章節 2: Catching Up With a Friend
As Andromalius left the cave, he called back the shadows he had sent out. He hadn't needed much time to adapt –if anything, he was too eager to walk around his home world. Earth felt so foreign to him now, almost like a dream or a distant memory. Maybe it had been just that, a dream; a long, peaceful dream.
He was different to the other Archons, and even more so to The Seven, in the sense that he never cared much about claiming a territory for himself. Perhaps that was the reason why he remained largely unaffected throughout the Archon War, only joining the battles against dark and corrupted gods. But now more than ever, he realized he didn't have a place to call his own. Maybe, just maybe, if he had been more ambitious all those thousands of years ago, instead of The Seven, it might've been The Eight.
Alas, there was no point in thinking of things that could no longer be. Maybe he could claim some uninhabited land for himself and some select few who chose to follow him, but he doubted the chances of having any followers at all, considering he had been missing for five hundred years. His tales of woe might as well now be nothing but children's stories.
Andromalius' pace was slow and steady, his every step measured and yet, with each one of them, he seemed to cover several meters of distance. That was one of his favourite perks of being the Umbra Archon. Wherever there was a shadow he could glide over it, hide in it, or even teleport to it. Since he wasn't in a hurry, though, he chose not to teleport. If not, his stroll might've been cut much too short, and he wished nothing more than to enjoy his first few moments back home in peace and tranquillity. That is to say, ignoring the random Hilichurl his shadows occasionally slew on his unconscious command.
Soon enough, Andromalius reached Andrius' domain.
"Huh, never thought I would be seeing your face again Vanquisher!" Andrius exclaimed calmly while materializing his spiritual body. The mere presence of Andrius' physical body could make the most experienced of warriors falter –it being made of pure Anemo and Cryo energies– but Andromalius just smiled casually. Back in the days, during the Archon War, Andromalius had tried to convince Andrius to become his vassal, rather than Barbatos'. Unfortunately, that didn't work, and so he now had to speak with a spiritual body.
"Yeah... I didn't even know I was gone until I woke up." Andromalius answered before looking at Andrius with a hint of resentment in his eyes. "And don't call me that. You know I hate it."
"Hmm... I guess I could do you that much of a favour." Andrius said thoughtfully. By then he was laying, Andromalius sitting right beside him, looking at the clear Mondstadt sky. They spent a couple minutes in silence, simply reminiscing about the many years that had come and gone.
Andromalius was the first one to break the silence, asking Andrius about Teyvat's current situation. The Lord of the Wolves explained to him that his condition limited him on how much awareness he had of what went about outside of his domain, but he also explained that the world had entered an age of unstable peace. The one thing that stuck out to Andromalius though, was a short yet meaningful phrase. The Abyss had risen from its slumber. Of course, he already knew as much. He might even know more than Andrius himself about the Abyss, Khaenri'ah and many other things. After all, Andrius was already stuck in Teyvat as one of the Four Winds by the time the Cataclysm happened.
"So many things have changed, and yet they still remain the same." Andromalius said, melancholy lacing his every word. The word had in fact changed a lot. Focalor had become the Hydro Archon, Makoto had died and Ei taken her place in secret, Nahida was born after Rukhadevatta's death. And yet, Archons and Gods remained unable to fully understand human nature. Humans continued to commit heinous acts following their own blind greed. The nature of the world was still the same, even if things in it had changed. "Well, no point in dwelling on such things now."
"Haha, still the same old non-caring attitude... yet you know you are the one who cares the most." Andrius stated.
And it was indeed so. As the God of Punishment, Andromalius hated sin more than anything in the world, and his visage showed as much. His amber coloured eyes had a glint of pure wrath in them, as if he was just waiting for the right moment to unleash his fury. His tall and toned body seemed to be twitchy, as if his muscles couldn't wait to have some action. And if all of that wasn't enough, he had been enveloped in a shadowy aura, his power leaking unconsciously. The shadows dancing around him, his dark, emerald green hair flowing in the wind, it was all oddly beautiful... and just as dangerous.
"Say old friend... what about a friendly match?" Andromalius asked, his voice restrained, as if he was making an effort to push back his anger. "It's been far too long since this body last saw any conflict."
Andrius, rather than answering, simply stood and jumped into his arena, where he was known to accept the challenge of those worthy of his time. Without much thought Andromalius teleported to the shadows in the arena, his body becoming elemental, immaterial, only to quickly be materialized again inside of the arena.
"It has been long since the world has heard your blade." Andrius said solemnly, his voice heavy yet full of an excitement not common in him. "Let them remember who you are, let your edge reach every corner of this world! Show me your power once again, Eye Hidden in Shadows!"
A manic grin plastered on his face, Andromalius let go of the reins he had been keeping on his power. As if the sun didn't exist, the entire arena was covered in pure darkness, his shadows enveloping everything around him. The world would remember. Those who had forgotten would cower once again.
"Come to me," Andromalius ordered, the shape of a sword manifesting from the shadows. Reaching out with a grabbing motion, the sword was revealed. It was made from the blackest of metals, as if it had been infused with the very shadows that he controlled. The guard had a teal gem embedded in it, and the blade was made mostly of the same kind of gem, bar one of the edges which shared the black metal as the rest of the sword. "Sin Devourer."
That was the weapon Andromalius had used throughout millennia. Sin Devourer, the Untainted Sword of Shadows. Its metal was black because it was indeed infused with Andromalius' own Umbra element for centuries on end, and the teal gem and blade were made from his own blood, capable of absorbing the sins of others and purifying them.
"You've woken up the beast, Andrius." Andromalius said seriously. "I hope you are capable of withstanding the consequences."
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