Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"You managed to retrieve the Holy Lyre!" Venti exclaimed, hopping off the bar stool he had previously sat on as soon as Diluc took the mystical object out of the cloth he had wrapped it in. The bard started making grabby hands toward the man, who himself looked a bit hesitant to hand the Lyre over, to the bard who looked like a child in glee receiving a gift for his birthday. "A pattern of flowing wind carved on the rosewood... and the string still feeling cool to touch too! Oh, the memories…" Venti trailed off, stroking the aged wood.

"Done going down the memory lane, bard?" Reign interrupted from behind him, causing Venti to regain his composure.

"Melancholy is an important element in the ballads of any bard, Lady Reign. I am merely gaining source material for my next performance." Venti justified it with a smile.

"Enough of this!" Paimon exclaimed, kicking the air impatiently. "What do you think, Venti? Can you summon Dvalin with... that?" The fairy pointed towards the instrument in his hand with a bit of a doubtful look on her face.

"Although this lyre is the real thing, I doubt that’s going to work, my friends." Venti sighed, not able to deny Paimon’s doubtful attitude. "As you can see, the lyre has been going through thousands of years of history, and the Anemo power has run dry." Venti attempted to pull at the fragile cords, causing one of them to snap, which made the rest of the group cringe. "With Lyre in this state, you can’t even play music fit for even Diluc’s tavern."

"Don’t make assumptions. Bards fight to get on the stage of my tavern." Diluc felt the need to add, causing Jean to chuckle at his vexed attitude.

"Can’t you like to charge it up?" Aether suggested. "Shouldn’t you be able to do it, you know, with those fancy Anemo powers you have?" The blonde gestured towards the vision hanging from the bard’s hip, to which the bard nervously laughed, knowing exactly where the Outlander was hinting.

"Wait, if it doesn’t work and you knew that, does that mean you just borrowed the Holy Lyre to play for drunkards to hear at Diluc’s tavern?" Paimon angrily turned to Venti, who, thankful for Paimon’s interruption, just chuckled playfully, only to fuel the fairy’s rage even more with his casual attitude. "What do you mean "hehe"?" She exclaimed, reaching to bonk him on the head.

"Anyway." Venti swiftly moved out of Paimon’s attack range and over to the Dandelion Knight’s side. "We won’t be able to call Dvalin with this. The lyre itself is fine, but the strings... The bard looked worriedly down at the instrument, caressing the carvings on it.

"All right then, you’re up, Pong!" Paimon blurted, shoving the blonde boy forward.

"You know how to fix this boy? I didn't take you for a musician." Reign said, watching Aether intently, her blue-eyed stare not accommodating his predicament. Diluc shot him a bit of a doubtful look while Jean offered him a reassuring smile.

"Paimon, I don’t know where you got the idea that I know how to repair instruments, but it isn't true."

"Calm down, everyone. It isn’t broken. It’s just that the intensity of the Anemo power within it has diminished greatly. Traveler, do you still have Dvalin’s Teardrop Crystal with you right now?" Aether nodded, summoning it out of his hand. "Great, try to use it on the Lyre."

"But, how?"

"I think you just have to drop it on it." Reign suggested.

"What if it shatters?"

"I think that’s the whole point, boy."

The awkward exchange between the two blondes ended with Aether dropping the crystalized tear on the worn-out instrument. A bright light enveloped the object, temporarily blinding everybody in the room and causing Aether to accidentally drop the instrument out of surprise, gloved hands immediately coming to protect his eyes from the blast. It loudly clattered against the floor, and its light slowly started shimmering down at a fast pace.

"The Holy Lyre!"

"My Lyre!"

"That’s a national treasure."

"Oh no… The Lyre is...broken." Reign trailed off, watching Aether’s face slowly contort into one of sheer horror as the light wrapped around the Holy Lyre started dying down. Much to everybody’s delight, instead of seeing the ancient relic shattered into pieces, an enchanting-looking instrument appeared in view. It appeared to have been meticulously carved from the newest and finest tree and embellished with the most exquisite gems from the core of Dragonspine. Its strings protruded from a section of the sky and were bathed in a warm blue glow. "…not!"

Everybody in the room let out a sigh of relief.

"It worked, as expected." Venti cheerfully exclaimed, picking it up as if he did not panic over it just a minute ago. Diluc glanced out of the window of the tavern, scanning for anybody who might have caught a glimpse of what just occurred inside the tavern. With a lack of motion outside the building but doubt still swirling inside his mind like a plague, the red-headed man made a mental note to start scouting later.

"What’s gotten you so troubled? Do you think anybody saw what’s going on here?" Reign approached him from his place beside the window while Jean, Venti, Aether, and Paimon talked about Dvalin and obtaining more of his tears in order to restore the condition of the Holy Lyre.

"I’m not sure about it, but we can’t risk this operation going to waste. I’m heading out to search, and after we’re done here, I should be able to track down any suspicious movement." Diluc said, doubtful crimson eyes searching the outside of his tavern, trying to sense any kind of suspicious individual with malicious intent.

"Nah, I got you covered, ‘Lulu. You should go and help them out by finding the tears and helping out Dvalin." Reign reassured her nephew, patting him on the shoulder. "I’ll remain in Mondstadt and count for any danger that might come to the city while you big shots are out of town doing important work and saving the entire Teyvat from a brainwashed, depressed flying lizard."

"I’m surprised you’re not the first to offer yourself up to dive head-first into this battle." Diluc raised a brow at his aunt, who just shrugged playfully.

"What can I say? I feel like laying low on this one." Reign then turned to Venti, her eyes narrowing as a mischievous smirk formed on her face. "I’ll throw that little rat in the first carriage going to your winery so Adeline can keep an eye on him for the time being that way, you won’t have to worry about him getting arrested and giving you trouble while you’re out."

"Thank you, Auntie."

The truth is, Reign did not remain in town just because she felt like playing cat and mouse with whatever poor soul decided to linger for too long by the Angel’s Share window and see what happened inside with the Holy Lyre. The commitment was merely an excuse for far more personal business she had in The Moon City with a certain individual from the Knights of Favonius. Having failed to catch sight of him at the Knight’s Headquarters, Reign made her way downtown toward the local pubs.

However, the task proved itself to be a bit more challenging than what Reign anticipated, with the Cavalry Captain nowhere to be found at that moment. After having quite a fiery one-sided exchange with the pink-haired feline bartender from Cat’s Tail, the blonde woman sat at a table outside the establishment, basking in the afternoon sun like a reptile.

A group of knights passed by her table in a hurry, reinforcing the barriers at the city’s main entrance. The forces of the Abyss Order started getting closer and closer to the city with each passing day, so the Knights of Favonius anticipated an attack coming toward the city very soon from then on. With the acting grandmaster out, the Cavalry Captain was tasked with distributing the troops and coordinating the defense.

But the Captain was nowhere to be found at that moment, which left Lisa and the other fellow Captains to deal with the reinforcement, much to the librarian’s displeasure.

"Must I ask why we are still here?"

Ah yes, she almost forgot about her own knights.

Before she left together with Diluc, Aether, and Paimon, Jean appointed Reign with a small squad of her own once she heard a word of the blonde woman remaining in the city, with the plead to lend a hand to the Knights of Favonius, when it was for the Abyss Order to attack. With a bit of effort from the Grandmaster’s side and some complaints from Diluc about having his aunt work with the knights, Reign eventually agreed.

She did not anticipate who might be the ‘help’ she would get.

"We’re scouting. This table is the best spot to look out for the enemy."

"With all due respect, sir Reign, I believe we must-“ Reign blocked out Eula’s voice, staring at the blue-haired woman with an unfocused expression as she went on about what they previously discussed when they met. All that Eula knows is that Reign is there to help scout the city and look out for any intruders or spies from the enemy camp at the request of the Grandmaster, and that she was requested to be her partner in this operation.

The two had never formally met before, with Eula only knowing of Reign through gossip and rumors scattered around the Knight’s headquarters. The occasional informal duels the blonde woman had with the Captains and the knights that she never bothered attending, and the rumors about the numerous bar quarrels Reign had with them, formed an image inside the mind of the Captain of the Reconnaissance Company of a reckless and straightforward man who liked to boast about his strength and power, and charge into fights without half a mind, which he would ultimately end with brute strength, proof being the bustle inside the Knight’s Headquarter’s infirmary every time the individual visited Mondstadt.

Nevertheless, Eula was not looking forward to working together with a man like that when the Grandmaster contacted her for assistance, but that changed when they actually met. Instead of the brash, narcissistic man she had prepared herself mentally for, she was met with a polite and quite playfully natured young woman.

Maybe way too playful for Eula’s liking, as the blonde woman was cracking jokes she did not quite seem to understand the whole time while walking around the city. Occasionally, Reign would get distraught, seemingly searching with her eyes for things that were not really there, like she was looking for somebody, which Eula found quite suspicious. She would lie if she said she did not feel quite uneasy around the abnormally tall woman, but she would never admit such a thing.

Reign was not oblivious to Eula’s unnerved attitude around her, but decided to give the young Captain some time to accommodate. She was aware that Eula would not easily be able to trust Reign as an ally (despite Varka's flattery), but she was confident that Eula would change her mind.

"I finished scouting the nearby area, sir Reign, Captain. There was nothing out of the ordinary around the perimeter of the gate. We can keep moving on now to the suburbs."

"Thank you, Noelle. Come on, Sir Reign, let’s get moving."

"Yes, yes, I’m coming. No need to pick me up and carry me yourself."

Noelle was also assigned to Reign’s small squad at the request of the Grandmaster, fueling excitement inside the battle maiden about finally getting an opportunity to get some on-field work done. Reign was more than happy when she saw Noelle coming her’s and Eula’s way, having made friends with the maid in her previous visits to Mondstadt.

