CHAPTER I, ACT III, PART IV
As you arrived at the entrance, you sensed a very strong aura of anger? Fear? You were not quite sure how to put it but it felt something similar like that.
"Huh, what happened? The city gate is swarming with Millelith and... the Fatui?" Paimon were puzzled as Zhongli thought for a while.
"This atmosphere is highly abnormal. It seems as though something big has happened." Zhongli said as he wore a concerned look on his face. "We should ask around a little, just to be safe." You nodded before asking one of the nearest guy.
As they began to ask a few question, you took this opportunity to change your outfit into much more flexible clothes since you are worried that your Liyue outfit that Paimon bought for you might get tore badly.
You immediately changed your clothes into something more flexible for you to fight so that you could deal even much more damage on them. After opening your gloves, you realized that the back of your hand had a primodial shape on it which was kind of surprising for you.
"Huh... I'm just gonna have this on my hand then...?" You mumbled while touching it before putting on a new gloves as you were ready to go.
You returned back with a whole new look which surprised Aether and Paimon. "Wait, since when did you change your clothes?" Paimon asked.
"Just now." You answered as Paimon looked at you in confusion. She tried figure out how but she just can't.
"Paimon ran out of brain juice to figure out. Anyways, so what did Zhongli mean by looking for the 'fuse'?" Paimon asked Aether as Aether sighed.
"You know, Mr. More-Money-Than-Sense." Aether said, sounded so salty as he crossed his arms.
"Ooh, Paimon gets it! If there's anyone that wants to see the whole city turned upside down, it's definitely him. But, where could we find him now? Where would he go at a time like this?" Paimon questioned while Aether and Paimon tried to think before you took out your phone and looked through the map to navigate to the Golden House.
"I know where he would be. Follow me." You said as Paimon and Aether exchange a look with each other before following you.
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You guys entered the Golden House before Paimon looked around in awe. "Wow... This is the Golden House? It looked impressive enough from the outside... But who would've guessed that it was even fancier on the inside... and so full of Mora!!! This is where all of Teyvat's Mora is minted, right? In that case, maybe they won't notice if a few Mora go missing..." Paimon said as she looked at the pile of Mora in temptation.
Aether stopped her from taking the Mora and said, "If it were that easy, this place would have been emptied long ago." Paimon looked a little disappointed when Aether said that.
"Ooh, so it's a trap. Tricky, tricky... Good thing Paimon's got you here! But even if we can't take any, we can still have a closer look, right? Or better yet, take a nap on top of a mountain of Mora! It's like a dream come true!" Paimon said as she still got distracted by the amount of Mora.
"No time for that. Right now, we have to check on the Exuvia first." You said as Paimon snapped back to the reality.
"Oh, right! Back to business. It's quiet... Too quiet. Surely someone's gotta be guarding something as important as the Exuvia." Paimon as you went deeper in the Golden House.
You smelled a strong scent of blood which immediately riled up the voices in your head. "Huh, guys, look! What happened here?" Paimon was spooked to see a whole army of Milelith was lying on the ground.
"They've been knocked unconscious!" Aether stated after checking if they were still alive or not.
"Uh-oh, Paimon smells trouble! Quick! We have to go make sure that the Exuvia is alright." Paimon said as you guys went to find the Exuvia.
You immediately found it and saw the ginger haired man stood in front of the Milelith he just beaten up with his water blades on his hands. He heard your footsteps as he turned around with a cold gaze in his eyes.
"You've already fulfilled your task as guides, so why do you still linger here? Haven't you already seen enough trouble for today?" He questioned as you draw out your sword, ready for a fight.
"Huh? Who's there?" Paimon questioned as she turned to where you were looking at to see Childe standing there, menacingly.
"If you were Fatui, I imagine that you would be entitled to a generous reward from the Tsaritsa herself. But now, you're nothing but dross — and you're in my way." He said as he slowly approaching towards you guys.
"Looks like we were just in time, then." Aether said as he took out his sword as he stood in front of you to protect you.
Well... it wouldn't be necessary given that you were far more stronger than him. Childe chuckled at Aether statement as he wore a cocky smirk on his face.
