Book 4: The Winds of Change

Chapter 4: The Meaning of Lupical


Mondstadt City, Team XDR Base

Basement Area

Daytime

A new day has dawned within the city of Mondstadt as everyone resumed their daily activities ever since the Darknight Hero crisis was resolved last night. And speaking of the Darknight Hero; Diluc Ragnvindr, Team XDR's newest honorary member, took his free time to assist Elfnein with preparing a new Trans Server within Team XDR base so that they can teleport to the Zi-O Liner directly. Elfnein was very thankful for his assistance and did not expect Diluc to adept quickly when it comes to tinkering with technology that's far beyond Mondstadt, the Fatui, or even the whole of Teyvat. So far, the process continues to go smoothly, until a certain Outrider arrived to see what's going on in the basement.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" Amber called out as she walked down the stairs.

"Oh, it's Amber-san!" Elfnein recognized the familiar voice. "Diluc-san, you don't mind if she..."

"Sure." Diluc shrugged while he continued to tinker with the Trans Server. "She's a part of this team, remember?"

"I'm over here, Amber-san! And Diluc-san's with me too!"

"Okay!" Amber replied until she met up with them. "Hi, Elfnein! Hard at work, I see."

"Yeah, it's for Einstein's request." Elfnein replied back. "Everyone's busy with their own things so I'm alone for the time being. Good thing Diluc-san is here to help me out since he's free."

"I still can't believe you're now a part of this team like I am, Master Diluc." Amber remarked. "I was really surprised when Zeo and the others texted me the news."

"Texted?" Diluc repeated until he recalled something. "Ah, right. The Zikan Phones. Guess they gave you your own phone too."

"Yup! Since two days ago after I've joined the team." Amber replied as she briefly showed off her Zikan Phone with a red and brown color scheme. She put away her phone and stared at the machine. "So... what is this thing?"

"A Trans Server." Elfnein answered. "A machine to teleport people from one place to the next as long as the same machine is built on other locations."

"It's kind of like how we use our Visions to teleport to the activated waypoints and the Statues of the Seven." Diluc added. "Except that this machine can be used to teleport without the need of a Vision."

"Wow... that's so cool!" Amber beamed with starry eyes.

"We're only going to use one for now." Elfnein stated. "But if we can obtain another of our own base within the Liyue region, we can build another Trans Server there. Also, only people with Zikan Phones can access the machines for added security measure."

"I see." Amber noted. "But what if the Zikan Phones were stolen at some point and someone else uses it?"

"Oh, not to worry, Amber-san. The Zikan Phone scans your DNA, so only the person with the same DNA can use it. And if it's broken or destroyed, we can always repair or build another one."

"Interesting." Diluc mused. "That way, not even the Fatui, the Abyss Order, nor the Treasure Hoarders can use them when they steal it."

"Exactly." Elfnein confirmed. "But try not to store too much important information or items inside the Zikan Phone. If it's destroyed, the contents inside will be destroyed too, so I suggest you store the contents back to the Zi-O Liner or one of our bases."

"Got it. Thanks for the heads-up." Amber noted as she and Diluc nodded.

"Okay, I think that should be it." Diluc informed as he stopped tinkering. "Is this okay?"

Elfnein took a quick look at the machine control panel before nodding in confirmation. "Yup. Should be operational. Let's test it out."

Diluc closed the control panel as Elfnein pushed a few buttons to start up the Trans Server. The machine eventually became operational once the lights lit up, prompting Elfnein to take out her Zikan Phone to contact Einstein via voice call. "Elfnein here, the new Trans Server is ready and operational."

"Took you long enough." Einstein replied. "Now set the coordinates to the Zi-O Liner so we can start testing out the teleporter."

"Hai." Elfnein complied before she pushed a few buttons on the controls to set the coordinates. "Okay, it's ready. You can start at any time."

"I'm sending in one of my drones to test out. Stand by for transfer in 3... 2... 1... Transfer!"

The Trans Server platform lit up in a blue glow, prompting them to take a few steps back. And with a flash of light, Einstein's floating blue drone appeared on the machine, surprising Amber and Diluc. "Ah good, it works." Elfnein remarked.

"Wow..." Amber said in awe when looking at the drone. "So this thing is a drone? It looks cute!"

"It may look small, but they can be really helpful especially if there's more than one."

"I see." Diluc noted.

"But we're not gonna use these drones here until further notice." Elfnein stated. "I think you both know why."

"The Fatui and the Abyss Order. Right." Amber recalled as she and Diluc nodded.

"Okay, Elfnein. Send the drone back here, and we can call this experiment a success." Einstein ordered.

"Hai." Elfnein complied, typing on the Trans Server controls as the platform lit up once more. "3... 2... 1... Transfer!" And with a push of a button, the drone vanished in a blue flash before the machine powered down.

"Alright, the drone is now back in the Zi-O Liner. Test successful, job well done."

"Thank you, Einstein. But I couldn't have gotten the machine working properly without Diluc-san's help." Elfnein replied.

"It's the least I could do. I can handle a few repairs as long as proper instructions are given." Diluc added.

"Heh, I can tell you're gonna be a great help to the team. Maybe we'll invite you into the Zi-O Liner soon. The same goes for Amber."

"I'll look forward to that, doctor." Diluc smiled.

"Me too! I can't wait to see what's inside!" Amber also smiled.

"Oh, didn't expect the Outrider to show up so suddenly. Well then, back to work for me. Call me if there's anything important to share." Einstein said before ending the voice call.

"We're back, Elfnein-chan!" Hibiki greeted as she, along with Kirika, Zeo, Akira, Gunvolt, Joule. Lumine, Aether, Paimon, Kiana and Mei arrived.

"Oh, hi there, Amber! We didn't know you were coming to visit." Mei also greeted.

"Good to see you guys too!" Amber greeted back.

"Hey, is that a Trans Server?" Gunvolt pointed at said machine.

"Mhm." Elfnein nodded. "We've just finished testing a moment ago, and it's fully operational. Now we can use this to warp back to the Zi-O Liner."

"That's great to hear, Elfnein." Akira smiled. "Now we won't have to keep going back to the Whispering Woods all the time to enter the train."

"Yes. And I'm also thankful for Diluc-san's assistance."

"It's the least I can do, and I've tinkered with machines before." Diluc said.

"By the way, Amber-chan, what brings you here today?" Kiana asked.

"Oh, right!" Amber gasped. "Almost forgot about it. I was hoping if you're free to help me with an investigation."

"An investigation, dess?" Kirika repeated.

"Yeah. Recently, wolves have been attacking the carts at Drunkard Gorge."

"A wolf attack, huh?" Zeo mused, before blinking in confusion. "Wait, why is there a place called Drunkard Gorge?"

"I've no idea, honestly." Aether shrugged.

"Anyway, wolves are dangerous animals, but even they have their own set of rules." Amber explained. "Mondstadt's wolves don't normally venture outside of the Brightcrown Mountains and Wolvendom."

"Yes, Paimon heard someone say that those areas do have their own set of rules, even though they are wild and untouched by humans." Paimon recalled.

"That's right." Amber nodded. "So for wolves to be showing up around Drunkard Gorge is very unusual."

"So you're heading for Drunkard Gorge to look for any clues, right?" Aether guessed, earning a nod from the Outrider. "Alright, I think we can help you out. Right, Lumine?"

"Sure." Lumine replied. "We still have some free time to help out."

"You guys go on ahead. I'll stay here and help Elfnein with everything else since Sucrose and Miriam are busy." Diluc said. "And besides, I'm sure you'll do just fine since you've got Amber as your guide."

"If you say so." Akira replied.

"Great!" Amber clasped her hands. "Then it's settled! Give me a moment to head back to the Favonius Headquarters to get my gear ready. Wait for me outside the gate, I'll be back soon!" Afterwards, she quickly left the basement.

"Hmph, as expected of the Outrider, she can never sit still when it comes to preparations." Diluc smirked. "But she's reliable, regardless."

"Hehe, I agree." Joule agreed.

"Yup yup!" Paimon nodded.

"Okay, time for us to head out. Diluc-san, Elfnein-chan, see you two later!" Hibiki waved as the group left the basement.

"Take care, everyone!" Elfnein waved back as she and Diluc watched them leave.

"Now then, is there anything else you want me to help you with?" Diluc asked the young alchemist.

"Yes, plenty." Elfnein replied. "But, let's take a break and have something to eat first."

"Sure thing. Let me cook something for you." Diluc replied back as they left the basement.


Drunkard Gorge

A few moments later once the group changed into their battlesuits, they head for Drunkard Gorge to look for any clues about the wolf attacks. Along the way however, Amber noticed a disturbance at a distance. "Look, up ahead!" Amber informed as they saw a group of hilichurls attacking the carts.

"That ain't no wolf pack... looks like it's the hilichurls attacking the carts after all." Paimon pointed out.

"Either way, we need to stop them!" Hibiki stated before rushing ahead.

"Hey, Hibiki-chan! At least wait for us!" Kiana shouted before the group quickly went after her.

Hibiki quickly arrived at the scene first and fought off the hilichurls with ease thanks to her martial arts. By the time the others arrived, Hibiki had already defeated the hilichurls. "Don't worry, guys! She's okay!" She assured to the others while helping out a woman named Siegfria stand up.

"Bless you!" Siegfria thanked.

"Hehe! Anytime!" Hibiki smiled back, rubbing the tip of her nose.

"So, the hilichurls have been starting to flex their muscles on the back of the wolf scare." Amber said with her hand on her chin.

"That's right." Siegfria replied. "But I must say, if you think the hilichurls are a nasty lot, the wolves are even worse."

"Why is that?" Zi-O asked.

"They... they attacked Springvale this morning."

"Say what?!" Aether exclaimed.

"Springvale!? That's crazy!" Amber also exclaimed.

"It's unheard of." Siegfria continued. "I thought I would take my chances on the road after the wolves had their fun... I never thought the hilichurls would show up too."

"I'm guessing those hilichurls must've taken advantage of the situation once the wolves finished attacking the carts." Gunvolt pondered.

"Anyway, we'd better head for Springvale and see how bad the situation is." Lumine stated.

"But what about the carts, dess? They can still work, right?" Kirika questioned.

"Give me a moment to have a look." Siegfria replied as she went to one of her carts to check for any damages. "Okay, I think I should be able to repair the carts without any issues. You guys go on ahead, I'll be fine from here."

