Outside Mondstadt City, Springvale.
South of Cider Lake, where hills and springs complement each other, a small town of hunters is built. Windmills slowly turn and clear streams flow through the town, carrying the scent of roasted meat and beer.
The pine forest stretching towards the distant ridge is a uniform green, its slender branches swaying in the wind like ripples, elegant and secluded.
And... some not-so-friendly boars.
In any case, if it were a sunny day, this scenery would surely be even more beautiful.
"Ah-ha... found it!" As Jibril yelled out.
The group gathered, carefully observing the debris on the ground. "This is... shattered cloth, with traces of Anemo. Judging by the pattern and weaving, it might be a piece of a wind glider."
"Good! If it's really the Strange Bird, then its wind glider should be broken."
"The elemental traces lead directly to... over there." Amber rubbed the greenish marks on her gloves and pointed into the distance.
"Did [Raptor] keep fleeing forward?" Paimon asked puzzled.
"We won't get an answer just by guessing. Let's follow the traces and continue to pursue—"
Bang—!!
Just then, a loud bang echoed from the forest not far away, startling a large flock of birds.
Lumine and Amber immediately became alert, drawing their weapons, while Paimon hastily shrank behind Lumine.
Seeing this, Jibril also symbolically activated a spell, manifesting a pitch-black longbow.
"It sounds like... a battle. Could it be [Raptor]!?" Amber stood on her tiptoes, peered for a moment, and then waved to the others. "Quick, let's go check it out!"
Following the slowly rising thick smoke in the sky, they quickly arrived at the scene.
However, the Treasure Hoarders, led by [Raptor], did not appear as expected. Instead, they found a group of Hilichurls besieging a merchant caravan.
After quickly clearing out these small monsters, the shaken fruit vendor, Farrah, wiped his sweat and crawled out of the cart. "Thank goodness, it's the Knights of Favonius! The Hilichurls shouldn't dare to follow anymore..."
"What happened?" Amber asked him after briefly comforting the man.
"How unlucky... our caravan was attacked by Hilichurls, but luckily we ran fast."
Amber looked puzzled. "Hilichurl attack? But almost all the Hilichurl camps around here have been cleared out by the Knights of Favonius, haven't they?"
"It was a very small Hilichurl camp, not far from town. I usually make a point to avoid it when I go to buy supplies and set up my stall. But today, someone suddenly flew down from the sky and landed right in that Hilichurl camp!" The merchant quickly explained.
"Hmm... I feel like that's something someone often does."
Paimon glanced at Lumine, hinting.
"The Hilichurls immediately went wild and chased after that funny looking person who was running away!" Farrah gestured wildly to the group. "I ran, but all my fruit carts were smashed! How am I going to open for business tomorrow when the caravan arrives—"
"Funny looking? In what way?" Amber eagerly pressed.
"Holding something, flying crookedly... Hmm, it must have fallen because it was carrying that thing."
"See, it's the same effect as the Shot Down spell."
[Pfft... Crash Landing Arts...]
"It's Shot Down!"
[Crash Landing Arts!]
Just as Jibril was persistently teasing the system, Farrah stomped his foot, gritting his teeth. "Seriously, haven't they passed their gliding license test? Don't they know not to carry heavy objects?! I'm definitely going to report them and get their gliding license revoked!"
"Carrying heavy objects..." Amber's eyes lit up. "It's very likely [Raptor] escaping with the relic! Did you see which way he ran?"
"I was in a hurry, so I only managed to glance. He seemed to... run forward."
"We finally have a clue! Lumine, Jibril, let's hurry and catch up..."
Amber was invigorated, but didn't forget the man behind her. "Oh, by the way, don't worry. I'll report back to the Knights of Favonius and have the remaining Hilichurl camp dealt with as soon as possible."
The three then quickly left, following the faint remaining elemental traces and headed deeper into the forest.
The trees along both sides of the path grew denser and the outline of mountains was vaguely visible in the distance.
However, just as they were focused on tracking, a whooshing sound suddenly broke the air.
It was a crossbow bolt, shooting out from the bushes at the side of the road, aimed directly at Amber, who was running in front!
"Watch out!"
Almost at the same moment the girl reacted, a black cross-shaped shield instantly materialized in front of her, deflecting the shameless ambush arrow with a crisp
"Who's there!?" Amber immediately drew her bow and arrow, vigilantly pointing towards where the attack came from.
The bushes rustled, and seven or eight figures, dressed haphazardly with unfriendly smiles, emerged, blocking their path.
"They're a bunch of weird-looking people..." Paimon hid behind Lumine, peeking out cautiously.
The burly leader shouldered his shovel and pointed a finger at the group.
"This mountain is mine, these trees are mine, if you want... huh?"
His gaze passed over Lumine and Amber, landing on Jibril, especially the wings spread behind her. He paused, then scoffed. "Haha! Brothers, look at that bird-person with wings, we even have a fan of our boss here!"
"Do you really think anyone who can fly can be [Raptor]!? I think... only her looks are decent enough!"
"Yeah, yeah," a skinny man with a crossbow chimed in. "Maybe it's just a new type of wind glider, don't be fooled!"
However, the Flügel merely lazily gave them the middle finger and ignored their collective taunts.
Facing these uncles with faces like generic villainous thugs, she couldn't even muster the desire to get angry.
"Enough talk!" Amber said sharply. "The Knights of Favonius are on a mission, move aside immediately!"
"Knights of Favonius!? We're here to fight the Knights of Favonius!" The Treasure Hoarder leader waved his hand.
"Attack them!!!"
With the man's command, battle immediately erupted.
Lumine's longsword conjured a verdant Anemo vortex, knocking down enemies who charged with shovels; Amber's arrows, like fiery meteors, precisely struck, exploding into crimson blossoms of flame on the enemies' bodies.
And Jibril hadn't even moved a step. She simply raised her right hand elegantly and the air around her began to twist and tremble.
Pitch-black matter instantly condensed into several bizarre helical long spears and the bowstring vibrated, transforming into a rain of death.
At the same time, the Flügel's figure vanished from her spot, reappearing elsewhere the next second, all of the Treasure Hoarders' attacks landing on empty air, not even grazing a single afterimage.
However, just as this batch was defeated, loud whistles and more footsteps surged from all directions.
Amber again forced back an approaching enemy with an arrow, anxiously shouting. "Something's wrong, there are too many of them! [Raptor] can't erase elemental traces himself and wants to use these Treasure Hoarders to stall us!"
Just then, a dull humming sound pressed down from above the battlefield!
Jibril floated in mid-air, her longbow rapidly expanding, instantly growing several times in size, as roaring elements converged on the bowstring into a terrifying giant arrow.
With an unparalleled might, the attack suddenly descended.
Boom—!!!
The violent explosion did not ignite flames, but instead burst into a thick, pitch-black smoke that seemed to swallow even light, instantly engulfing most of the Treasure Hoarders, leaving only chaotic coughing and cursing.
Jibril landed gracefully, her back to Lumine and Amber. "You two go ahead, I'll deal with them."
"But you're fast enough, let me—"
"Go!" The Flügel said in an undeniable tone. "I'll be there soon. Remember my abilities? Maybe I'll be even faster than you."
"Lumine, don't you trust Jibril's strength?" Paimon also hastily pulled on Lumine's clothes, urging her.
Lumine looked at Jibril, who was once again beginning to gather her attack, then at the elemental trace ahead that could disappear at any moment. Finally, she gritted her teeth and ran.