Chapter Text
“ You’re not my brother.”
Kaeya woke up suddenly, Diluc’s voice echoing in his brain. All these years later, and he still relived that battle at night. The faded scars on his arms and the Cryo vision on his hip served as a constant reminder of his betrayal and Diluc’s anger.
He could sympathize with Diluc’s reaction, even when he first witnessed it. The poor guy had lost his father, his faith in the Knights, and now his trust in his brother, all in a few hours. One minute, they were celebrating Diluc’s eighteenth birthday. The next, Kaeya stood frozen in the rain, as Diluc cradled the dead body of Crepus Ragnvindr in his arms, fingers shaking as he dropped his blood-spattered knife into the wet grass. An hour later, the brothers stood face-to-face in the loft of the Angel’s Share tavern, their weapons drawn, Diluc’s face contorted with rage, Kaeya’s with fear.
If Diluc had taught him anything in all their years together, it was to never be vulnerable. Never show emotion. Hide the truth, even if it kills you, because guilt is far less painful than the feeling of loss and betrayal when your own beloved brother tries to kill you.
Kaeya couldn’t remember much from his early childhood, and his years with the Ragnvindrs were all jumbled together, but he could still remember that day like it was yesterday. He was sixteen, had just joined the Knights, and still believed that the world was simple. He thought he could go years without telling his family the truth. Maybe he’d never have to tell them.
And then that Archon-forsaken dragon had shown up and ruined everything. Ursa the Drake ripped a hole in the Ragnvindr’s lives, stealing their father away. Maybe if he had survived, this wouldn’t have happened. Diluc would be Cavalry Captain, and Kaeya would happily serve under him. Maybe he would have told them. Surely Crepus would have taken it well, and know what to do. But instead, he left his sons on their own, at a time when they needed him most.
Kaeya was almost angry at his adoptive father.
But it wasn’t his fault. If he had a choice, he would have stayed with them for years to come. It was Kaeya who had wanted to abandon all hope as Diluc declared their fight finished, throwing his vision on the floor and storming out of the bar. It was Kaeya who slumped on the floor of the bar, sobbing until his eyes were completely dry. It was Kaeya who had almost ended it all right there in the bar.
It seemed ironic that he was only still alive because he had passed out from exhaustion and blood loss before he had a chance.
Leave it to Diluc to accidentally save his life when he meant to end it.
Kaeya sat up slowly, looking out his window at the Mondstadt cityscape. It was still dark out, the only light coming from the streetlamps and a handful of windows. But now that he was awake and reliving everything that happened 4 years ago, there was no going back to sleep.
He pulled his legs up to his chest and rested his chin on his knees, staring blankly out the window. He had never truly felt loneliness before Diluc’s departure, but even now that he had returned, Kaeya couldn’t let go of the crushing sense that he was alone in the world.
Suddenly his bedroom door flung open and he jumped. Jean appeared in the doorway, silhouetted against the bright light of the hallway. “We’re under attack,” she said breathlessly.
“What?” Kaeya blinked in shock.
“Mondstadt is under attack. It’s the Abyss, there’s hundreds of Abyss creatures and hilichurls swarming the border with Liyue. We have to move out at soon as possible.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Kaeya said, scrambling out of bed and immediately beginning his search for gear. He pulled on a shirt, skintight leather pants, a corset that also served as surprisingly good armor, and his vest decorated with luscious fur on one shoulder and a cape hanging from the other. He strapped on a pair of belts; one held his artifacts, while his vision dangled from the other, glowing softly in the darkness.
He pulled on his boots and hurried to his mirror, checking his reflection as he pulled his waist-length blue hair back into a low ponytail. His right eye shimmered through a curtain of fringe, its golden glow barely noticeable. He stared at it for a moment, then quickly covered it with his eyepatch, secured his sword to his belt, and strode out of the room.
Several other knights were already gathered in the entrance hall. Lisa, who looked more exhausted than Kaeya had ever seen her, slouched in a corner, holding a mug of coffee. Amber leaned on Eula’s shoulder, her eyes half-closed, Baron Bunny snuggled in her arms. Klee was asleep in Sucrose’s lap. Only Albedo and Noelle seemed unexhausted.
