The lands of Mondstadt.
A gentle breeze stirred silver hair.
A black, form-fitting bodysuit hugged her curves, paired with blue high-heeled thigh-highs that accentuated her long legs to the fullest. Cutouts along both sides of the suit revealed pale skin, the sensual outfit standing in stark contrast to her cold, aloof expression.
Skirk stood upon Mondstadt's soil, crimson eyes lowered to the ground as she sank into thought.
Dainsleif had been defeated in a single move by Aerin.
And it wasn't even a fair exchange—it was a strike from behind, delivered as Aerin was about to leave.
"A surprise attack… and he still ended up beaten like a dead dog?"
Skirk propped her chin with one hand, shock plain in her eyes.
"So Master was wrong. Completely wrong."
She shook her head, lips parting in disbelief.
"To think he believed the Fifth Descender was on the same level as the Twins… that assessment couldn't be more off."
Aerin knew the past and the present. He certainly knew who she was.
Skirk was certain of one thing—
if she approached him, her fate would be even worse than Dainsleif's.
At least Dainsleif stood opposed to the other five.
But she?
As Surtalogi's disciple, Skirk was unmistakably part of the Abyss' main force.
She stood still for a long, long time.
Then—
for the first time—she turned, and space before her fractured as an exit opened.
Leave.
She had to leave.
This Fifth Descender was nothing like the Descenders described in any record.
Yet just as Skirk stepped forward, she halted.
The next instant, the spatial tunnel before her vanished.
"Damn it…"
She bit her lip, frustration written across her face.
Raised personally by Surtalogi, shaped by his teachings from childhood, Skirk mirrored her master almost perfectly.
She pursued power with the same fanatic devotion.
She worshiped strength.
And now—she hesitated.
Aerin's overwhelming might alone was dazzling enough.
But the Stigmata Serum, capable of shattering a Vision, made her mouth run dry with desire.
She was fortunate.
As a woman, she naturally possessed the conditions required to receive the serum and become a Valkyrie.
If Surtalogi were female, Skirk was certain he would already be kneeling before Aerin, using any means necessary to obtain that serum.
She lingered in place, gaze unconsciously drifting toward Stormterror's Lair.
The eye of the first Field Tiller was the Abyss' key component for creating the Loom of Fate.
If Aerin truly remained in Mondstadt, he would do exactly what the revealed future showed—
secure that eye first, severing the Abyss' ambitions at the root.
Elsewhere.
Dainsleif had lost his usual composure.
He stared blankly at the light screen, Aerin's words echoing endlessly in his mind.
"So I once stood with them… sharing the Abyss' power?"
"I'm a sinner too?"
"Six sinners… six…"
"Ugh!"
A violent headache struck.
Dainsleif's vision darkened as his grip crushed the tree trunk beside him.
He couldn't accept it.
He couldn't accept that he stood alongside those five.
He couldn't accept the fate of Khaenri'ah's people, reduced to hilichurls.
Nor could he accept his closest companion being treated like a pawn of the Abyss.
His gaze turned toward the tower of Stormterror's Lair.
If he never retrieved the Field Tiller's eye, then his future self would never hand it to Aether.
Without that eye, the Abyss Order could never fulfill the Five Sinners' long-cherished wish.
Suppressing the pain, Dainsleif turned to leave Mondstadt—then stopped.
The future had already been revealed.
Everyone now knew the first Field Tiller lay in Stormterror's Lair. The Abyss Order would not remain ignorant.
"…Those bastards."
He clenched his teeth, about to head for the ruins—then remembered Aerin.
As a participant in the world's struggle, the Fifth Descender understood everything.
He would never allow the eye to fall into the Abyss' hands.
At that thought, Dainsleif finally steadied his breathing.
When he lifted his head again, his eyes burned with ruthless resolve.
"Hmph. Then I can spend the remaining time hunting you down."
"I will make you pay for what you did."
At this moment, the most panicked were the people of Mondstadt.
They had pinned their hopes on Dainsleif, believing the man Aerin spoke of so highly would deliver a miracle.
The light flashed—
And Dainsleif was down.
Whether he truly possessed world-level power no longer mattered.
Aerin had effortlessly erased Barbatos' barrier at Stormterror's Lair, then annihilated the ruins with an incomprehensible force.
If he could level Stormterror's Lair—
Then leveling Mondstadt City was just as easy.
Power on the scale of a world or not meant nothing.
What mattered was this:
There was no one in Mondstadt who could stop him.
Knights of Favonius Headquarters.
Morning.
Jean paced restlessly through the room.
Eula—who had gone to rescue Amber—still hadn't returned. No word. No sign.
A terrible premonition weighed on her heart.
Eula… might already be dead.
Amber's report only pushed Jean closer to despair.
The mutated hilichurls did not belong to the Abyss Order.
They were summoned by a man named Aerin.
And he could even summon Mutated Hilichurl Chieftains.
Jean felt crushed.
Mondstadt, as it stood, had no chance against even one such chieftain.
Her final hope rested on a desperate strategy—
Strike the leader.
Find Aerin before he attacked Mondstadt.
Kill him. End his control over the hilichurls.
If Aerin died, the monsters would fall silent.
That was her last gamble.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The office door was knocked violently.
Jean rushed to answer, heart pounding.
"Well? Any discoveries?"
The moment she saw the knight's terrified expression, her face went pale.
"What happened?"
Her mind braced for disaster.
"Were the scouts wiped out?"
"Or—"
"C-Captain Jean!"
The knight burst into tears.
"Outside—outside the city—"
"We've discovered massive groups of mutated hilichurls advancing on Mondstadt!"
"And—and among them—"
"There are multiple mutated hilichurl chieftains!"
Jean: "!!!"
Space twisted atop a sheer cliff.
A black vortex opened once more.
Aerin stepped out first.
Behind him followed Eula, already in her Valkyrie state.
A gentle, courteous smile rested on Aerin's face, as though he were in an excellent mood.
He turned, appraising Eula from head to toe, clearly pleased with her choice.
"Up close, I must say—"
"As a Valkyrie, you're even more beautiful than you were as the Spindrift Knight."
Eula's cheeks flushed instantly.
Still unaccustomed to being alone with him—
and keenly aware of the gulf in status between them—
She averted her gaze, speaking softly.
"My lord, please don't tease me."
"We have more important matters."
Both of them looked down at the mutated hilichurl army below.
At this pace, it would reach Mondstadt's gates in less than thirty minutes.
"Do you know what to do?" Aerin asked calmly.
Eula stiffened.
She fell silent for a few seconds—
Then nodded.
Her eyes fixed firmly on Mondstadt City in the distance.
And she spoke:
"Let the Knights… taste despair."
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