The Sixth Yaksha | Xiao x Reader

Three | Guizhong

    The anemo Yaksha turned his head, startled. A large beast, which he had encountered a few times before, emerged from the newly cleared hole. Its species was called 'lawachurls'. This one, specifically, was geo. The geo ones were called Stonehide Lawachurls, and were quite annoying, if not challenging, to fight. Xiao got into a fighting stance, readying his polearm.

"Stay behind me." Xiao turned for a split second to check on [Y/N], who was still lying on the ground. "Don't push yourself."

[Y/N]'s vision was getting fuzzy. She blinked, trying to clear her vision. From the data her eyes could gather, Xiao dashed quickly around the lawachurl, trying to break open its geo-infused shield.

    Annoyed, Xiao growled. His attempts to strike the armor weren't doing any significant harm. Using his last resort, he pulled out his mask, which had been given to him by Morax when he joined the Yakshas. Placing it to cover his face, he leaped into the air and plunged back down, slamming into the ground near the monster. It wasn't the best at countering the geo element, but at least it worked to an extent. Unlike before, cracks were starting to emerge in the yellow glowing layer encasing the lawachurl.

    "Wait! Xiao! Above you!" [Y/N] shouted in desperation. The lawachurl had jumped, targeting Xiao.

    Xiao, as quick as light, dashed away. He completely dodged the bulky weight of the monster, but wasn't prepared for the spikes that came out of the ground afterwards, which, in result, sent him flying.

    By this point, [Y/N] had gotten up, and even though she were quite scratched up, [Y/N] could still fight.

    "Urgh! Don't hurt Xiao!" she screamed at the Stonehide Lawachurl, fully knowing that it couldn't understand human language.

    "[Y/N]..." Xiao muttered, not quite loud enough for the fighting girl to hear. He had never experienced someone who cared for him this much for hundreds of years. The only reason they took care and fed him was because he would do all the dirty work for them. He'd be forced to slay monsters, and even take the lives and dreams of innocent villagers. The god had used Xiao's weak spot against him, forcing him to commit acts that he would never otherwise do.

    "Hah!" [Y/N] relentlessly attacked the lawachurl, hurriedly getting back up every time she was sent skidding on the ground. She sent it flying to the ground, where it burst into ashes and faded away. [Y/N] collapsed on the ground, vision fading away until all she saw was black.

    Rex Lapis fought the minions of another god, not allowing even a single creature to advance to the second level of the structure. Guizhong, who was at the top, continuously aimed at a variety of different monsters, shooting them down.

No words were exchanged. There was a mutual feeling of agreement that everything was going alright. Well, at least as alright as fighting monsters can get. The only sounds were the clash of Morax's weapon with the shields of the enemies, their grunts after being hit, and the occasional clang of their weapon hitting his jade shield. Guizhong worked in silence, secretively sniping the far-away monsters.

"Guizhong. Are the four okay?"

Guizhong used the device attached to the ballista, similar to a telescope, to scan the area. "Uhh.." She frowned upon not seeing any trace of them across the fields of Liyue. "They seem to have... disappeared? Perhaps they are underground. Liyue has many underground systems."

"Hmm. Will you be able to handle the monsters if I leave for a while?" Morax kicked his spear, knocking the last of the monsters away.

"Of course. Take your time, my dear." Guizhong smiled sweetly.