Prologue

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Chapter 5 - The Calm

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Art by Raazu (on Fiverr)

/_\

"Talk about subtle…"

It wasn't hard to find where the abyss monster was. Why would it be? It was a hulking beast made of corrupting abyssal magic energy tearing up buildings in the center of Khaenri'ah. The panicked crowds fleeing from the chaos made it easy to follow back to the source. But the elemental energy Raylan could sense was probably the biggest indicator of where he had to go.

Like a giant beacon of darkness yelling I'm over here!

Raylan ran before leaping over a partially destroyed building, much to the amazement of the civilians that saw him as they fled. The young god landed atop the highest point, balancing on the small, narrow point.

From his perch, Raylan could see the situation in full, before him was another raging abyss monster, not all too dissimilar to the one he'd slain earlier. Although smaller it resembled the abyssal dragon he'd already faced once, it still stood far taller than any buildings nearby, but it looked more like a wyvern than traditional European dragons from myth and legends. Bone-like features, sharp and jagged, with abyss ooze seeping from various orifices and limps on its body. Its lack of eyes made it look like one was staring into a black hole more than it did a living creature.

But it wasn't the only beast present, there were many smaller abyss monsters rampaging through the courtyard and its surrounding buildings. Multiple buildings lay in ruin, reduced to rubble and debris from the carnage wrought by the monsters.

Among the rubble Raylan could make out the shapes and silhouettes of people. Although very few in number, in the single digits due to the area likely being evacuated, it was painful to see some had still lost their lives in such a manner. It made his heart clench uncomfortably, the tightness spread throughout his chest.

But, as much as he didn't like it, he pushed himself through that feeling to focus on the cause of all this.

Thankfully the Abyss monster's attention was solely focused on the many guardsmen attempting to combat the beast instead of any nearby frightened civilians hidden out of view of the conflict. Many of the people fighting seemed like your average guardsman or knight, but a few wielded different kinds of visions. The Vision users were leading the charge against the beast, using several different kinds of elements against it, but given its size and the fact it was made of abyssal ooze they weren't having a great time.

For even among the guards, he could see those who had perished in defense of their kingdom. Not even the knights of Khaenri'ah could handle such an abomination, they were horribly out-classed against such a creature. Thankfully their machines, the Ruin Guards and Ruin Hunters, did most of the heavy lifting as they threw themselves at the abyss monsters to protect their masters with unparalleled zeal.

"Weird to see the Ruin Guards protecting people instead of killing them, I'm too used to fighting the things in-game or seeing Streamers be demolished by them." The young Archon thought as he observed the Ruin Machines. Although they were doing nothing but sacrificing themselves against the massive monster, they proved rather effective against the numerous small creatures. Between the Vision-users and Ruin Machines they could defeat the small ones with enough of a push, which left one hard-to-miss target for the Archon.

"Sorry Beastie, but it's time to end this." Wasting no more time, not with lives on the line, Raylan launched himself from his perch with enough force to break the stone he'd been crouched on. Soaring through the air Raylan instantly formed a void spear in his hand, reared back and hurled the spear at the largest monster's head.

The spear struck the abyss monster straight through one of its two eyes on its left side, exploding a moment later, completely rupturing the eye socket, spewing abyssal ooze across its face. Chunks of its corrupted flesh fell to the ground, splattering across the stone surface.

The creature roared so loudly in pain that the surrounding smaller abyss monsters and Rifthounds writhe in discomfort as if there was a connection between them. The unexpected, ear-ringing noise was enough to stun the Khaenri'ah knights below as well. With the opening created by Raylan, the ruin machines capitalized on the moment and pressed their attack with intensity.

The Ruin Guards fired their laser beams at various abyss monsters, with a few going in to grapple the slightly more aggressive and wild ones. The Ruin Hunters propelled themselves forward and pierced their opponents with their blade-like appendages, slicing apart the more feeble creatures whilst injuring the bigger more durable monsters.