"Understood. Stay safe, okay?" Mei replied back before the group head for Springvale.


Springvale

Once the group arrived at the village called Springvale, they saw two hunters named Jotun and Draff, the latter having small fox ears, looking at a man named Hopkins the Marvelous on the ground shivering with fear. "Hey Draff! Jotun!" Aether greeted the hunters. "What's going on here?"

"Ah, good to see you, Aether, Paimon, Amber." Draff greeted back before looking at Hopkins. "See this poor lad? Awful, isn't it? He can't even stand up."

"That's terrible!" Amber gasped.

"...Except... he's not really injured..." Paimon sweatdropped after noticing no injuries on Hopkins.

"Right." Jotun replied. "It's awful, the wolves frightened him so badly that he's paralyzed with fear."

"Hmm... that bad, huh?" Kiana questioned.

"Anyway, do you remember any significant details of what you saw?" Mei asked the man.

"I–I've never seen a wolf in my life before today, it was terrifying..." Hopkins replied while stuttering.

"So no details then..." Starlight noted.

"Let's try and search the area again for clues." Amber suggested. "How about we split up into three groups so we can cover more ground?"

"Sounds good." Zi-O agreed. "Aether, Lumine, Paimon, go with Amber. Me, sis and GV will check another area."

"And that leaves me, Kirika-chan, Kiana-chan and Mei-chan to look at the remaining area. Got it." Hibiki nodded.

"We'll meet up with Draff over here once we're done investigating." Amber stated.

"Gotcha. See ya in a bit." Kiana replied before the group split up to investigate the areas.


Zi-O and Starlight arrived at a small house where they saw massive claw marks on the ground. "Hmm... claw marks, huh?" Zi-O said.

"I wonder if it's either one or two wolves that clawed the ground here?" Starlight pondered. "Do you think wolves would leave claw marks as large as this?"

"I don't think a normal wolf can make a mark this big." Gunvolt replied. "If that's the case... then this is no ordinary wolf that did this."

"Let's tell Amber and the others of what we've discovered." Zi-O replied back before they left.


Meanwhile with Hibiki's group, they arrived at another house where they saw a broken door. "Hold on..." Kiana noticed something hanging on the door and pulled it out to show the group. "Is this a tooth?"

"Hmm..." Mei took a closer look at the tooth. "It seems to be a tooth from a wolf."

"He must have smashed into the door when he pounced." Hibiki noted.

"Must be calcium deficient, dess." Kirika added.

"Either way, seems pretty lucky how no one in the village got seriously injured." Kiana noted. "Let's show this to the others and hear their opinions about it."


As for Amber, Paimon and the twin travelers, they arrived at another house where Amber saw a piece of fur that's stuck with something. "Wolf fur..." Amber said after having a closer look at the fur. "I heard that in Liyue they make calligraphy brushes out of this stuff. The color looks nothing like Mondstadt wolf fur, based on what the books say. Could it be that they're from somewhere else entirely?"

"Hair looks different at every place on the body, same applies to wolves." Paimon replied. "You don't know where it's from..."

"But look at this." Amber showed what was stuck on the fur.

"Another hair. But what's that stuck to it?"

"A seed?" Aether answered when they took a closer look at the fur.

"Is there something special about it?" Lumine questioned.

"It's the seed of a Wolfhook berry." Amber answered as she pointed at the seed. "Look, there are little hooks on the seed. The only places this grows in Mondstadt are Wolvendom and Brightcrown Canyon."

"So it's Wolvendom wolves after all?" Paimon guessed.

"From that area, yes, but it could be that there are other wolf packs encroaching on their territory. This doesn't tell us everything, but it does give us a strong lead. Enough to start investigating."

"So we're off to Wolvendom to get some answers?" Lumine guessed.

"Yup." Amber nodded. "Let's regroup with the others first."


When the three teams regrouped at Draff's location, they saw Hopkins already back on his feet. "Ah, you're back! How is your investigation coming along?" Hopkins asked.

"Wha?! You're standing!" Paimon exclaimed.

"I have recovered, thankfully." Hopkins replied. "I managed to claw my way back out of the depths of hell. So, Knights of Favonius, what have you found out?"

"From inspecting the wolf fur left at the scene, we can tell that the wolves came from Wolvendom. Beyond that, we don't know anything." Amber informed. "But please remain calm. We will head to Wolvendom shortly and get to the bottom of this. The Knights of Favonius will not allow this danger to continue any longer."

"Good. Better late than never I suppose..." Hopkins huffed.

"Well that's just rude." Kiana frowned with her arms crossed.

"In the meantime, we'll just have to keep dealing with this on our own."

"Just try not to do anything stupid, or you'll end up like last time." Mei cautioned.

"Hah!" Hopkins scoffed. "We do things a bit differently around here, you Favonius lot probably aren't used to it. They will pay for what they've done! Goodbye!" After that, he left the village with Jotun following behind.

"It's awful, it really is..." Draff sighed.

"What is?" Gunvolt questioned.

"Their future outlook, I mean."

"Ah... I agree." The group nodded.

"Young people can be so impulsive sometimes." Draff shook his head. "If it's not too much to ask, I hope you can keep an eye on them, stop them from getting into trouble."

"It's no trouble, that's what we're here for." Amber replied. "Even though that guy really isn't much of a charmer."

"More like a complete dick to me." Starlight remarked with Zi-O nodding in agreement.

"Either way, leave it to us." Hibiki said to Draff.

"Thanks. Just be careful out there." Draff replied before the group left the village.

"So guys, any clues you discovered?" Amber asked the group while walking.

"Starlight and I found large claw marks on the ground right beside a house." Zi-O informed.

"No way a normal wolf can leave a mark like that after what we've seen." Starlight added.

"Mei, anything on your end?" Gunvolt asked.

"As for our team, Kiana-chan found a wolf's tooth in front of a broken door on another house." Mei informed while Kiana showed the group the tooth she found.

"I've never seen a wolf's tooth like that before." Amber remarked after having a closer look at the tooth before putting it away. "Maybe we'll find some answers once we arrive in Wolvendom."

"Wolvendom, huh?" Aether repeated. "I think Paimon and I went there before to help a member of the Adventurers' Guild."

"Really? Since when?" Lumine asked.

"During the Stormterror Crisis. While I was waiting for Diluc to gain information on the Abyss Order's whereabouts to free Dvalin, Katherine asked me to look for an adventurer named Bennett who's having some trouble with some slimes."

"Not to mention the guy having large amounts of bad luck." Paimon added.

"You're kidding." Kiana sweatdropped.

"Paimon wishes it was a joke." Paimon also sweatdropped.

"I don't think it's a joke either, Kiana. Bennett's just that unlucky considering I traveled with him before." Amber admitted. "Too many booby traps he triggered while exploring a domain together."

"Oof..." Zi-O cringed.

"So Bennett's just a normal adventurer, then?" Mei guessed.

"Well... not exactly." Aether answered. "Turns out that Bennett's a Pyro Vision Bearer just like Amber, but he uses swords instead."

"He's a Vision Bearer, dess?!" Kirika exclaimed.

"But that's not the only surprise we've encountered in Wolvendom." Aether continued. "When the slimes formed up into a bigger slime, another person showed up with a claymore and defeated it with one powerful electro slash."

"An electro slash, huh? An Electro Vision Bearer wielding a claymore?" Gunvolt guessed.

"Yup, got it in one!" Paimon confirmed. "It was a wolf boy named Razor."

"Razor? Never heard of him before." Amber commented before blinking. "Wait, wolf boy?"

"Well according to Razor, he was raised by a pack of wolves like family and are living together within Wolvendom." Aether explained.

"We even helped him gather boar meat for him and his wolves." Paimon added. "Though it was not enough, but it's better than nothing. Though Paimon wonders about what Razor mentioned about the red one, burny girl who could make the whole mountain on fire?"

"...Oh no." Amber facepalmed when the familiar mentioned a certain someone. "I think I know who the girl is that Razor mentioned."

"Who is it?" Aether asked.

"...It was Klee."

"KLEE?!" The group exclaimed.

"Y-You're kidding, right, dess?!" Kirika questioned.

"No joke, unfortunately." Amber sighed. "That girl caused a lot of trouble for Jean, especially when it involves throwing bombs into fish ponds."

"Hah?!" Zi-O and Starlight gawked.

"I think Sucrose-san mentioned that Klee is the size of a young child." Hibiki recalled. "Who gave her the idea of blasting fish ponds?"

"I have no clue, but if I were to guess, I bet it was Kaeya." Amber guessed.

"It HAD to be him..." Lumine mentally groaned. "...Would he?"

"I've lost count at how many times Klee had to be sent to solitary confinement due to her actions." Amber sighed. "If only her mother Alice was there to teach her some manners. Too bad she left for a very long expedition, and I don't know how long she'll return to Mondstadt."

"Sorry that you and the Knights had to go through that kind of trouble, Amber." Joule apologized from inside Gunvolt's relic pendant.

"It's okay, Joule. We're used to it... I hope." Amber replied. "Anyway, we're almost at Wolvendom."

"Maybe we can ask Razor for help." Aether suggested.

"Worth a shot since he's friends with his wolf pack." Gunvolt replied.


Wolvendom

When the group arrived at Wolvendom, they saw two people having a conversation. "Ah look!" Paimon noticed the familiar faces. "It's Razor... and Bennett? What's he doing with Razor?"

"Razor's the one with red eyes and long grey hair, while Bennett's the one with the goggles on his head." Aether described to the group.

"So that's the wolf boy you mentioned..." Amber noted, looking at the grey haired boy. "Let's go meet up with them."

When the group approached the two, Razor summoned his Skyrider Greatsword and pointed at them. "Who's there?" Razor has long, spiky grey hair; bright red eyes; and pale skin. He also has several scars on his body, including one on his left cheek and several on his arms. His outfit consists of green camouflage pants, an orange poncho-like shirt, dark boots, and a dark hooded coat decorated with belts. His accessories are a tooth necklace, thumb-less orange gloves, and one gold earring on his left ear. Also, his Electro Vision is hanging behind his back.

"C-Chill out Razor, it's only us!" Paimon assured with her hands raised.

