He changed Tiwat

To free his father, Diluc killed him with his own hands.

As the adopted son, Kaia witnessed this scene firsthand, but was unable to truly empathize with this tragic father-son conflict.

"So even someone like Lord Cripps would submit to dangerous evil forces."

A sinister thought flashed through her mind, but Kaiya responded with a smile—

"This kind of world is really... interesting."

Their shared "father" fell in a pool of blood, and the two boys embarked on divergent paths that very night.

That night, as if mourning Cripps, a torrential rain fell in Mondstadt.

Kaeya has a hidden side—he is a pawn planted by Canria in Mondstadt, and is obligated to serve Canria. For this mission, he was resolutely abandoned in a foreign land by his biological father. It was Kryps and Mondstadt who opened their arms to him at that time.

If a war breaks out between Kanria and Mondstadt, whose side should he take? Between his biological father who cruelly abandoned him and his adoptive father who took him in and raised him, who should he help?

For a long time, Kaiya had been tormented by an unsolvable dilemma. For him, who never revealed his true feelings, loyalty and mission, sincerity and happiness could never be had at the same time.

Kripps' death shattered the balance. Kaya felt relieved, yet ashamed of her selfishness.

As an adopted son, he should have saved Cripps, but he arrived too late; as a sworn brother, he should have helped Diluc share his pain, but he hid behind his brother, pondering that ancient conspiracy.

Out of guilt, Kaeya knocked on Diluc's door.

The torrential rain masked the scent of lies, and the secret was laid bare that night.

Kaeya had already anticipated Diluc's anger.

The two brothers drew their swords against each other, but he felt that this was the punishment the liar deserved.

But as they clashed, Kaeya felt a powerful surge of elemental energy erupt within his body for the first time.

For years, he had always hidden himself in the shadow of Diluc's glory; this was the first time he faced his sworn brother with his true self.

The cold, fragile elemental power surged along the tip of the sword towards Diluc's flames. Red and blue collided, unleashing a stunning hurricane.

Kaeya's Eye of God descended quietly at that moment.

After that, the relationship between the two brothers changed, and Kaia Legnfinde reverted to his original name, becoming Kaia Albury.

Chapter 215 Irming's Right Eye

Suddenly, something in Kaiya's arms flashed red and made a "dudu-ke—dudu-ke—" sound.

This is a signal sent by Diluc.

Pausing his tedious reminiscences, Kaiya lifted his "pirate eyepatch."

—From childhood to adulthood, he has always worn an eye patch over his right eye.

He never hesitated to joke about his right eye.

For example, if a pretty girl in a bar hits on him and asks about the eye patch, he would usually reply like this: "You know that famous adventurer Fischl? Her mysterious look with one eye covered certainly fits the image of the 'Princess of Judgment,' right? So, according to that rule, I must at least be a descendant of the last royal family, right?"

If the questioner were a man, Kaiya would naturally have a different explanation: "That's a secret about my personal past, please don't tell anyone. Actually... my grandfather... was a pirate! Look! My eyepatch is a descendant of my pirate grandfather, it's proof of our blood ties!"

If anyone with a strong sense of curiosity insists on removing his blindfold, Kaiya will show them a sword scar on his right eye and explain that it was to cover up the disability in his right eye.

A humorous anecdote masks a painful past that shouldn't be touched upon—at this point, even those who are curious can no longer remain curious.

Kaeya, of course, wouldn't tell them that the sword scar was a gift from Diluc that night... He ultimately failed to defeat Diluc.

Of course, he wasn't actually blind.

The reason Kaiya wears an eye patch is not to hide the scar on her right eye, but to conceal this unique eye.

He opened his right eye.

Unlike his blue left eye, Kaeya's right eye is naturally heterochromatic—it's a golden eye.

His pure golden pupils seemed to burn with raging flames, like an inextinguishable sun, making it impossible to look directly at him.

Before parting ways with Kaia, his biological father squeezed Kaia's still-thin shoulders and said these words: "This is your chance, you are our last hope."

"...Remember this: after the one-eyed king Ilmin lost his power, it was the Alberridge clan, who did not have royal blood, who stepped forward and temporarily served as regent."

"Though I cannot bring Canria back to life, the life of my Alberridge race should be a fleeting, brilliant flame, not a dim, wretched ember."

Flames appeared in the void that the golden eyes focused on.

Blue flames.

If Daines Reeb were here, he would recognize the true form of this blue flame—"the power from beyond the world."

