A/N: I LIVE! And so does uni. Let's just skip the formalities.

RhoMarck: Did you just pull a Ryoshu on me?

I'dMakeANameButIDon'tWantTo: It's relative, really. There is nowhere that says that Godfrey was stronger than Radahn, only that Radahn looked up to Godfrey as this unbeatable dude, and even fashioned his armor after him. One could argue that in physical strength Godfrey could be superior, but when you consider that Radahn gets into fights with CELESTIAL BODIES and more often than not, WINS SAID FIGHTS... Yeah, I'd bet on the red mane, He was the mightiest of the demigods after all.

abed7143: I know right?

Horamberg: Thank you, It means a lot to me.

Guest: What does Godfrey think of his other children? WELL, I'd say pride in both Morgot and Godwyn, though one was killed in the night of the black knives, and the other died in his hands, he would have only pride to show to those two. Godwyn befriended Fortissax, ending the war against the dragons, while Morgot kept order in Leyndel while Marike went to destroy the Elden Ring, despite being hated by all for the mere crime of being born the way he was. Mohg tho... I originally intended for him to show up in this chapter, following Venti, but decided against it since... Well... He's quite the asshole to put it lightly.

insertnamehere2009: It has.

The A-Demonbane: I agree. However, there lie two distinct flaws with your logic. ONE: I stopped playing after the Shogun fight because I simply couldn't bare the frustrating Gacha, especially being an FTP player, so I couldn't tell you how strong the traveler gets. I do know that there is a Gundam fight? But my knowledge ended with Inazuma. TWO: Godfrey, although very old, is prone to grow with the story. So it's anyone's game at this point. Not to mention that Lumine is quite literally the same as the Tarnished in my eyes. They are both lenses of the player after all.

Here it is! Enjoy.


Godfrey had woken up for a good hour or so. He sat peacefully underneath a tree beside Brook's house. He closed his eyes and steadied his breath.

The feeling of the morning wind blowing against his skin, flowing through his beard and hair, was one of the few things in the world that seemed to alleviate his anxiousness, so he decided to meditate for a few moments. Just what was his goal? He, much like many others, is a tarnished warrior, graced by gold, lured by its promises, and much like his brethren, was now aimless, with no golden rays of grace to guide him, not set road to travel. Was this life truly what he desired? Was he being fair to himself and those who-

"Do you think he's dead?"

That voice, he knew that high-pitched, somewhat annoying voice. He heard, just a day ago... To whom does it belong again?

"He looks like he's sleeping... But he's still as a rock!"

Another voice. This one belonged to that chef... Who was it again? Ah! Xiangling of course! "Wait, let me..."

''Let me' what?' Godfrey thought, only for his thoughts to be answered with a feeling of something poking the side of his chest. He did not react to it.

"He's not moving... No way... Is he really dead?" The chef asked, concerned. "I think we should leave him be."

A new voice, one he hadn't heard before. A feminine, soft voice... Was this Lumine? He could only wonder. "No way we let him be! Didn't he try to start a fight with us, just yesterday?!" Ah, he remembered now. That was the voice of that flying imp. "He did what?! Doesn't he know of the traveler who defeated Dvalin?" Another poke, this time against his right cheek, but Godfrey remained steadfast and unflinching. "I know, right? Super weird... Wait... Is that who I think it is?"

Godfrey wasn't bothered by the trio, but an acquaintance to appear in this remote village? Who could it be? His curiosity was killing him, but it was also so entertaining messing with them... What to do? "You know him?" Xiangling asked, irking Godfrey's curiosity even more.

"Tune deaf bard! What are you doing here?" The flying imp asked in a friendly tone. A bard? Now that was interesting. What tales would a bard have about this land, Teyvat? As far as Godfrey could tell was that it had history, but was it as grandiose as the tales of the lands between? It was only natural that he would compare the two. "Hello, Traveler; Paimon. Just passing by to meet someone." The trio were silent for a moment.

Brook's loud laughter grew louder and louder as she realized that her opponent had just arrived. "Let's get this fight started!" Brook roared.

"Hope you don't regret it!" Xiangling exclaimed while Lumine and Paimon followed her toward the metaphorical arena.

The bard, however, approached the meditating giant, and as he got closer to him, Godfrey felt something he hadn't felt in a long time. He felt as though a beacon light was approaching him, not like he felt before back in Leyndel. Back then the light was golden, warm, and felt as though it would gobble you up due to its imposing presence, but this time, it shone a bright yet soft tone of blueish green, it carried with it the winds of the land, alongside an uneasy feeling of liberty. Godfrey shuddered. He felt the bard close to him.