"Oh! Aether, Paimon and Amber! Fancy meeting you here!" Bennett greeted with a grin. Bennett has pale ash-grey hair, light tan skin, and bright green eyes, along with wearing his goggles on his head. He also has prominent scar on his left shoulder. His outfit consists of cuffed navy shorts and a sleeveless cream-colored jacket with blue and gold details, a leather belt, a bag holding his Pyro Vision attached to it, gloves, and a yellow bandanna tied around his right arm. "Wait... when did your party became bigger?"

"Let's just say... stuff happened." Aether answered. "Anyway, this is my sister, Lumine, and these are her friends, Zi-O, Starlight, Kiana, Mei, Hibiki, Kirika and Gunvolt, but you can call him GV."

"Nice to meet you, guys! The name's Bennett, and this here is my friend, Razor."

"Mm." Razor greeted with a nod and dispersed his claymore... before sensing Gunvolt's scent and sniffed at him.

"Why... are you sniffing at me?" Gunvolt questioned with a sweatdrop.

"You smell like, Electro. But, blue?"

"I'm what you call a... 'special case'. And no, I'm not an Electro Vision Bearer." Gunvolt replied before briefly showing of his blue electrical hand. "But I do have Electro powers."

"Interesting. You, unique." Razor remarked.

"Aww... he likes you." Joule silently gushed.

"(I don't think it's because of that, Joule.)" Gunvolt whispered and sweatdropped.

"Anyway..." Bennett spoke up. "Since you guys are here, I need your help with Razor's problem."

"Problem? What's up?" Zi-O asked.

"I sent lupical away. People coming, bad people." Razor answered.

"Bad people? What do you mean?" Paimon questioned.

"I think he meant Hopkins and Jotun." Mei pointed out.

"I understand." Amber noted. "But first, I have a few questions, Razor."

Suddenly, Razor began to sniff the area before frowning. "I smell blood. Quick." Afterwards, he immediately ran off.

"Hey, Razor! Where are you going?!" Bennett shouted before going after him.

"Wait, blood?" Kiana repeated. "Please tell me the wolves did not attack those idiots..."

"I hope not, but let's hurry!" Amber replied before the group went after Razor and Bennett.


When the group caught up with Razor and Bennett, they gasped in shock at what they discovered. "Are those... blood droplets, dess?" Kirika asked as they took a closer look at the blood on the ground.

"Not human blood, wolf blood. Lupical blood..." Razor answered.

"Wolf blood? Did those bad people did this?" Bennett pondered.

"Loopy what now? Are you gonna tell us what it means yet?" Paimon asked the wolf boy.

"Lupical is family fate gave me. When wolf accepts human as its own. Or human accepts wolf. That is lupical." Razor explained.

"Sounds like gibberish to me."

"I don't think so, Paimon." Zi-O said. "The first half of the word Lupical means Lupus, for wolf. While the other half, 'ical', might've meant a concept of biological family. That's why Razor thinks of his wolf pack as family."

"Is that what the word means?" Amber remarked. "I thought it was some kind of name the wolves thought of or something."

"Lupical, it was the name he gave me." Razor answered.

"Who's 'he'?" Mei asked.

"Guardian of this land."

"Wouldn't that be Barbatos though? He is the ruler of Mondstadt." Paimon guessed.

"Guardian...? Hmm... I don't think it's Barbatos since he's the Archon, so I wonder if..." Starlight thought.

"Enough. Another clue. Follow me." Razor said before running ahead.

"Hey, wait! This is your chance to prove your innocence!" Amber shouted.

"Amber, there's no way Razor would do something like this. Trust me." Bennett said. "He and his wolves have been looking out for me ever since we became friends."

"I think Bennett might be right about this." Hibiki stated. "But let's go after Razor for now before we judge too quickly."

"Hibiki-chan's got a point, let's move!" Kiana agreed before the group went after Razor.

Once the group caught up with Razor, they saw him examining an injured wolf. "This is him. We find his blood. Bad men did this." Razor spoke to the group.

"How terrible..." Paimon said.

"Razor, just to confirm, are you really sure that your wolf pack are not involved with the village attack?" Zi-O asked.

"We didn't attack village! Not us!" Razor shouted. "A black wolf and his pack, not from here. They try to take over land. They broke the code."

"What code?" Gunvolt asked.

"Guardian of this land. They broke his code."

"That's now the second time you've brought that up. Tell us who that is." Amber demanded.

"I take lupical further in. Follow me, maybe you see." Razor replied while carrying the injured wolf before walking ahead, while the others followed behind him.

"Guardian... Guardian... why does that word sound familiar...? I could've sworn I heard someone explain that to me before..." Starlight thought once more.

"A black wolf and his pack, huh? And not only that, they're not from Mondstadt. That explains the large claw marks along with the broken door and the unusual tooth. I've got a bad feeling about this..." Zi-O also thought with dread.

As the group journeyed deep within Wolvendom, they saw massive claw marks on a large rock. "Hey, check this out, guys." Gunvolt noticed the claw marks.

"Whoa... that's soooo huge..." Paimon remarked.

"This is definitely not something a normal wolf would do." Kiana stated. "I think it's safe to say that Razor and his wolf pack are not the ones attacking the village."

"Thanks for understanding." Razor smiled back before looking ahead. "There. We can treat lupical wound here." He led them to a very large grey arena with glowing light blue eyes at the far end of it.

"Why is there an arena in a place like this?" Hibiki questioned.

"No idea, dess." Kirika shook his head.

Once the group arrived at the center of the arena, Razor placed the injured wolf on the ground. "Everyone, help me. Collect these." Razor took something out of his pocket and showed it to the group.

"Aren't those Wolfhook seeds?" Paimon recognized the seeds Razor is holding.

"Crush them. Put on wound. Bleeding stop." Razor instructed.

"It's true." Amber confirmed. "Wolfhook seeds have a liquid coating that not only functions as a mild painkiller, but also has a hemostatic effect."

"Interesting..." Lumine noted. "How do you know about this?"

"...I read that in a book."

"Was it Sucrose or Lisa that showed you the book?" Gunvolt asked.

"It was Lisa." Amber answered, earning questionable looks from the group. "What? It could be useful for survival in the wilderness."

"Huh, maybe I should've read those kinds of books to negate my bad luck." Bennett pondered.

"I don't think that's how luck works, Benny." Starlight sweatdropped.

"Uh, sis? His name is Bennett, not Benny." Zi-O pointed out.

"Yeah, but Benny sounds cuter in my opinion."

"O-kay then. Whatever you say." Zi-O shrugged.

"It's okay. Some people like to call me Benny anyway." Bennett smiled while rubbing the back of his head.

"Hooks help seeds move. Liquid stops pain and bleeding." Razor spoke up. "Animal doesn't feel hooks, they take seeds far away... Purple teacher told me so."

"Purple teacher?" Aether repeated. "Are you talking about Lisa?"

"Mm." Razor nodded. "I stay here, take care of this one. I answer red girl's questions."

"Right." Amber nodded back. "And if that lot does come back, I doubt they will try their luck against a member of the Knights of Favonius."

"So we'll just have to look for those Wolfhooks, right? This shouldn't take long considering how large our party is." Kiana stated, punching her open palm with her fist.

"Actually... there's no need to search for them." Aether spoke up, while taking out some purple berries with thorns out of his pocket. "Because I was able to pick some of these during my first excursion within Wolvendom."

"Nice going, Aether!" Lumine praised.

"That's the Honorary Knight for ya!" Paimon cheered.

"You're not the only one with Wolfhooks." Bennett also took out some Wolfhooks from his pockets. "Lucky for me, I still have plenty of Wolfhooks left. I was going to use them as cooking materials, but I guess that can wait. Helping Razor's wolf buddy comes first."

"Talk about lucky, Benny! Nice, dess!" Kirika praised.

"Hehe! Thanks! Guess luck is on my side this time." Bennett smiled back, rubbing the tip of his nose with his finger.

"I think these should be enough to help your lupical friend, Razor." Mei assured.

"It's enough. Thank you, all of you." Razor smiled at the group.

"Alright Razor, just tell us what we need to do to treat those wounds." Zi-O said.

"Mm." Razor nodded. "Watch and listen closely."

"I'll also use my power to help heal those wounds, if you don't mind." Gunvolt suggested.

"More help is good. Thank you."


A few minutes had gone by as Razor taught the group how to use the Wolfhooks to heal wounds while helping out the injured wolf. Razor also answered Amber's questions about the village attack on Springvale. Eventually, they were able to heal the injured wolf as it began to barely stand and walk before nearly tripping, only for Razor to catch the wolf before it collapsed again. "Wait here. I carry lupical to safety." Razor said to the group as he carried the wolf once more.

"Take your time. We're not going anywhere." Starlight replied, earning a nod from Razor before heading for a safe location with the wolf in tow.

"Wait! Let me come with you and help!" Bennett shouted as he went after the wolf boy.

"Hmm..." Amber hummed with her hand on her chin. "I still wonder about those black wolves that Razor mentioned."

"Have you seen or heard those kinds of wolves before?" Lumine asked.

"No, not even once." Amber shook her head.

"I never encountered those kinds of wolves either, sis." Aether added.

"If only there's a way we can track them down." Hibiki pondered with her hand on her chin.

"Maybe we should stay at Springvale for the night in case those black wolves attack again." Kiana suggested.

"AAAAHHHH!"

The moment they heard a scream, they quickly looked around for the source. "Uh, guys? Who's scream was that?" Paimon asked.

"No idea. And I don't think it's Razor or Bennett since they can take care of themselves." Gunvolt replied.

"Then who's the one that-"

"RUN AWAY!"

The group heard someone approaching from the entrance of the arena and saw a very frightened Hopkins running for his life along with Jotun following after him. "Knights of Favounius! Save me!" Hopkins yelled as he clung onto Amber.

"Hey! Calm down for a second!" Amber retorted, pushing Hopkins away. "What's going on?"

"W-Wolves! G-G-Ghost wolves chasing me!" Hopkins answered while shivering with fear.

"Ghost wolves?" The group repeated.

"He's not kidding." Jotun confirmed. "I've never seen those kinds of wolves in Mondstadt before. Heck, I don't think they're even wolves either."

"Wait. What color are those wolves?" Zi-O asked.

"Black with dark purple fur. And they even look skeletal, not to mention floating like ghosts." Jotun described, which made the groups eyes widen in shock.

"I think you two just ran into the ones that attacked Springvale." Mei surmised.

"WHAT?!" Hopkins exclaimed. "THEY'RE the ones that attacked the village?!"

