Berserker Noelle

The war continued.

This world had undergone countless changes due to Felina's presence.

Faced with relentless barrages of bullets, artillery, and missiles, the Abyssal monsters suffered devastating losses.

However, as demonstrated in Natlan's events, the Abyss possessed a certain level of consciousness. It adapted its invasion tactics based on the circumstances.

After nineteen hours of failed assaults due to the overwhelming firepower of the nations' missiles and artillery, the Abyss began to adjust its strategy.

No longer did they recklessly flood into Teyvat in an attempt to overwhelm the Seven Nations with sheer numbers.

Upon realizing that their swarm tactics only made them easier targets for missile strikes, they shifted their approach, choosing to enter in smaller, controlled waves.

It was as if a field that had previously been packed with a thousand people now held only five hundred—still densely populated, but with greater maneuverability.

This adjustment forced Teyvat's forces to continue using missile bombardments, but now, each missile eliminated only half as many enemies as before.

By adopting this method, the Abyss sought to drain Teyvat's ammunition reserves.

At the same time, having been held back outside the cities by the combined forces of Teyvat's armies, the Abyss employed a new tactic.

On one front, countless monsters relentlessly assaulted the outer defenses, tying up the forces stationed outside the cities.

On another, Rift Hounds used their razor-sharp claws to tear open space itself, bypassing the battlefield and emerging directly inside the cities.

Teyvat's missiles and rockets were undeniably powerful, but within the cities lay the elderly, the weak, and the wounded.

No matter how advanced their weaponry, could humanity truly fire missiles into their own homes, at their own people?

With the monsters outside launching furious attacks and pinning down the majority of the defending troops, those soldiers had no way to return and protect the cities.

Meanwhile, the Rift Hounds infiltrated through spatial rifts, launching brutal massacres against the civilians within—forcing the defenders into urban combat, where their firepower advantage was greatly diminished.

Had this been the past, such a distraction and infiltration tactic would have surely inflicted catastrophic casualties on the human forces.

But now…

Inside the Court of Fontaine.

"Children! The time has come to repay the kindness of Lady Furina and Lady Felina!"

On the west side of the Court of Fontaine, Clervie stood with Lyney, Lynette, and Freminet, each of them equipped with swords, grenades, and magazines strapped to their waists.

In their hands, automatic rifles gleamed under the dim sky.

With a raised fist, Clervie rallied the former children of the House of the Hearth, who were now wielding rifles of their own, charging into the streets to battle the invading monsters!

The 7.62mm bullets tore through the bodies of the Rift Hounds, while the explosions of grenades shattered their forms into pieces!

If the explosions weren't enough, Lyney, Lynette, and Freminet followed up with elemental-infused attacks, engaging the monsters in direct combat.

On the South Side.

"Brothers! It's our turn! We must not let a single monster harm the people!"

With a single outstretched hand, Navia, the leader of Spina di Rosula, pointed toward the advancing Abyssal creatures.

"Yes, Boss!"

At her command, Melus and Silver led a large group of men and women, all clad in pitch-black suits, armed with automatic rifles, grenades, and magazines strapped to their backs, responding in unison.

...

West Side of the Court of Fontaine

The strongest Champion Duelist, Clorinde, led her fellow Champion Duelists, engaging in relentless combat against the invading monsters.

Behind her, over a thousand Gardemeks joined the battle, providing heavy fire support.

..

North Side of the Court of Fontaine

The Duke of Fontaine, Wriothesley, stood at the front lines, frost surging from his mechanical gauntlets as he blinked through the battlefield, single-handedly holding off more than twenty fully grown Rift Hounds.

Around him, thousands of Gardemeks clashed fiercely with the invading monsters.

At this point, nearly 50,000 Gardemeks and 500 Icewind Suite units were deployed throughout the city streets, turning Fontaine into an impenetrable fortress.

For Rift Hounds and other Abyssal creatures, the moment they appeared, a storm of bullets was already raining down upon them.

...

