Book 4: The Winds of Change
Chapter 3: The Darknight Hero
Mondstadt City, Team XDR Base
Nighttime
Ever since Acting Grand Master Jean gave Team XDR their very own base which is the hotel that used to house the Fatui diplomats, the group were able to make good use of their new base within Mondstadt City. They were able to transfer some of their facility supplies to their base and even did a few clean-ups, examples being the laboratory for alchemy, research and development; the kitchen and dining areas; and the bedrooms. When Einstein heard about their newly owned base, she immediately have new ideas prepared on how to improve upon it. Chances are, the genius scientist will be more busier than before, but will be worth the wait when the projects are ready. Right now though, Zeo, Akira and Gaius, along with Aether and Lumine, are contacting the commanders back at the Symphogear world to give their report about their mission in Teyvat before heading for bed.
"And that concludes our report." Zeo finished the report to Genjuro and Theresa on the video holo-screens using his Zikan Phone.
"Wow, that's some adventure you guys have done the moment you step foot into Teyvat." Theresa commented. "Not to mention how dangerous the Fatui can be considering the technology and magic they have."
"And the Tsaritsa's plan to steal the other Gnosis from the Archons." Genjuro added. "At least you're able to save one of them at least."
"I guess we're just lucky to notice the ambush before they could escape, not to mention locating Lumine's brother Aether a lot sooner than expected." Gaius admitted.
"Anyway, about the Anemo Gnosis we currently have, is it alright if it's stored safely within the Symphogear world to prevent it from being stolen again?" Akira requested. "Giving it back to Venti might not be a viable option considering he's the weakest of the Seven Archons."
"Permission granted, Akira-kun." Genjuro nodded. "We'll be sure to keep it in a hidden and secure area from anyone."
"Good." Akira nodded back. "That way, Venti won't get targeted again by the Fatui."
"Aether-kun, Lumine-kun." Genjuro spoke to the travelers.
"Yes, sir?"
"I hope you two are ready for the many difficult trials to come. Not only within the world of Teyvat, but also the other worlds of the multiverse."
"In addition, you're gonna start learning those elements one by one as you travel to each nation." Theresa added. "Just focus on mastering one element first until you're ready to learn the next one. And since you two have the Anemo element, that's gonna be your first step."
"Understood." Aether and Lumine nodded.
"Um, permission to speak for a moment?" Aether raised his hand.
"Go ahead." Genjuro nodded.
"No offence but, I never expected Theresa, the principal of St. Freya Academy, to look like a young child. I thought she'd be... older?"
"There's a reason for that, Aether. But that's a secret I'll never tell." Theresa replied.
"...Fair enough."
"So, anything happening back in your world, chief?" Zeo asked.
"Dr. Ciel, Dr. Fleuve, Copen-kun and Tesla-kun are working on a Dimensional Gateway for easy travel to the worlds we've already visited without the need of the Zi-O Liner or the Time Mazines." Genjuro informed. "And since you guys told us about having your very own base within Teyvat, I think this should be the perfect time to build one for your base."
"Oh, that would be really convenient for all of us." Lumine agreed. "It'll save plenty of time and resources."
"Exactly. But in order for the gateway to work, we need at least two of them built. One for the Symphogear world, and another for the other world, which is Teyvat in this case. Right now, it's under the testing phase. But when it's ready, we'll contact Einstein-kun immediately so that she can begin construction of the gateway for Teyvat."
"Got it, chief. Thanks for the heads up." Zeo noted.
"By the way, I wonder how the Abyss Order were able to control Dvalin to their will?" Theresa pondered. "There must be a leader who planned it."
"...Oh crud, I forgot to mention that important part to you guys." Aether realized with wide eyes.
"You know something about the Abyss Order, Aether?" Lumine asked. "What is it?"
"Kaeya mentioned briefly about the ones leading the Abyss Order during an intelligence briefing." Aether explained. "The ones who orchestrated the plan to control Dvalin. It was a Prince and a Princess."
"A Prince... and a Princess..." Lumine repeated.
"So the leaders of the Abyss Order are a Prince and a Princess... Interesting..." Theresa mused. "Anything else?"
"No, that's all the info I have from Kaeya." Aether shook his head.
"I see." Genjuro noted. "It may not be much information, but it's better than nothing. At least we know that the Abyss Order has two leaders, which makes them just as dangerous as the Fatui."
"Speaking of those two opposing factions, do they work together or fight each other?" Gaius asked.
"It's more on the latter since I overheard some of the Fatui diplomats hating the Abyss Order as well." Aether answered.
"I guess this means Teyvat is currently having a three-way conflict between the heroes, the Fatui, and the Abyss Order." Zeo surmised. "Man, this is gonna be a huge problem overtime."
"Should we go after one of them or both at the same time?" Akira pondered.
"I don't think we should go for either of them first until we can get some more information about them." Zeo replied. "We'll have to observe their movements for the time being and also foil their plans."
"Wise choice, Zeo-kun." Genjuro agreed with a nod. "It's better to know your enemies firsthand instead of going after them without a plan."
"Exactly." Theresa also agreed. "So, your next destination is the nation of Liyue, right?"
"Yup." Lumine nodded. "The nation of the Geo Archon, Morax. If me, my brother and Miriam touch Morax's Statue of the Seven, we should be able to gain his blessings, giving us the ability to use the Geo element."
"The other reason for going to Liyue is to witness the Rite of Descension, where Morax will descend upon Liyue Harbor to deliver his divine predictions for the rest of the year." Aether added.
"A chance to meet the Geo Archon, huh? Now that's a rare opportunity to witness." Theresa remarked.
"Geo, the earth element. I've seen plenty of movies where heroes perform earth manipulation either by magic or raw strength." Genjuro commented. "I can show you some of my favourite techniques from some movies once you've obtained the Geo element and willing to learn more."
"Or I can show you video clips of earthbending from a blind earthbender named Toph." Gaius suggested.
"Wait, blind?" Aether and Lumine repeated.
"Mhm." Gaius nodded. "She can still kick a lot of ass even when she's blind and young."
"How young is Toph?" Lumine asked.
"12." Akira answered.
"12?!" The twin travelers gawked.
"Yep."
"Now then, is there anything else you'd like to report?" Genjuro asked the group, who answered in silence and shook their heads. "Very well. Better get some sleep. We'll contact you if any new info shows up."
"Understood, chief." Zeo replied.
"Goodnight, guys. Have a good rest." Theresa said to the group before she and Genjuro ended the call with the holo-screens vanishing, prompting Zeo to put away his phone.
"So those are your commanders, huh?" Aether asked Zeo.
"Yup." Zeo replied. "Akira, Gaius and I may be the founders of the team, but Genjuro, Theresa and Prairie will act as our commanders. We're still getting used to being leaders of our team."
"I see. Either way, me and my sister will continue to support you guys on your mission." Aether assured.
"Thanks, Aether." Zeo smiled.
"I wonder what Liyue is like?" Lumine pondered with her hand on her chin.
"Well, I did get a small glimpse of the region while I was helping out Xiangling; Head Chef from the Wanmin Restaurant in Liyue." Aether mentioned.
"A Head Chef named Xiangling, huh?" Akira mused. "What was the request?"
"Helping her find ingredients for a small cooking contest in Springvale." Aether answered. "It's a small town near Mondstadt City in the southeast."
"Ah, I see."
"She can also defend herself since she's a Pyro Polearm User. Probably for hunting."
"A spear user, eh? Nice." Gaius commented.
"Anyway, about what Liyue looks like, it was breathtaking, even if it's a small glimpse." Aether commented. "Tall mountains, large lakes, rare ingredients and ores. I'm looking forward to see more on the nation of Liyue."
"Hehe, I'm sure we'll get that chance in five days time, brother." Lumine smiled with everyone else nodding.
"Well then..." Zeo yawned and stretched his hands. "Time for bed, everyone. Better get some rest for tomorrow. Gonna be doing plenty of commissions for Mondstadt until the day we head for Liyue."
"Yeah. Sleep well, you guys." Akira replied as everyone went to their own beds to get some sleep for tomorrow.
Market District
Meanwhile, Kanade (now donning her Symphogear) and Fu Hua decided to do a quick patrol around the city before heading for bed since they have some extra energy left and not feeling sleepy at the moment.
"Ah... feels good to take a nice walk around the city in the night." Kanade said with her hands behind her head while she and Fu Hua are walking.
"Well, we're only doing this to patrol the city for a short while." Fu Hua stated. "Just because the Fatui are no longer staying in Mondstadt City, doesn't mean we have to let our guard down. Also, there's the Abyss Order to worry about as well."
"I guess that's true." Kanade agreed with a nod. "The only time we fought the Abyss is during the commissions me and the others took which involve taking down the Abyss Mages that are commanding the hilichurls. But my gut tells me there's more than just those mages."
"I believe Sucrose mentioned Abyss Heralds, but never specified on what they look like." Fu Hua recalled. "We'll have to wait and see until the heralds arrive, but I do know that the word 'herald' means 'commander' or 'ambassador' from a dictionary."
"So basically, the Abyss Heralds are high ranking officers and stronger than the mages." Kanade deduced, earning a nod from Fu Hua. "Man, we need to be really prepared until the day we fight those heralds."
"Agreed."
"You know, it kinda feels weird that your voice sounds just like mine for some reason."
"Funny, I was about to say the same thing about you, Kanade. Not only that, your friend Tsubasa also has the same voice as Kallen."
"Oh yeah, that's something I forgot to mention when I heard Kallen and Tsubasa talking. Their voices really do sound similar in a way." Kanade realized before shrugging. "Huh, will wonders never cease." She then noticed Fu Hua with a serious look and stopped walking. "Hm? Something up with your ki senses, Fu Hua?"
"We've got trouble. And it's coming from the side entrance of the city." Fu Hua informed while summoning her Namiko gauntlets.
"Well, so much for peace and quiet." Kanade sighed before summoning her Armed Gear. "How did the knights not notice this? I'm filing a complaint to Master Jean about this eventually."
"Either way, let's take care of it quickly." Fu Hua replied as they quickly head for the city side entrance.
But when they arrived at the location, they were witnessing an ongoing battle with a Cryo Abyss Mage, and a man with red hair with a Pyro Vision hanging on his belt. He was dodging the Cyro waves and icicle blasts from the mage by jumping all over the place before wall running on the side. The mage unleashed a large spikey ice blast to the man, freezing him upon impact. Kanade gasped in shock and was about to step in and help, only to be stopped by Fu Hua by grabbing her shoulder and getting her attention. Fu Hua shook her head before gesturing to the frozen ice as it was quickly melted by flames until the man fire-bolted right towards the unaware mage and delivered a decisive Pyro slash with his claymore, the Favonius Greatsword, before landing on the ground while the mage was disintegrated with an explosion. The girls were in awe at the warrior who took down the mage without breaking a sweat.
Kanade whistled with amazement, earning the man's attention while dispersing his weapon. "Nice moves there, hot shot. I thought he had you there for a second."
"And you are..."
"Kanade Amou." The Attuned introduced herself before gesturing to her partner. "And this is Fu Hua. We're just doing a patrol until Fu Hua sensed an intruder. But it looks like you took care of them for us."
"Are the both of you with the knights?"
"Not really." Fu Hua shook her head. "We're just outlanders who recently have our own base thanks to Master Jean."
"A base?" The man raised an eyebrow. "Since when?"
"Just a few hours ago as a reward for foiling a Fatui ambush lead by a harbinger named Signora outside the cathedral yesterday, captured the culprits and took photos of the ambush as evidence against those damn diplomats." Kanade answered. "And we sent her flying out of the city with a crippled state for good measure."
"The Fatui were taking residence at the hotel near the Knights HQ, but after the foiled ambush yesterday, they immediately left the city, leaving us to take the hotel instead as our new base." Fu Hua added, until they saw the man chuckled in amusement. "What's so funny?"
"Now I remember." The man answered while looking at Fu Hua. "You're the one who took part in the ambush against the Fatui. I saw the whole thing from atop a windmill."
"You... saw the whole thing?" Fu Hua blinked in surprise, with Kanade feeling the same way.
"Don't worry, I'm also friends with Jean and the traveler." The man assured with his arms crossed. "My name is Diluc Ragnvindr; I took part with solving the Stormterror crisis."
"Diluc..." Fu Hua repeated before realization sets in. "Oh, you must be the one Amber mentioned yesterday. A former member of the Knights of Favonius and the owner of the Dawn Winery."
"You're a former knight?" Kanade questioned him. "What happened that made you leave the knights?"
"It's... complicated." Diluc looked away with a bit of disgust. "I don't feel comfortable talking about that."
"Oh... sorry."
"It's okay, at least you understand." Diluc assured.
"So what were you doing at this time of night?" Fu Hua asked.
"Doing my usual patrol while steering clear of the guards' patrol route." Diluc answered.
"And from what we saw earlier, it seems that the Abyss Order is involved." Fu Hua deduced with her hand on her chin. "What are they planning this time?"
"I don't know, but it seems they're performing some initial reconnaissance. Considering that I've proven myself to be one step ahead of them on countless occasions, their persistence is... unusual."
"Reconnaissance, huh?" Kanade repeated. "I'm guessing those guys are trying to find some weak spots to attack the city while their guard is down."
"That seems to be the case." Diluc replied.
"Maybe I should call in the knights about this." Kanade pondered.
"You can try, though. But in my opinion, the knights are, for the most part, an utterly incompetent bunch. I cannot trust them to take this matter over."
"I guess you have your reasons why you don't trust the knights. But are there some of them you can actually trust?" Fu Hua questioned. "I know Master Jean is one of them since you were with her during the Stormterror crisis."
"Well, I still trust Lisa since she at least puts in effort to get the job done." Diluc answered. "And I think I'm adding Amber to the list since she helped you with the ambush against the Fatui yesterday. Never thought her Baron Bunny would be the catalyst for the ambush to trigger."
"To be fair, no one would expect a dancing doll to explode right on their dumbfounded faces." Fu Hua pointed out.
"At least it worked, though." Diluc shrugged.
But before they could continue their conversation, they heard footsteps approaching until they saw a group of six hilichurls with wooden clubs marching towards the gate. "Looks like the mage brought along some back up." Kanade said with her spear ready.
"Diluc, care to join us?" Fu Hua asked while cracking her knuckles.
"No thanks. I think you two can handle them without my help." Diluc replied. "And I also need to hide from the guards. They'll be back soon."
"Oh well, more for us." Kanade shrugged. "Will we meet again though?"
"Since you're friends with the traveler Aether, maybe." Diluc smirked. "Oh, and one more thing. Do me a favor and don't tell a soul about my involvement.
"Very well, Diluc. You have our word." Fu Hua replied as she and Kanade nodded, before Diluc nodded back and ran away to hide.
"Well then, ready to get started?" Kanade said with a confident grin.
"Always ready." Fu Hua replied with a grin of her own before the two rushed towards the hilichurls.
Fu Hua made quick work with the three hilichurls, dodging the attacks before countering with a few swift palm strikes and spin kicks, and then finished them off with one large ki blast that disintegrated them to dust. As for Kanade, she dodged the attacks from the other three hillichurls before countering with an unleashed tornado from her spear that sent the creatures into the water to drown.
LAST∞METEOR
"Well, that takes care of that." Kanade declared as she rests her spear over her shoulder. "Without the Abyss Mage leading them, they're nothing but punching bags."
