"How much ammunition did we burn through tonight?"
Ryen spoke up abruptly. Zhongli, having just concluded his communications across the battlements, felt a dull ache behind his temples.
After a brief pause, he answered with quiet reluctance.
"Though I would prefer to claim our reserves remain barely touched, such words would fail to convince even myself."
The sheer volume of mutants assaulting the walls tonight had far exceeded previous thresholds.
Worse, these creatures no longer burned beneath the sun; the only answer was to put them down with cold steel and hot lead.
Relying on the dawn to burn the horde away, as they had in the earlier phases, was no longer an option.
Yet facing nightly waves of this scale meant the corpses had to be cleared before the next dusk arrived.
The arithmetic of it all was merciless: keeping the line supplied over the remaining six days would demand an astronomical mountain of powder and brass.
"Our ammunition expenditure tonight exceeded projections by forty percent."
Zhongli sighed softly, pressing his thumb against his brow.
"Forty percent?"
Ryen frowned, considering the figure in silence.
"If we burn through forty percent on night one, the coming six days will..."
"A forty percent overrun on a single night is not an immediate catastrophe," Zhongli interred, waving off his partner's darker assumptions.
"That margin reflects only the finished rounds currently stocked within the magazines of Redstone Tech City."
"Our raw stores still hold substantial stockpiles, and our workshops can assemble fresh munitions around the clock. The pressure is undeniable, yet within our current capacity."
"The real complication is that beneath this final Blood Moon, the mutants walk under the sun without fear, leaving our mining operations underground somewhat perilous."
"Under normal conditions, dispatching daily mining details would secure our ore flow without difficulty."
"TNT presents the greater thorn. We cannot simply fabricate it on demand."
"Fortunately, our firearm divisions carry substantial weight, and TNT remains largely reserved for the redstone artillery."
"Rocket launchers and support ordnance may lack the sweeping blast radius of primer charges, but deployed in numbers, they weave an impenetrable wall of suppression."
Venti scratched the back of his neck, spreading his hands with a helpless grin.
"Master Zhongli, could you perhaps put that into plain speech? All those tactical musings fly right past my ears!"
Zhongli cast a cool glance at the bard, his cadence calm and even.
"Put simply: we fired far more rounds than planned, yet the reserves held."
Hearing that, the surrounding commanders let out a collective, quiet sigh of relief.
"If the magazines can bear it, why make such a solemn face? You nearly made me think we were scraping the bottoms of our barrels already!"
Venti shrugged in easy relief, waving his hand as if the crisis had passed.
"Scraping the bottom of our barrels... that remains an outcome not entirely out of reach."
Zhongli sighed, instantly dashing the bard's carefree optimism against the stones.
"Our fabrication tables cannot match the speed at which the vanguard burns through powder."
"We cannot mistake surviving tonight's volley for lasting peace."
"War is a long campaign. It demands that one look toward the distant horizon."
"Six days of fighting remain. How we intend to preserve our munitions through to the end is our true trial."
"More crucially, tonight's Blood Moon revealed an alarming mutation."
Zhongli paused, turning his steady amber gaze toward Ryen.
"The ordinary mutants presented no true mystery tonight. They are stronger, swifter, and heedless of daylight, but had the horde remained merely that, our losses would have stayed within acceptable bounds."
"Mindless beasts remain simple to direct into slaughter."
"The true peril was that black variant."
The leaders turned grave at the mention of the creature that had organized the archers.
A cold weight settled over their thoughts.
"That black mutant commanded the ranks. In its presence, the horde ceased to be a rabble of chaotic corpses."
"A disciplined host and an unguided mob belong to entirely different realities. The distinction requires no lengthy exposition."
"Without a commander, a hundred thousand mutants are merely a target-rich swarm."
"With a commander, that exact swarm becomes an army marching with purpose."
"At present, we have no means of knowing whether such a commander is a unique anomaly born of the Blood Moon, or if one will emerge every night for the next six days."
Every leader present commanded sovereign authority in their homeland. A moment of reflection was all they needed to grasp the terrifying weight of Zhongli's words.
The faint satisfaction of surviving the night evaporated into thin air.
An army of corpses moving under an intelligent mind could tear the defenses of Redstone Tech City down stone by stone.
"What is your thought on the matter, Ryen?"
Jean pressed her hand to her chin, seeking his perspective.
"My thought?"
Ryen raised a brow and shook his head.
"I cannot offer a certainty. These trials follow no rigid rulebook, and the notes I brought from my past memories no longer match what is unfolding out there."
"Even so, our only choice is to brace for the worst."
"When the Blood Moon climbs into the sky, who knows what horrors it might forge next?"
"My counsel is simple: plan as though a black commander will step onto the field every single night of the coming six days."
"Calculate our powder and lead against that worst-case projection, and arrange our lines so that our blood is bought at the highest possible price."
"If one appears, we are prepared. If none emerge, all the better."
"Speculation will change nothing tonight. We broke the first assault."
"Moving forward, keep your eyes sharp. The second an abnormal mutant shows itself, blanket the coordinates with everything we have."
Zhongli's brow tightened as he replied in a measured voice.
"Operating under that posture will strain our stockpiles to the brink."