"Hah! Although I'm deeply grateful to you that I was able to effortlessly find this secret location... Don't you think that trying to stop me now would just be wasted effort?" He questioned as you sighed.
"Probably yes but it'll be troublesome if we don't in the future." You said which brought a question in their heads but were simply shrug off.
"So you've been planning to take the Gnosis from inside the Exuvia all along!?" Paimon exclaimed, looking quite hurt by his actions.
"As one of the Eleven Fatui Harbingers, it's my duty to see the will of the Tsaritsa fulfilled. She will get that which she desires." He said as Aether looked quite angry.
"I saw this coming pretty much." You let out a sigh and wondered why would you even bother since Aether could handle himself.
"I won't allow you to get near the Exuvia." Aether launched an attack on him but was kicked away like a fly as Childe looked at him coldly.
"Hah! I'm not asking for your blessing, and there's nothing you can do to stop me anyway." He said as he began to ramble about Tsaritsa's wishes while pushing Aether's away.
"Either way — we now come to my favorite part. A simple pleasure, and one that I am oh-so-delighted to be sharing with you... The battle." Childe said as he draw out his blade.
"Battle? So you're the type that goes looking for trouble, huh?" Paimon asked as Childe chuckled.
"You could say that." Then, he began to ramble more about the pleasure of being a Harbinger but you really having trouble to concentrate at what he's saying.
"Oh? So you intend to fight me? Good. I won't kill you, Traveler. I'll just play along — to feel the thrill of battle! Besides, you could never defeat me. Not even in your wildest dreams. But hey, try to relish the fight anyway. Because if you ask me... without that, what else is there?" He made the voices in your head riled up even more.
[A/N: I really despise shading :')]
Your pupils turned red as you began to call out some crystals on your hand. Your hair and eyes began to glow brightly. "It's more like you can't defeat us, silly Harbinger." You said as he began to laugh at your fighting talk.
"Fighting talk, I love it! Now, let's see you live up to it." He immediately began to shoot out some water arrows which you swiftly dodged it away as Aether just put his geo rock to block it.
"This chance is hard to come by, so show me all you've got. So very few ever get the chance to square off with a Fatui Harbinger. So come now, amuse me... and don't you dare disappoint." You began to shoot out the crystals towards him which he dodged it before you jumped towards him and landed a slash on him but he block it with his bow.
You immediately hopped backwards as soon as you saw him creating platform beneath him while pointing his arrows on you. Aether jumped behind him as he swung his sword though Childe was quick enough to notice it and kicked him away.
He began to shoot the arrows towards you as you watched his movement closely while avoiding- well not really. He kept missing his shot each time before he got so frustrated and threw his arrow at you.
You held your laughter in, trying to concentrate since you were in a fight but ended up failing. "What are you laughing at?" Childe asked as he switched to his water blades and approach to you.
He jumped towards you, trying to land a hit on you but you dodged it. Guessing fighting Childe numerous times had built some sort of memory muscles even though it's just your fingers doing the fight.
"I just find it amusing how you can't use your bow properly." You said with a devilish smirk on your face before you embedded Pyro on to your sword as you swung towards him. Similar to how Diluc's E but less flashy, more clumsy sort of style.
Childe was surprised to see a sudden Pyro abilities comes from you. So surprised that he didn't notice Aether was coming from behind and managed to land a hit on him.
He immediately turned around as he slashed him up before creating a riptide that just send him flying away. You took this chance and began to use your Anemo power and suck him in the vortex you created before throwing him away.
He didn't managed to land perfectly and so he landed at his face before immediately went to his fighting mode on as he looked at you with a grin on his face. "Not bad but your hits are still weak." He uttered while blood was coming from his mouth.
You just scoffed at him as you took out your bow. "Masochist much?" You copied of Amber style of using the bow as you shot at him with Cryo being implanted in your arrows.
He dodged your arrows but he didn't expected to see them exploded near him. You turned to Aether for a moment to see if he were okay but he was nowhere to be sighted.