Raylan continued his own assault by launching himself toward his foe, forming abyssal energy underfoot he used it as a jump pad to close the distance to his foe. Two vorpal void blades formed in the gods hands as he slammed into the monsters with enough force to stagger it, its head bounced off the corner of the building, shattering the stone.

Using his superior strength Raylan pulled on his blades buried in his foe and violently jerked them to one side, forcing the beast to stumble away from the knights below. The blades in the abyss monster's neck tore open its ooze-like flesh, the creature thrashed its head side to side in an effort to shake Raylan off.

Its efforts paid no dividend as the young god held firm. Raylan continued his onslaught, aiming to finish this quickly to minimize loss of life, the god flared his abyss energy momentarily before pumping the energy into his blades.

The blades surged with void energy as Raylan tore the blades upward along the creature's neck, using his legs to propel himself into the air high above his opponent. The energy build-up and blades tore a large hole into the creature's neck, with some of the black blood splattering the gods clothes as he went.

The explosive force behind the attack knocked the creature's head to the side, it bounced off a building, shattering the walls of its upper floors and part of its roof. The beast screeched in agonizing pain from the wound.

Unfortunately for the creature, it wasn't over yet.

With the flick of his hand Raylan formed an abyssal sword in his right hand, from his position above the creature he built up his void energy intending to end the fight.

In an instant the energy built to an insurmountable level before the abyss god swung his elemental blade. The energy tore a hole through reality from the tip of the blade before a linear wave of void power flew toward the abyss monster.

The strike cut clean through the creature's neck from one end to the other, decapitating the beast in a single strike, silencing its howls. The head split from its body with such speed that the head was thrown further into the air as the body went limp, collapsing to the ground in an unceremonious heap on the ground. The stone paths beneath buckled, cracked, and shattered from the sudden weight.

Raylan landed next to the creature's corpse just after it slammed down into the courtyard, causing a small tremor as it hit the ground, the vibrations were enough to bring down the ruins of some nearby buildings.

The head hit the ground a moment later, bouncing once upon impact before settling into a crater created during its rampage. The sounds of combat began to settle with the biggest creature dealt with, as the Ruin machines overwhelmed the abyss Rifthounds and other such creatures that had followed its monstrous leading beast. The machines having successfully pushed the creatures into a corner before firing upon them with their various ranged tech, both laser and blade alike.

The Abyss Warrior cringed as he watched a Rifthound howl in agonizing pain as it was disintegrated by several laser beams boring holes through its body.

"A good reminder as to why players don't fuck with those things." He thought, thankful for the fact he was not limited to what he could do like in-game. He was a God in terms of power, the difference between him and any of the machines in Khaenri'ah was night and day.

But the same couldn't be said for the smaller, weaker abyss monsters who had to deal with said ruin machines and automations.

Armored footfalls alerted the young god to approaching knights, he turned to see many knights coming toward him including one more decorated than the others behind them. Amazingly, they were reminiscent of the Black Serpent Knights from the Abyss with their armor designs but were far more human in proportion and appearance.

The lead Knight gave various orders to his men in a hurried manner. Some broke off to secure the area and aid any other civilians that had failed to feel the area as of yet. Others moved to follow the ruin machines who seemed to be wrapping up with the rifthounds, pushing further along the path the abyss monsters had seemingly came from.

It was only when all his subordinates had been given their orders did the Knights attention turn to him fully.

"Sir," The Knight said, softly, as they reached him, voice slightly muffled by his helmet. His face also obscured by his metal visor. "I don't know who you are, or how you managed to defeat such a monstrosity but I, and those under my command, thank you for your valiant actions today. If you hadn't shown up when you did I fear we would not have had such a favorable outcome."

"You, my friend, have no idea how right you are." He paused, a sting pinching at his heart."Hmmm, now why is his voice so familiar?" Raylan thought briefly, shaking the thought off before responding, "Don't worry about it, I just couldn't stand by whilst people were in trouble."