"At least he didn't bring along the Samachurls and the Mitachurls. That would make things complicated." Fu Hua replied.
"Hey!"
The girls turned around and saw a knight with short brown hair and blue eyes approaching them. "Greetings." The knight greeted. "I thought I heard something, so I came to check it out. Did you see anything out of the ordinary?"
"Out of the ordinary?" Kanade repeated before turning to Fu Hua who shook her head before turning back to the knight. "Nope, not much. Just me and Fu Hua sparring together for a moment just outside the gate."
"Ah, I see. Sorry to disturb, ladies." The knight apologized with a bow, before looking at Kanade. "...Interesting attire you are wearing. Where did you get those?"
"A blacksmith from another nation made these." Kanade answered with a small lie. "It's custom-made, too."
"I... see."
"Anyway, why are you out here, Mr..." Fu Hua asked.
"Huffman. Just call me Huffman. And to answer your question, I was doing my nightly patrol until I noticed the Darknight Hero lurking around this area. But I guess it turned out to be you two sparring."
"The Darknight... Hero?" Fu Hua raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, you two never heard of the rumor? The Darknight Hero appears in the middle of the night to fight evil and upholds justice."
"A vigilante hero, huh?" Kanade thought... until realization sets in. "Wait... Diluc was dealing with that Abyss Mage earlier while the knights are busy... Could that guy be the Darknight Hero?"
"By the way, while you two are sparring, did you happen to notice the Darknight Hero lurking around?" Huffman asked.
"Sorry, but no." Fu Hua shook her head. "It was only us."
"I see."
"Were you looking for him for some reason?" Kanade asked.
"Well... there's a situation to discuss about him. But only in private." Huffman replied, until he thought of an idea. "Hey, maybe you two could come by the Knights Headquarters tomorrow morning? I'll discuss the situation in more detail."
"Hmm..." Fu Hua pondered with her hand on her chin, until she made her decision. "Alright. We'll come and visit tomorrow. Maybe bring in a few of our friends to help."
"Thank you, ladies. You're doing the knights a big favour." Huffman bowed with gratitude. "Anyway, I think you two should get some sleep. It's getting late here."
"You know what..." Kanade began to yawn. "...Maybe you're right. I've done enough training for today. Right, Fu Hua?"
"Indeed." Fu Hua nodded. "We should get some rest for tomorrow. In the meantime Huffman, you and the other knights better step up on your patrol in case more intruders show up, especially the Abyss Order. Just because the Stormterror crisis has ended and the Fatui leaving the city earlier, doesn't mean we need to let our guard down."
"I'll be sure to remember that. The same goes for the other knights." Huffman noted with a nod. "Goodnight, ladies."
"See ya, Huffman!" Kanade replied with a two-finger salute while Fu Hua nodded as the two head back to their base to get some sleep for tomorrow.
The Next Day...
XDR Base, Dining Room
Daytime
"Wait, so you two met Master Diluc last night during your patrol?!" Paimon exclaimed as the group (minus Sucrose who's working at her workshop and Amber who's out doing her Outrider duties) gathered at the dining room to listen to Kanade and Fu Hua's report.
"Yep, pretty much, Paimon." Kanade confirmed. "He was dealing with an Abyss Mage trespassing at the city side gate."
"And after Diluc defeated the mage, Kanade and I had to deal with the mage's backup, but we took care of them with ease." Fu Hua added.
Chris sighed in annoyance. "Ugh. Even after the Stormterror crisis has ended, these Abyss jerks kept causing trouble."
"Well, they're not gonna stop until all of humanity are exterminated." Zeo stated.
"Anyway, the group that attacked last night were only for reconnaissance. Probably to scout for any weak openings around the city while the knights' guards are down." Fu Hua explained. "They're clever than I thought."
"Still, what are they planning this time?" Gaius pondered.
"We're not sure." Kanade shrugged. "But, we did meet up with a knight named Huffman once the hilichurls are taken down. He was looking for the illusive 'Darknight Hero'."
"The Darknight Hero?" Akira raised her eyebrow.
"Apparently it's a rumor here in Mondstadt about a mysterious hero who appears in the middle of the night, striking fear into the hearts of evildoers and upholding his own justice."
"Oh! Now that you mention it, I did hear about that rumor a few times while I was cleaning the Favonius HQ." Noelle recalled. "But I never got to see that mysterious hero in person."
"A hero who appears in the night to fight evil, huh?" Gaius mused. "Why does that sound familiar?"
"What do you mean?" Kallen asked.
"He's acting like a certain Dark Knight who's also a superhero. ...Well, technically the guy's not a superhero since he doesn't have any superpowers to begin with. Only his gadgets and his skills."
"Wait... are you talking about Batman of all people?" Zeo asked.
"The very same." Gaius nodded. "Huh, looks like Mondstadt have their very own Dark Knight protecting the city."
"Batman?" Paimon repeated. "Paimon's never heard of that hero before."
"Well, his real name is Bruce Wayne; a multi-billionaire and CEO of a company called Wayne Industries. The reason he became a hero is because of the death of his parents when he was a child. Eventually as he grows up, he became a successful business man, trained in martial arts, and became an expert when it comes to his detective skills. Plus, he made his own gadgets, such as the grappling hook. By day, he's the usual rich business man; but by night, he became the caped crusader, the dark knight, the Batman; for he is vengeance, for he is the night, striking fear into the hearts of evil."
"Whoa..." The group spoke with awe upon hearing the legendary caped crusader of the night.
"Wait, if he's called Batman, does that mean he wears dark clothing that resembled a bat?" Lumine guessed.
"Yep, got it in one." Zeo confirmed. "And he can glide with his large cape, kinda like a Wind Glider."
"Wow. Makes me wonder if the Darknight Hero would meet with Batman someday." Aether commented.
"You guys should see the many stories of Batman. It's pretty awesome." Gaius suggested.
"Hmm... maybe someday." Kiana answered. "Still, that Darknight Hero... I wonder who that person is?"
"Uhh... well..." Kanade poked her index fingers together.
"Kanade? What is it?" Tsubasa asked.
"I... actually figured out who the Darknight Hero is."
"You do, dess?!" Kirika exclaimed. "Who is it?"
"Just... do me a favour and keep this reveal a secret to us, even you, Noelle."
"We understand, Kanade." Noelle replied as she and the others nodded. "So who is it?"
Kanade took a deep breath before revealing the name. "...It was Diluc Ragnvindr."
"...EEEHHH?!" The group exclaimed at the reveal.
"Diluc's the Darknight Hero?!" Aether added.
"...I knew it." Fu Hua said with a smirk.
"Wait, you also knew who he is already?!" Kanade gawked.
"Yes, considering the description of what Huffman told us about the Darknight Hero." Fu Hua nodded. "Kanade, let me hear your answer on how you figured out Diluc is that mysterious hero."
"...Okay." Kanade replied before clearing her throat. "Well, Diluc appears in the night to deal with any threats around the city while hiding away from the knights, while the Darknight Hero appears in the night to take down evil and upholds justice. I put two and two together, and I figured it out. Diluc is the Darknight Hero."
"Hm, not a bad answer, Kanade. Same as mine." Fu Hua remarked. "Though when Zeo mentioned Bruce Wayne being a successfully rich businessman, it made me thought about something about Diluc, especially since he's the current owner of the Dawn Winery. I did read about the winery at the library two days ago, and it turns out that the winery is so successful that it effectively represents the entire wine industry in Mondstadt."
"In other words, Diluc's a very successful businessman?" Maria guessed.
"Correct. I guess you could say that Diluc is the uncrowned king of Mondstadt."
"Wow..." The group responded in awe at how Diluc has a very successful business in the wine industry.
"Paimon and I did see what the Dawn Winery looks like during the Stormterror crisis." Aether said. "It's located in the south-western area of the Mondstadt region. It's a very large two-storey mansion along with a lot of vineyards, storage sheds, and some small buildings."
"Yeah, Diluc's pretty rich considering he owned those for his wine business." Paimon added.
"Well damn." Gaius commented before turning to Aether. "And you were able to fight alongside a hero like him. Lucky bastard."
"Hehe." Aether chuckled while rubbing the back of his head.
"Anyway, Kanade and I need to head for the Favonius HQ to see Huffman. There's some kind of situation involving the Darknight Hero." Fu Hua said. "You guys are welcome to come along with us, but only a small group since it's a private discussion."
"Very well." Zeo nodded. "Myself, Gaius, Aether, Lumine and Paimon will go with you. The others can do whatever they want. Sis, you're in charge until further notice."
"You got it, Zeo." Akira nodded.
"Woz, you'd better help out Akira as an assistant." Gaius said.
"Understood, Gaius Cornell." Woz replied.
"Alright!" Kanade clasped her hands. "Time to pay Huffman a visit."
Outside the Knights of Favonius HQ
"Yo, Huffman!" Kanade greeted the knight with the others following behind her.
"Ah, the two ladies from yesterday! Thank you for coming." Huffman greeted back as he remembered the ones from yesterday. And then he noticed two familiar faces. "Wait... are you Aether the Honorary Knight and his companion Paimon?"
"Yup, that's us." Aether nodded.
"Kanade and Fu Hua filled us in on the situation and requested our help." Paimon added.
"I see. Help from the Honorary Knight would be most grateful." Huffman noted before noticing the newcomers. "And who are these three?"
"This is my sister, Lumine. And these are her friends, Zeo and Gaius." Aether introduced to them.
"Wait." Huffman blinked before looking at the female traveler. "This girl is your sister?"
"You did remember those missing posters Amber posted before, right?" Lumine mentioned.
"...Oh yeah! Now I remember!" Huffman realized. "That explains the similar picture to your face. Aether, how were you able to find her?"
"Actually, Lumine found him instead, though it's a really long story." Paimon answered.
"Anyway, let's get straight to the point, Huffman." Zeo said. "You said that you were discussing about the Darknight Hero's situation. Could you tell us what it is?"
"It's because of this." Huffman took out a note and gave it to Fu Hua with the others also looking at the note. "Have a look."
To the "Darknight Hero"
...has endured too long your self-proclaimed ... and hypocrisy. We hereby ... you: We shall ... march full-on onto Mondstadt's front gate at ... If you wish to cling to your so-called justice, don't sit idly by ..., step up and accept ... Otherwise, Mondstadt's ... shall take the fall in your stead.
"Geez... what horrible handwriting!" Paimon commented.
"Hmm... looks like the note has some gibberish that I can't understand." Zeo remarked.
"I don't think I can translate this kind of language." Fu Hua added.
"I can understand that." Huffman replied. "Although this is written in the common tongue, it appears that a cipher has been used in many places. Nevertheless, one can grasp the general message from the non-ciphered portions alone... This is a war declaration from the Abyss Order to the Darknight Hero."
"Looks like the Abyss has had enough of the Darknight Hero's actions that they want him to stop or face the consequences." Kanade deduced.
"Something like that. Thus, we are hoping to contact him as soon as possible so that we can attempt to coordinate a response. After all, this matter no longer concerns merely the Darknight Hero himself. It impacts the entire city of Mondstadt."
"Thanks for the information, Huffman." Aether said.
"We'll be sure to keep it in mind." Lumine added.
"You're welcome." Huffman nodded. "You're free to keep the note to give it to the Darknight Hero if you're able to locate him. And if you find out anything at all, come and find me."
"Understood, Huffman." Fu Hua replied while putting away the note into her pocket. "Thank you for your help."
Once the discussion is over, the group head for a nearby bench to sit down and surmise the info they have learned. "So, a war declaration from the Abyss Order, huh?" Zeo mused. "This is going to be a huge problem since innocent people are gonna be involved."
"We'd better tell Master Diluc about it, right away!" Paimon said.
"Is he at Angel's Share at the moment?" Gaius asked.
"Paimon doesn't think so since Charles is taking over as the bartender instead of Diluc."
"We'll head for the Dawn Winery instead." Aether stated. "Paimon and I know where it is, so we'll take the lead."
"Got it. We'll be right behind you." Lumine replied before the group began to leave the city.
Dawn Winery
After a long flight with their Wind Gliders, the group arrived at the large two-storey mansion and went inside, where they saw Diluc taking to one of the maids. He noticed their arrival before telling the maid to leave to her duties. "Kanade, Fu Hua, Aether and Paimon. I was expecting your arrival sooner or later." Diluc greeted the familiar faces.
"So you knew we were coming, huh?" Fu Hua replied. "You're quite perceptive, Diluc."
"I'll take that as a compliment." Diluc replied back with his arms crossed before noticing the newcomers. "And these are your friends?"
"Yup." Aether nodded. "This is my sister, Lumine, and her friends, Zeo and Gaius."
"I know you." Diluc looked at the female traveler. "You're the one who sent that Harbinger flying out of Mondstadt, correct?"
"And you're the one who saw the whole ambush from atop a windmill." Lumine replied. "We never expected someone else watching from afar."
"I have my reasons." Diluc smirked. "Not only that, you're also that missing sibling from those posters Amber posted around the walls on the city. I never expected the missing person to show up out of nowhere, brought along some friends, and assisted Aether with an ambush of your own against the Fatui."
"I have my reasons." Lumine smirked back. "Oh, and as for the ambush, it was Zeo's idea."
"I see." Diluc noted before staring at Zeo. "That was some ambush you and the others planned. I'm impressed."
"Well it wouldn't have been possible without Amber's help with her Baron Bunny." Zeo stated. "We needed something to distract the Fatui before performing our ambush."
"And it worked as well as you'd hoped, even if the method of doing so is questionable."
"When in doubt, improvise." Gaius shrugged.
"Anyway Diluc, there's something we need to tell you." Kanade said.
"Let me guess... you're about to inform me of the war declaration from the Abyss Order?" Diluc guessed, which surprised the group.
"Eh?! How did-"
"I am aware of it. Though I appreciate you for taking the trouble to come all this way. The Dawn Winery's intelligence network extends beyond commercial matters."
"So you were part of some kind of underground network or something?" Zeo guessed.
"You could say that." Diluc replied.
"So what's the plan, Master Diluc?" Paimon asked.
"I'm open for suggestions..."
"Hmm..." Fu Hua pondered with her hand on her chin. "Well, asking Diluc to join forces with the knights would be out of the question due to some kind of history between them."
"Correct." Diluc nodded. "In addition, joining forces with them would be playing right into the hands of the Abyss Order. They know full well that we don't exactly see eye to eye. They're using this as a means to force me into making an appearance. If my identity were exposed, all my future activities would be subject to some degree of interference from the Knights. After all, no powerful organization wishes to be outdone by someone from the outside."
"Yeah... definitely not a good idea to ask for their help since those Abyss jerks are gonna use that to expose your identity." Kanade agreed. "And I don't think the knights can handle this problem on their own."
"You're also correct." Diluc nodded. "Had they been worthy of this task to begin with, things would never have escalated to this point. In any case, circumstances are not dire enough to warrant me going into hiding and leaving the knights to deal with the consequences."
"Kiana's right. Maybe we should bring over Principal Theresa to fix the formation of the Knights of Favonius with proper leadership and planning." Fu Hua thought. "Master Jean can only do so much alone and will overexert herself to the point of collapsing."
"The Abyss Order has really dealt you a tough hand this time, Master Diluc. What a sneaky little bunch those guys are!" Paimon frowned.
