Jean took a deep breath, her eyes glinting with thought.
"Understood. Let's go to the scene first."
Without further discussion, the two quickened their pace, heading straight toward the site of the incident.
Before long, they arrived at the eastern streets of Mondstadt.
Under the dim glow of lanterns, the Knights of Favonius had already sealed off the area under Kaeya's orders, ensuring no civilians could get close.
"Acting Grand Master Jean!"
The knights straightened immediately as she approached, saluting with crisp precision.
Jean nodded slightly and surveyed the surroundings. Her gaze soon fell upon several corpses lying on the cobblestone street.
Even for someone as experienced as her, the sight made her expression harden.
"Fatui elites…"
She crouched down, inspecting the bodies closely.
Their wounds matched Kaeya's earlier report exactly — throats cleanly pierced, limbs severed with surgical precision, their deaths swift and merciless. Whoever struck had given them no chance to react.
The faint traces of black flame lingering in the air confirmed it — Delusions had been used here.
Jean's face grew darker still.
Her fingertips brushed across a patch of scorched ground, still faintly warm. She murmured under her breath:
"...This energy signature... it's even more violent than the black flame of a Delusion."
Standing beside her, Kaeya folded his arms, his gaze sharp.
"I noticed it too. It's not just black flame — there's something else mixed in. A power even fiercer, more destructive than ordinary Pyro. Do you recognize it?"
Jean closed her eyes briefly, sensing the residue in the air.
But the more she focused, the more her heart trembled.
This wasn't elemental energy.
It felt… like pure destruction. The same aura that had appeared during the Starfell anomaly.
When she opened her eyes, her tone was steady but shadowed with doubt.
"This isn't Pyro at all. It's a A far more chaotic force of destruction — more chaotic and potent than the power of a Delusion."
Her gaze turned toward Kaeya, uncertainty flickering in her blue eyes.
"Who could possibly do something like this inside Mondstadt?"
"My guess," Kaeya said, frowning, "is the Fatui themselves. They're the only ones who'd research something like this — you know what their Delusions have caused."
Jean nodded slowly.
"It does fit their methods. But the strange part is that Fatui elites are the ones dead here. That's contradictory."
Kaeya's eyes narrowed slightly.
"You're forgetting another faction."
Before he could finish, Jean's pupils shrank sharply.
"The Abyss Order."
"Exactly."
Kaeya nodded.
"They're the only ones capable of moving in and out of Mondstadt undetected — especially the Abyss Mages. They can open spatial rifts and slip through without a sound."
"According to Amber's latest reports," he continued, "there have been traces of Abyss Order activity near Mondstadt's outskirts recently."
Jean's brows furrowed.
"But the Abyss Order usually operates through Abyss Mages. For such brutal precision… could it have been an Abyss Herald? But why would a Herald appear just to eliminate a few Fatui elites? What would they gain from that?"
"That's what I can't figure out either."
Kaeya shook his head.
"That's the part that bothers me."
Suddenly, Jean's brows knit together. A flicker of realization lit her expression.
She looked up at the night sky, mind racing through the intelligence she had received that day — until one report surfaced in her thoughts.
Eula's message.
Eula, captain of the Reconnaissance Company, had an eye for battlefield detail — if she noticed something unusual, it wasn't coincidence.
"Kaeya."
Jean's tone turned grave as she faced the Cavalry Captain.
"This evening, I received a report from Eula."
"Oh?"
Kaeya arched his brow, intrigued.
"For something to catch your attention, it must be related to all this, right?"
Jean ignored his teasing, her voice steady but urgent.
"Eula reported a massive explosion near Starfell Lake. She also detected an unusual energy signature at the site."
Kaeya's lazy smile faded, replaced by a serious expression.
"An unusual energy… like the one we're sensing now?"
Jean nodded.
"Most likely. She described it as more violent than Pyro, and more destructive than the black flame of a Delusion."
Kaeya frowned deeply, his mind piecing together the clues.
An explosion at Starfell Lake.
Fatui elites were slaughtered within Mondstadt that same night.
Traces of Delusion residue.
An overwhelming, unfamiliar destructive aura.
When connected, the pattern became unmistakable.
"The Abyss Order," Kaeya said at last.
A cold smile curved his lips — sharp and humorless.
"Only they could move this freely, striking and vanishing without a trace — even appearing right inside Mondstadt."
Jean's heart sank at his words, her expression hardening.
The Abyss Order.
A force active not only in Mondstadt, but across Liyue, Inazuma, Sumeru, and beyond — throughout all of Teyvat.
A legion of inhuman beings, sworn enemies of the surface nations and their civilizations.
Their existence alone was a constant threat.
And now… they were moving again within Mondstadt?
"If it really is the Abyss Order," Jean said quietly, eyes flashing with resolve, "then this wasn't just an attack. They wouldn't risk appearing here without purpose — and certainly not just to kill a few Fatui agents."
"They must be planning something bigger."
"Indeed," Kaeya murmured, his tone low. "The Abyss Order never acts without a goal."
Then he gave a faint chuckle, his usual teasing lilt returning — though his eyes remained sharp.
"So, Acting Grand Master, what's our next move? We can't exactly sit around waiting for them, can we?"
Jean's gaze steadied, decisive.
"Kaeya — I want you to lead patrols around Mondstadt's perimeter, especially near Starfell Lake. Since Eula detected that strange energy, we need to confirm whether the Abyss Order is truly involved."
"Go there tomorrow. Find Eula, coordinate with her, and investigate the site. See if the residual aura there matches what we found here."
Kaeya shrugged lightly, his smile faint.
"No problem. But a word of caution — the Abyss Order's movements are always unpredictable. If they've revealed themselves, it's unlikely they'll leave any clear traces behind."
Jean met his gaze firmly.
"That's exactly why I'm entrusting this to you. Your skill in intelligence work is second to none — if anyone can track them, it's you."
Kaeya chuckled softly.
"Flattered, truly."
Then his eyes swept over the battlefield one last time — at the charred ground, the fallen Fatui soldiers, and the Knights of Favonius still working tirelessly through the night. Beneath Mondstadt's tranquil night, a storm of chaos was already gathering — one that would soon shake Teyvat itself.
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