"Surrender immediately!"
A soldier in purple armor thrust his spear straight forward, aiming for Childe and Ember's armpits.
From their stance, they intended to pin Ember and Childe down.
"I'll dodge!" Childe twisted his body, evading the soldiers' direct thrust.
"Clang buzz—"
With a harsh scraping sound of metal, two shattered spear blades flew out and embedded themselves in the ground.
Holding the half-broken spear tip in his hand, Ember pulled hard, causing two soldiers to stumble and fall to the ground.
"Your lower body isn't very stable; you need to practice more in the future." Throwing the useless spear aside, Ember shook his head.
"Inazuma's first battle begins here! I hope you don't disappoint me!"
Childe summoned the Polar Star he had always used, and with a surge of power, the pure bow transformed into two single-bladed swords.
Immediately, Childe, wielding two single-bladed swords with light blue ripples, ran directly into two patrolling squads of Sergeants.
"Whoa!"
"Take this!"
"Slash, slash, slash!"
Water-colored ripples spread through the crowd as Childe swiftly took down the two squads of soldiers patrolling outside the camp.
"Good, good, good! Quite impressive!"
Seeing Childe end the battle so cleanly, Ember clapped from the side.
"Naturally, my position as a Harbinger isn't just for show!" Hearing Ember's words, Childe proudly raised his head amidst the groaning crowd.
"I hope you can stay this tough later." Ember nodded in agreement, then instantly vanished.
"Hmm? Where is he? Where did he go?"
Childe scratched his head in confusion, seeing Ember disappear in the blink of an eye.
Soon, his eyes darted around. Ember was gone; could he try to escape?
"Thump! Thump! Thump!"
Just as Childe was considering whether to flee, he heard a dull drumming sound suddenly echo from within the military camp.
"Kill, kill, kill!"
Accompanied by the drumbeats, fully armed squads of Sergeants rushed out from the camp.
"Who goes there! State your names!"
"I knew Ember ran so fast; so he already anticipated this, didn't he!"
Childe ignored the Sergeants shouting in the distance. He slapped his forehead, finally understanding why Ember had run so fast earlier.
That guy had already anticipated this scene!
"I'll dodge too!" Seeing the overwhelming number of people opposite him, Childe, not wanting to get too entangled, also decided to follow Ember's example and run.
He took a leap, jumping into the distance.
"Whoosh!"
The sound of something cutting through the air came from behind, but Childe only sneered.
"Hmph, mere ordinary arrows, what can they do to me?"
Childe turned around, seized the opportunity, and cleaved with a sword.
"Crack—"
The blade precisely hit the incoming arrow, splitting it in half.
But before Childe could gloat, a talisman inscribed with mysterious patterns floated before his eyes.
"Huh? What's this?" Childe's eyes widened. Where did this talisman come from?
Soon, a red light glowed on the talisman, immediately making Childe understand what it was.
"Sizzle—boom!"
Flames erupted, and a fireball rose, sending Childe sprawling face-first.
"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey! Quite powerful!" Childe's hair was slightly singed. He climbed up from the ground, spitting out the dirt that had flown into his mouth.
That the Inazuma army had such a simple method of wielding elemental power genuinely surprised Childe.
But it only surprised him. This talisman was not only weak but also took a long time to activate its elemental power.
It only hit Childe because it was his first time seeing it, and there was an element of surprise.
"Heh heh, you got lucky the first time, but a second time won't work on me."
Wiping the dirt from the corner of his mouth, Childe muttered.
"You'll taste a second one soon enough!"
A shout from a distance brought Childe back to his senses. He looked around and realized that he had been surrounded by fully armed soldiers at some point.
"This is bad." Childe saw it and immediately felt he was done for.
Although he was a Harbinger, being surrounded by an organized army would not end well. Not to mention, he was also being watched by Ember, so he couldn't go all out.
"Ember, no matter what you're doing! Come save me quickly!" After a loud shout, Childe put his hands over his head, preparing to stand at attention and take his beating.
"Brothers! Charge!"
The leading Hatamoto General, seeing Childe in a defensive crouch, showed no mercy and immediately rallied the soldiers behind him, who rushed forward with shouts.
Spear tips glinting with cold light stabbed from all directions. If Childe did nothing, he would surely become a pincushion.
"No, you guys actually dare to stab?"
Feeling the sense of danger encompassing his entire body, Childe instantly leaped from the ground, then crudely swept the surrounding elemental power across the area.
"Splash!"
"Ouch!"
"Such great power!"
Hydro elements solidified into water bubbles, rapidly expanding from around Childe's body, knocking over the surrounding soldiers.
"Shield bearers to the front, swordsmen use the Shinso Talismans to imbue the shields with Hydro elements!"
"Spearmen behind the shield bearers, stab when you see an opening! Archers and crossbowmen, don't be idle; don't be stingy with elemental arrows!"
"Those in the watchtowers, use your heavy crossbows to seal off his escape route! This is a big fish; we can't let him get away!"
The Hatamoto General in charge was clearly not incompetent. Seeing Childe capable of gathering such a large amount of elemental power in such a short time, he immediately adjusted their formation and stood ready.
After the formation changed, Childe immediately felt his pressure increase.
His Hydro blades slashed at the enchanted shield wall; the large shields merely swayed without further movement. He exerted more force, but the spear tips of the spearmen behind the shield bearers had already thrust fiercely forward.
Childe wanted to leap over the encirclement, but as soon as he jumped into the air, a dense rain of arrows would pour down.
Not only that, the elemental arrows shot from the heavy crossbows in the watchtowers always managed to block his escape routes.
And the Sergeants below always advanced in perfect unison, repositioning the encirclement to Childe's landing spot, leaving him nowhere to run.
"No way, this harsh?" Dodging another enchanted arrow shot from above, Childe looked at the approaching "blue wall" again, a sense of urgency in his heart.
He should have just run away earlier. By waiting for Ember, he had missed the best escape opportunity.
Now… Childe looked at the enchanted greatshields, which were a full person's height, and dodged the heavy arrows, two fingers thick, shot from the watchtowers. A bitter taste filled his mouth.
"Clang!"
Once again, he blocked a crossbow bolt shot from behind with both hands; its immense force even made Childe stagger backward.
"Hmph… hmph…"
Childe looked at the arrow deeply embedded in the mud on the ground and took several deep breaths.
The arrow shot by the watchtower's heavy crossbow, the part exposed above ground, was already as high as his chest. If he were hit directly, even as a Harbinger, he would definitely not be able to withstand it.
"Although this battle isn't the duel I envisioned, since it has started, I absolutely cannot lose!"
Childe saw the shield bearers, who had just dispersed, closing in again, knowing that if he didn't want to be defeated here, he had to go all out!
So, his entire body began to emit purple lightning. At the same time, wisps of dark aura gradually attached themselves to his body.
"Watch my Foul Legacy…"
"Stop fighting, all of you—"
Ember's voice came, startling Childe's thoughts, and the power he had accumulated instantly lost control.
"Ugh…"
His qi and blood surged, and Childe almost couldn't catch his breath. He turned his head and saw Ember, holding two figures in his hands.
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