"Can you open your eyes for me?" The voice of a young boy, or was it a young girl? Rang out in front of him. Godfrey exhaled loudly and opened his eyes. In front of him was a... Girl? Boy? He couldn't tell. But the bard also eradicated the same kind of light as his ex-wife... Was she a god as well? 'Seems that I am bound to be chased by those touched by divinity...' Godfrey thought to himself.

"Doth thou have any business with me?" Then, what he assumed to be, a girl simply chuckled to herself. "That's rude, don't you think?" The first Elden Lord remained still, and although he was sitting down, he was still taller than the bard girl in front of him. "Perhaps, but 'tis also rude to awaken someone asleep unwarranted, is it not?"

The bard hummed. "We started with the wrong foot. You can call me Venti, a bard of sorts." Godfrey blinked, unimpressed. "Never assay to fool me, wench. What care I for thy disguise, considering thy divine nature. What doth thou crave?" Venti remained stoic, uncaring for the Elden Lord's intimidating figure. "Well then, I'll be out of your hair in a moment," Godfrey stared at him, unblinking, as the cold winds seemed to suddenly stop. "Just... Who are you?" Venti asked.

A legitimate question, 'Would I can say to she's divine, he might not but also sense the divinity within myself...' Godfrey wasn't exactly a demigod, all he did was marry a god. True, that would also ascend him to the status of demigod, but his strength did not increase with the title even if he was blessed by Queen Marika herself. "I am Godfrey, the first Elden Lord." He spoke with gusto in his voice.

Oh, how he loved the title. In truth, he enjoyed the intimidating factor of all titles bestowed upon him, 'The Lord of the Battlefield', 'The Lion', and 'Godfrey, the first of the Golden', but what held the most weight behind was the title of First Elden Lord. To him, at least. So disheartened was he when this divine bard girl said; "Elden Lord? Lord of what?" He was saddened beyond what he thought was possible for someone his age. No anger, no hate. To say Godfrey was distraught wouldn't do the feeling justice.

"Hm." He could only hum in response. The bard brought a chair and sat beside the 9" tall giant. "I'm sure we can get along, Godfrey." The bard smiled at him, which seemed to only his provoke rage, ever slightly. "I do not would to compose thee mine acquaintance." He wanted so badly to get up and leave the bard girl by herself, but he had a mission he would not allow himself to fail.

The cookoff was just about to begin and he would not allow something so petty as a divine being to stand between him and his food. "Also, I'm not a girl, just so you know." Godfrey shrugged, somewhat surprised. "Thou speaketh as though that bears any significance." His words echoed with the truth.

Initially, during the first years of his warrior life, he held the belief that the battlefield was no place for women, soon, this belief of his would soon shatter under the light of the great Erdtree and his faithful crucible knights. Queen Marika made sure of it. The recently discovered to be, boy hummed at that. "True." Venti said.

This was supposed to be a simple and straightforward cook-off, but instead, this divine entity just decided to torment him, snarling at the thought alone.

The competition had already begun, and before he could indulge in such hateful thoughts, Brook's voice boomed toward him. "Oi!" She yelled as a trio of peeled radishes smacked against Godfrey's face, landing on the ground below.

"What in tarnation..." He rubbed his face, wiping it clean of any radish juice. Godfrey's gaze snapped towards the perpetrator of such a violent act against his person, Brook.

The older woman staggered back, flinching as his murderous gaze fell upon her being. "U-Uh..." She struggled to talk being stared down by the First Elden Lord, at the same time, something fell to the grass below with a soft *Thump*. "C-Can you clean t-them at the nascent u-up the hill...?"

Godfrey took hold of the three radishes currently sitting on the ground. "Hmph." He exhaled as he looked at Brook, then back at the divinity by him. Venti, though seemingly not intimidated, was speechless, his facial expression was unreadable to the warrior. "Very well." Godfrey slowly rose to his full height, towering over the hastily built shacks where Xianling and Lumine stared at him with blank expressions, and left for the nascent, leaving the group.

No one expected what had just happened. Brook stood completely still, paralyzed with fear. She felt as though she gazed towards a monster of unfathomable proportions, and then threw radishes at said monster. She would bet money that there was a place where she would leave this world, be it from that man's hands, or the pressure alone. Xiangling felt it too. Her hands shook with a mixture of shock and expectation. True, she wouldn't exactly enjoy being hit in the face with radishes, but there was no way she would get as scary as the giant did. Paimon was out cold, passed out on the cold grass below. Lumine tried to help her traveling companion, to no avail.

