Chương 124: The challenge

"It has been a marvellous month" Kenshin looked at Mondstadt from the Starnsnatch cliff, Jean by her side.

"Yes" Jean sighed and rested her head on Kenshin's shoulder.

"I'm sorry Jean" Kenshin sighed softly. "I will try to come back as soon as I can".

"Don't worry, I understand" Jean, far from being depressed, smiled sunnily at Kenshin. "And my mother is back, I will visit you as much as I can."

"If only you would do that..." Kenshin looked at the beautiful city of Mondstadt, hugging Jean to his side.

"I promise" Jean softly said. "I will stop dying in my job to find lost cats and make some time."

"That's the best gift I can get" Kenshin smiled. "Now I need to go or I will get excited again".

"No deal sir, I'm still sore" Jean frowned feeling her crotch sting. "But I agree you should go, or we will stay here forever."

"As appealing as that sounds, I need to go to Inazuma" Kenshin turned around and walked side by side with Jean with their hands held together. "Help me Jean, I need to choose a name and all I can think is Heaven Punisher Giga Beetle, I swear that name got stuck and is blocking everything else."

"I don't think that's something you should ask my help for" Jean sighed in exasperation.

"I'm not choosing a name for my possible son based on your answer" Kenshin scoffed. "Byt maybe a little bit of inspiration. Maybe I can, you know, change a letter here and there."

"Shut up Kenshin, or I will make you"

"Haha, I said the same to you last night."

"...."

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"Well then, goodbye" Kenshin waved to the few people ready to see him go.

The Captain, Jean, Miss Sister and Frederica.

He knew a lot more people, but wanted to leave in peace, and a certain lonely knight was a bit sensible now, and Kenshin feared some purple spots appearing in her soul.

So yes, not in sight not in mind.

"I don't want to go" grumbled Yahiko. "I already have a nice life here."

"I had to convince you to leave Inazuma, I'm not going to convince you to return" Kenshin scowled, but felt quite guilty. After all, his parents had been forced to move twice now because of him.

"Yahiko, let's just return to Inazuma" Mio said with a last look at Mondstadt and the one she considered her daughter-in-law the most, Jean. "We are going to be grandparents now."

"Yes, and the mother of the child is God" Yahiko grumbled again. "Do you have any idea of how awkward things are going to be?"

"Just don't pray to her and all will be fine" Kenshin waved his father's concern off. "She isn't good at talking with people. It's like seeing a dog, he is probably more scared about you than what you are about him."

"If this dog gets nervous we get turned into ash before our death" Yahiko said with a frown. "How did you manage to get into this relationship with someone who doesn't speak anyway."

"We didn't speak at all" a carefree Kenshin said, but looking at his parents' scandalized look he quickly spoke again. "What are you 2 thinking about you perverts? I fought with her and reforged her broken heart into one hitting her strong enough. I'm ashamed of calling you my parents."

"Your choice of words wasn't the best" spoke Mio, trying to calm down. Speaking in that way about their God would bring disaster sooner or later. "We thought you were talking about-"

"Sex came later" Kenshin's words made Mio freeze. "Lots of it. After a good fight, we both got excited, and the result is your grandchild."

"Kenshin please shut up" Yahiko sighed tiredly. "I've been awake for an hour and I want to go to my bed again."

"What a lazy man. Now chin up, we have arrived at the Boss of the Lands' territory, and his errand boy will come soon to receive my illustrious presence" Kenshin opened his arms in a grandiose gesture.

"..."

"Or not, at this point I just don't care" Kenshin shrugged and put her arms around his parent's shoulders. "Now, we-"

BOOOOOOOOOOOM

With an earthquake Yahiko and Mio fell to the ground, dreading that their God's punishment had arrived.

"Kenshin" the deadpan voice of Shenhe came from the crater now destroying the only paved path to Mondstadt.

"Shenhe" Kenshin nodded in greeting. "Little monster" he nodded again.

'Let me get out, I'm going to make him pay'

'No'

'Dammit, I swear I will get out someday, and then- oh...wait a minute....'

"Uhmm, Shenhe" Kenshin wore an uncomfortable expression making Shenhe look at him. "I know I promised to have fun in Liyue with you for a couple of months after I left Mondstadt, but as you can see, circumstances changed."