Occasionally, Reign would spar with Noelle and help her improve her combat abilities, muscle strength, and strategy, and in exchange, Noelle would treat both of them at the end of their training with a much-deserved meal and a pleasant chat.

Noelle’s gentle yet firm attitude, paired with Reign’s playful energy and Eula’s elegant composure, did not fail to draw curious looks from the citizens towards the unusual trio walking along the paths of Mondstadt. The group of women looked out for anything out of the ordinary popping up in the city, in the back of an alleyway or hidden around the city wall, but much to Eula’s unease, they were only met with an eerie silence.

A night and a day passed ever since they started scouting at the orders of the acting grandmaster. The knights stationed around the city wall and throughout it were growing restless with the lack of action happening, and so were the members of the ordo who remained back at the headquarters. The Abyss Order’s troops went quiet, not making as much of a step towards the proximity of the city. The citizens started growing uneasy, attempting to leave, but were nevertheless stopped by the sight of the Abyss Order’s camps surrounding Mondstadt. Nobody could really go without having to fight a couple of Hillichurls and Abyss Mages along the way, just the way nobody could get back that easily.

The Cavalry Captain was still to be found, as the man went missing the day Jean and Diluc left the city.

Groups of knights were coming in and out, some returning gravely injured after attempting to clear the path leading to the city. Without the path cleared, merchants were incapable of supplying the city with food and materials. The sudden flow of injured knights as well as the anticipation caused by the forces of the Ordo being situated so close to the city forced the doctors and nurses situated at the Knight’s Headquarters to move down at the city gate, where medical tents were raised at the order of the Acting Grandmaster. Nuns were scattered around the makeshift camp as well, lending a helping hand to the overwhelmed staff and a prayer for the sick.

Reign and Noelle settled down on the stairs leading up the city, having helped carry the newest wave of injured knights toward the tents.

Reign managed to snatch a couple of bottles of Sunsettia Cidre and a bottle of Valberry Juice from one of the local pubs, offering the latter to Noelle, who accepted it without much of a word. The girl was quietly sipping her drink, in contrast to the blonde woman chugging her own with vigor, like a thirsty man in the desert. They were having a small, pleasant conversation, while Eula was just a little further away.

"Hey, Noelle?" Reign called, eyes fixated on a particular blonde-headed man, a small bouquet of flowers in his hand. He was taming down his hair in front of Margaret’s shop windows.

"Yes, sir Reign?" Noelle turned to the blonde beside her.

"Do you know that one really shady guy, Albert?"

"That man lurking around the back of the Cathedral every day? I can’t say I spoke to him much before. He always looks quite spaced out, if I were to be honest. I often hear the sisters complaining about him, especially sister Barbara, since he keeps bothering her. If I were to be honest, I don’t have a good impression of him.” Noelle looked at Reign with a curious expression on her face. "Why do you ask, sir Reign? Is something the matter?"

"You can quite say that, but you told me exactly what I wanted to hear." Reign pointed at the tree next to the gate, where the Cathedral’s famous healer and idol, Barbara, was having a small break, taking small bites from an apple as she looked over what appeared to be medical reports. The man himself was taking confident strides toward her resting place, the sight leaving quite a nasty flavor in the woman’s mouth. "You see him? That’s the face of a man about to meet God. Lend me a hand." She casually said she was getting up before hopping down the stairs and making a beeline for the tree.

She had been waiting for an opportunity like that for ages.

"Sir Reign, you don’t mean what I think you mean, do you?" Noelle got up in a hurry, following the blonde woman. "Sir, we’re on duty, and you’re a knight!"

"I am an unofficial member! Unofficial means I get to do whatever I want whenever I want to do it with little to no consequences! You in?" Reign said cheerfully, drawing a morbid look from the battle maiden. That was surely not what it meant. Noelle looked back and forth between the white-clad knight and Eula, hoping for the Captain to take notice, but much to her misfortune, Eula seemed to almost ignore the scene.

When Noelle first heard the rumors of Reign having violent tendencies, especially when it came down to bar fights, she never really believed in them, having only witnessed the blonde woman inside the training grounds.

Oh, but it was all true.

"Come on, Noelle." Reign dragged on with a grin. "Don’t you want to give that guy a good beating like I do? You must have heard how much that bastard bothers the sisters. Come on, I know you want to." This was one of the only times she got to go on the field for her duties. Noelle nervously looked Albert’s way, who by then had already reached Barbara, the latter looking mildly uncomfortable by his presence, which stirred an uneasy feeling in her. She did not want to mess it up and make a bad impression on Grandmaster Jean by assaulting a civilian. However… "I suppose it is within the code of the Knights of Favonius to protect the citizens from any kind of threat, be it internal or external." The battle maid hyped herself up.

A Cheshire cat grin stretched itself upon Reign’s face at Noelle’s affirmation. "Exactly! Right on the spot! Now watch and learn how I do it." The blonde woman said, cracking her fingers, now turning to the pair under the tree. "I’ll signal for when you jump in too. Don’t worry about poor boy Albert, he will be fine, be it for Barbara to have mercy on him." With a nod from Noelle, Reign made her way to the two.

"Hey! You!" She called out, pointing towards the man. Startled, Albert slightly jumped from his spot at the call, looking around frantically before his eyes fell on the tall woman. Barbara also turned to them, heaving a sigh of relief at the familiar display of Noelle, whom she more or less ran to, bypassing Reign.

"Me?" Albert asked, shrinking into himself at the sight of the white-clad knight.

"Yeah, you with the ugly haircut, what are you doing here instead of working? We’re in the middle of a war, and you’re out bothering our paramedics, boy.” Reign began, grabbing a fistful of his shirt. Albert shrieked at the force she exerted. "How about I throw you out to deal with the Hillichurls yourself if you’ve got nothing better to do around town? Eh? What do you say?"

"I swear, I just meant to ask sister Barbara a question! I swear, it was not my intention to bother her! You see, I am-" Noelle blocked off the rest of their conversation and turned to the shaken idol beside her, who was grasping her arm tightly.

"Are you all right, Barbara? Did he hurt you?"

"No, he did not." Barbara said, her eyes stuck to the floor as she held a stack of papers tightly to her chest. "Thank you for coming so I wouldn’t have to make an excuse and try to leave myself. I did not think I would see him here as well, I must have gotten distracted by everything and forgot." She said it with a small, forceful laugh.

"Don’t blame yourself for that. You must be exhausted. You’ve been working with no rest for the past few days." Noelle reassured herself, resting a hand on the healer’s shoulder.

A strong gust of cold wind blew by their backs, but the girls didn’t pay any mind to it.

"You too, Noelle. The knights are working so hard to protect us, but I don’t know for how long they are going to last. I just wish everything could go back to normal, I don’t know for how long the knights will be able to keep on going, especially without Grandmaster Varka or my sister in Mondstadt.” She voiced out her worry to the battle maiden, who could do nothing but rub her back in comfort. Barbara was obviously consumed by the pressure of the Abyss and the sleepless nights she spent treating the injured, eyebags were already forming under her eyes.

"Don’t worry about us, Barbara, we’ve been training tirelessly for this kind of situation. I trust my fellow knights of Favonius, so you’ve got nothing to worry about. You and the sisters should go and take a rest in one of the empty tents. I and Sir Reign will make sure Albert won’t bother you." Noelle smiled reassuringly at the Hydro Vision user, who mirrored her smile. "Thank you, Noelle, be careful out there. Pass my thanks to Sir Reign as well when you can." Throwing a glance toward the blonde woman shaking Albert by the collar, she quietly slipped away from the scene created around the apple tree.

She passed by Eula, with whom she threw a quick salute out of respect before rushing into one of the tents. Eula looked a bit perplexed but saluted the sister as she made her way toward Noelle, throwing a questioning look at the scene but not daring to attempt to spare Albert from Reign’s wrath.

"Sir Reign, what are you doing to that man?" Eula asked, trying to sound serious but failing to hide the hint of amusement in her tone.

"Eula? Great, you’re back! I was just about to teach Noelle how to body slam a street rat, but since you’re here, we might as well get moving." Reign said, dropping Albert, who met the ground with a thud. "Unless you feel like joining in? I don’t mind idling around here just a tad bit longer." The blonde woman suggested it, to which Eula shook her head.

Another strong gust of wind traveled through the city, drawing shivers down the battle maiden’s spine. Out of the corner of her eye, Noelle noticed dark, angry-looking clouds rapidly approaching from the west, specifically Stormterror’s layer.

"There’s no time to lose, Sir Reign, let that scoundrel go, he already looks ready to pass out, we don’t need the sisters fretting over someone like him when they are already busy," Eula said, noticing how Albert immediately slipped away from under the tree as soon as he got the chance. She already talked to one of the knights patrolling around the ward to keep an eye on him and keep him out of the area.

"We have far more important things to be worrying about, with the Cavalry Captain missing." Eula turned to walk away as she said that, but as soon as she did, she was hit in the face by a flying poster, making the Captain double back. The blue-haired woman ripped the poster off her face, being met with a poor drawing of what was supposed to be the wanted Outlander.

Her attention soon went from the blonde traveler to the incoming, wretched storm, lightly dancing in the sky as the booming thunder accompanied the violent bursts of wind that kept traveling through the city. "Wow, I haven’t seen such a storm ever since I was banned and kicked out of Inazuma." Reign reminisced, her hand on her hip.

"Sir Reign, you were what?" Noelle gaped.

"Not the time. I don’t even want to know." Eula sighed exasperatedly, making a beeline for the gate. "Noelle, go call the alarms and tell the sisters and the knights to retreat with the injured under the Cathedral. After you’re done with that, come and meet us at the entrance of Mondstadt. Sir Reign, you will come with me to the front. This is not just bad weather, something’s coming." Noelle nodded frantically before rushing off.

"You got a tingling feeling of something bad coming, Captain?" Reign asked as she followed the Renaissance Captain, a hint of teasing in her voice.

