"Since he's not the one we're looking for, let's finish him off quickly. Tonight, we must eliminate the Darknight Hero!"
With a sweep of his staff, the leading Cryo Abyss Mage summoned several towering figures from the depths of Whispering Woods—eight Mitachurls: two with wooden shields, two with geo shields, two wielding electro axes, and two with pyro axes.
They charged at Victor Wang in heavy strides while the Abyss Mages lounged lazily inside their protective barriers, preparing to enjoy the show.
Despite the burning fury stirred by the Abyss Mages, Victor Wang grew all the calmer and more deliberate.
He'd once heard a phrase: "One must possess calmness in the face of great matters." He was angry, yes—but was anger going to help him here? If not, he'd set it aside for now.
"Huuu—"
Taking a deep breath, he considered the odds. Not even in the game had he fought so many Mitachurls at once. The axe-wielders were manageable—dodge, counterattack, repeat.
But the wooden shields were trickier—each one as big as a door, impervious to Palm Vortex, immovable even with Gale Blade. They could at least be set aflame, but the geo shields... those were another story.
I'll have to try Erosion Blast—should be able to pierce that. But even if I win, there are still four Abyss Mages to deal with afterward...
"Shields, shields, and more shields—so damn annoying! When do I get a shield?!"
Before the four shield-bearers could form a wall and charge, Victor met them head-on. He began with another enhanced Palm Vortex, spreading Pyro energy along with it. The wind dragged the Mitachurls forward—none tried to resist; they simply charged straight into the vortex.
The wooden shields caught fire, while the geo shields remained unharmed. The axe-wielders, their hair and beards igniting, looked even darker than before as their scorched skin blackened further.
The Hydro Abyss Mage, still reclining in his shield, lazily waved his staff, summoning a raincloud over the Palm Vortex that doused the flames.
Amidst the chaos, Victor had already closed in on a Pyro-axe Mitachurl. With a decisive thrust, he drove the Wentian Sword toward its face. The bone mask shattered, revealing a hideously burned, hairless face underneath.
"Aaaorgh!"
The Mitachurl's muscle was dense, its skull even denser. The sword drove halfway into its cranium—enough to damage the brain, if not kill outright.
Its last conscious act was to scream in pain before toppling forward. The curved horn on its head gouged the ground as it fell. Victor quickly yanked his sword free, gray-black brain matter oozing from the wound. The Mitachurl wasn't dead yet, but it had lost control over its limbs, spasming violently on the ground.
Seeing the pitiable state, Victor mercifully delivered another blow to the back of its skull—deep enough to see daylight through the other side. The creature went still.
Now in the midst of the enemy group, Victor found himself surrounded by the remaining seven, the fallen one forming part of an eight-point formation—resembling the Eight Trigrams Array.
The Electro and Pyro-axe Mitachurls slapped Slimes onto their weapons, enchanting them in their most "authentic" form, then hurled the crushed Slime corpses like grenades.
The two wooden-shield Mitachurls charged from different directions. Victor vaulted into the air, dodging the clash that left the two colliding with dazed, staggering steps.
Landing smoothly, he followed with a sidelong headshot—another down.
Where do Hilichurls have the edge over humans?
They don't fear pain or death.
That was something all Hilichurls shared... except for the odd one with the word "Great" scrawled on their mask.
Normal Hilichurls, lacking elemental abilities, relied entirely on their weapons—whether it was the fire-torch "swordsmen" or the duo wielding Electro and Pyro crossbows.
Waving a torch around? A toddler could do it. Shooting a stationary target at close range? Anyone could learn it in a day, master it in two.
When using equal weaponry, humans stood at the lowest tier of combat rationality; Hilichurls were the bottom rung of monster combat—just above Slimes.
One level up were Mitachurls—stronger, tougher, and even more relentless.
Even with a pierced heart, a Mitachurl might continue fighting for a while. Ideally, you'd go for the head—something Victor had learned long ago from Sidney. And clearly, it worked.