"..." Shenhe only looked at Kenshin with her usual deadpan gaze.

"W-what was that?" Yahiko helped Mio stand up, but his eyes opened wide seeing the destruction Shenhe caused by just landing. "Son..."

"Don't worry, I won't die by snu-snu anytime soon" Kenshin ignored his father's dark face. "Fuck"

But karma was a bitch, because the moment he uttered those sounds that put together sounded like snu-snu made Shenhe's eyes narrow.

"I will go with you" Shenhe declared, ready to jump directly to Inazuma from her house on top of a mountain.

"KENSHIN!" a voice saved the distraught man, and he saw Lumine running towards him. "W-what happened here?"

"Did Rex Lapis get angry?" inquired a nervous Paimon looking at the crater.

"Why should he?" asked a confused Kenshin. "I don't think that guy can't get angry anymore."

After all, Morax was expecting a child, and knowing him Kenshin couldn't think of some-

No, he had learned and was going to be a father. He won't step on those flags.

"What did you Paimonness want from this humble servant?" asked Kenshin with a 'prideful' face.

"Why did you leave without us?" asked Lumine, a bit sad seeing that Kenshin hadn't said his goodbyes. "I waited for you to leave Mondstadt for a month so we could go to Liyue together."

"Kenshin" but a cold voice made Lumine and Paimon look towards the owner of the voice whose low presence had rendered her almost invisible.

"OH...she is Shenhe" now Lumine knew what Kenshin meant when he said that she would know the moment she saw Shenhe.

Indeed, she was..... majestic, could be the most exact word.

"Kenshin, you promised" Shenhe insisted.

"Yes, but I need to go to Inaz-"

"I will go too" Shenhe interrupted Kenshin's weak excuse.

"Where are you going?" inquired a curious Lumine. "Aren't you going to stay in Liyue?"

"No, I'm going to Inazuma" Kenshin explained to Lumine. "Just send me the letters you want me to give your brother, and I will take care of it."

"Aren't you going to explain to me why are you going to see him?" asked Lumine with a dark face. "I already saw him in some ruins with a temporary party member, and I know his position."

"That's my business with him" Kenshin's quiet voice carried a warning in it. "I am not asking you for your secrets or about the obviously unique existence accompanying you, but I expect the same. I'm not going to harm anyone, that should be enough for you."

"Ugh" Lumine grimaced but nodded. She already knew Paimon was not a 'fairy' she rescued, even Barbatos didn't know about her and considering Barbatos was a 3000+-year-old existence that probably meant something.

"Well, it doesn't matter" Kenshin sunnily smiled, pushing his stunned parents towards the place where his child was acting like a parasite, stealing nutrients from another being without giving anything in kind except for an increased appetite, back pains and a few bouts of anger. "Now, if you excuse me, I need to take the first ship to Inazuma. Or you can just come with me, I don't care."

"Lothario, can you introduce us to the Geo Archon?" Paimon asked in her usual high-pitched voice.

"Why?" asked Kenshin, patting Shenhe's head to make that slightly manic look on her face disappear for now. "So you can pester him for answers you won't get?"

"I only want to find my brother" argued Lumine. "Maybe he-"

"The only person who can take you to your brother is your brother's reflection in a mirror" Kenshin stopped her. "From what you told me while drinking MY wine, he told you to have your 'journey' through Teyvat."

"H-He did" Lumine felt some gazes on her, and blushed remembering that night.

"Then do that, he will appear before you when he feels like it. You are rushing through this world to leave it, just enjoy the travel knowing that hurrying won't help you at all" Kenshin advised, but continued seeing Lumine's unsure expression. "Do you think the Archons will have the answers you are looking for? Barbatos didn't help you, Morax also won't and I'm sure of that as he is under a Contract to not give you those answers. With who or why is lost on me. The Electro Archon will incinerate your ass for asking about something that killed her sister, and she has no idea beyond what I told her anyway."

"Do you know something?" Lumine asked Kenshin with hope shining in her eyes.