Venti, the archon, was the most intimidated of all. 'That presence... What even was that?!' His pride as Barbatos would crumble should he come face to face with someone like him. 'I saw it...' His imagination began to go wild. 'I saw the face of a lion- No, it was something else.' It was something peculiar, something he never experienced before. 'This stranger, somehow, someway, was touched by divinity, not unlike the adepti of Liyue.' No, it wasn't it. The adepti were sworn protectors bound by contract, risen to such heights through Rex Lapis, Godfrey was different. He was not bound by anything, and the source of his blessing was unknown to the archon.

Soon, both competitors recuperated from their torpor and continued their competition.


Godfrey hastened his steps up the hill. "Just whom doth she bring meself for?" He murmured, not at all pleased with his situation. What was Brook thinking, deciding to throw radishes at The First Elden Lord? She didn't know better, nay, couldn't have known better, Godfrey was a stranger to this land after all.

Just on the edge of Springvale was a small lake with crystal clear water, critter and small animals hid themselves in the nearby vegetation as Godfrey came into vision. "Clear... And cold. These people are blessed." He spoke, dipping a finger inside the oversized pond.

Without any ceremony, Godfrey got the cleaning the dammed radishes. Carefully, as to not destroy them under his powerful grip, Godfrey stopped only when he heard the shuffling of leaves next to him. He gazed towards the noise, analyzing the shuffling carefully. "If this is one of those round blobs..." Slimes they were called, plentiful on Mondstadt.

The shuffling seemed to stop for whatever reason, causing the Elden Lord to sigh disappointedly, his itch for combat would remain unsatiated this day. "Hm?" Godfrey looked back at the radishes he was supposed to be cleaning and was instantly surprised to see that they were missing. "HUH!?" Did he drop it in the water? No, that was out of the question considering that they weren't in the pond. A fish caught it? No, the fish swam away after noticing his presence. Godfrey's gaze analyzed every part of the pond that could have in any way been related to the disappearance of the radishes.

Then his eyes fell upon the three watery blobs of sentient water in the middle of the pond, each with a singular suspicious looking radish shaped object suspended inside their transparent rotund bodies.

"Thee..."

These blobs were different from the ones he fought previously. Instead of air, these seemed to be made entirely of water. Without further thought, Godfrey jumped into the water. The three thieving blobs of water floated gently on the surface of the pond, slowly absorbing the vegetables.

It was a battle against time, The First Elden Lord didn't even need to swim, since the deepest part of the pond submerged his body leaving only the head and a small portion of his broad shoulders. With a blow coming from below the slime, Godfrey's hand reached inside of the blob's body, grasped the radish, and yanked the vegetable out. Before he could celebrate his small victory, the slime exploded in, well, slime, covering Godfrey's face in this hydrophobic gel. Wiping away the gel that got into his eyes, Godfrey's gaze darted the water, searching for the other two as his hands quickly stored the secured radish inside a pouch on his belt.

"Escaping?" He could almost laugh at the thing's feeble attempts to flee from the pond. The water tried to halt the giant's movement with little to no results, as Godfrey dashed towards one of the fleeing slimes. Quickly reaching it, Godfrey couldn't get a grasp on the thing, as it slipped away from him. The other had already managed to reach solid ground, though that would only serve to slow itself down.

A game of cat and rat ensued. Godfrey in a second was already on top of the slime, but the slime was too slippery and managed to always slip in between his muscular arms. Enough was enough, Godfrey thought, as he reached down into the floor of the pond and pulled out a stone. Flexing his arm and positioning himself to throw the rock into the blob, the slime uselessly skittled away from him. Seeing only the Elden Lord's leg rising in order to give himself greater momentum with the throw, the blob couldn't do anything but accept its fate ad the raised foot came downwards. The rock pierced the slime perfectly, popping it, and the radish fell into the water, without any damage itself. The thrown rock lodged itself deep into another nearby rock, cracking it in twain. Quickly, Godfrey took the second radish and stared toward the last slime. "Where are thou?"

The slime was nowhere to be seen. Did it run away? Analyzing the ground, next to the shuffling bush he heard earlier, a singular crossbow bolt was lodged in the ground, with suspicious amounts of gel splattered around the bolt. "Who..." Taking the bolt off of the ground, Godfrey noted how it was crudely built. Was it those furry masked creatures? He could only speculate.