No time to follow up—an electrified axe came sweeping from behind. Victor dodged, only for another Pyro-axe Mitachurl to spin its weapon like a circular saw and slam it down, gouging a crater in the ground.
When the dust settled, Victor was already standing atop the embedded axe, withdrawing his sword from beneath the Mitachurl's chin.
Three down.
"Useless! Useless! Enough of this spectacle—we'll need those meat shields later. All of you, attack together!"
The Cryo Abyss Mage cackled oddly. All four Mages began casting: one launched ice spikes, another summoned falling icicles. The Hydro Mage lazily waved his staff, sending out an unimpressive-looking bubble. The Pyro Mage disappeared instantly with teleportation.
Victor tried to blow the bubble away, but it stubbornly floated toward him.
If it touched him, he'd be trapped—frozen immediately after, then finished off with a blazing visage from the Mages. He could already see how he'd die.
But he had no intention of dying now.
He dashed toward a Geo-shield Mitachurl. Just before collision, he rolled aside, causing the bubble to collide with the creature instead.
That seemingly delicate bubble completely engulfed the charging Mitachurl and its spiked shield. Driven by instinctive fear of water, the Mitachurl discarded its shield and thrashed wildly, terrified it might drown.
Victor prepared to strike another down, but the missing Pyro Abyss Mage suddenly reappeared beside him. Three flaming visages emerged from its barrier like a curse, their mouths spewing fire, forcing Victor to retreat.
A Cryo Mage teleported in next, launching six jagged ice blades toward him.
Victor kept falling back. The five remaining Mitachurls regrouped. The four Abyss Mages struck from all sides, teleporting in and out. The fight was turning against him.
"Darknight Hero! Still not going to show yourself?!"
"..."
From Mondstadt Bridge, where he'd watched long enough, Diluc finally moved. His steps were calm at first, but gradually quickened. He passed Victor and unleashed a massive fiery phoenix at the enemies.
The air warped from the heat, the night sky blistering as if scorched open. That corner of the world saw dawn early.
The phoenix's wings swept across the battlefield. The Electro-axe Mitachurls collapsed, barely clinging to life. The wooden shields burned down to a thin layer. Two Cryo Abyss Mages had their barriers shattered and were thrown to the ground. Only the Geo-shield Mitachurls and the Hydro and Pyro Abyss Mages remained unshaken.
"I'll leave the Hydro and Pyro Mages to you."
Leaving Victor with those words, Diluc chased after the rest. Searing Onslaught swiftly dispatched the weakened Cryo Mages before diving into battle with the remaining Mitachurls.
Victor wasn't far behind. He dispersed Cryo energy through his Palm Vortex, easily breaking the Pyro Mage's shield and freezing the Hydro Mage.
If only he had an AoE attack as powerful as Dawn, he might've been able to handle all these elite foes alone.
While Diluc focused on breaking the last Geo-shield, Victor faced off against the remaining one. He attempted a strike with Erosion Blast—the geo-infused shield now punctured with a hole.
Stone can't withstand erosion—just as Azhdaha couldn't withstand the decay of time.
The sword pierced through the shield. The Mitachurl, stunned, stared at the round blade tip pushing into its gut. It felt its legs go weak—its already narrow waist now punctured—and collapsed with a heavy thud.
"Rest in peace."
Once Diluc's claymore finally shattered the last geo shield, the night raid came to an end.
Only five minutes had passed.
Brushing off the dust and geo debris from his clothes, Diluc adjusted the Night Owl mask covering half his face, then finally turned to greet Victor.
"Hello, Kunpeng. I'm Night Owl."
"...Hello, Night Owl. I'm Kunpeng."
You don't really think that little mask hides your identity, do you? Come on... at least throw on a cloak like I do.
"Thank you for coming to help."
"Honestly, even if I hadn't come, you could've handled it, right?"
"First, time was tight—I did need backup. Second, I had to assess your strength personally. As the Mondstadt lead for the organization, knowing every member's capabilities is vital."
"Di— cough! Night Owl, you might be disappointed. I'll be leaving Mondstadt soon. So, when tallying combat strength... you can probably leave me out."