The sea breeze blowing across Hjaðningavíg Island now felt incredibly heavy. The scent of Cecilia flowers, which had previously cooled the battlefield, was once again replaced by the metallic stench of blood and rust.
In the middle of the mud field flanked by barren rocky hills, hundreds of Evilus soldiers in dark armor stood surrounding them. Their mocking laughter echoed, slicing through the remaining pride of the White Elf and Dark Elf warriors who now sat helpless without weapons. In the front lines, ferocious experimental monsters—with bulging muscles and poisonous saliva dripping from their jaws—growled low, their necks bound by chains gripped tightly by Evilus tamers. Sword blades were pointed right at the necks of the injured warriors.
Dina and Vena stood frozen in the middle of the encirclement. The turquoise wind vortexes from the Anemo-Calyx in their palms were still spinning, but held back. The wind power that could level an army in the blink of an eye became completely useless when the lives of their own people were used as shields.
"Lower your hands, you wind-bringing brats!" shouted the Evilus Commander. He was a man with a face full of burn scars and a sadistic smirk that tore across his cheek. He pulled a White Elf's hair until she screamed in pain, then pressed a dagger to her throat. "One move from you, and the blood of this long-ear will water the earth! Lower them!"
Vena ground her teeth until a grinding sound could be heard. The Dark Elf's red eyes flashed with anger and frustration. Beside her, Dina's hands trembled violently. Cold sweat poured down the White Elf's temples.
In that agonizing second, a very bitter and dark reality struck the minds of the two sisters.
They remembered the remnants of the Evilus who had fled in terror into the forest after they killed Morgath a few days ago. At that time, Dina and Vena had let the soldiers go. In their naivety as village girls who had never known the true cruelty of war, they thought sparing a fleeing enemy was an act of mercy.
A fatal foolishness.
Tears of regret welled up in Dina's eyes. It was the remnants of the troops they had let live who returned, and reported their strange power to the Goddess Alecto. Their kindness had instead invited this armada of death to Hjaðningavíg.
"We were too naive, Sister..." whispered Vena, her voice trembling, holding back tears and anger at herself. "In this world... letting an enemy live is the same as killing innocent people."
Dina closed her eyes, cursing her foolishness. The power in her hands would mean nothing if her mentality was still that of a fragile village girl. They were not ready to be heroes.
While Dina and Vena were cornered in a moral dilemma and despair, the Evilus Commander laughed uproariously, enjoying every second of regret radiating from the two girls' faces.
However, amidst the focus entirely centered on the hostages and the one-sided negotiation, not a single pair of eyes noticed the two king figures still kneeling on the bloody mud, not far from the center of the formation.
Hedin Selland bowed his head. His thin-lensed glasses were shattered. His proud white robe was soiled by mud and dust. Beside him, Hogni Ragnar clenched his jaw tightly, enduring the pain from his fractured arm bone.
The two kings were filled with a shame that burned their souls. They had been defeated by two girls in a matter of seconds. And now, the sacred island that had been the arena of their race's pride for hundreds of years, was being trampled upon. Their pride had been crushed into cosmic dust.
In the midst of that deadly inner silence, an air anomaly rustled before them.
Whoosh...
Turquoise light particles gathered from thin air. Far from the sight of Evilus, an adorable little ball of light—Venti's Wisp—spun slowly, floating right between Hedin and Hogni.
"Very pathetic, isn't it?" That voice echoed directly into the two kings. A voice that sounded playful, yet at the same time radiated an ancient majesty that gave Hedin and Hogni chills.
Hedin looked up slowly, his sharp eyes narrowing at the strange little creature before him. Hogni stopped his grumbling, watching warily.
"You wasted hundreds of years slaughtering each other on this island for the nonsense called racial purity and pride," continued Venti's Wisp, the tone of its voice turning colder and more judgmental. "You were too busy slitting your own brothers' throats, that you became very blind and weak. Look at you now. So easily manipulated and trampled upon by a bunch of cockroaches in your own home."
Hedin clenched his fists until his fingernails dug into his own palms, dripping blood onto the mud. "You... what are you? Are you the one who gave power to those two traitors?!" hissed Hedin.
"Traitors? Hah, they are the ones trying to stop your foolishness," chuckled Venti's Wisp. "But unfortunately, Dina and Vena were just village girls before. Their hearts are still too soft. They have never felt the true cruelty of war. They don't know how to slaughter without hesitation, and they can't sacrifice a few to save more lives. This war... this madness... must be finished by monsters who were indeed born for it."
Venti's Wisp floated closer to Hedin's face, then turned to Hogni.
"I ask you, White King and Black King... Do you desire power? The power to tear those invaders apart and reclaim your shattered pride?"