"Are the wolves still chasing you two?" Starlight asked Hopkins and Jotun.

"Dear Barbatos, I hope not!" Hopkins yelled.

"I'm not entirely sure if we lost them or not since we kept running and never looked back." Jotun answered.

"Then you two better head back to Springvale and hide. I'll escort you both to safety." Amber advised.

"Please do!" Hopkins responded.

"Thanks for the help, Amber." Jotun thanked.

"I'll come back and assist you guys once I'm done escorting them to safety." Amber told the group.

"Understood." Zi-O replied. "Kirika, go and help Amber with the escort."

"Okay, dess!" Kirika complied with a salute.

"We'll be back soon, so hang tight, guys!" Amber said to the group before she and Kirika quickly escorted Hopkins and Jotun away by heading east.

"Hibiki, can you sense those wolves coming?" Gunvolt asked.

"Hold on." Hibiki closed her eyes and used her ki sense to detect any auras, until she opened her eyes once the auras were found. "They're coming this way! A large pack of them!"

"Weapons ready, everyone!" Zi-O ordered as the group quickly prepared their weapons.

"Paimon, you might wanna hide unless you want to be their next meal." Aether advised.

"Better yet, go find Razor and Bennett. We're gonna need back-up." Lumine added.

"R-Right!" Paimon nodded. "Good thing Paimon remembered which direction they went!" Afterwards, she quickly flew towards the direction Razor and Bennett took earlier.

Everyone prepared to defend themselves for the incoming ghost wolves, while Hibiki continued to use her ki sense onto the wolves auras. But then... "Eh?! They vanished?!" Hibiki gasped.

"Wait, what?!" Zi-O exclaimed. "Did you just say they vanished?!"

"I did! I can't sense their auras anymore!" Hibiki nodded. "But I could've sworn they were heading this way!"

"...I don't like this feeling one bit." Starlight frowned, gripping her energy swords tightly. "They're up to something."

"I agree." Mei nodded. "Ghosts can vanish and reappear at any time and place, so we'll need to be on our guard at all times."

Unknown to the group however, a floating ghost wolf appeared right behind Gunvolt in a dark purple warp and is about to slash him with its claws. Luckily, Joule was able to sense its presence and alerted the Azure Striker. "GV, behind you!"

"?!"Gunvolt's eyes widened before dodging the claw attack with a quick side-step, turned around and launched a Dragonsphere onto the wolf. However, it didn't take damage as it absorbed the Dragonsphere instead. "It absorbed my lightning?!" He exclaimed while taking a few steps back, earning the group's attention and noticed the ghost wolf in shock.

The floating ghost wolf has no legs but has sharp claws, a dark grey skeletal body with a tail, a black mane along with glowing purple eyes and some purple parts on the head and the lower part of its body. It let out a loud howl, startling the group for a moment as more ghost wolfs started appearing around the group, surrounding them.

"No way. They didn't just appear like ghosts, they warped!" Kiana exclaimed.

"These are no ordinary ghost wolves, that's for sure..." Aether frowned.

"Wait..." Lumine narrowed her eyes onto the ghost wolf's mane. "That's the same fur Amber found back at the village!"

"Not only that..." Mei narrowed her eyes onto the ghost wolf's teeth. "The teeth are the same one that Kiana-chan found!"

"There's our confirmation. And to think that these ghost wolves are the ones that attacked Drunkard Gorge and Springvale..." Zi-O muttered.

"Either way, we can take them down if we observe their patterns." Starlight stated. "We can't let them roam free."

"Are you sure about that? Because they absorbed my lightning earlier." Gunvolt recalled.

"Hmm..." Aether pondered before using his Elemental Sight on the ghost wolves and frowned upon seeing the results. "Well... you're not gonna like this, GV. These ghost wolves have the Electro element within them, which is why they're immune to your lightning."

"Damn it." Gunvolt muttered. "Can we still use physical attacks against them?"

"Won't know until we try it for ourselves, but we'll have to be careful not to get paralyzed since they're the Electro element." Hibiki replied.

"Maybe we can try using an elemental reaction on it, which in this case it's Pyro, Hydro, Anemo or Cryo." Mei added.

"Lucky for me, my Water Spirit guns have Cryo rounds." Kiana grinned as she twirled her mentioned guns.

"I think my brother and I can use our Anemo powers to fend them off." Lumine added with Aether nodding.

"My Pretty Cure powers should be able to harm them since it has light and fire elements." Starlight added. "Brother, you have anything to counter Electro enemies?"

"As a matter of fact... I do." Zi-O grinned, pulling out his Ryuki Ridewatch, turned the dial, inserted it into the Ziku Driver, slammed the tilt button and gave it a 360 spin, triggering the Armor Time. "Form Change!"

=ARMOR TIME!=

=ADVENT! RYUKI!=

After a quick transformation sequence, Zi-O donned the RyukiArmor, consisting of a red and silver color scheme with some black on the chestplate, dragon heads as shoulder pads, and lastly the helmet being grated horizontally like a knight's helmet along with the crest of Ryuki on the top of it. The pink katakana for 'Ryuki' slammed onto the visor, completing the transformation. Everyone was in awe at Zi-O's new armor.

"Heh, I always wanted to test how Kamen Rider Ryuki's power works." Zi-O commented while pumping a fist and prepared his combat pose before everyone else did the same. "Alright, let's do this! Joule, music please!"

"You got it, Zi-O!" Joule complied before singing her song.

(Play BGM: Azure Door by Joule)

The moment Joule sang her song, the ghost wolves quickly lunged towards the group, prompting them to split up with Zi-O, Aether and Gunvolt heading left, Starlight, Hibiki and Lumine heading right, and Kiana and Mei heading south.


Speaking of Kiana and Mei, they kept dodging the claw slashes from the ghost wolves while running away. Kiana tried to fire some Cryo rounds at the wolves, but the wolves dodged the shots due to their speed, making her grunt in frustration. "Damn it, I can't get a hit on those slippery wolves!" Kiana muttered before dodging a double claw slash with a backflip.

"If only there's away to group them in one place..." Mei said while parrying a claw slash with her katana and pushing the wolf back. "Wait..." She pondered for a moment as she and Kiana stood back-to-back, until an idea came to mind. "Kiana-chan, I'll gain their attention while setting up a substitution jutsu. Once the wolves took the bait..."

"That's when I'll fire a Cryo bulletstorm on those wolves, right?" Kiana guessed.

"Yup." Mei nodded. "And once the wolves are frozen, I'll detonate the scarecrow with an incendiary kunai, shattering them all in one blow."

"Incendiary kunai?" Kiana blinked. "Where'd you get those?"

"You can thank Ogawa-san for that, along with showing me the recipe on making those." Mei answered with a wink.

"Heh, from one ninja to another, I see." Kiana smirked. "But how are you gonna get their attention?"

"Remember when the ghost wolf absorbed GV's lightning? I'm going to use lightning from my katana as bait."

"So that's how..." Kiana noted before nodding. "Okay, make it work, Mei!"

"Leave it to me!" Mei nodded back before surging up her katana with so much lightning that garnered the wolves' attention. "Hey! You want my Electro so bad, then come and get it!" She then rushed off as the ghost wolves quickly began to chase her. She tried to dodge and weave away from the wolves' claws until suddenly, she was surrounded by them... which is exactly where she wants them. Once the wolves began to lunge at her all at once, she quickly vanished with a flash-step, leaving behind a scarecrow wearing Mei's battlesuit, while the real Mei appeared behind Kiana.

When Mei tapped Kiana's shoulder twice, she jumped into the air and aimed her guns with Cryo rounds at the group of distracted ghost wolves that are biting Mei's scarecrow. "Hope you enjoy having frostbite!" Kiana grinned as she unleashed a bulletstorm of Cryo onto the distracted wolves, freezing them all without missing a single one. Mei also leaped into the air and threw an incendiary kunai at the scarecrow, which exploded massively upon impact, shattering the frozen ghost wolves into numerous pieces. Once the valkyries safely landed on the ground, they shared a high-five at the successful tactic. However, they noticed a frozen ghost wolf that's still standing and was about to break free... only for Kiana to summon a large metal neko paw above the wolf via a small wormhole, and smashed it to pieces before vanishing. "Huh, can't believe we missed one." Kiana remarked.

"At least you finished the job before it can break free." Mei replied. "But where did those wolves come from?"

"No idea considering they warped." Kiana replied back as she picked up a broken claw from a ghost wolf. "Maybe we should show this to Sucrose."

"Good idea, considering she's a bio-alchemist." Mei agreed, prompting Kiana to store the broken claw inside the Zikan Phone. Mei also did the same to the other broken claws scattered across their area.


Meanwhile with Starlight, Lumine and Hibiki, they continued to run away from the ghost wolves chasing them. Lumine summoned her Viridecent Hunt bow and fired arrows at the wolves, only for them to dodge the arrows. "They're more nimble than I thought...!" Lumine muttered before she resumed running.

Hibiki continued to run, only for her to stop when a ghost wolf bit onto her scarf and pulled. Unfortunately for the wolf, her scarf is more than meets the eye. "Don't. Bite. My. Scarf!" Hibiki shouted as her scarf began to glow with yellow energy and whipped rapidly at the wolf until it's nothing but dust.

Lumine blinked in shock upon seeing that. "I didn't know her scarf can do that."

"And this is why I'd take an energy scarf/cape for utility use instead of a normal cloth." Starlight commented. "...Unless the scarf/cape is made up of a special material that can't be torn so easily."

"Hmm..." Lumine briefly glanced at her dual scarf, thinking about possibilities of them being used as offensive and defensive gear. She then quickly dodged another wolf bite before countering with a Palm Vortex onto its face, knocking it back a few metres.

Eventually, the girls stood back-to-back as they were surrounded by the ghost wolves. "Not good, we're surrounded..." Hibiki muttered while still in her combat stance. "Any ideas?"

"Give me a second to think first." Starlight replied before thinking of a plan.

"Then you'd better hurry, or we're dead meat." Lumine replied back.

While Starlight was pondering, she took a glance at Lumine's bow, and remembered Diluc's explanation at how special the bow is... which in turn, gave her an idea that might work. "Lumine." Starlight spoke up.

"Yes?"

"Remember Diluc's info about your new bow?"