"There is a way, though." Diluc said. "But for it to work, I need some more information. Specifically, I need to decipher the obscured portions of the Abyss Order's war declaration."
"You mean those gibberish parts of the note, right?" Gaius guessed, earning a nod from Diluc.
"It must be a cipher only understood by members of the Abyss Order, used to spread messages within the organization."
"Why would they send you a written message that only they can read?" Aether questioned.
"And if they knew we can't read it, why did they write it in the first place?" Lumine added.
"It's not simply a war declaration, but also a notification to their own." Diluc answered. "When you take a stand that makes you a hero to one party, you also become a villain to the other. And since I've been the Abyss Order's enemy for so long, they've made me the target around which they can rally their troops and unite their strength."
"Unite their strength to take you down, huh?" Zeo remarked. "Being a hero really does include a lot of brainpower."
"I understand my enemy well is all. As the saying goes, heroes and villains are two sides of the same coin."
"So true." Zeo agreed with a nod.
"I guess the only way to understand the note, is to ask the sender himself." Fu Hua stated.
"In other words, we're gonna pay a visit to the Abyss Order." Kanade added with a small grin and cracking her knuckles.
"Exactly." Diluc nodded. "When you don't understand something, you ask. I've already tracked down one of their strongholds. If you're interested, feel free to come along."
"Oh don't worry, we can handle ourselves in a fight." Zeo assured with a confident smirk. "Lead the way, Master Diluc. We'll be right behind you."
"Good answer." Diluc smirked back. "Follow me." Afterwards, Diluc left the mansion with the group following right behind him.
A few moments later, they arrived at a large stone door with a blue symbol on the top and another on the center. "This is the place." Diluc informed the group. "Abandoned ruins like these are precisely the kind of place the Abyss Order likes to camp out. Come on. There's no time to lose."
"Actually, could you give them a moment for Kanade, Zeo and Gaius to prepare themselves?" Aether requested.
"You'll understand why. Trust us." Lumine added.
Diluc raised an eyebrow with curiosity, before accepting with a nod. Zeo, Gaius and Kanade took a few steps away from the group and quickly performed their transformation sequences.
=ZIKU DRIVER!=
=ZI-O!=
=GEIZ!=
"Henshin!"
=RIDER TIME!=
=KAMEN RIDER! ZI-O!=
=KAMEN RIDER GEIZ!=
"Croitzal ronzell Gungnir zizzl..."
A few moments later, Zeo and Gaius became Kamen Rider Zi-O and Geiz, while Kanade donned her Symphogear armor with her Armed Gear in hand. This made Diluc feel shocked with wide eyes after seeing their transformations. "...I did not expect that." Diluc remarked. "Who are you guys?"
"Oh, they're just a passing through Rebellion. That's all you need to know." Paimon answered with a smile.
"Hey, I was gonna say that!" Zi-O retorted, making Geiz facepalm.
"The Abyss Order are about to have a rude awakening. Team XDR is not just for show." Kanade proclaimed with a confident grin.
"Team XDR, huh? So that's the name of your group." Diluc noted.
"Zi-O, Geiz, Kanade, Fu Hua, sis, is this your first time entering a domain like this before?" Aether asked.
"Yup, considering we've been doing commissions that doesn't involve domains." Lumine replied.
"Better stay together to avoid getting lost." Paimon cautioned.
"Got it, Paimon. Now let's move."
The domain doors opened up, revealing a portal as the group went inside before the doors closed.
Abyss Order Stronghold
During their trek deep within the stronghold to look for the Abyss Mage, they encountered plenty of slimes and hilichurls, led by a few samachurls and mitachurls, while also solving puzzles along the way. Diluc was impressed at how the group used their weapons and abilities to deal with the monsters. Not only that, the traveling twins knew a few more sword and Anemo abilities thanks to Team XDR's training methods. Eventually, they reached the end of the stronghold where they encountered a Hydro Abyss Mage named Landrich, who was surprised in shock at the arrival of the heroes.
"Wha?! How did you find me here!? Favonian scum!" Landrich exclaimed.
"We're not the Knights of Favonius. We're just a passing though Rebellion." Diluc replied with narrowed eyes. "Now, start talking! Your plan, what is it?"
"I see you received our letter..." Landrich noted before floating and summoning his Hydro shield with his staff, and then summoned more Hydro and Cryo Slimes, prompting the heroes to prepare their weapons. "But if you think I'm going to let you in on our secrets, I'm afraid you're quite mistaken!"
"Heh." Geiz smirked. "You appear to have misunderstood the situation you are in."
"Guess we'll have to take you and your slimes down first, Abyss Mage." Fu Hua said while cracking her knuckles.
"Kanade, music please?" Zi-O requested.
"Gladly!" Kanade replied before singing her song.
"Wait, what?" Diluc responded.
(Play BGM: Kimi to Iu Oto Kanade Tsukiru Made by Kanade Amou)
"What the- where did this music come from?!" Landrich questioned before shaking his head. "Never mind that! Attack, my slimes!" He ordered his horde while launching Hydro blasts from his staff with the Hydro and Cryo Slimes provided support fire with their water and ice blasts respectively.
"Aether, block the water attacks! Lumine, redirect the ice attacks onto the Hydro Slimes so that we can smash them to pieces!" Zi-O ordered.
"Right!" The travelers complied as Aether went in front of the group and protected them and himself with an Anemo shield. As for Lumine, she used her Anemo powers to stop the ice attacks from reaching the shield and redirected them towards the group of Hydro Slimes, freezing them instantly.
"What?!" Landrich exclaimed, witnessing his Hydro Slimes being frozen.
"Kanade, Fu Hua, you're up!" Geiz ordered.
"You up for a double quake, Fu Hua?" Kanade asked while raising her spear.
"Yeah, let's do it!" Fu Hua nodded as she energized her right fist with ki while Kanade energized her Armed Gear. And at the same time, Fu Hua and Kanade slammed the ground with their fist/spear, unleashing a forward quake onto the frozen Hydro Slimes and crushed them to pieces upon impact.
SATURN∞BREAK
"Time to turn up the heat, Diluc!" Zi-O said as he inserted the Ryuki Ridewatch onto his Zikan Gilade while Geiz inserted the Wizard Ridewatch onto his Zikan Zax, igniting their weapons with fire. Afterwards, the three rushed towards the group of Cryo Slimes while dodging the ice blasts with quick side-steps. And when they got close, the Riders eliminated the smaller slimes with several burning swings of their weapons while Diluc attacked the larger slime with a flaming overhead slash, a horizontal slash, and then finished with a rolling slash that incinerated the large slime to dust, rendering the Cryo Slime's ice armour useless. That attack sequence was Diluc's Searing Onslaught skill.
"Grr...!" Landrich growled in annoyance that his slime group were easily defeated until he saw Zi-O quickly approaching him and about to attack. In response, he teleported away while leaving behind a large bubble which made Zi-O gasp in shock as he was trapped inside upon contact.
"Zi-O!" Paimon yelled.
"Hold on! I can break myself out of this!" Zi-O assured, igniting his weapon once more and slashed the bubble, making it pop which freed himself and landed on the ground safely. "I hate it when those Hydro Mages do that. Gacking bubbles..."
"Did the mage escape the area?" Lumine asked.
"No. I can still feel his presence around here." Fu Hua replied while keeping her guard up. "But I'm not sure when he'll reappear to attack us."
"Should we attack him when he appears again?" Aether asked.
Geiz however looked around the room and saw that there's a pair of small pools of water before looking at his Zikan Zax with a fiery glow on the blade. After a moment of pondering, he had an idea. "Hey guys, instead of waiting for the mage to show up for us to attack, how about we perform an ambush on our own?"
"And how exactly are we gonna do that?" Kanade asked.
"We'll make our own mist. But I'll need Zi-O and Diluc's help to pull it off."
"It's because of our weapons having Pyro on it? If I recall, mist is created when fire is mixed with water." Diluc guessed.
"Bingo." Geiz nodded.
"Alright, we'll go with that idea." Zi-O approved. "Aether, Lumine, prepare to use your Elemental Sight to locate the mage during the mist and then counterattack. Kanade, go with them for support."
"Got it!" The three nodded.
"And what about me?" Fu Hua asked.
"You'll assist us with delivering the final blow." Zi-O replied.
"Understood." Fu Hua nodded.
"Okay, places everyone! And Paimon, you might wanna take cover."
"O-Oh! Right! Paimon doesn't want to get caught in the crossfire." Paimon complied before vanishing with a quick spin while the others took positions, most notably the Riders standing on one pool while Diluc stood on the other one.
Once in position, the Riders and Diluc ignited their weapons once more and planted them onto the pools of water, causing large amounts of mist to appear due to the intense heat. When Landrich appeared to attack the group, he stuttered in shock at the mist appearing out of nowhere, blocking his vision and unable to get a clear shot. "What the- where did this fog come from?! Where did they go?!" He exclaimed as he tried to launch his water blasts all over the place, hoping to hit someone.
Unknown to the Hydro Mage however, the travelers were able to detect him inside the mist thanks to their Elemental Sight. Kanade is also right in between of the twins. Seeing their opening, Kanade, Aether and Lumine rushed towards the unaware mage and lunged their weapons right onto the mage, striking his shield upon contact and gained his shocked attention. "W-where did you come from?!" Landrich exclaimed. "No matter, you'll never break my shield so easily!"
"Who says it's our weapons you should worry about?" Kanade grinned. "Aether, Lumine, now!"
In response, Kanade, Aether and Lumine turned their weapons sideways, making them glow and unleashed a triple cyclone that began to form cracks on the shield until it was broken, sending the mage flying while also dropping his staff.
STAB∞METEOR
"All yours, guys!" Kanade yelled.
Diluc complied by igniting his claymore and unleashed a powerful phoenix onto the defenceless mage while Fu Hua and the Riders quickly rushed towards the phoenix with the latter two dispersing their weapons and prepared their finisher sequences.
=FINISH TIME!=
Then the three leaped towards the phoenix and lunged their charged glowing foot forward, turning it into a charged flying fire kick.
=TIME BREAK/BURST!=
"SEIYAAA!" The three yelled at the combined attack connected onto the mage's chest and pierced through until they landed behind the mage while he exploded and fell to the ground defeated.
(BGM End)
"Well, that takes care of that." Kanade declared as she noticed the mage's staff, picked it up, broke it in half and threw it away.
"That was some plan you both thought out. Well played." Diluc praised the Riders as the group dispersed their weapons and Paimon appeared next to the twin travelers.
"Heh, no big. Had to use the environment to our advantage." Zi-O replied before the group turned to the defeated Landrich who weakly stood up without his staff to use any Hydro magic.
"Now then, I believe you owe us an answer to our question, Abyss Mage." Fu Hua demanded. "What was written in the letter you sent to the Darknight Hero?"
"I... will never... tell you... anything...!" Landrich refused.
"Seriously?! After the beatdown given to you?!" Paimon exclaimed.
"I think we need to beat him down a little more." Lumine suggested.
"Diluc, care to burn him with your Searing Hand?" Aether requested.
"Gladly." Diluc complied as he raised his hand towards the mage, but was stopped by Geiz who raised his hand. "Hm?"
"Actually, let me handle this. I know how to break through tough guys like him." Geiz said as he slowly approached the mage, picked him up with a chokehold, slammed him into the ground while his hand is still on the mage's neck, and began to whisper something onto his ear. "(Now you listen very carefully, you stubborn little prick. If you don't tell us what the Abyss Order is planning, I'm gonna do something worse than Diluc burning you to cinders.)"
"(L-Like what?!)"
"(Well...)" Geiz began to whisper something unspeakably horrifying that made Landrich shiver with absolute fear.
"(Ok! OK! I'll talk! I beg you not to do THAT to me!)"
"(Then say it to my face.)"
"(10pm tonight! The Abyss Order will attack Mondstadt City's front gate with an army! That's what the letter says for our plan! It's the truth! I swear!)" Landrich informed with panic in his voice.
"(Hmm...)" Geiz glared at the shivering mage for a few moments, until he made his decision and released him. "(Ok, I'll believe your words for the time being. Now get the hell out of my sight before I change my mind. And you'd better pray to your Abyss lords that you don't run into me again. Or else...)"
"(Y-Yes sir! You'll never ever see me again!)" Landrich complied before quickly running away from the Rider and the group with absolute fear.
"So uh... what did you say to the Abyss Mage that made him really scared?" Paimon cautiously asked.
"...I think it's best if you don't know about it. It'll probably scar you for life." Fu Hua advised, making Paimon gulp in response.
"N-noted..."
"Anyway, did you get the information we're looking for?" Diluc asked the red Rider.
"Yep." Geiz confirmed. "10pm tonight, the Abyss Order will send in an army to attack Mondstadt City from the front gate."
"A frontal assault, huh?" Fu Hua noted with her hand on her chin. "I wonder how big the army will be?"
"We'll figure out how to deal with them later. For now, let's get out of here since we have the info. I need to head back to the winery to begin my preparations." Diluc stated as a blue teleport beacon and a gold treasure chest appeared before the group.
"Oooh! Treasure chest!" Paimon beamed at the chest. "Someone open it up and see what's inside!"
"How about you do it this time, sis?" Aether suggested.
"Alright." Lumine complied, approaching the chest, opened it and took out the contents inside. "Enhancement Crystals, artifacts and... hold on, what's this?" She took a deeper look inside the chest and took out a green and white bow.
"The Viridescent Hunt?" Diluc recognized the bow Lumine found. "I never expected a rare bow like that to be inside that chest."
"You know what that bow is, Diluc?" Zi-O asked.
"That bow has a chance to generate a small cyclone field when fired, pulling enemies inside while taking damage. It's perfect for handling groups of enemies at once." Diluc explained.
"Now that sounds useful." Kanade mused. "Well, enjoy your new bow, Lumine."
"Eh?! It's mine?!" Lumine questioned.
"Well yeah. When it comes to treasure, finders keepers. Plus, you could use that to deal with faraway and flying targets." Kanade pointed out.
"She's right." Aether agreed, before summoning a bow of his own with a white and silver color scheme. "Having a bow can be useful in some situations."
"Whoa! You never told me that you have your own bow." Lumine responded in shock.
"It was a gift from Amber after I returned from Stormterror's Lair and met up with her a few days ago, which is the same day you and the others arrived in Mondstadt City. My bow is called the Favonius Warbow, the same one Amber uses." Aether explained before dispersing his bow.
"So that's what that bow is called. I recall seeing Amber using that bow... on us." Fu Hua recalled.
"She thought you were intruders, right?" Diluc guessed with his arms crossed.
"It was our first meeting with the Outrider, so it's only natural for her to be cautious." Fu Hua replied. "Good thing no one was hurt."
"I was not with them during that meeting, by the way." Kanade pointed out.
"Anyway, better start training with that bow, Lumine. Maybe ask Chris or Amber for some archery lessons." Zi-O advised.
"You can also ask me or Akira since we're good with bows." Geiz added.
"I think I will." Lumine nodded before dispersing her new bow. "Now then..." She turned to the teleport beacon. "I take it that beacon will teleport us back to the entrance of the domain?"
"Yup!" Paimon confirmed with a nod. "That usually happens when reaching the end of the domain and defeated the Boss monster."
"Time to get moving. Our work here is done." Diluc declared as everyone head for the beacon and vanished, sending them back to the entrance of the domain.
