Knowing an elemental hypostasis's fighting pattern—and not knowing it—were two completely different difficulties.
The Anemo Hypostasis extended its form, then began spinning, transforming into a tapered wind drill as it patrolled its domain like a lord inspecting trespassers.
"Dodge!" Kaito shouted.
Diluc didn't need the warning—he had already moved.
The Anemo element spiraling around that drill wasn't a gentle breeze.
Even from far away, it felt like his skin was being sliced.
"When do we attack?" Diluc asked.
"Same as before—when the core is exposed," Kaito said.
As he spoke, the Anemo Hypostasis suddenly dropped down near them.
Kaito's mind clicked into place at once.
Its attacks were limited in number—and easy to predict.
"Compressed wind field—back out!" he barked.
The moment the words left his mouth—
The inert shells shot outward in every direction, orbiting the core like stars around a moon.
A terrifying suction formed like a prison at the center.
But Kaito had already dragged Diluc out of range. Both of them planted their claymores into the ground to brace themselves and held on.
For a brief moment—
Then—
Boom!
The shells snapped back inward all at once and detonated around the core.
A violent storm explosion erupted.
If you got caught in that, even surviving with "only" serious injuries would count as luck.
"Now!" Kaito shouted.
With the shells blown apart, only the core hovered low to the ground.
"Searing Onslaught!"
Diluc hacked three times—
And already, inert shells began forming again around the core.
He knew better than to overstay. He pulled back immediately.
Kaito did the same.
Enraged that its last attack hadn't killed them, the Anemo Hypostasis lifted its core, reshaping with its shells into a massive wind-butterfly. Its wings beat—
A swift gust chased down Diluc, the one who had dealt it the heavier damage.
The wind wrapped him and hauled him up into the air.
Another wingbeat—
A tearing gale swept out—
But the target vanished.
Kaito had already spread his wind glider, caught Diluc—
And dropped back down.
He folded the glider away and set Diluc down. Diluc sucked in a sharp breath, pain flashing across his face.
"That wind… was fast," Diluc said, shaken.
The first part was clearly control—the second was the real killing blow.
There was no way to dodge once you were caught. If he'd taken that second hit, he would've died here.
"I'll try to pull aggro," Kaito said.
He didn't need Diluc to draw attacks for him.
What he needed from Diluc was damage—and a margin for error.
Like that first wind strike just now: Diluc had taken it and could still fight.
Otherwise, tricking Lisa into coming would've been ideal.
…
Every one of the Anemo Hypostasis's attacks relied on its inert shells.
After that last move, it dropped without protection again—regenerating shells as it prepared its next pattern.
The wind coating Kaito's "invisible sword" dispersed—
Revealing a dark crimson greatsword.
The grip was long and narrow. The guard looked armored, protecting an elemental conduction mechanism at its center. The blade itself was covered in claw-like scars, as if a wolf had raked it.
A slanted cutting edge. A diamond-shaped blood groove carved down the middle.
Even just being exposed to the air, it carried a chilling, murderous aura.
A weapon this distinctive was impossible to forget.
"That—!"
Diluc ignored the pain in his body, staring in shock. "That's the sword Grand Master Varka has been searching for ever since he took command… and it's in your hands!?"
Wolf's Gravestone.
Mondstadt's most famous—and most meaningful—legendary claymore.
In Mondstadt, very few people even knew Kaito used a claymore.
Because his weapon was almost always concealed by Anemo.
Nearly everyone assumed he used a one-handed sword—
His swordplay was simply too agile.
Even the Knights and the Church had gifted him Favonius weapons—
And they'd given him a Favonius Sword, not a Favonius Greatsword.
"If you have time to be shocked, you can use it to get a few more hits in," Kaito's voice carried back.
His figure had already surged forward.
He'd been forced to drop the Wind Barrier around his blade because their target was the Anemo Hypostasis—cutting it with Anemo would do almost nothing.
"Wolf's Gravestone…"
At the edge of the ruin, Noelle recognized it too. She tightened her grip on Whiteblind. "That's… so cool."
She didn't know whether she meant the sword—
Or the one wielding it.
"I feel like I've heard of it…" Barbara murmured, thinking.
"It was the sword of the Northwind Knight," Noelle said.
"The Northwind Knight… you mean Grand Master Varka?" Barbara asked.
"No. Mondstadt's first Northwind Knight," Noelle explained. "That title was passed down."
The current Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius, Varka, had been searching for the lost greatsword for years—this wasn't exactly a secret in Mondstadt.
Barbara covered her mouth in shock. Smart as she was, she immediately understood the problem this could cause.
"Kaito… will Kaito end up fighting Grand Master Varka?"
"At the very least," Noelle said seriously, "a 'spar' is unavoidable."
But Lumine wasn't paying attention to the sword at all.
She was tense, eyes locked on the battle.
The Anemo Hypostasis spun and climbed higher—
Drawing the ruin's Anemo energy into itself, transforming it into countless tornadoes that crashed down from above—
And blocked the entire field of view.
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 60 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/StrawHatStudios