This worries you before you immediately caught a glimpse of Childe approached towards you as he tried to slash your neck but you managed to dodge it by hair.
"Now, pay attention to me now or you might get defeated so easily." Though you know that you would easily be the winner given that you could literally send a giant crystal above him.
"Yeah, right. I haven't even used my full powet just yet." You turned to him as you brought forth plants to capture him and squeeze him tightly.
You immediately put your blade on to his neck as you leaned close to his face. "I win." You said while trying to control the urge to kill him off since the voices in your head demanded so.
You really don't want to be discount version of Technoblade right now given that you are in the world of Teyvat. He just let out a smirk before he disappeared right in front of your eyes as he turned into a water form.
Your eyes widen, completely forgotten about that he could do that for sure. He created a water dome around him which were deadly enough by one touch.
You took this chance to look for Aether before you saw Paimon was floating next to unconcious Aether. Wait, this isn't supposed to happen. You instantly checked on him before seeing that he was bleeding badly. You saw his health bar was at edge, closed to dying.
Then, you realized that his level were lower than you are and you should have ascended him to level 60 instead of letting him be on 60 unascended. But right now, your priority is to find a way to heal him.
Would food work at time like this? I should have learned on how to heal. "Paimon, try and feed him some Sweet Madame and this Radish Veggie Soup. If he regain conscious, tell him not to worry because I got this." You said as you took your phone and handed her the Sweet Madame and Radish Veggie Soup.
You went back to the battlefield but you can't help but wondered did the time stopped or is Childe taking way too long on changing into his second stage. Well ain't that you are complaining, of
"Good! No wonder Signora was so wary of you. Well, that just means I can go all out! Brace yourselves, this is about to get tough..." The dome began to drop revealed him being in his second form.
And oh boy, your heart skipped a beat there, that's for sure. You tried to calm yourself down as you tried to focus on the fight. "Don't blink." He uttered as he vanished from your sight.
He instantly appeared next to you as he swung his blade and you managed to dodge him by a hair. This is even more tougher than the game, what the hell. You thought as you saw him disappeared.
You looked around you before you heard electric noises behind you before you blocked his attack with your sword. He was literally leaning down towards you as you could feel your heart racing. Too close... this is bad.
You quickly jumped backwards to keep the distance between you two before you shot bunch of crystals towards him, dealing a hefty amount of damage, leaving scratches on him.
"Is that all you got?" He asked as he appeard behind you once again which you immediately avoided it. You definitely did not think that you would get swoon over at the time like this.
You could only dodge and shoot crystals towards him as you thought for awhile, a method to approach him. At a speed like this, an assassin move would be much more suitable if you had to be honest.
Now what show or people would be showcasing such move before you recalled a very old (not really) anime that no one seems to talk about anymore which was Assassination Classroom.
If I recalled correctly, Irina had used kisses to distract the opponent maybe- Wait, am I out of my mind?! Your face flushed red at the thought of that before you noticed Childe was plunging towards you. You swiftly avoided it before shaking your blushes away.
Though it was not really help on that. "What are you busying thinking about, Y/N?" He asked as you fell into silence, didn't dare to answer. The voices in your head thought it was a good idea and so you just trust them.
You just take a deep breath as you slowly approached him. Childe immediately put his guard to the highest as he steppes back, keeping his distance far from you.
You gave him just a smirk that made him frozen in place as your hands were on his face, forcing him to bend down. He became even more confused as you took off his mask and he can't really move his body, especially when you were staring at his face. "What are-"
He was cut off by you kissing him. Paimon just gasped at the corner before covering Aether's eyes even thought he was not awake. He tried to push you away but he was immediately succumbed to your kiss with a bright red blush on his face.
You slipped inside your tongue as you could feel his body shivered which made you feel excited. Childe never felt such pleasure before and your kisses were amazing. He completely forgotten his mission all he wanted was more of your kisses.
"Jeez... Paimon has to watch this now... If Aether find out, he'll go berserker mode right now." Paimon commented while still covering his eyes.
