"The sword's light is like a shadow, cutting through all chaos!"
Before the words could fully fade, Nathan erupted with a surge of lightning, his body merging with the sword's light. With speed comparable to thunder, he created the illusion of multiple afterimages appearing in all directions!
Once, in the game, he had mocked Keqing for being weak, but now, in reality, he couldn't help but marvel at the effectiveness of her Elemental Burst.
In less than two seconds, the entire squad of soldiers fell to his slashes.
"How about that? No chance for a second glance, huh?"
With a graceful flourish of his sword, Nathan pointed his lightning-infused blade at Knight Ed.
"You... you monster!"
All the soldiers had been dealt with, leaving only this former defeated opponent. Gone was the arrogance from earlier; now, Knight Ed trembled as he pointed at Nathan.
That terrifying elemental power—no wonder he was so confident. He was a Vision bearer, blessed by the gods. Such power was something ordinary people could only dream of.
But what truly terrified Knight Ed was that, during his time as a spy in the Knights of Favonius, he had encountered Vision bearers before. Yet, compared to Nathan, they were like night and day.
"Sorry, but cheaters get to do whatever they want!"
Nathan could see the fear and confusion in the knight's eyes and shrugged nonchalantly.
"You... you bastard, how dare you humiliate me..."
Ed trembled uncontrollably. Though he didn't fully understand what Nathan was saying, he could sense the disdain in his tone.
"Humiliate you? Of course. The strong have every right to crush the weak!"
The lightning around Nathan didn't dissipate. Holding his lightning sword, he advanced menacingly toward his opponent.
With each step, the defeated knight felt an overwhelming pressure. It seemed like he would suffocate before Nathan even needed to strike.
"Fa... Father..."
"Huh?"
Nathan paused, momentarily confused.
Was this guy seriously calling him "father" to beg for mercy? That was bizarre—even the French would give him a thumbs-up for that.
But soon, Nathan realized he had misunderstood. The defeated knight wasn't calling him "father"—he was calling out to someone else!
"Father, save me!"
The desperate cry was like a child calling for their parent after being bullied.
"Clank, clank..."
In response to the plea, heavy footsteps echoed from the castle's second floor, the sound of armor clashing against the ground.
"Ed, as a bearer of the Lawrence family's bloodline, how can you carry on like this?"
From the shadows emerged a tall, imposing man with gray hair and a beard, likely in his fifties. His arrogant demeanor and menacing appearance perfectly fit Nathan's image of a mastermind.
"Father, this man is a monster!"
Nathan listened silently to their conversation. It seemed these two were father and son.
"Huh? One man has you this terrified?"
The fearsome old man turned his gaze to Nathan, clearly recognizing him.
"So it's you, the one who's been ruining my plans. How dare you come here alone to die?"
The old man's voice was filled with rage. His target was Rosalyne, and Nathan had repeatedly foiled his schemes.
"So, you're the rat who's been hiding in the shadows?"
Nathan had no respect for the elderly, especially not this man. His words dripped with mockery.
"I am the head of the Lawrence family, a noble of the highest standing! You have no right to insult me!"
"The Lawrence family? The one that was overthrown by the Knights of Favonius and driven out like stray dogs?"
Nathan recalled Eula's backstory from the game. The Lawrence family had once tyrannically ruled Mondstadt, enforcing a brutal aristocratic regime that enslaved its people. If not for Venti's intervention and Vennessa's founding of the Knights of Favonius, Mondstadt would have been ruined.
"Enough of the past! The Lawrence family will rise again under my leadership!"
The old man's face twisted in fury at the mention of "stray dogs."
"You old fossil, still dreaming of a comeback? Just crawl into your grave already!"
"Hmph, you're just a brat who's never held power. There's no point in talking to you!"
At the mention of power, the old man's face lit up with a smile, though it looked more like a grimace.
Power was indeed a seductive thing, but Nathan had no interest in it. He just wanted to laze around.
"And your plan for restoration? These guys lying on the ground?"
Nathan pointed at the soldiers incapacitated by his lightning. Their blackened armor was already in tatters.
"Foolish brat, these are just test subjects. My true strength will show you the difference!"
The old man clapped his hands, and the castle floor began to shake.
From the first-floor chamber, something monstrous was approaching.
"Roar!"
A deafening roar echoed as the creature emerged.
It was a massive monster, its body pitch black. In size, it rivaled the Wolf of the North from the game.
The most grotesque feature was its neck, which bore three wolf-like heads. It resembled Cerberus, the three-headed hound of the underworld from mythology.
"This thing... it doesn't belong in Teyvat."
Nathan was certain he'd never encountered such a creature in the game.
"Ignorant fool! This is the legacy of a once-great civilization, a testament to human ingenuity!"
"So, it's Khaenri'ah's technology."
"You've heard of Khaenri'ah?"
"Of course. I know everything."
Nathan smirked, thoroughly enjoying his moment of superiority.
Khaenri'ah, the fallen underground kingdom, was deeply intertwined with the game's main storyline. Even in the official previews, it was hinted that the Traveler's final destination after visiting the seven nations would be this lost land.
"You're meddling with forbidden power. You're done for—there's no way this ends well for you."
Nathan looked at the old man as if he were already a corpse.
In Teyvat, you could afford to offend the seven nations, even the seven Archons.
But the one thing you must never provoke is the being high above in the sky.
To incur the wrath of the Heavenly Principles—the best outcome is to be reduced to ashes.
a/n - Read 60+ Chapters ahead on my patreon
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