145 The Battle of Mondstadt 2

"You won't be able to escape," the masked man said as flames surged around his chains, threatening to burn Allen's ankle.

"You talk as if I need to run away," Allen scoffed, completely disregarding the black flames that failed to burn even her skin. She had seen the attack coming and let it grip her for her own amusement.

She pulled her tied ankle back, and the masked man quickly reacted, pulling the chains to break her posture. But he found no resistance at all, as Allen took advantage of the force, charging forward towards him.

"Aren't you the one in danger, mister Darknight?" With the masked man's pull and propulsion of hydro energy over her foot, Allen instantly reached the masked man, who quickly thrust a dagger at her with his right hand.

"Pitiful," Allen's weapon disappeared as she turned her body, extending her left arm and hitting the masked man's right ankle upwards, forcing his arm upwards and avoiding him. Allen twisted her body, kicking the masked man's left side.

"Ag!" The masked man was pushed away, but he didn't let go of the chain, dragging Allen with him. It was a terrible error as Allen was able to completely read the forces of the chains, making most of its momentum follow the masked man.

"Aren't you the one that can't escape?" Allen gripped the chain, forcing the masked man towards her and breaking any possibility of him recovering his posture.

*Bang!* Allen hit the masked man's stomach with her palm, shooting him away with blood surging from his mouth.

Allen tried again to use the chain in her favor, but the masked man withdrew it, seeing it was ineffective having Allen tied up. Not only was the black fire ineffective against Allen, but she showed greater control and experience with the use of chains.

Without the chain connecting them, the masked man was able to recover, landing on the ground and correcting his posture. A black aria appeared in front of him, and more than ten chains shot towards Allen. This time there was no intention of tying her; his intention was impaling her with them.

"You really should practice more with it," Allen stated as she straightened her posture, her feet flickering erratically as she advanced forward, her body dancing between the chains, easily crossing over them and reaching the masked man without any of them even gracing her.

Seeing her reaching him, the masked man tried to thrust his right dagger, but Allen was swifter, hitting his shoulder and stopping the movement. Allen could have easily counterattacked and taken care of him, but she decided otherwise, stopping her movements and waiting for him.

"Shit!" The masked man started swinging both arms, trying to swing his daggers and summon more chains against Allen. However, Allen saw through all his movements and was able to stop them before he could complete them, making any attempt to retaliate uselessly.

More than a fight, Allen seemed to be playing with him, giggling at his impotence, unable to finish any action, completely at her mercy. The difference in technique and experience was obvious, with Allen showing far greater skill and control, being able to move the masked man's body as if it were her own.

"Is this all you're capable of? What a letdown," Allen sighed, bored. "I suppose it's time to end..."

"Hah!" The masked man shouted furiously as black flames surged from him, his Delusion over his left hand shining brightly as flames exploded from him.

In Allen's hands, the bow of a cello, appeared as she jumped backward, creating a shield of hydro in front of her as she backed from the explosion, avoiding most of it and landing 20 meters away.

Allen looked over her left hand, wincing as she saw a fresh burn mark on it. "That's more like it. Come!" she grinned.

"Hah!" The masked man summoned a massive aria in front of him, far bigger and stronger than the ones before. His body was covered by black flames as he shot towards Allen a sea of chains that seemed to join into an immense one.

Allen calmly lowered her body, positioning her bow over her hip as if sheathing it, and closed her eyes.

"Kamisato Kagome Art: Kasumi Enbu!" Allen opened her eyes with determination, drawing multiple multidirectional strikes while imbuing her sword with Hydro. All of the strikes converged at the same point and exploded, expanding into a net of sword ki and Hydro that covered the masked man's attack, obscuring it and swallowing it up like a mist.

*Pa* There was no great crash or anything too eye-catching. Once Allen's attack finished, the chains powerless fell to the ground without any strength or momentum. After losing all of their strength. they quietly dispersed shortly after.

"It wasn't a bad training," Allen stated, turning around and leaving the masked man completely shocked.

*Bang!* Just as Allen stepped forward, black chains surged from the ground in front of her, stopping her way.

"You won't escape!" Allen looked backwards, seeing the masked man summoning a black aria over his feet.

"I wasted too much time playing with you" Allen stated calmly "And, are you really sure that you should be busy with me, mister Darknight Hero?" Allen grinned.

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" Suddenly a powerful roar resounded from over the sky being listened all over Mondstadt.

"You know, rain calls for the storm" Allen stated smiling as a big dragon pierced through the cloudy sky, Stormterror appearing over Mondstadt.

Stormterror's eyes were red and cloudy, the spikes on his back shining brightly as it shouted with anger as it turned over the Favonius Cathedral, marking it as its objective.

The masked man looked between the dragon and Allen and quickly made his decision, withdrawing the chains and charging over the Cathedral. He knew that Allen was dangerous but couldn't ignore the thread of Stormterror as the Cathedral was where most of the people of Mondstadt had evacuated due to the Oceanids attacks and was weakly defended due to the strongest Knights needing to take care of the invasion.

If the dragon were to attack it and destroy it, the human loss would be disastrous.

"GRRRRRRR!" Stormterror opened his mouth, summoning Anemo energy around it and preparing for his attack, his objective being the church.

'That's what you gain for looking down at me, Barbatos' Allen giggled as she saw the imminent attack.

That was the last ace of her plan of attack Mondstadt. Putting one of the attracting rocks over the Cathedral, knowing that it would be the place where they will move the common people during the attack while invoking Stormterror, marking the Cathedral as its objective.