"See for yourself, Sir Reign." Eula gestured toward the camps that the Abyss Order organized around Mondstadt, figures approaching the city of Moon at a rapid pace. By then, the clouds were already above the city, the strong wind accompanied by the lightning creating something of an apocalyptic sight for the citizens of Mondstadt, who were running on the streets for shelter. The rain started rapidly falling, and the voices of the knights yelling directions to each other were muffled by the thunder. "Miss Lisa informed me of this possibility and asked me to keep an eye out for their movement. I personally hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but these monsters had other plans." The Cryo user gritted her teeth in frustration, claymore materializing in her hand.

"Well, would you look at who came out to play?" Reign said as her face soon became obstructed by her iconic winged helmet. "And here I hoped I wouldn’t have to do much work."

"Captain Eula! And Sir Reign too!" One of the knights from the group stationed at the city gate came rushing to the two women, stopping just a few steps away from them as he saluted, "Permission to report?"

"Permission granted, what’s the situation?"

"There’s one wave coming from the front and two others coming from the back. And it’s not just Hillichurls, they are also accompanied by a group of Abyss Mages. They’re currently crossing Cider Lake on plank boats and assaulting the back-end city gate. Five groups of knights are currently reporting from there together with Outrider Amber, ready to defend the citizens of Mondstadt."

"Abyss Mages?" Reign muttered under her breath, visibly frowning. Trying to recall a certain chain of events I don’t remember Abyss Mages being part of this, what is happening?

"They’re attacking from the back first, the cowards," Eula cursed. "They’re trying to catch us by surprise, taking us for fools. They are trying to overwhelm us by attacking from all sides, and if they get to the Cathedral, it might as well be over. We can’t let that happen, tell them to drop the gates! Nobody is coming in or leaving."

"Understood Captain!" The knight saluted, turning to leave before being stopped by a ‘hey’ from Eula.

"Have you heard anything regarding the whereabouts of Cavalry Captain Kaeya?" The knight shook his head at her question. "Not a thing, Captain. I deeply apologize, but I haven’t heard from him for the past few days." He said. Eula sighed in frustration but nevertheless dismissed the knight, who went running inside the city.

"Such a slacker, this Captain of yours." Reign chimed in from beside Eula, cracking her knuckles one by one loudly, which made the Renaissance Captain visibly uncomfortable. "Is he looking for his horses or something? Since Varka took all the Cavalry but not the Captain.” The blue-haired knight has a hard time looking at the woman beside her now; the appearance of her helmet paired with the constant sound of joints popping makes her feel unsettled.

But she knew better than to let that show.

"This is the last thing I would be worrying about right now, sir Reign."

"True enough. But whoever that Kaeya might be, he better treat us to some really good drinks for this one." Reign jokingly said, lightly stretching, "If I get my hands on him, I’m not letting him leave until he pays for at least three glasses and a slice of pie for Noelle."

The battle commenced a while after Noelle returned to her post next to the Reign. The single shot of an archer perched atop the wall of the city set the enemy troops on a fiery fit of rage, battle cries heaving through the air like thunder and heavy stomps of their movements shaking the earth like an earthquake, running towards the city while launching their own attacks from a distance.

They were many in number, scattered across plains and hills like ants. Mitachurls and Samachurls served as a backup for the charging body of many bloodthirsty Hillichurls, clubs and shields in hand as they attacked the Favonian forces guardian the Mondstadt citizens bridge in a too organized fashion for Eula's liking. One Abyss Mage was riding atop a Lawachurls taking earth-shaking steps towards the city of Moon, likely being the genius mind behind this attack.

The rain was coming down harshly on the knights, filling up the body of water that served as the graveyard of whoever was unfortunate enough to fall over the bridge. The lake was half-frozen, sections of it tingling and cracking with electrical power cursing through it, rippling through the crashing waves.

The stony walls were pierced throughout, and what can only be described as ruin stands on the other side of it. The houses crumbled over themselves at the force of the attacks coming from the Abyss Order. The Cider Lake was the only obstacle that stopped the Abyssal Troupes from completely obliterating the walls of the city. Most of them tried to swim over to Mondstadt, all meeting the fate of either being shot by the archers or frozen alive by Captain Eula, meeting their end at the bottom of the body of water.

The same could be said about the bold ones who attempted to force their way down the bridge, statues of ice and frost littering the battlefield. The strong smell of iron clouded the air, all too familiar to the blonde woman as she quite literally rammed into the waves of creatures, her weapon in hand glistening with the running streaks of rain and blood.

Noelle was watching the blonde woman from a considerable distance, having been ordered to stay near the rear of the defense line due to her lack of experience in battle by the Renaissance Captain until following orders. Reign was appointed to the same orders as her, however, one captain was not enough to keep the white-clad knight from ramming into them like an angry bull once they attempted to throw one of the knights over the edge of the bridge.

Instead of using a sword or bow and arrow, Reign was using only a shield, which did much more damage than defending, if she were to be honest. Sculpted out of an ore, the battle maiden had a hard time identifying it from any book she had read. The white metal, brimmed with golden edges and carved with beautiful floral patterns running alongside its entire surface, worked with care down to its smallest detail.

"Noelle! Back me up!" She heard her name called out by one of the other knights, who appeared to be struggling with a particularly slippery Hillichurl that managed to get by the front line unnoticed. She immediately ripped her eyes away from the blonde woman and ran over, great sword in hand, prepared to assist, only to be met with an attack from Cryo Abyss Mage, who managed to teleport over to the other side of the battlefield.

The air around the creature was freezing, the frost entering and burning up her lungs. The soldiers, including Noelle, at the scene started coughing as an effect, which propped the creature to start launching icicles at them. A couple of the knights managed to jump out of the way of the attack, while the others managed to deflect the attack with their weapons.

One knight, however, was not so lucky, with one icicle ending up stabbing his shoulder. The soldier kneeled, screaming in pain as he grabbed at the frosty weapon. The Abyssal creature took sight of the injured knight and the panicked others to launch another attack. Noelle was ready to sweep in, but before she could, a series of sharp icicles shot up from the ground, effectively breaking through the shield of the Abyss Mage and ending its life. The Hillichurls that took advantage of the weakness from the rear ended up living the same fate, their bodies limply hanging from where they'd been impaled.

"Bring him back into the city with the other injured! Now!" Eula’s voice echoed through the rain, which helped the knights snap from their state of panic, saluting their Captain before they proceeded with the order.

"Not bad with that move, you almost had that guy’s head though." Noelle jumped at the sudden voice coming from behind her. Turning around, she saw Reign lodging next to her, wiping the blood off her shield with something that looked like the remains of an Abyss Mage robe.

"W-What?"

"That guy next to you. What was his name? Robert? Rostam? I can never remember his name." Reign shook her head. "Not important but be more careful. When you defended yourself from the attack of that rat, you almost swiped his head off his shoulders. You wouldn’t want that, you’re not from the enemy camp, aren’t you?" Reign giggled but immediately stopped as he saw the morbid look of realization on the battle maiden’s face. "Oh no, Noelle, don’t worry, I was just messing around a bit, but be more careful next time, alright? Just friendly advice."

"You were watching?" Noelle asked.

"Of course, I was about to make my way back after Eula kicked my butt off the front lines. I was about to come and help, but she took out my target. I don’t want to say she did it before me just because she is a tiny bit spiteful that I stole hers a couple of minutes earlier, but that is exactly what I am trying to say." Reign rambled on to Noelle, who couldn’t help but just nod, a bit uncomfortable with the eye sitting atop Reign’s headpiece.

"I don’t think it was about that." Noelle said in a small voice, to which Reign shrugged. "Yeah, you’re probably right, maybe I am just too into it right now. Though, wouldn’t you agree that it would be logical for an Abyss Mage, who manipulates the Cryo Element, to freeze in the middle of a storm? What is up with this? This is beyond the rules of logic!"

"I don’t know, sir Reign, I’ve never seen a Cryo Abyss Mage freeze in the rain. It’s always been like this." Noelle admitted, raising a brow at the blonde’s out-of-common question. "Are you alright? Do you need to take a rest in the back? It must be rough in the front lines."

"Me? Absolutely not! I’m as good as ever!" The white-clad knight exclaimed, shaking her head a little.

"She thinks you’re suspicious. Just like the other one."

"You lack tact in any shape or form."

"Does she not have a point, though? How do they do that?"

"Well, why don’t you answer that? Goddess of Frost?"

"Oh well, it’s been such a long time, I can’t say I remember!"

"What a figure! And you call yourself a God."

"Sir Reign! Captain Eula! They’re coming from the back!"

"What?!" Reign immediately went into a defensive as soon as the other Abyss Mages came into view after they caught onto the trick of the Cryo one, bringing their forces of Hillichurls forth. "You rascals! Why are you here even?"

"Summon your shields and get into position in front of the gate! We can’t let them enter the city!" One of the veteran knights called, to which the others complied, forming a barrier of shields in front of the Abyss’s Order attack squad. Reign placed herself at the end of the front row with Noelle, guarding themselves behind Reign's shield, large enough to fit them both.

The Hillichurls immediately started firing elemental-enhanced arrows towards them, but got easily deflected by the knights. Seeing that they could barely get through them, the creatures started assaulting with all their force the middle and front-row forces, attempting to sandwich the knights of Favonius between the Abyssal Forces.

"Oh Lord Barbatos, help us!" One of the knights exclaimed as he guarded against one of the Hillichurls, hitting the knight full force with his frosted bat and effectively freezing the knight’s shield and his hand along with it. The Hillichurls came in for another attack before he was picked up by his scruff by Reign and hurled into the lake.

A part of the knights guarding the gate, including Noelle and Reign, left their posts in order to assist the middle in fighting the Abyss Order forced that managed to cross the bridge, which they were obviously overwhelmed by at that moment.

