Modern Warfare in Teyvat

The emotions of the citizens had been stirred, and with Felina's rallying cry, the will of Fontaine was unified.

At this moment, declaring war on Snezhnaya to defend Fontaine's dignity had become an absolute political imperative.

Anyone who dared to voice opposition now would undoubtedly be labeled a traitor.

This is the necessity of justifying a cause—it solidifies national unity to an impenetrable degree, ensuring no external forces can incite internal chaos. Only then can all efforts be focused on fighting external threats.

The public's fervor for war had reached unprecedented heights. No one, no power, could stop this war now. Anyone who tried would be branded an enemy of all Fontaine.

Today, the gates of the New Fontaine Research Institute, typically under the highest security, stood wide open.

Fontaine had officially entered a state of war.

Meanwhile, Liyue's campaign to purge the Fatui coincided almost perfectly with Fontaine's declaration of war.

The one facing the greatest challenge now was the Captain, leading his forces stationed at Liyue's border.

Fontaine's declaration of war on Snezhnaya meant its troops would soon cross the border to launch an attack.

Behind the Fatui forces lay Liyue's Qianyan Army, which had surrounded them.

The Captain now had two choices:

 1. Advance with his troops and, before Fontaine's army arrived, cross the border to attack Fontaine.

 2. Retreat and temporarily avoid confrontation.

However, it was now almost certain that Liyue aimed to use this opportunity to purge the Fatui from their territory.

Retreating would only result in a direct clash with the Qianyan Army.

Even if the Fatui had superior equipment, the Qianyan Army held the advantage of fighting on home soil. They had larger numbers, could exploit Liyue's complex terrain, and could continuously harass the Fatui forces.

With Liyue's endless reinforcements and logistical support, they could gradually encircle and annihilate the Fatui forces.

Moreover, Liyue had authorized Fontaine's troops to enter its territory to assist in eliminating the Fatui.

If the Fatui retreated, they would face a pincer attack from both Fontaine and Liyue.

Advancing toward Fontaine, however, presented a different scenario.

Fontaine had not authorized Liyue's troops to cross into its territory.

Thus, the Qianyan Army would be limited to the border and unable to pursue further, avoiding the danger of being attacked from both front and rear.

Additionally, the Fatui's ultimate objective was to invade Fontaine and seize the Gnosis.

The Captain and the Doctor both realized that attacking Fontaine before its troops could arrive was the best course of action.

But as previously mentioned, Fontaine was surrounded by the sea, and rising water levels had divided the land into several isolated regions.

Fontaine's elevated terrain also created natural barriers, making it incredibly challenging for the Fatui to launch an invasion.

Given these obstacles, how could the Fatui launch an effective attack on Fontaine?

Snezhnaya had already prepared for this.

Both the Captain and the Doctor had been entrusted with a special power by the Tsaritsa upon their departure—a crystalline shard imbued with the power of ice.

When activated, the shard would unleash an intense cold, capable of freezing the sea itself. Its destructive power was formidable.

The only downside was that the shard emitted extremely strong elemental energy, making it easy to detect. Moreover, the intense cold it radiated could only be withstood by Harbingers themselves.

Otherwise, the Doctor would have long organized a suicide squad to smuggle a shard into Fontaine and detonate it within the Court.

At the Liyue border.

The Captain, moving like a streak of light, quickly crossed the sea and arrived beneath the great waterfall marking Fontaine's boundary.

A surge of immense power coursed through the Captain as he unleashed a strike upon the ocean's surface.

Boom!

A massive impact rippled across the sea, as if a giant hand had slapped the surface, sending enormous waves crashing toward Fontaine's towering cliffs.

The moment the surging water crested above Fontaine's natural barriers, the Captain acted without hesitation, throwing the ice crystal bestowed by the Cryo Archon.

Upon activation, the crystal froze both the ocean surface and the rising waves, transforming them into a frozen ladder that stretched from the sea to the skies.

"All units, move out!"

At the Captain's command, hordes of Fatui forces stationed at Liyue's border began advancing across the frozen ocean, aiming to use the icy ladder to invade Fontaine.

But just then—

"Thanks for paving the way for me; you've saved me some effort!"

A voice rang out, and the Captain's expression darkened.

He moved to react, but it was too late. Felina, propelled by the principles of acceleration, had already reached him.

Her fist rapidly expanded in the Captain's vision, delivering a lightning-fast blow directly to his temple!