Shoving the bushes to the side, Godfrey was greeted with an open field, where he saw a lonesome figure running towards a nearby camp. The figure, was small in stature, on its back was a crude crossbow, and on its hands, was the radish. "Thee." It was clear, it was indeed those masked creatures again. "I am sorry, Brook. Yet it seems that I shall be late."


Godfrey steadied his breath, but his heart could not be calmed. His muscles trembled and palpitated in excitement as he approached the Hirichrul camp. His battle-hardened eyes laughed at the face of such a crudely built structure, it was almost impossible to defend that camp against someone half-competent. From the outside, he saw three small creatures, one bigger one, and another wearing white robes that floated softly in the air.

Odd. But Godfrey was unphased by it.

The smaller one that stole his radish still held the vegetable in its hands. Without the need for a strategy, The First Elden Lord simply walked inside, as the creatures danced in a ritualistic manner around a campfire with a metal cauldron on top. It smelt like food, but it didn't smell appetizing.

Hearing Godfrey's approach, the creatures immediately stopped their dance and they all face the damp warrior that just walked into their camp. The creatures spoke gibberish as their hands shot toward their weapons.

Godfrey didn't waste any time and kicked the small one that stole his radish with all strength he could muster with his right leg. The now lifeless body of the hilichurl was sent upwards with enough force to crush its ribs and internal organs, the vegetable stayed behind, falling right into Godfrey's palm.

Now surrounded, Godfrey silently observed the creatures.

The bigger one that Godfrey initially thought to be the greatest threat, quickly lowered on his priority list as it took hold of a great wooden shield. The two small ones were armed with clubs that Godfrey already knew were ineffective against his superior muscles. Now, the only remaining threat was the floating midget in the white robes.

Now that he was closer, he noticed a staff in its hand, as a half-transparent white sphere covered his body. "An opaline bubbletear..." Though he could neither confirm nor deny it, it sure was identical to a bubble shield.

Enough pondering, the situation called for more brawn than brain.

Godfrey was first to take the initiative, raising his feet up high, the hilichurl had no reaction time to realize that his doom was closer than he once thought, Godfrey stomped the ground, crushing one hilichurl and crumbling the wooden structure and crude walls of the camp with the shockwave alone. Sounds of multiple bones cracking all at once echo through the camp.

As the wooden club of the last small hilichurl bounced off of Godfrey's thigh, the shield bearer swung his giant shield into the Elden lord, to no avail as his hands easily caught the shield mid-swing and parried it away. Using the momentum created by Godfrey, the shieldbearer spun in place and attempted another swing at the demigod. The blow found no purchase, as Godfrey took a singular step backward.

Again, he spun in place and tried to hit him, and again Godfrey took a step back, only, this time, Godfrey's back was struck by a chunk of ice, that promptly froze all the water that covered his skin, solidifying the Elden Lord in place. "Sorcery? The nerve..." He spoke through the ice that shattered almost as instantly as it was formed.

After dodging another swing of the great shield, Godfrey threw a punch at the floating sorcerer, the bubble shield seemed to absorb all damage, but it did seem like Godfrey could crack it.

Kicking away the shield from the bigger one, using both hands Godfrey held the sorcerer in place as three other ice chunks shattered against his skin, bruising it, though barely enough to be noticeable. Once both of his hands were on each side of the bubble, Godfrey attempted to crush it with his strength alone. Though he struggled to muster any more strength, the bubble cracked slightly under the pressure, and once a crack was formed, Godfrey let go of the sphere and shoved both hands into the crevice, and pushed it apart. The sorcerer could only yell in an intelligible tongue, as its shield broke apart under Godfrey's impossible strength. Fragments of the shield dug into his palms, his blood revealed itself as he took off the glass-like fragments from his hands, and quickly stomped the life out of the ice sorcerer.

Before he could return his attention to the shieldbearer, A punch landed cleanly on his right cheek as the world began spinning around Godfrey. Quickly regaining his balance, Godfrey was able to block the next punch the Mitachurl threw at him. "Thou dare?" Godfrey growled, grabbing the giant by the mask and throwing him away a few meters away.

It was time to end this.

With a single horizontal jump, Godfrey was already atop the still recovering Mitachurl, seeming to slow himself mid-air, The First Elden Lord lowered both his hands and with an upward motion, threw the Mitachurl high above the threes and in the air. Stomping the ground to halt his momentum, Godfrey lowered his posture and leaped into the air, towards the flying Mitachurl, and managed to intercept the creature mid-air.


