Boom—! Boom—! Boom—!
The Mutated Stonehide Hilichurl King stomped violently against the ground.
A deep, crushing tremor surged up from beneath the earth, spreading in all directions.
In an instant, the ground within dozens of meters of the Stonehide King began to quake violently.
The knights' legs went weak as the earth shook beneath them.
Then—
rows upon rows of earthen spears erupted from below, surging upward toward the knights in an unbroken wave.
"Not good!"
Faces drained of color. Pupils shrank sharply.
If those razor-sharp stone spears struck them, they would be skewered like meat on a spit—
death if they were lucky, crippling injuries if they weren't.
And with the ground shaking so violently, the knights could barely stand, let alone dodge or flee.
Many shut their eyes, bracing themselves for fate.
At that critical moment—
From high above, a brilliant emerald sphere of condensed wind crashed downward, striking the Mutated Stonehide Hilichurl King and detonating instantly.
A violent gale exploded outward.
Howling winds overturned the Stonehide King—and at the same time flung the knights caught within the quake zone violently backward, blowing them clear of the earthen spear barrage.
Dvalin's massive form streaked across the sky.
His razor-sharp claws seized the Stonehide King, lifting it bodily into the air as he ascended higher and higher.
Before the stunned eyes of the knights, a long moment later—
A massive silhouette came tumbling down from the heavens, plummeting toward a distant valley.
"…Is he planning to kill it by dropping it to death?"
Dvalin rolled his enormous eyes.
As an elemental dragon of Teyvat, he had never felt his pride sting quite like this.
A mere Stonehide Hilichurl King—
in his eyes, nothing more than an ant, a piece of disposable trash.
A casual storm should have shredded its armor, pierced its elemental defenses, and torn it apart instantly.
One careless swipe of his claws should have reduced it to dust.
Yet against a mutated Stonehide King, even his winds could only knock it down.
To kill it, he actually had to rely on a fall from extreme altitude.
Utterly humiliating.
Mondstadt — Knights of Favonius Headquarters
The knights watching the future feed slumped weakly—
some collapsed to the floor, others sank into sofas, drenched in cold sweat.
In that future, they had nearly been turned into human kebabs.
"These mutated Hilichurls… they're genuinely terrifying."
"They're monsters to begin with, and now they've got power like that. Anyone would be scared."
"Thank the Anemo Archon—no, thank Dvalin… I can't imagine what would've happened otherwise."
"But this is only the first phase of the plan."
"Valkyrie Eula hasn't appeared. Aerin hasn't appeared either."
The room fell silent.
Just as their hearts had begun to settle, they were dragged straight back into dread.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A white Mutated Frostarmored Hilichurl King slammed its fists into the ground repeatedly.
With every strike—
Massive chunks of ice condensed in midair and came crashing down like meteors.
"What is going on?!"
"There's no snowfield or mountain nearby—where are these ice boulders coming from?!"
Bennett and Razor clutched their heads, scrambling desperately to dodge the falling ice.
Bennett had been to Dragonspine and seen normal Frostarmored Hilichurl Kings before.
By pounding the ground, they could shake loose icicles and boulders from nearby snowy terrain.
Watch the environment carefully, and casualties could be minimized.
But now?
They were fighting on an open plain, flat as far as the eye could see.
Was this thing summoning ice from nothing?
"Idiot, it's mutated—of course it's different!" Mona snapped, gripping her hat as wind magic propelled her forward.
"This is all Fischl's fault—she insisted on pushing deeper!"
"Who could've known a monster like this would pop out?!" Fischl shouted back, sprinting even faster, forgetting her usual dramatic phrasing entirely.
But the thunderous footsteps behind them were closing in.
The Frostarmored King was faster.
"It's catching up!" Bennett cried.
The words sent a chill through all four of them.
"It—it chases people?!" Mona stammered.
"We can't outrun it…" Fischl's voice wavered. "This time we really messed up."
They had thought the thousand-year winds would let them dominate the battlefield.
Instead, they'd been lured straight into a trap by the mutated Hilichurls.
Just as death loomed—
A white figure leapt over their heads.
All four froze and looked up.
Two white streamers fluttered in the wind, golden short hair gleaming in the sunlight.
"Traveler?!" Mona gasped.
Lumine didn't answer.
In her hands formed a swirling green sphere nearly half a meter wide.
She slammed it straight into the Frostarmored King.
Bang—bang—bang—
Raging wind blades tore at the monster's body.
Yet the Frostarmored King stood firm, unmoving, forcibly resisting the Anemo-enhanced Traveler head-on.
High above—
Valkyrie Eula watched in silence.
Her eyes shifted.
She raised her head toward the distant sky.
The once-clear heavens had dimmed.
Dark clouds rolled inexorably toward Mondstadt.
"…So it's time to end the first phase and enter the second."
Eula stiffened slightly.
The gathering storm was Bennares' signal.
The thought of Bennares' power made her jaw twitch.
"Honestly… Bennares is terrifying."
"She can freely alter the weather, wield ice, fire, lightning, and even corrosive energy…"
"And that's not even mentioning Lord Aerin himself."
Eula glanced once more at Mondstadt and sighed softly.
"Even with Barbatos himself joining the battle… this war was never winnable."
With a single thought, she forced the Frostarmored King away from Lumine.
Then—
Before the stunned eyes of every knight—
All mutated Hilichurls stopped moving.
A heartbeat later, they turned and fled.
As they ran, black vortices opened beneath their feet.
One by one, the mutated Hilichurls sank into the ground and vanished without a trace.
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