Darknight Hero's Crisis

Darknight Hero's Crisis is the second part of .
==Steps==
# Talk to Huffman outside the Knights of Favonius headquarters
#* You acquire Letter from the Abyss Order
# Go to Dawn Winery
# Tell Diluc about the war declaration
# Go to the Abyss Order stronghold
# Talk to Diluc
# Enter the Abyss Order stronghold
#* Enter Temple of the Lion's Quest Domain: Cipher for the Ciphertext
# Arrive at the depths of the Abyss Order stronghold
# Interrogate the Abyss Mage and find out their plan
# Leave the Abyss Order stronghold
# Talk to Huffman about the Knights' situation
==Dialogue==
;(Talking to Huffman)
: Paimon: Huffman!
: Huffman: Oh, it's you two. Thank you for coming.
: Huffman: So — the Darknight Hero. Do you have anything else you're able to share with me?
: Could I first ask what's going on?
:: Huffman: Ah yes, of course I should fill you in first... apologies for my appalling lapse of etiquette.
: Sorry, we've got nothing.
:: Huffman: Is that so... That is a pity indeed.
: Huffman: The situation is... here. Take a look at this.
:;(He gives you a Letter from the Abyss Order which says the following)
::To the "Darknight Hero"
::??? ????? ????? has endured too long your self-proclaimed ????????????? and hypocrisy. We hereby ????????? you:
::We shall ??? ?? ??????? ??? march full-on onto Mondstadt's front gate at ?? ???. If you wish to cling to your so-called justice, don't sit idly by ?? ??? ???????, step up and accept ??? ?????????. Otherwise, Mondstadt's ?????? ???? shall take the fall in your stead.
: Paimon: Geez... what horrible handwriting!
: Paimon: Hmm, let me take a closer look... Huh, some parts of this seem to be complete gibberish.
: Huffman: Indeed. Although this is written in the common tongue, it appears that a cipher has been used in many places.
: Huffman: Nevertheless, one can grasp the general message from the non-ciphered portions alone...
: Huffman: This is a war declaration from the Abyss Order to the Darknight Hero.
: Paimon: Does that mean... the bad guys want the Darknight Hero to go away forever and ever?
: Huffman: Something like that. Thus, we are hoping to contact him as soon as possible so that we can attempt to coordinate a response.
: Huffman: After all, this matter no longer concerns merely the Darknight Hero himself. It impacts the entire city of Mondstadt.
: Thank you for the information.
: I will keep it in mind.
: Huffman: If you find out anything at all, come and find me.
: Paimon: A war declaration sent by the Abyss Order...
: Paimon: This is not good news at all for Master Diluc! Quick, we should go tell him right away!
----
;(Talking to Diluc at Dawn Winery)
: Paimon: Master Diluc! Just now we were at the Knights of Favonius and, and—
: Diluc: I take it you're about to inform me of the war declaration from the Abyss Order?
: Diluc: I am aware of it. Though I appreciate you for taking the trouble to come all this way.
: Paimon: What?
: Diluc: The Dawn Winery's intelligence network extends beyond commercial matters.
: Paimon: Great! So, what's the plan, Master Diluc?
: Diluc: I'm open to suggestions...
: You really should join forces with the Knights...
:: Diluc: No. That would be playing right into the hands of the Abyss Order.
:: Diluc: They know full well that we don't exactly see eye to eye. They're using this as a means to force me into making an appearance.
:: Diluc: If my identity were exposed, all my future activities would be subject to some degree of interference from the Knights.
:: Diluc: After all, no powerful organization wishes to be outdone by someone from the outside.
: Stay at the winery until this blows over.
:: Diluc: That would be tantamount to handing this over to the Knights.
:: Diluc: Had they been worthy of this task to begin with, things would never have escalated to this point.
:: Diluc: In any case, circumstances are not dire enough to warrant me going into hiding and leaving the Knights to deal with the consequences.
: Paimon: Whew... the Abyss Order has really dealt you a tough hand this time. What a sneaky little bunch those guys are!
: Diluc: There is a way. But for it to work, I need some more information.
: Diluc: Specifically, I need to decipher the obscured portions of the Abyss Order's war declaration.
: Paimon: Obscured portions? You mean the bits Paimon can't read?
: Diluc: It must be a cipher only understood by members of the Abyss Order, used to spread messages within the organization.
: Why would they send you a written message that only they can read?
: If they knew we can't read it, why did they write it in the first place?
: Diluc: It's not simply a war declaration, but also a notification to their own.
: Diluc: When you take a stand that makes you a hero to one party, you also become a villain to the other.
: Diluc: And since I've been the Abyss Order's enemy for so long...
: Diluc: They've made me the target around which they can rally their troops and unite their strength.
: Paimon: Wow... Seems like it takes a lot of brains to be a superhero, huh?
: Diluc: I understand my enemy well is all. As the saying goes, heroes and villains are two sides of the same coin.
: Paimon: So what're we gonna do about the intel that's written in gibberish then? How do we... ungibberishify it?
: Diluc: Simple. When you don't understand something, you ask.
: Diluc: I've already tracked down one of their strongholds... If you're interested, feel free to come along.
----
;(Talking to Diluc outside the Abyss Order stronghold)
: Diluc: This is the place.