Kaeya joined the group, sitting down on the arm of Sucrose’s chair. “Morning,” he said.
“Morning,” Amber replied, not bothering to stifle her yawn.
“Wake up, you guys, this is urgent!” Jean emerged from her office, sword hanging on her hip, arms folded across her chest. “We need to get to the border immediately. Lisa, Sucrose, Klee, and I will head North. Kaeya, Albedo, Eula, and Amber, you’ll go south to Dragonspine. Understand?”
“What exactly are we dealing with here?” Albedo asked calmly, looking skeptically at Jean over his sketchbook.
“…I’m not sure,” she sighed. “All I know is one of the girls from Dawn Winery came down here thirty minutes ago, completely out of breath from running, to tell us that the border was swarmed with monsters. Presumably, Diluc is holding them off to some extent, but he’s one man against a hundred monsters. We need to help as soon as possible.”
“So, you’re thinking we’re dealing with Abyss mages and hilichurls?” Kaeya asked. “That can’t be too bad, can it?”
“I don’t know,” Jean said. “I’ve heard that there are other Abyssal creatures, even more powerful than mages. We just need to ensure they stay out of Mondstadt.”
Amber raised her hand. “If they’re coming from the border with Liyue, shouldn’t someone tell the Qixing? If their military joins ours, we can surround the monsters and get rid of them fast!”
Albedo shook his head. “No, there’s no time. Plus, the terrain on the Liyuan side makes it difficult for the Milileth to be of much help at this time, it would be better for us to push the monsters back, and let the Milileth take care of them from there.”
Amber nodded. “Somebody should still tell them,” she said.
“She’s right,” Lisa said quietly. “I suggest we send Noelle and Klee to notify the Liyue Qixing.”
“M-me?” Noelle cried in surprise.
Lisa nodded. “Yes. Noelle has been there with the traveler before, so she should know the way to some extent. And this way we can keep Klee away from the fighting.”
“Sounds good to me,” Jean said. “Noelle, do you think you can-”
“Of course! Leave it to me, we’ll set out immediately!” Noelle scooped up Klee, who was still mostly asleep and very groggy, and power walked out the door.
“…That was quick,” Albedo murmured, watching the door swing shut behind her.
“Anyway. The rest of us need to get moving too, gather the other knights and get to your positions. Move out!”
Kaeya stood at the base of the mountain, hair and cape blowing violently in the crisp wind. He could just barely make out the monsters in the darkness, recognizable only by the glow of torches and elemental weapons they carried.
“What do you think?” Albedo asked, walking up behind Kaeya, boots crunching in the thick snow.
“Looks like they’ve camped out for the night over here. They probably won’t be too active until morning.”
“I don’t blame them, I’m freezing,” Amber shivered, arms wrapped tightly around her body.
“How dare you,” Eula said, pulling amber into a warm hug. Kaeya rolled his eyes at them. “Any ideas?” he asked.
“We could ambush them,” Eula suggested.
“Not with this terrain,” Albedo shook his head. “We’d need to get the high ground, which would involve climbing the other side of the mountain and wasting a lot of time.”
“So, should we just go running in, guns blazing?” Amber asked.
“I mean, we could,” Kaeya shrugged.
“Yeah, and get absolutely murdered,” Eula said.
“It might work, though,” Albedo said. “They’re not prepared to fight right this second. We can attack now, surprise them, and take out a large number of them before they know what hit them.
“So, basically, an ambush,” Eula said. “Like I said.”
“Fair point,” Albedo nodded. “An ambush, but more reckless. So, is that what we’re going with?”
“Sounds good to me,” Kaeya shrugged.
“Whatever’s quickest, I wanna go back to sleep,” Amber yawned.
“It’s settled then,” Eula nodded. “Kaeya and I will tell the troops the plan. Be ready to attack in thirty minutes.”
It only took a few minutes to explain the plan to the other knights, and then everyone began packing their supplies and preparing their weapons. Kaeya stood behind the rest of the soldiers, sharpening his blade while staring up at the mountain. Something seemed wrong. This was too easy, there was no way the monsters would let their guard down even for a second once they knew the Knights of Favonius were here.
“You nervous?” Albedo asked suddenly, appearing beside him.
Kaeya laughed. “Not really,” he lied.
