Chapter 58: Inves Attack

Sunlight was shining on my face, making me wake up. I stretched my arms but noticed something wrong. I felt something on top of me and when I looked down I saw Lumine hugging me.

She was dressed in a nightgown and saw her ‘assets’. She was still asleep and I didn’t really want to wake her up. On the side, I saw Paimon sprawling and a foot off the bedside.

‘I guess I’ll stay like this until she wakes up.’

sniff “Aether…” I saw a tear go down Lumine’s cheek and heard her calling out for her brother. She had a pained expression.

‘She really misses him huh…’ I wrapped my arms around her to give her comfort. I saw her relax and she hugged me tighter.

After an hour Lumine woke up. She opened her eyes and looked at me and she realized we were hugging each other.

“Morning sleepy head.” I said

“...Morning… sorry about this.”

“For what? Us in this position? I don’t mind. I heard you called out your brother while you were sleeping. Thought you could use the company.”

She widened her eyes in surprise before relaxing. “Thank you.”

We hugged a bit longer enjoying each other's warmth. After a while, we heard Paimon waking so we stopped and got up from the bed.

“Uwah~ Morning you two.”

“Morning Paimon. Come on, let's change before we check out,” said Lumine, grabbing Paimon and walking to the bathroom. She looked at me and smiled before entering.

“I guess this is a good way to start the day,” I said, amusing myself. I wonder how our relationship will progress.

…

Marketplace

“Come on and take a look! We have new teas for sale!”

“Excuse me, sir. Come and take a look at my new wares. I promise you they will do you good.”

Below the Inn were merchants and their stalls bringing in customers to buy their products.

Graargh~

The people noticed unusual creatures they hadn’t seen before. Coming up to them were elementary Inves. Noticing the unusual creatures were the Millelith, the military force of Liyue. They formed a line between the citizens and the Inves.

“Stop! What are you!? Go away or prepare to be met with force!” said the captain of the Millelith.

GRAGH

The Inves attacked and the Millelith intercepted them. They stopped them for a moment before being pushed back because of their numbers. The citizens seeing a fight ensued ran away or sought shelter in the inn.

“So, these are Inves.” On top of the inn was a green-haired boy standing and observing the chaos.

…

“I wonder what we should order for breakfast!” said Paimon, fantasizing.

“Is food all you think about Paimon.” I said shaking my head

“Hey! Paimon does not think of food all the time.”

“But it is what you think most of the time.” I said raising a brow

“Eh… It is hard to refute that.”

People Screaming

“What is that? Is it screaming? What happened?” asked Lumine

We saw Verr Goldet guiding the people to a safe location. We went up to her to ask about the situation.

“Goldet, what is happening,” I asked urgently

“Some creatures appeared and started attacking. The Millelith are trying to defend us but they seem to be losing.” she said gravely

“Do they look like insects with a huge shell on their back?”

“Yes… from what I have heard they look the same.”

“Those are the Inves. Don’t worry Goldet, we will take care of them.”

Lumine and I hurried down to intercept the Inves.

“Why are there Inves here? And why did they attack the inn?” asked Paimon worried

“I don’t know. But what matters is to defeat them and protect the people.”

“You’re right. We will think about this later.” Lumine agreeing

We reached the ground level and saw the Millelith defending the people against the Inves. Due to their few numbers they were not able to defeat them and got swarmed. We saw a man who tripped and fell down. An Inves came up to him and was about to strike him. We rushed to protect him but we were too far away.

Suddenly a figure dropped between the Inves and the man. After a few seconds, the Inves was split into two. Lumine and I stopped and saw the figure. It was a boy wielding a spear and wearing a black mask. I recognized this gut. It was Xiao.

Xiao wears a white sleeveless shirt with subtle cloud patterns. It has a high black collar with golden accents, with its left side extending further to cover his shoulder. He wears baggy dark purple pants, and wears dark purple boots overtop. Xiao has black and dark turquoise gloves with gold decals and a necklace. Around his left arm, Xiao wears a white and gold sleeve with a red lining. He notably carries an Anemo Vision on his left glove and is usually seen carrying his Yaksha mask on the back of his right hip.

“Get back and get to safety.” said Xiao

“Th-Thank you!” The man thanked him and started running away.

Xiao looked at the Inves before disappearing and appearing in front of them. He used his spear and started decimating the Inves without mercy. Many Inves started to drop one by one from Xiao’s spear. Suddenly a group of Inves sprouted insect wings and took flight in the air. They attacked with hit-and-run tactics making him defend.

“Urgh… They are tenacious,” he said

Seeing him not in a good situation. It was time we joined in.

“Luimine let’s go!”

“Right!”

Lumine and I joined the battle. I took out the Sengoku driver and orange lockseed.

“Henshin!”

[Orange!]

Zipper opening

Everyone stopped seeing the space opening and from it came the armor part. Xiao also stopped to glance at me for a moment.

[Lock on!]

[Soiya!]

[Orange Arms!]

[Hanamichi on stage!]

