Into The Archon War

Before this chapter starts, just wanted to say that I'm as prone to making mistakes as any other person out there, no one is perfect. Of course, that extends to my character as well. A writer's character is only as foolish as the writer themselves after all. Also, as a lot of Genshin Impact lore and such are assumptions and speculations by the fanbase, apologies if I get anything wrong or doesn't match up with what you believe.

Anyway, it's Monday now, that means that poll thing I did is now over. I'm a bit surprised by the result, it was a landslide and it seems that the majority of you don't want the chat group members themselves to decide who joins. Fine with me.

Kind of weird honestly, it's technically me choosing them anyway. I mean, I could spice it up even for myself and put a bunch of random names of characters from the worlds and place them into a randomiser, that way even I don't know who'd end up joining.

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Kenji was making his final preparations for the quest as he was currently in his hotel room in a meditative position on the floor, eyes closed as only silence could be heard. On his bed was a large backpack where he had all the supplies he had packed for the mission.

He didn't pack anything beyond the necessary supplies, which of course included spare clothes along with snacks that wouldn't go bad. True, he didn't exactly need to eat to survive, but that didn't mean he couldn't at least enjoy the pleasures of having something good to eat.

As Kenji opened his eyes slightly, he glanced at the countdown timer that was present on the mission info log. Only thirty minutes remained now before the mission would officially begin. He didn't know what exactly was going to happen when the countdown struck zero, all he had were assumptions.

Not at all unexpected, the chat group members sent a few messages at this moment.

『Goddess of Planeptune』➤ Alright, it's almost time! See you guys there!

『Legendary Cocogoat』➤ I look forward to meeting you all!

『The Fourth Primogenitor』➤ Same here. Remember though, we're going to a war here

『The Final Doomsday』➤ That's true, stay safe. See you later

With those simple few messages, the chat group went silent as all the members quickly got themselves ready both physically and mentally. In Kenji's case, he was meditating to calm himself, he was about to step foot right into a battlefield after all.

He was no stranger to violence and killing, evident by his recent actions. However, simple violence and killing was quite different to a massive war. A war was pretty much killing times one thousand, there were going to most likely be dead bodies and such everywhere you look.

Taking a deep breath, Kenji meditated in silence for the next few minutes.

...

"It's almost time..." Kenji slowly opened his eyes once more to glance at the mission log, and when he did, he saw that the timer had entered it's final minute. Seeing this, Kenji stood up from his position and grabbed his backpack, swinging it over his shoulder as he cracked his neck. "Alright, let's do this."

『14 Seconds』

『5 Seconds』

『4 Seconds』

『3 Seconds』

『2 Seconds』

『1 Second』

『Mission Start』

Once that notification appeared, Kenji heard a strange sound in his room as he turned around to see what it was. When he did, Kenji blinked when he saw a swirling rift of blue and white colour appear at the centre area of his room.

Staring at it for a second, Kenji nodded to himself before walking towards it. He stopped for a second in front of it before walking in, the rift closing behind him once he fully entered. As the rift disappeared, the world switched to a shade of grey as it became completely frozen.

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Kenji was a bit surprised by the fact that he had to walk through a small wormhole of sorts before arriving at the destination, he had honestly expected to step into the portal and immediately step foot into the other world.

Once he arrived, Kenji blinked his eyes in confusion as he looked around. He wasn't entirely sure what he was expecting, but he did at least expect to see a good deal of destruction along with dead bodies around, but the place looked relatively damn peaceful from what he could see.

While it wasn't entirely intact, seeing as there were remnants of destroyed land in the form of uprooted trees and destroyed landscape, it wasn't near to the extent Kenji would have had assumed. This was supposed to be a battle of supernatural beings after all, you'd think the destruction would be far greater.

"Look who's here!"

Kenji blinked at the childish voice and turned his head to the right to see who had shouted, and when he did, he saw none other than Neptune walking over with a large smile on her face. Looking behind her, Kenji saw none other than Kojou walking over as well, the vampire gave a small wave as he walked over as well.

