GI Chapter 13: The Princess, the Maid, and the Evil Dragon

Noelle sweated nervously as hilichurls with bat wings and the dragon fiercely bashed her Geo-powered shield with their claws. Every attack scattered Geo particles in the air, weakening the protection and power of her shield. The lives of everyone in Springvale depended on her and her shield right now. She had to buy time until the reinforcements from Mondstadt arrived.

That was no easy task, however, not with the opposition she was up against.

Her opponent was Ursa, the Drake. The draconic creature Vennessa defeated to end the era of the aristocrats roughly a thousand years ago. Ursa reemerged a few years ago and wreaked havoc on the people outside the city walls. No one, not even the previous Cavalry Captain Diluc  was able to land a scratch on Ursa’s tough scales. In the face of such an adversary, Noelle remained firm like a stone, or so it seemed on the surface. Her hands shaking and trembling around the grip of the greatsword showed something different, however.

‘I can’t falter. Master Jean will stand her ground in any circumstances.’

As a future knight, she couldn't let Ursa rampage. She tightened her grip on her greatsword. With a hefty slash of her mighty weapon, she swatted away the flying nuisances with her superhuman strength.

Ursa stopped its attacks and looked down on the immovable shield that was Noelle. The evil dragon caused a tempest with its menacing roar, blowing away the people behind the maid knight. Fortunately, no one was heavily injured.

The blonde girl behind pushed down her skirt that threatened to show a sight a princess must never show to anyone but her prince. Once the air currents settled down, Fischl called out, “Ozzie, my dear familiar…”

Oz, the violet raven, stopped shooting down the hilichurls minions with his orbs of pure Electro elemental energy. “Mein Fräulein, worry about the calamity dragon first.”

Fischl struck a pose with her hand on her eyepatch instead. “I hereby condemn the vile and villainous beast with my Pfeil der Dunkelheit.”

Fischl took her trusty bow and imbued the arrow with the power of the Electro element. With a skilled hand, she drew the bowstring back. The violet bow creaked in protest as the leathery sinew of the bowstring popped and crackled menacingly. In her mind, Fischl calculated the target, range, distance, and wind direction. A natural archer like her only needed a second for such an enormous calculation. Finally, she released the arrow with a loud pronounced cracking SNAP of the bowstring.

‘It has to be a shot.’

The lightning arrow streaked through the air, a trail of zapping current wreaking havoc in its wake, with blinding speed, soaring over the Teleporter Waypoint, and arriving at Ursa’s right golden eye with a deadly force.

The dragon simply snorted to alleviate the arrow from its deadly force as though making a mockery out of Fischl. Fischl’s hopes were mercilessly shredded, serving as yet another reminder of a mortal’s powerlessness against a mighty dragon.

Indeed, Ursa could have killed everyone here if it really wanted. However, Ursa came here for entertainment, to see the otherwise happy villagers despairing and trembling in its mighty presence.

“‘Tis but a probe at our adversary,” Fischl thought out aloud. “Noelle, Mine diligent. I, Fischl, Prinzessin der Verurteilung, shall brave the storm and dangers of this chaotic beast with Mine valiant familiar, Oz. You are to quell the fear and trepidation taken root in my loyal subjects.”

“Noelle, we will distract Ursa.” Oz wasted no time doing what he did best, translating his princess’s words for commoners or more accurately… normal people. “You can evacuate the villagers to safety and call for reinforcements.”

Fischl couldn’t make the villagers listen to her commands. Even though she couldn’t harm Ursa, keeping it occupied with Oz was possible for her.

“Miss Fischl, I won’t abandon you!” Noelle firmly shook her head and charged at Ursa with her claymore, completely ignoring Fischl’s order.

“Idiot, I don’t want you to abandon me,” Fischl muttered, breaking her character in the heat of the moment. “Our fates cling to each other like stars and moon.”

She abruptly looked over her shoulder. Her single light green eye, which wasn’t obstructed by the black eyepatch, saw two strangers approach despite the catastrophic state of the village.

