The Knights of Favonius, hearing that Captain Kaeya was going to challenge the leader of the Black Blade unit, found the news spreading like wildfire.
A large number of knights swarmed the training plaza, all wanting to witness for themselves what kind of magic the Black Blade unit possessed.
They also wanted to see who was stronger: their Captain Kaeya, or that Kaedehara Kazuha.
The entire plaza was now packed with people—not just knights, but also Fatui agents and even some ordinary citizens.
At this moment, Su Han said to Kaeya, "Since this is a spar, why don't we let one of your knights and one of my Black Blade unit members have a go first?"
"Alright, just as a warm-up. Boret, you're up," Kaeya said.
"Yes, sir." A blond-haired man stepped out from among the knights. He was slender and held a Western-style sword.
Kaedehara Kazuha then called out, "Tie Han, you do it. Go easy on him."
"Don't worry, Captain. I won't let him get seriously injured," Tie Han said with a grin, holding only an iron rod in his hand.
Hearing such arrogant words, Boret was incensed. It was one thing to look down on their captain, but to look down on him as well?
The nearby knights also began to cheer him on.
"Go, Boret! Defeat this kid!"
"Show him the power of our Knights of Favonius!"
"Take him out in one blow!"
Faced with his comrades' cheers, Boret nodded and took an offensive stance.
"Battle, begin!"
With Kaeya's command, the match started.
However, before Boret could even attack, a black shadow appeared in front of him.
WHAM!
His body felt as if it had been hit by a train, and he was sent flying like a rubber ball. Not only that, but the sword in his hand also shattered.
The field fell into a dead silence.
Although Boret didn't have a Vision, he was an old veteran of the Knights. Yet he had been defeated so easily.
Tie Han shook his head. "So boring. You can't even take one hit from me? I wasn't even using my full strength."
As soon as these words came out, the faces of the Knights of Favonius turned very ugly.
Another knight stepped forward. "I challenge you!"
Everyone looked and saw that it was Boret's friend, Atto. The two of them usually guarded the headquarters together and had a very good relationship.
"Fine, come on. I'll let you attack first!" Tie Han said, completely unconcerned. Anyway, these knights were all just for show.
The battle began again.
Atto ran at full speed, the greatsword in his hands whistling through the air.
"Shatter-Rock!" he roared, leaping high into the air and pouring all of his strength into the greatsword.
As a result, a scene that shocked everyone occurred.
Tie Han merely used one hand to catch the greatsword.
"The force is acceptable, but such a foolish leap exposes countless openings. Didn't your instructor ever tell you that?"
He didn't attack, but just threw him aside.
However, this move made the Knights of Favonius look even worse. This was like a father beating his son. It was too much.
Kaeya, seeing that things were not going well, quickly came out to smooth things over.
"Alright, alright, it's just a normal spar, don't make such a fuss. If your skills are inferior, you just have to train harder. Now, let us begin our match! Mr. Kaedehara Kazuha."
"Alright." Kaedehara Kazuha walked to the center of the plaza, his expression incomparably calm, as if he had no interest in this kind of match at all.
Standing next to Su Han, Hu Tao shook her head. "The gap is too big. I'm afraid that Kaeya won't even last five minutes."
The gap between someone who had Haki and someone who didn't was just too vast. And Kazuha sparred with Keqing and the others every day.
Beidou smiled. "That's exactly why that kid Kazuha didn't want to fight. After all, a boring match like this is no challenge for him at all."
He was supplied with Stormterror meat every day and was undergoing terrifying training. On what grounds could a slacker like Kaeya compare to him?
The battle quickly began.
Kaedehara Kazuha said to Kaeya, "You can attack first."
After all, this was their home turf. To just go up and take him out would be a bit classless. So, he wanted to let his opponent attack first.
Kaeya didn't waste any time and directly activated Frostgnaw. Six revolving icicles spun around his body. At the same time, the ground turned to frost, and the temperature of the air began to drop.
Kaeya looked at Kazuha and smiled. "You're an Anemo user, right? You won't have any advantage against my Cryo."
"Oh. Then hurry up and attack," Kazuha replied, unconcerned.
Elemental reactions did have a counter effect, but when the gap in raw strength between the two sides was too large, elemental reactions were useless. Just as fire could melt ice, could you melt a glacier?
At this moment, Klee's voice came from the sidelines.
"Hurry, Sister Ganyu! Big Brother Kaeya and Big Brother Kazuha are fighting!"
"Run a little slower, Klee! There are a lot of people here."
Ganyu and Keqing followed Klee into the plaza.
Looking at the two sparring, little Klee shouted, "Go, Big Brother Kaeya! Don't lose!"