“I wish we had more people,” Albedo sighed. “Jean sent someone to get Varkas and the cavalry the second she knew something was off, but I don’t think they’ll make it back in time.
“Barbatos knows,” Kaeya sighed. “He’s probably dead asleep right now, thinking everything’s fine and perfectly safe.”
Albedo nodded. “If he didn’t think that, he wouldn’t have left.”
“Exactly,” Kaeya said, running his thumb along the blade of his sword, a drop of blood slipping down his finger. So sharp, he could barely feel it. He sheathed his sword and looked back at Albedo. “We’ll be fine. Killing Abyss mages and hilichurls is easy.”
“Yeah, when there’s one or two. This is hundreds.”
Kaeya shrugged. “Same difference.”
They stood in silence for a few minutes, before Albedo said, “Do you ever wonder if we’re wrong about them?”
“What do you mean?”
“What if the hilichurls and Abyss creatures aren’t evil. What if they’re just normal people, like us.”
Kaeya hesitated. Of course they were, at one time. Long ago, they were humans, with ordinary lives, not much different from people now. Until they were faced with the anger of Celestia, and their world was turned into ashes, their people into monsters, their once-promising futures into lives of death and anger as they strove to reclaim what they had lost.
People who could justify abuse and torture and Archons know what else if it meant avenging the Cataclysm.
“They aren’t,” Kaeya said aggressively, through gritted teeth. “They’re nothing more than monsters.”
Albedo looked like he wanted to reply, but he didn’t. Kaeya stuffed his hands in his pockets and turned away. Somehow he was angry that Albedo could even imagine the Abyss creatures as people. He shook his head, forcing himself to calm down. Albedo didn’t know. Of course he didn’t. The only person who knew anything about Kaeya’s childhood was Diluc, and he could keep a secret.
“Sorry,” Kaeya said quietly.
“You ready to move out?” Albedo asked, hastily changing the subject.
“Ready when you are,” Kaeya shrugged. “It’s almost time.” The two of them walked to the front of the company, where Eula held a small pile of Baron Bunnies while Amber counted her arrows.
“Everyone prepared?” Eula asked.
“Yep,” Kaeya said, forcing himself to smile like he wasn’t about to revel in the glory of massacring a dozen Abyss mages.
“Alright then. Let’s go.” Eula handed the Baron Bunnies back to Amber, then stood up, raising her greatsword above her head “For Mondstadt!” she cried.
“For Mondstadt!” the other knights chorused.
“For Mondstadt,” Kaeya whispered under his breath.
If only his father could see his beloved heir to the Khaenri’ahn throne now.
“Master Diluc, the Knights are here!”
Diluc turned on his heel, coat flapping behind him as he ruthlessly slit a hilichurl’s throat. “Mm. I wonder how much help they’re going to be,” he said sarcastically. Hillie, one of the maids at the manor, stared at him in shock, looking from the collapsed hilichurl to the blood spattered on Diluc’s clothes.
“M-master-”
“Get inside,” Diluc ordered. “You’ll be safer there. I’ll deal with the Knights.”
“Y-yes sir!” Hillie nodded and scrambled back to the manor. Diluc turned back around to face the oncoming hoard of monsters, only to hear a sudden shriek behind him. He spun around. Hille crouched on the ground, shielding her body with her arms as a mitachurl carrying a massive, flaming axe ran at her, shaking the ground with each step. Diluc ran to her, knowing he would never make it in time, but he had to try-
Suddenly he was flung back by a burst of wind crackling with electricity, and the mitachurl let out a howl of rage and pain before crumpling on the ground. Diluc scrambled to his feet and ran over to it as Jean stood up, pulling her sword out of the mitachurls body and wiping it off on her pants. “You’re welcome,” Lisa said, dusting off her hands, which still sparked with Electro.
“Are you alright?” Jean dropped to her knees beside Hillie, who was still shaking on the ground. She nodded, too stunned to speak. Jean stood up. “Sucrose, take her inside, make sure everyone’s safe, and then come back here. Noelle, you wait for an opening and get to Stone Gate as fast as you can.”
“Hold on,” Diluc interrupted. “What’s going on here?”