"Wow, you look even edgier than that photo you sent us!"

"And you look even shorter than I'd thought you'd be."

"Hey! My shortness is also what brings out my cuteness even further!"

"Whatever you say." Kenji deadpanned at the statement as he responded. While the photo Neptune sent of herself showed that she looked like a damn middle schooler, even that was a bit of stretch seeing her height in person. "Nice to see you, Kojou. Officially, at least."

"Same here,." Kojou nodded with a smile as he shook hands with Kenji. Kenji noticed that Kojou was wearing a hoodie, most likely to prevent himself from being hit by the sun. He was a vampire after all, though it was strange since it didn't seem that Kojou had his hood on.

"You're a vampire, right?" Kenji asked with a raised eyebrow. "How come you can stand in the sun? Is that a false speculation or something about vampires?"

"No, it isn't I'm just a special kind of vampire, the sun won't affect me as greatly as it would usually do to other vampires." Kojou explained as Kenji gave a simple nod in response. Kojou then blinked when he noticed a certain CPU giving him a narrowed stare. "What is it now, Neptune?"

"Don't come any closer! I know what you're up to, you're trying to get all familiar with us so we put our guards down, then you'll pounce and drink us dry!" Neptune exclaimed as she threw a few punches in the air towards Kojou. "I know how to fight! You better back up, buddy!"

"I already told you I'm not going to drink your blood!" Kojou yelled back with comical anger as Neptune continued throwing punches. "I may be a vampire, but I told you that I'm a virgin vampire! I haven't ever drunk anyone's blood before!"

"That's what you want us to think!" Neptune then pointed a finger at him. "You want to fight? Square up! I'll nep you up real good!"

"You...!"

"Enough, you two." Kenji deadpanned as he watched the drama play out. Hearing this, both chat members gave each other a look before snorting as they looked away from one another. "By the way, have any of you seen Ganyu yet? Or has she yet to arrive?"

"Nope, haven't seen her yet."

"I ran into Neptune not too long ago, we were only a few meters apart though. You weren't too far away either." Kojou explained as the three of them looked around just in case they just didn't notice her. "We should just wait, she probably hasn't stepped through the portal yet."

"Good idea." Kenji nodded as he placed his backpack onto the ground, the others doing the same as they all took a seat on the ground. "So, what did you guys end up bringing? I just got some clothes along with some food supplies, nothing crazy really."

"Same here, wasn't really sure what to bring."

"Well~, let me tell you guys!"

"You brought an entire pudding stash, didn't you?"

"Wha-! How did you know?!"

Kojou just gave her a blank stare.

"Aside from the pudding?" Kenji snorted in amusement as he looked towards the large pink bag Neptune had, the goddess already having had opened up her bag to take out one of the pudding cups as she proceeded to devour it. "Did you bring anything else?"

"Aside from my pudding?" Neptune blinked as she gulped down the large amount of pudding in her mouth. She then held a finger to her chin as she seemed to be trying to remember, which wasn't exactly a good thing. "Can't remember, I think I brought some extra clothes."

"You think?" Kojou face palmed at this. "I didn't bring any girl clothes, let alone any that would fit you, so you better hope you brought your own extra clothing. I doubt Kenji here brought any clothes that would fit you either."

As they continued talking, their attention was soon caught by a familiar strange sound. Snapping their heads towards the source, they saw the same blue and white rift they all walked through appeared near them. Standing up, they all walked over towards it.

While walking over, the three noticed the figure walking out from the portal that soon closed behind them. The person was obviously Ganyu, who was panting slightly, and just like them, she had her own large bag that she was carrying as well.

"S-Sorry, everyone!" Ganyu quickly apologised upon seeing them. "I ended up falling asleep while waiting, sorry if I'm late!"

"Don't worry about it~! You're here, that's all that matters!" Neptune smiled brightly as she skipped over towards the other female. Ganyu smiled at the words, that smile widening further as she saw both Kojou and Kenji giving her reassured looks. "It's finally nice to see you in person though, Ganyu!"