Although the other nations weren't as fortified as Fontaine, they weren't far behind.

Each nation had approximately 20,000 Gardemeks and 100 Icewind Suite units aiding their defenses.

In Liyue, Hu Tao, Xingqiu, Chongyun, and Xiangling, along with many other Vision holders, fought alongside skilled civilians and Gardemeks to repel the Abyss invaders.

In Mondstadt, Fischl and Bennett formed a team, battling monsters alongside the Adventurers' Guild to protect the citizens.

Razor, leading his wolf pack, darted through the streets, tearing into the monsters with feral precision.

Perhaps the most shocking presence on the battlefield was Noelle.

Her monstrous physical strength had finally found its perfect battlefield.

At this moment, she was dressed in golden Geo-elemental armor, with two 500-round ammo boxes strapped to her back, totaling 1,000 bullets.

Wielding a massive, jet-black heavy machine gun in each hand, she strode through the streets of Mondstadt, annihilating any monster in her path—a walking storm of destruction.

As for the other nations…

The situation remained largely the same—Vision holders wielding both firearms and blades, fighting alongside Gardemeks and Icewind Suite units, pushing back the Abyss forces within their cities.

In Sumeru, at first, Felina worried about the lack of elite combat power—wondering whether urban warfare in Sumeru City would be particularly difficult.

However, what she discovered was rather amusing.

Traveler Aether and Lumine, accompanied by Paimon, were actively fighting throughout the city, fending off the Abyssal monsters.

Watching the two siblings battle relentlessly, Felina realized that Aether had likely come to terms with many things over this period of time.

With the overwhelming advantage of missiles, artillery, firearms, and automated combat machines, the outcome of this war had long been decided.

Even so, the intensity of the Abyss invasion was far beyond imagination.

The number of monsters was simply unfathomable.

Even with such technological superiority, the war lasted a total of 108 hours before it finally ended.

108 hours—four and a half days.

For these four and a half days, the endless Abyssal monsters kept coming, as if they could never be fully exterminated.

The continuous battle, both physically and mentally exhausting, combined with a catastrophe with no clear end in sight, plunged humanity into deep despair.

The layers upon layers of monster corpses were eventually incinerated by the intense heat of missile explosions.

Even with advanced weaponry and the aid of healing springs, the war had exacted a heavy toll—one-third of the human population perished, and the number of injured was countless.

With such devastating casualties, it was clear—without Felina's intervention, without the advantage of modern weaponry, Teyvat would have been swallowed by the monster tide within the first day.

Fortunately, in the end, humanity emerged victorious.

Of course, this victory was not Felina's alone.

It was the collective effort of the people of all nations.

Beyond that, credit was also due to the Four Shades—Life, Death, Time, and Space.

As soon as the disaster began, they ventured beyond the borders of the world, engaging in relentless battles against the Abyss, reducing the number of monsters that could invade Teyvat.

This victory belonged to all living beings of Teyvat!

With the war over, after a period of rest, people gradually returned to rebuild their homes.

Yet, the aftermath of the catastrophe was devastating.

The land was scorched barren, life withered, and the world was eerily silent.

The rivers and earth had been tainted by abyssal corruption, turning the entire world into a landscape of ashen gray and black.

The soils, stained pitch-black, exuded an endless dark mist.

That very smog, rising from the ground, had polluted the atmosphere, shrouding the sky in darkness.

Gray-black rain poured down relentlessly, enveloping the world in an oppressive silence.

Everyone knew that this corruption was lethal, yet no one knew how to cleanse it.

Thus, the survivors could only attempt to rebuild within this blackened world, hoping that the evolutionary instincts of living beings would eventually allow their bodies to adapt to the contamination.

Despite winning the war, Fontaine faced an even greater crisis.

After all, the prophecy of destruction had never been lifted.

The sheer scale of the war, its devastation, had caused the already unstable Primordial Sea to tremble violently.

Within two days of the war's end, the sea level began to rise rapidly, and the gates beneath the Fortress of Meropide had completely collapsed!