‘Help?’

Her lips broke into a smile as she raised her left hand, which was covered in a shoulder-length black glove, and waved at the strangers.

“Oz.”

“Mein Fräulein?” Oz looked in the direction Fischl was looking. “Right away.”

…

Orion, however, was not even looking at Fischl at the moment. The maid knight battling the giant dragon had stolen all his attention. No matter how many times the dragon broke her shield and knocked her back, the maid got up and resolutely charged at the dragon. She was relentless in her strikes, but failed to put even a scratch on the dragon, yet she never gave up and kept charging on, the determination to ‘protect’ firmly rooted in each of her strikes.

“Noelle?” Orion muttered in awe. The Maid Knight of the Knights of Favonius was possibly his best support character. She shielded, she attacked, and most importantly, she healed. A jack of all trades but sadly, master of none.

“Adventurers, I humbly beseech you to assist us!” A raven suddenly appeared through a streak of lightning. “Ursa the Drake attacked Springvale… we only ask you to evacuate the villagers and bring reinforcements from Mondstadt. It’s a request with our utmost sincerity.”

Orion wasn’t familiar with the girl waving at him, or the raven with lightning powers. The archer girl had a petite build and blonde hair. Two sections of her hair were tied into twin tails with a black ribbon, the left of which was decorated with a bat wing pattern. Her outfit was a black elegant sleeveless dress with laces and violet bits strewn about.

“Ursa the Drake…” Mona hummed with a frown that only appeared when she contemplated too hard. Mona said as she waved back at Fischl and hollored, “We’re coming. Hold on tight!”

Mona couldn’t sit back and watch a village get stomped down to bits in front of her eyes. She might be crude and blunt to a point, but she wasn’t heartless.

“Ursa?” Orion whispered the name of the dragon that toyed with the maid knight at its own leisure. A fully mature dragon with wings capable of flight. His eyes flickered between emerald and red, a fierce desire dwelling deep within. “I want it.”

A dragon was nothing more than a flying mount in his eyes. If by chance, he couldn’t use the Teleporter Waypoints, he would have a backup plan to travel around.

‘How strong is this dragon?’

He quickly compiled information from the Ley Lines. Ursa was over a thousand years old. Unlike the Stormterror, Dragon of the East, Ursa wasn’t an elemental dragon and was relatively weaker in comparison. Still, it was a dragon. By no means, it was a weak creature if Vennessa required Barbatos’s assistance in defeating it.

‘There goes my chances of a dragon mount.’

Orion sighed. He couldn’t keep a dragon that was hated by practically everyone in Mondstadt. Then again, he could retry his luck with Dvalin, the Stormterror.

Mona concealed herself in the water flow and rapidly approached Ursa. Her unique spell Illusionary Torrent allowed her to travel fast while appearing as a streaming torrent of bubbles speeding on the ground.

Oz flapped its wings, and in another second, it was back by Fischl’s side.

Orion stood there wondering if he should use Whisper of the Abyss or rely on his physical strength alone. The villagers’ lives were of zero concern to him. Even the archer girl and her raven familiar couldn’t get his sympathy. Mona, though, meant something to him, she was his roommate who could save him some rent.

‘I’ll have to see my limits.’

Despite being in Teyvat for a day, he was unaware of the limits of his physical strength, or the effects his Void element could have on a living being. What better opponent to test himself than a living, breathing dragon. He wasn’t afraid of the fight, but the aftermath.

‘Power of the Abyss.’

Even if he revealed his Void element, nobody should question him. He’d be disappointed in Mondstadt if they interrogated him for putting his life on the line in a fight against Ursa instead of rewarding him. He only had to worry about Mona. The astrologist was going to pester him about the Void element.

‘I’ll just say it’s exclusive to my world.’

He tugged at the hem of his right-hand glove and strode towards Ursa. “May Lord Barbatos forgive me for harvesting your scales."

Ursa felt a storm of elements approaching its location. Its golden, reptilian eyes dilated in shock when it saw Orion’s visage.