Ganyu was a bit taken back when Neptune got really close and stared up at her. She was happy to finally meet the three of them for real, but she was very much nervous as well. Talking over the chat group was one thing, but in person was another thing entirely.

"I-It's the same for me, Neptune."

"Alright, Ganyu! You and I have something important to do!" Neptune suddenly declared as they all stared at her in confusion, especially Ganyu who blinked. Neptune then smirked before taking out one of her pudding cups. "I've promised to show you the greatness of true pudding, have a taste!"

"E-Eh?" Ganyu certainly wasn't expecting this and wasn't entirely sure how to respond. "Th-This really isn't the time, Neptune..."

"Come on! It won't take long!"

"That's enough, Neptune." Kenji lightly chopped the girl on top of the head as he took the cup of pudding from Neptune's hand. Neptune gave him a light glare as she rubbed her head, flinching when she saw Kojou snickering behind Kenji. "This is made with eggs, right? Ganyu, didn't you say that you don't eat any kind of animal products?"

"That's right." Ganyu nodded her head as she placed her bag on the ground. "...Sorry, Neptune. I don't really like eating food like that. H-However, I can make an exception this time, I'm not completely against eating products from animals..."

"Nah~, it's fine." Neptune merely waved it off with a smile. "If you don't want to eat that stuff, then I'll respect it! It's such a shame though, you can't enjoy the glory that is pudding! What a tragedy it is, such a tragic situation you have yourself in! You have my condolences!"

"...I see?"

"Moving on from that." Kenji spoke up as Kojou and Neptune, who had gone back to bickering with one another, stopped as they looked towards him. "This is your world, Ganyu. Your world's past technically. Do you recognise where we are?"

"Let's see..." Ganyu looked around at the area they were in, her eyes widening a bit as a look of realisation appeared on her face. "This the Guili Plains, at least what it was like back during this time. Liyue Harbor isn't too far away, only a few hours if our journey isn't hindered and we make haste. We should head over towards there first."

Hearing the name, Kojou asked. "Liyue Harbor? That's the place you said you live, right?"

"Indeed." Ganyu nodded. "If we can determine what stage Liyue Harbor is currently in development, then I should be able to have a fairly good idea of what point in time we are in."

"Sounds like a solid plan." Kenji agreed fully with those words. They were given a simple task by the chat group, but they needed to figure out their current situation before deciding on how to proceed with the actual mission. "I'm a bit concerned though...will these Yaksha not see us as enemies? Considering we might be during a war..."

"I... don't believe they will attack." Ganyu thought for a moment before shaking her head. "As long as you prove yourselves to be allies, then they won't show any hostility towards you. They may be cautious, but they won't attack unless you're an enemy."

"That's reassuring at least." Kojou spoke up as he placed his hood over his head. "Also, if we're really in this... Archon War, aren't there supposed other gods fighting each other across the place? What happens if we run into them? Are we just screwed?"

"Not entirely..." Ganyu responded, though her voice did sound a bit unsure. "Gods, just like the adepti, range in power. Some gods aren't nearly as powerful as others, some aren't stronger than your average adepti. We should mostly be okay as long as we avoid the stronger deities..."

"Should be?" Neptune repeated with a sweatdrop. "So, all we have to do is avoid countless gods that are just walking around kicking each other's butts? Sounds great! It's the Console War all over again, except the insanity meter has been switched to the max..."

Kenji listened to all this silently, they did have to be careful. From what they've been explained to by Ganyu, the chances of them running into deities fighting was pretty high. It was a war between gods for supremacy after all. With his abilities, he should more than fine, he was more concerned about the others.

Since Ganyu had apparently lived through this stuff already, she probably has a good deal of fighting strength. The other two, he wasn't entirely sure. He didn't know what abilities they had, nor did he know how strong they were physically.

"Let's get going. Ganyu said it'll take a few hours, so let's not waste any time."