The Final Chapter

Protection At All Costs

Chapter 12

The smoke of battle began to clear as rain fell down again. The second day was going rough as all of the troups needed to rest. Zhongli coughed from the dust of the earth while Ei stroke down another little monster. "You need to rest Morax. Your strength seems to be fading again. You are still recovering so don't overwork your- Watch out!" A little horde of enemies attacked out of nowhere using their little moment of unawareness as an advantage. But as soon as Ei and Zhongli saw them, they were already dead. A young Adeptus took them out just before any of them could react. "She is right. You need to rest, Rex Lapis. Mondstadts fleet will be here soon" Both of them gleemed meaningful at each other. The Conquerer of Demons knew that the Geo archon wouldn't be convinced with a few words. When he heard from the attack on Inazuma, he was struck by fear when the opponent was mentioned. This war was nothing ordinary. Something powerful started it and Rex Lapis wants to defeat it at all costs.
"Shougun! The fleet! They're getting attacked again!", someone cried out and pointed towards the coast line. Ei turned towards it, ready to head in, but then a large bomb hit the ground, splitting open and releasing smoke to settle over the battlefield. Enemies yelling from afar. The Electro archon looked at Zhongli as he said: "I'll take care of it, those are my people..." "I am coming with you!", Xiao said. It was more of a statement than a proposal. Zhongli knew that trying to change his mind was a lost cause, so he just nodded and got on his way. But the Yaksha was faster than him. "It's a giant sea robot. Bigger than anything before. What do we do?", the Adeptus looked over the cliff at the sea. It took the archon a moment to catch his breath. "I will take it down", he answered. "No... No! I can't believe you want do this, when you are usually the voice of reason! There will no strength be left with you after that. The protection barrier around Liyue Harbour needed to much of your energy!" The eyes of the Yaksha burned with fury as he looked his mentor in the eyes. "What could be so threatening that you are this drastic?!" "You know what would be Xiao...", he sighed and looked at machine in the sea, "I need your help. And you have to promise me something" "I will do anything."
"I want you to live" The Yaksha was speechless. No that was not the end. It couldn't be. The ground began to get soft, letting Xiao sink in, so that his feet were stuck in the ground. Of course Zhongli knew what the Adeptus was thinking and he also knew how to stop him. This fight should be his. His alone. "No... No!", the Yaksha screamed. But Rex Lapis just smiled as he leaped in the air and send down a giant rock from the sky. It seemed to harm it but not kill it. Xiao wanted to follow him but he couldn't. Just falling over from moving too much. He began to dig himself out. The Geo archon delivered another two harming attacks, before the sea robot made him out in the sky and punched him across the sea. The Adeptus finally managed to free himself and rushed towards his mentor. He catched him mid air and bringing him on land.
Gently put Xiao the archon down then stared at the enemy in the sea. He was about to head into the fight when he saw a bunch of projectiles raining from the sky. The fleet used the opportunity to reform and prepare the last blow. Zhongli coughed and the Adeptus sat back down to him. "Why didn't you let me help?", he asked. "Because I wanted you to live...", the old man replied smiling. The Yaksha smiled back, as the eyes of the archon closed. Completly in disbelief he stared at him, before laying his head on his chest. Nothing. He heard nothing. Quickly he lifted his head. Grunting, almost roaring he stared back at the sea, where new enemy ships arrived, with new machines. In a fit of rage Xiao made his way towards them and taking them out. Not just killing the enemies, but leaving the ships as wrecks. They fired canon balls at him, crashing their own boats, even setting them on fire with their own attacks. However this fight also took it's toll on the Yaksha. He got scratches from the enemies and one canon ball actually managed to hit him, but nothing seemed to stop him. After everything was destroyed he stood on part of a wreck looking at his work. It was like flipped switch, when he fell on his knees under the exhaustion and falling to the side after that. He was panting and looking at the fire on the water while his vision got blurred. A tear left his eye before he got unconscious.
As the smoke on the battlefield cleared and rain stopped, Ei looked at the sea spotting the burning wrecks. An uneasy feeling creeped into her. She turned towards a small troup: "Send a boat to those wrecks and look for surviving fighters" They agreed and got on their way. She turned around and began to make her way towards the resting tents. The field was still littered the bodies of the fallen soldiers but also the fallen enemies. Some helpers recovered the bodies one by one. She inspected the whole field and saw some medical personal bringing her old friend Morax towards the camp. That couldn't mean anything good. He definetly overworked himself. Hurriedly she followed them, was stopped however before she could enter the tent. "Allmighty Shougun. The defence line of the city is in trouble!" Her duty called. "I'll take care of it. Send some soldiers after me..." Ei took one look back at the sea, seeing the boat of her soldiers returning. She really hoped that Yaksha was okay.