The Fatui forces, about to cross the frozen sea, were suddenly interrupted by a deafening sonic boom from the skies. Moments later, they watched their leader, the Captain, reduced to a black streak as he smashed violently into the ice, shattering the thick layer and sending seawater spraying into the air.

At the same time, a colossal water elemental apparition materialized.

Furina, wielding the Purewater General, raised its massive blade and thrust it toward the fallen Captain.

The blow caused the ice to shatter and the earth to tremble violently.

As Furina struck, Felina had already prepared her next move. A single droplet of water, condensed with immense Hydro-elemental energy, shimmered in her grasp, imbued with unparalleled speed and destructive force thanks to the acceleration principle.

Without hesitation, Felina hurled the droplet toward the Captain's crash site.

The droplet's speed was blinding, flashing like a streak of light before erupting into an earth-shattering explosion. The water-elemental force unleashed from the droplet caused the ice to splinter, and the resulting impact launched a towering geyser of seawater over a hundred meters high.

All of this transpired within mere seconds.

The Captain had no time to respond. Felina and Furina, perfectly synchronized, delivered a seamless, devastating combo at lightning speed.

Even a Harbinger of the Captain's caliber couldn't withstand such an onslaught—he was gravely injured.

Felina plunged into the sea and emerged moments later, dragging the incapacitated Captain, barely conscious but alive, in her grip.

The battlefield fell into stunned silence.

The Fatui forces, prepared to storm Fontaine, froze in disbelief as their Harbinger leader was so effortlessly defeated and captured.

"It seems your strength has improved significantly since we last met."

Zhongli, accompanied by a group of Liyue adepti, descended from the sky to join Felina.

"The Fatui Harbinger has been captured. What will you do with the remaining eighty thousand soldiers?"

Felina smirked at Zhongli's words. "If I weren't concerned about leveling your Chasm entirely, I wouldn't have needed to personally intervene against the Captain."

She glanced at the stunned Fatui forces below and added with a grin, "Now that the Captain is captured, and you're all here, why not stay and witness the dawn of modern warfare in Teyvat?"

Felina spoke with confidence.

"Modern warfare?"

Zhongli and the adepti exchanged bewildered glances.

The term was entirely unfamiliar, though they were somewhat aware that Fontaine had been developing advanced technologies. Seeing Felina's confidence, they decided not to decline. Curiosity about Fontaine's methods piqued their interest.

Felina nodded and flew toward Keqing and Ningguang on the Liyue side, inviting them to join her in the skies to observe the unfolding battle. She wanted them to see Fontaine's capabilities firsthand—for future arms trade opportunities, of course.

She didn't stop there. Felina extended invitations to Natlan's Pyro Archon Mavuika, Mondstadt's Anemo Archon Barbatos, and Jean, Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius. These nations had outdated military capabilities, especially Natlan, where ongoing Abyss incursions led to devastating losses. With Fontaine's weaponry, they could minimize casualties.

As for why Inazuma and Sumeru weren't invited—Felina had her reasons. Publicly executing Scaramouche, an Inazuman by origin, could create tension with the Raiden Shogun. Sumeru, meanwhile, was already represented by Nahida, who would eventually reclaim leadership in her nation. There was no need to involve the sages of the Akademiya.

"I came here for one purpose—to deal with the Captain. As a god, I will not strike down ordinary mortals."

"Now, fight to your fullest! If you can withstand Fontaine's forces, I'll let you go free."

With those words, Felina departed, taking Keqing and Ningguang with her toward Fontaine's territory. Zhongli and the adepti followed close behind.

From the skies over Fontaine's border, Felina and her companions looked down upon the scene below.

For the first time in history, the gates of the New Fontaine Research Institute—usually under strict lockdown—stood wide open.

Trucks carried load after load of rocket artillery as squads of autonomous robots marched in perfect formation.

In the area near Liyue's border at Roustenport, rows of rocket launchers formed a carefully aligned battle line.

"All units, ready!"

"Three! Two! One! Fire!"

At the command of the Oceanid, the rocket artillery units adjusted their aim and began their bombardment.

Row after row of rocket launchers fired in sequence, launching volleys toward the Liyue border.

Zhongli and the others watched in awe as thousands of rockets shot into the sky, their exhaust plumes creating a cascading visual like a vertical waterfall of light. Dust and sand billowed in waves as shockwaves from the launches swept the ground.

It was a dazzlingly spectacular sight.

