The difficulty of fighting Hypostasis monsters differs drastically depending on whether you understand their attack patterns.
Those who don't know the patterns often die quickly.
Those who do can survive.
At the center of the ruins, the awakened Anemo Hypostasis stretched its cube-like body.
Then the cubes rotated and formed a giant wind cone, spinning through the air like a lord inspecting its territory.
"Move!"
Jiang Chen shouted.
But Diluc had already dodged.
The wind swirling around the cone wasn't gentle.
Even from a distance, their skin felt like it was being cut by blades of air.
"When do we attack?"
Diluc asked.
"The same as before."
Jiang Chen answered.
"Wait until the core is exposed."
At that moment the Hypostasis suddenly descended near them.
Jiang Chen instantly understood what attack was coming.
He shouted again.
"Compressed wind field — retreat!"
The cube shells shot outward in every direction.
They surrounded the glowing core like planets orbiting a sun.
A terrifying gravitational pull formed at the center.
But Jiang Chen had already dragged Diluc outside the range.
Both planted their claymores into the ground to resist the suction.
Moments later—
BOOM!
The cubes collapsed inward.
A massive wind explosion erupted.
Anyone caught inside would likely be seriously injured — if not killed outright.
"Now!"
The explosion destroyed the outer shells.
Only the exposed core floated above the ground.
Diluc rushed forward.
"Searing Onslaught!"
He struck three times.
But new cube shells began forming around the core.
Diluc immediately retreated.
Jiang Chen did the same.
The Hypostasis grew angry.
The core rose into the air.
Its cubes reshaped into a giant wind butterfly, wings beating violently.
The storm currents chased Diluc.
The wind suddenly wrapped around him—
And lifted him into the air.
The creature flapped its wings again.
A devastating slicing wind followed.
But the target was already gone.
Jiang Chen landed nearby.
He folded his wind glider and set Diluc down.
Diluc winced in pain.
"That wind… was fast."
He said grimly.
"The first attack traps you."
"The second attack kills you."
"If that second one hit me…"
"I'd probably be dead."
Jiang Chen nodded.
"I'll draw its attention next."
He didn't really need Diluc for tanking.
What he needed from him was:
Damage
Margin for error
For example, Diluc could survive the first wind strike and keep fighting.
Someone like Lisa would be better for attracting attacks—
But that wasn't possible right now.
The Hidden Weapon Revealed
The Hypostasis descended again.
After using its last attack, it had no cube protection.
It was regenerating.
Jiang Chen's invisible sword suddenly lost its wind aura.
The weapon underneath appeared.
A dark red claymore.
Its hilt was long.
The guard resembled armored plating protecting the elemental conduit.
The blade bore deep claw marks, as if a wolf had attacked it.
A slanted edge and a diamond-shaped blood groove ran along the blade.
Just revealing the sword filled the air with killing intent.
Diluc's eyes widened.
"That's—!"
"The sword Grand Master Varka has been searching for!"
"And it's in your hands?!"
The legendary claymore—
Wolf's Gravestone
One of Mondstadt's most famous weapons.
Almost nobody knew Jiang Chen used a claymore.
He normally hid it under wind elemental energy.
Most people assumed he fought with a one-handed sword.
Even the weapon gifted to him by the Knights of Favonius had been the Favonius Sword, not a claymore.
Jiang Chen rushed forward.
"If you have time to be shocked,"
"you should swing your sword a few more times."
"Ending this faster is safer."
At the edge of the ruins—
Noelle recognized the blade.
She tightened her grip on her own Whiteblind.
"That's Wolf's Gravestone…"
"So cool."
It was unclear whether she meant the sword or the swordsman.
Barbara looked thoughtful.
"I think I've heard about it before…"
"It was the weapon of the Knight of Boreas."
Noelle explained.
"The title of 'Knight of the North Wind' comes from the first bearer."
"Grand Master Varka inherited that title."
Varka's search for this missing weapon was well known in Mondstadt.
Barbara gasped.
"Will Big Brother Jiang Chen fight Grand Master Varka for it?"
"At least a sparring match is inevitable."
Noelle said.
Lumine, however, wasn't focused on the sword.
She watched the battle nervously.
The Hypostasis spun upward into the sky.
Wind energy from the ruins gathered.
Suddenly—
Dozens of tornadoes descended.
The battlefield vanished behind the storm.
They could no longer see Jiang Chen and Diluc.
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