Chapter 265: Battle, Only...A Battle...

***

Early into the morning...

"Mh....pancakes...mmm..."

Paimon murmured while sleeping. Her saliva dripped from the corner of her mouth.

The party was officially over and everyone was tired...

Lumine sat on the ground, rubbing her eyes. She slowly stood up, waking Paimon up by an accident.

"Where...are you going..." muttered Paimon half asleep.

"The toilet," Lumine replied whispering. "Just sleep..."

"Mwkay...mwaammm."

As if she casted a spell, the little fairy quickly went back to sleep, dreaming about pancakes and hamburgers.

Seeing this, Lumine sighed in relief and put a hand on her chest, "I was almost caught..."

As she left the living room, Barbara raised her gaze from the ground she lay on, but did not pursue; she merely observed from a distance...

She was too hung-over to care...

"Lumine...?"

But it seemed to her that Lumine went out again, without anyone, but Barbara knowing...

***

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*

After leaving the mansion, Lumine brought up a hologram map.

Numerous red marks were highlighted in close proximity to the Mondstadt region and its adjacent territory.

Each symbol represented the location of a monster. The location of her prey.

It did not take her long to reach one of the specified locations.

It was a village, a Hilichurlian village.

They were relatively primitive humanoid monsters that inhabited the entirety of Teyvat.

Most people had given up on trying to speak with them, as the species was hostile and territorial, employed barbarian weapons, and most critically, had a profoundly cold disposition towards humans.

Stepping into the village, Lumine immediately moved towards the sleeping Hilichurls, unleashing hell upon them.

"Windblade!"

Grasping the wind's might, she formed a vortex of vacuum in her palm, sucking in the nearby Hilichurls towards the ball of pure destructive wind, shredding them apart ruthlessly as her gaze grew icy.

The vacuum vortex exploded, and fallen limbs of her enemies followed suit, violently twisting on impact, and tearing apart everything within sight.

In a matter of seconds, the remains of the once-living Hilichurls hung from the trees or mockingly danced in the remnants of the storm caused by her rampage, as the wind shattered the tranquility.

The entire village was soon submerged in rubble. Even the Hilichurls who had just died moments before being torn apart lay in a pool of blood among their discarded flesh and their shattered equipment.

Their last screams echoed eerily, fading away into nothingness with the gust of death that threw itself into each successive wave of destruction.

Without wasting a second, Lumine stepped over them, looking for new adversaries to overcome...

She walked through the maze of blood, some of which stained nearby bushes bright crimson. The rotting stench of decomposed bodies hung heavily in the air, saturating it in the foul aroma.

At first, she hated this sight of bloodshed and despair. It tore at her soul's core, nauseating her. Yet after seriously reconsidering her goal, she decided that it was a necessity that outweighed the loathsome sight and deepened her resolve.

'Anything to get stronger...'

The corpses began piling up more and more...

The smell was horrible, she could feel it crawling under her skin and making it impossible to breathe. Her throat was dry, and her mouth felt like sandpaper...

No matter how many she killed, she would always find one more to dispatch...and another...another and another...

'To become useful to Party leader and everyone...and to find my brother...'

And so she trained each night, to become useful and not drag anyone down.

As much as she wished for a swift and a happy ending, one that did not include blood streaming onto the ground or hands ripping off limbs and leaving corpses in their path, all she felt when confronting her foes was contempt and determination, a bitter yet resolute drive.

No hesitance, nothing more to consider but eradicating this filth and growing stronger every second...

It seemed like every time someone told her of the good things about how she improved in combat and daily training, was just a lie meant to make her feel better, but it wasn't until a few days ago when Yomite confronted Childe on her behalf that she realized how weak she was and that Yomite always protected her.

And so she discovered the following,

She didn't need a practice; she needed a real fight...a physical battle in which she got hurt. To fight while her life was endangered.

A battle of life and death where her survival depended solely on her own strength...not friendly spars that led nowhere.

And fighting in earnest brought out her true strengths.

Every attack of hers was launched smoothly at a rapid speed. Each movement effortlessly landed onto its target in expert precision, leaving the battlefield scoured clean by slaughter.

She felt herself growing stronger and stronger the more she fought alone against numerous monsters. Maybe that was the secret.

Usually they fought as a party, and she barely did anything. She only relaxed as her teammates took care of the job for her and she only did something once in a while.

But now...?

She was all alone, depending on herself.

In the back of her head, the words echoed through her mind.

'If you keep this up, you will become stronger and with that, finding your brother will become an easy task.'

And those words may very well soon, turn into reality.

The weight in her stomach had finally gone away and her limbs felt stronger with each passing day.

'Anything to find my brother...'

She resolved herself, as she mercilessly severed the head of a Mitachurl before the monster wrapped its jaws around her injured hand with blistering, cracking force, attempting to rip her limb to shreds.

The Mitachurl's torso toppled backwards, pulling its whole body with the force. Its body shook on the ground for a bit, a reflex after death, terrorized of its impending fate even at death...

'...Frightening...Demon...'

As it lay still, the terrified Mitachurl's mind was consumed by the thought.

Just meters away, a look of insanity overtook the face of the demoness who slew it…