"Absolutely nothing that will lead you to your brother" Kenshin unhesitantly said, making Lumine look to the ground in disappointment. "But I will continue. From what I know, the Dendro Archon is a child born out of the ashes of the previous one or something like that, I have no idea of what it means. And the other ones ascended to their positions after the 'accident' that made your brother turn into the ultimate edge lord."

"What can I do then?" asked an anxious Lumine.

"Why should you do something? Just wait for your brother to take the stick out of his ass and enjoy the ride in the way" Kenshin shrugged. "Ouch! Mom, you can't hit me now!"

"Try me."

"I'm going to be a father, what will you do if my child learns from you?"

"You are going to be a father!?" asked Lumine in shock.

"Yup" replied Kenshin with a happy smile. "The happiest accident of my life. Ouch!"

"Don't call your child an accident!"

"Dad, I thought you had enough of baby slaps with mine, do you realize that if the baby imitates you, you will probably turn to cinders? The baby's slaps are literally God slaps" Kenshin was now thinking of how to teach his child to hit stronger.

The legacy of the Slapping Baby needed to be carried on.

"...." Kenshin's parents wore uneasy expressions seeing that holding the baby turned into a life or death situation.

"God's slaps?" asked a confused Paimon.

"Oh!" Kenshin had a great idea. "My child or the floating child in a limitless fight to the death!"

"Dumbass" it was Paimon who directed a mocking smile towards Kenshin before Mio could slap her son again. "You think a baby can hold a candle against this miracle of nature?"

"...yes" confessed Kenshin, making Paimon frown. "You know, the mother is the Electro Archon, my child will probably be able to beat just about anybody. But knowing how you are a 'miracle of nature', I will train the baby of a God to slap the 'miracle' so much that she will start liking it."

"T-The Electro Archon..." Lumine gulped, having heard the not-so-stellar moments of the former tyrant. "You are quite brave."

"You have no idea" Kenshin looked at the opened door that welcomed everyone to the Land of Commerce. "And here we are. Paimon!"

"W-what's wrong?" the surprised Paimon asked, scared by Kenshin's sudden shout.

"Food at 3 o clock!"

"WHERE IS THE FOOOD?!"

And the Paimonness left, dragging Lumine with her.

"Now I need to talk with...." Kenshin's face turned dark. "Shenhe, I will give you whatever you want later, just take my parents to Morax. Please."

"...." Shenhe doubted for a bit but finally nodded. She grabbed Kenshin's parents and in a single jump she arrived at the other side of the town.

"Haha, looks like Signora wasn't speaking bullshit after all" a man with brown medium-length hair appeared with a smile and looked curiously at Kenshin. "You are able to detect us, probably by our Delusion."

"And the stench of blood" Kenshin lied.

There were not too many people with souls as strong as the Harbingers, and the Delusion was a clear sign anyway. Putting the 2 together, there was just no other possibility.

"Interesting..." the boy seemed to be even more excited. "Name's Childe, a pleasure."

"I'm not going to fight you, so fuck off" Kenshin scowled. "I'm still pissed off by my parent's kidnapping, so believe me when I say that the fight won't end well for you."

"Well, we won't find out until we try, right?" Childe fearlessly smiled, clearly not intimidated by Kenshin's warning.

"Your soul stinks of the Abyss, but believe me, the fight won't end well for you" Kenshin repeated, as all he sensed from Childe's soul was eagerness to fight, without any other hostile intentions. But he wasn't going to fight just to satisfy this man's whims. "And if you attack me, I will retaliate against you and yours."

Childe frowned, not liking the threat at all.

"I don't harm innocents, so rest assured that the boy a hundred meters away in the Northern Bank whose soul is eerily similar to yours but without that stench won't be hurt" Kensihn said looking at Childe's terrified eyes. "I'm not in the mood and never will, so just leave me alone, I'm leaving today anyway."

Kenshin left, leaving behind a frowning Childe, who was going to send his brother Teucer back to Snezhnaya today no matter how much the young child cried.

Kenshin wouldn't hurt a child, but Childe expected others to do the same he had done, as all humans did.

And while he wasn't a person who indiscriminately murdered, he had his fair share of shady jobs.

No Harbinger had their hands clean.