"And we're grateful for it, your actions likely saved many innocent lives." The Knight said, his fist tightening around his lance as he spoke. "But unfortunately, as much as I dislike it, I must ask more of you."

Judging by his tone, it didn't take a genius as to what it was about.

"Are there more abyss monsters in the city?" Raylan asked, turning to fully face the knight. He didn't wait for an answer, instead focusing on sensing the element energies within the city to find any forms of abyssal energy.

"There are," The Knight confirmed gravely, multiple emotions seeping through his tone as he spoke those words. "We've been suffering with abyssal incursions for months now, each one getting worse than the last, but this has been the worst of all. This is the first time the creatures of the abyss have breached the walls. Never before have these monsters breached the city in such numbers, nor size, before. We're attempting to repel them but are having mixed success. Many of our units were caught unprepared as the monstrosities appeared from nowhere, despite being reassured that the city's walls were holding. I can't explain why or how, but this is unprecedented as you could probably tell."

That lined up with what Bell had told him before, about the city getting more and more dangerous. Abyssal incursions were growing more frequency and in strength, but it seems that nobody was prepared for abyss monsters within the city.

"Is this Golds doing?" The abyss warrior thought. He recalled how in the game Gold was to blame for the abyss monsters running wild across Teyvat, which was likely happening out in the world right now. Each nation had to face the horrors of the abyss, and that might just include Khaenri'ah.

Raylan confirmed it himself as he detected multiple abyssal energy signatures throughout the city. They were small, likely more Rifthounds and other such creatures. Nothing like Durin was around, thankfully, but he could practically feel the abyss throughout the whole city. Like a thin layer of mist spread across every street and building.

That is concerning…

As it wasn't like that when he'd first entered the city earlier. So these creatures, including the dragon-ish monster he'd slain just a few moments ago, just appeared in the city without warning. How that was possible he couldn't say, but this could be the beginning of the fall.

And considering what was to come in the future…

Raylan stared the knight directly in the eyes, "I'm in," he responded resolutely, "What do you need me to do?"

"We need your skillset," The Knight explained, "We're spread thin throughout the city, and have only so many ruin guards to reinforce us at this time so your assistance would be a boon, especially if you're as efficient as you were against that abomination moments ago."

"Just point me where to go." The young god responded.

"Head south of here," The Knight said, using his lance to point in the direction he meant, "The southern walls are under siege there, sending you would tip the scales in our favor, but there are areas throughout the city that could use your aid."

The abyss warrior nodded in understanding, "Alright, once I'm done on the southern wall I'll help evacuate civilians as best I can. If I come across any of your knights I'll lend a hand."

"Thank, sir," The Knight bowed his head in gratitude, "Your service will not be forgotten."

With nothing else to say Raylan took off in the direction the knight had pointed with speed that stunned the Knight officer, and many of his subordinates who had turned to see him leave, before the warrior left into the air to the top of a building before jumping beyond their sight.

The Knight Officer was momentarily rooted in place as he comprehended what he'd just seen. He was brought out of his stupor by the sound of someone calling out to him.

"Sir!" One of his knights called out as he sped toward him, "We've secured the area, and evacuated any civilians nearby to a safer location."

"Good," The leading Knight replied, "Gather the others, we have to move to the eastern side of the city and reinforce our units in the area. We have to lock down a safe haven for our people."

"But sir," The soldier hesitated, "What about the Royal Palace? Shouldn't we reinforce the Captain and secure the palace until this incursion is dealt with?" It was clear to the officer that his statement was born of concern for Khaenri'ahs royalty than any form of insubordination in questioning his orders.

He knew many of his soldiers would likely feel the same way, but the officer could ease his concerns.

"No, Captain Dainsleif is with them alongside a legion of automations. They have the area locked down tight." The Officer countered, informing the soldier of the news. "We have to trust the Captain to do his job, whilst we do ours. Go, gather the men and prepare to move out!"