"Yeah, it can generate an cyclone that can group enemies together while dealing damage." Lumine recalled, before her eyes widen in realization. "You're planning to trap those wolves with the cyclone!"

"Bingo." Starlight confirmed with a smirk. "But to make it work, you're gonna have to use your Anemo power to boost its effectiveness."

"Got it." Lumine nodded.

"After that, I'll trap them with my Starlight Sphere, allowing Hibiki to finish them all off with one strike."

"Understood, Starlight!" Hibiki nodded.

"Alright, get ready to jump on my signal." Starlight instructed as they watch closely at the wolves' movements. And when the wolves began to lunge at them all at once... "Jump!" The girls jumped into the air, evading the attack in time.

"Now!" Lumine aimed her bow as the arrow generated Anemo energy, and fired at the group of wolves, causing a cyclone field around them upon impact, pulling them into one spot and limiting their movements due to the sheer force of the wind.

Starlight rotated her PreBrace a few times, moved her right hand forward and summoned a large yellow and red energy sphere. "Starlight Sphere!" Starlight launched the sphere at the ghost wolves, trapping them inside upon contact. "Okay, Hibiki! It's all you!"

"Hai!" Hibiki complied, materializing her war gauntlet on her right arm and reeling it back as its rockets began to ignite. Afterwards, she bolted towards the trapped ghost wolves and delivered a powerful straight punch with her gauntlet onto the sphere, causing a massive explosion that obliterated them in one strike while Hibiki landed below the explosion as her war gauntlet dispersed. "Targets eliminated!" Hibiki reported with a grin and a peace pose.

"Nice going, girls. The counterattack worked without a hitch." Starlight praised as she and Lumine landed in front of the Attuned.

"Yep, and we have you to thank for it." Lumine replied before looking at the scattered claws of the defeated wolves. "Though I have to wonder where those wolves come from."

"Hmm..." Hibiki picked up one of the claws. "Maybe we can show this to Sucrose-san and Elfnein-chan? They'll figure something out, I hope."

"Sounds like a plan." Starlight approved as the girls took out their Zikan Phones and stored the scattered claws inside.


Meanwhile with Gunvolt, Aether and Zi-O, they continued to run away from the pursuing ghost wolves. Zi-O fired some rounds with his Zikan Gilade Zyu Mode onto the wolves, but they dodged the shots easily. "Tch... these mutts are really getting persistent!" Zi-O muttered.

Aether turned around and launch an Anemo sphere towards the wolves, but they were able to dodge those too. "Very persistent!" Aether muttered as he and Zi-O were about to defend themselves. However... they ignore them and continued to chase the Azure Striker instead. "What? They ignored us?"

"I think I know why. They're aiming for GV's Septima since it's Electro!" Zi-O realized as the turned to Gunvolt still being chased by the wolves.

"Why the heck are they chasing me for?!" Gunvolt questioned. "I thought they were aiming for all of us!"

"Probably because of your Septima, GV! They must really want it that badly!" Joule stated.

"Why did it have to be Electro of all elements..." Gunvolt groaned in annoyance before turning to the boys. "A little help would be nice!"

"Give us a minute, GV! Zi-O's thinking of a plan!" Aether replied while Zi-O pondered with his hand on his chin.

"Think faster!"

A few seconds of pondering, Zi-O thought of an idea with a finger snap. "Okay, I've got it! GV, group those wolves together and trap them with your Voltaic Chains! Let them bite the electric chains instead of you!"

"An ambush? Got it!" Gunvolt nodded before energizing his left hand to gain the wolves' attention. "You want my lightning so bad, then come and catch me!" He taunted the wolves before running off with the wolves in hot pursuit.

"Aether, got a powerful Anemo skill up your sleeve?" Zi-O asked.

"My Elemental Burst, Gust Surge." Aether replied. "I can summon a powerful tornado with one swing of my sword."

"That will do. Use that onto the distracted wolves, while I follow up with a Finish Time."

"Got it." Aether nodded.

Gunvolt continues to run away from the wolves until more wolves warped right in front him, surrounding the Azure Striker on all sides. "This feels familiar..." Joule commented.

"Yeah, just like in Japan a few weeks ago where I set a trap for the abberations before me and Miku obliterated them in one shot." Gunvolt recalled. "Only this time, we're dealing with Electro ghost wolves."

"Good thing those wolves are too attracted to anything Electro, leaving them open for a counterattack."

"Exactly." Gunvolt replied as he energized his hand once more. "Oversurge, Azure Striker!" And the moment the wolves began to lunge at him all at once... "Voltaic Chains!" He summoned numerous electrical chains from below and entangled all of the wolves before he vanished with a lightning flash-step and appeared behind Zi-O and Aether. "Now!"

As Aether's sword glows with massive Anemo energy, he performed a double spin-jump with winds surrounding him and unleashed a powerful tornado heading straight for the entangled wolves. "Gust Surge!" Once the tornado struck the wolves, it sent them along with the chains flying into the tornado, turning it into an Electro tornado. "All yours, Kamen Rider!"

=FINISH TIME! RYUKI!=

After Zi-O inserted the Ryuki Ridewatch into his Zikan Gilade Ken Mode, the blade ignited with flames as he jumped high into several front-flips, heading towards the tornado.

=GIRI GIRI SLASH!=

Once Zi-O got close, he unleashed a burning rolling slash that sliced the tornado in half which also caused a massive Overload explosion that obliterated the wolves before he landed on the ground. He turned to the boys and pumped his fist in victory. "Alright, that did it!"

(BGM End)

"Yep, we'd made quite a good team." Aether replied as they regrouped.

"Next time, if I'm ever making my own party, I'd better get someone who can cover my elemental weakness." Gunvolt commented. "Going alone relying on only one element is just asking for an ass-kicking."

"Either that, or get an elemental weapon that's not Electro." Joule added.

"Yeah, that too." Gunvolt agreed before turning to the scattered wolf claws around the area. "Still can't believe those kinds of creatures exist in this world."

"Aether, you and Paimon have been traveling around Teyvat for two months. Anything unusual you've discovered during your travels?" Zi-O asked, holstering his weapon on his back.

"Besides the Abyss Order, the hilichurls and the Ruin Machines? No, not much. The ghost wolves are new to me." Aether shook his head.

"I see." Zi-O noted as he picked up a wolf claw. "Let's store these into our phones and give them to Sucrose later. Maybe she'll know where those wolves come from."

"Good idea." Aether agreed as the boys took out their Zikan Phones and stored the wolves claws inside.

"Sounds like you boys had the same idea as we do." Starlight remarked as she and the others arrived. "We've stored those claws into our phones too."

"Same for me and Mei." Kiana added with Mei nodding. "Man, those wolves are scary, especially if you're carrying anything Electro."

"I think I need to warn Tsubasa-san about it since her skills involve lightning." Hibiki said.

"Please do." Lumine agreed before pondering with her hand on her chin. "Although..."

"Something wrong, Lumine?" Aether asked as he, Zi-O and Gunvolt finished storing and put away their phones.

"Shouldn't there be a leader that commands these wolves in the first place?" Lumine pondered.

"...I think you might be onto something." Mei responded. "Like that time Kiana-chan, myself, and a few others fought beast abberations that were led by Cerberus inside the Astral Plane. Maybe the leader, or alpha in this case, was the one who lead the ghost wolves to attack Springvale and Drunken Gorge."

"Astral... Plane?" Aether repeated.

"Long story, Aether. We'll tell you eventually." Kiana replied. "But you might be right about something, Mei. If the ghost wolves we fought just now were the grunts, then where's the alpha?"

"Oh... he's gonna be pissed that we crushed his pack." Gunvolt said as his expression became pale, but then turned to a state of shock when something huge warped behind Hibiki and its about to attack her with its Electro claws. "Hibiki, look out!"

"Eh?!" Hibiki responded before turning around, and gasped in shock at the sudden ambush. But Gunvolt was able to get in front of Hibiki in time and blocked it with a Flashfield. "GV!"

"I'm... fine...! But... stay back...!" Gunvolt grunted while blocking the attack as the group got a better look at the attacker. It was an even larger ghost wolf, but with a pair of claws and the front and a pair of legs at the back.

"I think we've found the alpha." Zi-O deduced as everyone prepared their weapons once more. "GV, stop your Flashfield and get outta there!"

"Yeah... about that..." Gunvolt replied. "I can't stop."

"What?!" The group exclaimed.

"That wolf is preventing me from turning off my Flashfield, and he won't stop until my Septima is sucked dry!" Gunvolt stated, feeling his Septima being sucked away by the ghost wolf.

"We have to get you out of there somehow!" Starlight said.

"You're gonna have to cut off the middle of their clash! Maybe something explosive will work!" Joule stated. "I know it will hurt GV in the process, but it's better than him getting his Septima drained!"

"Or I can use Neko Charm to knock that wolf away!" Kiana suggested.

"Anything will do! Hurry!" Gunvolt shouted, trying his best to resist.

"Hold tight, GV!" Kiana said as she's about to summon a pair of large metal neko paws in front of her. However, another large ghost wolf warped behind her and it's about to slash her.

"Kiana-chan, behind you!" Mei shouted.

"Huh?!" Kiana quickly turned around and gasp as she was about to get slashed, only for Lumine to bolt in front of Kiana and blocked the attack with an Anemo barrier. "Lumine-chan?!"

"Lumine?!" Aether exclaimed at what her sister has done.

"You saved me from the Sands of Time. Allow me to return the favor!" Lumine said to Kiana while slightly enlarging her barrier, blocking the claw attacks from the wolf.

"There's another one?!" Hibiki exclaimed as they saw another large ghost wolf.

"Two alphas... you've gotta be shitting me..." Zi-O muttered.

"This situation just got a lot complicated..." Starlight muttered, until her eyes widen in shock when yet another large ghost wolf warped behind Zi-O and it's about to slash him. "Oh no you don't!" She quickly flew towards her brother while rotating her Prebrace several times. She got in front of him and blocked the claw attack with her Starlight Shield.

"Sis?!" Zi-O exclaimed before turning to the ghost wolf in shock. "A third alpha?!"

"Aether, Mei-chan, Kiana-chan, Zi-O, what now?!" Hibiki asked with worry.

"Damn it...!" Aether muttered while looking at Lumine struggling to keep her shield up. "I can't lose her again after we've reunited for so long...!"