The concentration of Primordial Seawater in the ocean was increasing rapidly.

Everything pointed to one inevitable truth—

The eruption of the Primordial Sea was imminent.

The prophecy's crisis was about to unfold.

The people of Fontaine, who had barely tasted victory, were once again plunged into fear and panic.

But soon, the Palais Mermonia issued an announcement through the Akasha Network to the entire world.

In this announcement, the Palais Mermonia confirmed that the Primordial Seawater could no longer be contained and that the prophecy's crisis was indeed approaching.

However—

There was no need to fear.

Because Lady Felina had already mastered the power to transform all Fontainians into true humans.

Tomorrow, in the plaza outside the Opera Epiclese, Lady Felina would perform a recorded reenactment of the prophecy—

Using divine power, she would turn all Fontainians into true humans.

As soon as this news was announced, it quickly calmed the people.

Soon, the next day arrived.

Early in the morning, the plaza was already packed with people.

As previously mentioned, the so-called prophecy was a predetermined event.

No matter how one resisted, the following three visions were destined to occur:

The Hydro Archon is judged by her people.

The Hydro Archon weeps upon her throne.

Fontaine is submerged by the great flood.

These scenes were inevitable.

As for how to break the prophecy, an analogy had been given before:

Suppose someone could foresee the future and one day, they saw a vision of their friend getting into a car accident, lying in a pool of blood a few days later.

To prevent this, they devised a way to deceive history.

They invited their friend to act out a staged car accident. When the scene of their friend lying in a pool of blood matched the vision they had seen, the prophecy was fulfilled—but in a different way.

Thus, the friend who was originally meant to die in the accident merely became part of a staged scene, altering fate itself.

Now, Felina's approach was nearly identical.

Focalors looked exactly like Furina, and she was also recognized as the nominal Hydro Archon.

So, Felina arranged for Focalors to wear Furina's attire and sit upon the divine throne, while Neuvillette and the people enacted a trial as part of the performance.

At the final moment of judgment, Focalors collapsed onto the throne, gathering Hydro elemental energy, forcing tears to roll down from her eyes.

At this point, the first two preconditions engraved upon the prophecy tablet had been fulfilled:

The Hydro Archon is judged by her people.The Hydro Archon sits upon her throne and weeps.

It was as if history had triggered a hidden condition.

The land and sea trembled violently!

The Primordial Sea erupted completely, and the water levels began to rise at an alarming rate!

The moment Fontaine's great flood was about to unfold—

At this moment, as the world quaked, both Focalors and Neuvillette, along with the countless citizens present, all turned their eyes toward Felina.

Their gazes were filled with anxiety and expectation—for this divine figure, all of Fontaine had placed their faith in her.

They awaited this moment—to witness a miracle and to see the historic transformation of the people of Fontaine into true humans.

And under the gaze of countless onlookers, the trusted deity stepped forward.

Standing at the center of the stage, she remained silent.

She first looked at Neuvillette, then at Focalors, before slowly turning to face every single person present.

Her expression carried a trace of reluctance, yet soon, as if resolving herself, she let out a long sigh.

With that sigh, her body radiated with a brilliant azure glow.

The flowing light gathered at Furina's forehead, and then—

A luminous sphere slowly emerged from between Furina's brows.

As the glowing sphere left Furina's body, she immediately felt an overwhelming emptiness.

Felina had departed from her.

In the past, Felina's consciousness had also separated from her body, but never before had she felt such an immense void—

As if Felina was leaving forever, never to return.

"Felina, you…!"

A sudden realization struck Furina, and in an instant, panic consumed her expression.

As Felina's presence withdrew, the vast ocean of faith within her consciousness was also being stripped away.

The azure sphere of Felina's consciousness, surrounded by an immense golden ocean of faith, hovered above the stage.

At the sight of the Hydro Archon's consciousness and the colossal sea of faith, both Neuvillette and Focalors instantly understood what Felina intended to do.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon: 

Patreon.com/DaoOfHeaven