"Understood, Lieutenant Halfdan!" The soldier swiftly saluted before turning to carry out his latest orders.

For a moment Halfdan remained stationary, observing the ruined city around him. The buildings around them had been partially turned to ruins, smoke bellowed into the air above, and the faintest sounds of combat in the distance could be heard echoing throughout the streets.

Halfdan gave one last glance in the direction the unknown warrior had gone before moving to regroup with his men. He could only hope that with the combined strength of the Royal Guard, the Automations, and that unknown warrior they would be able to regain control of the situation and drive the abyss away.

For Khaenri'ah itself would suffer greatly if they failed.

/_\

As it turns out, the situation had been far worse than what the Knight officer had insinuated earlier. Despite Raylans' speed, and his use of teleportation, the southern walls had been breached by more abyss monsters by the time he'd arrived and were already entering the city.

Raylan was quick to push the creatures back, much to the relief of many of the Knights who had been routed by the creatures. His blistering speed, efficiency, and power, the Unknown Archon made short work of the abyss creatures.

His efforts paid dividends as soon he and the Knights were reinforced by more Knights and Ruin machines, most of which were of the beefy Ruin Grader model. With enough forces to lock this area down, Raylan moved to the wall and used his void power to manifest a barrier in the wall where it had been breached.

Although temporary it would serve as a strong seal and barrier against further abyss creatures entering from outside the city until it was repaired.

If it ever gets repaired.

But with the abyss creatures appearing from within the city itself somehow, the difference it would make was unknown to the Abyss Archon. All he could hope for was that all the lives he saved now would count for something in the end.

"Take what you can Ray," The Abyss God reassured himself, "Remember what's at stake here. Save every single life you can."

"Warrior!" A voice called out, the abyss god turned to the source of the noise to find another officer quickly coming his way. At least, he guessed it was another officer of sorts due to the different armor decals.

"Sup," Raylan replied simply, with a nod in the knight's direction and a small wave of his hand. "Warrior huh? Not the worst thing to be called."

"Thank you for your help, sir." The Knight said, just as the other one had Raylan noted. "You saved my men with what you just did, but can I ask that you help us save our injured? We could use all the help we can get."

"Yeah, show me where they are." Raylan responded quickly, the officer nodded and swiftly turned and dashed toward a building with Raylan right behind him. The building itself showed signs of damage but seemed to be holding well.

The knight brought Raylan into the building, past two knights and a ruin guard protecting the entrance, the room itself was filled with people. Large, open, like a bar. Some were laid out on the counter, some on the table, others on the floor. The wounded were being looked over by their comrades, wounds being wrapped and bandaged, one of the men had a splint on their leg.

A couple of heads turned their way when they entered, but nobody said anything.

Seeing so many injured guards, injured fighters, it demonstrated to Raylan that while the people were fighting as hard as they could, the battles raging within the city were taking a toll on their protectors. It wouldn't be long before all of Khaenri'ahs protectors were to hurt or exhausted to continue.

"We need to move the wounded, they can't stay here." The officer explained. "Abyssal corruption is spreading in the area and we can't do anything to curb it."

"Abyssal corruption?" Raylan thought, glancing around the wounded once more he spotted three or four people with black vein-like markings staining their skin. "Was this the beginning of the knights corrupting transformation?"

Was this the curse or merely the corruption that created the abyss order?

Wordlessly he moved to approach one of the corrupted guards, several eyes turned to him including the eyes of the officer. Nobody said anything.

Raylan crouched down beside the corruption-ridden knight. Taking a closer look he could see the vein-like corruption pulsing every so often, with every pulse helping to push the corruption further along the knight's body and skin inch by painful inch.

The Abyss Archon reached out his hand toward the knight. The knight didn't protest as void energy formed in Raylans' hand. It took a mere moment before the vein-like corruption began to glow the same color as Raylans magic.