A few moments later, the group appeared outside of the domain entrance doors in a blue flash. "So, what next?" Kanade asked the group.
"Diluc has to go back to the winery to begin his preparations, remember?" Geiz reminded.
"Ah, right. I guess this means we'll head back to Mondstadt City for our own preparations against the Abyss Order later tonight."
"While you're there, could you do me a favour and keep me updated on how the Knights of Favonius respond to this matter?" Diluc requested.
"Understood, Diluc." Fu Hua noted.
"Actually..." Zi-O interjected with a raised finger and turned to Fu Hua and Kanade. "You two will head back to the city instead. The rest of us will go with Diluc."
"You guys wanted to come with me?" Diluc questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Do you have a reason why?"
"Well... I've decided to reveal Team XDR's secret motives to you."
"What?!" The group exclaimed at Zi-O's choice.
"Hold on... are you planning to add Master Diluc as an honorary member of the team?!" Paimon gasped.
"Depends if he wants to or not." Zi-O replied. "But not until he hears our secret first, if you don't mind, Diluc."
"Hmm... to be honest, I was a bit curious of where you outlanders are from." Diluc admitted. "I already knew Aether is an outlander since he can use Anemo without the need of a Vision."
"I see."
"But, I can tell you guys are more trustworthy than most of the Knights."
"We can only share our secret to people we can trust." Geiz stated. "So far, Amber and Master Jean know about it."
"You told Jean about Team XDR's secrets? Huh, didn't expect that." Diluc remarked.
"She's a trustworthy ally, so she deserves to know our secret." Zi-O stated.
"Fair enough. She's one of the few Knights that I can still respect considering she's a very hard worker. As for Amber, why did you pick her to know your secret?"
"Consider it a favour for helping my brother during his stay in Mondstadt, and for putting up posters with my face on it in case I was found." Lumine answered. "And besides, I think she deserves to see the world beyond Mondstadt."
"I see, that's understandable." Diluc noted with a nod.
"Yep." Aether nodded back. "Amber is very dependable, which is why she's now part of the team as an honorary member."
"Okay, I think Kanade and I should head back to the city and see how the Knights are doing." Fu Hua said.
"We'll let you guys know what we've learned later on!" Kanade added with a two-finger salute while she and Fu Hua took out their Wind Gliders.
"By the way, Kanade." Diluc asked.
"Yeah?"
"You have a good singing voice." Diluc smiled. "Maybe let Barbara hear your song next time."
"Maybe someday." Kanade smiled back. "Well, see ya!" Afterwards, Kanade and Fu Hua flew off towards the direction of Mondstadt City.
"Now then, shall we head back to the Dawn Winery to talk?" Diluc asked the others.
"Mhm." Zi-O nodded. "We'll follow your lead, Darknight Hero."
"Please don't call me that." Diluc sighed as he began walking back towards the direction of the winery with the group following behind.
"Why not? It's a cool title!"
"Paimon agrees with Zi-O! Kind of like the name, Kamen Rider!"
"...It's a stupid title, in my opinion. And what's a Kamen Rider anyway?"
"Well... you see..." Geiz began to explain.
Mondstadt City, Market District
Meanwhile, Fu Hua and Kanade returned to the city and began heading for the Knights of Favonius HQ to learn any new information about the Darknight Hero crisis, but not before running into a few of their friends.
"Kanade-san! Fu Hua-san!" Hibiki greeted with a wave, alongside Miku, Tsubasa, Kiana and Kallen, with the Gear Users in their casual clothes.
"Hey, little kouhai! Everyone!" Kanade greeted back with a grin. "So, what are you girls up to?"
"Just finished a commission involving a horde of Whopperflowers attacking a merchant supply route." Kiana answered. "Boy are those things annoying, especially the Pyro ones."
"Still, we were able to defeat them while protecting the supplies. And we even got plenty of nectars upon defeating those flowers." Kallen added.
"I'm guessing you'll be giving those to Elfnein, Miriam and Sucrose for alchemy materials?" Fu Hua guessed.
"Already gave the materials to them just now, Fu Hua." Tsubasa answered.
"Anyway..." Hibiki looked left and right before whispering to Kanade and Fu Hua's ear while the others closed in to listen. "(How's the situation with the Darknight Hero going along?)"
"(There's going to be an attack from the Abyss Order later tonight at 10pm from the city's front gate.)" Fu Hua informed silently.
"(We're able to get that info after interrogating an Abyss Mage at an Abyss stronghold.)" Kanade added.
"(An attack on Mondstadt tonight?!)" Miku gasped, with the others feeling the same way. "(What should we do?)"
"(We'll have to lay low for the time being.)" Fu Hua advised. "(Kanade and I are going to see how the Knights respond to the matter. After that, we'll wait and see what's our next course of action.)"
"(And something tells me that we're gonna need the others to deal with the Abyss since it's an army.)" Kanade added.
"(Got it.)" Kiana nodded with the others also nodding. "(Let us know when the time comes, okay?)"
"(And don't be afraid to call us for help if the situation becomes worse.)" Tsubasa added.
"(We will.)" Fu Hua replied as she and Kanade nodded. "(Right then, see you later.)" Afterwards, Fu Hua and Kanade continued to head for the Favonius HQ while the others head back to Team XDR Base to eat and rest.
Outside the Favonius HQ
Huffman sighed while pondering with his hand on his chin. "If we do not make contact with the Darknight Hero soon..."
"Hey, Huffman. What's up?" Kanade greeted with Fu Hua right beside her.
"Anything we need to do about the Abyss Order's challenge?" Fu Hua added.
"Ah, it's you two." Huffman noticed the arrivals. "I must admit, this issue of the Darknight Hero is proving to be something of a headache. We've just held a meeting to decide on an appropriate course of action. Can you guess what it is?"
"Wait and see what happens next?" Kanade guessed.
"No." Huffman shook his head. "The Knights cannot afford to simply stand by and watch while there is even the slightest inkling of a threat facing Mondstadt. If that were the case, more and more people would start to rely on the Darknight Hero instead of the Knights of Favonius."
"I see." Fu Hua noted. "I guess asking the Darknight Hero to join forces with the Knights is out of the question either."
"No." Huffman shook his head again. "That would send a signal that the Knights are in favor of the Darknight Hero's continued presence in our city... which we are not. Encouraging this kind of individual heroism undermines the Knights' authority."
"Okay, so what is the plan then?" Kanade asked.
"Find out the Darknight's Hero true identity, and offer him our protection."
"Asking him for your protection?" Kanade questioned. "I'm pretty sure he can do just fine without any help from the Knights."
"Pff..." Huffman stifled a chuckle. "Well, since you two are friends with the Honorary Knight, I might as well tell you why. The offer of protection is just a ruse, in order for the Knights of Favonius to take over full, and exclusive, responsibility for this matter."
"You're not going to allow the Darknight Hero to perform his vigilante duties?" Fu Hua guessed.
"Firstly, to show the might of the Knights of Favonius, to prove to the people that without the Darknight Hero, they can still rely on the Knights to maintain peace and harmony." Huffman explained. "Secondly, the Abyss Order have no mercy in their hearts. If anything happened to the Darknight Hero... it would only serve to further their nefarious ambitions."
"I see..." Fu Hua noted with her hand on her chin. "I never expected the life of a knight involved so much untold anguish before."
"Yeah, me either." Kanade agreed.
"But none of this will work if we don't establish the Darknight Hero's true identity in time." Huffman stated.
"There's no need to despair, Huffman. Just follow my plan and everything will be fine."
"Ah, Captain Kaeya!" Huffman greeted the arriving Calvary Captain of the Knights of Favonius, Kaeya Alberich.
Kaeya has tanned skin and navy-blue hair with streaks of lighter blue, accompanied by a long lock of hair resting over his left shoulder, cascading down to his waist. His bangs are trimmed in a lengthy fringe covering the right side of his face and almost hides a plain black eyepatch, while his visible navy-blue eye is sharp and slanted, periwinkle with long eyelashes and a diamond-shaped pupil. His outfit consists of a white-collared, cleavage-revealing blouse with forearm-length sleeves that have dark blue folded cuffs. Above that, he wears a light blue vest/ jacket, and a cape adorned with a fur collar. He also wears dark, tight-fitted trousers and knee-length boots. His accessories consists of fingerless gloves with spikes on the wrists and marked with the same diamond shape as his eyes; a loose brown belt from which his Cryo Vision hangs, as well as a rope which is meant for a scabbard to carry his sword; and lastly a single earring on his left ear, which has some kind of blue gem on a metal frame shaped like a teardrop with a spike at the bottom. The same gems are found hanging off of two straps at his ankles.
"(That's Kaeya? The one who gave Aether the intel about the Abyss Order?)" Kanade whispered to Fu Hua.
"(That's him. The Calvary Captain of the Knights of Favonius.)" Fu Hua silently replied, remembering the conversation from Aether to the group a few hours ago. "(Me and the others met him while escorting the frozen Fatui to jail two nights ago.)
"(Ah, right. Got it.)" Kanade noted, before blinking when Kaeya mentioned something. "(Wait... plan?)"
"Lately, Master Diluc has been working the bar at the Angel's Share every night." Kaeya stated to the knight. "All I need you to do is keep him in your sight. Think you can manage that for me?"
"Yes, Captain Kaeya!" Huffman nodded. "...But, does that mean that... Master Diluc is the Darknight Hero?"
"...Oh crap." Kanade and Fu Hua thought in shock.
"Who knows...?" Kaeya shrugged. "It's just a hunch. I've been known to be wrong on occasion." He was about to leave, until he noticed the two ladies. "Ah, Fu Hua. Nice to see you again."
"Captain Kaeya." Fu Hua acknowledged.
"And who's this beautiful woman right next to you?"
"Kanade Amou. And before you ask, no, I'm not from Inazuma. I'm an Outlander, just like Aether."
"Kanade, huh? An interesting name." Kaeya noted. "Care to have a small chat with me if you're free?"
"Thanks, but, no thanks. I've got a commission to deal with alongside Fu Hua, so I'll be pretty busy."
"Hm, well that's a shame. Still, if you change your mind, come and find me." Kaeya replied before walking away.
"We'll be heading off then, Huffman." Fu Hua said.
"Alright, thank you for your time." Huffman replied, watching the two ladies leave.
"(Well... this is bad. How the heck did Kaeya figure out the Darknight Hero's identity?)" Kanade whispered.
"(We'd better find a hiding place and contact Zeo and the others immediately. They're not gonna like this.)" Fu Hua silently replied.
"(Yeah. Hope they have a way to counteract this...)"
Dawn Winery, Diluc's Office
"And that's what we've been doing so far and why Team XDR was formed." Zi-O finished explaining to Diluc, sitting on his chair, about the events that happened so far, which made him completely speechless.
"Wow... just wow..." Diluc remarked. "Usually I'd call it a fairy tale dream, but considering the sudden disappearance of Noelle and Sucrose because of that Dimensional Quake, it does make sense."
"Yeah, I can understand your reason why our story is kind of unbelievable." Geiz replied. "But it's the truth."
"And sorry for not telling you about me and my sister being dimensional travelers." Aether apologized.
"That explains why you and your sister are able to control Anemo without the need of a Vision." Diluc noted. "And you all are not the type of people to lie. The Gjallarhorn Fragments and the Neo Time Jackers, huh? To think there are more annoyances besides the Fatui and the Abyss Order."
"It would be a lot worse if the Time Jackers recruited the Abyss or the Fatui to their side." Lumine stated.
"Or?" Diluc repeated with a raised eyebrow. "Oh, right. Forgot that the Abyss and the Fatui hate each other. It's impossible for them to work together, so the Time Jackers will have to pick a side."
"Possibly the group with the most potential and not straightforward." Zi-O guessed. "That's how they recruited the Bavarian Illuminati alchemist remnants to their side."
"I see."
"You know, I was wondering if we can help you out with the Fatui and Abyss problem since you're part of an underground network, allowing you to see any hidden strongholds not even the Adventurers Guild nor the Knights of Favonius could detect." Geiz requested. "And since Team XDR is not part of any guild or organization in Teyvat, we might be able to make our moves without needing help from the Guild and the Knights."
"Hmm..." Diluc pondered with his hand on his chin. "Well, I did see how strong your team is considering you ambushed Signora and her subordinates two nights ago, and how you recently took down the Abyss stronghold with my assistance. You have a lot more members besides the ones you brought along to this world, right?"
"Yup!" Paimon nodded. "A whole lot more after what Zeo, Gaius and Akira told Paimon and Aether two nights ago."
"But we can't bring in too much of our members since some of them need to stay and protect from any unexpected threats." Lumine added.
"Also, we need to be careful since some of our members have advanced technology that's superior to Teyvat." Aether also added. "If the Fatui or the Abyss took notice of this..."
"They might try to copy or steal that tech and use it against you." Diluc finished with a frown. "I understand."
"Yeah. Like I said, we can only share our secret to people we can really trust, and you're one of the lucky ones." Zi-O said, offering a hand. "So, do you accept our alliance as an honorary member of Xross Drive Rebellion?"
Diluc took a moment to recall what Zeo and the others explained. Leaving either of those enemy factions unchecked could spell trouble not only for Mondstadt and the world of Teyvat, but also the other worlds. Even more trouble if either the Abyss or the Fatui got their hands on the Gjallarhorn fragments, regardless if they know how to use it or not. And he doesn't want the Knights and the Guild to be too involved of the matter which could lead to unforeseen circumstances. With that in mind, he nodded and shook Zi-O's hand. "Very well, I accept your alliance." Diluc decided. "And besides, I'm still indebted to Aether for resolving the Stormterror crisis."
"Thanks for accepting, Diluc Ragnvindr. Welcome to the team." Zeo smiled before they released their handshake. "Let us know if you found any hidden Gjallarhorn fragments and any hidden Fatui and Abyss bases, especially the supplies and strongholds."
"I'll be sure to keep you posted once my informats discover something." Diluc replied, until he heard something ringing. "What was that?"
"Ah, sorry. That was me." Geiz answered, taking out his Zikan Phone. "Sounds like Fu Hua and Kanade finished observing the Knights and found some info."
"Put it on loudspeaker so we can all hear it." Zi-O instructed.
"Gotcha." Geiz complied, turning on the loudspeaker function before answering the voice call. "Geiz here. So, any news on the Knights' movements?"
"Well, the Knights are really hellbent on trying to find the Darknight Hero's identity to offer him their protection." Kanade informed.
"But according to Huffman, it's actually a ruse to prove to the people of Mondstadt that the Knights of Favonius are taking full and exclusive responsibility when it comes to threats such as this, without the need of the Darknight Hero." Fu Hua added.
"A ruse to prove that the Knights can deal with threats without the Darknight Hero's help, huh?" Geiz mused. "Anything else?"
"Well... you're not gonna like this next part." Kanade sighed. "Kaeya's starting to figure out that Diluc's the Darknight Hero. And he has something planned to reveal his identity."
"Caaptain Kaeya?!" Aether and Paimon exclaimed.
Diluc sighed in annoyance. "It had to be him..."
"How should we proceed?" Fu Hua asked.
"Better lay low for the time being. We're still with Diluc at the moment and we're gonna tell him about it. Hopefully he has a plan to get out of this mess." Geiz instructed.
"Understood. Let us know if you have a plan ready for tonight." Fu Hua replied, ending the call, prompting Geiz to put away his phone.