If the knights were too strong or she too weak against Barbatos that would be used as the last bargain for the Gnosis, Allen being able to force Stormterror away once using her spike.

'I wasn't planning on using it, but whatever. You can blame your god, people of Mondst-' Allen stopped in her thoughts as she blinked with confusion 'Is this really necessary? For them to pay with their lives...'

'It's a cheap price for looking down at me'

'Isn't it too much? They are innocent people'

'But in the end, they are nothing more than ants'

'Wait a moment' Allen froze still, her eyes becoming fierce 'STOP!'

...

"So the little boy finally decided to rebel?" Allen found himself in a dark space with only darkness around. He was his male self and in front of him stood a beautiful young woman that he knew from memories.

"Kagome" Allen stated looking with anger at her "You are taking over my body" Allen realized.

"It took you long enough" Kagome grinned.

"You have been influencing me since the start. That's why I only saw everyone as simply pieces of chess, not minding any of my results."

"I let your family as an exemption, you should thank me" Kagome stated "But for your knowledge, it's not taking over. You are a little pitiful and naive, I've been simply guiding you to improve yourself. We are special and it's our right and duty to show it to others. If you simply follow my will, I won't uselessly act."

"And what if I go against you?"

"You'll need to face me. Are you confident to win?" Kagome grinned "I advise against it. It will be quite painful for you and you are too weak. In the end, I'll devour you and take full control"

"I won't let myself be controlled" Allen stated fiercely.

"So you will go against me for what? Some useless people? Really?" Kagome asked incredulously.

"I might have been controlled before, being too weak to fight against not only you, but over multiple people like the Fatui, but I won't let it take complete control of me" Allen stated "I'll grow stronger and path my own destiny! I'll be the one to control you!"

"Really?" Kagome said boredly "Do whatever, but be prepared to pay the price of your foolishness."

...

"GRRRR!" Stormterror finished its preparations, shooting an immense Anemo sphere towards the Cathedral.

The masked man jumped in front of it, summoning multiple chains in front of him, shooting them at Stormterror's attack, but they fell short. The enormous might of the attack easily discarded the chains, only lowering its power a little.

"Shit!" The masked man cursed as the attack was about to swallow him and the Cathedral.

"BURST!" Suddenly, a figure jumped in front of him. It was Allen unleashing his full might, wearing full armor and a mask of ice, he had used everything in his reach, all his strength and the skills of his Vision, to summon two swords with his first constellation and guard his body with armor with his second. Taking both swords, he burst them to obtain the maximum momentary strength to face the attack.

*CR* The air cracked as his swords clashed with the Anemo sphere. Allen was able to see himself being quickly overpowered, the swords reaching their limit and exploding, crashing Allen to the ground and only able to stop the sphere for an instant before it charged again towards the Cathedral.

"HAHHHHH!" Allen shouted as he stood up. 'There's no need for them to die. These innocent people don't deserve to die for something like this. For my own struggle, I'll show it to everyone. I can do it! This is my decision!'

*FUSH!* Suddenly, a pillar of blue light pierced through the sky over Allen, and a shiny new star appeared, signifying the unlocking of his new constellation. The light of three stars was now able to pierce the cloudy sky.

"REFORCE!" Allen extended his arms, summoning two hard ice swords in each one. With the effect of his new constellations, they were now perfectly useable, his Elemental Skill reaching a new level with the hardness of his ice far stronger.

'I can't copy her with this body, but...' Allen clenched his teeth as his full armor started shining brightly. 'I'll emulate the effect!'

Allen's armor burst, and multiple micro explosions started all over it, using all of his remaining strength and gravely injuring his body, but acquiring explosive strength and speed for an instant.

"KASUMI!" Allen swung both swords, exploding them as he created multiple slashes over them, all of them converging into a single point that exploded, expanding towards Stormterror's attack.

*BOOOOM!* Allen used his all, and with the help of his new constellation, he was able to copy Kagome's effect, taking over the attack's energy and dispersing it, however, even with his all he was a step away, unable to fully disperse it. The Anemo Sphere broke apart into a powerful explosion, destroying its surroundings.

The Cathedral was able to avoid the worst fate, only being slightly damaged, but keeping its interior and the people within safe.

On the other hand, Allen's body was thrown away into the air over Mondstadt's walls, heavily injured. With his last strength, Allen created a replica of the Flute using his newly improved Elemental Skill.

"♪" With a single swing that required all his strength, a little vibration was created, resounding all over Mondstadt.

"GRRRRRR!" Stormterror's spikes shined brightly, reacting to that little sound, the one imbued in the middle to break down and injuring it, causing it to quickly leave in pain.

"I did it," Allen smiled weakly as his consciousness wavered.

*Paf* Allen's body fell into the lake where Endora, who also heard the sound and commanded to withdraw to the Lochfolk, caught him.

'What stupidity' Kagome's voice resounded over Allen's mind. 'You better don't use me again. Because the next time you use me, you should follow my will or die.' Allen was able to hear before falling unconscious, embraced and protected by Endora.

...

Over the plaza, the masked man looked at the aftermath of the attack, his face fixed over where Allen was thrown away "Who were you?" He whispered with doubt before quickly leaving the place at the sound of people approaching.

...

At the throne room the Tsaritsa was looking at a chessboard, in the middle of it stood the white queen, a black pawn and the black queen. Suddenly, the black pawn shined with blue light that quickly returned to normal and the white queen fell over.

"We obtained the first piece."