A Pyro Abyss Mage went in for an attack on Noelle but ultimately failed as the battle maiden immediately brought forth her Geo shield, blocking the attack and lodging her great sword into the Mage’s own shield, throwing the creature into a frenzy. The weapon started sizzling, the metal heating past the melting point, which forced Noelle to pull it out and attempt to repeatedly and rapidly stab it, which proved to do nothing to the elemental shield but slowly melt her great sword. Its tip almost fell off, which drew a laugh from the creature, followed by an attack Noelle barely managed to dodge.

"Use your vision, Noelle!" She heard Reign call to her. "Enhance your weapon with your vision!"

"How do I do that, sir?!" The girl asked, glancing back at the blonde woman who was currently hurling a Mitachurl across the battlefield. Both Noelle and the Pyro Abyss Mage took a moment to stare in awe at the flying creature that crashed into a Hydro Abyss Mage that tried to smack an injured knight with his staff.

The battle maiden took the distraction to back away a couple of meters from the mage.

"I don’t know! I don’t have a vision! I’ve got no idea how y'all, God’s favorites, do it! We talked about this before, it has to come from you!" Reign replied, a little frustrated, before spotting Eula get into a much more familiar battle stance. "Look at Eula! Try to mimic her!" Noelle spotted the blue-haired Captain gracefully slashing the air, his great sword coated in cryo-elemental energy, taking down whoever was unfortunate enough to stand in its way. The force of the slash created a gust of frosted wind that traveled through the enemy forces, freezing a part of them in place.

The sight was spectacular, watching the Captain fight in a manner that was more like dancing than anything else, but the magic of the spectacle was broken by an attack from the Abyss Mage coming her way, which she had to deflect with her shield. Noelle was unsure of herself and her ability to control the Geo element, having always wanted a Pyro or Anemo vision instead. She tried her best to channel the elemental power into the weapon, but to no avail, as she was left to use any energy she had left to attack the Hillichurls that came barreling towards her or defend herself with her shield against the Pyro Abyss mage that was now joined by a Cryo one.

"I’m not sure! I don’t think I am ready, I’m not even a knight!"

"You can do it, Noelle! Focus! The vision is a part of you! You decide what you can and can’t do with it—not anyone else, not even Jean! I know you don’t like your vision, and it sucks.” Reign clasped a hand on Noelle’s shoulder, turning to face her. "But you want to become an official knight, don’t you? Make use of that thing! I know you can! You’re an extraordinary knight in training who can make do with any vision given to her. Acting Grandmaster Jean may believe you’re not ready, but I do." The blonde woman encouraged Noelle the best she could.

"I understand, Sir Reign." Noelle nodded, a determinate look on her face. "Thank you. I think I can do it, I can try, at least." Reign could already notice Noelle’s vision start glowing, a sight of good progress. The battle maiden looked more confident in herself than she was before, to which the blonde woman gave her a pat on the back.

"Yes, you can!"

"Yes, I can!"

"You’re in the game!"

"I’m in the game?"

"I’ll cover for you, just go!"

"A-alright!" Noelle quickly agreed as she started running forward, having Reign clean the path towards the two Abyss Mages ahead of her. Hillichurls and Samachurls were flying left and right before they could process what was coming at them, having their bodies slammed against the metal of the white-cladded knight’s shield as Reign rammed into them at a speed too great for a simple human.

Noelle was hot in her tail, slashing whatever creature was trying to get too close to her. Her great sword was growing brighter and brighter. The battle maiden was growing more and more powerful, adrenaline coursing through her veins as she felt an unexplained rush of energy.

At the incoming threat, the Cryo and Pyro Abyss Mages attempted to throw attack after attack, only to be deflected by Reign’s shield. The creatures panicked at the sight, their attacks growing restless as she approached at high speed. At the last second, before her shield could meet theirs and shatter their only defense into pieces, she slid on the ground through the space between them. Confused, the mages followed the movement of the woman, unaware of Noelle rapidly approaching them, her sword growing in size by the second.

As soon as Reign saw Noelle had prepared her grand attack, she called out for the rest of the knights present, "Middle row, heads down if you want to keep them." While some immediately complied, others needed to see Noelle’s great sword to convince themselves. At the yell, Eula and a couple of veteran knights turned to look at the sight.

Noelle’s sword was five sizes longer than usual, cracking in elemental energy and glowing like a second sun, casting shadows of the figures among the battlefield. With a gracious spin, much like a certain Captain’s, she effortlessly slashed the shields of the mages, together with any creature that dared to stay in her range.

"That’s what I’m talking about!" Reign cheered from the back. "Keep going at it! There’s more from where that came from!" A couple of knights started following the blonde woman’s example and started cheering for Noelle as she spun along the battlefield.

However, the cheering was short-lived as the Lawachurl came dashing down the bridge, shaking the earth with its weight and slamming itself into the knights, pummeling the ones who couldn’t move out of the way of the attack. The Abyssal Forces took advantage of the attack and came up behind the monstrosity, advancing down the bridge at rapid speed.

"Fall back and take the wounded back! Don’t let them get into the city!" Eula yelled over the sound of rushing Abyss forces, picking up as many wounded soldiers as she could. A Hillichurl attempted to jump off the side of the bridge and land a flaming hit on her head, but ended up being trapped into an icicle before he could even touch a strand of her hair.

At her orders, the remaining knights did not hesitate in picking themselves and their friends up, making a run for the entrance of Mondstadt. Not a lot of them dared to look back at the disaster the battle left in its wake, only being met with the sight of abominations trying to gain up them, as if they were predators hungry for blood and destruction. A Hillichurl attempted to jump off the side of the bridge and land a flaming hit on the Captain’s head, but ended up being trapped in an icicle before he could even touch a strand of her hair.

Reign remained in the back for a moment, shoving the passing knights to hurry their steps up. The white-clad knight defended their backs from any incoming attacks the Abyss Order was attempting to make, shield colliding with the shield of a charging Mitachurl, who was sneering and puffing like an animal.

In a battle of strength and will, Reign managed to push the creature back several meters, and in a moment of weakness on the enemy side, when the Mitachurl lost its grip on the shield it was carrying, she kicked its only defense away with her own shield, before ending the duel with a punch in the chest. The force of the attack severed the creature's windpipe, leaving it choking on the ground.

The disturbance caught Lawachurl’s attention, his gaze locked on Reign's figure. It drew its fist, aiming to slam the woman to the ground, but she quickly averted its impending strike. Before she could counterattack, a layer of frost began crawling up the Lawachurl's body from its legs up, immobilizing it. As soon as the Lawachurl felt the sudden numbing-frozen sensation in its legs, it began flailing around, attempting to shatter the ice rising up his body. Reign was ready to take advantage of the situation if Eula hadn't called her out.

“Sir Reign! Retreat in this instant!” Reign let out a whine in frustration but followed the Captain’s orders, running towards the gates of the city. She caught sight of Eula lingering at the end of the bridge, an injured knight thrown over her shoulders while she was holding another under her arm, Greatsword in her other hand.

She had the stance of a mother waiting for her child after they ran away to the playground without permission.

“I could take him Captain. He’s not that tough.” Reign sped up beside Eula, pointing at the Lawachurl, now free from its frozen prison, shaking off the arrows shot at him from atop the bridge. Infuriated, the creature dug his hand into the ground, pulling out a slimy substance with prodding earthly spikes popping out of its back, two amber innocent looking eyes popping open, almost drowsily, as if it just woke up from a nap. The Lawachurl threw the slime towards the top of the wall, chopping the top of it and taking down the archers sitting in that spot with it.

A couple of citizens could be heard yelling in horror as the roof of their house was broken through by a lazy looking Geo Slime.

Eula threw Reign an annoyed look.

“I said fall back, I can’t cover you again if you mess it up.” Eula threw a knight she was holding under her arm to Reign, who caught him almost instinctively.

“I never mess up.”

“I doubt that.”

“Well, you better stop doing that. It’s not like I was about to get turned into one of Noelle’s pancakes back there. I was completely fine.” Reign plainly said, which caused Eula to recoil, snapping back at the blonde.

“Do you ever just shut up and listen?!” Reign remained unbothered by the Captain’s outburst, almost smiling pleased by the reaction she got out of the blue-haired woman.

“Maybe when I’m dead, which is going to happen…like never.”

Making it past the gate, the two promptly ushered the remaining soldiers inside the confines of the city walls. The knights passing by had hollow faces, clothes, and armor stained with blood, their eyes sporting the same color, and tear streaks still visible on their faces despite the harsh rain coming down on them. A couple of them slipped on the mud that had formed outside the gate but quickly picked each other up, desperate to make it past.

"That’s all of them! Drop the gates!" Eula's shout rang through the air, reaching the pair of hefty women at the top of the wall, who frantically yanked at the levers connected to the system that held the gate up. The structure started rapidly dropping, but the Lawachurl from before quickly took ahold of it, holding it up, its spiky ends digging into its stone like skin coat, leading the The Abyss Forces to start pouring into the city of the Moon from under.

The two of them followed the swarms of knights who had gathered at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the city, some of whom had already started climbing. The remaining citizens racing up the steps yelled in horror as they saw the approaching beasts. A handful of arrows were shot in their direction, but one of the Favonian Knights quickly diverted them away.

"They’re getting in! We’re finished!" One of them yelled.

"Please, Anemo Archon, Barbatos, have mercy upon us, for we are one step away from death, and don’t feel your gentle winds anymore, just a hurricane trying to swallow us whole." A soldier started praying under his breath. "For we walk your path of light and don’t stray toward the Abyss; protect us from the creatures who came to steal our freedom, as the tyrants once did."

"Protect the citizens and urge them to evacuate towards the Cathedral! Now!" Eula yelled over the screams and cries of the Abyssal Forces. Knights were limping with their coworkers on their backs, trying to make it up the stairs of the city. Atop the stony stairs, a single Abyss Mage coated the structure with a thin layer of ice, enough for the Favonian forces to slip on them and roll back at the bottom of the stairs.

