Full Power

When I arrived at the Golden House, it was eerily quiet. Not a single guard was outside. However, I noticed faint traces of Hydro elemental energy. So it was Childe… I decided to head in and what I saw answers why there weren't any guards outside.

All of them were inside and were either unconscious or dead. Standing in the middle of the whole place was the culprit itself. The 11th of the 11 Fatui Harbingers… Tartaglia…

"Haha, I should have known you would come to check on it… Let me tell you something though, it's no longer here."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb! The Gnosis!"

Haah, I should have known. That was the target of the Fatui after all. However, I narrowed my eyes when I noticed something familiar come out of his pockets and surround him. Sigils of Permissions…

"No matter, I'll just force Rex Lapis out!"

"Shit!"

I quickly tried to warp to him to destroy the Sigils, but when I got close to him, he released a shockwave of Electro energy that paralyzed me. He caught me off guard when I was still made up of wind, making the effect move powerful.

"I'll deal with you later…"

He summoned his bow and shot a really powerful Hydro arrow at the ceiling, breaking it. After that, he released the Sigils and when they were out of view, the sky darkened. He looked at me and smirked.

"I can't have you saving the day now, can I?"

With a powerful eruption of three types of energy, I was thrown back, hitting a wall. Luckily I wasn't too hurt. I stood up slowly, having recovered from that small paralyzation. Looking at the hole in the ceiling, I could see faint traces of divine energy. He summoned a god… Reality dawned upon me. My loved ones were in grave danger, and all of it was just because of me letting my guard down…

"Don't even think about going out there now. If you do, you'll just be putting your loved ones in even more danger!"

Looking in front of me, my eyes widened. He had… three types of energy. Those were, Hydro energy, Electro Delusion energy, and… Abyssal energy...

Shit, he was right. If I tried to escape from him, he'd just hunt me down and might even hurt my loved ones just to get to me. His appearance changed drastically as well. He grew twice in size and now had a violet and black armor. He was now wearing his mask that even changed in appearance. It now had a single purple eye and covered the entirety of his face while sporting elongated horns. He had a cape that has a starry pattern while having his original outfit's collar. He has a lavender feathery collar on his neck while his Hydro Vision was now on his torso. His Electro Delusion was placed on his navel.

"Let's see just how powerful you really are!"

With blinding speed, an Electro arrow was shot at me, piercing my left shoulder and crashing me to the wall behind me. He's powerful… even for the current percent I'm using… Ah, maybe that's the problem. I've always been holding back. What's the point of it if I run into enemies as strong as him in the future? 15% is enough for my adventures, my ass. If I want to keep on living and protect those I love, I shouldn't hold back.

"Haah… I'll just finish this quickly…" I breathed out, as all the world seemed to feel like a dream.

---

Tartaglia was quite shocked when he saw Aether standing up as the dust settled. However, there was something different. Black flames started surrounding Aether and the Electro arrow that Tartaglia shot was consumed by the flames. His wounded shoulder healed as the flames vaporized the blood that trickled down his arm. After the healing was done, the flames dissipated. It was quite surprising as well that his dark themed clothing didn't burn to ashes.

Aether looked up at Tartaglia, his eyes blank and seemingly having no emotion behind them at all. Tartaglia knows now that Aether disregarded his surroundings and now just wants to finish this. However, those eyes were different from the bloodthirsty eyes that Tartaglia has. Those eyes seemingly have no limit, eating away everything in front of it. Tartaglia didn't know whether to be smirking or sweating. There is one thing he knows though… That is the knowledge that he messed up.

While Tartaglia was lost in his thoughts, Aether dashed straight at him in speeds surpassing even the arrow he shot earlier. Aether slashed straight at him and whether it be sheer luck or instinct, Tartaglia blocked the slash with his spear. Their clash caused a powerful shockwave that broke the ground beneath them. They stayed stationary, but not for long. Tartaglia's spear cracked as Aether kept on applying more force.

Tartaglia blinked downwards to their new arena and charged a Hydro arrow with the intention to mark the blonde with his Riptide. With that mark, he'll be able to apply more damage to his enemy. He could have done this earlier with his Electro arrow, however that arrow was a quickshot and not a charged one.

He released the arrow and when it was about to hit the falling blonde, he turned into flames in a blink of an eye.

'Shit, he's not using his Anemo anymore.' the masked warrior thought.

The blonde reappeared in front of him as quickly as he disappeared and this time, his slash was surrounded by black flames with the intention to fully break the spear of his enemy. As expected, the mask warrior blocked the sword with his spear, resulting in the violent explosion of his weapon. They both got launched back, with Tartaglia hitting the wall due to the force mostly being directed at him.

Aether just skillfully flipped and made an Anemo platform to step on. The blonde blinked once more, appearing in front of the staggering warrior. He thrust his sword with the intention of stabbing the warrior, but much to his surprise, the warrior summoned two daggers that blocked his sword.

The blonde blinked backwards and the warrior sent multiple Hydro slashes at him. Aether just raised his free hand and made a vortex using the combination of Anemo and Gluttony, absorbing the slashes in an instant. After that, Aether made the finishing move.

Chains made of both Geo and Gluttony held the warrior as the blonde drained him of his life force to the point where he will need weeks of rest to recover. He could have just killed him, however, that will cause diplomatic problems for both Liyue and Mondstadt to the nation of Snezhnaya.

The warrior fell on his knees as all of his armor crumbled away. He looked at the blonde with the same blank eyes he has, however now it has a slight difference. A glint of fear. This was an enemy that he can't defeat… Someone who devours everything.