Jean looked at him, exasperated. “You’re not the only person who cares about the safety of Mondstadt,” she whispered, closing in on him. “Mister Darknight Hero.”
“Of course, Dandelion Knight,” Diluc said curtly.
“Kaeya, Albedo, Eula, and Amber are fighting on Dragonspine,” Jean said, ignoring him. “From what I can tell, there’s far more monsters there than here. Once we’ve cleared out this area, we need to go South to help them.”
“Excuse me, are you trying to order me around?” Diluc asked.
“Yes,” Jean said.
“I’m not a goddamned Knight of Favonius, Jean.”
“No, you’re a citizen of Mondstadt who once swore an oath to protect and serve this nation.”
Diluc crossed his arms. “Stop bossing me around.”
Jean hesitated. “I’m sorry,” she said curtly. “But we need your help. We need you, Diluc.”
Diluc smirked. “Imagine that. The Knights of Favonius, actually needing help from an ordinary citizen like myself.”
“Jean, may I electrocute him?” Lisa asked impatiently. Jean ignored her. “This isn’t about you and your father and all that. It’s about saving Mondstadt. Can you please work with me here, for one battle? Then you can go back to being as bitchy as you want.”
“Fine,” Diluc said flatly.
“Good,” Jean nodded. “Now, if you don’t mind, Sucrose and Lisa are going to escort Noelle and Klee through Stone Gate, to get the Milileth’s help. We’ll take the troops and protect the winery itself. Okay?”
“That’s what I was doing anyway,” Diluc said, drawing his sword and charging back into battle.
It was chaos. Flames flew from Diluc’s sword, igniting the grass and lighting up the night sky. Flaming arrows, icy arrows, and electrified arrows rained down at the Knights’ troops, while elemental energy from several Abyss mages clashed, creating a beautifully deadly light show. Jean stood a few meters away, blowing away monsters and fanning Diluc’s flames. He had almost forgotten how well they fought together.
There was a pause in the fighting, as the monsters fell back to regroup, and Diluc looked towards Dragonspine, where the other knights were fighting. He could just make out flashes of lights and colors on the side of the mountain, and could just barely hear the commotion of the battle, before he was suddenly blinded by a massive explosion.
A second later he heard it, the deafening sound of the explosion mixed with a crash of falling rocks. Jean froze, staring at the mountain in shock. Smoke clouded the air, and orange flames flickered through the debris.
For an instant, Diluc remembered the first time he had properly explored the mountain, with Kaeya by his side. They were very young, maybe eight or nine. He still vividly remembered Kaeya falling in Starglow cavern. He could still see him, lying in several feet of bloodstained snow, slowly dying of frostbite and blood loss. He still remembered climbing out of the cavern and searching for help.
A decade before their world fell apart and their blades crossed, back when he still considered Kaeya family.
Diluc looked back at the mountain, fear building up inside him, that same fear he had when he first saw Kaeya lying at the bottom of the cavern. Some older-brotherly feeling of protection surged in him, a feeling that had lain dormant for so long he had almost forgotten it. He had to know he was okay. He couldn’t tell himself he didn’t care anymore, he had to know.
“Diluc…”
He turned around, staring at Jean, his face pale. She looked at him, then nodded. “I can handle this,” she said. “You go help them.”
He nodded back, then turned and ran towards the mountain.
“For Mondstadt!”
The army surged forward, racing towards the mountain, jumping on the hilichurls camped at its base. It was a trap, of course it was. It only took them a few minutes to realize it. None of the monsters were actually asleep. Hundreds of them, far outnumbering the Knights, were waiting for them, their weapons ready. A dozen or more knights fell in less than a minute, their blood dyeing the snow crimson.
Kaeya stood in the midst of the battle, surrounded on all sides by screams. Already the air was thick with the scent of blood and burned flesh. He stood his ground, struggling to battle three hilichurls at once. One raised its crossbow, firing an icy arrow into Kaeya’s knee. He stumbled, nearly falling onto another hilichurl, who flung a small Electro slime at him, while the third swung a torch inches from Kaeya’s face. He shoved the hilichurl with the torch, forcing it to the ground and stomping on its chest. It went limp, the snow extinguishing its torch.
