"財務省と敵"
━━━━━━

While Astaroth had agonizingly enjoyed the Lantern Rite...

Nyx trapped in a form of a snake slithered to the domain gates of Dragonspine peak. The glowing blue lines had become dull, replaced with ominous violet light. Forcing her magic to open the doors, a wave of power crashed over her.

It was an other-worldly feeling.

Dark and ominous, yet she had to endure such terror just to free herself. It wasn't just the determination to take a human form once more, but to make her master proud. If she failed, she would be swallowed in shame and the disappointment her master would display.

"The path to thesauri"

She hissed, slithering down into the dungeon-like realm. The eery emptiness made her shiver, traversing down the several rooms holding certain relics. None caught her interest until she found herself face to face with a locked door covered in chains.

"Those pathetic gods. Going as far as to guard that damn necklace. Did reversing my being and trapping me in this form not satisfy them?!" She hissed, harshly flicking her tail at the chains.

Dark energy covered her sharp tail, stabbing at the chains over and over again until they no longer could handle the impacts. The chains broke, the doors opened to reveal a dark room, light shining down at a single artifact floating over the stage like the decor.

It was a necklace with a silver chain holding a diamond-shaped gem of violet. She quickly slithered to it, swiftly dodging the visible traps in the floor and wall that would be triggered by a single touch. But she was not imprisoned in the form of a snake for no reason.

"Finally! Master would be so proud of me!!" She exclaimed, wrapping the necklace around her. She inhaled deeply, waiting for the effects to activate.

She hissed in pain as the necklace started to burn at her, her magic starting to distort as a thick smoke covered her. The room began to display black sparks of what seemed like lightning before the smoke dispersed in an explosion.

"Ugh... Must this burn my delicate skin"

There stood a girl with waist-length obsidian hair and light silver eyes almost turning into a white. Her pupils were in the form of slits and the same color as her hair to contrast her light-colored irises. Soft slight pale skin that seemed fairer than the fairy tale princess snow white.

She shivered, touching her cheek as she grinned in triumph.

Nyx Von Kaiserin.

The one and the only serpent of the night that was worthy to stand alongside the God of Chaos and Darkness Astaroth. Trapped in her serpentine form, she despised the gods for cursing her. She held such power rivaling an Archon, and Celestia did not approve of such even after almost killing her.

Her near-death caused her to revert back into the egg she was born as, forcing Astaroth to raise her as an egg for thousands of years until she finally began to hatch.

"You foolish gods of Celestia! My master will always be able to defy you. I will return time and time again, so smite thee if thy shall perish once more!"

She cackled, placing her hands on her hips. As the floor began to rumble, she cursed under her breath as she ran for the door. The moment her body exited the room, a stone dragon crashed down on her.

"Grr.. so this is the defense mechanism Incase someone was able to enter." She growled, snapping her gaze to her surroundings.

There was no weapon she could wield, except...

"A grimoire? I suppose this will do for now. Once I get out I'll request Schatten meister to bestow upon me my spear." She sighed, channeling her power into the rather shabby catalyst.

The dragon roared angrily, stomping its foot onto the ground and caused more quaking to the realm. Nyx growled angrily, forcing the power her master gifted her to resurface from her depths.

The shadows began to rise from the ground, summoning obsidian spears spears to her command. Shadow-like spears floated to her side, as Nyx elegantly controlled it with her perfect mastery.

They zoomed towards the stone dragon at break-neck speeds, stabbing themselves into the creature's back and limbs. It screeched angrily, swinging its hardtail at Nyx, who was knocked back by the impact.

"You...insolent...boulder... YOU'RE MORE ANNOYING THAN AZHDAHA!!" She yelled, mercilessly plunging a large sword of shadows at its heart. The dragon cried out in pain before Nyx stabbed it with her spears all over its body. The dragon was reduced to broken debris on the floor, with Nyx panting angrily.

She complained over and over again until all the forces went to defeat her were nothing rubble on the floor. Her anger was not calmed, but more opponents arrived for her to vent out her anger.

Send her an Oceanid, a dragon, or a demon. Nyx was ready to destroy them all to leave the realm alive just to make her master proud. She found death more pleasurable than failing Astaroth. It was her greatest nightmare and what fueled her to succeed.

.

The peak of Vyndagnir's domain was silent for days on end...

But as the lantern rite came to an end, the doors slammed open. As the torches by the side of the door were blown out, a young lady exited the domain with a slightly ripped and ruined outfit. Her black hair was disheveled, looking like bird's-nest to her horror.

"How horrendous." She murmured, approaching the warming mechanism. She snapped her fingers, as shadows wrapped around her body.