Hogni laughed hoarsely, a mad laugh filled with despair and a thirst for blood. "Power? Hehehe... Give it to me. Give me the power to chop up those black-robed bastards! I will give anything!"
Hedin did not laugh. His cold eyes stared straight at Venti's Wisp. "No power in this world comes without a price. What do you want?"
"A cheap price for madmen like you," answered Venti's Wisp casually. "Just a promise that after today, this ridiculous war between White Elves and Dark Elves ends forever. You will lead your people off this island, under the banner of freedom."
Without waiting for further answer, because the two kings' gazes had given absolute consent, Venti's Wisp separated a small portion of its energy.
From within the small wind vortex, two crystals floated down right into the palms of Hedin and Hogni.
However, unlike Dina and Vena's Anemo-Calyx which radiated a pure and soothing turquoise-green light, the crystals given to the two kings looked... empty. The crystals were glass-gray, looking dead, radiating no elemental light whatsoever, as if just empty shells framed by cold silver metal.
"You do not possess the innocence of Dina and Vena to receive the purity of the Wind element," explained Venti's Wisp. "Those objects in your hands are the Ego-Calyx. Empty shells waiting to be filled. They will ignite and draw absolute elements from the world, according to the Ego, desires, and innate attributes that burn in your souls. Grasp them, and let your thirst trigger them."
Somewhere far from there, in the depths of the silent forest, Venti, who was resting, closed his eyes, monitoring from afar. In his mind, the God of Freedom murmured softly.
Damn it, Venti cursed inwardly. This Ego-Calyx... it's a prototype of a Perfect Delusion I made by reverse-engineering technology from the Fatui. The plan was just to keep this thing as a display, because it's very difficult to find human candidates in Mondstadt who are crazy enough and have a mentality as hard as steel to withstand its spiritual backlash without destroying their sanity.
Venti sighed deeply metaphorically. But seeing the absolute anger of those two Elf kings... their shattered pride has formed an impenetrable fortress of ego. Well, let's see if this technology can change the history of this world.
On the battlefield, Hedin and Hogni stared at the glass shells in their hands. Without the slightest hesitation, they gripped the crystals with all their might, channeling all their anger, regret, and pride into them.
ZRAAASSH!
The reaction was instantaneous and extremely brutal.
The crystal in Hedin Selland's hand exploded with a blinding bluish-purple light. His desire for perfection and absolute power resonated, transforming the emptiness of the Ego-Calyx into pure Electro element. Billion-volt pressurized lightning struck from the gray sky, enveloping the White King's body in a blinding cocoon of plasma.
At the same time, the crystal in Hogni Ragnar's hand exploded with a dark, dense blood-red color. His obsession with battle, blood, and madness triggered a shadow-fire element (Pyro-Darkness). Black flames cloaked in a blood-red mist spewed out, burning the surrounding mud into glass.
"W-What is that?!" screamed one of the Evilus mages, pointing at the two giant pillars of energy that suddenly exploded from the middle of the battlefield.
The Evilus Commander stumbled backward. "Damn it! What are they doing?! Kill the hostages! Kill them all right now!" he ordered in a panic, realizing something terribly out of control was happening.
The Evilus soldiers raised their swords, ready to slit the necks of dozens of Elf elders and women kneeling before them. Dina and Vena screamed hysterically, trying to leap forward, but the distance was too far.
However, the blades never touched the hostages' skin.
Right as the swords swung down, a very gentle gust of wind blew past the captives. The wind did not take the form of a storm, but rather a warm vortex of air glowing with a greenish hue.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The steel swords of Evilus were deflected backward as if hitting an impenetrable wall of cotton. The executing soldiers were thrown back, their wrists sprained by the sudden repulsive force.
Amidst the confused hostages, the silhouette of a beautiful woman with golden hair wearing a simple white dress appeared, fading in. Her golden eyes radiated absolute peace.
It was Aria.
Unbeknownst to anyone on that battlefield, the Elf residents who had previously looked severely injured or nearly killed by Evilus, had in fact been enveloped by high-level wind magic.
Venti had used Purification through Time—reversing Aria's spiritual status to the past, and restoring the purity of the Great Spirit of Wind.
Because Venti was exhausted, Venti's Wisp had established a connection with the recovered Aria, inviting her to descend to this battlefield. They needed extra combat power to protect the weak. And as the compassionate incarnation of wind, Aria answered the call, projecting her spiritual manifestation as an absolute shield for the hostages.
"What kind of wind shield is this?!" roared the Evilus Commander, swinging his own sword at the wall of air, but his efforts were completely futile.
"You talk too much."
That ice-cold voice came from behind the Commander's back.
