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“The Matra’s forces are outnumbered. Cyno is reported MIA. Are you sure you don’t want me out there, Buer?”
“Yes, I’m sure. Stay here, Wanderer.”
The tiny god’s hands flew over various displays in the Sanctuary of Surasthana as Wanderer looked on with growing concern. No matter how hard Nahida or any of her new management tried, Sumeru just couldn’t escape turmoil. Eremite conflicts in the desert had escalated and expanded to include the rainforest, and by extension, Sumeru City. As always, they were after Lesser Lord Kusanali, all in the name of the Scarlet King. Wanderer was tired of their endless pursuit over the dead god. He’s seen the Irminsul records, not to mention Apep’s personal recount of events thanks to Buer’s infatuation with telling stories. King Deshret’s return would take millennia to happen, if at all.
Nevertheless, the Eremite purists came out in full force to try and apprehend the Dendro Archon. And they were succeeding.
A few of Nahida’s gentle green displays started to flash an angry, alarming red, which soon began to spread like an infection to the rest of the screens. The entire Sanctuary pulsed in scarlet fury. If Wanderer believed in omens, this was as good a warning as anything. Fortunately for him, he didn’t.
“This is getting out of hand…” Nahida muttered to herself.
“You think?” Wanderer sighed, stepping closer to the god. Upon closer inspection, Nahida’s displays were live video footage of all of the Vision holders in Sumeru, provided by the local Ley Lines. The mercenary known as Dehya was severely outnumbered, though she didn’t look phased. She fought with impressive skill, and seemed to be having a conversation with her attackers as she beat them to a pulp.
Collei’s screen and Tighnari’s screen were two different perspectives of the same battle, both Allogenes keeping the Eremite forces away from the Bimarstan. They were managing well for the time being, but Wanderer had a feeling that might change.
Nilou’s screen showed her dancing in the middle of the Grand Bazaar, which Wanderer found extraordinarily rude. Only when he realized that the flashes of Hydro unleashed by her steps were striking her enemies did he slide his eyes elsewhere with a huff. The Scribe Alhaitham and the architect Kaveh were sprinting up the pathways of the city, dispatching Eremites as they ran. Wanderer realized they were running up to the Sanctuary, which he approved of. The more forces centered around protecting Buer, the better. That’s the real reason Wanderer wanted to be sent out into the field, so he could order the Allogenes to focus on defending the Sanctuary.
The rest of the screens showed nothing but static. That included Cyno, and as much as he didn’t like to admit it, caused unease to worm its way into his hollow bones. Cyno was unnaturally powerful and Buer cared for him dearly. If Cyno had managed to get taken down… Things were only going to get worse.
Another red screen popped up right beside Buer’s left hand, bold, ugly letters that read “BREACH”. Nahida swiftly dismissed it.
“Breach?” Wanderer read, meeting the god’s eyes. “What’s being breached?”
The doors answered his question. At the other end of the arched walkway, the large main doors to the Sanctuary slammed open with such force it caused the room to rattle and some of the glass panels of the doors to dislodge and shatter. Nahida winced.
“The front doors…” she replied uneasily. Wanderer moved to put himself between his god and her attackers.
Eremites swarmed into the Sanctuary, a thousand feisty fire ants flooding the room. Manic battle cries bounced off the walls. It was a dissonant symphony of malice and inherited anger, misdirected and unrequited. Their numbers were thoroughly overwhelming, Wanderer wondered if he could take them all on himself. Probably not. Even a failed god like himself knew when the odds were against him.
Wanderer glanced at the display screen that still showed the Scribe’s sprint to the Sanctuary. If he could hold out until he and his architect friend arrived, they’d probably have more of a fighting chance. His old Fatui pride boiled beneath the surface, absolutely repulsed at the audacity of such an idea. Wanderer shoved it down. He’d made a promise to Nahida, and most Harbingers kept their promises. Most.
“Stay behind me,” he ordered.
“Even you can’t win against these numbers, Wanderer. Let me help.”