Kaeya barely had time to catch his breath before he felt something strike his back; he spun around to see the hilichurl shooter lowering its crossbow to reload, and took his chance. “Cool it!” he hissed, ice firing out of his fingertips and flinging the hilichurl to the ground. Two down, one to go.
He was about to strike the third hilichurl when he was momentarily blinded by a flash of light and a massive explosion sounded, ringing across the mountain, stunning everyone fighting below. An instant later, massive chunks of rock began hailing down on them, crashing to the ground and breaking into smaller pieces that continued to roll down the mountain.
He ran, instantly forgetting the hilichurls, narrowly dodging the falling boulders. The ground was slick with rubble; one wrong step sent him flying to the ground, scratching his limbs and face on the rough surface as he struggled to get back up before he was crushed. Rocks the size of golf balls pelted his back as he scrambled up, scanning his surroundings for any potential safe spot-
“Kaeya!” someone shouted. He felt a hand grip his arm and tug him backwards, into a large cave furnished with several bookshelves and tables. He turned to see Albedo, his face pale and streaked with blood, watching him with startled eyes. “You okay?” he asked urgently.
“Yeah, I think so,” Kaeya said, gasping for breath. He glanced around the cave; Amber and Eula crouched in a corner, tending to a nasty burn on Eula’s thigh. Both of them were worse for wear, their clothes torn and faces bloody. A handful of other knights surrounded them, wounded and terrified. Kaeya looked back at albedo, fear rising within him. “What do we do?” he whispered, dropping his calm demeanor. He hadn’t expected an avalanche. He knew the Abyss creatures were powerful, but not that powerful. Not capable of blowing up half a mountain.
“I don’t know,” Albedo said, his voice the tiniest bit shaky. Suddenly he looked at Kaeya, clearly petrified. “They could be trying to wake Durin,” he said. “Wake him, and take over him like they did with Dvalin.”
“How?” Amber piped up from the corner.
“I don’t know,” Albedo shook his head. “But it’s a possibility.”
“If they do, we just have to kill him. For real, this time,” Kaeya said, his voice far calmer than he felt.
“And how exactly will we do that?” Eula huffed.
“I know someone who killed a dragon,” Kaeya shrugged.
“Yeah. A Fatui Harbinger,” Amber said irritably. “I can’t see you going up to him and asking for advice on dragon-slaying.”
“Durin was a hundred times more powerful than Ursa,” Albedo said. “Even Dvalin couldn’t kill him. I don’t know if Barbatos himself could take him out.”
“Well then, we’re fucked,” Eula sighed. “Nice knowing you guys.”
Kaeya sank to the ground, listening to the rubble still crashing down around them. He had never feared death, and yet here he was, terrified that he would either be crushed by rocks or slain by an ancient dragon. Neither sounded particularly painless.
Gradually, the sound of falling rocks began to subside, until it eventually stopped completely. Kaeya slowly got to his feet, following Albedo to the cave entrance, which was half-obscured by rocks. Together they cleared enough space to climb out and survey the damage.
The snow and stone below were streaked with blood, from both hilichurls and knights alike. Kaeya had seen plenty of death in his time as a Knight, but somehow, this hit different. Nearly fifty knights lay dead and dying on the mountainside, their bodies mangled and tangled with each other and the bodies of countless hilichurls, the moonlight reflected in gallons of spilled blood. Kaeya wanted to look away, but somehow he couldn’t take his eyes off the massacre below. He felt sick and angry and grieved all at the same time.
Amber crept up between them, standing on tiptoe to see over the piles of rocks outside the cave. As soon as she saw the carnage, she whimpered and buried her face in Kaeya’s shoulder, gripping his arm so tightly he felt his fingers going numb. Albedo stood beside them, staring in distress and disbelief, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes. A handful of the other knights joined them, some staring silently, others gasping or collapsing to the ground in shock.
“Let’s go,” Amber whispered, sobbing into Kaeya’s sleeve. “I wanna go home, go home and go to bed and wake up and realize it was all a bad dream.”
“Me too, kid,” Kaeya said, hugging her protectively.
“Hey, what’s happening?” Eula called. Amber looked at her and shook her head. “You don’t wanna know,” she said shakily.