"Did you get all of that, Diluc?" Geiz asked as everyone faced him.
"Loud and clear, unfortunately." Diluc sighed. "I should have known Kaeya would see this as the perfect opportunity to get back at me."
"Sounds like there's a bit of bad blood between you guys then?" Paimon guessed.
"I shan't get into that now." Diluc replied. "More importantly, the Knights of Favonius are responding more or less as I had anticipated. All we need to do now is think of a counter plan."
"So what's the plan?" Lumine asked.
"Patience. Let me think for a moment." Diluc replied, crossing his arms and closing his eyes to think of a counter plan. A few seconds later, he opened his eyes after thinking of an idea that might work. "...If they intend to monitor me, then so be it. We can use this to create the perfect alibi."
"An alibi, huh?" Zi-O responded.
"What's an alabla... an alibi?" Paimon asked.
"It's an act of saying that someone was with you instead of where someone is accused of being, either as a defense for an accusation or as a way to avoid getting into trouble." Geiz explained.
"Exactly." Diluc confirmed. "But in order to do that, I'm gonna need you guys to do me a favour."
"Does it involve monster hunting or material gathering?" Aether asked.
"The latter." Diluc answered. "In Mondstadt, Mist Flowers are most commonly found in a region just northwest of the winery. If you could gather some for me, I'd be most grateful. I will make other preparations here in the meantime."
"How many do we need?" Lumine asked.
"Four should be enough. Meet me outside the manor once you have the Mist Flowers."
"Gotcha. See you in a bit." Zi-O replied before he and the others left the room to look for the flowers while Diluc stayed behind to begin preparations.
As time passed, they arrived at the location where the Mist Flowers are near a large lake, which were surrounded by Cryo Slimes. But the Riders easily took down the slimes with their Zikan Weapons infused with fire thanks to the Ryuki and Wizard Ridewatches. Aether instructed the Riders to use the fire weapons on the flowers in order to take them safely. They did just that and obtained the four Mist Flowers before heading back to the manor where Diluc and a man named Connor are waiting outside.
"The method for obtaining mist flower extract is kind of my own invention. So please, keep it a secret until I've managed to publish it." Connor said to the redhead.
"Noted." Diluc nodded before noticing the arrivals. "Ah, you're back. I take it that you have what I needed?"
"Yup! Four Mist Flowers as you requested." Paimon confirmed. "Though there were some Cyro Slimes to deal with first."
"No trouble at all thanks to us." Zi-O proclaimed with Geiz nodding. "Plus, more slime extracts for Sucrose to use later on."
"Good." Diluc nodded before gesturing to the man next to him. "Allow me to introduce the winery's master brewer, Connor."
"Hello, sir." Geiz greeted.
"So many Mist Flowers..." Connor said with awe, noticing the Mist Flowers Aether and Lumine are holding. "Great! I can't wait to see how this turns out!"
"So, are you certain the equipment can withstand this level of purity?" Diluc asked.
"Oh my... my goodness, the winery owner himself is addressing me directly!" Connor replied with glee, making the group sweatdrop. "Don't worry, sir! It is always my honor to serve you, even if it means risking my life!"
"Huh? What's so life-threatening about this?" Paimon questioned.
"Now then, may I have the flowers please?" Connor requested, prompting the travelers to give the flowers to him. "Thank you. Now if you'll excuse me, I must get to work!" He then walked to his workplace to begin his experiment.
"I wonder what he's gonna do with those Mist Flowers?" Zi-O pondered.
"Long story short... A few days ago, the winery was experimenting with some new flavors." Diluc explained. "They wanted to see if Mist Flowers can truly add a crisp and refreshing taste. Sure enough, they discovered that the flower's extract is truly potent."
"How potent is it?" Lumine asked.
"...It attracts slimes." Diluc answered. "Slimes need to extract elemental energy to survive... For them, this substance is simply irresistible. So I thought to myself, "I wonder how much trouble I could cause now that I know this...""
"Oh... I see where this is going." Zi-O realized while hiding a devious smirk.
*Bang! Crash! Wallop!*
"What was that noise!?" Paimon exclaimed after the group heard those noises, until they saw a shivering Connor arriving, covered with icy substance all over his clothes.
"Ah... C-Cold... so c-cold..." Connor shivered while holding a small bottle with glowing liquid inside. "Master Diluc, purification complete, sir! B-But the equipment is..."
"Marvelous work." Diluc praised while taking the bottle from Connor. "Don't fret about the equipment, I shall have my butler order more immediately. In the meantime, go get yourself cleaned up."
"Y-Yes s-sir." Connor complied before heading inside the manor to get changed.
"Is this the trouble you were talking about, Diluc?" Aether asked.
"Yes." Diluc nodded, showing the bottle to the group. "Mist Flower extract... or for our purposes, 'Elemental Bait.'"
"Wow, it really has a strong elemental... whiff!" Paimon commented. "Can we test it out?"
"Hold on." Geiz interrupted with a raised hand. "If we're gonna test this bait out, let's not do it here. I don't want the manor or the vineyard to be caught in the crossfire."
"...You has a point there." Diluc agreed. "Let's try another location that's far away from the manor."
"Maybe we should try the same location where we found the Mist Flowers?" Lumine suggested.
"That'll work." Zi-O replied before they head back to the location of the Mist Flowers near a large lake.
"Here, Aether." Diluc gave the bottle of extract to him. "Just sprinkle a little on the ground over there." He pointed at the area close to the water. "Only a small amount is needed, but be very careful."
"We'll hide behind the bushes to see if it works, while hiding from the slimes." Zi-O said to the male traveler. "The moment you set the bait, get your butt over here ASAP unless you want a horde of slimes all over you."
Aether gulped. "N-Noted."
"You're be fine, brother. We'll be there to bail you out of trouble, just in case." Lumine assured with the others nodding.
"Thanks, sis, everyone." Aether smiled back before heading for the area while the others immediately hid inside the bushes. Once Aether arrived at the spot, he poured a few drops of the liquid onto the ground, closed the lid and ran towards the bushes to hide with the others as they wait for a response.
"How long does it take for the bait to work?" Paimon asked.
"Just be patient, Paimon. It won't be long now." Geiz replied.
"Ah, here they come now!" Zi-O noticed the group of Cryo and Hydro Smiles hopping towards the placed bait.
"Holy moley, it really does attract slimes!" Paimon gasped... before gulping in fear when they saw even more Cryo and Hydro Slimes approaching the bait. "...And even more than we expected..."
"It appears the potency is greater than anticipated..." Diluc noted with his hand on his chin.
"I am so glad I got out of there before the slimes arrive..." Aether sighed with relief.
"Even more glad that we placed the bait here instead of the Dawn Winery." Lumine added with the same sigh. "They'll no doubt wreck the manor in no time flat."
"Guess I owe you some gratitude for being cautious, Geiz. Thanks for that. You just saved the Dawn Winery." Diluc complimented.
"No problem, Diluc. Being cautious has its perks." Geiz replied. "Now let's get out of here before the slimes spots us."
The group agreed with a nod before they quietly head back to the manor without gaining attention from the slimes. Once they arrived back outside the manor, the group sighed with relief that they're safe.
"Whew..." Paimon sighed with relief. "Such a powerful effect from such a small amount of extract. At least we didn't go picking wild flowers for nothing."
"I think I'm starting to figure out how you're gonna use this special bait on, Diluc." Zi-O realized. "You're gonna use it on the city's side entrance to distract the Knights as they deal with the large slime horde, while you deal with the Abyss Order heading for the front gate. Is that correct?"
"So you figured it out, huh?" Diluc mused with his arms crossed. "I'm impressed. But in order for the plan to work, I need to wait for Huffman to arrive and greet me inside Angel's Share. While I distract him with a conversation, one of you waiting outside will place the bait at the side entrance without being noticed by the guards. And once Huffman leaves after a guard reports a large slime horde attack, that will be my chance to deal with the Abyss with no Knights noticing."
"What a well thought out plan it is. But... I think I want to let the rest of Team XDR know about this. Because we're not just gonna defeat the Abyss army... we're gonna crush them." Zi-O grinned deviously. "...With your permission, of course."
"Usually I'll only allow a few of you since you know the plan." Diluc stated. "I have persevered alone from the start, and I alone shall face what lies ahead. But, after you guys told me about the adventures Team XDR had gone through, along with how dangerous the Neo Time Jackers can be, something tells me that going alone will not be enough to stop them."
"So... permission granted?"
"Permission granted." Diluc approved with a nod. "And besides, I'm already an honorary member of Team XDR. Plus, the word 'Rebellion' sounds fitting for someone like me."
"That, and you don't have to deal with the hidden Fatui and Abyss bases alone, we'll do it for you so you won't get too tired from being a solo vigilante." Geiz stated.
"I'd appreciate that. I'm indeed indebted to you all, Xross Drive Rebellion." Diluc smiled. "And Aether, keep holding onto that bottle, you're gonna need it for later tonight."
"Got it." Aether nodded.
"Right then, we've gonna head back to our base to begin our own preparations for tonight, on top of making a Zikan Phone for you to use." Zi-O said as the group took out their Wind Gliders. "See you at the tavern tonight, Diluc!" Afterwards, the group flew off towards the direction of Mondstadt City as Diluc watched them leave with a satisfied smile before heading back to the manor.
Mondstadt City
XDR Base, Dining Area
Once Zeo, Gaius, Aether, Lumine and Paimon returned to base, Zeo instructed Akira to gather up the members of the team for a plan against the Abyss Order tonight along with helping Diluc keep his Darknight Hero identity a secret, with the exception of Amber who's busy with her Outrider duties and as a Gliding Instructor for the new recruits.
"And that is how Diluc will plan his alibi." Zeo finished his explanation to the group, with assistance from Gaius, Aether, Lumine and Paimon.
"A special bait that can attract a large group of slimes..." Sucrose mused. "Is it even safe to use?"
"Only when it's used on the correct situations when it comes to distractions." Gaius replied.
"I wonder if we can use it against the Fatui and the Abyss?" Regina pondered.
"Oh we can most definitely do that just to piss them off while we sneak into their bases to steal their equipment or mora, or to set up an ambush and crush the exhausted grunts in one fell swoop." Zeo replied.
"Now that's a devious yet clever plan I can go along with." Chris agreed with a grin.
"Still can't believe you guys were able to get Diluc to join the team as an honorary member." Kanade said to the Riders.
"So far, he's the only one to have access to an underground network in order to locate any hidden Fatui and Abyss bases not even the Adventures Guild nor the Knights of Favonius could locate." Gaius stated.
"Sounds reasonable. That will make things easier for us to find those bases." Fu Hua noted.
"Now, with that out of the way, time to set up our own plan to help Diluc protect his identity and defeat the oncoming Abyss. So listen up." Zeo said to the group, gaining full attention. "Fu Hua, Aether, Lumine, Paimon, you four will enter the tavern once Huffman went inside first. While you guys and Diluc distract the knight, someone else will go and place the Elemental Bait outside of the city's side entrance. So who gets the honor of placing that bait?"
"I'll do it." Regina raised her hand.
"Okay." Zeo nodded. "Anyone else wanna go with her in case the slime horde is a bit too much to handle?"
"You don't mind if I go with you this time, Regina-chan?" Miku offered.
"Sure, I could use the crowd control." Regina accepted. "...If Hibiki-chan is okay with allowing Miku-chan to come with me."
"No problem, Regina-chan." Hibiki smiled and nodded. "Keep Miku safe for me, okay?"
"I will." Regina nodded back.
"I'll go along with them for extra assistance." Noelle requested.
"Very well then, Noelle, considering how strong you are." Zeo approved.
"I won't let you down, Zeo." Noelle bowed.
"Now then, while Diluc, Kanade, Tsubasa, Maria, Gaius, Akira and myself fight the Abyss head-on, three groups will ambush the Abyss in three sides. One group for each side." Zeo continued. "Kiana, Kallen, Chris, you take the left flank. Mei, Kirika, Sucrose, take the right flank. And then GV, Hibiki and Miriam will be at the back flank when they try to retreat. With this, the Abyss army will have no chance of escape, allowing us to crush them in one fell swoop."
"Now that's one hell of a pincer attack." Kiana commented. "They'll never see us coming."
"What happens once the Abyss army is defeated?" Mei asked.
"We'll head back to base and rest while Diluc will head back to the tavern where Fu Ha, Noelle, Aether, Lumine and Paimon are waiting, making the knight think that they're still watching over Diluc." Zeo answered.
"What about me and Regina-san?" Miku asked.
"You two will also head back to base once the slimes are dealt with. But try not to kill the slimes too quickly or else Huffman will return to the tavern a lot sooner."
"Got it." Regina replied as she and Miku nodded.
"So, what do you guys think? One hell of an alibi, huh?" Zeo asked the group for an opinion.
"A very well thought out plan, Zeo Naotora. You're becoming quite the strategist." Woz praised.
"Well... playing strategy games can make you learn some pretty useful tactics." Zeo admitted.
"I just hope no one else will take notice of our actions during all of this." Noelle said.
"I agree with Noelle." Tsubasa agreed. "It feels like we're breaking rules by doing this."
"I know how you girls feel about this, but we'll eventually have to break those rules in order to protect innocent people." Akira stated. "We can't have a clean slate all the time."
"She's right." Kallen agreed. "We're a Rebellion for a reason."
"I wonder if we could create the same Elemental Bait that Connor did?" Miriam pondered.
"Aether-san, is it alright if I could borrow that bottle for a moment?" Elfnein requested.
"You're not gonna use all of it, right?" Aether asked while taking out the bottle of Elemental Bait.
"Only a small bit. Three small drops should be enough." Elfnein replied. "Sucrose-san, Miriam-san, I'll need your assistance."
"R-Right./Understood." Sucrose and Miriam nodded.
"Okay, here you go. But be careful with it considering what it can do." Aether said while giving the bottle to the young alchemist.
"Understood." Elfnein nodded. "I'll be sure to return it before the operation tonight."
"Better give that bottle to me since I'm going to be placing the bait." Regina said.
"Of course, Regina-san."
"I can't wait to see the look on the Abyss Order's faces about the ambush we're gonna pull off, dess." Kirika grinned with excitement. "They'll never expect it, dess!"
"Yeah, especially if there's a grim reaper like you on our side." Gunvolt agreed with a smirk.
"I wonder if Teyvat has their very own grim reaper?" Joule pondered.
"Not that I know of nor have I heard any rumors about it." Noelle answered.
"But if a grim reaper would exist within Teyvat, it'll probably be with the Abyss Order, I think." Sucrose also answered.
"Dess..." Kirika gulped. "Y-You really think so, dess?"
"It was only a theory, Kirika, so I'm not entirely sure."
"Either way, we'd best be careful if the theory does became a reality." Akira cautioned, earning a nod from the group.
"And don't worry, Kirika. We'll be supporting you as you become stronger. I don't want Shirabe, Serena and myself to feel worried either." Maria assured.
"You'll be just fine, Kirika-chan! Just believe in yourself and you'll overcome anything!" Hibiki supported.
"Thanks everyone for the support, dess!" Kirika smiled at the group who returned with the same smile.
"Though you'd better get serious with your studies too or you'll never graduate from Lydian Academy." Chris reminded.
"H-Hai, dess."
"You too, baka." Chris said to the young Gungnir girl.
