When I first arrived in this alternate Teyvat, I questioned where all the snow and ice that covered Mondstadt had gone. Sure, Lord Barbatos had likely done something about it, but it was incredible to see such a wasteland turn into the prosperous grassy hills I'd seen. An Archon capable of completely changing a region's landscape so drastically had to be powerful, right?
I had no idea as to how strong Barbatos was, but I now see where all that snow and ice went. It'd less 'disappeared' so much as it was relocated to the mountain now called Dragonspine.
Hrmm. Rostam had called his Lord free-spirited, but I couldn't help but feel like that was just another way of saying that Barbatos was lazy.
After I left the city of Mondstadt, it didn't take me long before I reached the snowy peaks of Dragonspine. The winds immediately chilled as the snowstorm raged around me, but I used my own Anemo to keep me warm. Not that I really needed to—my Body was tough enough that I could survive the chill without any protection if I needed to.
What was annoying however was the lack of visibility. All the snow had turned everything white, and even with [Hawk Eyes], it was hard to spot if anything was off. Rostam had mentioned that the previous expedition team had discovered this wolf-like monster somewhat close to the mountain's peaks, but I wasn't seeing anything.
Using my other senses didn't help either. Normally I would've pinpointed the Abyssal influence from far away, but the entire world was covered in Abyssal energies right now, so it was near-impossible to feel it out.
…Well,
I guess it's demolition time.
Thankfully, there was no one in the mountains. Or if there was, they had likely passed from either the cold or the wolf-like monster that apparently prowled these snowy peaks.
My bow formed in a swirl of green winds, and I notched a modified sword-arrow onto the bowstrings. I aimed it at some random spot close to the mountain's peak, and fired.
Boom!
A powerful explosion ripped into the mountain, sending chunks of dirt and snow into the air. I watched as the explosion was soon snuffed out by the ever-falling snow, before an avalanche began falling down the mountain's side. I waited for some reaction from the threat Rostam had tasked her to deal with.
Nothing appeared.
I flew slightly to the left to get a different angle, notched another sword-arrow onto my bow, and fired it at the mountain. Another explosion blasted into the mountain's side, sending more dirt and snow out into the air. Another avalanche formed, merging into the previous avalanche I'd created.
Nothing appeared.
I flew to another angel. Notched another sword-arrow. Fired it at the mountain. Watched as the explosion flung dirt and snow into the air. Waited as the snowstorm howled around me.
Still nothing.
I flew again. Another arrow. Another explosion. More dirt and snow.
I flew again. More arrows. More explosions. Dirt and snow tumbled down the mountain's side. By this point, hardly any part of the mountain's base could be seen, with how the falling debris had completely covered the mountain's base.
And yet nothing appeared.
I pursed my lips. I'd flown all around the mountain now, and none of my sword-arrows had drawn out the beast that had decimated the expedition group. And sure, my arrows had only created fairly minor dents into the mountain, but that was by design. I didn't want to completely decimate Dragonspine!
But,
I smiled wryly. "Guizhong is going to laugh at me." I whispered, silently vowing to keep this experience to myself.
Another sword-arrow appeared in my hand, but this one was different. It was larger than the sword-arrows I often used, its form twisted into a spiralling, jagged edge. Its form was rough, but the sword-arrow far more resembled a drill than an arrow.
[Heaven-Piercing Jade Drill 4★
A mystical sword forged from the hands of the User. Molded from elemental winds, the whispers of an incoming storm emanate from its core. The world seems to twist around it, as if terrified of its power.
Increases Sword damage by 75%. Further increases Damage by 100% when fired as an Arrow. Increases Elemental by 50% when held.]
It was something Lumine suggested to me when she saw me firing my sword-arrows. Most of her terminologies were lost on me, but when she mentioned that she was inspired by some 'Counter Guardian in red' she had encountered in her past, a vivid memory had appeared in my mind, and creating this new drill-arrow became incredibly easy.
I notched it onto my bowstrings, and pulled. An electrifying feeling coursed through my fingers then, as if at that moment I was connecting to something beyond even the confines of reality. Somehow, I understood that I was connecting to someone else that walked the same Path as I did. Someone similarly blessed by The Hunt.
Time slowed. Winds surged around me. And a loud explosion echoed as the drill flew from my bow and slammed into Dragonspine. But unlike my previous sword-arrows, the mountain could barely offer any resistance as the drill-arrow bore through the mountain. Snow, dirt, and stone were ground down to dust, and for a moment the snowstorm was blown to silence.
Then, a guttural roar followed.
And a giant wolf-like monster burst from within the mountain's core. It was massive, easily as large as Morax in his draconic form. Its body was composed entirely of energy; a swirling mass of eerie gold and ominous purple. Its head was indeed like a wolf, but the other half of its body was shaped almost like a wisp. Or perhaps a snake's tail.
But it wasn't hard to see that this beast was an Abyssal monster that'd plagued these lands. Perhaps it was the exact one that caused all the corruption that now spread across Mondstadt.
