death Knight life ain’t easy,’Celeste sighed in her thoughts.’They took up a power their people can’t accept just to protect them, and in return, they get treated like monsters. Seriously, these elves are way too narrow-minded.’

In stark contrast, the four of them—Celeste and her companions, walking in the protective pocket formed by the knights—received vastly different treatment. When the elves saw the four humans, their tense expressions visibly softened, and their eyes even held a flicker of curiosity.

The long-legged twins, Celeste and Selene, drew a fair amount of whispered discussion.

“Are they humans? Guests brought back by Lady Eldara?”

“That pink-haired priestess… she has a rather unique aura.”

The faint voices drifted over on the breeze, but Celeste paid them no mind. She was far too busy critiquing the local aesthetic.

‘Jeez, every elf here, guy or girl, looks like they were popped out of the same delicate, pretty-boy mold,’she mused.’A whole city of fine porcelain dolls you’re scared to breathe on too hard.’Her gaze shifted to Eldara’s powerful, armored figure striding ahead.’But the Commander? She actually stands out among all these fragile items. She looks like she could survive a stiff breeze. Now that’s what I call a sense of security.’

The group soon arrived at the circular plaza in the heart of the city. In its center, a teleportation array constructed from polished Moonstones lay dormant, its surface covered in runes so complex they could make someone with trypophobia keel over on the spot.

“We’ve arrived.”

Eldara stopped and approached an elderly elven mage who stood guard over the array. She presented him with a token engraved with a special emblem.

The old mage’s gaze lingered on the token for a moment before he looked up. His eyes swept over Eldara, then paused on the knights behind her, who radiated an aura of evident death. His eyelids twitched, a minuscule spasm of disgust, as if he had just seen something utterly filthy.

Without a word, he gave a curt, business-like nod, turned on his heel, and began to channel mana into the array. Throughout the entire exchange, not a single word passed between him and Eldara. That deliberate, precise indifference was a silent insult, colder and sharper than any spoken word.

Watching the scene unfold, Celeste’s understanding of the deep rift within the elven race grew a little clearer.

Soon, the teleportation array began to hum, glowing with a soft white light.

“Step on,” Eldara said to the four of them.

They followed her instructions and walked onto the platform. In the next second, a powerful wave of vertigo slammed into them, and the world dissolved into billions of shimmering, incandescent fragments. The sensation was like being drop-kicked into a washing machine stuck on its highest spin cycle.

The feeling of weightlessness lasted only a few seconds.

When their vision solidified again, they were standing on an open, moon-drenched meadow. A wave of life energy, ten times richer than that of Dawn Harbor, washed over them, seeping into their very pores and leaving them feeling utterly refreshed.

And there, before them, a city of unimaginable grandeur bathed quietly in the eternal moonlight.

Silvermoon City.

It didn’t look like it had been built; it looked like a masterpiece carved from moonlight and crystal. Countless elegant arch bridges and floating islands were connected by shimmering magical pathways that crisscrossed the air like threads of captured starlight. A massive, translucent dome covered the entire city, and high above it, simulated stars and a brilliant silver moon shone in tandem, casting down an eternal, tranquil radiance.

“My God…” Selene and Xia Lian were both completely stunned, their mouths slightly agape.

Even the usually composed Su Wan had the city’s brilliant moonlight reflected in her cool eyes, her breath catching almost imperceptibly in her throat.

“Let’s go. Her Majesty the Queen is waiting for us.”

Eldara’s voice snapped them out of their daze. She led the group along a road paved with white jade, heading toward the most magnificent palace of all, which floated at the very center of the city.

Along the way, the familiar atmosphere from Dawn Harbor repeated itself. Only this time, the form it took was far more “elegant.”

The elves of Silvermoon City, whether nobles or commoners, would stop in their tracks upon seeing Eldara’s retinue. They would press their hands to their chests and bow in a salute of impeccable grace. This was respect for the strong, for the Knight Commander of their people.

But beneath that flawless respect lay a chasm of deliberately maintained distance. Their etiquette was as perfect and hollow as a stage performance. Their eyes held the awe one might have for a powerful, dangerous weapon, but they also revealed an alienation, a deep-seated refusal to be tainted by even the slightest association.

‘Oh, nice,’Celeste thought with a wry internal smirk.’We’ve leveled up from the cold shoulder to full-blown passive aggression. A smile that’s all teeth.’

Finally, the group arrived before the palace gates.

“Wait here for a moment. I will go in first to report to Her Majesty,” Eldara said to Celeste and the others.

She stepped forward alone, her armored form a stark silhouette against the gleaming palace, and entered through the magnificent doors.

The heavy gates slowly swung shut behind her.

With a final, resounding boom, the two worlds were completely separated.