A little over an hour earlier.
After the Angel's Share closed for the night and Charles and the servers had all left, Diluc slipped out alone through the tavern's back door, wound his way through the crooked alleys, and arrived at the foot of the city wall.
Standing on the boundary between light and darkness, he watched from afar as patrolling knights marched past in orderly steps, carrying dim oil lamps, utterly unaware of him nearby. His brow slowly furrowed.
"...How exactly are these people supposed to protect Mondstadt?"
In truth, Diluc knew that the knights assigned to patrol duty were hardly elite. Expecting them to notice him was probably asking the impossible.
But he enjoyed mocking the Knights of Favonius. Sometimes, it even afforded him a rare moment of relaxation.
Besides...
There really wasn't much time left.
Mondstadt's enemies, those lurking in the shadows, were stirring. At any moment, they might bare their fangs at this ancient nation in its weakened state.
So, whether or not he was the Anemo Archon... Diluc had to...
Whirr-
A sharp ice crystal shot toward him from afar. Diluc easily sidestepped it, and it vanished soundlessly into the darkness.
"Hehehe..."
Accompanied by a strange laugh, an Abyss Mage surrounded by ice crystals slowly emerged from the twisting black mist.
"I've found you... Come out... You rat hiding in the dark..."
Diluc gave a cold scoff at those words.
He summoned his heavy greatsword, casually hung it at his waist, and strode calmly up to his opponent.
"Has the Abyss Order really fallen so far that it needs sewer rats to bluff for it?" His ruby eyes glinted sharply in the darkness as he retorted at an unhurried pace. "Or... are you simply more comfortable dealing with your own kind?"
"Such a slick tongue!"
Unbothered, Diluc glanced around before fixing a faintly pitying gaze on the monster that continually exuded cold air.
"So, just you?"
"Don't get too arrogant, Mondstadter..." The Abyss Mage raised its staff and sneered. "I know you... I know you... Ah~ (an inexplicably excited pant) You're the 'Darknight Hero,' aren't you!"
Diluc shrugged indifferently and slowly raised the greatsword in his hand, pointing its tip at his enemy.
"You're not as strong as the rumors say... Look at these feeble flames... Wait? You're not using His power... Strange... It feels familiar..."
Before the Abyss Mage could finish, dark red flames blazed to life like a savage beast breaking free of its cage. Their scorching heat warped even the air. "Enough... That's enough trash talk, scum."
"The moment you chose to face me instead of retreating, you became nothing more than a talking... corpse!"
The next instant, the man abruptly became a blaze and charged straight forward, burning.
Whoosh-
The searing heat arrived in an instant. Amid the dancing streams of flame, a fist slammed into the elemental shield, sending vapor billowing up. Bitterly cold ice mist tangled with blazing fire, yet even in the midst of such a battle, Diluc remained expressionless.
"You're... not bad..."
Though still troubled by those blackened flames, the Abyss Mage hurriedly raised its staff as its shield began to shatter.
But just as frost was about to gather, the tall figure wrapped in streaming fire turned his blade and abruptly leaned back.
He hadn't even drawn his sword...
In a flash, the intense heat surged again. Rather than swing his greatsword, Diluc merely stepped forward and planted himself firmly. His right foot struck the ground with a boom, cracking the hard paving stones inch by inch. The fierce wind of his punch swept away dust and smoke with its flames as it hurtled straight toward the mage's face.
...Was he looking down on me?
"You rat, don't underestimate me! Abyssal tongue (incantation)"
The Abyss Mage neither dodged nor flinched, meeting the punch head-on with ice-blue magic.
The powerful blast of wind struck its face, pulverizing the shield with crushing force. The enormous flaming fist plunged straight into the torrent of ice crystals. Vapor surged, and the ferocious attack abruptly stopped less than ten centimeters from the Abyss Mage's face.
Under that tremendous impact, the Abyss Mage was driven steadily backward. As the smoke abruptly dispersed, it barely held against the man's punch, only just stopping his assault before it could slam into the city wall.
"Hehe... Hahaha..."
The Abyss Mage laughed, trembling all over.
"You're nothing but..."
Perhaps it meant to say that his attack amounted to nothing. In the flickering shadows, its hideous mask was now mere inches from Diluc. Catching the faint, rotten stench unique to the Abyss wafting into his face, he frowned slightly and immediately lost any desire to let it finish.
"Get away from me."
His left arm drew back like a bowstring pulled taut, gathering strength. In the opening as the Abyss Mage spoke, a lightning-fast punch slammed into its abdomen.
Bam-
Wrapped in scorching flames, the punch instantly folded the Abyss Mage's body in half. Its staff flew from its grip, and in the blink of an eye, it hurtled backward at an outrageous speed.
Whoosh-
Crash-!!
With a heavy, muffled impact, the city wall behind the Abyss Mage cracked beneath the collision.
Dust filled the air, and chunks of stone flew everywhere like bullets. The shock wave sent Diluc's coat tails snapping, while most of the black tongues of flame died out in the turbulent air.
Reeking of scorched flesh, the monster struggled and rasped like a broken bellows. Somehow, it still had enough strength to get up immediately.
Boom!
The next instant, Diluc lifted his foot and stamped the half-seated Abyss Mage back down. Standing on its chest, he bent forward and slowly raised his fist. "If you can still hear me, remember this..."
"Take your 'Abyss' and get out. You will never be welcome in Mondstadt."
Clanggggg!
Amid a piercing, muffled sound like clashing metal, the dying Abyss Mage raised both claws and clamped them directly around Diluc's fist. The instant their hands met, cold and heat compressed the turbulent air, sending it surging wildly outward once more. Some smaller fragments of stone were even reduced to powder by the leaking elemental energy.
Yet this "evenly matched" stalemate lasted less than two seconds. Then the man's fist descended with overwhelming force, driving those dark claws deep into the sunken ground.
Boom!
Charred flesh and blood scattered, but not a single piece reached his face. They burned to ash in midair.
"Cur... se..."
More black mist seemed to appear at the edge of his vision, but Diluc had no desire to pay it any attention. He simply pinned the monster firmly with one hand, then raised his left, aimed at its chest, and slammed it down again.
Bam-
Bam-
Boom--!!
In just a few seconds, the "Darknight Hero" delivered several heavy punches, battering the already mangled monster beyond recognition. Terrifying flames instantly engulfed its entire body.
The arm he held, which had been trying to resist, gradually lost its strength.
Diluc then flicked his hand, knocking aside an incoming fireball as casually as brushing away a speck of dust. He rose and looked down at the unrecognizable face, seemingly embedded in the pit, as it slowly crumbled to ash.
"...Truly hideous."
Shing--
"Let's make this quick. I hope you can... keep me entertained."
Watching the Abyss Mages chanting their incantations, the man slowly drew the greatsword at his waist.