"Hold still, sis..." Zi-O thought while switching his Zikan Gilade to Zyu Form, with the Ryuki Ridewatch still attached to the weapon and aimed at the ghost wolf. "This is gonna sting a bit!"

Kiana turned to Gunvolt and prepared to summon her large neko paws once more. "Okay... this time for sure!" But before she could do anything, three large red magic circles appeared, one for each ghost wolf, knocking them away with a storm of Pyro arrows and air slashes followed by a large fist attack.

Mei blinked at what she saw. "Kiana-chan, did you do that?"

"That wasn't me. I summon neko paws, not giant fists or fire arrows or even air slashes." Kiana replied.

"Wait... that means...!" Hibiki's eyes widen in realization before a magic portal appeared on the center, and out came Amber, Kirika, and Geiz in his WizardArmor.

"Geiz?!" Zi-O and Starlight exclaimed at his sudden appearance.

"I was in the neighbourhood until I saw Amber and Kirika escorting some civilians to safety." Geiz explained with his arms crossed. "When they told me about the wolves attacking you guys, I went with them to assist. And boy, I'm glad I did. You guys are a mess."

"Sorry we took so long to come back!" Amber apologized with her bow ready.

"But we're finally here to save the day, dess!" Kirika added with her scythe ready.

"Thanks for coming though, Amber-san, Kirika-chan!" Hibiki smiled.

"GV, you feeling okay?" Kiana asked.

"I'm fine..." Gunvolt replied while catching his breath. "I'm free... but I think I'm out of the fight for now. Gonna be a long while to recharge my Septima. Gacking bastard took a lot of it."

"I can't fight anymore either." Lumine added while feeling the same way. "I think blocking the attack from those ghost wolves somehow drained my strength a lot more than I thought."

"It's okay, sis. I'm just glad you're alright." Aether replied. "Take a break, I'll finish the fight for you."

"Thanks brother." Lumine smiled. "I'll leave the rest to you."

"What about you, Starlight?" Mei asked.

"I'm..." Starlight was about to answer, until she was reverted back to normal. "Crap. I'm out of the fight, too. Sorry, guys." Akira apologized.

"You'd better stay back, then. We'll end this for you."

"I will." Akira nodded before turning to Geiz. "Send us back to Springvale. We'll wait for your return."

"Got it." Geiz complied, summoning a magic portal behind him that led towards Springvale. "Rest well."

"Come on, Lumine. Time to fall back." Gunvolt said.

"The rest is up to you now. Good luck." Joule said to the others.

"Be careful, everyone." Akira said, taking Lumine's hand.

"Take care of yourselves." Lumine said.

"Stay safe, you three." Aether replied as Akita, Lumine and Gunvolt retreated into the portal before it vanished.

"With that out of the way..." Zi-O said as the group faced the three alpha ghost wolves. "Time for some payback."

"By the way, where's Razor, Bennett and Paimon? Shouldn't they come back by now?" Amber asked.

And in response, Bennett and Razor appeared from above, landing at the center of the group with the former slamming his fire sword on the ground, generating a red magic field around them with a thumb's up symbol. "Sorry we're late, guys!" Bennett said to the group.

"What took you both so long to get here?" Mei asked.

"Bennett fell into hilichurl camp on the way back. I step in to get him out of trouble." Razor explained.

"You fell... into a monster camp? Seriously, Benny? How did that happen?" Kiana questioned.

"Hehe. Well, you know me. Just another day of bad luck for Benny's Adventure Team." Bennett admitted, rubbing the back of his head, while everyone else sweatdropped. "Oh, and if you're wondering where Paimon is, she's up there." He pointed at the familiar floating above the edge of the arena.

"Those hilichurls nearly turned Paimon into dinner! That, was not fun!" Paimon complained.

"Wow, Aether's not kidding when he mentioned Paimon-chan as food, dess." Kirika commented.

"Hey! Paimon heard that!"

"Gh?! S-Sorry Paimon, dess!" Kirika quickly apologized.

"Why am I not surprised when it comes to Benny and his bad luck." Amber sighed. "It's no wonder the other adventurers stayed away from him."

"That bad, huh?" Geiz asked, earning a nod from the Outrider. "Oof." He turned to Bennett and Razor. "By the way, the name's Geiz. I'm here to assist with taking down those wolves."

"Speaking of those wolves..." Amber and the others turned to the three alpha wolves. "Wait a minute..." She narrowed her eyes at one of the wolves and gasped in shock. "That's the same fur I found back at Springvale! It came from that?!"

"Yup." Zi-O confirmed. "What you're seeing here are the ones responsible for the attacks on Springvale and Drunken Gorge, and I'm guessing Razor's lupical too."

"But why are they so big, dess?!" Kirika questioned.

"Because those are the alphas, Kirika-chan." Hibiki explained. "The ones we've fought earlier are their packs, and the alphas are not too happy about it."

"Grrr..." Razor growled at the wolves while summoning his Skyrider Greatsword, now generating a red glow. "You hurt my family. You will pay!"

"Wait, why is Razor's sword glowing red? Shouldn't it be Electro due to his Vision?" Mei questioned, noticing the glow.

"Ah, right. There's a reason for that. You guys are standing on a special magic field I've summoned just now." Bennett explained, making the group notice said field below their feet. "That's my Elemental Burst, Fantastic Voyage. This field can not only heal wounds, but it also increases your attack power and infuse your weapons with Pyro. Pretty neat, huh?"

"Weapon infusion?" Mei repeated as she took a look at her sword, now infused with Pyro due to Bennett's field. "My katana! It's glowing with Pyro!"

"Same for us, too!" Hibiki added as her gauntlets emit the same glow. The same goes for Kirika, Zi-O, Geiz and Aether's weapons.

"Pyro infused weapons, huh?" Zi-O said before grinning while changing his weapon to Ken Mode. "I think we can make this work! Thanks, Benny!"

"Hehe! Anytime!" Bennett smiled back, brandishing his Sacrificial Sword.

"Amber, Razor, Bennett, deal with the wolf on the middle. Geiz, you're with me and Kiana to take down the one at the right."

"That leaves Mei-chan, Kirika-chan, Aether and myself to fight the remaining one. Got it!" Hibiki deduced. "Kirika-chan, time for a duet!"

"Okay, Hibiki! It's been a while since we sang that song together, dess!" Kirika complied as she and Hibiki began to sing together.

(Play BGM: Hitsuai Duo Shout by Hibiki Tachibana and Kirika Akatsuki)

"Hm? Music?" Razor responded as he and Bennett looked around.

"Where did that come from?" Bennett questioned.

"Oh, that's from Hibiki and Kirika since they're the ones singing this time." Geiz answered as they faces the three alpha wolves. "Speaking of which... It's showtime!"

"Alright team, you know what to do! So let's Ragna-Rock and Roll!" Zi-O declared as the group split up into three teams, each dealing with one alpha wolf.


The alpha wolf unleashed several claw strikes and tail swings, prompting Hibiki, Kirika, Mei and Aether to dodge them with jumps and back-dashes. "Would be nice to grab its tail for me to throw, but I'm afraid to get electrocuted." Hibiki remarked while dodging another tail swing.

"How about we cut off its tail instead, dess?" Kirika suggested.

"That should work, limiting its combat abilities." Mei replied.

"Then I'm going in, dess!" Kirika complied as her shoulder pauldrons extended into four blades.

Sealed Strike: Pinocchio

Kirika rushed towards the alpha wolf, blocking and parrying its claw attacks with her shoulder blades. While that's happening, Mei appeared behind the wolf with a flash-step and sliced off its tail with her katana infused with Pyro thanks to Bennett's magic field. The wolf roared in pain, giving Kirika the advantage as she broke through its guard and rapidly stab and slash the wolf before following up with a powerful thrust from her shoulder blades, knocking it back a few feet.

Aether then jumped over Kirika and slammed the wolf's face with a combined Palm Vortex from both of his hands, knocking it to the ground with one blast. He then took out his sword once more and unleashed his Gust Surge onto the wolf, trapping it inside the tornado and sending it slightly upward. "Mei! Kirika! You're up!"

"Hai!/Dess!" Mei and Kirika complied as they both jumped into the tornado with a rapid spin-slash o/f their weapons, continuously slashing the wolf while inside the tornado.

Calamity Ring: Tinkerbell

"Get ready to finish it off, Hibiki!" Aether ordered.

"Roger!" Hibiki complied, summoning her war gauntlet once more with its blades extended with a rapid spin, turning it into a drill, and then took aim at the tornado, waiting for the right moment to strike the final blow. Aether also summoned his Favonius Warbow and used his still Pyro-infused Prototype Rancour as an arrow and took aim at the tornado. With one powerful swing of their weapons from Mei and Kirika, they launched the alpha wolf out of the tornado skyward, prompting Aether to fire his sword onto the wolf, while Hibiki launched towards the flying sword and plunged his drill gauntlet forward, drilling through the wolf's chest in a combined strike and landing on the ground with Aether's sword in hand before the wolf exploded to dust.

"Great work, everyone. That's one down." Mei praised the group as they regrouped.

"Here's your sword back." Hibiki gave the sword back to the traveler.

"Thanks." Aether replied as he dispersed his sword and bow. "I can see why my sister said about all of you being very strong as a team."

"Yep! That's why we're awesome together, dess!" Kirika smiled with a raised fist.

"But we're not done yet. Two more alpha wolves still remain." Mei stated.

"Let's give Amber-san and the others a hand. Come on!" Hibiki said as they head for Amber's team to assist.


Meanwhile with Kiana and the Kamen Riders, the alpha ghost wolf launched several spinning Electro projectiles with its tail, prompting the three to dodge them with jumps. "I really despise projectile spamming..." Geiz muttered in annoyance before blocking said projectile with a magic shield. "That tail's gotta go."

"Then this calls for a distraction." Zi-O replied. "Kiana, care to use your large neko paws to block its movements?"

"I can do that." Kiana nodded. "I'll leave the tail cutting to you guys."

"Good. Keep that mutt busy!" Geiz replied as he and Zi-O ran at different directions while Kiana fired a Cyro bullet to the wolf's head, gaining its attention.

"Never thought I'd do this to a wolf, but here goes..." Kiana muttered before taunting the wolf with a whistle. "Here boy! I'm over here! Come and get me!"