"Don't worry, Klee! I'm very strong!"
With the little sun's cheers, Kaeya charged out. His speed was astonishing, completely unlike the lazy person he usually was.
In almost an instant, Kaeya arrived in front of Kazuha, his longsword a hailstorm of ice, mercilessly stabbing at his opponent.
"Such a fast sword!"
"As expected of Captain Kaeya!"
"Defeat him in one blow!"
The crowd cheered continuously. But Kaeya himself did not feel he had the advantage, because the man in front of him was dodging all of his attacks as if he could predict them in advance.
After a full five minutes of a ferocious assault, he hadn't even touched a single hair on Kaedehara Kazuha's head.
And the moment Kaeya retreated, Kazuha made his move.
He drew his blade, and the white sword instantly turned pitch black.
"It's a black blade!"
"This must be the legendary black blade!"
"Why did his sword turn black?!"
The crowd was shocked.
Just then, a terrifying sword slash erupted from Kaedehara Kazuha's hand.
The cutting power of the wind and the destructive power of Haki were superimposed.
"Not good! I can't dodge it!"
The speed of his opponent's slash was too fast. By the time Kaeya wanted to retreat, the sword energy was already upon him.
In that instant, his Frostgnaw shattered, and his entire body was sent flying by the slash.
One hit, and he was defeated.
When Kaeya was sent flying, the scene once again became as quiet as a library.
All the sounds of cheering vanished.
"The gap… is it really that big?"
Diluc, who was standing in the shadows, couldn't help but frown as he watched the defeated Kaeya. Then, his gaze shifted to the man standing next to Beidou. If it was him, he would surely be even stronger.
The crowd couldn't believe that their Cavalry Captain had lost so completely.
Lying on the ground, Kaeya stared blankly at the sky, his mind thinking, Is the gap really this big?
The battle was over.
Klee ran to Kaeya's side, concerned. "Big Brother Kaeya, are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Thank you for your concern, Klee."
The defeat was so total that Kaeya felt terrible. He had wanted to chat with Klee to lighten the mood, but he didn't expect that the little girl would only say one sentence to him before running over to Su Han's side, even offering him the snacks she had just bought.
"Big Brother, Klee bought you some candy! This is a special Mondstadt candy! Klee will feed it to you."
"Alright, that's so sweet. Thank you, Klee."
"By the way, Big Brother, when are we going back to Liyue? Mondstadt is so boring, and there are always Fatui staring at me."
"Mm. We'll go back after Ningguang has finished her discussions." Su Han said, picking up Klee and heading towards the Knights' headquarters.
At this time, Ningguang and Jean had more or less finished their discussion.
Seeing Klee return, Jean quickly stood up. "Klee, you're back. You shouldn't go back this time. It's not good to keep troubling them."
"I… I don't want to stay in Mondstadt!" Klee immediately refused upon hearing that she couldn't go back.
Jean frowned. "Klee! Don't be naughty. If you stay in Liyue like this, you'll bring a lot of trouble to Su Han and the others."
"You're wrong about that, Acting Grand Master Jean. Klee hasn't brought us any trouble at all. In fact, she's like a little ray of sunshine who makes everyone happy. Although she's a bit mischievous at times, she's just a child, and everyone understands. On the contrary, I heard that when she was in Mondstadt, she was often put in solitary confinement. Why is that? She's still just a child, isn't she?"
Faced with Su Han's questioning, Jean took a deep breath and explained, "That's because Klee's destruction was interfering with official business. If I didn't handle it that way, the citizens would have complained."
"Oh? Then why is it that when Klee stays in Liyue, no one reports her? In fact, everyone likes her. Come on, Klee, tell the Acting Grand Master how you spend your days."
With her big brother's encouragement, Klee took a deep breath and began to explain her daily routine.
"Klee… in the morning, Klee goes to the Wanmin Restaurant. Chef Mao there says I'm a good girl and prepares a lot of delicious food for me every day. Then… then Klee can go to Sister Sucrose's laboratory to research new Jumpy Dumpties! And at noon, there will be delicious meat delivered. Sister Ningguang said that eating more meat will help me grow up big and strong, so Klee really likes to eat. In the afternoon, Klee goes to blast mountains, and even blast fish. But Klee isn't causing destruction! There will be big brothers and sisters from the Millelith who designate a place for Klee to blast. And I heard Klee can also get Mora, and in the future, I can buy many, many things."
After listening to Klee's description, Jean's heart turned completely cold.
How could she compete with this?
Such treatment, such education, completely crushed Mondstadt.
Klee was never coming back.
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