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Author Note:
[ ] = When Twilight is speaking.
{ } = When talking through Telepathy.
' ' = When thinking in your mind.
<< >> = When talking with your Pokémon or Tamed Beast.
--- --- = When describing a certain period OR Another place.
** ** = Point Of View i.e., POV
/// /// = In Call
" " = System and when talking to it.
「 」 = Thoughts being heard
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BOOM!!!
BOOM!!!
BOOM!!!
....
…
Suddenly, loud sound of explosions can be heard from the city.
This attracted the attention Jean and others towards its direction.
Eula: So, it has begun.
The Spindrift Knight spoke while letting out a sigh of sadness.
Barbara: W-What are these explosions a-about? And why does its l-look like you all know w-what is the source.
She asked while looking at light of fire and smoke that was coming from their homeland.
Lisa: We just told you that with the sacrifices of our p…people, our chances of success will increase, right? That's the...reason.
Barbara: W-What do you m-m-mean?
After a moment of silence, Kaeya spoke.
Kaeya: You must have seen those pouches strapped on the waist of the people, don't you?
Barbara: Y-Yes. What about it?
Amber: All those pouches are full of explosives. Not only that, these people have also embedded.... bombs in their heart.
Diluc: Hence, the moment they die, the explosion will go off and because of other explosives that they are carrying...…it will increase potency of explosion...even more
Barbara: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sighing, Jean continued.
Jean: They are not mere suicide squad...…They are suicide bomb squad.
STEP!!
STEP!!
Covering her mouth in shock, deaconess took some steps back as tears streamed down her cheeks.
Barbara: So, e-e-e-every explosion is the l-l-lives of our p-p-p-people.
Jean: .... Yes.
THUD!!!
At her sister's confirmation, Barbara fell on all fours, not daring to look in front as with every explosion, more tears started to fall.
Memories of her times in Mondstadt appeared in her mind. Smile of her people, their kindness, goodness. all were remembered one-by-one. She knew she will never to be able to see them ever again. And this hurt her even more.
Barbara: *hic* *sniff* *hac* *sniff*
The cry of the little girl resounded in the forest. Though it was soon suppressed by the sound of explosions.
Even when seeing Barbara like this, neither Jean nor anyone else stepped forward to hug and comfort the little girl. Not that they didn't want to, but they can't.
They can't say something like "Everything will be okay." OR "Don't worry, things will be fine soon." OR "Hang in there, life gets better" OR "The struggles we endure today will be the 'good old days' we laugh about tomorrow" OR "Every problem has a solution. There's ALWAYS a way to fix something. So, rest assured, all the right solutions will become known to you soon." OR so on.
Because they knew that at this moment, everything is lost. Hopes, dreams, future, all gone.
On the contrary, they wanted someone to come and say those same words to them too.
Like this, time went by.
.
.
.
.
Thirty minutes later.
The sound of detonation stopped.
Not only it means that their people were no more but also a queue that it was time for the Knights of Favonius to enter the stage.
THUD!!
Hearing this sound, Jean glanced back and saw Amber who was now standing near Barbara after chopping at the girl's neck, making her unconscious.
Sighing, the Acting Grandmaster spoke.
Jean: Thank you, Amber.
Amber: Um. I know you don't want your little sister to join. Her presence will only distract you during the fight.
Jean: Yeah, I won't deny that.
Lisa: So...It's time.
???: Have you really made up your mind?
At this, they all raised their head and looked at Moon who was sitting on the branch of tree while looking at them.
Jean: Um. There is no going back now.
Moon: I see.
Jean: Still, we want to thank Lady Moon for training us for the last months.
Once the blonde words fell, all of them including Jean bowed their head towards her.
Jean: We will never forget this gratitude. So…
Knights of Favonius: Thank you, Lady Moon! For everything you taught us!
Moon: ...….
Seeing their sincerity, the adeptus turned silent for a second before speaking.
Moon: If you want to thank me then you better win this. It will be enough for me to know that the time I invested on you was not the waste.
Knights: We will!
Moon: Then be on your way.
Bowing at her direction one last time, they all left the forest and walked towards Mondstadt City.
Moon: Still, can you answer one of my questions?
Pausing, they looked back at her, waiting for her to continue.
Moon: Was all that hardship, pain, suffering, sacrifice, worth it?
Hearing that, they showed a sad smile and answered.
Knights of Favonius: Of course, it's not.
Moon: ...…
With that they turned, and continued on their way.
The silver-haired kept on looking at them until they disappeared from her sight.
Moon: May you all bring victory.
With that, she disappeared from her spot.
If not because she somewhat blamed herself for failing to save Lumine, she didn't plan to train them for the last months.
But now that her job was done, she decided to no longer stay here and left.
.
.
.
.
.
City of Freedom, Mondstadt.
STEP!
STEP!
STEP!
...
…
The sounds of steps were resounding in now desolate city which was once referred as the city of wind, dandelions, and freedom.
Looking at the broken buildings, rubble, fallen plants, destroyed stalls, shops, shattered roads, blood-stained walls, pieces of fresh, corpses and so on all over, a pang of pain went through the hearts of Knights of Favonius.