The sight was nonetheless amusing for the creature, who was spinning in its bubble, laughing intensively.

The knights attempted to get up from the floor, grunting and crying in pain, filling the floppy ears of the Abyss Creature with sounds pleasant to them only. Its happiness was only short-lived, as not a moment later, a flaming arrow came in, lodging itself in the creature’s shield. It stirred panic within it as it started thrashing inside its shield. The first arrow followed a second, and with that, a rain of ignited arrows showered over the Abyss Mage, leaving nothing but dust.

Amber came jumping down from one of the roofs, landing in front of Reign and Eula. She was visibly injured, full of superficial cuts, but nevertheless in good shape. She hopped towards the two, still firing a couple of arrows at any incoming enemies. The knights cheered at her appearance, to which she passively responded before making a stop in front of the two.

"Amber!" Eula exclaimed. "What are you doing here? Are you alright?"

"You look pretty roughed up." Reign pointed at the Outrider’s bleeding side, the blood seeping into the crimson fabric of her uniform. "If you keep fighting like that, you’re going to run out of blood."

"It’s nothing. I’m alright, ready to fight, sir Reign!" Amber reassured her with a smile that did not quite reach her ears. "We managed to push back and close the back gate, but a couple of them managed to sneak past before we could do anything. The Abyss Mages proved to be a little bit of a hassle since they kept teleporting inside the city, but we took care of them."

"It seems like the situation there is much better than the one here." Reign pointed.

"Well, you can say that…However…" Amber began, an awkward smile forming on her face. "We managed to shoo them away from the back gate, which caused them to grow agitated and start climbing our walls." Truth to her word, it seemed like an endless sea of Hillichurls kept flowing from under the gate, the Lawachurl holding the role of an unmoving pillar, keeping the structure up for them to enter freely.

"You must take a rest." Eula insisted, her usual icy tone growing softer. "Or you will be in no fighting shape later, when we might need you."

"Listen to the Captain, Outrider." Reign teased a little.

"Sir Reign! Eula! I appreciate your concerns, but I am alright. I’ve been much worse."

"Captain!" A knight rushed to their side, breaking into their conversation. He was worse for wear, littered with bruises and bleeding heavily from his head. Were it not for Amber to jump at his support, the knight might have collapsed right there and then. "We’re currently outnumbered from both sides, and Cavalry Captain Kaeya is not responding to the signals! The Abyss Order is currently rampaging the citizens’ houses, and our knights are unable to put a stop to their attack. Our injured count is too big, we must retreat and wait for following assistance from the headquarters."

"We don’t have time for that." Reign argued. "Look around! Before they make it out, we’re going to be left with no manpower to even support or citizens to defend, we need to do something now and fast."

"What are your following orders, Captain Eula?"

"Our soldiers can’t make it to the Cathedral Captain, the Abyss Order is blocking the path up the city!" Another pair of knights came up to the ground, desperation ignited in their eyes.

"Captain! They’re climbing the walls and dropping our archers like flies! What are we going to do?"

Eula looked visibly overwhelmed by the situation, being the only Captain present on the battlefield at that moment. Everyone, who was usually not compliant with her authority role given her heritance from the not-so-well seen Lawrence clan, was now depending on her to make the right decisions. Were she to fail now, the slightest mistake would not only cost her the lives of the Mondsadt citizens but also the little faith the knights had in her in the slightest.

A warm gloved hand lay itself on her shoulder. Eula turned to look at the starry-eyed woman who grabbed her attention. Reign patted her shoulder, motioning for her to take a deep breath, which Eula unconsciously followed.

"How about you go and take the situation up there on the way towards the Cathedral in your hands with our Outrider while I take care of the stuff going on down here?" Reign asserted calmly to Eula, who looked a bit skeptical at her suggestion. "How can I trust you with taking care of this?"

The blonde understood her hesitance but pressed forward, knowing words would not be enough to convince the Renaissance Captain, "I have Noelle and the 3^rd Division to back me up, I will be more than fine, and if I somehow mess up, you have all the rights to take out your vengeance on me or something."

Eula sighed in exasperation at the use of her iconic catchphrase, but time was running out and the offer was too tempting to not take advantage. "Alright, but as soon as the sight is clear in the upper levels of the city, I am coming back down here as soon as possible." Eula took hold of the knight Amber was supporting, throwing his arm over her shoulder. "And I better see that gate closed when I come back, let’s say I trust you with this. Let’s go, Amber."

"Take care of yourself, Sir Reign!"

"I got you two, this will be like a walk in the park." Reign threw a thumbs up their way before turning to the pair of knights that joined the conversation a little after the battered-up knight appeared. The woman took a good look at them—the two boys, probably not older than twenty years old—the only familiar feeling about them being the faces she had seen passing by in the Headquarters before, lingering around the grandmaster’s office. "You two."

"Y-Yes?" The two replied almost simultaneously, which almost stirred a laugh out of her were it not for the situation at hand.

"Go back and tell the Headquarters to hurry up and send up backup. The battle has been going on for some time, and we have been understaffed from the very beginning. Just as the Outrider pointed out, they should have already been here a long time ago." The woman scoffed, obviously upset. "What’s taking them so long? Are you sure Miss Lisa is in the grandmaster’s chair right now?"

"I’m sorry, sir Reign, but I don't-"

"But what? Did you not hear me well enough? I told you to scram and do as I say! I don’t give a damn about who’s your Captain or who you take orders from; you will listen to me." The two immediately turned around and started speeding towards the Headquarters, not daring to turn around and look at her even once before they were out of sight. Reign huffed a little, shaking her head before turning around, attempting to look for the division supposedly assigned to her.

She could hear Eula from a distance, yelling orders towards the knights. She could hear the directives thrown towards the 3^rd division, the division she was supposed to welcome under her care soon enough, but before she could do that, she needed a much more important member of her newly formed team.

During her short-lasting search, she noticed one of the knights having a hard time fighting a Mitachurl, to whom she immediately jumped to assist. Cornered against a building’s wall, the knight could only watch as the white-cladded figure did not hesitate to go for the head of the beast, smashing it against the pavement in a blink of an eye. Nothing more than dust remained out of it, washed out by the cold rain.

"Sir Reign!" The young knight called out, her voice lightly trembling. "I owe you my life!"

"Many people owe me many things, come on now, I’m adding you to my tab later!" Reign cheered, pulling the young woman up from where she had slid down on the ground. "Are you alright? Any broken bones or fatal injuries? What’s your name and division?" The knight shook her head, grabbing her sword from where it fell on the ground.

"I’m in good shape, sir Reign! I’m Lizzie! Part of the 3^rd division, but I got separated in the midst of the chaos!"

"Perfect then! You’re coming with me under the orders of Renaissance Captain Eula!" Reign motioned for her to follow as she started taking long strides toward the center of the marketplace, now a battlefield. "We should meet up with the others soon if they get the orders. While we wait, help me keep these guys away from entering the city."

"I’m not sure, Sir Reign, you saw me back there." The knight said, a little weak-willed, "I don’t know how much I can be of use to you."

"Nonsense! That was just a dirty size disadvantage! I’m here to back you up if you get into any trouble. If my friend was here, she would surely agree. Talking of her, have you seen Noelle around here?" Reign asked, her pace and tone speeding up. "You know Noelle, short, slightly muscular, pink hair, big sword, heavy armor?" The knight shook her head, much to Reign’s disappointment.

Noelle was nowhere to be found, which agitated the blonde a little. Between fighting whatever creature tried to cross her path and searching for the pink-haired girl, Reign had difficulty finding her petite frame among the masses Hillichurls, Mages, and Knights currently fighting for their life and for the city.

"Noelle?" Reign called over a couple of times, to which the only one who responded was a Geo Sawachurl, sending a rocky barrier her way, to which the woman swiftly smashed through with her shield. "You’re not the Noelle I’m looking for! Piss off!"

"Sir Reign?" One knight ran up to her side, followed by a small division formed of eight knights, faces holding some degree of familiarity to the blonde woman. They are the same people who helped her hold the backside of the battle on the bridge. If she could remember a name or two, Reign was not sure, but not like it really mattered at that moment.

"Perfect timing!" Come on, we've got to close this gate somehow." Reign moved towards the Lawachurl, its gaze fixed on the rather tiny crowd gathering in front of it. The creature's look sent shivers down the knight's spine, a low growl rising from his throat as he huffed, as if eavesdropping on the dialogue. "But, before we get started, has anyone seen Noelle?"

We’re supposed to fight that?" One of them exclaimed, a young woman.

"I don’t think it covers my salary, for my entire life…"

"Mine either…"

"Oh, don't be silly, it can't possibly defeat ten of us that easily!" The woman began by pointing out a set of ginger-haired twins who were attempting to linger in the back of the group. "You two will go for the right leg while our vision bearer," Reign gestured towards the person in the group who happened to be a swordswoman. "Will approach him and try to break his balance from the other side." In the meantime, you-"

"With all due respect, Sir Reign, I think we would be better off holding back the Hillichurls."

"What?"

"Yeah… I don’t think we’re qualified enough, I’ve been a knight for only the past three months."

"I’ve been for the past two! I was never told I would have to fight on the front lines." One of the twins chimed in.

"Right! Sir Reign, we should send a request over to Captain Eula or even the Headquarters to bring down a more qualified squad of knights. We’re just pigs before the slaughter right now!"

"We don’t have time for this! You’re the only ones here right now, and if we don’t close that gate right now, the entire city will have to suffer from these maggots eating it alive." Reign argued, only for the group of knights to look away. Their unwillingness to cooperate with her shocked the woman a little, lips turning into a scowl.

"I apologize for our incompetence, sir Reign, we are just underqualified for the job. We are sorry to be below your expectations." One of them, the burly man, bowed his head in shame, followed by the rest of the knights. They did not dare meet the stare hid behind the mask, but they could feel the disappointment Reign was radiating at that moment.