Her once old-looking clothes were now changed into a new outfit. A high collared button-up shirt with a red diamond-like brooch, under a dark purple corset. A long dark coat, some golden ornaments that resembled a diamond hanging from her tailcoats. Black shorts and black stockings that were tied up by a garter, last but not least white heeled boots.

She tied her hair into a messy ponytail as she looked down at the mountain below her. Dragonspine felt lonelier without her master's presence, unnerving her further.

It has been a few days since she first entered the path of thesauri but she speculated that the lantern rite had ended. Now she had to face the fact she had unfortunately returned a few days before the Windblume festival with Ludi Harpastum following.

"Dear Chaos... Barbatos is going to be a hindrance I say. Bloody hell." She murmured, kicking a pebble as she jumped down from the edge before falling down to a shadow-like portal. she would never have expected that the forest she appeared in was on fire...

.

Nyx found herself stepping foot into the wolvendom, finding herself in a rather infuriating situation. Her master was currently in Liyue, and she questioned why she was in Monstadt.

But what annoyed her, even more, was the presence of another Nacht vertraut in the vicinity. "That stupid crow! How dare he leave Shatten Meister without a scout... At least the mutt Remus is still with him." She sighed, looking around the lush forest. The faint aura of divinity still lingered in the area, assuming that it was the spirit of Andrius that caused such a thing.

She leisurely walked around the forest, until a loud boom entered her ears. She flinched, having enhanced hearing was a blessing and a curse. Cursing under her breath, she dashed to the loud boom.

The smoke fleeting into the sky, she began to worry if any humans had been injured in the process. Though she mildly detested humans for forgetting her master, she did not despise them to a cruel extent. She ran into the smoking area, covering up her nose from the smoke.

"Yay I did it! Oh, wait, no I didn't..."

She heard a high-pitched voice, indicating that it belonged to a child. Nyx became more worried at the thought of an injured child due to the explosion, summoning her temporary weapon. She created a large fan of shadows and began to fan away from the smoke.

"Are any of you hurt?" He exclaimed, seeing two young humans surrounded by blazing flames. Dead hilichurl bodies and flattened slimes were scattered around the place, causing a rather gruesome scene to occur in the eyes of normal individuals. Nyx however was used to this.

"G-Gah!! I'm sorry! Grandmaster Jean is going to be so angry with me." The little girl in red cried out, tears brimming in her eyes.

"Razor thinks burny girl... did nothing...wrong.." The grey-haired boy, 'Razor', explained to her. He gently patted her head, before turning to Nyx. Once he took a whiff of her scent, he found her odd.

"Lady smells...weird." He commented, mildly offending Nyx. Well who wouldn't if a stranger just commented on your smell.

"Excuse me?" She raised a brow, before taking in his appearance. An Electro charged claymore in his hands, both carrying a sense of divinity. Vision-holders. Allogenes of gods, but she was more concerned of the young girl with a pyro vision of all things.

"Oh... You must be the boy raised by Andrius.." She whispered, before turning to the little girl.

Sighing tiredly, she effortlessly walked around the flames, however, that caused Razor to be alerted. He readied his blade, but as soon as he blinked she was gone from her sight. He began to panic, his senses had never failed him before.

"Are you hurt?"

razor snapped his gaze towards the girl in red, blinking once he saw Nyx check up on her rather than reprimand her. "That was quite dangerous. You could've gotten yourself hurt." She scolded, making sure the little girl did not have any injuries.

"It seems like you two are fine." She murmured, checking Razor for injuries as well. She heaved a sigh, relieved that neither was hurt. The little girl looked at her in confusion, making Nyx give her a tiny smile. She patted her blonde head, picking up the ashen hat that matched her outfit.

"Oh no...My hat's all burned up." She frowned.

"Not to worry," Nyx stated, the red hat being swallowed by a black ball before emerging brand as new.

"Hello there. I'm Nyx, may I know your names?" She asked, fixing the hat on the little girl's head.

"Spark Knight Klee of the knights of Favonius! This is my best friend Razor!!"

'The rumored Red knight of stormbearer mountains... is a child?' Nyx sweatdropped.

"Oh! Oh! Miss Nyx, I'll bring you to Monstadt if you're going! It's the Knights' job to safely bring visitors to the city, that's what Amber said." Klee grinned, her shining gaze making Nyx laugh straindly. She was often weak to children, especially unique ones like Klee.

'I suppose I can wait for master in Monstadt.' She thought, nodding in agreement to the little girl.

.

Within Liyue, Noir's eyes snapped to the direction of the north. An unexpected smile graced his lips, "I see. She succeded."

"Hmm? What were you saying?"

"Nothing Aether... Don't mind me. Just... looking forward to going back to Mond."

However... He already began to pity Barbatos. Nyx would surely ridicule the bard at every chance she got.