“I didn’t say you couldn’t help,” Wanderer snapped, meeting the mischief in Buer’s eyes, “Just stay behind me.”
Nahida nodded and took a step back. She held out her hands like she was observing the hoard through the lens of a Kamera, muttering to herself. “This might hurt a little…” Four-pointed leaves bloomed on the chests of their attackers, sending pulses of Dendro through their bodies in tune with their own heartbeats. Their gusto ended up being detrimental, as fast heartbeats only caused more frequent Dendro attacks.
Wanderer planted his feet and sent slices of Anemo into the crowd. Unfortunately, Dendro and Anemo didn’t react with each other, but both he and Buer dealt serious damage. The Eremite’s numbers were dwindling. Slowly, he might add, but dwindling nonetheless.
Time passed without Wanderer’s acknowledgment. Each time he felled a wave of Eremites, more came to take their place. Then more. And more. Any normal mortal would’ve collapsed from exhaustion long ago. Hell, any normal Allogene would’ve collapsed from exhaustion by now. But Wanderer kept fighting, Buer kept supporting him. He realized belatedly that she must be manipulating his mind, allowing him to consistently push past the mental exhaustion with little difficulty. Even beneath all of that, Wanderer had to wonder…
What’s taking that Scribe and his architect so long? Surely it didn’t take uncountable waves of Eremites to reach the Sanctuary of Surasthana, even if they’d run into trouble along the way.
Wanderer snapped his attention back to the battle as an Eremite polearm stabbed dangerously close to where Nahida was standing. She’d stopped marking the Eremites with her Dendro sigil, pouring all of her remaining energy into keeping Wanderer on his feet. Even so, the puppet was beginning to tire. He didn’t know how long he could keep the swarm away from Nahida.
The little god kept glancing at her displays, inching closer to Wanderer whenever another screen turned to static. He sent off a particularly forceful blast of Anemo power and swiveled his head to look at the displays as well. Only Tighnari’s and Collei’s screens still showed video. In just the split second that Wanderer was watching the footage, Tighnari’s display blinked out. Nahida flinched. Wanderer felt his strength slipping.
He turned to his god, ready to ask for a strategic retreat, and found her shivering on the ground. Nahida was curled up in a tight ball, hugging her knees and…shit. Was she crying? Wanderer didn’t know how to deal with that. Though, admittedly, her sudden loss of strength confused Wanderer. She had much greater power compared to himself. Why was she crying on the floor, and he was still standing?
Wanderer cursed. Of course, an Archon’s power comes from the reverence and belief from their people. Allogenes contributed a lot in this regard. If Collei was the only Vision holder besides himself still on their feet in all of Sumeru…
Still. Buer was the guardian of Irminsul. She could put up a better fight than this.
Wanderer sent another blast of Anemo into the crowd, but the Eremites had stopped their attack. They started at the crying god just as he did, not even talking amongst themselves. Wanderer knelt at her side.
“Buer. Do I have your permission to retreat?” Wanderer asked as calmly as he could, but it came out hoarse and defeated.
“They got into Irminsul… How is that even possible…” she sobbed.
“They…what?”
Buer looked up at Wanderer, tears still steadily flowing. “It has to be the old sages. I can’t even bring myself to be mad at them for it…”
Wanderer decided that the old sages messing with Irminsul was outrageous, but not impossible. Their tampering must be effecting Buer as well. Now that he could get a good look at the Dendro Archon, he realized that the Eremites had managed to land a hit on her. Buer’s green Ichor shone through the cut that snaked up her arm, all the way to her shoulder. It wasn’t serious, definitely not for a god. Wanderer stared at the wound. His carelessness…His distraction… He let this happen.
“Focus on what you need to do, Buer,” he growled, power thrumming through his porcelain limbs. He rose to his full height and took two steps toward the remaining Eremites. The wind responded to his summoning, pushing Nahida back and surrounding Wanderer in his own personal hurricane.
“I hope you’re proud of yourselves,” he told the Eremites, slipping easily into his old Fatui superiority, “Because you’re going to regret this.”