"Knights of Favonius." Reign’s voice was coated with a sheet of authority and seriousness. "If you love your city and want to protect it, follow me, if not, I give you permission to turn away and go back to the Headquarters, no punishment taken." Her voice grew chilling, the usual cheery attitude being replaced by something much colder. "But I warn you, this city needs all the help it needs, and you pledged to be here in times of need... or do the knights not follow the ways of the Ordo? That is not my business, I am not part of the Knights of Favonius, but you are."

With those last words, she started walking towards the Lawachurl, shield in hand, the walking soon growing into a light jogging. Her words visibly stung the knights, who remained stiff, not sure what to do next. Join and become a possible lamb to the slaughter following the words of someone trying to be a Captain despite not even being from Mondstadt or turn around and run like a dog with its tail between its legs back to its owner, where it will eat the breadcrumbs fallen on the floor from the table of the ones who deserved to sit at it.

Lizzie was the first to follow, not thinking much before she was striding behind Reign with confident steps. The Anemo user soon followed her example, weapon soon coated in elemental energy, the wind growing slightly harsher and stronger in her proximity.

The rest of the seven knights remained unmoving, their slouched posture and weak grip on their weapons showing their hesitance, watching the two grow further and further away from their group, going after the white-clad knight. The cries of the surrounding fights rang in their ears as the strong smell of iron, mud and rain was carried over in their ears, plaguing their senses. Every clink of the sword felt like a ticking clock, counting their minutes, as if they were in a race against time and storm.

"Well then, we should make haste and-" As one of the knights turned to go walk towards the stairs leading up the city, the pair of ginger-haired twin knights started following the Anemo User. At the sight of the two teens following the vision bearer, the swordswoman and the muscly man grew courage, inspired by their fighting spirit, and followed the boys hot in their tail.

The knight which turned to walk away was flabbergasted "Does anyone ever listen to me?! You’re as stubborn as Sir Reign! Do you want to turn into a Chicken Mushroom-Skewer?! You’re insane!"

"Never tell him that to his face, Joyce, or he might turn you into one instead! See you!" The great sword-wielding woman added, speeding up her steps to match the rest of the group. Joyce, now unsure of his decisions, groaned loudly before following the group in a hurry, not wanting to be left behind and known to be the only one to turn away from such a battle. He cursed Reign under his breath.

‘Him and his motivational speeches, oh Barbatos, what have I gotten myself into?’

Reign turned around, grinning wildly at the sight of the now more cooperative knights following her. "Not so scared are you now? I knew you had it in you to follow me, it was just a test after all! A way for me to pull that knightly duty out of you all! It works every time!" She exclaimed as she dove into the swarm of Hillichurls, shield forward, parting the masses as if she were parting the sea. The group followed behind her, attempting to cover up any attack coming her.

A particularly bold Cryo Hillichurl attempted to throw its frozen staff at Reign’s head but was swiftly blocked by one of the knights, a little skinny in build but with very strong-looking arms, wielding a shield of his own. Reign threw a nod of acknowledgment with a smile, which the ginger knight reciprocated.

"Soldiers who know what to do, proceed with the formation! The rest of you, cover us up and await the following orders! Don’t let the Abyss Order touch the twins or the Anemo User!" Reign yelled over, to which the knights responded with a cry of acknowledgment. The blonde sped up before skidding to a top, gaining momentum in order to propelled herself up, shield in one hand as she punched the Lawachurl across its face, creating a crack in its bone-like face.

The creature was stunned by the force, but it nonetheless launched a counterattack, seeking to impale the woman with one of its horns. Reign grabbed one at the first opportunity and kicked it in the side, causing the stone to shatter and loosen itself from his head enough to fall off. She quickly grabbed the other, intending to do the same, before the Lawachurl began furiously shaking his head, attempting to knock her off his head.

While Reign was manhandling the Lawachurl, the twins and the Anemo User were trying their best to make a dent into the Lawachurl’s stony legs. Its toes started cracking and crumbling, together with the stone covers protecting his calves’ muscles. Despite its efforts to stand upright, it obviously started losing its balance, its legs shaking under the weight.

The cracks between his complexions started glowing a bright, warm amber color, which only raised alarms inside of Reign. "Guys, you might want to move out of the way!" She called out to the group of knights at the bottom, fighting fervently. The rest of the group was trying their best to keep the twins and Anemo away from enemy attacks while they worked on weakening the legs of the Lawachurl.

"What do you mean? It’s soon going to fall on its knees!" Joyce asked.

"You ask too many questions, just move out of the way!" Reign was exasperated.

The Lawachurl fell to its knees the following second, causing the earth to quake from the force of the drop. In a panic, the knights moved out of the way as gigantic stony spikes rose from the ground across the field, impaling the unexpecting Hillichurls in its sharp tips.  For a single second, the attack's shockwave drove the enemy and knightly forces back, mud and dirt flying everywhere across the field, turning it into a slippery mess for both sides. 

Reign managed another kick and punch to its legs before leaping from the creature and turned to face the knights who had accompanied her. The Lawachurl began to radiate a warm color, its yellow eyes becoming even brighter.

"What is that supposed to mean?" One of the twins asked in confusion, "Why is it glowing? Is it going to explode or something?" His twin smacked him across the head. "Of course not! It means it created a protection barrier!"

"It’s taking a defensive stand against us. Too bad, so sad." Reign turned to the great sword-wielding lady. "You attack the front, I will try my best to support you. This shield is a tough nut to crack, and until we do that, we can’t do any real attacks." At the orders of the white-clad knight, they proceeded to start attacking the Lawachurl. Hit after hit, the glow started dimming, and soon enough, the creature looked worse for wear, its arms trembling under the weight of the metal gate.

Reign took a few steps back, shield forward, before ramming into the beast with immense force, sending it and herself through the gate. Because there were no pillars to support it, the gate finally slammed shut, crushing anyone who was unlucky enough to be under it.

At Reign’s disappearance, the knights momentarily panicked, trying to get a good glimpse through the bars of the gate. And soon enough, they spotted her, now surrounded by the Lawachurl’s still-burning ash.

"Sir Reign!? Are you alright?" Lizzie called out worriedly, to which Reign merrily answered, "Never been better! Good job, guys! We managed to take down the beast! You guys focus on wiping out the rest of the maggots around the marketplace now, will you? I’m going to take any of the guys left out here while you are at it, no need to worry about me! We will meet later, wait for me!"

The group of knights cheerily saluted Reign, who threw a last wave their way before proceeding to take on the remaining Abyss Order creatures. The enemy forces were greatly decreased, as despite their large number, many were weak and inexperienced fighters, relying on instinct and brute force rather than strategy and precision, making them the perfect opponents for the equally inexperienced knights who were called upon duty.

"Lizzie! Joyce!" An approaching voice called from afar. The two in question turned around to be met by the sight of the familiar battle maiden approaching them. "I apologize greatly for my lateness, everyone! I got wrapped up with a couple of Abyss Mages on the way here and received the news that we would be meeting here late.” Noelle skidded to a stop next to them before looking around. "Where is Sir Reign?"

"You’re late to the party, Noelle." The Anemo user lightly laughed, patting Noelle’s shoulder comfortingly. "We already wrapped up the work with Sir Reign, and now he’s cleaning up on the outside. We have direct orders from him to take over this area." Noelle nodded, a little disappointed in herself that she did indeed arrive late.

The burly knight crossed his arms, looking around. "I can't say he left us with an easy task." And truth be told, despite the Abyss Order forces being diminished, they were still wrecking as much havoc as they could, raiding the houses of the citizens and the roads of the city.

"I am very sorry I was not here when I was in need of assistance." Noelle’s form slumped for a moment, but it did not take long before she shook her head, slapping both of her cheeks, causing the knights to wince at the sound echoing off the slap. "Nevertheless! That is in the past, let’s start the cleaning! I cannot leave any stone unturned! Please excuse me." With a final courteous bow, Noelle turned to walk away.

"Well, she got back to work quick." Lizzie trailed off, watching as the battle maiden marched off. “She really doesn’t want to waste even a second.” Noelle did not linger to listen, throwing one last glance at the knight, she took a glimpse of white armor, glistening from the rain, before a voice broke through her trains of thought, or rather, a panicked shout coming from one of the citizens coming from far away, as if the voice was carried by the wind.

Citizens that were supposed to be evacuated by now.

"Please! Somebody!" Noelle started running in the direction of the shout, only to come face-to-face with a heartbreaking sight. In front of Angel’s Share, two Mitachurls, a Cryo Abyss Mage, and a hoard of Hillichurls were holding hostage a family, a mother with her two young children, clinging to her clothes, crying silently.

Noelle recognized the mother, knowing her only from glances as she often came by the headquarters. She was the wife of one of the veteran knights, currently part of Varka’s expedition team.

The knights were trying their best to negotiate with the Abyssal Creature despite the language barrier, having a hard time trying to communicate with monstrous creature that was doing nothing more than laughing in their faces. They were afraid that if they made any rash movements, the Abyss Mage would cast one of their cursed spells upon the innocent citizens.

"What happened?!" Noelle called as she approached the group of knights. The enemy side grew tense at the arrival of another knight, a huge sword displayed across her back. The intrusion made them look restless, were it not for the knights to try and reassure them that it was not the case of a surprise attack.

"The citizens were found hiding in the basement by the Abyss Order. We suspect they might of teleported in the city in one of the poorly guarded areas of the city. Nobody from our ranks found them in their house when the evacuation order was launched, so the knights assumed they already did." One of the knights at the sight explained, shaking his head, "But they actually never heard the evacuation order and just did what they thought best in the moment of chaos.”

"What are we going to do?" One of the knights asked their current temporary squad Captain, which was none other than poor Huffman, who, racking his hand through his hair, tugged at the tresses in frustration, "We can’t do anything, and the mages are growing impatient!"