The others watch in sheer astonishment as the corruption on the began to dissipate, turning into a mist of magic before being absorbed by Raylan. The process took only a few seconds before the magic died out. The room was silent, stunned by what they'd just witnessed. The knight who had just been purged of corruption sat up straighter, he quickly examined himself. Checking his arms, hands, touching his neck to see if the corruption was there.

"Wha- How did-" The knight stumbled, fumbling to find the right words.

Raylan though merely smiled. "Are there any others that need corruption purged?" He asked, his head swiveling toward the other knights and guards in the room. There was hesitation to speak for a few seconds before one spoke up.

"Yeah! We- we have a few more that could use your help!" One of the knights answered.

"Show me," Raylan responded, "I'll have them fixed up in no time. After that show me the worst wounded among you, I can heal wounds too." To emphasize his point he flashed his void powers once again.

Many of the knights just continued to stare at him but a handful of the knights, likely the medics, immediately went and grabbed him by the arm, pulling the warrior along toward their corrupted and injured comrades.

Raylan swiftly set to work with his abilities.

The knight officer watched in awestruck silence as the mysterious abyss warrior methodically went around the room healing his men or purging them of corruption one person at a time. One question appeared in his mind as he continued to observe this strange man.

Just who was this magical savior?

/_\

Three rifthounds howled momentarily before the sound died out as their heads separated from their bodies. The abyss warrior flicked his hand to dispel the lingering abyss magic as he turned to the nearby knights who stood in awe of how he'd so simply wiped three monsters out.

"Leave these things to me!" Raylan shouted amidst the chaos, "I'll clear the area out myself, you need to evacuate the citizens to the east side of the city! It's the safest place to hide!" His voice carried itself above the other noises around as many of the knights and civilians turned to him.

Most heeded his words, pushing through others as they made a break for the eastern province. Families made up most of the ones fleeing but were quickly followed by individuals and pairs. Some of which dropped their belongings to quicken their pace.

A few hesitated momentarily, perhaps wondering if they should listen to him or not. Those thoughts were quickly squashed as they witnessed the warrior decapitate another abyss creature with a magical spear.

Whether out of fear, or realizing he knew what he was talking about, the hesitant few broke out into a sprint eastward.

Satisfied, Raylan turned back to focus on the approaching abyss creatures.

But as he did, to his immense surprise, he witnessed two massive automations rise above the city skyline. They were still a good distance away from him, likely roaming just outside the city walls protecting from further external incursions.

"Oh shit, didn't think I'd see Ruin Golems here." Raylan thought as he watched the machines lumber across his view, "They're massive. Just like the destroyed one in Sumeru."

They were far larger looking than in-game, whether that was due to his perspective or not he didn't know, but Golems were a sight to see.

But also a worrying one.

"What exactly warranted that kind of response?" Raylan thought, "Have things gone so far downhill that they're breaking out the big guns now?"

As if to reinforce that line of thought another two Ruin Golems rose above the cityscape in the distance, bringing the total of Golems up to four. It was impressive to think those things were manned by a crew, he hoped they'd put the things through the paces and help turn the tide of this crisis.

"Back-up is appreciated." He thought before focusing back on the abyss creatures, "I can't do this alone." The warrior sighed before throwing himself toward his foes.

"I wish you were here Istaroth, I could really use your help right now."

/_\

"The Royal Palace is under siege!" One of the Knights, a random soldier from what he could observe, yelled, "Gather as many free hands as you can, we must secure the royal court!"

A few of the men heeded their comrades' words, breaking formation as they all ran toward the royal palace in some vain hope of saving their nation's royalty from whatever abyss monsters had breached their defenses.

But, unfortunately, the knight's words threw the scared civilians nearby into a frenzied panic, the crowd surged like a herd of terrified animals. The people all ran, some stampeding down the streets which only caused the people they came across to begin doing the same, whilst others braved the mass of moving people crossing the street in search of the right building or person they were looking for.

"Hold it!" An Officer yelled after them, "Regroup now!" She ordered to little avail as some of her soldiers continued to abandon their posts to reinforce the palace against their superiors orders. The panicked cries of the people drowned out her attempts to reign in her subordinates.