The wolf growled in anger before rushing towards Kiana with a wolf charge, prompting her to evade with a cartwheel to the side. She then dodged another wolf charge with another cartwheel. And when it performed another wolf charge and before it could reach her... "Neko Charm!" Kiana quickly summoned a large neko paw on the left and right side of the wolf and slammed it like a vise grip, halting its movements. Geiz followed up by jumping above the wolf, summon a magic circle in front of him, and plunged his fist inside, causing an even larger fist to appear on the other side of the magic circle and punched the wolf's back, hindering its movements even more. This gave Zi-O a chance to rush behind the wolf and slice off its tail with his Pyro-infused Zikan Gilade, causing it to roar in pain.

"Don't stop! Keep attacking!" Zi-O yelled as he dispersed his weapon.

"I know just what to do!" Geiz replied, summoning four clones of himself surrounding the wolf. His clones then summoned magic binding chains via magic circles, entangling the wolf until the chains became the shape of a large ball. "Kiana, get your large gun ready! We're going for the finale!" He ordered as he and Zi-O regrouped while his clones kept the magic chains in place.

"Okay!" Kiana complied, fusing her handguns into one large gun, slowly charging up energy.

"Double dragon finish?" Zi-O asked.

"Double dragon finish!" Geiz replied as the Riders began their finisher sequence.

=FINISH TIME!=

=RYUKI!=

=WIZARD!=

Zi-O performed his Ryuki finisher stance with Geiz doing the same thing as a large red serpent dragon and a large red winged dragon circled around them.

"Launch it to the sky!" The Riders shouted, prompting Kiana to rush towards the entangled wolf, plunged his fully charged gun onto it and aimed it upwards.

"Gungnir... FIRE!" Kiana yelled, pulling the trigger and fired a powerful beam, launching the entangled wolf skyward.

At the same time, the Riders jumped into the air while performing several spins with the dragons circling around them.

=FINAL TIME BREAK!=

=STRIKE TIME BREAK!=

As the Riders lunged their right foot forward, the dragons flew behind them and launched fireballs towards them, engulfing them in flames to boost their power. And when moment the Riders' foot struck the entangled wolf, it caused a massive explosion that incinerated the wolf while the Riders landed safely on the ground before standing up and shared a fist-bump.

"Great going, guys!" Kiana smiled as she approached the Riders while reverting back her large gun to normal pistols and holstered them.

"Yep, you did great too, Kiana." Zi-O replied as he shared a fist-bump with her. "You know, things would be difficult if Geiz didn't show up."

"I agree." Kiana nodded. "Thanks for coming by to help, Geiz."

"Anytime, that's what friends are for." Geiz replied. "Now let's go help Amber and the others."

"Right!" Zi-O and Kiana replied back as the three head out to assist Amber's team.


Meanwhile with Amber, Razor and Bennett, Bennett and Razor tried to block and parry the claw attacks from the alpha wolf while Amber fired Pyro arrows at its face, but it didn't faze it one bit. When the wolf performed a tail swing, Razor was able to jump away, but Bennett tried to block it instead, only for the force of the attack to knock him back to the ground along with his sword being flung away several steps away. "Bennett!" Razor's eyes widen in shock as Bennett tried to stand up from the attack, only for his face to become pale when the wolf was about to bite him.

"Well... that was unlucky." Bennett commented as he braced himself, only for Amber to throw Baron Bunny onto the wolf's mouth, distracting the wolf as it bit and shake the doll.

"You're mine!" Amber fired a Pyro arrow at her doll, making it explode upon impact which stunned the wolf for a brief moment.

This gave Razor an opening as he rushed towards the back of the wolf and slice off its tail with one aerial overhead swing of his claymore, making it roar in pain as Razor regrouped with Amber while also helping Bennett get back on his feet and retrieve his sword. "Here, your weapon." Razor said with Bennett's sword in hand.

"Phew... thanks." Bennett replied, taking his sword back. "Maybe I should've jumped instead."

"Simple mistake, can learn from it."

"At least you managed to cut off its tail, Razor. Now it won't be able to launch projectiles with its tail gone." Amber stated as they glanced at the wolf, quickly shaking its head.

"He is angry." Razor commented as the wolf began to howl loudly, generating a purple and blue electrical aura.

"He's VERY angry!" Bennett corrected. "And where did that blue Electro come from?!"

"Wait... I think I remember GV saying that his Electro was drained from the wolf..." Amber recalled, before her eyes widen in horrifying realization. "The wolf is using GV's stolen Electro!"

"Tch... Not good..." Razor muttered with gritted teeth before noticing the magic field slowly vanishing. "The magic field, it's disappearing."

"Oh that's not good either, and it'll take a while for me to perform another Elemental Burst." Bennett said. "Guess we'll have to do this the old-fashioned way."

"Hopefully the others defeated the other alphas already so they can help us." Amber said.

And like clockwork, numerous air slashes, projectiles and magic blasts rained down upon the wolf as Zi-O and the rest of the group arrived in time. "Need a hand?" Zi-O offered.

"Glad you could make it!" Amber smiled.

"The alpha wolves?" Razor asked.

"Me and my team took down one of them." Zi-O informed.

"Me and the others defeated the other one too." Kiana added.

"Good." Razor replied with a nod.

"Then that leaves this one over here." Bennett deduced as they glanced at the last alpha wolf, surging with purple and blue Electro. "Even after cutting off the tail, something tells me that it's not going down without a fight."

"Even worse is that its using GV's Electro to boost its power even further." Amber added. "Maybe I should've brought in Eula to assist."

"The Spindrift Knight?" Geiz recalled. "Ah right, she's a Cryo Vision Bearer. Yeah, that be really useful since Cyro can short out Electro."

"What about Hydro since GV can't use Electro when he's underwater?" Hibiki asked.

"I think that works too, but we're going to need a lot of water." Mei answered.

"Yeah." Amber agreed. "Barbara's good with Hydro magic, but she's more of a healer instead of an attacker, so asking help from her won't do much good either."

"Kiana, how many Cryo ammo do you have left on your guns?" Zi-O asked.

Kiana took a moment to check her handguns. "Not much, and I don't think it will be enough to weaken the wolf's Electro aura."

"No choice, we fight." Razor deduced with his claymore ready.

"Why does the last one have to be the difficult one, dess?" Kirika complained.

"Hey, life's never that easy, so we're gonna have to prepare for it." Geiz stated.

But before anyone could even act...

"AWOOOO!"

(BGM End)

...Everyone heard a very loud wolf howl from out of nowhere. "...Please tell me that it's not another alpha ghost wolf, dess..." Kirika said with a slight shiver.

"Wait..." Razor said as he began to sniff and wiggle his ears. "This scent... That sound..."

"What is it, Razor?" Bennett asked.

"He's coming."

"Who's coming?" Kiana asked, until the group noticed the area shrouding in a cold mist. "W-Why did the area became c-cold for some reason?" She shivered.

"Not only that, where did those glowing blue eyes come from?!" Hibiki pointed at said pair of blue eyes... and it began to move closer. "And it's moving?!"

Razor took one look at the glowing eyes, before his own eyes began to widen in shock upon realization. "He's here..."

"Who's here?" Amber asked.

"...Guardian of this land."

"Wait..." Amber blinked before turning to the glowing eyes again. "That's the guardian?!"

Once the glowing eyes came closer, it was revealed to be an even larger wolf with four legs, glowing blue eyes and a dark blue and light blue body along with a tail. The group were in awe at the appearance of the blue wolf, but still kept their guard up. "Razor." Aether spoke up. "Does this guardian have a name, by the way?"

Razor nodded in response. "Andrius. Guardian of Wolvendom. Wolf-King of the North Wind."

"Wolf-King... of the North Wind?" Aether repeated, until his eyes widen in shock recalling Sucrose's info of the Four Winds. "He's one of the Four Winds of Mondstadt!"

"What?!" The group (minus Razor) exclaimed in response.

The alpha ghost wolf growled at the Wolf-King, releasing its surge of purple and blue Electro aura and slightly crouched, preparing to lunge at Andrius who simply stared back while summoning a field of ice below him. When the ghost wolf began to Electro charge towards Andrius, he countered with a Cryo spin slash with its claws, sending the alpha wolf flying. Andrius then followed up with a storm of icicles with one swing of its tail, shorting out the alpha wolf's Electro aura before becoming frozen. Then, Andrius continued his attack with a barrage of wolf charges in different angles and directions before finishing it off with a powerful leaping claw slash that shattered the frozen alpha wolf to a million pieces. The group were in deep shock at how the Wolf-King defeated the alpha ghost wolf effortlessly despite the Electro aura from itself and the one stolen from Gunvolt.

"So this is the power of one of the Four Winds... Amazing..." Zi-O remarked with awe.

Andrius began to approach the group, making them feel tense. "Andrius, please. Calm down." Razor said to the Wolf-King.

"Put away your weapons, guys. Battle's over. We don't want to start another fight." Geiz instructed, prompting everyone to disperse their weapons to avoid conflict.

"Paimon, you can come down now! It's safe!" Aether yelled to his familiar.

"Um... that wolf is not going to eat Paimon, right?" Paimon asked while glancing at Andrius.

"He won't." Aether shook his head. "But try not to provoke him."

"O-Okay..." Paimon nervously nodded before flying towards Aether.

"You disturb my slumber?" Andrius spoke to the group.

"It can speak?!" Hibiki exclaimed, before Zi-O stepped forward. "W-Wait, Zi-O!"

"It's okay, Hibiki-chan." Kiana assured. "He knows what he's doing... I hope."

"Sorry for disturbing your slumber, Andrius." Zi-O spoke to the Wolf-King. "To be fair, we didn't know that we're standing in your domain. And for that, we apologize."

"Not only that, while we're waiting for Razor to come back from tending the lupical's wound, we had to fend off the ghost wolves before they could harm anyone else in the village." Mei added.

"Not to mention those ghost wolves attacking the lupicals, including Razor's." Bennett also added.

"Hmph..." Andrius replied. "It's just like he said. An outside wolf pack coming in and breaking the rules."

"You... know something about those wolves?" Aether asked.

"The ones you encountered and fought are called Riftwolves, beings from the Abyss."

"Riftwolves... The Abyss..." Kiana repeated. "So that explains their warping abilities... No wonder they're called that."

"Wait, the Abyss? As in the same place as where the Abyss Order lives?" Paimon asked, earning a confirmed nod from Andrius.

"I've never seen Riftwolves appearing in Mondstadt before." Amber remarked.