The cookoff has been going smoothly! Xiangling kept herself busy by throwing commands left and right towards Lumine, who obeyed without exception, be it preparing ingredients, boiling water, and even going as far as to allow Lumine to add the seasonings herself. For all intents and purposes, the dish being prepared by Lumine was Lumine's, but in the context of the duel, It was Xiangling's, all while Paimon lay motionless on the ground, softly and rhythmically breathing.

Brook was not fairing much better, however. Her previous interaction with Godfrey shook her to the core. The deathly glare he gave her, the pressure around her the moment he laid his eyes on her, the sheer presence of anger and savagery behind that glare... She wanted to focus on the competition, really, she did, but after experiencing that? Her mind kept returning to the moment when she threw radishes at Godfrey. That brief moment now became her model of regret. In truth, she didn't mean to throw the vegetables at him, in fact, her recipe didn't even use radishes in the first place! She acted on a foolish whim. She'd seen that Godfrey woke up in a bad mood and noticed that the bard started to bother the giant, whom she was pretty certain would fold the poor twink like an omelet, especially when considering that his response to hearing that Lumine defeated Stormterror was a simple 'Then it shall be an even duel', the man even called himself the lord of the battlefield for the seven's sake! So she threw the vegetables at the bard, and then give an excuse as to get him out of Godfrey's hair. But somehow, Barbatos be dammed, she could swear that a leaf carried by the wind wound up in her eyes and made her miss the throw completely.

Was there a better way to address such a situation? Yes, but those solutions only came to her after the deed was already done. So she banked on whatever her brain came up with on the spot, hoping that Godfrey's rightful retaliation could have been stifled, luckily for her, it was.

"Traveller, go wash these radishes, on the double!" Xiangling yelled yet another command. Before Lumine could reach for a set of those vegetables, Brook spoke up. "You can have mine, Godfrey should be returning with them at any moment!" The chef gazed at Brook with a look deserving only of those caught cheating at a casino. "Don't you need them?" Brook shook her head in denial. "Though I initially did, I decided to change the recipe halfway through!" She lied in the face of the young chef of Liyue, who, without any resistance, accepted the lie at face value. "It is like that sometimes... Midway you realize that's not what your heart wanted, it lacked that signature huzzah! Very well, I accept your radishes!" Xiangling spoke with her natural enthusiasm, while Lumine finally had enough time between commands to check up on her partner, who had pretty much passed out on the grass.

"..."

She thought of anything that could possibly awaken Paimon from her current state until one thing came to mind. Taking hold of an already prepared part of the main course atop a metal tray, she held it close to Paimon's face, the wind softly blew the spicy fragrance into the unconscious child's nostrils, which instantly came to life, sniffing it. Her body began to hover above ground, as though the smell beckoned her back to consciousness. Plan worked, her eyes opened, directed toward the clear blue skies. Lumine was quick to put the tray back into the wooden shack as if to disallow Paimon to try any funny business.

"Huh? What happened?" The floating child spoke, slowly due to her torpor post awakening. Her eyes squinted at the sunlight as her arm attempted to cast a shadow on her face until something caught her attention. Paimon's head turned to the south, as her brain struggled to put into words the absurdity of the scene unfolding before her eyes. "W-W-Wha-" She gagged with her own tongue, her right index finger pointing towards the sky, taking the competitor's attention.

"What is it Paimon...?" Xiangling spoke as her eyes followed the direction where her index pointed towards. "Huh?" Brook butted in as her pupils widened. If it weren't for the fact that she was already sweating due to the temperature of the fire she worked with, she would start sweating right now. "Is that a..." Xiangling couldn't finish her inquiry, but Paimon finished it for her, "MITACHURL! FLYING!" She screamed, her tiny hands grasping her hair.

Mondstadt watched as an above-average-sized Mitachurl spiraled towards the sky above, spinning as he ascended in the air. It would have already been an occurrence that many scholars would love to investigate, but things only got more interesting as Godfrey met the flying Mitachurl in midair and grappled with it suspended in the air.

"What is he doing?!" Brook couldn't help but yell in confusion.

Lumine stared at airborne figures, her hands trembled with a feeling she wasn't entirely familiar with. Fear. It was that man who challenged her to a duel, the man that was now grappling bare-handed against a Mitachurl in the air.

The aerial duel was brief, seeing that Godfrey managed to grab the poor creature by the waist. And was now plummeting downwards, after losing all upwards momentum.

For a moment, the bard could have sworn he was witnessing a grandiose display of power, but that was in fact a human without the need nor the desire to hold back, divinity or not.

It was not over though.

Godfrey, not that he had the intention of doing so, plummeted down, Mitachurl in hand, directly into Springvale.