You broke the kiss as you saw what a mess he was in. He was gasping for air as he stared into your eyes. "Quite the sensitive one, aren't you? You know... You shouldn't drop your guard down so easily." You said before you kicked him while using your Anemo to blow him away from the Exuvia.
He immediately realized that he had fallen for your charms as he chuckled. "You know, you were the first one to be this brave enough to pull such dirty tricks on me." He said as he put on his mask back on.
Mostly to hide his embarrassment. Paimon was quite confused on what was that about but, if it works than she can't complain honestly.
You continued fighting with him as it felt like an hour has passed but soon you realized that you were close to the Exuvia. You just accepted it before he kicked you away from the Exuvia. Paimon immediately rushed to your side to aid. "Y/N! You okay?" She asked as Childe stood near the Exuvia.
You just nodded as you watched him being looking happy and shit finally reaching the Exuvia. Paimon looked at Childe in horror since he finally was near the Exuvia.
"Not bad. Your swordsmanship, archery skills and dirty tricks were quite impressive. But, that's about as far as you'll get." Childe was about put his final attack on you before Aether jumped in and blocked his attack using Anemo gust while using a Geo-attack to catch him off guard.
"Aether!" You shouted out his name as you immediately looked if there was an injury on him. "A-Are you okay?" You stuttered as you looked at him in worried.
"Yeah, I'm fine..." He answered, sounded so weak and you really weren't buying it. As the dust settled, Childe was nowhere to be found but you already know where was him. You turned around and saw him stood next to the Exuvia.
He chuckled as he smirked. "Here I thought I already knocked you off conscious. Still, I didn't think you had that card hidden up your sleeve..." He said as Paimon looked at him in anger.
"You were just playing us to get close to the Exuvia!" She was exasperated as Aether immediately were a worried look which on contrast than how you reacted. You just wore a calm expression on your face as you just wanted to watch his disappointed look that the Gnosis weren't there.
"Oh, quiet down. Stop acting like some wide-eyed recruit. You've seen this world. You of all people should know... This should have been expected." He inserted his hand into the Exuvia.
"Well then, I'll be taking Morax's Gnosis now! ....Huh?" He took his hand out but there were Gnosis would be found as he looked quite aggravated. You just sighed while you get ready for another fight as Childe began to laugh maniacally.
"I see. Well, this is most unexpected. You... You beat me to it, didn't you?" He questioned before he began to transform into his Foul Legacy form.
The question is, can your heart handle it? You anticipated his transformation but for Paimon and Aether, they were absolutely dreadful to see him transform once again.
Ahh... I think I should have booked my death with Hu Tao earlier.... You thought as you were a little intimidated by his form. Though it's a little easier to fight him in this form since he became slower.
"Not bad! But this is going to cost you!" He immediately smashed the floor as you guys fall through. You managed to save yourself from landing badly by using your Anemo power to stay afloat.
You immediately switched to your sword before plunged attack at him. This time, you finally could see his health bar. Guess you can go out a little now without worrying killing him off.
"Aether... you rest up. I'll take on him so you don't have to worry." You said as you shielded yourself while Aether was going to protest but Paimon convinced him to rest and just trust on your abilities.
"You got to the Gnosis ahead of me, didn't you!? Did you simply move faster? Or... did you leak the information regarding the Golden House to me on purpose? No matter. Hand the Gnosis over. Now. Don't make me take it from you." He said as he began to swung his spear which you were quick enough to dodge it.
"W-We didn't take it!" Paimon stuttered but you already know where was it but it wouldn't stop him from fighting.
"If I told you where is it, you wouldn't believe me anyway." You stated as you began to implant your Cryo to your sword as you performed 5 rapid strikes on him that deal a hefty amount of damage on him.
You quickly used your Anemo power to create swirl effect on him before he turned his spear into a bow. He immediately called out a gigantic whale as you just looked at it in awe before you created wind barrier that strong enough to shield it from hitting Aether.
"Pulling out big moves, huh. I guess it's my turn as well." You began to concentrate your Geo power before calling a huge crystal on top of him. You immediately dropped it on him but he was quick enough to cut it into pieces but it still gave scratched on him.
