Extra Food!

Timmie let out one final, furious roar.

The armor on the giant Ruin Guard pigeon's back opened wide.

What emerged was no longer a cold missile launcher, but a densely packed array of high-explosive poultry missiles that looked just like freshly cooked Sweet Madames and crispy roast chicken legs. (They really did smell delicious. All right, I'll eat!)

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

The sky filled with "roast chicken leg missiles," trailing long streams of chili sauce as they rained down on Wei Zhenzu.

The sky over all of Mondstadt was shrouded in the bizarre aroma of fried chicken and the fiery light of explosions.

The mushroom clouds rising from the blasts were all shaped like chicken heads wearing chef's hats.

"Help! What's this supposed to be? Am I going to get stuffed to death with fried chicken?"

Wei Zhenzu fled with his arms over his head as the "roast chicken bombs" relentlessly bombarded him.

But he found that the more desperately he dodged, the lower his Sanity Points fell.

[SP: -20]...[SP: -35]...

Finally, a huge "Sweet Madame missile" exploded at his feet, blasting him into the air, where a crispy fried pigeon gave him a vicious peck on the backside. After that, Wei Zhenzu's Sanity Points finally hit rock bottom.

[Sanity Points (SP): -44] (erosion threshold)

Wei Zhenzu fell amid the greasy chili sauce covering the ground.

The light vanished from his eyes, leaving them a heart-stopping black.

But he did not fall. Instead, he slowly stood up in a bizarre posture.

The air around him began to grow thick and oppressive.

The yellow, unidentified liquid that had been dripping from the broken umbrella, which had only half its ribs left, now turned into deep black water, dark as the Abyss.

The true god of war awakened in the depths of despair and depression.

"The sun... has been obscured."

Wei Zhenzu's (Sunshower Heathcliff's) voice grew low and hoarse, filled with an intense loathing for all the world's happiness and birds.

Timmie sensed no danger and continued directing the giant Ruin Guard pigeon to charge.

"Big Ruin Guard! Crush him!"

The giant mechanical pigeon began its death spin again and came bearing down on him with crushing force, the smell of fried chicken filling the air.

Wei Zhenzu slowly raised his head, his lightless eyes fixed on the enormous creature before him.

He raised the broken umbrella once more.

"So damn annoying... all this chirping noise..."

[Skill 3: Open] (SP: -44 state)

Once again, he leaped high into the air and swung the broken umbrella in a wide arc.

But this time, it carried a pure, suffocating desire for destruction.

"Haga!"

"Clink, clink, clink."

Three dull echoes.

Three tails coins.

Boom!

This time, the broken umbrella did not deliver a feeble poke.

Wrapped in violent, dark-black rain and profound sorrow, it came down hard on the giant Ruin Guard pigeon's head.

With a deafening metallic crack, the giant mechanical pigeon was cleaved clean in two down the middle by that seemingly ridiculous umbrella strike.

Gears and springs, mixed with crispy fried chicken skin and chili sauce, burst across the sky at the Mondstadt bridgehead like fireworks.

The terrifying shock wave continued unabated, sweeping across the entire stone bridge.

The crispy fried pigeons running all over the ground were instantly swept away by the depressing black storm, all reduced to an actual "ground covered in poultry."

"Ah! My pigeons! Ruin Guard!!"

Timmie let out a piercing scream. As the giant mechanical creature he depended on for survival was destroyed, the ruby core in his chest dimmed as well.

The Distortion aura surrounding him quickly dissipated like a deflating balloon.

With a thud, Timmie fell onto the bridge, which was covered in grease and metal fragments, and turned back into an ordinary little boy.

He stared at his empty hands and the pieces of fried chicken covering the ground, giving off a bizarre aroma. After a few seconds of stunned silence, he burst into tears.

"Waaah... in the end... there's still nothing left... even Ruin Guard is broken..."

As Timmie's Distortion ended, the bizarre yellow sky over the Mondstadt bridgehead and the smell of insanely spicy chili sauce gradually faded as well.

"Phew... it's finally... over..."

The Sunshower raincoat on Wei Zhenzu's body dissolved into specks of light, and he returned to being the New Oriental chef in a red trench coat. (How many people still remember this detail...)

Exhaustion and the drained feeling from his SP hitting rock bottom washed over him. His eyes rolled back, and he sprawled spread-eagle on the stone bridge covered in poultry.

"Wow, so much fried chicken and Sweet Madame! And it all smells so good!"

Paimon flew out from behind them, her eyes shining with excitement. She pounced on a crispy fried pigeon on the ground and began gnawing on it in huge bites, without a care for appearances.

"Mmph! Delicious, it smells so good! This is probably the crispiest poultry Paimon's ever eaten! Traveler, aren't you all having some?"

Only then did Kaeya, Varka, and the others cautiously approach.

Everyone's expressions were quite something as they looked at the stone bridge in complete disarray and Wei Zhenzu lying in a pile of fried chicken with his eyes rolled back.

"I... I suppose this counts as a rather unusual victory." Acting Grand Master Jean shook her head with a wry smile and instructed the knights behind her,

"Someone, take Timmie home and comfort him. Also... clean up the bridge while you're at it. These... um, take this poultry to the Knights' cafeteria to be dealt with. We can't let it go to waste."

Venti sat on the railing at the bridgehead, holding a freshly cooked "roast chicken leg missile." He took a bite and narrowed his eyes in satisfaction.

"Ehe, the process had a few twists and turns, but the ending isn't bad. Looks like Mondstadt has something to eat with its drinks tonight~"

Wei Zhenzu lay on the ground, gazing at the star-filled sky and listening to Paimon chewing as she feasted. He closed his eyes in despair.

"Let it all be destroyed... this absurd world full of fried chicken and pigeons. I don't want to spend another second here..."

Morning sunlight filtered through the stained glass, falling gently onto the stone streets of the City of Mondstadt.

After the deadly battle at Stormterror's Lair that had seemed ready to tear the sky apart, the city-state that cherished freedom had finally regained a peace it had long been without.

A gentle breeze brushed the petals of the Windwheel Asters, carrying away the lingering smell of gunpowder and blood from the previous night.

Knights of Favonius headquarters, upper-floor conference room.

Varka, Jean, Kaeya, and Diluc sat together around a heavy oak table.

Wei Zhenzu sat in a guest seat, holding a cup of hot tea Noelle had just brewed.

The rising steam blurred his vision. He took a small sip, and the warm liquid ran down his throat, but it did nothing to ease the waves of soreness throughout his body.

"Ahh, ow, ow, ow."

He was still suffering the aftereffects of repeatedly using high-grade City Identities. Now, the slightest exertion made him let out a mournful cry of protest.

"That's the situation in the city."

Diluc folded his arms, his brow slightly furrowed and his expression somewhat grave.

"After that strange azure light flashed last night, some odd creatures appeared both inside and outside the city. Even the city's residents were affected."