"We must not act rash, they can sense our agitation. Look." Huffman pointed at the Hillichurls, sneering at the "They’re bathing in it, totally taking joy over seeing us agitated. What vile creatures!“ The man growled, to which the Hillichurl growled back with much fervor.

"There must be something we can do." Noelle reached for the Claymore on her back, which unnerved the opposing forces. One of the knights immediately moved over to stop her, patting her armored hands gently while shaking her head at the battle maiden, her eyes pleading for Noelle to remain unmoving. "But-"

"We would risk too much. We are so close, but so far away." The swordswoman urged for Noelle to back away, turning to look with pained eyes at the family cornered up.

The Cryo Abyss mage raised his staff, the ground around the small family growing icy, and small icy spikes starting to rise from the ground around them. The knights panicked at the sight, just as the mother and the children did as well, the younglings now breaking into a wail. "What do you want? What do we have to offer you?"

The Abyss Mage yelled back, its voice hoarse and speech barely understandable. "Give us the book! Give us the book!" He cried, stomping his feet in the air. He kept repeating the same sentence over and over, waving his staff around. The sight grew concerning, with the knights glancing between the creature stuck in a frenzy, floating and hopping around in his bubble, and the family besides it, staring at the mage in horror.

At the lack of reaction and therefore silence on the knight’s part, the Abyss Mage grew angry, turning to the family to finish the business and perhaps egg the knights on doing its bidding. However, before it could cast its spells again, it was suddenly pierced through by a flying icicle and impaled into the wall of Angel’s Share. A flash of blue and white passed through the flock within a blink of an eye, and soon enough, the first shot was followed by many others, falling from the sky at a fast and spectacular speed. Soon enough, the Abyss forces that stood there before were nothing more than a pile of ash washed down by the heavy rain.

"Such slackers you guys are." A familiar voice called out from the top of the building. "Missed out on what to do in hostage situations? Someone didn’t do their homework now, did they? Oh my."

"Cavalry Captain Kaeya!" Huffman cried in happiness, most likely because he was there to replace the said Captain in leading his squad until he returned, now absolved of his duties with the return of the blue-haired man. "You don’t understand how happy I am to see you!"

"Our Captain returned!" The knights cheered in glee at the sight of Kaeya, with the little family he just saved wrapped under his arms. The kids, now absolved of their previous horror, were temporarily in awe in the presence of the famous Captain, their cries ceasing temporarily as Kaeya entertained their little minds with jokes Noelle was unable to hear.

The Captain jumped off the roof of the pub, eliciting a little scream from the children's mother. Once they were on solid ground, Kaeya let go of the woman's waist and knelt to help the two kids back to their feet. With unsteady feet, the two wasted no time in hugging the man one final time, which the dark-haired man did without hesitation. The mother smiled as she watched the scene, urging her children to return to her after the short hug was broken.

"Go and follow the evacuation team, they should be near the stairs leading up to the Headquarters." Kaeya instructed the woman before turning to the group of knights. "Louisa and Manfred, go and accompany them, ensure their safety as a top priority, and once you’re sure they depart, return to the plaza for following orders."

"Yes, Captain!" The two saluted before departing with the three. Kaeya did waste any minute and speedily turned to walk away, taking the lead of the group of knights as they followed him without another word or explanation for his prolonged absence. "Follow me, we’ve been redirected to the plaza by Miss Lisa. There’s a lot going on over there." The Captain turned his head, meeting eyes with Noelle. "Noelle, come over here for a second." Kaeya motioned with his hand for the girl, to which she responded by skipping over to walk side by side with him.

"How is the situation at the front? I know you’ve been deployed there with Eula from what Lisa told me. I did not get to catch a glimpse of it when I returned, is everything well?"

"It’s good, the gate is closed, and the 3^rd division is currently taking care of cleaning up the area at the marketplace. Captain Eula took up another squad in the meantime to help the knights lead the wounded to the Cathedral for treatment with Outrider Amber and left the 3^rd division in Sir Reign’s hands to lead."

"Sir Reign?" Kaeya raised a brow at the name. "It’s been a while since I heard that name." He huffed out.

"He recently came back to the city, Captain! I suppose he came as soon as the news of the disaster struck, but I am not sure about that." Noelle pondered for a second. "I just know he’s been in contact with Grandmaster Jean. I should ask him about it when I see him."

"Indeed, I might want to accompany you on that."

As the squad arrived at the plaza, the sight was nothing short of a disaster. The plaza served as the central hub for businesses both big and small such as stores, pubs, restaurants, alchemy, and sorcery centers to run. The tables and chairs usually placed in front of Sara’s Restaurant were nowhere to be seen, only remains of splint wood thrashed around the place remaining. The General Goods store was raided by the Hillichurls, digging into Blanches precious stocks. The Alchemy corner was surrounded by Abyss Mages attempting to steal the Alchemy table whilst both stealing and taking apart the books found there, as if they were desperately looking for something.

The surrounding building’s doors were broken through, Hillichurls pouring through the holes left in the walls and the now broken windows. A strong smell of wine paired with the smell of iron filled the air, cracked barrels now empty of the alcoholic drinks they stored were rolling down the plaza. At every corner of the battlefield, one could stop a knight trying to rest while the others were attempting to protect them from the barreling Hillichurls.

Noelle gasped at the sight, to where Kaeya shook his head before moving forward. The Captain sent a wall of ice emerging from the ground from under the surrounding Hillichurls, piercing trough the body of the creatures before the ice retracted back into the ground. The sudden attack sent the Abyss Order a panic, giving room for the knights to join the battle, taking advantage of the element of surprise they had to strike down the enemy forces as fast as possible before they could regroup.

The temperature in the air dropped significantly, causing the water on the ground to freeze into a thin layer of crimson-colored ice, que to the blood and wine mixed on the floor. The rain falling soon turned into small particles of frost, layering down on the surrounding buildings and soldiers like snow. That was the work of the Cavalry Captain, that was slicing down any enemy that happened to cross paths with him.

The soldiers that were once unsure of themselves under Huffman’s command seemed to do a complete switch-up, throwing themselves into battle at Kaeya’s command like trained guard dogs. They were all at time in position, guarding each other’s back as they plunged into the enemy forces attempting to pick themselves up.

Noelle was trying to keep up with their pace, not used in fighting together with a captain’s squad, a group of people that already knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses and knew how to make up for them together. She felt herself a little left out from the squad, not daring to mess up their coordination and instead choosing to fight alone in supporting the injured knight’s retreat.

Her inexperience in fighting in big groups started showing in the worst way possible, when she nearly severed the head of one of her fellow knights. The latter was too late to try and dodge, staring in anguish as the blade of Noelle's huge sword itched closer and closer to his neck. Thankfully before a tragedy can take place, Kaeya was quick enough on his feet to counter Noelle’s attack with his sword, saving the knight’s life.

The same man scurried away as soon as he could, not giving Noelle the opportunity to attempt to apologize to him. Kaeya watched the man walk away before turning to Noelle, who was visibly shaken about what just transpired. He was not sure of what to say to her at that moment.

"I can't leave you out of sight, can I now?" He only meant it as a joke, but Noelle’s sudden downcast look and her avoidance of meeting his eyes told the Captain everything he needed to know right away.

"I apologize Cavalry Captain Kaeya. It was an accident, and I will accept any punishment given by you over my unforgivable mistake.” Noelle quickly took the opportunity to apologize, steeling herself to meet his gaze, trying to read his current mood. To her confusion and somehow relief, Kaeya’s expression was not filled with anger, but somehow understanding.

"Well, you didn’t actually kill him, even if you almost did.” He began lightheartedly, to Noelle’s surprise. “You’ve got to be more careful when fighting with others by your side. You’re very strong, and your weapon of choosing can be both an advantage and a disadvantage to yourself and others.” He began lecturing at the most inappropriate times of all. One would guess he was the one with the more practical lectures.

"Yes, thank you, Captain! I will proceed!"

“Good, good, great to see you in good spirits. And as for your punishment I will have to talk to Acting Grandmaster Jean-“ The sound of Jean’s name cut Noelle’s breath for a second, taking a second to anticipate the worst. Jean was the last person Noelle ever wanted to disappoint, after all. “-to appoint you in taking supplementary lessons with our Renaissance Captain.”

“Huh?” Noelle was shocked by Kaeya’s proposal. Her? To take lessons with one of the Captains of the Knights of Favonius? What ideas were going around Kaeya’s mind at that moment, and where was even the slightest chance that Eula, the Captain, might be willing to do that? “Are you sure?”

“Are you doubting my orders, knight?” Kaeya asked with a cheeky tone latched to his voice. “No, not at all Cavalry Captain!” Noelle cheerily answered, fighting back a smile from growing on her face at the chance Kaeya put ahead of her. Maybe this year she has a bigger chance to pass the Knight’s exam. “Permission to return to battle, Captain?”

“Permission granted, go on now, they’re waiting for you.”

Kaeya watched as Noelle joined back into the battle with a small bounce in her steps, their conversation cut short. He was aware of the girl’s troubles with becoming a knight, often watching over her training sessions from the shadows or being one of the monitors in some of her exams, only to watch her end up on the list of those who failed despite any improvement she made.

He knew Jean was unfair with her decisions, born out of worry for Noelle. With a little more guidance, she would make an exemplary knight.

He would know, as he was asked by the very same Grandmaster to watch over Noelle, which led to another set of questions for him the moment Reign was mentioned into the conversation.

He was aware they interacted a few times in the past, where Reign would try and help Noelle train at any moves or strategies she was struggling with. However, the white-clad knight’s sudden appearance in the city was unknown to him at that very moment, which drew him to grow more suspicious of the individual’s intention.

They never really interacted in the past, as Kaeya never caught Reign’s gaze before, always losing himself in the crowd the moment the latter would try and look around. Even if he was noticed without him knowing, Reign also never tried to look out for him twice.