“Come on.” Kaeya turned away from the sight and directed Amber back to Eula’s side. She let go of him and curled up beside her, crying quietly into her shoulder while Eula hugged her. Kaeya sat a few feet away from them, staring off into space. He wondered if that was what the Cataclysm looked like. He wondered if that was the type of carnage his father had sworn to avenge.
He wanted to be angry at whoever had caused that avalanche, but his shock and grief overwhelmed any amount of anger he could possibly feel. He closed his eyes, rubbing at his temples. He wanted to forget that mental image, but he knew it would be seared into his brain until the day he died. He had never been able to just forget trauma. Instead he relived it, over and over for months or even years afterward, slowly spiraling into madness. Alcohol was his only relief, and even that only lasted a few hours.
Albedo sat down beside him, wrapping an arm around Kaeya’s shoulders. “Are you okay?” he asked gently.
“Archons no,” Kaeya whispered before he had a chance to come up with a convincing lie. He could feel tears brimming in his eyes, but he held them back. He was barely hanging onto his sanity as it was, if he started crying it’d be all over.
“Oh my gods,” Albedo whispered, pulling Kaeya into a hug that would have felt awkward in any other situation, but here felt safe and secure. He closed his eyes, burying his face in Albedo’s shoulder.
“I don’t want to die here,” he whispered.
“I know,” Albedo whispered back, running a hand through Kaeya’s hair. “We won’t. Most of the hilichurls are dead too, we can get out of here as soon as we’re all ready.”
“Good,” Kaeya nodded. He sat up and Albedo let him go, locking eyes for a moment before he looked back towards the cave entrance.
“Jean and the others will be worried sick,” Albedo said after a few minutes of heavy silence.
“And with good reason,” Kaeya murmured. He searched the room for something to do, something to take his mind off of the nightmare outside. His gaze eventually landed on the arrow still stuck in his knee, the shaft snapped in half, melted ice and blood dribbling down his leg. He wrenched the arrow out, watching almost in fascination as blood poured out.
“Here,” Albedo said, getting up and searching the messy bookshelves. A moment later he returned with a roll of bandages. Kaeya hastily tied them around his knee.
“Can you help me with that one?” he asked, nodding towards the arrow in his shoulder.
“Of course.”
Kaeya turned his back towards Albedo and the cave entrance, and shut his eyes, waiting for the pain as he pulled the arrow out – but it never came. Instead, he heard heavy footsteps slowly approaching the cave, and a deep voice speaking in a language he recognized but couldn’t understand. He felt his blood run cold as he slowly looked over his shoulder. Amber screamed.
An Abyss lector stood in the cave entrance, standing at least eight feet high, dressed in flaming red robes. It stared down at the little group, laughter echoing from under its helmet.
“Well, well, well,” it sighed. “I see there were survivors.” It scanned their group, as several Abyss mages entered the cave on all sides, surrounding the survivors and pushing them to the center of the cave.
“What do you want with Mondstadt?” Kaeya spat.
“Revenge,” the lector said simply. Kaeya narrowed his eyes. “Revenge,” he repeated skeptically.
“I’ll be the only one taking revenge here!” Eula shouted suddenly, leaping to her feet and swinging her greatsword at the lector’s face. There was a clash of fire and ice, followed by a bloodcurdling scream, and Eula fell on the ground, motionless.
“Eula!” Amber shrieked, dropping by her side. Kaeya knelt beside her, staring in shock and horror. Eula’s entire body was burned to a crisp, her flesh smoking, some still on fire. Kaeya instinctively felt her wrist, but quickly pulled away from the heat. He already knew there would be no pulse. He felt like he had been hit in the stomach by a wild boar. One second, Eula was there, ready to fight; the next she was gone, reduced to a charred corpse on the floor of Albedo’s cave.
Amber stood up slowly, staring at her girlfriend, her entire body shaking. There were no tears in her eyes, just pure, unbridled anger.
“Amber,” Kaeya warned. She looked at him, daring him to stop her. He shook his head. “Don’t. It’s useless.”
“Don’t tell me what to do, Alberich,” she said coldly. The lector suddenly looked directly at Kaeya, and several of the mages whispered to each other. Amber didn’t notice this change. She straightened, drew her bow, and fired her arrow into the lector’s chest.