The officer growled in frustration, as the situation quickly deteriorated, before turning back to her remaining subordinates, "Secure a route through the city, evacuate the western province and move all civilians to the eastern side!" She ordered, gesturing with her sword before swinging the tip of the blade east.

"Yes Ma'am!" Came from her soldiers, as they broke into three units to better cover the area. Each of the units were accompanied by several of their automations. A few remained by her, awaiting her command for what they'd do here.

"You lot," She turned to them, "Reinforce the front lines, take as many available automations with you as you can!"

The soldiers were about to carry out her orders just as a blur of movement from atop a nearby building drew their attention, the blur flew through the air after leaping from the roof before landing in the center of the street.

As it turned out, it was a man.

His sudden and unexpected arrival startled many of the scared and panicked crowd for a moment, as he stood and moved toward the Knights. The first thing noted about him was his appearance, because if the rumors spreading around the city were true, this was the mysterious guy running around slaying the abyss monsters left, right, and center, whilst purging the corruption from both the city and people! He matched his description from what they'd heard of him, of the city's magical savior.

If it was him, then he'd arrived just in time.

"Warrior!" The Officer called as she moved to meet him. "I hope you're here to help because we could certainly use it." Following slightly behind were a few of her knights, further behind them more knights were knelt down tending to their armor or weapons, perhaps repairing their damaged equipment for the battles to come.

"Of course," He responded, focusing on the officer. "What's the situation?"

"We need help cutting through a small horde of abyss monsters, they're blocking us from reaching trapped civilians on the other side." She turned to him, "Can you help us break through to save our people?" She gestured down the street toward some abyss creatures at the far end.

"I can," He answered resolutely. He stepped forward, "I'll take up the front, your men can follow behind once I've broken through." He stated, "You evacuate everyone you can, I'll cover your retreat. Sound good?"

For a moment the officer was surprised, she hadn't expected the man to volunteer to hold back the abyss monsters alone but given she needed all hands to get this done she didn't object to it.

"My men will be ready to move any moment, just push through and we'll follow up." She confirmed her plan, to which the warrior nodded in acceptance. As if on cue, her men all stood

The warrior swiftly took off in the direction of the abyss monsters, ready to engage them head-on.

"Wait!" The officer yelled a hand raised and reaching toward him. The warrior slid to a stop, his head moving to face her. "I need to know before anything happens, what is your name warrior?"

"The name's Raylan!" He called out to her. With his name revealed, the mysterious warrior moved onward and engaged the abyssal creatures down the road.

"Raylan," The officer thought to herself, "So that's the name of our formerly unknown savior." She watched as he tore through several smaller creatures with practically no resistance. A number of her men mumbled between one another as they gazed upon his ferocity against the beasts.

"Ready yourselves for battle people!" She ordered, raising her sword as she gave the order.

"Yes Ma'am!" The ones nearby saluted, the ones who'd been tending to their equipment quickly finished their prep as they moved to regroup with their comrades.

The officer glanced toward the warrior, Raylan, once more.

"We might not know who you are, or how you're doing what you have been, but the people of Khaenri'ah will not forget your kindness." The officer thought before she ordered her men to charge.

Before the day was out, people would know the name of the man who'd done so much for their nation and home.

/_\

"Please!" One of the knights, a random soldier if Raylan had to guess by their armor, shouted above the crowd. "Evacuate to the eastern province of the city!"

The knight's words went unheard by the scared mass of people rushing about in mad panic. Even the fellow knights nearby didn't seem to be listening either. Many of the guards moved with uncertainty and worry, unsure what they should be doing.

A quick survey of the guards here found that they were missing their officer, whether that was due to their leader being killed or just being MIA. Raylan didn't know but it was clear that with a lack of leadership things were falling apart.

They were struggling to retake control of the situation.