This would need to be investigated at a later time.

The atmosphere gradually began to clear as the Abyss Forces began to withdraw from the battle, their attack having been effectively repelled by the Knights of Favonius. The once-stormy weather, heavy rain, howling winds, and sky filled with dancing bolts of lightning were now at rest, clouds parting to expose the magnificent blue sky and sun that the citizens of the City of Moon must have sorely missed.

The aster was warming the soil with its soft beams and bathing the tired fighters in its peaceful light bath. The Knights began to cheer as they saw the foe fleeing with its tail between its legs, now far fewer in number than when they arrived, which was a beautiful sight for the Knights of Favonius.

Reign was watching the celebrations from atop the Mondstadt wall, having gone up the structure shortly after defeating the Lawachurl to assist the archers in fighting the Hillichurls who had managed to climb atop it. The blonde found the task to be simple, as all it required was a shove for them to fall off the walls and roll down into the lake. Their numbers were overpowering, and they appeared in larger and larger groupings like annoying parasites.

They ultimately came to a halt, and as if a signal was transmitted throughout the army, they abruptly turned around and began fleeing east and over the hills as soon as the sun emerged from the clouds again.

Reign, and the archers she was currently with, were confused by the sudden unusual behavior the Abyss Order was showing, only for their unspoken questions to be answered when a sudden gust of wind blew. A large shadow was cast over the City of the Moon, overtaking it almost entirely. The sudden appearance urged the knights to look up at the sky, only to be met with the view of a giant mighty dragon flying over them.

"It's Stormterror!" One of them called in a panic, turning to the other knights who were matching his panic. "We must alert the others and retreat off the walls or else we’re going to die!”

"We’re going to get blasted off the wall again!" One of them gulped, already rushing to the exit, only for Reign to grab onto his collar before he could make it further away. "Sir Reign, what are you doing?! We must signal a retreat before the storm comes again. We’ve barely defended against the Abyss Order, we can’t risk another attack!”

"I don’t see any storm, in fact, the sky is crystal clear." Reign teased with a small smirk, pointing at the sky for a second before dragging the man under her arm, trapping the man in a playful headlock. "And in case you did not notice, the flying lizard is not even approaching the city. It’s actually flying away from it." And true to her words, said dragon flew past the city and into the horizon, leaving only a light, warm rain in its passing, which felt gentle against the wounds of the people of Mondstadt, as if it was healing them.

Reign finally let the helmet she was wearing throughout the battle fade away together with her shield before she ran a hand through her finally free golden locks. Her nonchalance amazed some of the archers, while others were visibly annoyed by it.

"How are you so sure, Sir Reign? How can we know we can trust your word?" One of the archers asked, looking in suspicion at the woman. He ended up living the same fate as the other knight, now trapped in a playful headlock by Reign. "The wind told me, you know, the one that almost blew you off the wall like five minutes ago before I heroically saved you? Where was my thank you back there? Hm?”

Reign's newfound playfulness and excitement put the knights at ease, nudging them to join her in their short, unofficial celebration. The woman let go of the two knights, turning away from the jolly knights she was to look down the city again, her gaze wandering from the marketplace next to the gate, around the alleyways with enough visibility, and ultimately to the plaza.

From up there, Reign spotted a group of celebrating knights. Noelle was standing a little more to the side of them, accompanied by a woman. Both were waving toward a familiar fast-retreating figure. At the sight of the individual, something clicked inside of Reign’s mind. The reason she even remained in the city and did not join her nephew and the others in fighting Dvalin was currently almost out of view, sliding inside of alleyways and away from sight before she could even blink twice. Not wanting to waste any chances and without any warning to the knights she was with, she jumped off the wall.

The knights' jaws dropped wide in horror, and they dashed towards the edge of the wall, shrieking in terror. “Sir Reign!”

“Oh my god, he’s dead!”

They peered down, expecting to see the blonde's body, but instead saw a large crater that had been left behind. Reign was running away from the wall, towards the steps that led up Mondstadt.

The knights part of the 3^rd division were currently waiting for the latter to make her appearance just as she had ordered. They were lodging in the middle of the stairs next to Cat’s Tail, the cats usually hanging out around the establishment coming out now that the danger was gone, for pets and cuddles from the resting knights. Lizzie, who was currently playing with one of the cats, caught sight of Reign’s incoming figure, and started wildly waving while calling out for her.

"Look, it’s Sir Reign!" Lizzie exclaimed at the sight of the approaching figure, which caught the attention of the other knights. They saluted the woman rushing in their direction, not questioning why she looked in such a hurry.

"Sir Reign! I am so glad you’re alright!" The Anemo user called, "We were very worried when you remained trapped out!"

"I can't expect any less from Sir Reign!"

"I saw you fighting up there as well, you looked so cool!" One of the twins pointed it out, his eyes practically shining in the light.

"You guys were great as well!" Reign momentarily slowed down for a little, giving the people closest to her, which happened to be Joyce and the burly man, whom she learned the name of was Matthew, a strong pat on the back for a job well done. Joyce immediately fell to his knees, coughing, while Matthew remained unmoving but started breathing heavily. "I saw you from the wall, nice moves, I knew you guys could do it! You’re very strong, and I’m proud of you." She threw them a proud grin, to which they couldn’t help but reciprocate.

“Well then,” Reign began, already going to go up the rest of the stairs, restlessness in her voice “I really have to go right now, there is still some work to be done and it can’t wait for now. I would love to chat some more with you, maybe we can meet tomorrow night at Angel’s Share or something to talk some more-“

"Wait, where are you going, sir?" The other twin asked, confused at the sense of urgency Reign was displaying at that moment, he swiftly got up from his sit on the stairs, his twin following the the lead "Is there any emergency?"

"Do you need our help?" The great sword-wielding woman asked, already reaching for her weapon, but was immediately shut down by Reign’s repeated reassurance. "No, no! There’s no emergency, everything is as fine as the weather! I’m just in a hurry to check in with Captain Eula before she has my head because I didn’t report to her in time. We’ve been separated for a long time, you know! Anyway, great work! I hope we will get to fight together again soon enough. With that, she turned around, speeding up the stairs, giving them no time for another word besides a passing goodbye.

"Bye, Sir Reign!"

"Good luck, Sir Reign!"

"You know…" The Anemo user began, looking at Reign’s retreating figure.

"Yes, Melody, what is it?" Matthew asked, sitting down beside her as he was trying to catch his breath now that the white-clad knight was gone.

"Sir Reign kind of reminds me of a character from a book I read in my teens." She began, hearing Lizzie gasp at her comparison. "Me too! I thought I was the only one who noticed! The one with the forbidden romance between the Twilight Knight and the famous Executioner, right?"

"Yes! You read it too!?"

"Of course, I did! I got the Mondstadt, Liyue, and Sumeru editions of it as well! I used to be a very big fan of the book, and I still think about it occasionally." Lizzie sported a dreamy expression on her face while thinking about the book.

"No way! I got the Mondstadt and Shneznaya editions as gifts from my boyfriend, but I heard the Sumeru one is so good! I want to get it so bad, but I’m waiting for the exclusive edition to be available again because I just love the pictograms done by Calx, no matter the book!" Melody ranted over to Lizzy, who drank up her every word. The others looked at them a little amused but did not dare to interrupt the interaction between two very heated fans.

"Yes, the Sumeru exclusive version is so beautiful, but I did not have enough to get it when it first came out." Lizzie shed a little tear at the memory. "But don’t you think Sir Reign looks and acts so much like Reginlief? Even their names almost match!" Melody looked back, looking to see if Reign was still in earshot, which thankfully she was not, before turning back to Lizzie. "Yes, absolutely, I noticed it as well! Oh dear, I used to be so jealous of the Twilight Knight when I was younger!"

"Me too! He was just so dreamy in everything he did!"

A little farther away from them, at the top of the stairs, stood Amber and Eula, overhearing the girls fanning over the fictional characters. Amber was listening in their conversation, occasionally giggling as Eula was scanning around the territory, checking if there was any stray Abyss Mage or Hillichurl lingering around trying to conjure a surprise attack.

Eula returned to see how Reign handled things, just as she promised. The Captain was reluctant to admit it, but the white-clad knight performed admirably under an oath based solely on trust acquired in the heat of battle. She had reservations about Reign's ability to work with the knights, knowing how difficult they might be in times of hardship. She had expected the blonde to lash out at them at some point and abandon the division to fight by herself, but that was far from the case.

Instead, the members of the division she was so worried about were sticking around, talking like teenagers in a break between training, with no business in the world while comparing the same person she was dubious about to a fictional character she had only heard about once in her life. And that was when she was forced to study the book they were talking about by her tutor.

Eula was still unable to completely trust Reign, but the aftermath of this battle was a step in the right direction.

"Where do you think Sir Reign was rushing to, Eula?" Amber turned to Eula. They were hanging around next to Sara’s restaurant, trying to salvage whatever remained from terrace outside. “He looked in a real hurry, do you think something happened that we don’t know about?”

That much was true. Just as they arrived at the plaza, they spotted the latter rushing up the stairs, throwing them a quick greeting, telling Eula a couple of words about what a fine job she did while she was gone, before hurrying away in an alleyway next to the Alchemy corner before the Captain could ask more questions. The blue-haired did not bother to stop her, in contrast to the Outrider, who tried to tell the white-clad knight to wait, but to no avail, as her call went unheard.

"Hard to tell. But that’s none of our business." Eula passively said, making a mental note to investigate Reign’s activity inside Mondsadt more from that day forward.

"Do you think he’s going to see someone in secret?" Amber gushed a little.

"Since when are you so nosy, Amber?"

"Don’t tell me you’re not the slightest bit curious, Eula."

Eula scoffed at the question, turning to walk away.

"It was only a joke, Eula! I swear!"