Chapter 40: Chapter 38 - Svarog: I Shall Raise Your Sworn Father
Following the main story quest, the Trailblazer found the small robot, Perkins, protecting Clara in Rivet Town.
Perkins's electronic eyes ignored the rest of the group, turning instead to Seele.
"Beep-beep. The benefactor who protected Clara. Thank you for protecting Clara one week ago. May I ask… what is your business?" Perkins asked Seele respectfully.
"Protected… Clara?" Bronya looked at Seele with curiosity.
"It was nothing. A week ago, I was looking for supplies in Rivet Town and found that little one. She was cornered by a red Fragmentum monster, so I helped her out," Seele said matter-of-factly. To her, saving someone was a trivial matter. Besides, if it weren't for Clara, they wouldn't have been able to find some of their supplies earlier.
The energy within that little girl was far greater than she appeared.
"Where is Clara now? We need her help with something," Seele stated directly. Time was of the essence. If there were any other way, she would have preferred to just climb over the wall… Wait, why didn't she just climb the wall earlier?
Seele thought with some annoyance.
But on second thought, this was Svarog's main base. He would have certainly anticipated that. She probably would have been riddled with machine-gun fire and missiles the moment she got over!
Dammit! Wildfire didn't even have a single decent cannon, yet this robot possessed such advanced weaponry…
"Beep-beep. Clara, there are visitors."
Perkins headed toward a house somewhere in Rivet Town, and the group followed.
In a small alley, a barefooted Clara was squatting in front of a damaged automaton. Her fair little hands were covered in grease, and the screwdriver in her grip moved swiftly. In no time, Clara had disassembled a nearly intact mechanical part.
"Beep-beep. Clara, there are visitors," Pascal said, wobbling over to Clara's side.
"Ah… Huh? It's Big Sister Seele… and so many other big brothers and sisters? Is there something you need from Clara?"
The first person Clara saw when she looked up was Seele, but she was quickly taken aback by the large group. Her big eyes were filled with bewilderment.
[Clara! Clara! Clara!]
[Get the kid some shoes!]
[Yeah, otherwise she won't even have any foot odor.]
[Dammit, why are there Arknights bros in here too!]
[Shove Clara's foot calluses in my mouth!]
[Svarog: To expect humans to remain rational forever is, indeed, an extravagance.]
Looking at the stream chat, which had gone completely insane, Fanyin felt a headache coming on.
She had her mods ban the most outrageous comments and then told the viewers to tone it down before the platform admins caught the scent and came over.
After handling the stream chat, she continued with the story.
The group explained everything to Clara, and she agreed to help the Trailblazer's team.
If it had been before, she might have chosen to trust Mr. Svarog's judgment and refuse to help them meet him.
But too much had changed in the past week. Many people in the Robot Settlement had been forever buried underground due to the invasion of Fragmentum creatures. Even with the settlement's many automaton guards, it was futile. The tide-like wave of Fragmentum creatures was simply overwhelming…
Clara had personally watched as the automatons and the people of the Robot Settlement were swallowed up by the creatures…
In the end, it was Svarog himself who had to intervene to turn the tide, preserving most of the Robot Settlement.
Even so, the casualties in the settlement were immense.
The kind-hearted Clara naturally did not want such a thing to happen again.
Thus, the group returned to the Robot Settlement once more. After helping Clara repair a large number of instruments and automatons damaged by the Fragmentum invasion, they finally opened the last door and met the legendary "Big Boss Svarog."
Watching the negotiations break down, Fanyin's eyes were devoid of any surprise. She even felt a little like laughing.
How should she put it… Fate may take different paths, but it always converges at a certain point, doesn't it?
In the end, they still had to fight Svarog. This was a classic miHoYo trope: fight first, talk later!
"Ah? Ah!? AH!?? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! GAIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
A certain famous "Gorilla" streamer on ACFun was livestreaming his first playthrough of Star Rail, and his main story quest had just reached the scene where Svarog fights the protagonist's team.
Initially, he had been full of confidence, planning to defeat the large robot—whose appearance gave him a bit of déjà vu—within five turns. But Svarog's next move caught him completely off guard!
Svarog used "Auxiliary Deployment," and a giant mechanical hand joined the enemy team.
The Gorilla streamer had yet to realize the severity of the situation and continued to use Seele to fire flashbangs at Svarog.
"Between Giant Palms."
Svarog's summoned unit unleashed its skill, grabbing Wende from the Gorilla's team and pulling him out of the fight.
As everyone knows, resources are extremely limited in the early stages of Star Rail. And for a newbie like the Gorilla streamer, listening to advice was paramount.
So, on the recommendation of his viewers, he had poured all his resources into Wende…
The Gorilla streamer subscribed to the principle of "as long as my healer doesn't die, I can't lose."
After all, there weren't any overwhelmingly powerful enemies in the early game. As long as you can't one-shot me, my "sworn father" will come to my aid!
But now, Svarog had slapped Wende into [Imprisonment]!
What followed was the much-anticipated Svarog "Iron Fist Musou."
Svarog took out Seele with three punches, instantly depriving the team of its main DPS. Then, a high-efficiency bombardment combined with a basic attack took out the Tingyun and Bronya that the streamer had just pulled.
That's right, he was that confident in Wende! He didn't even bring another Preservation or Abundance character!
And so, the Gorilla streamer was left with only a half-health Wende who had just been released from imprisonment. He then gloriously achieved his first defeat at the hands of Svarog. Congratulations, congratulations!
[LMAO LMAO LMAO]
[Svarog: Watch me capture your sworn father! I dare you to act up now!]
[Congrats, congrats on your first defeat!]
[Yes, yes, so this is what a first playthrough looks like. I love to see it!]
[User: Wende's Dog has gifted x10 Noob Emblem]
At this moment, the Star Rail related forums and message boards exploded.
[u there? y is svarog always grabbing my wende?]
[Thanks for asking. Passed it by bringing two healers.]
[Thx 4 asking. Don't have the money to level Natasha!]
[Why does Wende have a higher taunt value than Tingyun!]
[Now that you mention it, I just realized… it seems like Wende has been the one tanking all the damage for me since the game launched…]
[Ah, this…]
[So that's how it is…]