Everyone was shocked by my transformation. I held Daidaimaru and Musou Saber and Lumine and I attacked the Inves. Xiao also snapped out of his shock and started attacking as well.

I hacked the Inves around me with sparks flying with each hit. Lumine used anemo energy and blew away the Inves. Xiao was speeding through the battlefield defeating any Inves in his way.

While Lumine was cutting down Inveses. She didn’t notice a group of Inves about to ambush her.

“Lumine duck!”

I pulled the ledge of the Musou Saber reloading the bullets and shot at the Inves. Lumine looked behind and saw the damage. She then looked at and nodded to give her thanks.

I saw in another area,  Xiao jumped high into the air before plunging his spear into the ground. Multiple spears rose from the ground, skewering the Inves near him. Seeing him clean up, it was about time I did too.

I combined Daidaimaru and Musousaber together and I took off the lockseed from my driver and attached it to the Musou Saber.

[Lock On!]

[1!, 10!, 100!]

With the Daidaimaru, I slashed in a circular motion around sending a wave of orange energy hitting the Inveses making them explode. I also saw Lumine finishing up with all the Inves near her on the ground.

With all the Inves defeated the people cheered. Knowing it was now safe the people hugged each other and breathed out a sigh of relief. I saw Verr Goldet issuing commands to her staff to take care of the injured as well as attending to the Millelith.

Seeing as she got the situation handled I saw Xiao standing and observing the Inveses. I walked up to him and greeted him.

“Hello, you must be the adeptus Conqueror of Demons, Xiao, right? Thank you for your help. My name is Jun but in this form, you could call me Kamen Rider Gaim.” I held out my hand or a handshake.

“You surprise me, warrior. I have never seen someone like you before nor your power. I have heard you talk about these ‘Inves’ before. I have fought many beings but I also have not seen one such as this. I thank you for your assistance but I should leave. Having too much contact is breaking the rules.” Xiao vanished, still leaving my hand out.

‘What a moody guy.’ Lumine walked up to me and came to check on me.

…

We both went to Verr Goldet to check if she needed any help.

“Goldet you need any help?”

“Ah, you two. Thank you for saving us. We have everything under control here. The staff are tending to the injured. Back-up from the Millelith has also arrived.”

“Then that is good. I know now it is not a good time. Is the kitchen open? We were hoping to order some food before we set off.”

Stomach growling~

Verr Goldet only smiled at us. “Of course, we will prepare for you right away. It will be on the house. Consider it gratitude for saving the inn.”

“Yipie~!” said Paimon excitedly flying around.

The inn served us plenty of dishes and we ate to our heart's content. After eating we said our goodbyes and everyone thanked us for saving them. As we were about to leave I suddenly remembered something.

“Hey Lumine you still haven’t interacted with the statue of the seven here in Liyue right?”

“Right, I haven’t gotten to one yet.”

“Then let’s go to one before going to Liyue. I’m pretty sure there was one near here.”

We rode the Sakura Hurricane and drove to the nearest statue of the seven. We soon found one and it looked like a man sitting on a throne made of cubes. He wore cloth covering his legs and wore a hood. His chest was bare.

Lumine came up to hit and put her hand on it. Geo energy suddenly started pouring out of the statue and gathering into Lumine. After a few moments, the energy dissipated.

Lumine now felt she could manipulate geo energy so she gave it a try. She created round structures and sharp geo crystals sprouting up from the ground like in the game.

“Congrats Lumine got to say feeling pretty jealous right now,” I said sarcastically

“You have your armor and I can manipulate all the elements. To each of their own.” she said smiling smugly

I only shrugged and we both got on the Sakura Hurricane and drove to Liyue Harbor. We passed through Guili Plains admiring the beauty of the land. We came upon a few hilichurls and treasure hoarders but Lumine easily made quick work with them manipulating the two elements she had. 

We camped under the stars and Lumine and I slept close together to feel warmth in each other's company. It has been a while so I decided to call Amber. 

Ring~Ring~

“Hello? Jun?”

“Hello, Amber. How are things going in Mondstadt?”

“Everything is fine. We might have some problems around the borders but Acting Grandmaster Jean is having it covered.”

We continued to talk to each other, sharing our experiences. I also told her about meeting Xiao and the attack on the inn. She was worried at first but relaxed after knowing I was fine. We said goodnight and we both drifted off to sleep. 

We continued our travels as we passed through mountains and villages. As we passed through a valley we saw structures in the distance.

It was a big city connected to the sea. Many buildings reminiscent of ancient China are built. The city had a harbor filled with many boats departing and landing. Merchants can be seen selling and transporting their merchandise. A large palace can be seen floating above the city. It was majestic as it looked down upon the city. We finally have arrived at Liyue Harbor and the floating palace is called the Jade Chamber where the Qixing presides.

We all took a moment to marvel at the city. “We finally have arrived at Liyue!” said Paimon excited

“It has been a long journey,” said Lumine with a bit of relief

“Yeah, but be careful you two. Despite how peaceful this city is at the moment. Trouble is brewing within it.” I said seriously

The two felt how serious I was and stared at the port city with concern.