In Mondstadt City, everyone held their breath.
Even though they had lived for decades, or even several decades, on the Teyvat continent filled with fantasy creatures, it was their first time truly witnessing such a monster battle.
Around the square, the white-haired maid Noelle propped up a large stone, slowly lowering it only after the trapped people inside had climbed out.
She turned her head to look at the giant wolf.
She had seen everything that had just happened: that handsome man possessed greater strength and more courage than herself.
And now, he had even abandoned his human identity, transforming into a giant wolf to protect Mondstadt City.
"So amazing…" the maid Noelle muttered to herself.
On the Cathedral Square, under the cloudless, bright moonlight, two three-hundred-meter-tall behemoths confronted each other, a scene so surreal and bizarre.
Everyone on the square had already evacuated; residents and clergy alike had retreated into the cathedral, watching the scene timidly.
Only the Knights of Favonius remained as close to the edge of the battlefield as possible, enduring their trembling bodies and refusing to retreat.
"Wow! Big Brother is awesome! Big Brother turned into a big doggy! Big Brother is the King of Dodoco!"
Only little Klee kept jumping around, jokingly crowning Orion in her conversation.
Stormterror's eyes widened, its scarlet pupils instantly expanding. Yes, it wasn't just the pupils; the white of its eyes narrowed, and the entire red iris area expanded, instantly filling its entire eye socket.
The will of the Abyss took over Stormterror's body.
It could sense that the fellow in front of it posed a risk of eliminating it.
Orion finished his long howl and hunched over, finally looking at Stormterror, who was staring back at him. He saw Stormterror, controlled by the Abyss, starting its attack with zero frames, dark energy already gathering in its mouth!
[Roar of the Withered Wind]!
Just as the skill was completed and about to be unleashed, the giant wolf appeared before it with lightning speed.
Orion made no attacking move, merely raising a wolf paw and gently helping Stormterror close its mouth.
The breath attack, about to be unleashed, detonated in its mouth. The blighted gale instantly corroded and carbonized its oral cavity, and the giant dragon's body swayed, letting out a mournful cry.
But Orion maintained his calm gaze, the giant wolf's eyes looking down at the wailing demon dragon.
"Look at you, getting all high and mighty just because you got a crown. Do you really think you're invincible?"
"Roar!!!" The demon dragon roared to the sky, its massive body struggling fiercely to bite the giant wolf. The carbonized areas in its mouth had actually been completely repaired by Abyssal Power.
But the demon dragon's teeth bit onto the giant wolf's carapace, a teeth-grinding friction sound reverberating over Mondstadt City. Sparks flew, but only shimmering scratches appeared on the carapace, disappearing in an instant.
Although the giant wolf's body was a mimicry from fragments given by the Wolf King, this carapace was genuinely Ort's own cuticle, just a bit thinner.
For Ort, if he didn't consider his lack of a concept of death, his biggest weakness was physical attacks, but Stormterror's physical attacks were clearly not very strong.
But even so, the demon dragon didn't let go. Blighted Gale gathered in its mouth; the demon dragon intended to unleash the Roar of the Withered Wind at point-blank range, even at the cost of its mouth exploding!
The giant wolf naturally wouldn't let its opponent succeed. It moved its body, trying to shake the demon dragon off, its sharp claws kicking up earth and stone wherever they passed. Stormterror also intended to trade blows, clinging tightly to the giant wolf's body, its claws digging into the gaps of the giant wolf's carapace, still accumulating power in its mouth.
Two behemoths, each over three hundred meters long and weighing more than two hundred thousand tons, collided in the city. Each impact generated a Richter scale 4 tremor. Countless windows and doors in Mondstadt City rattled, flowerpots on high places were shaken to the ground, and half of the Cathedral Square almost collapsed. The higher parts of Mondstadt City quickly became ruins, even with Orion intentionally holding back, yet the scene was so breathtaking that people couldn't look away.
The scene was dangerous, yet possessed an unusual beauty.
At this moment, the demon dragon completed its charge. Its three pairs of massive red wings fell, layer by layer, enveloping the giant wolf's head, leaving only a giant cocoon that seemed to be covered in eyes. Then—
"Boom—!!!"
A huge yet muffled explosion sound came from within the cocoon. A visible airwave spread out in the air with the square as its center, and at the same time, a surge of dust on the ground rushed into the city walls along the streets like a flood.
After several seconds of silence, the six wings spread open, and the demon dragon's wounds had almost completely healed.
And what it faced was a pair of incredibly cold, blue-glowing wolf eyes.
"Finished fighting?"
.
.
.