They never ever imagined or dreamt that their once cheerful and prosperous city will become like this one day.
They even hand the illusions of people, children, merchants, adventures, and knights, walking around and enjoying their time together.
Taking a deep sigh, they closed their eyes for a second before opening them, full of resolution.
As they continued walking, they soon reached place which was destroyed by explosion from before.
The area of still had some fire burning at the side with charcoaled ground and fresh blood.
Exchanging their glances, they nodded and started following these trails of blood.
The more they followed, the more they saw the destruction and the more gruesome the scene would become.
There were guts, intestines, bones, blood-vessels, arm, leg, heads and many more all around.
After walking through this blood path, they finally reached their destination and stopped.
They were now in the plaza where the statue of Anemo God once stood right in the middle.
However, right now only the head of the statue was placed in the centre while the rest of its body had fallen on the Favonius Cathedral behind it, destroying the building along with it.
A person dapped in full-body armour was sitting on that head of the statue while holding a huge sword in its hand.
That was the person whom Knights of Favonius came to finish. The person responsible for the current state of Mondstadt, Yuuya.
A flash of fury passed through the eyes of Knights for a second but they hurriedly suppressed it. They knew that right now was not the time to let emotions get the best of them. They must keep their thoughts rational, otherwise, everything they did till now would be in vain.
Looking at the person whose armour was covered in blood, Jean gave him a deep stare and nodded inwardly.
'Jean: Even though there are the blood of our people on the armour, right now most of it is coming from inside through the small openings in the armour. In other words, it's Yuuya's blood himself.'
SHIN!!
She then pulled out her sword and nodded at others.
'Lisa: It's just like what I heard from Mr. Herrscher's thoughts. Even though "Berserker Armour" provide incredible strength, speed and agility to its user, it come with the cost of causing heavy strain and damage to the body in the process.'
'Eula: "Berserk Armour" keeps wounds from slowing ones down, forcibly relocating joints, reinforcing broken bones, and binding flesh to the bone with barbs. However, it does not mend wounds, meaning that one will still be bleeding out from particularly severe wounds."
'Amber: The impact of the explosions that were triggered at the death of our people sent a shockwave through Yuuya's body, attacking him inside. And because there were many explosions, it severely injured his insides letting blood to come out from his blood. That excessive blood is what leaking out right now.'
'Kaeya: Even if your wounds won't be able to affect your battle capabilities, how long can your body keep going with the loss of too much blood.'
'Diluc: In other words, one way or another, it will be become the battle of attrition...… Let's see who will fall first. You or Us.'
As everyone were prepared, the Yuuya's head moved towards their direction as his red eyes were looking menacing at them.
It can feel hostility from the Knights of Favonius, hence, concluded them as its enemy.
Yuuya(Berserker Amour): GRRRRRR!!!!!!
SWOOSH!!
Roaring like a beast, Yuuya charged towards them with his inhumane speed.
Jean and others remained unfazed.
It might be difficult for their old ones to even catch the shadow of Yuuya but for the current one, it was not much of an issue.
Jean: Make sure not to get hit by "Dragon Slayer". And also, don't try to block or parry it either. Even now it's too much for us to take it. Hence, make sure to always dodge it.
Knights of Favonius(except Jean): Yes!
Answering, they moved out of Yuuya's way and scattered in different different directions.
FWOOSH!!
FWOOSH!!
FWOOSH!!
....
…
Just after dodging, Amber released a barrage of arrows at him.
SWOOSH!!
Yuuya moved and started dodging them.
CRACKLE!!
But at this moment, Kaeya unleashed an ice blast after predicting Yuuya's next move.
THSSS!!
The blast hit Armoured-Man and a layer of frost appeared on the armour, decreasing his speed.
This resulted in some of the arrows succeeded in hitting him.
BAM!!
BAM!!
TING!!
TING!!
...
…
Though, noticing how the place that got hit remained scathed, Amber narrowed her eyes.
'Amber: This Armour is really too durable. I must decide a particular spot and strike it every time. As blindly attack all over is meaningless.'
ZAP!!
ZAP!!
ZAP!!
At this moment, many strikes of electros were released by Lisa and hit Yuuya.
'Lisa: Even though breaking the defence of the armour is hard, it is still made up of metal. And metal is good conductor of electricity. Hence, even you can't help yourself from getting electrocuted by it.'
Just like the mage said, since the entire amour was made of metal, it electrocuted his body inside.
While it's not enough to stop Yuuya, this excessive electro disrupted the signals that brain sent to move body. Hence, it made Yuuya's movements a bit more sluggish.
Yuuya(Berserker Amour): ROAR!!!!!!!!
WAIL!!
WHIZ!!
Suddenly, the man shouted and anemo element burst out of him, removing the frost covering his armour as well as made a wind layer around to protect him from electro attacks released by Lisa.
Knights of Favonius didn't seem surprised at this.
They already took it into account that Yuuya must be able to use anemo element since he can when they met him for the first time.
They then braced themselves and charged again.
The Battle between Knights of Favonius and Yuuya had just begun.
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*A/N: Please throw some power stones.
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