"Eh?! Why me?!" Hibiki questioned.
"Do you want Miku to remind you of the times you were sleeping during classes?" Chris deadpanned.
"N-no... I see your point..." Hibiki stuttered.
"Ehehe... Chris got you there, Hibiki." Miku sheepishly chuckled with Kanade also chuckling.
"(Are they always like this, sis?)" Aether whispered.
"(...Mostly.)" Lumine admitted with a sweatdrop before smiling. "(Even so, they're really good friends you can get along with.)"
"(Paimon wonders how Master Diluc will fit into the team?)" Paimon pondered.
"(Who knows...)" Aether shrugged before smiling. "(But I think he'll get along with them just fine.)"
"Anyway..." Akira spoke up as she turned to her brother. "Since the Abyss Order will arrive at 10pm, does this mean we'll have to deploy at around 9pm to prepare?"
"9pm is too long for a wait time." Zeo stated. "How about either 9:30 or 9:45pm?"
"9:45pm sounds doable." Gaius noted before turning to the group. "What do you guys think? Is 9:45pm okay?"
"Sure./No problem!/Got it!/No objections there./Understood." The group answered.
"Okay, 9:45pm it is then." Zeo declared with a nod. "Until then, be sure to get plenty of food and rest before tonight's operation. We're gonna give those Abyss bastards a night to remember. So let's make this count, team!"
"Roger!" The group complied with a salute.
Mondstadt City, Angel's Share
9:50pm
When the night finally came, everyone began to suit up in their battlesuits to prepare for the operation. The ambush teams were deployed outside of Mondstadt City, hiding within the plains and hills to prepare the ambush while scouting for any Abyss Order troops approaching. As for the teams stationed inside the city, Noelle, Miku and Regina with the Elemental Bait in hand are waiting outside the side gate, hiding from the guards; Aether, Lumine, Paimon and Fu Hua are hiding inside the alchemy workshop to see if Huffman is heading for the tavern; and lastly Kamen Rider Zi-O, Geiz, Cure Starlight, Maria, Kanade and Tsubasa waited atop the city's front gate to scout at a distance while also hiding from the guards.
And as for Diluc the Darknight Hero, he's already at the Angel's Share tavern since 9:45pm, serving as the bartender for night while waiting for the plan to begin. And like clockwork, Huffman entered the tavern to see him. "Greetings, Mr. Huffman of the Knights of Favonius." Diluc greeted. "To what do I owe the pleasure at this hour?"
"...Oh, erm, nothing... I'm merely procrastinating." Huffman replied. "I thought I might indulge myself with a beverage or two."
A few seconds later, Aether, Lumine, Paimon and Fu Hua entered the tavern. "Oh, Huffman. Didn't expect to see you here." Fu Hua greeted.
"Ah, Fu Hua, Travelers! Fancy meeting all of you here." Huffman greeted back. "What are you guys up to?"
"We decided to come here for something to eat and drink." Aether replied.
"We're not in the mood to cook our own food this time." Lumine added.
"I see." Diluc noted. "Now then, what do you all like to drink?"
"I'll have a Dandelion Wine, I suppose." Huffman ordered.
"Ooh, Paimon wants apple juice!" Paimon also ordered.
"Dandelion Wine, huh?" Fu Hua repeated. "I'll have what Huffman is having."
"I'll take orange juice please." Lumine requested.
"And I'll have grape juice." Aether also requested.
"Very well." Diluc noted, writing their orders on a piece of paper. "Did you bring your Mora with you?"
In response, they took out their coin pouches from their own pockets... except for Paimon who's still searching her pockets.
"...Paimon. Don't tell me you left your Mora back at the hotel." Fu Hua muttered.
"Ehehe... Oops..." Paimon nervously chuckled while poking her index fingers together. "Can Paimon ask for-"
"No." Fu Hua immediately answered with her arms crossed. "It's your own money, so you need to be more responsible for it."
"She's right, Paimon." Aether agreed. "And don't even think about asking me or my sister about borrowing Mora."
"Uhh... can Paimon start a tab?" Paimon asked.
"Apologies, we do not give credit here." Diluc answered.
"Well in that case... let this be my treat." Huffman offered.
"N-No need!" Paimon waved her hands. "Paimon needs to be responsible for it, just like what Fu Hua said. Paimon will be back with the money as Paimonly as possible!" She then vanished with a quick twirl.
"As Paimonly... as possible?" Lumine blinked. "Is that her way of saying ASAP?"
"Maybe." Aether shrugged. "This is Paimon we're talking about."
"Speaking of which... how is she able to vanish and reappear like that?" Huffman pondered. "What is she anyway?"
"I have absolutely no idea." Fu Hua answered. "Though I'm calling her as a familiar either way."
Meanwhile, Regina, Miku and Noelle are waiting outside the city's side gate, hiding from the guards and awaiting for a certain someone to arrive to begin the next step of the operation. "Paimon better not take too long to arrive." Regina muttered while looking at the digital clock on her Zikan Phone.
"Just be patient, Regina-san. Paimon-chan will come soon so that we can deploy the bait." Miku assured.
"I just hope this plan works." Noelle said. "Slimes may be weak alone, but in a very large group, they can be very dangerous to deal with."
"Hey Noelle, can slimes fuse together into a bigger slime?" Regina asked.
"If it's by the same element, then yes." Noelle answered. "Thas's why you need to defeat all of the slimes before they have a chance to fuse."
"I guess dealing with slimes in real life are a lot different compared to RPG games." Miku remarked.
Seconds later, Paimon appeared in front of the group. "Sorry if Paimon's late!"
"You were slightly off by two minutes, but I think we can still make it." Regina replied, putting away the phone and taking out the bottle of Elemental Bait.
"Paimon wonders what happens if you pour all of the bait instead of a few drops?" Paimon pondered.
"Probably a lot more slimes than what Aether-san and the others saw this afternoon." Miku answered. "But we're gonna need a lot of slimes to distract the Knights long enough so that the other teams can deal with the Abyss Order quickly."
"Usually I don't agree doing something like this, but this is for Master Diluc's sake." Noelle remarked.
"Right then..." Regina took a deep breath and took several steps forward while opening the cover. "...here goes nothing." She then began to pour all of the bait into the ground till the very last drop before closing the lid and taking several steps back.
"Whoa~ You used all of it... This is gonna be pretty epic." Paimon commented.
"Remember Miku, don't kill the slimes too quickly. We need them to stall time for the Knights." Regina reminded as she and Miku took out their weapons.
"Hai." Miku nodded. "Noelle-san, Paimon-chan, you both know what to do next."
"Right! See you girls later!" Paimon replied before vanishing.
"I'll contact the Knights immediately." Noelle also replied before heading back inside the city to inform the Knights.
"Here come the slimes!" Regina said as large groups of slimes of different elements began to appear and are approaching the girls.
"That's... a lot of slimes..." Miku gulped.
"Something tells me we're gonna need a long shower once this operation is over..." Regina sweatdropped.
Back at the tavern, everyone is having their own respective drinks while still waiting for Paimon to return.
"...Captain Kaeya is no doubt a formidable knight, but he also brings us more than his share of hassle..." Huffman thought before shaking his head. "No, this isn't right. I should not be talking about my superior in such a manner. If he were to overhear me..."
Seconds later, Paimon appeared in the tavern with her coin pouch in hand. "Paimon's back with the Mora! Is the apple juice ready yet?"
"One moment." Diluc complied as he was about to serve a nice cold apple juice for Paimon.
Suddenly, Lawrence the Gate Guard entered the tavern in a panicked state. "Mr. Huffman! Mr. Huffman! A situation at the side gate! Everyone to the side gate immediately!"
"What is it? What happened?" Huffman asked.
"It's... Slimes, Mr. Huffman."
"Slimes?" Huffman blinked. "You see them all the time, what's the big panic?"
"We do, but... Sir, there are more slimes out there now than all the slimes I've seen in my life added together!"
"A slime army, you say?" Fu Hua questioned.
"Yeah, saw it with my own two eyes!" Lawrence confirmed. "Noelle and two of her friends are dealing with them as we speak, but even they can't handle that many slimes themselves!"
"Whoa... That's a problem..." Paimon commented.
"Zeo asked Noelle of all people to plant the bait? Huh, did not expect that." Diluc thought.
"Surely this couldn't be the Abyss Order's secret weapon..." Huffman pondered. "But... I have another matter to attend to here-"
"Oh? The matter of your Dandelion Wine?" Diluc interjected with his arms crossed.
"N-No, I... That's not what I meant..."
"Hmph. So this is how the Knights of Favonius conduct themselves in a crisis. The Abyss Order is encroaching on the city gates, and your response is to sit here... drinking wine? It's like I've always said. The Knights are not to be trusted."
"I..." Huffman struggled to answer before sighing. "Master Diluc is right, my conduct here has been below par. I shall set off at once. But first... Aether, Lumine, Paimon, Fu Hua, may I have a quiet word with you all for a moment?" He requested, prompting them to come close to the knight for a private chat. "(Listen closely and keep quiet about this. I presume you all know what this is about. Please watch Diluc for me, and do not let him leave under any circumstances! I must head to the side gate, but I'll be back shortly. I'm counting on you!)"
"(Leave it to us, Huffman.)" Aether replied.
"(And be careful. Smiles can be very dangerous when it's a large army of them.)" Lumine added.
Huffman nodded at the group before quickly leaving the tavern alongside Lawrence to assist Noelle and the others to deal with the smiles at the side gate.
"Okay, Diluc. Now's your chance. Zeo and the others are waiting at the front gate and ready to strike the moment you arrive." Fu Hua informed.
"And we'll stay here because Huffman told us to." Paimon added... before gasping and covering her mouth. "Oops... Paimon's not supposed to say that..."
"That's fine. It's all part of the plan. And thanks for the notification." Diluc replied before leaving the tavern to head for the front gate.
Unknown to everyone however, a certain Calvary Captain saw and heard the whole thing on the 2nd floor of the tavern, sitting down with a glass of wine on the table with an amused look on his face. But unknown to him, a certain chronicler was also watching him from behind at the far corner, reading a book while having a cup of tea. "Eavesdropping huh, Calvary Captain Kaeya? Well... two can play at this game." Woz thought with a smirk while silently keeping an eye on him.
When the clock struck 10pm, Diluc arrived outside the city's front gate and noticed the arriving Abyss Order army filled with mitachurls and hilichurls, which were lead by several Hydro and Cryo Abyss Mages, quickly approaching the stone bridge.
"Ah. There you are." Diluc said while adjusting his gloves and crossing the bridge. "Dealing with you will be the easy part." He summoned his Favonius Claymore and rushed towards the leaping hilichurls, quickly defeating them with several quick slashes. He took down a few more with a double flaming slash, and then followed up with a rolling fire slash, unleashing a fire wave that incinerated any hilichurls in its path. A pair of Cryo Mages launched ice shards towards Diluc, but he quickly blocked them before throwing his flaming sword like a rolling wheel, slicing and burning any hilichurls in its path until it's planted at the entrance of the bridge. He then leaped towards his claymore and sent it flying upwards off the ground by kicking the handle, before punching and kicking away the approaching hilichurls with ease until his weapon returned to his hand. Ice waves from three angles were about to reach Diluc, but he quickly jumped ahead before breaking the approaching ice with a slash, followed by an overhead plunging fire strike onto the Cryo Mages that pushed them back, and then followed up by unleashing a phoenix with one fiery swing that incinerated the mages to dust.
"Tch. As expected of the Darknight Hero, he's as powerful as we've thought." A Hydro Mage muttered before summoning more hilichurls. "But he's only one man. Not even he can stop all of us."
"That's what you think!"
"What's huh?" The Hydro Mage responded while looking around for the source of the voice, until an enormous spear and sword from above, crashed into the ground and blocked the entrance of the stone bridge.
SPEAR∞ORBIT
Heaven's Wrath
"Where did that large sword and spear come from?!" He exclaimed in shock upon noticing the large weapons. "Wait a minute... those weapons blocked our way in! Who's responsible for this?!" He demanded, until he heard a whistle.
"Up here, dumbasses!"
The Abyss Order and even Diluc looked up, and saw Cure Starlight, Kanade, Maria and Tsubasa standing on top of the weapons, with the former two on the spear and the latter two on the sword.
"If you really think that it's only the Darknight Hero's stopping you..." Starlight began with her arms crossed.
"Then you'd best think again." Kanade finished with her hand on her hip and her spear on her other hand.
"Y-You four are the ones who did this?! Who are you anyway?!" A Cryo Mage demanded.
"We're just a passing through Rebellion, so you'd better remember that!" Maria answered with her dagger ready.
"As long as we're here, you'll never take a single step inside the City of Mondstadt!" Tsubasa added with her katana ready.
"A-Are you people with the Knights of Favonius or with the Darknight Hero?!" A Hydro Mage asked.
"Actually..." Diluc answered with a confident smirk. "It's neither of those. Like they said, they're only passing through."
"Okay, ladies..." Starlight began to summon her energy bow, prepared an energy arrow and aimed at the sky. "Time to rain down some judgement."
The three ladies nodded as they looked at the night sky. Kanade, Tsubasa and Maria threw their weapons to the sky while Starlight fired a charged arrow at the same direction. And then a massive storm of energy swords, spears, daggers and arrows rained down upon the Abyss army without warning, effortlessly destroying the hilichurls to nothingness while the Abyss Mages blocked the energy storm with their shields, but's its starting to show plenty of cracks. As for Diluc, he managed to evade the storm without taking a single hit by dashing in front of the giant weapons for cover.
STARDUST∞FOTON
Thousand Tears
INFINITE†CRIME
"What power..." Diluc thought in awe at how the four ladies effortlessly the Abyss army with ease.
"Oops, missed two more." Starlight quipped before firing two energy arrows, one on the Hydro and the other on the Cryo Mage, leaving the arrows planted onto the shields.
=FINISH TIME!=
=BLADE!=
=WIZARD!=
=LIGHTNING TIME BREAK!=
=STRIKE TIME BURST!=
And then the Kamen Riders in their Rider Armors appeared from the sky and delivered a powerful divekick onto the two Abyss Mages, with Zi-O in his BladeArmor delivering a charged lightning divekick onto the Hydro Mage and Geiz in his WizardArmor delivering a charged blazing divekick onto the Cryo Mage. When the kicks collided with Starlight's planted arrows, explosions ocurred that not only broke the barriers in one blow, but also sent the Abyss Mages flying while the Riders landed in front of Diluc. In response, Starlight and the three idol Gear Users leaped off the giant weapons and unleashed slash-waves that finished off the mages to nothingness before the girls landed in front of the Riders.
Azure Flash
POWER∞SHINE
FIERCE†SCAR
The Abyss army stuttered in shock at the unknown group of Outlanders that single-handedly took down a large amount of their forces. "W-Who... who are there people?!" A Hydro Mage muttered in shock.
"I'm not sure! These people are definitely not from the Knights of Favonius!" A Cryo Mage replied. "How did that meddling Darknight Hero recruit them?!"
"Tch... I think it's time to change tactics since the way to the front gate is blocked by those blasted giant weapons." The Hydro Mage stated. "One Hydro Mage will take the side gate on the right, while a Cryo Mage will have to break down the castle walls on the left."
"Understood!" The other Hydro and Cryo Mage complied as the two head for the opposite directions while bringing along some of their forces.