[New Submission detected!]
[Submission: Slay the Golden Wolflord that originated from the Abyss]
Golden Wolflord, huh? A fitting name, I guess. But 'lord', was it? That implied that this wolf-like monster was a leader amongst its kind. Which meant it was likely more powerful than the standard monsters I've fought against in the Abyssal Trials I occasionally undertook.
No time to wait then.
Another drill-arrow appeared on my bowstrings, with several more floating just behind me, ready to be used at any moment. The wolflord, still disorientated from being woken up so abruptly by what felt like a giant earthquake, looked up just in time to see one of my drill-swords flying towards its head.
Its eyes bulged. Danger! The thing approaching him was not one it could take without getting harmed. And so in a panic it roared with enough force to create a shockwave, blowing away the snowstorm that blanketed the entirety of Dragonspine. The drill-arrow wobbled as it met the shockwave, causing it to divert slightly from its target. But not enough.
The wolflord howled in agony as the drill-sword pierced into its back instead of its head. Even then, the drill-arrow burrowed deep into its abyssal body, tearing the energy that made it and outright purifying some of it.
It growled. It understood. The being that floated high in the air was just like them. Beings that could fight the Abyss itself—walkers whose existence was so different that the abyss couldn't even attempt to touch them.
I, meanwhile, stared in shock as I looked up. The snowstorm surrounding me, the heavy clouds that hung above Dragonspine—it'd all been blown away by that single roar. And sure I could've done the same with my winds, but that was after all the enhancements my Genshin System gave me. But that wolflord had changed the weather and diverted my powerful drill-arrow, all with a single roar.
At that moment, both of us thought the same.
I can't let this thing live.
I began firing the drill-arrows at rapid fire. More than that, I filled the world around me with Anemo, using it to course-correct my drill-arrows if they happened to ever be disrupted by something. The wolflord retaliated just as fiercely, sending out corrosive laser beams and creating massive golden tornadoes to protect itself.
A minute went by, and already most of Dragonspine was ruined. The wolflord's abyssal corruption broke everything around it down to elementary particles, rendering them null. My drill-arrows meanwhile exploded in a brilliant spark of cosmic Imaginary energy, tearing through the material world with ease.
From the outside, it looked like we were both stuck in a stalemate. My drill-swords were either deflected too far or blocked by the golden tornado surrounding the beast; the wolflord's laser beams too slow to catch up to my flight speed.
From the outside, that was.
My [Starlight Skybow] was a gift from the Aeon Lan himself, and through it I could burn my enemies with [Starburn]. My arrows might not be getting through, but the debuff sure was. And though my visibility was greatly hampered by that golden tornado, I could feel the [Starburn] eating through the wolflord's body.
And what was the Abyss when compared to a universal entity capable of purging entire galaxies?
So I waited. Waited for the moment of desperation that would come. I knew that the wolflord understood its incoming demise just as much as I did, and it would no doubt make one last attempt at my life. Perhaps some special final attack, or maybe an ultra-powerful laser beam that could cleave the skies.
My answer came in the form of a massive sphere of swirling gold and black, sent hurtling my way like a giant boulder. My eyes widened slightly as I felt the sphere tear through all the Anemo I'd filled the air with, as if my Elemental Energy was nothing compared to it.
Unfortunately, my power was no longer just Elemental.
I created one last drill-sword, notched it onto my bow, and overloaded both my weapons with as much Cosmic wind as I could. My bow creaked and shone as prismatic cracks began spreading across it, and parts of my drill-arrow began breaking off as its structural integrity failed to contain the immense amounts of energy.
I aimed it at the sphere's center, and fired.
The moment I did, both I and the sphere was blown away. The recoil from that attack was too powerful even for me, and it sent my arm flying back. I winced slightly as pulled it back, quickly using [Sunlight Healing] to mend the shattered wrist I now had.
But the sphere suffered worse. It held on for a second before the empowered drill-arrow punctured right through it, causing it to explode into millions of sparks. It continued forward, and the injured wolflord could only gape as the drill-arrow slammed down into it. The moment it did, the drill-arrow finally broke, and all the energy exploded outwards.
At that moment, people from all across Mondstadt and Liyue would look to Dragonspine and see a giant expanding ball of plasma, as if a second sun had temporarily risen.
The explosion lasted for several more seconds before it imploded, rising into the sky as a giant mushroom cloud.
And when all the dust finally settled, Dragonspine looked nothing like how it was from when I first arrived. The snowstorm that plagued the area was gone, and only minor specks of snow and ice could be seen scattered around the mountain's base. And for that matter, Dragonspine was no longer a mountain—its peak having been completely blown off, turning Dragonspine into a plateau.
[The Adventure's Submission has been completed!]
A smile graced my lips as I heard the System's words. I'd done it! The Golden Wolflord was dead, and Mondstadt was finally free-, wait.
I recalled what the System said. Waited for a few more seconds for more notifications to appear.
None did.
…
Why wasn't the main Mission still incomplete?