"These fuckers..." Kenshin fumed, walking towards Morax's house as he sensed his parents in there. "They still have the gall to appear in front of me, and asking for a fight no less."

knock knock

Kenshin waited patiently while hearing heavy steps approaching the door.

"Come in" Morax said, already expecting him.

"Thank you, I will leave soon anyway" Kenshin apologetically said. "I won't interrupt your business."

"That would be appreciated" Morax nodded, and they went towards the living room.

"..."

Where Signora looked in shock at Kenshin, while he had a frown on his face.

"I see you didn't lose time" he said towards the uneasy Signora. "Hahh, I will just ignore you, I don't feel like looking at your face. Just keep your dog on a leash, he tried to bite me."

"I will" Signore succinctly replied, relieved that Kenshin wasn't going to make things difficult.

While he was strong, he was far from being someone Snezhnaya couldn't deal with.

"Kenshin!" Guizhong came down from the room and softly hugged Kenshin.

"Guizhong, what the hell are you doing" Kenshin scowled, looking at Signore with a not-so-kind face and with a hint of hostility in his eyes that made Signora sweat. "These fuckers kidnapped my parents, they will try some funny shit with you too."

"They won't" Morax calmly spoke, but everyone realized the steel in his voice. "It's a part of our Contract, and just like any others, the moment they break it they will face the Wrath of the Rock. Snezhnaya is no exception."

Signora gulped sensing Morax's glowing eyes on her, a slit appearing in his eyes as his pupils transformed.

"We will leave now, we have some business to deal with" Morax said, and with a gesture, Signora followed him to the exit of the house.

Making Guizhong sih in sadness.

"What's wrong?" asked Kenshin with a soft voice.

"He's...." Guizhong looked for the exact word to describe the person who was going to be the father of her child. "Too tired."

"It's about the Erosion?" Kenshin sat on a nearby chair, and Guizhong also sat in front of him.

"I have been in limbo for 2000 years" explained Guizhong with a worried face. "And he has changed a lot. Of course, I love him, and I always will, but he worries me. Sometimes I find him looking at an empty space with a pondering look, and he doesn't remember many things from our past together."

"That's Erosion" Kenshin pointed out. "The weight of his memories is taking a toll on his soul."

"He seems...tired" Guizhong continued with a sad expression. "He is trying to dedicate himself to our family, but his duties as the Geo Archon are always present in his head. I understand that it's his duty and dream-"

"But you would prefer if he could 'disconnect' sometimes and relax" completed Kenshin, making Guizhong nod. "And if I have to guess, he feels 'less'. Not as in he is worse or bad or anything, but just less 'vibrant'. His happiness is not as jubilant as it was in the past, nostalgia is his predominant state of mind, and he isn't the 'active yet calm' person you remember him to be."

"Yes" Guizhong nodded, feeling some tears in her eyes. "I don't want to misunderstand, I love him as he is. But I knew him from before, and it pains me to see how hurt he is. I hope that with the child's arrival, he can at least-"

"I don't know if he will be able to set aside his duty as the Geo Archon" Kenshin's words were the final trigger Guizhong needed to start sobbing. "He will give his utmost to make both of you happy, but his identity as the Protector of Liyue is now a part of his being."

At this moment, the door opened again and Morax entered, a brief look of surprise at Guizhong, who was trying to clean her tears in panic told him that something was wrong.

"I see you gave her the Gnosis" commented Kenshin, feeling the absence of that disgusting thing. "May I know what you promised? I still don't know if I will need to stand on guard against them."

"You won't" Morax sat next to Guizhong, who held his hand with hers. "In exchange for the Gnosis, they promised 4 things. They won't hurt my family, they won't hurt the Harbour, they will help me with my plan to let Liyue advance without me and they won't attack your family if you don't attack them first."

Kenshin opened his eyes wide in surprise, realizing that his friend had helped him so much without him needing to ask anything.

Then, wasn't it clear what he should do?

"Are you still the Geo Archon?" Kenshin's solemn voice made Morax and Guizhong look at him.

"No" replied the tall man, knowing that Kenshin had decided on something, even if he didn't know what yet. "I'm not the Geo Archon anymore, I'm just a consultant intending to live as a human."