"I didn't expected you have that... but it's time for you to die." He began to jump on top of you and was going to plunge on you but you avoided it as you began to shoot some big crystals to him.
Something inside you were trying to take over but you refused to let it out. Worried that it might the 'demons' that your so called 'sister' mentioned. You just gritted your teeth as you looked at his health bar which was on half way which you didn't expected.
He began to shoot arrows on the sky as you looked there were raining arrows above you as you ran around to avoid being hit. He instantly rushed towards you and was about to slit your head but you just kicked his hand before concentrate your Geo power on your foot and kicked him again except in the face.
You continued the attack once again with 5 rapid strikes towards him with Cryo being embedded on your swords. You immediately distanced yourself from him and shoot out one huge crystal at him as a final blow.
Aether watched you fight as he clenched his fist, feeling quite irritated. He was irritated that he was weak. If he weren't so weak, he wouldn't have lost Lumine in the first place.
Childe immediately went back to his normal form as he looked all bloodied and panting on the floor. "Look! Childe's back to normal again." Paimon stated.
You pointed your sword at him as you smirked. "'You could never defeat me' was clearly a lie." You said as he just clicked his tongue.
"Well then... time to cool off. It seems the burden of the Foul Legacy Transformation was too great for my body. I lacked the opportunity to think this through... And now that I consider the matter more carefully, you never had any chance of beating me to the Gnosis. You had no connection to the Gnosis, no matter where it had been taken." He said as Paimon huffed while putting her hands on her hips.
"That's right! We tried to tell you we didn't take it!" She said as Childe looked at you.
"Your show of ability today far surpasses that of Signora's initial assessment of you in Mondstadt. Tell me, how could that be?" He questioned you.
"Well, I'm just built differently." You said proudly even though your fighting styles were literally copying of people.
"The battle has already left me satisfied. Anyone who strives as I do to grow stronger shall be called a friend, even if our friendship can only be shown in battle against one another." Paimon looked at him in concerned as she crossed her arms.
"Pretty sure that's not the normal way to make friends." She stated as you just sighed.
"He's definitely a masochist at this point." You said as you looked at Childe who seems to be smiling in satisfaction.
"Unfortunately, I must bring this amiable conversation to an end. My quest still beckons. Given the Gnosis wasn't taken by anyone, then we must look once again to the beginning. Perhaps it was never in the Exuvia to begin with. In fact, it might be that the Exuvia was just a diversion of sorts." Childe explained as Paimon and Aether looked at him in disbelief.
"What? So you mean that..." Paimon voice trailed off as you sighed.
"Rex Lapis is still alive. I predicted as much when I laid my eyes on the Exuvia. I sensed no aura around it." You lied, well not really, in front of their face. You literally can't sense a single shit unlike other people or animals.
"You sure weren't lying when you could feel aura." Aether said but you now remembere that you now have to face... Osial after this.
Strangely enough, you don't feel tired from fighting at all. Though, you do know that you'll flopped dead after this whole situation ended.
You didn't pay attention on the conversation for a moment before you noticed the Sigils of Permission began to fly around him and heard him laughing maniacally once more.
"Let's see — will the nation that has lost its deity be swallowed up by an ancient malice once more? If you wish to drown together with the people of Liyue, you're free to stay and enjoy the show!" He said as he turned into water while flying away.
You guys began to chase him before noticed he was gone. You wondered if you could do the same before Paimon looked around for him. "Huh? He—He's already gone! That guy is fast..." Paimon stated before there was a dark shadow covered the light as you guys looked up.
You saw the Jade Chamber flew above you guys as Paimon began to look very worried. "W-What's going on!?" She asked in a worry before the Chamber stopped on top of you before it dropped down a ladder. You saw Ningguang's head poking out as she told you to hope on.
TO BE CONTINUED
Author Note:
I just remembered today was Diluc birthday but I do not have any idea for a special update for him so I just presented you guys just a continuation.
I hope it make sense on the fight scene cause I have no idea what I was trying to write but the fight scene was much more cooler in my head though :')
Osial's fight on next chapter, let's go!