: Diluc: Abandoned ruins like these are precisely the kind of place the Abyss Order likes to camp out.
: Diluc: Come on. There's no time to lose.
----
;(At the end of the stronghold)
: Abyss Mage: How did you find me here!? Favonian scum!
: Diluc: I am no Knight of Favonius. Now, start talking! Your plan, what is it?
: Abyss Mage: I see you received our letter... But if you think I'm going to let you in on our secrets, I'm afraid you're quite mistaken!
: Diluc: Hmph. You appear to have misunderstood the situation you are in.
: Burn him with !
: Abyss Mage: D—Did you just use a Pyro Vision to shoot f—fire from your hands!? ...Ah! It burns!!
: Diluc: Let's see how long it takes for you to crack...
: Burn him with again!
: Abyss Mage: Stop! Stop! P—Please, the pain— I beg you... make it stop!
: Burn him with again!
:: Abyss Mage: Ugh...
:: Diluc: Playing dead won't help you — that fire was nowhere near strong enough to— Oh... He seems to have ...
:: Diluc: Hey! You sleep when I say you can sleep!
:: Abyss Mage: Aah! It burns!
: about their plan of attack.
: Abyss Mage: I'll talk, I'll talk! Ow ow ow... P—Please, stop! I'll tell you !
: Abyss Mage: Th—The Abyss Order, we've amassed a force bound by a shared hatred for the Darknight Hero...
: Abyss Mage: They... They will march on the Mondstadt at 10 PM tomorrow night.
: Abyss Mage: That's everything I know... Please... Don't make me suffer those flames again...
: Diluc: That's it? Well, I doubt you'd be foolish enough to keep anything else hidden.
----
;(Outside the stronghold)
: Diluc: Now that I have the information I need, I must prepare.
: Diluc: I would be grateful if you could keep me updated on how the Knights of Favonius respond to this matter.
: Paimon: Yes, Master Diluc sir! Anything you say, Master Diluc sir!
: Diluc: ...Why are you acting so strange all of a sudden?
: Paimon: In... in light of what just went down here a moment ago...
: Paimon: Master Diluc has officially reached No. 1 on Paimon's "people not to tick off under any circumstances" list...
: Diluc: ...
----
;(Talking to Huffman)
: Huffman: If we do not make contact with the Darknight Hero soon...
: What are we to do about the Abyss Order's challenge?
: Huffman: Ah, it's you two. I must admit, this issue of the Darknight Hero is proving to be something of a headache.
: Huffman: We've just held a meeting to decide on an appropriate course of action. Can you guess what it is?
: Bury our heads firmly in the sand?
:: Huffman: Haha... Good one. But no, the Knights cannot afford to simply stand by and watch while there is even the slightest inkling of a threat facing Mondstadt.
:: Huffman: If that were the case, more and more people would start to rely on the Darknight Hero instead of the Knights of Favonius.
: Join forces with the Darknight Hero?
:: Huffman: No. That would send a signal that the Knights are in favor of the Darknight Hero's continued presence in our city... which we are not.
:: Huffman: Encouraging this kind of individual heroism undermines the Knights' authority.
: Paimon: Oh. Well, what's the plan then?
: Huffman: Find out the Darknight Hero's true identity, and offer him our protection.
: Paimon: "Protection"? He seems to be doing just fine without your protection so far, y'know...
: Huffman: Pff...
: Huffman: Well, since you've aided the Knights in the past, I might as well just tell you.
: Huffman: The offer of protection is just a ruse, in order for the Knights of Favonius to take over full — and exclusive — responsibility for this matter.
: Paimon: You aren't gonna let the Darknight Hero be all heroic and stuff? Why not?
: Huffman: Firstly, to show the might of the Knights of Favonius — to prove to the people that without the Darknight Hero, they can still rely on the Knights to maintain peace and harmony.
: Huffman: Secondly, the Abyss Order have no mercy in their hearts. If anything happened to the Darknight Hero...
: Huffman: It would only serve to further their nefarious ambitions.
: Paimon: Gosh... Paimon never knew the life of a knight involved so much untold anguish before.
: Huffman: But none of this will work if we don't establish the Darknight Hero's true identity in time.
: Kaeya: There's no need to despair, Huffman. Just follow my plan and everything will be fine.
: Huffman: Ah, Captain Kaeya.
: Kaeya: Lately, Master Diluc has been working the bar at the Angel's Share every night.
: Kaeya: All I need you to do is keep him in your sight. Think you can manage that for me?
: Huffman: Yes, Captain Kaeya! ...But, does that mean that...
: Huffman: Master Diluc is the Darknight Hero?
: Kaeya: Who knows...? It's just a hunch. I've been known to be wrong on occasion.
----
;(Afterwards)
: Paimon: Wow, Paimon feels we saw a whole new side of the Knights of Favonius today...
: Paimon: But Paimon doesn't understand, how is Kaeya so sure he knows who the Darknight Hero is?
: Paimon: We need to get to the and tell Master Diluc as soon as Paimonly possible!
==Other Languages==
==Change History==
es:La crisis del Héroe Oscuro
ja:闇夜の英雄の危機
pt-br:Crise do Herói Obscuro
vi:Nguy Cơ Từ Anh Hùng Bóng Đêm