...

Meanwhile, among the Fatui forces—

Seeing Felina capture the Captain had plunged them into despair. But when Felina declared she wouldn't attack mortals, a flicker of hope reignited.

Although the Captain's capture dealt a severe blow to their morale, they clung to the idea that, as long as no gods intervened, survival was still possible.

Command now fell to the remaining senior officers. Though none could match the Captain's strength, they were capable strategists. Under their guidance, order was restored among the ranks.

Just as the Fatui forces regained their fighting spirit and prepared to engage—

A thunderous roar tore through the heavens.

They instinctively looked up—and saw countless glimmers of light descending from the skies.

"What is that? Is it a meteor shower?"

The Fatui soldiers were stunned, but the rockets moved too fast for prolonged speculation.

By the time they sensed something was wrong, thousands of rockets had already turned the sky crimson, as if a cascade of stars were falling, accompanied by deafening roars, crashing directly into the Fatui formations.

The aftermath of thousands of rockets bombarding a battlefield hardly needed description.

Explosions erupted one after another across the terrain, their shockwaves blossoming in devastating waves that engulfed everything.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

A continuous chain of deafening explosions filled the air as cries of agony rose and fell.

Rockets detonated among the Fatui troops, their shockwaves warping the air and tearing bodies apart.

In the clouds of dust and debris stirred up by the blasts, severed limbs, flesh, shattered organs, and splattered blood mingled, scattering everywhere.

The so-called strongest army in Teyvat, the Fatui forces, fell like cabbage pelted by hail under the widespread assault of rocket fire, collapsing and breaking apart.

The relentless explosions raised increasingly dense clouds of smoke and dust, shrouding the battlefield and obscuring the scene. But the screams of the injured persisted, a grim testament to the carnage.

It was unclear how much time passed before the smoke finally cleared. What emerged was a sight that was utterly horrific.

The ground was pockmarked with craters, and of the 80,000 Fatui troops, nearly 60,000 lay dead or wounded.

Shattered corpses were scattered everywhere, painting a picture of pure hell.

A silence fell over the battlefield.

The devastating scale of the attack and the staggering casualties left the remaining Fatui troops in profound fear.

"Retreat immediately from the coastline! Withdraw into Chenyu Vale and use its rugged mountain terrain to shield us from these aerial attacks!"

The deputy commander quickly issued the order. The plan to use the mountains for cover was sound; it would reduce casualties and allow them to leverage the terrain for guerrilla tactics to buy time.

It was a wise decision—but unfortunately, they were facing Fontaine's military.

"Cease artillery fire!"

The Commander of the Oceanid's retinue a hand. "Deploy the mechanized combat units. Begin mountain warfare operations!"

With the order given, metallic clanging and the hum of gears filled the air.

600 Icewind Suite, 8,000 Gardemeks, and 4,000 Recon Log Mek surged into action.

Four Oceanid commanders simultaneously invoked their powers, transforming the waterfall into a massive aqueous staircase to enable the mechanical units' swift deployment.

Tens of thousands of mechanical soldiers charged up the water-formed paths, advancing rapidly toward Chenyu Vale and into the mountain terrain.

Fontaine's mechanical units were formidable. Equipped with enemy recognition systems and autonomous combat capabilities, they could fire bullets and sustain minimal damage from conventional physical attacks.

Built from steel, they were immune to pain and fear, executing their orders to exterminate without hesitation.

The sheer number of machines, their cold, gleaming surfaces, was enough to instill dread and crush the enemy's will.

And that wasn't even counting the Icewind Suite.

These boss-level machines were daunting individually—600 of them operating simultaneously was an absolute nightmare.

In the narrow confines of Chenyu Vale, the Icewind Suite spun relentlessly, unleashing blades of ice and wind that turned the valley into a grinding maw of death, harvesting the lives of the Fatui soldiers.

As the mechanical army of over 10,000 charged forward, the relentless assault began.

The battlefield echoed with the clash of weapons and the constant rattle of gunfire.

No matter how valiantly the Fatui resisted, their fate was sealed the moment they faced this steel juggernaut.

After a fierce battle, Chenyu Vale became a graveyard.

The once-mighty Fatui force, numbering tens of thousands, was shattered by the mechanized army. Only a few hundred scattered, wounded survivors managed to hide among the rugged terrain.

It was only then that Fontaine's commanders ordered the human troops to enter the battlefield for the final cleanup.

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