Seeing the panic, the fear, around him Raylan clenched his fist in frustration. It hurt to see the city getting worse despite the efforts of the knights and himself, it was as though the city was doomed to fall no matter what they did. People didn't seem to fully comprehend the disaster either as many were trying to gather their belongings or even barricade themselves inside their homes or businesses.

This crisis was only getting worse with each passing moment. More monsters, more breaches, and fewer able bodies willing to fight.

So many lives… lost, if they failed to regain control.

"No!" The Abyss Warrior scolded himself mentally, "No effort is wasted here! Focus. Get these people to safety and move! We can't delay this, there are more monsters to clear out."

With renewed resolve Raylan leapt atop a toppled carriage, getting a better view of the chaos in the streets. The abyss warrior sent out a pulse of void energy into the air above, a flash of purple burst outward above the street drawing the attention of many of the startled and fearful people.

"Everyone!" Raylans voice echoed powerful, more so than he thought he could have before, "Listen to me!" His words seemed to hold more power and weight behind them as nearly everyone stopped to listen, even the guards didn't disturb him.

"Make your way to the east side of the city!" He called out, looking over the crowd watching their reactions, "The knights there have created a safe zone for all civilians to evacuate to, protected by multiple units of automations and knights alike." He explained, eyes staring hard out over the crowd. Raylan could tell his words were having little effect on such a massive crowd and although he couldn't blame them it was frustrating to see, his expression morphed into a mix of sorrow, frustration, and pain.

Logic might not have had the desired effect, but Raylan could speak from the heart.

His heart.

"Please, everyone!" He yelled in a manner that sounded close to begging, "I know it's hard to leave your homes, your belongings behind but you are worth more than what you own!" The Warrior continued, "I know what it's like to lose everything, I've lost my home once before! I lost my family," Many in the crowd grimaced or gasped, some held onto others. Likely family members. "I know the pain. So please, forget about whatever shit is in your homes and focus on saving yourselves! A city can be replaced but you can't be!"

Raylan stared out into the crowd, people, civilians, knights, wondering if he'd gotten through to them. The silence was deafening but when some of the crowd dropped some of their belongings a faint smile made its way across his face.

When one started to do it, others began to follow suit. All it took was for one person to set the example and the crowd was willing to go along with them.

"Everyone!" One of the knights yelled above the crowd, "We'll guide you through the safest route to the eastern province, just follow our lead!" He explained. Said knight began drawing the crowd toward him and a few of his comrades before he began leading them eastward.

A few of the knights stayed behind to instruct or guide people looking to evacuate the area.

The smile on Raylans' face widened, a breathless laugh escaped his lips.

"I'll have to check-in over the east side soon, let's hope I can convince people to flee the city. If I can protect them until we reach the surface I'm sure I can figure out where to put them up until we fix this fuck up." The abyss god thought. The less people in the city the better, the less lives that could be potentially lost when the Archons show up and rip the place apart.

And to say nothing of the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles.

Unfortunately, Raylan wasn't that lucky.

A loud horn boomed over the crowd, over the city itself, drowning out many of the other noises around them. The bystanders went silent at the sound as it echoed for several seconds throughout the streets and buildings. The people amidst the crowd were startled and confused by the sound, mumbling between themselves trying to understand what it could have meant. Even the rookie knights amidst the guards didn't seem to fully comprehend the sound's meaning.

But Raylan did.

As did the knight officers, who tightened their hands on their weapons.

And it almost made him break out in a cold sweat, his blood turning to ice. His previously earned smile ripped from him.

"No…" He thought, processing the sound as it died out, "Not now of all times."

Raylan jumped down from his little stage on the carriage and pushed through the crowd, many eyes turning to him as he did, wondering what he was doing now. Wordlessly after reaching the edge of the crowd he jumped to the top of the closest and tallest tower, having to leap over a row of buildings to reach it.

The citizens and guardsmen below gasped in surprise, awed by his prowess once again.

