[Genshin Impact] A world where only travelers are alone.

Chapter 65 Demon God

With the help of the Lawrence family, the boys' actions were incredibly smooth, and the plan proceeded without difficulty. Cecilia witnessed the resistance growing stronger and stronger, eventually becoming a powerful force capable of shaking the gods atop the spire.

But the gods never discovered any clues. Perhaps in His understanding, how could ants raise a butcher's knife against the heavens, let alone ants that should "live and work in peace" under His protection?

As the final battle drew closer, Cecilia finally met Amos, the hunter who had only existed in the stories told by the boys.

The girl possessed an aloof air that made her stand out from everyone else present. Even Gunnhildr and Legenfender became more serious when she was there.

Only the boy remained as irresponsible as ever, hooking his arm around Amos's shoulder and teasing, "It's really not easy to see you even once in a while. You're really clingy to that person."

This was just a joke. After all, as a follower of Dekalapian, the only one who could stay by His side, it was obvious how difficult it was for Amos to meet with them.

Amos didn't take his joke to heart, only glancing at him lightly: "I'm only here to tell you that Lord Dekalapian has returned, and he seems to be in very bad shape."

Cecilia remembered that the boy had mentioned before that Amos had brought them a message during their last meeting, roughly saying that Lord Dekalapian was not satisfied with the current situation and hoped to expand his territory, so he had set his sights on the nearby demons.

It now appears that although Decarapian won, it was only a narrow victory, as he returned with numerous injuries.

Amos lowered his eyes: "So if you're already prepared, now is the best opportunity."

It was a pipe dream for humans to defeat a demon god, a fact that both Amos and the boy were well aware of. Therefore, they had to find an opportunity, a time when Dekalapian was at its weakest.

While this would hardly bridge the gap in strength between the two, it would at least increase their chances of winning.

The boys had already prepared everything; all they were missing was this opportunity.

But the boy didn't rush to agree. Instead, he looked at Amos and asked, "What about you? What do you think?"

"There's no need to keep testing me at a time like this. If I had changed my mind, I wouldn't be sending you this message now," Amos said.

When Descarapian was injured, the defense in Tane was even more stringent, and it took her a great deal of effort to get out.

"I followed Him because He saved us, and now I rebel because He has made mistakes. I just feel that He can't keep making the same mistakes."

Amos doesn't understand when Dekalapian's transformation began. He was once a very kind adult, but perhaps Gale could never understand the tenderness of flesh and bone, and the calm center of the tornado would eventually become part of the path to destruction because of his progress.

He takes people's bowing down out of fear of the hurricane as love and obedience to the king, and she will personally correct His mistakes.

The boy smiled, as if mocking the lingering attachment to the gods in her words: "In that case, let's begin as soon as possible."

The key to this battle was entrusted to the wind spirit after discussion.

No one could pass through the hurricane surrounding Dekalapian; only the elemental spirits, who were also among the thousands of winds, could get close. If it were truly a matter of killing a god, only he could do it.

The wind sprite had no complaints about this, and even raised her thin arm to show off her reliable "muscles" when she was called out, just like when she first met Cecilia.

This time, Cecilia didn't want to laugh; she just frowned and looked at him.

As if sensing her emotions, the wind sprite flew over and nuzzled her cheek.

Having spent so much time together, Cecilia could more or less guess what the wind spirits meant by their actions in certain situations, like now, when they were comforting her and telling her not to worry.

Cecilia forced a smile: "Really?"

The boy comforted her, "Don't worry, remember when we were at Lawrence's mansion, wasn't it the wind spirit who saved us? He's incredibly powerful!"

When this was mentioned, Cecilia couldn't help but touch her earlobe.

She couldn't see the gift from Wendy, so this was the only way she could confirm its existence. But now, the touch of the gift felt different; it was not as solid and smooth as before, but rather light and unreal.

Cecilia guessed that the gift was condensed by Wendy using wind elements, but did the current situation mean that this power was running low?

Looking at the little guy trying to comfort her, she finally made her decision: "I don't think I can change your choice. After all, freedom is what we both pursue, and it's not a loss to give our lives for it. I can't sneak up on Lord Dekalapian like you, so I can only join the boy and the others on the battlefield outside the tower to pave the way for you and for freedom."

She took off her earring, and the feather she couldn't see shone brightly in the wind sprite's eyes.

"Chirp?" He tilted his head and stared blankly at Cecilia, as if asking her what she was doing, while she handed him the earring.

"This is a gift from someone," Cecilia explained. "Unfortunately, he's not here, and I couldn't ask for his opinion, so I've taken the liberty of giving it to you. I don't know if it will be of any use to you, but I hope it will protect you."