"Do you hold a superior path in mind?"
Ryen countered gently. Zhongli fell silent.
The defenses of Redstone Tech City had been pushed to their absolute limits; every earthwork, trench, and parapet stood at the height of current capability.
Above and below, north to south, every approach was fortified.
Neither Zhongli nor Ryen could devise an earthwork that was not already in place.
If the walls fell despite all this, mortal planning had simply met its boundary.
The only course remaining was to meet the storm with unwavering force.
So long as the fire was overwhelming enough, any threat could be crushed beneath it.
Zhongli let out a long breath, his voice softening into a steady rumble.
"Then regarding the black variant, we will proceed on your terms. Tomorrow night will reveal the truth."
"Even so, as a safeguard, Xiao, select our most capable scouts and assemble an elite vanguard."
"Their sole assignment will be targeted decapitation."
"Tonight, that creature used its lesser kin as a living barrier against our ordnance."
"We cannot assume artillery alone will reliably dispatch every commander that follows."
"Your detachment will watch the lines. The instant an intelligent variant is spotted, strike swiftly and sever its head."
"Move fast, kill cleanly, and disengage immediately."
"We cannot afford to burn our entire munitions reserve on suppression fire simply to reach a single target."
Xiao nodded without a word, his sharp golden eyes already weighing the soldiers suited for such a task.
"An elite strike unit," Ryen murmured, finding room for a faint, dry smirk.
The situation was grim enough on its own; drowning in anxiety would hardly turn the tide.
Facing reality step by step remained the only sensible posture.
Beyond the walls, the steady rain of arrows loosed by the garrison had whittled the surviving mutants down to a few scattered thousands.
The first trial of the final Blood Moon was effectively over.
Ryen observed the perimeter a moment longer, confirming the stability of the lines before speaking again.
"Once the stragglers are cleared and dawn breaks, send details out to gather the spoils."
"Tonight's wave left behind substantial salvage."
Makoto sighed, her expression somewhat weary.
"Merely common armor plates and crude blades. What we lack is brass and powder; if only these creatures dropped finished cartridges instead."
Ryen chuckled at the thought, offering an amused retort.
"If mutants began dropping cartridges, it would mean they had learned to fire our own rifles back at us. That would hardly be good news."
Makoto forced a small smile.
"It was merely an idle thought."
Ryen shrugged lightly.
"Regardless, tonight's siege is broken. By the look of it, daylight will not demand that we march into the fields for melee."
"Preserving our soldiers remains the greatest victory."
"When the field is clear, send out teams to smooth the earth and fill the craters torn by our shells, lest those very trenches offer the enemy easy cover tomorrow."
"Our munitions burn exceeded estimates, but the line held firm."
"Keep our people whole. That comes first."
"Set up disciplined watch rotations, and ensure every soldier gets their allotted rest."
"With only a few days left, the last thing we need is an airborne descent of Phantoms tearing into our lines because our men refused to sleep."
Jean considered the matter, nodding in quiet assent.
"We burned through considerable alchemical reserves as well. Phantom membranes will be necessary, though not this night."
"On the final day, once the siege is broken, we can leave selected squads awake to summon the Phantoms deliberately and harvest their wings."
"We might also dispatch a small detail to inspect the Nether. That realm lies beyond the reach of the Blood Moon, so operations there should proceed without issue."
Ryen felt no desire to dwell on further details tonight. Stepping back toward Guizhong and Ei, he raised a hand in farewell.
"Handle the finer arrangements as you see fit. I am heading back, and you all should seek your beds as well."
Before he could take a step, Buer called out softly.
"Ryen, perhaps you might step across to Teyvat and offer word to Ganyu and the others? They must be sick with worry."
Ryen paused, considering her words, then nodded gently.
"I will anchor a small portal within the courtyard of the City Lord Manor. If any among you have urgent business across the divide, you may pass through."
"I will close it again by tomorrow afternoon."
The leaders acknowledged his words, watching him depart into the quiet streets.
The first night of the final Blood Moon was drawn to a close; despite the unexpected turns, the walls had endured.
The mutants had learned to walk beneath the sun, which simply shifted the doctrine from static defense to active counter-fire.
The cost in powder was steep, yet manageable.
The true shadow hanging over the week remained whether the intelligent commander was merely the first of many.
That question would define the remainder of the siege.
"Six days..."
Zhongli exhaled slowly into the cold night air, his voice low and firm.
"Endure six days more, and the harvest will be ours. Keep your footing, everyone."
"Tonight's wave is done."
"If any among you conceive of further preparations to secure these walls, speak them freely."
"Though the perimeter holds for now, we cannot build our hopes upon the assumption that the enemy will remain unchanged."
"We must prepare multiple answers for what comes."
"As for the twenty-two thousand newly arrived Millelith, use tomorrow's light to bring them thoroughly up to speed."
"Ensure they understand every nuance regarding the Totems of Undying and our firearms."
"In a sense, there is a silver lining," Zhongli murmured, his features settling into calm resolve.
"Surviving this trial will forge those twenty-two thousand into seasoned veterans. When Liyue brings further regiments across in the future, we will have saved ourselves a week of drills."