"If Liyue faces a problem the Harbor isn't ready to face, will you come out of your 'retirement'?" asked Kenshin with a serene voice.

"...." and Morax didn't answer.

"Answer me, are you still Liyue's protector?" insisted Kenshin, making Guizhong look at Morax.

"...yes" Morax was pained saying this, but it was the truth. "A lot of people sacrificed themselves to establish this place, and abandoning my duty is insulting their memory. I can abandon my Divine Throne, but not my duty as Liyue's Protector."

"I want to make a Contract" Kenshin spoke quickly, as he didn't want to feel Guizhong's pain with that response.

"What would the Contract entail?" now it was Morax the one who got a serious expression, as Contracts were a sacred thing for him.

"If I can show you that you are not needed as Liyue's Protector, you will step down from that position too" Kenshin's firm voice made both Guizhong and Morax stare at him with surprise.

"How are you going to prove it?" Morax narrowed his eyes and asked.

"We will fight after your plan to let Liyue advance without you finishes" Kenshin's words made Guizhong take air to speak, but he continued. "I will prove to you that you are not required to be Liyue's Protector. This won't be a spar or a mock battle, we will both give everything we have to prove our point."

"What are the terms?" Morax inquired with a pensive look, but Kenshin was feeling his determination to not stand down. "A Contract is made on the premise that both parts stand to gain something of equal value."

"If I win, you will step down. Not the half-assed thing you did with the Archon position, you understand what I mean" Kenshin said, looking directly at his friend's eyes.

"What does winning mean?"

"Beating you" Kenshin's answer made Guizhong wear a dismayed expression. She knew how strong Kenshin was, but she also knew he stood no chance against Morax. "Not something like making you recognise my strength, or learning to lean on others. I will make you lose and admit defeat in battle. Not some wishy-washy thing like making you admit defeat after I show you my effort and determination. You will stand on the ground unable to get up."

"What do I get?" Morax's eyes were glowing with a yellow-brown colour resembling that of earth itself. Even if he wasn't the Geo Archon anymore, he was still Rex Lapis, the King of Rocks.

"I will help the Harbor. Not because of our friendship, or because this is the place both of you love. Be it economical, military or political, I will lend aid to Liyue when they need it, no matter how much effort I need to spend, I will not rest until Liyue's problems are solved" Kenshin finished, and waited for Morax's confirmation.

There was no way the dragon was going to refuse this after all.

"I agree" and as he expected, Morax agreed instantly. "Should you admit defeat or be unable to continue, you will lend your aid to Liyue. Should I admit def-"

"No, you will not admit defeat and we both know it" Kenshin interrupted Morax in the most important part of the Contract, sealing the deal. "You are too stubborn to surrender, and so am I. The first one who can't continue will lose".

"So be it" Morax nodded with a seriousness that reminded Guizhong of his face before going to war, and that scared her.

"I will warn you, just so we have no misunderstanding between us" Kenshin spoke once again, standing ready to leave to fetch his parents. "I already beat Barbatos even if it was by the skin of my teeth, he wanted to see how strong I was and started in his human form. Just to be clear, I'm not going to fight Morax, Rex Lapis or Zhongli, the one I will beat is the Geo Archon who won the Archon War, the one whose regrets don't let him live the new chance at life he has been granted and the one so burdened by his duty that he can't let it go."

"As you wish" Morax nodded, also standing up. "I will wait for you in the Guyun Sea of Stones."

And he disappeared in a shower of brown and golden particles.

"Kenshin, what are you doing?!" asked an alarmed Guizhong.

"Helping a friend" Kenshin replied, walking towards the upper floor where his confused parents were waiting, not knowing this was the place of the former Geo Archon, and that thanks to the kindness of the gentle dragon they were now safe.

"You have no chance at beating Morax!" insisted a worried Guizhong.

"Just like a child had no choice of sealing those Remnants, like how a child had no choice of recovering his friend's body back, like how he didn't have a choice to make the stubborn mother of my child recognize her errors and like he didn't have a choice to last a while against the Anemo Archon" Kenshin stopped to look at Guizhong, and smiled. "Trust in that child to bring the person you fell in love with come back."