Atop the damaged tower, Raylan turned his gaze out across the city. Much of its skyline ruined, damaged, or destroyed despite everyone's best efforts. Even the titanic Automations at the edge of the city were showing signs of damage despite their superior size to many of their foes. But that's not where his attention went to.

The Abyss Archons eyes went toward the horizon, to beyond the city limits and across the fields outward. With his enhanced sight, and element senses, Raylan could make out the various masses in the distance, divided yet moving in the same direction from multiple angles around the city. From three different sides, large masses of people moved toward the city. Elemental energies pulsing in the distance with great intensity confirmed exactly what he was seeing.

The nations of Teyvat had arrived, armies from several of the nations on the surface. It was hard to make it out from sight alone who was from which nation but he could sense the potent and powerful elemental energies of a specific few. Unlike the layer of abyssal energy he could feel throughout the city, he could sense severe power spikes of different elements.

Anemo.

Geo.

Electro.

Hydro.

Pyro.

And Cryo.

The level of power he could sense could only belong to one group of people on Teyvat. One Raylan had hoped he'd have had more time to prepare for, more time to evacuate the city, and minimize the loss of life.

But unfortunately he was probably the unluckiest bastard alive right now.

The Archons were here, and with their armies by their sides they were ready for war.

C5: End.

Ah shit, here we go again.

Another build-up chapter. We get to see the situation deteriorate in the city piece by piece, and how Raylans name is getting around because of all his efforts. Now its time for the collapse! Yay!

I had a harder time figuring this chapter (and planning the next ones) out than previous chapters as I had to take a few lore details into consideration (to which I had to do research on). Such as Dainsleif failing to protect the Eclipse Dynasty, whether or not those from Khaenri'ah were granted Visions (I used Kaeya and Albedo as evidence to say yes, but still), and why the whole Fall of Khaenri'ah was a complete shitshow for all parties involved. Considering who died on both sides of the conflict and how people would have survived said shitshow it was a bit of work. I also have certain voice lines to consider, especially one from Ei.

This chapter kinda kicked my ass as I was hoping to have it out within three weeks of the last update. Nevertheless the chapter is done. I'll likely re-work bits of previous chapters as I come up with better ideas or how to make things flow better. Same for this one, I feel as though I could have done better with this chapter but I just could wrap my head around it. It'll probably come to me at a later date and I'll look like an idiot for not realizing it sooner.

Fun fact: Khaenri'ah seems to have plenty of Norse inspiration to it as I've learned from various research and lore-dives.

Note: I made Khaenri'ah intentionally huge in scale. I figured it would work better that way, most of the nations are small due to game limitations anyway so it shouldn't be a problem.

Anyway, what did y'all think? Enjoy the concept of the story so far?

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Review Response(s): (All Votes counted in Reviews even if not responded to here)

desropter: Baal died during the Cataclysm, at Khaenri'ah, but how she died exactly is unknown. Rukkhadevata never went to Khaenri'ah (from my understanding) so she won't be making an appearance this Arc. How something managed to kill Baal is beyond me but you'll see what I believe happened in this Arc.

runelt99: We'll find out soon enough, hopefully people enjoy the result. Vote once if your opinion doesn't change. Re-vote if you want to change it.

harisnorw: Hopefully Raylan entertained you.

Chirriro: I hoped Bell was likable, that was the point. Create a short connection, ya know? We'll see what becomes of Bell in future chapters.

RandomBrowser: We'll have to wait and see, won't we?

Mcmayhem57: There will be a few plot devices in the Cataclysm Prologue Arc.

: Noted. I share the same votes as you.

NazgulBelserion: A High Priestess is an interesting idea.

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And that's the chapter complete in full. Hope people enjoyed the beginning of the chaos, for there is more to come. I'm sure people wanted to explore Khaenri'ah more in a more civil way but this story ain't the one to do it in. (Maybe another story I make down the line.)

Thanks for reading, reviewing, voting, and supporting the story.

See y'all in the next chapter!

AlcatrazDGold - Peace out!