The limitations of the trial blurred most of her memories of the war, but she also knew that the Wind God had not yet been born in this timeline. Nevertheless, she wanted to borrow the power of this god she had always revered and ask Him to bless him.

May the wind god protect you—

Cecilia lifted him up, their foreheads touching.

*

That day, with someone's zither music and shouts breaking through the prison of the wind, the silence of the capital city surrounded by the ring was shattered.

All around were ruins ravaged by war, raging tornadoes sweeping everything away, and resilient singers defying the tide... All of this overlapped with Cecilia's dream, a dream she had almost forgotten.

Freedom, freedom...

A voice resounds in my heart, while a completely different voice rings in my ears.

That was the voice of that reclusive king high in the sky.

He said, "It's too dangerous outside, covered in ice and snow, infested with monsters. You should stay here, under my protection, and enjoy my shelter."

The first to answer Him was His most beloved hunter: "No, this is not protection but control."

The girl raised the bow and arrow given to her by the gods and shot it at her beloved, only to be torn apart by the raging wind.

The second to answer Him was the boy with the zither: "There is no freedom under your wings."

"Even if someone pulls out your tongue, you can still sing with your eyes."

"Even if someone blinds you, you can still see with your ears."

"But if anyone dares to take away your freedom to sing and to look around..."

"—Then, absolutely, absolutely no one can be spared."

The boy used this toast and farewell song to denounce His sins, and then died from an arrow that fell from the sky.

But no one stopped, and no one even had time to grieve. Sacrifice was inevitable; they had already made ample preparations.

The gods watched all of this.

The demon god loves people, and he believes that everything he does is out of love for his people, so why do these people still rebel against him?

He was angry and resentful, but in the end, all that remained was confusion.

So when He sensed that something completely different from the hurricane around Him approaching from behind, He couldn't muster the slightest thought of resistance, until the feathers transformed into sharp blades and pierced His heart.

The immense power belonging to the demon god exploded in that instant, but was actively gathered back by the source of the power a second before it expanded.

Descarabian looked at him, at this wisp of wind that signified a small turning point and hope.

He asked, "What is freedom?"

The wind spirits could not answer Him, and He did not need their answers.

Descarabian had already seen the answer in their resistance.

The power unleashed when a demon dies is extremely destructive; if left uncontrolled, it could destroy everything within its territory. Dekalapian shouldn't have cared about such a thing, after all, these people betrayed Him. Yet, until the very end, He couldn't bring Him to abandon everyone. Perhaps this was His mercy before death.

He glanced at the only elemental being before him: "Hmph, you got off easy."

As the words fell, a massive surge of energy rushed toward the wind spirit like a tidal wave, and then the world fell into a deathly silence, until a huge pillar of light burst forth from the wind spirit's small body, breaking through the hurricane's blockade and the gray sky.

Then, the warm sun set.

*

Despite the fact that Dekalapian had considered everything for them, the wind spirits still experienced some energy overflow due to their inability to adapt after receiving the energy, which affected everyone on the battlefield and even caused some to faint.

In short, by the time Cecilia woke up, the matter had already come to an end.

The funerals for the boy and all those who died in the war were scheduled for the same day. The Lawrence family took over the funeral arrangements and post-war reconstruction, while the surviving Gunnhildr and Legnfender assisted on behalf of their respective families.

Cecilia, however, had her throat slit on the battlefield, leaving her temporarily unable to speak and forced to rest in bed.

Everyone seemed to have settled down, but—what about the wind spirit?

When she wrote the question down on paper and asked Vanillari, the matriarch replied, "Hmm...you don't know? He's the one who settled you all and brought you here."

A gift from the wind spirit? With his size, how could he possibly bring everyone back? Would he carry them over one by one?

Cecilia imagined it for a moment, then gave a strange look.

Vanilla chuckled softly, "Although I don't know what you're thinking, it's definitely not what you think. The Wind Elf is quite different now than before. He's been busy with some important things lately, so he hasn't had time to come see you, but I bet he'll be here soon."

Cecilia nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

As it turned out, Vanilla's guess was always right. That very night, someone knocked on Cecilia's window, and she could only think of one person who always did such things.

(End of this chapter)

The author says: The song the boy sings is text from the game, originating from the story of the ancient oath of freedom.

The story and settings in this chapter are entirely my own imagination. The idea that Dekalapian gave his power to the wind spirits may not be true. Just take it as a story. If you want to be serious about the details, different people will definitely have many different opinions. I welcome rational discussion.

Also, this chapter should be finished soon. The next one will be about Mr. Zhongli, switching places with the Haisen chapter. I haven't figured out the plot for the Haisen chapter yet _(:з」∠)_