It was with this power that Dain tracked down the Abyss Apostles, breaking through the spatial barrier and entering the Abyss's teleportation network.

And Kaiya is doing the same thing.

Blue flames outlined a doorway in the void.

In the legend of an ancient kingdom, a wise man once sacrificed his right eye to a giant tree, hanging upside down for nine days. He gained the ability to write runes and wield "words of power," and then established his own kingdom along the tree's roots. This wise man was known as "Ilmin the One-Eyed."

In the language of that ancient country, the name of that giant tree is "Irminsul," also known as the "World Tree."

The power inherited by the Alberridge family is the power residing in the right eye of Ilmin – representing "Ilminsur" and the power to manipulate the network of roots of the giant tree.

As a Kanriar spy hidden in Mondstadt, this power allows Kanriar forces to appear overnight from some unknown corner of Teyvat in the Knights of Favonius headquarters, instantly seizing power in a nation.

Kaeya himself is essentially a mobile "teleportation anchor".

—Of course, this is on the premise that Canria still has its so-called "troops".

To be precise, this power should be considered as something "stolen" by the Alberridges, not something that can be openly flaunted.

It's like a "backdoor" left behind by a programmer to maintain the program; only the programmer who wrote the program should know where this "backdoor" is.

The fact that the Kanriyans, who should not have had the authority, used this "back door" is obviously a criminal act.

Moreover, this power comes at a great cost each time it is used.

A faint smile appeared on Kaiya's lips. When he felt pain, others would cry, but he would laugh.

Although he would never say it out loud, every time he used his power for Diluc, it was a kind of "atonement" for Kaeya.

Normally, the "Gate of the Eagle" secret realm has only one exit. If the Fools guard this single exit, even the "Hero of the Night," with his agile skills, might not be able to break through their encirclement.

Therefore, "Night Heroes" must have an escape route that allows them to leave the secret realm at any time.

No matter what kind of secret realm it is, as long as it is actually built on the land of Teyvat, it will inevitably be covered by the "ley line network".

Diluc's leap from the ruins was not an act of suicide; his target was the ley line network within the secret realm.

A crimson figure emerged from the portal and stood before Kaeya.

Diluc was holding a cute red and white doll in his hand, the kind of little gadget that you'd see hanging on a preschooler's backpack.

I have to thank little Claire for this.

Four years ago, before Alice entrusted Claire to "Mama Jean," the permissive Alice let her daughter run around freely in Mondstadt.

So one day, Klee went to catch crystal butterflies in the vineyard of Dawn Winery, and as you can imagine, she made a complete mess of the vineyard...

But Diluc wasn't angry. He neither yelled at her nor demanded compensation. Instead, he personally escorted Klee back to Mondstadt and even gave her several bottles of freshly squeezed grape juice.

For Aerith, Diluc is someone who helped her little friend, so she will treat Diluc as her little friend as well—especially since this little friend has lost his father and needs some care from an elder.

Thanks to Ms. Alice's kindness, "Night Hero" received some very convenient gadgets. Just now, he used this strange device called "Dudu Communicator" to notify Kaeya to "open the door".

Kaeya removed the blindfold from his right eye, his face still bearing that nonchalant smile: "Yo, our hero's back. What brings you out so quickly?"

According to his calculations, it should have taken Diluc much longer to wipe out the Fools in the ruins by himself.

Diluc put away the "Duducom" in his hand and answered Kaeya indifferently: "Some unexpected people have appeared—Han Fulai, the Deputy Chief of the Moonlit Pavilion in Liyue, as well as that 'Great Sage Who Exorcises Demons,' and Yura."

"Wow, it's so lively!" Kaiya shrugged dramatically.

Diluc glared at him irritably: "I believe you're behind this. So, the stuff the Fools stole from Schubert, I gave to Yura. Go ask her for it yourself."

"Hey! No way?" Kaeya's smile vanished.

He really didn't expect this.

So the smile on Kaeya's face shifted to Diluc's.

"Bring your men and hurry up. Otherwise, you won't get any credit."

He paused, then added, "Also, Ilock is dead. He died right in front of me. I know this was the 'surprise' you wanted to leave me, even though I didn't kill him myself... But thank you."

Chapter 216 Kaiya's Plan

It's rare for Diluc to say "thank you" to him.

Even the usually eloquent Kaeya was at a loss for words when it came to Diluc.

The sworn brothers fell silent for a moment.