Before the Evilus Commander could turn his head, a flash of purple light darted past his neck. There was no pain, only a momentary sensation of cold, followed by the world spinning upside down as his head was separated from his body and fell rolling onto the muddy ground.
Hedin Selland stood tall where the Evilus Commander had just been. His thin-lensed glasses were gone, revealing a pair of eagle eyes radiating deadly purple lightning. High-voltage electrical sparks leaped all over his white robe, which now looked elegant once more. The Electro Ego-Calyx was pinned neatly to his left chest, pulsing like the heart of a thunder god.
"You dare to soil the island of Hjaðningavíg with your disgusting presence," hissed Hedin. He raised one hand. No magic staff needed, no long incantations required. "Perish."
BOOOOM!
A giant rain of lightning fell from the sky like divine judgment. Pillars of purple plasma struck the rear ranks of Evilus. Dozens of soldiers were burned to ashes in a fraction of a second before they could even scream. Hedin's power had surged to an entirely new dimension, combining his lightning magic with the Electro element from the Ego-Calyx, making him an unmatched destructive existence on the island.
On the other side of the battlefield, a psychopathic laugh thundered.
"GAHAHAHAHAHA! Blood! More blooooood!"
Hogni Ragnar dashed into the middle of the crowd of dark-armored soldiers and experimental ferocious monsters. His body was enveloped by an aura of black fire and dense blood-red mist. The red-glowing Ego-Calyx was on the back of his hand.
He did not merely slash. Every swing of his pitch-black sword released waves of black fire sickles that cleaved three-meter-tall monsters into two pieces as if they were made of butter.
"You want to eat us, huh?!" Hogni leaped into the air, landing squarely on the back of a Battle Boar monster. He plunged his sword right into the beast's skull. Black fire exploded from within, burning the monster from the inside out until it exploded in a rain of bloody ash.
The remaining Evilus soldiers fell into absolute panic. This scale of power was not something that could be handled by conventional forces. These two kings had turned into living natural disasters.
"Retreat! Back to the ships! Leave the hostages!" screamed one of the Evilus mages, fleeing toward the eastern coast.
Hedin narrowed his eyes, raising his hand forward. "Not a single one of you is allowed to leave this island alive."
A giant net of lightning shot out at the speed of light, caging the entire fleet of Evilus ships docked on the coast. The next second, a massive Electro explosion shattered the black ships into burning wooden splinters over the sea.
The slaughter was brief, efficient, and extremely brutal. In less than five minutes, the elite Evilus platoon that had previously threatened the lives of thousands of captives, was now leveled with the muddy ground of Hjaðningavíg.
There was no negotiation. There was no mercy. Something that Dina and Vena could not bear to do, had been accomplished with the absolute decisiveness of two true monsters of war.
Dina and Vena lowered their Anemo-Calyx. The two girls fell silent, witnessing the remnants of the slaughter with a mixture of relief and horror. They realized their own limitations; great power without mental firmness was merely a blunt sword.
Atop the cliff, Venti's Wisp floated slowly, staring at the results of his technological experiment with awe. The Ego-Calyx worked perfectly, merging with the ego of both kings without destroying their souls. Hedin and Hogni had been reborn as dangerous elemental incarnations.
While ensuring the battlefield was completely secure, Venti's Wisp closed its eyes, activating a spiritual resonance frequency that could only be heard by his main body far away.
Venti, the Wisp called through their telepathic bond. The crisis in Hjaðningavíg is under control. The two kings took the Ego-Calyx. But there's a bigger problem. These troops... they carry the Evilus banner. Alecto has made her move.
In the depths of the silent mountain forest, Venti, who had his eyes closed, slowly opened them.
Alecto... Venti replied through the resonance.
He remembered the absolute rule of the DanMachi world. In the Gekai (Lower World), mortal children could kill each other, monsters could be destroyed, but a God could not be killed by a human. If a god's physical body was destroyed, they would only be forcibly sent back to Tenkai. However, there was one loophole in that system. In this world, only a legal God or Goddess possessed the absolute authority to send another divine existence back to Heaven.
That Goddess of Misery is too bold to interfere in the affairs of the Elves in such a dirty way, Venti muttered in his mind. It seems it's time for me to truly bare my fangs. If Alecto wants suffering, I will make sure her trip back to Tenkai becomes the nightmare she hates most.
In Hjaðningavíg, the dawn sun finally managed to pierce the thick gray clouds, illuminating the land that had been satiated with blood. Beneath those pillars of sunlight, Hedin and Hogni stood amidst the ashes of their enemies, their breathing ragged, but their eyes radiating a clarity that had never existed before.
The civil war was over. The wind of change had blown hard, and Orario, unbeknownst to its elites, had just gained new players who would turn the constellation of world power upside down.