...The Wind Barrier of Stormterrors Lair shattered with a furious roar under another outpouring of extreme evil techniques. The entire massive tornado transformed into chaotic air currents, dissipating into the atmosphere and returning to the cycle.
Emerging from Stormterrors Lair, Skirk was visibly exhausted. Under the Abyss's blockade on Dvalin, Skirk's proud spatial abilities were ineffective, yet among the group, she was the only one capable of breaking through this wind wall.
So, Skirk adopted the most simple and brutal method—successive ultimate attacks.
Now that they were out of the blockade, everyone's expressions grew even more solemn.
The entire sky was covered in dark clouds; Stormterror must have caused quite a ruckus in Mondstadt City, right?
Everyone was about to rush forward but was stopped by Venti's voice. He pressed his ten fingers together, and a cyan magic circle appeared beneath their feet.
Venti looked up at everyone: "Now is not the time to worry about power. Flying is always faster than running, isn't it?"
As he finished speaking, everyone rose with the wind, flying towards Mondstadt City at an extremely fast speed.
Soaring into the air and seeing Mondstadt City enveloped by a storm in the distance, Jean's heart couldn't help but chill.
But just as they were about to reach Mondstadt's vicinity, that Wind Barrier suddenly disintegrated. A pillar of fire shot up into the sky from the city, scorching the entire sky. Afterwards, everyone saw a giant wolf confronting the demon dragon in the city.
Lumine was dumbfounded. She rubbed her eyes hard and pinched Paimon's chubby little face: "Wh-where did this bring me? Is this still Teyvat?"
Clara and Skirk recognized the giant wolf's identity at a glance, but they were also full of questions.
What happened to the Giant Spider that was promised?
How did it go from an arthropod to a mammal?
Are creature classifications on other planets that arbitrary?
As they flew into the city, everyone quickly spotted Barbara and the others in the square, and they descended rapidly.
Lumine and the others walked towards Eula and Amber, Diluc asked Kaiya for an update, and Jean smiled as she stroked Klee's head before heading towards Barbara.
"Barbara! Are you alright?"
Jean stepped forward, wanting to help Barbara up, but saw Barbara staring at the sky, expressionless, with tears streaming down her face uncontrollably.
Hearing her sister's voice, Barbara slowly turned her head, revealing a shattered expression.
"Sister…" she slowly said, "It's all my fault…"
Jean quickly supported Barbara: "Barbara, calm down, what happened?"
Barbara didn't answer Jean directly, but instead pointed to the giant wolf fighting the demon dragon.
"That giant wolf is Orion."
As her words fell, the surroundings instantly plunged into silence.
Unlike the astonished gazes of the others, Venti looked surprised at the giant wolf, which bore a striking resemblance to Andrius.
I don't understand, who is who?
Clutching Jean's arm with both hands, Barbara spoke again, repeating the words she heard when she first met Orion: "I was afflicted by a curse, a curse that turns one into a werewolf on the night of the full moon."
Everyone looked up, then their eyes widened in shock.
Tonight was indeed the full moon!
Venti was greatly shocked.
Was this also part of your plan?!
Seeing the full moon appear and Orion transformed into a giant wolf, everyone showed grave expressions. Diluc looked at Kaiya, and Kaiya also nodded solemnly, indicating that it was indeed Orion who had transformed, right before their eyes.
Looking at the few people who were already there, Eula and Amber had been staring blankly. They had only vaguely heard about the curse before but hadn't taken it seriously. Even the usually calm Sister Lisa showed a hint of regret, biting the lace glove on her thumb, as if regretting her lack of knowledge.
Finally, Barbara suddenly threw herself into Jean's arms, sobbing loudly: "Sister! It's all my fault, it's all because I doubted him and didn't continue to help him break the curse!
If, if I could have helped him break the curse, maybe he wouldn't have had to succumb to it and turn into this form to protect us!!!"
Jean's expression management also somewhat broke down. She looked at the distant giant wolf with a complex expression.
"Is it because we reduced contact with him in the last few days that his curse worsened?"
Venti:...Magnificent!
Truly a genius at manipulating hearts!
Three lies, making women feel agonizing pain for me.
You wouldn't step on me, so why are you crying now that my curse has acted up?
Transforming into a giant wolf, these women regretted it.
What 'chasing after husband' trope.
Just this morning, I told him he lacked opportunities to get closer to them. Now, well, it's all opportunities.
Orion, who was fighting the demon dragon, also heard their conversation. Barbara's tearful lament made him momentarily stunned, and he even took a claw to the face because of it, giving people the illusion that the two monsters were fighting back and forth. Annoyed, Orion retaliated with a slap, directly stunning Stormterror. Taking advantage of the moment, he looked up at the sky.
Holy crap! It really is a full moon?
-
-
-
-