"They're heading for the side areas?" Diluc questioned, until his eyes widen in realization. "Wait... that's where the distracted Knights are! If those mages reaches them...!"
"Don't worry, Diluc." Zi-O assured. "They won't reach that far. Remember when I said that we have more allies than this?"
"...You planned for that part too, didn't you?" Diluc raised an eyebrow.
"Yup. And that is one of the advantages of having a team you can trust. By the way, like my armor?" Zi-O said while showing off his BladeArmor. It consists of a blue, silver and white color scheme, with some red lines on his chestplate. His shoulder pads are shaped like Blay Rouzers, the one Kamen Rider Blade uses as a weapon with red cards stored inside. And lastly, the helmet is the same shape as Blade with the pink katakana for 'Blade' plastered on the visor.
"Looks... interesting." Diluc commented before looking at Geiz in his WizardArmor. "Same goes for you too. But I do like the color red though."
"Thank you." Geiz nodded before staring at the remaining Abyss forces that are being summoned by the Hydro and Cryo Mage. "So that's how. These hilichurls are gonna keep coming unless we took down the mages."
"Then allow us to deal with those monsters." Maria declared with her whip-sword ready. "Zi-O, Geiz, you two better stop those mages immediately."
"Right." The Riders nodded.
"I'll go with the both of you for support." Diluc requested.
"No arguments there, Diluc. Let's go!" Zi-O approved before the three rushed towards the mages while the others deal with the summoned hilichurls.
Meanwhile, the other Hydro Mage leading a small group of hilichurls are heading towards the side gate on the right side of the city.
"Swirl! Mark 3!"
That is until Sucrose intercepted them from the front and unleashed an Anemo sphere right onto the middle of the group. The sphere then transformed into a large sky green butterfly that sent the group skyward with one flap of its wings.
"An ambush?!" The Hydro Mage growled while blocking the winds with his shield. "You'll pay for that, Vision Bearer!" As he was about to launch a water bubble to trap Sucrose, Mei performed a lightning plunge attack from above, right onto the mage's shield and electrifying it, causing the shield to break rapidly until it burst open. Mei then continued to plunge further, right onto the mage and slamming him to the ground before pulling the katana out and followed up with a triple spin-slash with the Anemo butterfly providing a boost by flapping its wings, sending the mage and his hilichurls skyward.
"Now, Kirika-chan!" Mei shouted before vanishing with a shadow dash, signaling the young grim reaper to fly towards the airborne targets with her halberd in hand and delivered a decisive horizontal slash, cutting the hilichurls and the mage in half before exploding.
Opposite Scythe: Rapunzel
With the targets eliminated, the girls regrouped while Kirika reverted her Armed Gear back to normal. "Good work, everyone." Mei praised the two. "But just to be sure Sucrose, could you use your Elemental Sight to detect any more enemies?"
"One moment." Sucrose complied and concentrated for a bit before shaking her head. "No. Not a single one is left standing."
"Great! Then the ambush was a success, dess!" Kirika cheered.
"It's not over yet though, we still need to regroup with the others and take down the remaining Abyss troops." Mei stated.
"Then we'd better get moving." Sucrose declared as they quickly head for the front of the stone bridge to regroup.
"By the way, Sucrose-san, that was a really cool Anemo spell you just did, dess." Kirika complimented.
"Thank you." Sucrose smiled. "But I'm not much of a frontline fighter compared to everyone else. I only did this to protect myself in case no one is around to help."
"I see." Mei noted. "What about your Master, Albedo? Is he also a spellcaster?"
"Yes." Sucrose nodded. "A Geo Vision Bearer. But he's also quite skilled with a sword."
"So he's like a magic knight, dess?" Kirika guessed. "A swordsman class that can also use magic?"
"Something like that."
"That's so cool, dess!" Kirika beamed. "I hope we get a chance to meet him, dess!"
"Maybe someday, Kirika." Sucrose smiled.
Elsewhere, the other Cryo Mage leading the small group of hilichurls are heading for the castle gate with the large lake standing between them. Using his Cryo magic, he was able to make an ice bridge, allowing the hilichurls to walk across the lake with no trouble at all.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
However, trouble indeed arrived when Kallen appeared from above and unleashing a bulletstorm while spinning upside down onto the unaware hilichurls, with some of them being killed by headshots.
"An ambush here?!" The Cryo Mage exclaimed while blocking with his shield until he saw Kallen landing in front of him on the ice bridge.
"You really think we'd not notice you pulling off the ice bridge tactic?" Kallen taunted while pointing one of her Holy Guns at the mage.
"A nun? Are you from the Favonius Church?" The mage asked.
"No, I'm an outlander. But enough about me, I think it's time for you to meet with the fishes."
"Hah!" The mage scoffed before summoning more hilichurls in front of him. "Do you really think you can handle us alone?"
"Actually... I don't even have to." Kallen smirked after hearing missiles approaching from a distance.
"Huh?"
In response, Kallen quickly leaped into the air, took out her Wind Gilder and flew off, while the missiles eventually caught the attention of the mage and his troops, making them gasp in shock before the missiles exploded into them upon contact, sending the hilichurls flying into the water and drowned.
MEGA DETH PARTY
"Heh, idiots." Chris grinned, waiting at one side of the lake while Kallen landed beside her.
"Good job." Kallen praised as the two fist-bumped while staring at the Cryo Mage with his shield broken and left standing on the ice platform.
"You have got... to be kidding me..." The Cryo Mage muttered. "Missiles...?! Did Mondstadt have control of a Ruin Guard on standby or something?!" He sighed. "Well, at least things won't get any-"
"Neko Charm!"
"Oh cr-"
*Wham!*
And those were his last words as he was slammed by a large metal neko paw from above, plunging him deep into the water with his staff broken in the process. At this point, he's already dead via drowning.
"Hehe, never try to provoke fate unless you're prepared for it." Kiana, the one responsible for the attack from above, chuckled before flying towards the girls with her Wind Glider after dispersing the neko paw.
"That's my successor." Kallen praised as the Kaslanas shared a high-five. "Now all that's left is to finish off the remaining Abyss troops, especially those mages."
"Then let's get this over with. I could use a nice long nap once this operation's over." Chris replied.
"Me too, Chris-chan. Let's move!" Kiana also replied as they head for the entrance of the stone bridge to regroup with the others.
Meanwhile, back to the main group guarding the stone bridge, they were able to eliminate another group summoned by the remaining Hydro and Cryo Mage. "Grr... what's taking them so long?!" The Hydro Mage growled. "The others should've broken inside the castle by now!"
"Did they also plan for this to happen?" The Cryo Mage pondered while summoning more hilichurls.
"Ugh, we can't do this forever! At this rate, I don't think we can summon any more hilichurls to distract them!"
"Looks like those mages are starting to realize that they're running out of ideas." Diluc noticed before cutting down two hilichurls with a Pyro slash.
"Then it won't be long till they decided to retreat." Zi-O replied before cutting down three hilichurls with a lightning slash with his Zikan Gilade.
"Our ambush teams should've taken down the Abyss troops heading for the side gate and side castle wall by now." Geiz said while dodging some arrow shots from the hilichurls before countering with fire arrows with his Zikan Zax Yumi Mode, scoring headshots with each arrow.
And suddenly, Sucrose arrived from one side launching an Anemo sphere that sent one group of hilichurls flying skyward. It was then followed up by Mei and Kirika unleashing a combined slash-wave that sliced the monsters in half before exploding.
Grudge Blade: Hamelin
At the same time on the other side, another group of hilichurls were shot down in a hail of energy arrows and bullets by Chris, Kiana and Kallen from above.
OUEEN'S INFERNO
"Huh?!" The Abyss Mages exclaimed in shock at the sudden arrival of Zi-O's reinforcements on the left and right side of the area.
"If you're wondering why your other troops took too long to attack the city from the sides, well you're outta luck." Chris grinned while pointing her Armed Gear towards the mages.
"Because we've already eliminated them before they get a chance to reach their destination." Mei finished with her katana ready.
"In other words... you're screwed." Kiana added with a grin while pointing her Water Spirit pistol onto the mages.
"...I did not expect you to bring that many allies with you, Zi-O." Diluc commented while looking at the arrivals with their weapons ready. "And one of them is holding a scythe. That's something I don't see everyday."
"Well, my friend, you've haven't seen anything yet." Zi-O replied with a grin before staring at the mages. "So what's it gonna be, mages? Surrender, run, or die. Pick your poison."
The mages took a moment to look at each other to ponder what move they should make. Seconds later, they turned to the group and summoned six mitachurls (three of them wielding a great axe and the other three with large wooden shields) onto the group before retreating.
"2nd choice it is, then." Starlight said while twirling her energy swords.
"But we mustn't let them escape since those mages will report to the other members of the Abyss." Diluc stated with his claymore ready.
"Don't worry, I've got one more surprise waiting for them while they retreat." Zi-O assured.
"And my little kouhai and her friends will be waiting for them." Kanade added with a grin.
"Heh, good to know." Diluc smirked.
"Either way, we'd better clean up these mitachurls before Hibiki and friends comes back." Tsubasa stated.
"So let's hit them with everything we've got!" Maria declared before the group rushed towards the mitachurls to clash.
Meanwhile, the Hydro and Cryo Mage quickly flew away from the battle with energy to spare.
"Stop right there!"
"Huh?" The mages stopped as they noticed Hibiki arriving from above and landing in front of them in her combat stance.
"If you're thinking about escaping, you'd best think again!" Hibiki said.
"You've got to be kidding me... there's another one standing in our way?!" The Hydro Mage groaned in annoyance.
"How many of you outlanders are there?!" The Cryo Mage asked the Attuned.
"Don't worry, we're the last ones to deal with." Hibiki replied.
The mages sighed with relief... until they blinked in confusion when she mentioned 'we're'. "Wait." The Hydro Mage spoke. "Did you just say-"
"Hah!"
And without warning, the mages we're bound into chains courtesy of Gunvolt and Miriam. Gunvolt's chain entangled the Hydro Mage while Miriam's Titanium Flail entangled the Cryo Mage.
"Don't think your shields can save you!" Gunvolt said while grabbing hold on his chain.
"Because we have something that can break them!" Miriam added while grabbing her flail.
"Oversurge!/Ignite!" Gunvolt and Miriam yelled as they electrocuted/ignited their weapons till they struck the mages' shields until they were broken so easily due to their elemental weaknesses. When the shields are broken, the chain/flail entangled the mages so tight that they dropped their staffs preventing them from using any spells.
As for Hibiki, she reeled her right fist back as it turned into a war gauntlet while taking aim at her targets. "GV! Miriam-san! Now!" Hibiki shouted, signaling them to send the mages flying with one upward swing from their chain/flail. Once airborne, Hibiki began to sprint before jumping high into a front-flip, lunged her right foot forward, ignited her Armed Gear boosters and bolted towards the mages like a fireball. And when her foot came in contact with the mages, she spun herself around like a drill, piercing through their bodies before she landed on the ground while the mages exploded to dust.
Gunvolt whistled in amusement as he and Miriam regrouped with Hibiki who dispersed her war gauntlet. "Now that was a pretty sweet move there, Hibiki."
"I agree." Miriam nodded. "The drill kick is a nice touch, too."
"Hehe! Thanks, you two!" Hibiki smiled back. "I wanted to try my own Rider Kick, just like the Kamen Riders."
"Oh, so that's how you went for the kick instead of the punch." Joule noted. "I'm pretty sure Zeo, Gaius and Woz would like that if they saw it."
"Yeah, I think so, too." Hibiki agreed. "Now let's head back to the others! They should be done with the remaining Abyss troops by now!"
"Right!" Gunvolt and Miriam complied as the three head back to the stone bridge.
Back at the stone bridge, the shield mitachurl came charging towards Zi-O, Geiz, Diluc, Kanade and Tsubasa, only for them to jump over it before Zi-O, Geiz, Kanade and Tsubasa countered with energy arrows and slash-waves on its back. Once the are on the ground, Diluc quickly unleashed his Searing Onslaught skill onto the mitachurl, then switched to Geiz unleashing a triple aerial fire spin-slash with his Zikan Zax, and then Kanade finished up by unleashing several slash-waves followed by a flame thrust from her Armed Gear along with one more slash to finish it off.
STARLIGHT∞SLASH
The other two shielded mitachurls growled in anger and are quickly approaching the three, while Geiz changed his weapon mode to Yumi Mode, inserted the Wizard Ridewatch onto the weapon slot and took aim, charging its arrows with a fiery glow.
=FINISH TIME! WIZARD!=
=GIWA GIWA SHOOT!=
Geiz then fired the arrows that took shape of dragon heads as they came in contact with the wooden shields, causing them to catch fire as the mitachurls try to put them out.
"Make it count, Tsubasa, Zi-O!" Geiz yelled, signaling her to transform her Armed Gear into a larger sword, unleashed three lightning slash-waves onto the burning shields, causing them to explode to pieces and leaving the mitachurls defenceless. At the same time, Zi-O inserted his Blade Ridewatch onto his Zikan Gilade Ken Mode.
=FINISH TIME! BLADE!=
=GIRI GIRI SLASH!=
Then Zi-O and Tsubasa charged up their weapons with an azure lightning glow and unleashed one final combined lightning slash-wave that obliterated them with a blue light.
Azure Flash Kshetra
"Heh, that's my Tsubasa." Kanade grinned at her partner's performace while reverting her Armed Gear to normal size.
"Zi-O's no slouch either." Geiz added as they regrouped.
"That takes care of the shielded mitachurls." Tsubasa said before they turned to Cure Starlight and the others fighting the axe mitachurls. "Only three remain to deal with."
"I think it's best that we let them handle it. They've got this." Zi-O assured. "By the way Tsubasa Kazanari, this is Diluc Ragnvindr, our newest honorary member of Team XDR."
"A pleasure to meet you, Diluc." Tsubasa bowed.
"Likewise." Diluc nodded back.
"Tsubasa's a close friend and partner of mine. We've been working together for a long time." Kanade explained.
"I see." Diluc noted. "Well then, I'm looking forward to fighting alongside you, Tsubasa."
"Same to you too." Tsubasa smiled back.
Meanwhile, Starlight, Mei and Sucrose are busy dodging the mitachurl's axe swings with a few sidesteps and jumps, until they saw the mitachurl pull out a Pyro Slime and slammed it into its weapon, augmenting it with Pyro before throwing away the colorless slime as it disintegrated. "Okay..." Starlight blinked. "I did not expect that."
"I've seen this tactic before." Sucrose said. "The mitachurls use smiles to augment their axes with the corresponding element, which in this case is Pyro since it used the Pyro Slime."
"I see... First time I ever seen a monster using this kind of tactic." Mei noted. "It's actually quite clever, not to mention dangerous."
"Heads up!" Starlight shouted before they saw the mitachurl about to perform a plunging axe strike from above. "Dodge forward!" In response, they quickly dashed ahead in time for the mitachurl to miss, slamming the Pyro axe to the ground as it unleashed fire waves in three angles. "Well Mei, looks like you're right about them being more dangerous with the elemental weapon in hand!" She said as they looked at the damage the mitachurl did.
"What should we do?" Mei asked.
"It may have an advantage with its elemental weapon, but even that has a weakness." Sucrose stated. "An elemental reaction should solve that problem. Mei, since the weapon is Pyro, I need you to unleash a lightning slash-wave onto its weapon, causing an Overload reaction."
