ᴀ ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴀᴄᴛ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴀ ɢᴏᴅ (Zhongli x reader) 𝕷𝖊𝖒𝖔𝖓

Chapter 27: Stormterror

Your POV

" Master Diluc, I'm so sorry but we still haven't manage to find any clues about the Abyss Order. " I heard Adelinde's voice outside the door. I turned around to see a letter on the bedside table.

" Where's Zhongli? " I asked myself as I slowly sat up and took the neatly folded letter. My eyes widen when I opened the letter then the door slowly swung open.

" You're finally awake, (y/n). Sorry if I startled you, but I have to inform you that Charles and Elzer escorted Zhongli back to Liyue, he told me he has something urgent to attend to back at Liyue... " Diluc told me, I then looked at the letter Zhongli left.

" My apologies to inform you about my abrupt departure, (y/n). But we only have 2 days left before the Rite of Descension, and as the Geo Archon I must set up my preparations. I hope you understand. Be careful on your journey and on your way back to Liyue. I'll be waiting for you. "

— Zhongli

" Thank you for informing me, Diluc. " I told him with a smile and hid the letter inside my pocket. " How's the Lyre? " I asked Diluc, he then sighed.

" Destroyed. " He said and my eyes widen. " What? How? " I asked him.

" We manage to collect all teardrop crystals, and fixed the Holy Lyre... We summoned Dvalin at Starsnatch Cliff, and of course not at the Winery to avoid disturbing your beauty sleep. But— "

" You guys did a lot of work while I was sleeping the entire time? " I asked Diluc cutting him off. Diluc just chuckle.

" You already did your part. I don't want to put you in danger, knowing the Fatui are still after you, and Zhongli went back to Liyue. " Diluc said with his arms crossed.

" But the Holy Lyre was destroyed by an Abyss Mage. I... do need your help to track down the Abyss. If we don't fight the evil at its source, then we can't save Dvalin at all. " Diluc told me, I nodded.

" Don't worry. I think I already have the data you need. I've been walking around Mondstadt for a while after all... " I told him and he raised an eyebrow at me. I stood up and opened the window.

" As the wind carries the dust, so too are the answers you've been seeking for, Diluc. But can you wait till tomorrow? " I asked him, opening the palm of my hand slowly collecting dust, he then smile and nodded.

" You'll be escorting me back to Liyue after we solve this Stormterror issue, right? " I asked with a chuckle. He then went beside me and stared at my palm.

" Of course I would. It'll be a pleasure. " Diluc said as he turned his gaze on me.

" Thank you, Diluc. " I said with a smile.

~ Time skip, Morning ~

" Hmm... What an ancient ruin... It's guarded by a strong elemental wind barriers... " I told myself as dust started forming more images, I turned around to look at Diluc who fell asleep on the bed. I went beside him and gently tapped his shoulder.

" Wake up, Diluc. I have to ask you something to ask you. " I said as he slowly opened his eyes and yawn.

" Sorry I fell asleep... You— Are those..? " Diluc said with a surprise look on his face. I then nodded. He then started scanning the images formed by the dust with his eyes widen. " Stormterror's Lair... " He mumbled.

" We need to inform the others. " He said.

~ Time skip, an hour later ~

Jean, Venti, and Lumine together with Paimon arrived at the Winery. Diluc explained everything to them and we immediately went on our way to Stormterror's Lair. Our tracks were slowed down by some Abyss Mages, but we manage to handle the situation.

" After the Abyss Mage was defeated, a certain energy dispersed from its body... It seems that energy was being used to cut off the connection between me and Dvalin. " Venti said with a sad sigh.

" As the energy dispered from the Abyss Mage, I was able to read the rhythmic flow of how the barrier's magic was woven... It should be enough to let us break through the storm barrier and reach Stormterror's Lair. " Venti said.

When we reached the barrier at Stormterror's Lair, Venti was about to play his Lyre when a group of hilichurls started running towards us.

" Wait. What's going on? Something's not right. There shouldn't be any hilichurl camps in the vicinity of Stormterror's Lair... " Jean said as we started defeating some of the hilichurls.

" The hilichurls usually do not venture into areas with high elemental concentrations. It puts a heavy burden on their bodies. " Venti said.

" The Abyss Order must be manipulating them behind the scenes, yet they shouldn't have been able to determine that we would come. They're presumably spreading their forces to halt our plans. " Diluc told us.

" Well, it's not enough. " I said when we finally defeated the last hilichurl. Venti then used his lyre to disperse the wind barrier. We proceeded cautiously into the ruin, until we reached the top.

" We can't advance any further. The ruins seem to be guarded by ancient seals. " Venti said.

" The markings on this seal... If my archaeological knowledge is not mistaken, this appears to be a light actuator. If we retrieve and reintegrate all the parts, we should be able to get it working. " Diluc told us.

" We should be close to completing the ceremony for this actuator. Let's put the last part back and see. " Jean suggested and we all split up into three groups to get the job done faster. It worked out well as expected.

We all finally decided to confront Dvalin. Venti helped Lumine to chase down Dvalin  to get rid of the blood clots that has been cursed by the Abyss Order that corrupted Dvalin's mind.

After successfully getting rid of blood clot on Dvalin's back, he decided to descend on the ground. " Let's go. " Diluc said, we all entered the battlefield to help Lumine fight against Dvalin.

When Dvalin got defeated the whole place started to collapse. I started losing my balance, " Watch out (y/n)! " I heard Diluc shouted as he ran as fast as he could to reach me, I looked above me and saw a huge platform about to crush me.

With a strong gush of wind, Venti sent the platform flying away from my direction, smashing it on the platform we're standing on, causing it to crack.

Before Diluc caught my hand we all fell down together with a lot of debris. I started collecting dust from the debris to create a small platform for us to prevent us from falling, but it wasn't enough and was going too slow, at this rate I wouldn't be able to save everyone...