After a moment, Kaiya coughed lightly: "Alright, I should get back to what I'm doing. Because 'Night Heroes' are involved in this, the investigation into 'Night Heroes' will likely intensify. Don't be active for a while; it's time for you to enjoy a rare holiday."

"You don't need to tell me." Diluc resumed his aloof demeanor.

He wrapped the suit his father had left him tightly around himself, took a few steps, and then suddenly stopped.

“Oh, I forgot to pass on Adeline’s message. She said that last time someone shamelessly asked to have dinner at the winery, and she refused, but this time for the festival she has prepared a lot of roasted ribs and stews... as a ‘badminton festival buffet’ provided by the winery.”

With that, Diluc strode away without looking back.

Watching the "Night Hero" disappear into the distance, Kaeya couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Miss Adeline, the head maid of the Dawn Winery, is a model butler who has always adhered to the boundaries of a butler and never overstepped them. How could she possibly ask Diluc, who is the "master," to "pass on a message" for her?

However… he did miss Miss Adeline’s roast pork chops.

Actually, Diluc misunderstood Kaeya about something—he thought Han Fulai and Yura were "outside help" that Kaeya had found, but in reality, Kaeya was genuinely surprised when he heard that Han Fulai and Yura had already appeared in the Secret Realm.

According to Kaeya's plan, Yura would indeed discover Schubert's disappearance and lead her guerrilla squad to the scene, but that would have to wait until everything was settled here. How could Kaeya possibly have predicted that Han Fulai would summon that Liyue hermit and take Yura directly to the "Gate of the Eagle"?

It would be more accurate to say that Han Fulai's arrival was a true "divine intervention," which could very well disrupt Kaiya's plans.

Kaeya did indeed devise this opportunity for Diluc to "take revenge," and she did prepare manpower to support Diluc, even including Yura and her uncle Schubert in her plans—but the appearance of Han Fulai and the Liyue hermit was completely unplanned.

After all, the discussion between Qin and Han Fulai was kept secret from Kaiya, and he did not know that Han Fulai had also received a commission to expel the Fools.

What he's worried about now is the rumor that just started circulating in town yesterday about "Sir Humphrey" and Miss Yura.

According to his plan, this operation would have been a perfect "killing several birds with one stone".

First, it eliminated the potential threat of the Fools for Mondstadt;

Second, to avenge Diluc's fatal injury;

Third, the "Heroes of the Night" will enter a period of dormancy after this operation, which will also benefit the prestige of the Knights.

Fourth, to turn the Lawrence family and the Fools from collusion to complete antagonism;

Fifth, using the evidence of the Lawrence family's cooperation with the Fools as "handle," they forced Yura to formally announce her separation from the Lawrence family, thus completely severing the potential for Yura to be influenced by her family.

He was about to achieve these goals... but everything took an uncertain turn with the appearance of the unfathomable Deputy Minister Han.

Because of Yura's unexpected appearance, Diluc, who, despite his constant complaints about the Knights of Fatalis, was the most chivalrous at heart, chose to hand over the evidence of the Lawrence family's collusion with the Fatui to Yura for processing...

"Sigh." Kaiya scratched his head and sighed. "Hopefully, it will turn out well."

"Justice is not an absolute principle, but rather the result of a delicate balance between force and strategy. As for the process... there's no need to be too hard on yourself."

—Kaia once said these words in front of Grand Master Falgar.

As long as the outcome is as expected, Kaiya doesn't care how things end.

Kaiya silently turned around and walked towards the woods a little further away.

There was the Knights' Guard squad he brought with him over there.

This knight squad, which doesn't take a holiday during National Day, is a mobile force that Qin drew from various squads within the Knights Order and reserved at the Knights Order headquarters.

They were originally supposed to be a reserve force responsible for handling emergencies and maintaining order during the "Badminton Festival" in the city.

The inspiration came from the Thousand Rock Cavalry squadron that Ningguang had reserved for Liyue's "Lantern Festival"—after all, Jean learned a lot from her pen pal, Ningguang. Of course, since the warhorses had all been taken away by the Grand Master, this pitiful squad of knights had to squeeze a few people into one carriage to get there.

However, the knights who are willing to work overtime during holidays are the most "career-oriented" knights, and they are also the most elite group of knights who remain in Mondstadt. Of course, they will not care about this small difficulty.

As soon as Kaeya appeared, the waiting knights surrounded him, bombarding him with questions.

"Captain Kaeya, how is the situation?"

"Shouldn't it be our turn to rush in?"

"I can't wait!"