“Amber!” Albedo started to run towards her, but Kaeya was faster. He jumped on top of her, shielding her with a plane of ice, as he felt flames tear across his back. He gritted his teeth against the pain and looked up, scrambling to his feet and swiftly drawing his sword as the Abyss mages closed in on them. “Amber, move!” Albedo shouted from somewhere behind him; his Geo flower appeared under Amber, whisking her up and out of danger, while Kaeya dueled the lector.
Their fight only lasted a few seconds. Kaeya swung at the lector with all his strength, but as much as he tried, he couldn’t break through its armor. The lector quickly drew its own sword, one that seemed to be made of pure flame, and drove it into Kaeya’s stomach. He screamed in pain, dropping his sword as the lector wrenched its blade back out of the wound. Albedo ran up to him, and Kaeya collapsed in his arms, his vision blurred and his head spinning.
“Kaeya, look at me, stay with me!” Albedo cried, gripping Kaeya’s body as tightly as possible.
“I’m aright,” Kaeya mumbled, struggling to make a cohesive sentence.
“Just breathe, I got you,” Albedo said. He drew his sword and flung it across the room. “I’m not fighting. Just let them live.”
The lector laughed. “Good choice,” it mused. It started to order the mages around in some ancient Abyssal language, before being interrupted by another, vaguely familiar voice from outside the cave.
“Don’t think I’ll go down as easy as them,” Diluc Ragnvindr said, staring the lector in the eye, flames dancing on his sword and in his eyes.
It felt like it took an eternity to climb the mountain, searching the countless bodies for anyone he recognized. Most of them were past recognition. None had Kaeya’s signature blue hair.
Then he saw the small crowd of Abyss creatures swarming the cave, and he knew where any survivors certainly hid. He heard screams, and as soon as he could properly see into the cave, he saw Kaeya shielding Amber, before dueling the lector. He saw the lector draw its flaming sword and stab Kaeya in the stomach.
“Don’t think I’ll go down as easy as them.”
Diluc didn’t know what made him join the fight. All he knew was that every eye in the cave was on him, and he was alone against a dozen or so various Abyss mages, not to mention the lector. If he was to die here, it would be glorious.
Instantly, they attacked him with various elemental blasts. He cried out in pain as Pyro, Cryo, Electro, and Hydro energy hit his body at once, then he heard a shout from behind him and a ring of Geo energy surrounded him, radiating from a large flower-looking thing on the ground in front of Albedo. The Geo energy converged with the other energies, forming a shield around Diluc and protecting him from further attacks.
“Thanks,” he called, glancing behind him. Albedo knelt on the floor, clutching Kaeya’s limp body to his chest, one hand pressed on the ground, Geo energy emanating from his fingers. He looked up at Diluc, a fear beyond simple terror engraved on his face. Diluc nodded at him and turned back to the Abyss lector. He swung his greatsword at it, sending a Phoenix of flames hurtling towards it. “Burn!”
Usually, this move could knock out an entire camp of hilichurls at once. The Abyss lector, however, didn’t even flinch. It stared down at Diluc, its laughter echoing around the cave.
“‘Burn?’ Is that all you’ve got?” the lector teased. “It surprises me, how weak you humans truly are. You manipulate the elements, and yet you can still succumb to them…”
For an instant, Diluc felt his stomach drop in fear. Then he felt a rush of scorching heat and was flung to the back of the room, crashing into the back wall with enough force to send small chunks of rock falling from the ceiling.
When he came to a moment later, he knew he was defeated. Blood trickled from the corners of his mouth. Burns covered his chest and shoulders, and his smoke rose gently from his clothes. Everything hurt. It was the most excruciating pain he had ever felt.
The Abyss lector walked closer to him, staring down at his broken body, propped up against the back wall of the cave. “Not so tough now, are you?” it whispered.
“I’m not done,” Diluc hissed. He barely had the strength to speak. He raised his head, staring back at the lector with fire in his eyes.
“Oh, don’t you worry,” the lector smiled. “There’s a place for everyone in the Abyss Order.”
Diluc glared at the lector. “I’m not joining you,” he said through gritted teeth, his voice barely audible.
“I’m afraid you have no choice,” the lector said calmly, as Diluc’s strength finally failed him and he fell unconscious.