"You want me to destroy its weapon with an explosion? Understood!" Mei complied as she energized her katana while the mitachurl turned around and growled at them. Mei rushed forward, dodging the first axe swing, and when its about to deliver an overhead strike, Mei quickly parried with a lightning slash-wave onto the fire axe at the last moment, causing an explosion that destroyed the axe and sending the mitachurl flying.
"You're mine!" Starlight yelled, flying towards her airborne target with her energy wings while rotating her PreBrace several times as her right fist and foot glowed with red and yellow energy. "Starlight Punch!" Once she caught up above her target, she sent the mitachurl crashing to the ground with an energized punch. "Starlight Kick!" And then she followed up with one energized divekick that finished off the mitachurl to dust. Mei and Sucrose regrouped to Starlight who dusted off her foot and turned to them with a 'V' sign hand gesture and a grin.
Elsewhere, Maria, Kiana and Kirika kept dodging the axe swings from the mitachurls, including the wild spinning axe swings, making the girls jump away until the attack stopped for the mitachurls to catch their breath.
"That does it." Kiana muttered with gritted teeth. "Those axes have got to go!"
"Good thing they swing their weapons very slow, dess!" Kirika pointed out. "We might be able to take advantage of this, dess!"
"Hmm... I wonder..." Maria pondered while looking at the mitachurls roaring and ready to attack once more. In that moment, she had an idea. "Kirika, get your scissors ready! The moment I wrap their axes in place, cut them in half!"
"Dess!" Kirika nodded.
"In that case, I'll follow up once the axes are gone!" Kiana said.
"Alright!" Maria replied before rushing towards the mitachurls to provoke them. She delivered two slashes with her whip-sword, provoking them to attack with an axe swing. Then they delivered an overhead axe swing, only for Maria to evade the attack by jumping in the air, and then she countered by flinging her whip-sword to wrap around the axes and pulled up tightly, causing her and the mitachurls to start a tug-of-war. "Now, Kirika!"
"Okay, dess!" With Maria's signal, Kirika rushed forward while summoning an Armed Gear copy, fusing them into a large scissor, clamped onto the two wooden handles of the axes, and broke them in half with one move.
Twin Cutter: Cinderella
"Go for it, Kiana-chan!" Kirika shouted before jumping away with a high backflip, prompting Kiana to rush forward and summon a large neko paw in front of her with one forward kick, knocking back the mitachurls with one strike. Maria threw away the broken axes with one swing of her whip-sword and then swung it towards the mitachurls, slashing them in several angles.
EMPRESS†REBELLION
Afterwards, she wrapped her whip-sword around the mitachurls while she landed on the ground. "Chris, Kallen, now!" She shouted, prompting the two to jump above the mitachurls, aimed their weapons downward, and unleashed a hail of bullets and energy arrows onto them before landing beside Kirika. While at the same time, Maria unleashed a burst of light on her whip-sword as it traveled through the blade until coming in contact with the entangled mitachurls, causing a massive explosion that obliterated them.
QUEEN'S DOWNPOUR
BRILLIANT†ROAD
Once the mitachurls are dealt with, they regrouped back with Zi-O and the others. "Good job, everyone." Zi-O praised the group while they dispersed their weapons, along with the giant spear and sword that blocked the stone bridge vanishing. "Now all we need is to wait for Hibiki and the others to come back and give us the good news."
"We're back, everyone!"
"And here they come now." Starlight said as they saw Hibiki, Gunvolt and Miriam arriving. "I take it that the Abyss Mages have been dealt with?"
"Mhm." Gunvolt confirmed with a nod. "Hibiki and Miriam didn't sense or detect any more Abyss troops during our way back here, so I think we're in the clear."
"Then it looks like the operation's a complete success!" Hibiki deduced with a smile.
"Not just yet." Geiz interrupted before turning to Diluc. "Diluc still needs to head back to Angel's Share before the Knights come back. Hope those slimes Regina lured is enough to distract them."
"Oh, so it was Regina who deployed the bait and not Noelle." Diluc noted.
"Yep." Zi-O confirmed. "Noelle's not the type to do something like this."
"Well Diluc, you'd better get your butt back to Angel's Share before the Knights do." Kanade stated. "The rest of us are gonna head back to base and rest."
"I'll do that." Diluc replied. "And again, thanks for the assistance, Xross Drive Rebellion. You guys are a lot more capable than the Knights of Favonius."
"Hey, we're a passing through Rebellion for a reason, hot shot." Chris proclaimed with a grin and her arms crossed.
"Ah, almost forgot." Geiz materialized another Zikan Phone from his own phone and tossed it to Diluc who then caught it. "This one's for you."
Diluc took a moment to look at the phone with a black and red color scheme. "This is... mine?"
"Yep." Geiz nodded. "Had to make one for you since you're the newest honorary member of the team. I'm sure you'll make good use of it."
"...Heh, thanks." Diluc smirked back before putting the phone into his pocket. "See you around." After that, he ran into the city to head back into the tavern while some of the group waved goodbye.
"Hmm... I'm still a bit curious to see why he chose to leave the Knights of Favonius. Did something happen while he's still with the Knights?" Maria pondered with her hand on her chin.
"Even I don't know why, only Diluc knows." Zi-O replied. "Maybe someday, he'll tell us his reasons."
"But if I were to guess, there might be a traitor within the Knights in the past." Geiz pondered. "Sucrose, did you know anything about Diluc cutting ties with the Knights or at least some other history?"
"Not much, unfortunately." Sucrose shook her head. "I was too busy with my experiments to pay attention to the events that happened within the Knights."
"I see, that's alright."
"I'm sure Diluc-san will tell us the truth someday. We just need to earn his trust by helping him with whatever problems that might be too much for him to handle alone." Hibiki stated.
"Yeah, you're probably right." Starlight agreed. "We've got a long way to go even though he's now part of our team as an honorary member."
"Anyway..." Kiana yawned and stretched her arms. "I think we can go back to base and call it a night. Hope Regina and the others are doing fine with the slime distractions."
"Oh please, they'll be okay." Chris assured. "It's only slimes."
"I wouldn't underestimate slimes if I were you, Chris. Especially when there's a whole army of them and their ability to fuse into larger slimes." Sucrose pointed out.
"Meh, I'll be the judge of that." Chris shrugged before heading back inside the city.
"...Why do I get the feeling that Chris-sempai provoked Murphy's Law when she said that, dess?" Kirika questioned.
"If it does, then she brought this upon herself." Kallen replied before sighing. "I think we're gonna have to give her a helping hand if it does happen."
"Even though it probably will, sooner or later." Kiana added.
"Right then..." Kanade yawned and stretched her arms. "I really could use a goodnight's sleep after this whole Darknight Hero adventure."
"I agree wholeheartedly, Kanade. This has been a very long day." Zi-O agreed as everyone went back inside the city to rest inside their base.
Back at the city side gate, Regina, Miku, Noelle, and the rest of the Knights have been dealing with the large slime army for quite a long time until only one more group of Hydro Slimes are left to deal with. Noelle quickly rushed towards the slimes with her Geo barrier active and her Whiteblind becoming a blade of light. She sent them flying upwards with a rapid spin-slash, allowing Miku and Regina to finish them off with once combined beam of light.
Tòngkū (Lamentation)
"Hah...hah...Noelle...please tell us...that these are...the last ones...to deal with..." Regina asked while panting from near exhaustion.
Noelle took a moment to use her Elemental Sight to scan the area, until she shook her head once it's done. "No, that's all of them. Not a single slime remaining."
"Oh, thank Barbatos..." Huffman sighed with relief as everyone dispersed their weapons. "I am never underestimating slimes, ever again."
"We really need to have more Knights to guard the gates, including within the city." Lawrence remarked.
"Gee... ya think?" Regina deadpanned. "If there's ever a commission regarding slimes, count me out. I'm taking a nice long break from dealing with these until further notice."
"I'll uh... be sure to let Zeo-san and the others know about it." Miku replied with a sweatdrop.
"Hey, Noelle? Could you drop by Angel's Share for a bit and order a nice cold apple juice for take-out?" Regina requested.
"As you wish, Regina." Noelle bowed.
"Ah, let me go with you, Noelle. I also need to pay a visit to the tavern to check up on something." Huffman said.
"Oh, you mean your Dandelion Wine?" Lawrence recalled, making the knight flinch.
"Yeah... that..." Huffman sweatdropped before heading back inside the city. "Let's go, Noelle."
"Yes, Huffman." Noelle bowed before turning to the girls. "Have a good rest back at the hotel, girls."
"Yeah, see ya./Thanks for the help, Noelle-san." Regina and Miku replied before Noelle went after Huffman.
"We'll be heading back now, Lawrence-san. Thanks for the help." Miku bowed.
"You're welcome, Miku, Regina. And thanks for letting us know about the attack. Have a good rest, girls. You've earned it." Lawrence smiled back as he watched the two walk back inside the city.
Angel's Share
"I'm back..." Huffman greeted while panting a bit, with Noelle right beside him.
"Ah, welcome back." Fu Hua greeted back as she and the others are still seated and having a few drinks. "So is the situation resolved?"
"Yeah... all taken care of." Huffman replied before sighing. "But never expected that the Abyss Order's army would turn out to be nothing more than an army of slimes."
"I think we've lost count on how many slimes we've defeated." Noelle added. "But at least we're able to get some materials from them, so it'll be useful in the future."
"See? Fu Hua told you not to underestimate slimes." Paimon said to the knight.
"Huh, that's a surprise." Diluc commented while preparing a bottle of Dandelion Wine for take-out. "Perhaps the Knights' true calling is to be slime exterminators. Who knows, domestic pest control may turn out to be a more valuable use of your resources."
"Master Diluc, please, have you no respect at all..." Huffman muttered before turning to the group. "Anyway, did you guys see Master Dil- I mean today's bartender leave the tavern just now?"
"Nope, not an inch." Lumine replied as she and the others shook their head. "We've been ordering food and drinks from him this whole time."
"We even got to try out some of his signature dishes. I think it was called 'Pile 'Em Up'." Aether added.
"You've even missed the arm wrestling contest earlier. And Fu Hua dominated all of us with ease!" A patron informed. "Hey, since you're here, how's about you have a go at her?"
"Um... no thanks..." Huffman waved his hands in defence. "I think I've done enough fighting for tonight."
"Oh well, it's your loss."
"Anyway Huffman..." Diluc placed a bottle of Dandelion Wine on the table. "...your Dandelion Wine is ready. You ought to get back after this. Send my regards to the rest of the Knights."
"Yeah... I'll do just that. I'm gonna have to sleep once I'm done with my report." Huffman replied while taking the bottle and placing a bag of Mora on the table. "Here's this token of my esteem. Have a nice night, Master Diluc." Afterwards, he left the tavern. "This has been a very odd yet tiring day... Maybe Captain Kaeya was wrong about Master Diluc being the Darknight Hero since the travelers and Fu Hua were still at the tavern this whole time watching over him. Oh well, at least the crisis was resolved."
Once Huffman was long gone, Noelle began to speak up. "So, how was the battle against the Abyss army earlier, Master Diluc?"
"It went pretty well in my opinion." Diluc replied. "Though it's more like Team XDR completely crushing them. I'm really impressed at how strong they really are since they can use powers without the need of a Vision. And I also didn't expect Sucrose to join in on the attack."
"Zeo probably wanted her to stretch her legs for a while instead of working on her experiments most of the time." Fu Hua replied back.
"I see." Diluc noted. "Either way, the crisis has been averted and my identity as the Darknight Hero is still unknown to the Knights... Well, except for a few others who knew of my secret, including some of my own people from the Dawn Winery here tonight."
"That's good to know, Diluc Ragnvindr, because look who I found eavesdropping from the very beginning." Woz spoke up as he walked down the stairs... and carrying an unconscious Calvary Captain in a bridal carry.
"Kaeya?!" Paimon exclaimed in shock, with the others feeling the same way minus Diluc who's unfazed by the reveal. "Where did he come from?!"
"If I were to guess, he was sitting quietly on the 2nd floor of the tavern before all of us came in, including Master Diluc." Woz answered. "And I was already at the 2nd floor having tea and reading a book before he came in... that is until I saw him watching the events unfold with a glass of wine."
"Then... why is he unconscious?" Diluc asked, pointing at the unconscious Kaeya.
"It was simple, really. Before Kaeya could have another sip of his wine, I did a bit of magic on it from a distance while he wasn't looking." Woz explained. "All it takes is one small sip to knock him out cold."
"You used a 'Sleep' spell on Kaeya's wine?" Lumine guessed.
"Not just a 'Sleep' spell, Lumine. I've also added a bit of a memory eraser to it."
"A memory eraser?" Aether repeated.
"Correct, Aether." Woz nodded. "And I've used it on him to erase the whole Darknight Hero crisis, so consider your secret safe, Master Diluc."
"I see..." Diluc noted. "Though I question if your methods necessary in order to keep my involvement in the dark."
"You know how I loathe clever eavesdroppers that might have potential to leak secrets, so I had to make sure." Woz explained.
"If you say so."
"You can be really scary and dangerous at times, Woz." Paimon commented.
"Only to my enemies, Paimon." Woz replied. "Now then, Noelle, please be a dear and take Captain Kaeya back to his room in the Knights HQ. Also, tell the other Knights that he drank too much wine to the point that he fell asleep."
"As you wish, Woz." Noelle bowed as Woz gave the unconscious Kaeya to her in a bridal carry. "Oh, and I'll come back here for a moment to order take-out for Regina's apple juice. In the meantime, have a nice night, everyone." She bowed once more before leaving the tavern with Kaeya in her arms.
"Well, I think we're gonna head back to base and sleep." Aether declared as they stood up from their seats.
"Goodnight, Diluc." Lumine added as they head for the door.
"Same to you too." Diluc replied as he watched them leave the tavern, except for Woz who stayed behind.
"I should go too, since my work here is done." Woz declared as he was also about to leave, but not before giving one more look at Diluc. "Oh, and one more thing, welcome to Xross Drive Rebellion, Diluc Ragnvindr." He smiled before leaving the tavern.
Diluc briefly took out his new Zikan Phone from his pocket to look with a small smile on his face. "A Rebellion, huh? Maybe they might be the key for the road to dawn. Heh, after what I saw tonight, I'm looking forward to working alongside them."
Chapter 3: The Darknight Hero
END
Diluc Ragnvindr has joined Xross Drive Rebellion
Author's Note: Geez... this chapter took a long time to finish due to how busy I am with games, work, and other stuff. Oh well, real life comes first. But anyway, Diluc has now joined Team XDR as an honorary member, and his link with the underground network will be useful in dealing with the Abyss Order and that Fatui hiding from the shadows. Also, it felt good to write about Team XDR completely curb-stomping the Abyss Order from out of nowhere instead of just Diluc and the traveler. That's definitely going to leave a mark. I also changed the ending of this character quest with Kaeya falling to sleep with Woz's magic along with the memory of the Darknight Hero crisis being wiped off, so consider Diluc's secret safe thanks to Woz. And yes, Woz can do magic considering the abilities he possess in Kamen Rider Zi-O.
But anyway, with Diluc's story done, time to move on to the next Mondstadt character quest. Which one will it be? Well... only time will tell. See ya next chapter!
