The Final Chapter

Critical Hit

Chapter 4

Ei looked over the battlefield. Rain washing the blood of fallen soldiers off the field. So many had given their lives already and she wasn't able to help them. To save them. Even though she was and incredibly powerful archon, she was unable to save her people. In a moment of exhaustion she lost the grip of her spear. "You are not considering to give up already are you?" Morax' voice came from behind her. He picked her spear up and handed it back to her. "Look at this. My people are being slaughtered and I can't help them... I'm not as strong at her" She was right. The inazuman people are dying left and right and neither he nor her could even land one critical hit. But she was also wrong. He knew, how strong and fierce of a warrior she could be. She defeated Orobashi after all. "No you are not her. No one living being can even come close to her. But you were always the warrior. Don't give up now. Everyone who's still alive needs you now" She looked at him. His soft smile brought her courage back. And as always he was right. His wisdom sometimes more felt like she was talking to Buer than to Rex Lapis. Her look wandered again over the battlefield but this time not looking for damages but for a target. A group of huge automatons were terrorizing her soldiers and those needed to go first. She pointed at them. And Morax eyes wandered towards her chosen target.
"I need you to immobilize those robots. I think my 'Mouso no Hitotachi' can land a strike if we time it right" Her eyes glimmed again with fierceness. He nodded. "Count on me" She gave him one last glance before she sprinted towards the group of robots. He stayed close behind. Small troups of hilichurls rushed towards them. Electro strikes defeated the ones on the left while he struck the right ones with spikes out of the ground. As they came up close, he stayed behind to trap the enemy with huge rock pillars around them. With his remaining strenght, he shielded Ei as she leaped into the air. But the robots would not let themselves be trapped this easily. They smashed the pillars down hitting the electro archon mid-air and throwing her on the ground. Morax' shield prevented her from breaking anything but his strength was fading. He wasn't as strong as he was in his peak time during the archon wars. Maybe he had overestimated his remaining strength.
He ran towards Ei who pulled herself up again coughing from inhaling dust and dirt.  "Troup A check on the Shougun! The rest try to surround them!", the troup leader said and a few soldiers began coming towards them. "Allmighty Shougun are you allright?", one of them asked, but the Shougun just nodded. "I'm fine. Did anyone get wounded?" The soldier shook his head. "Please excuse me... I might have overestimated my remaining strength. It takes a larger toll on me than I thought", the geo archon said trying to be as ambigious as possible. No one should know about him being an archon. It would make things more complicated. Ei smiled gently then turned her head back to the robots. Her mind planned again and his did too. Cryo would be very helpful here in the rain. He thought of that lady Cloud Retainer took care of. Her power would be strong enough to freeze their enemies but Liyues fleet was nowhere to be seen.
"Do some of your comrades posses a dendro vision?", Ei asked. The soldier paused for a bit. Getting asked for a vision by the archon was a horrible thing not long ago. The wound it left was only beginning to heal. Some of them nodded after a moment. "Maybe tendrils can hold them back for a moment, just a moment so I can land a hit. Tell them to use their vision to hold them in place. Zhongli?", She looked at Morax intentionally calling him by his new name, "Do you think you can trap them again with those pillars?" He nodded. She gave the sign to the soldiers to start the plan and they followed her command instantly. The geo archon created those pillars yet again and the soldiers created tendrils to tie the machines in place. Once again the Raiden Shougun leaped in the air. She pulled out her 'Mouso no Hitotachi' and plunged down in an incredibly powerful Electro attack, defeating all present automatons at once. This finally marked a critical hit for the enemy losing most of their most powerful weapons. The soldiers cheered as the robots fell and the Shougun praised them for their work. Zhongli coughed from exhaustion. He defintively overestimated his power. It took all his power to fight this war and protect his people. But the sight of Ei and her people cheering for her overjoyed him. She was in so much pain before, doubting her abilities to lead her nation, but there she stood. Praised by the people she feared hated her. He couldn't help but look in the sky imagining her sister looking down from there. Makoto would have been so proud.
But this moment of joy was short-lived, since in the distance a new wave of enemies came closer. Ei stood now beside him, her sword still in hand. "Get rest, old friend. This wave can be defeated without you" Her other hand touched his shoulder. But the archon shook his head: "I'm fine" She sighed. He would never admit it but he was exhausted and could use some rest. Hopefully the Liyue fleet would arrive soon. Her forces were deminished and the waves of enemies seemed to come endlessly. With one last look at him, both archons ran towards the horde of hilichurs arriving at the scene. A row of  geo spikes held them back while Ei struck them with lightning to extinguish their enemies. They were a perfect ensemble. Him holding them in place and she striking them down. A play from geo and electro completing each other. Ei couldn't help but think of her past. All the fights she fought against or alongside the archons. But that perfect symbiosis did not hold up for long as the spikes started to get weaker and a Mitachurl broke through. With his shield he knocked down the geo archon. Only moments away from ending him Ei struck him down, but now they were surrounded. Three massive Lawachurls made their way towards the two and the situation seemed dark. She could not take on even one of them without leaving Morax to get attacked by other enemies. None of the soldiers here right now were able to get through to them.
But then horns blew in the distance. Liyues fleet finally arrived. Just in few moments they would get help.

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Merry Christmas to you all :3