"It's because that their kind became extinct after the cataclysm 500 years ago, driven to low numbers by numerous hunts and resistance. But it appears that's no longer the case since they've reappeared somehow."

"I see."

"500 years ago... That's the same time the Tsaritsa cut ties with Barbatos..." Zi-O mentally recalled with his hand on his chin.

"Razor and company." Andrius spoke, gaining their attention. "The matter with the Riftwolves attacking the lupicals, it's strictly between wolves. But, I will applaud your bravery and courage for taking a stand against them, including the alphas."

"Thank you for your praise, Andrius-sama." Hibiki replied as she and the others bowed. "We're only doing the right thing to protect others, whether it's humans or wolves. Also, we'll respect your rule if that's what you want."

"Mm." Andrius nodded before turning to the wolf boy. "Razor. While you may have endured the assault of the Riftwolves, you must never be involved in a battle between wolves."

"What?" Razor responded.

"You fight not with claws, but with a sword. You strike not with teeth, but with lightning. You are human, Razor. Just like them." Andrius stated, glancing at the group.

"But... I'm not like them! I don't belong!" Razor replied.

"You are no wolf. This is a matter for the wolves, and the wolves alone. Remember that."

"Are you really sure you cannot let Razor help you protect the wolves?" Geiz asked Andrius.

"He must learn to walk alongside humans. I've raised Razor when he was a young infant, but now that he has begun conversing with other humans, I believe it's time for him to explore the world beyond Wolvendom."

"I see." Geiz noted. "Are you sure you can protect the wolves on your own?"

"Did you forget who I am, human? Though I may take a form of a wolf spirit of wind and ice, I am still one of the Four Winds, chosen by Barbatos, to protect Mondstadt along with my kin."

"You're a spirit, dess?!" Kirika exclaimed. "Then where's your real body?"

"My physical body died a long time ago. The one you stands before you is my spirit."

"Oh..."

"Razor's company. Now that I've seen your conviction and resolve, I'm quite satisfied with the results. To that end, I will give you the chance to train under my guidance, if you so desire."

"You can teach us to become stronger?" Hibiki responded.

"Teyvat is a mysterious world to venture, and you'll need all the strength to prepare for what's to come. Here, you will need this." Andrius said, summoning a lyre in front of the group. "This is the Windsong Lyre. If you wish to call upon my presence, come to my domain you're standing on, play the lyre, and I will appear."

"Just like that, huh?" Mei responded. "I wonder how strong you really are? I'm a bit curious to ask, Andrius-sama."

"What you saw earlier was only a portion of my strength, relying on my Cryo powers. I believe you are smart enough to know what my full strength can do."

"Ah, right. You're a wolf spirit of wind and ice, meaning you can use either one or both of those elements at once." Mei noted, earning a nod from the Wolf-King.

"No wonder Barbatos picked Andrius as one of the Four Winds..." Amber mused.

"If we're going to call you using the lyre, what tune should we play?" Aether asked.

"Listen closely." Andrius replied before howling to a tune for the group to hear. "Now, try to play my tune."

"Uh..." Zi-O glanced at the group. "Anybody wanna try playing the lyre? I'm not good with playing lyres."

"I'm not playing it either. I'm a little worried that something unlucky might happen if I play it." Bennett admitted.

"Kinda figured you'd say that." Paimon deadpanned.

"May I give it a try?" Aether raised his hand.

"Okay then, go for it." Geiz replied with a nod, prompting the male traveler to approach the lyre, grabbed it, and began playing Andrius' tune. And much to the shock of the group, he played the tune really well.

"Wow, you're a natural with that lyre, Aether!" Kiana complimented. "I wonder if Lumine is also good with the lyre?"

"I'll let my sister try it out later." Aether replied, putting away the lyre.

"Onto the topic of the lyre, it, alongside my tune, must be taken care of and to never fall within the wrong hands. If it does... you will face my cold fury. Understood?"

The group gulped in response. "Yes, sir."

"And now, I return to my slumber. Until we meet again." Andrius turned around and is about to leave.

"Ah, before you go, I wanted to tell you the name of our group, just for you to remember." Zi-O spoke up, gaining the Wolf-King's attention.

"And that name is?"

"Xross Drive Rebellion, or Team XDR for short. And I..." Zi-O briefly took off his helmet to reveal his face. "...am Zeo Naotora, one of the founders of the team." He gestured to Geiz who also removed his helmet. "The other founder is my friend, Gaius Cornell."

"Xross Drive Rebellion, Zeo Naotora, and Gaius Cornell... I shall remember those names." Andrius replied, before howling at the sky and vanished with a cold wind.

"Huh, so that's what you both look like from under those helmets." Bennett mused as the Riders put on their helmets again.

"Yeah, but do me a favor and keep our identities a secret, okay Benny?" Zi-O requested.

"You got it." Bennett nodded.

"So... mission accomplished?" Hibiki asked.

"Well, considering we defeated the riftwolves that attacked Springvale and Drunken Gorge so... yup, mission accomplished." Amber confirmed. "Not only that, we got to meet one of the Four Winds! How cool is that?"

"Yeah! That wolf was really strong, dess!" Kirika agreed. "And that was only a glimpse of what he can really do!"

"Mhm." Kiana nodded before turning to the wolf boy. "Your guardian is really powerful, Razor." She blinked after noticing Razor feeling slightly depressed after what Andrius said to him. "Razor...? Are you okay?"

"I'm... fine. Just... feeling unsure." Razor replied.

"Still shocked that Andrius stated that you're a human and not a wolf, and can no longer help the lupicals?" Zi-O asked, earning no response from the wolf boy. "Listen. He was only doing this to protect you, wanting you to grow up to become a strong person. Someday, you're going to explore beyond Wolvendom and interact with all kinds of people."

"And it seems that 'someday' is today." Geiz added. "And besides, he can still protect his kin even though he's a spirit. He'll be just fine."

"Maybe you should talk to your lupicals for advice, Razor. They'll help guide you on which path you really need to take." Mei advised.

"Or we can take you to Mondstadt and stay for a few days?" Amber added.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'm not city human, but also not wolf." Razor replied. "But, I go talk to my lupical. To tell me what I should do."

"That's probably for the best." Zi-O agreed.

"You want me to come with you, Razor? You could use some company." Bennett offered.

"...Okay." Razor accepted before turning to the group. "We leave now. Thank you for helping."

"No problem, Razor." Hibiki smiled. "Take care of yourself!"

"Thanks for helping out too, Benny." Kiana smiled. "We wouldn't have won without your help."

"You may be unlucky, but at least you have heart and determination." Aether added.

"Hehe, thanks!" Bennett smiled back. "Well, see ya next time!"

"Goodbye." Razor said as he and Bennett left the area.

"Paimon hopes they'll be okay." Paimon said.

"Yeah, I agree, dess." Kirika agreed.

"Well... this has been one heck of a day." Zi-O commented. "Let's head back to Springvale and tell the others what happened."

"Right." Geiz nodded before summoning a magic portal behind him. "Good thing I'm still using the WizardArmor so I can do this."

"Heh, forgot how useful Kamen Rider Wizard's power can be." Zi-O smirked as the group entered the portal with Geiz coming in last before the portal vanished.

But unknown to the group, a certain bard had witnessed the entire battle from atop a tree. "So... this is Xross Drive Rebellion's power. Hehe, you've certainly peaked my interest." Venti remarked. "Not to mention the beautiful songs I've heard, and the abilities Zeo, Gaius and Akira possess. You've made a lot of interesting friends, Aether. And that girl, Kiana Kaslana, she's definitely not like 'her'. But I wonder what would happen if those two meet someday? The same goes for Mei Raiden and the Raiden Shogun." He shrugged. "Guess only time will tell."


Springvale

Upon returning to Springvale where they regrouped with Gunvolt, Lumine and Akira, they explained to them about what happened. "I knew it. The guardian was one of the Four Winds after all! It can't be Barbatos since he's an Archon!" Akira said, remembering Sucrose's info a few days ago.

"Wow, first Dvalin and now Andrius. You're getting pretty lucky meeting powerful figures, Aether." Lumine said with crossed arms.

"Yeah, that's one way of putting it." Aether replied, rubbing the back of his head.

"So those ghost wolves are actually called riftwolves, and they're from the Abyss." Gunvolt noted. "I just hope the Abyss Order won't add them to their ranks."

"They probably will someday, GV, so we'll need to be prepared for them next time." Geiz replied.

"By the way, where did Hopkins go?" Amber asked.

"He's had enough and decided to leave Mondstadt to go find another place to do his business. And honestly, he's not gonna go far into his future." Akira answered.

"And as for Jotun, he's getting a long lecture by Draff for doing something careless." Lumine added.

"Hopefully Jotun will learn his lesson from this. Hopkins... not so much." Zi-O said.

"Yeah, considering that guy's a complete dick." Kiana said.

"Anyway..." Amber turned to the group. "Thanks for helping me out with this commission, guys. I could've done this alone, but sometimes having allies like you guys can make a huge difference."

"No problem, Amber. Friends help each other out." Paimon replied.

"Even though you don't do much, most of the time, dess." Kirika said to the familiar.

"Hey!" Paimon retorted, resulting with the group laughing, until a certain someone's stomach growled.

"Eheh... Sorry, that was me." Hibiki sheepishly chuckled while rubbing the back of her head. "I think all of that fighting made me hungry again."

"Oh my." Mei sweatdropped. "Let's head back to base for some food."

"Yep, time to head back to Mondstadt!" Amber clasped her hands, summoning her Wind Glider. "And by the way, thanks for giving my Wind Glider an upgrade, allowing me to fly anywhere I want without needing an air current."

"No problem, Outrider." Zi-O replied as he and the others summoned their Wind Gliders.

"Race you back to the city! Last one there gets to clean the dishes!" Amber said before flying off.

"Not this time!" Kiana smirked before flying off before the others flew after her.


Chapter 4: The Meaning of Lupical

END


Author's Note: And another chapter has been completed, though I've been really busy due to me playing Pokemon Legends: Arceus, which is a really good game. I think I may need to make some changes to my future Pokemon crossover instead of the one I've originally planned, but that can wait until I finish the Liyue arc. I'll be doing Jean's character quest soon, but first, my next chapter will be Eula's character quest, AKA one of the favourite characters in Genshin Impact. Until then, stay safe and see you next chapter!