"Barbatos!"
Dvalin's roar directly stunned Barbara.
"Barbatos? Who? Is there anyone named Barbatos here? How dare this person take the same name as Lord Anemo God?"
High in the sky, the dragon's furious roar continued: "A hundred years have passed, and I never thought you would become so despicable upon waking this time!
What is it? Did you summon me here this time for another conspiracy or trick?"
"Oh, right, it's the sky harp! The sky harp houses the Anemo God's divine power. If Venti uses the sky harp to summon Stormterror, it's understandable that he would be mistaken for the Anemo God's arrival."
It wasn't until Orion, seeing Venti's prolonged silence, simply stepped forward and pushed Venti's back in her line of sight: "He's calling you, hurry up and purify it, solve Mondstadt's crisis."
Barbara's mind went blank.
The west wind no longer stirred, all things returned to silence, and her vision even blurred.
Around her, only Rosaria's steady and quiet murmur secretly slipped into her ears.
"Ah, so Barbasbatos and Batobas are not right? It should be Barbatos..."
Barbara: "...Thank you, Rosaria."
When one is speechless, even the most chaotic thoughts are cast aside. The human brain is truly amazing, isn't it?
Venti was pushed by Orion, and under Jean and Diluc's slightly shocked, yet also confirming gazes, he took two steps forward and looked up at Dvalin.
"Dvalin, I have not come to be your enemy, but to untangle the facts that have become knotted in the wind for you! The tangled misunderstandings have clouded your eyes like dandelions blown by the spring breeze. I have come to resolve these misunderstandings!"
As the god and dragon faced each other, Orion also observed Dvalin's appearance with folded arms.
Something was very wrong.
In his impression, Stormterror in the game simply had a few scabs formed from accumulated poisonous blood on its back in its normal state. Other than that, there should have been nothing special.
But the Dvalin before him was completely different.
Its eyes glowed red, its claws became much sharper than before, and although its pairs of dragon wings were still the same stained-glass colors, each flap released a layer of dark red substance like scale powder.
Especially its back, centered around the blood scabs, had grown many dark blue hairs!
Orion was certain this was not normal.
After he arrived in Teyvat, he specifically observed the people and things around him, even every kind of monster and animal visible in Mondstadt. His conclusion was that even if there were some stylistic differences between reality and the game, there wouldn't be such a sudden increase in colors on Dvalin as there was now.
Could it be that bosses have different special effects? Or is it simply that the corrosion has deepened?
While Orion was lost in thought, Venti and Dvalin had completely fallen out. More accurately, Dvalin simply didn't want to listen and didn't speak. With a roar full of power, the sky harp floating in the air was shattered, and the immense Anemo energy contained within it burst forth. Although Venti was protected by a shield and unharmed, he still stumbled back two steps and fell to the ground, looking very much like a delicate young boy.
Oh, Venti, your daddy told you, without the blessing of faith, you're at most a — loli.
Jean went to help Venti up. This person was now openly declared as the Anemo God of Mondstadt, so she dared not disrespect him. Lumine, Clara, and Diluc also entered a state of readiness.
As for Barbara? Oh, Barbara had already fainted upon seeing the holy relic destroyed. Rosaria was currently pinching her philtrum.
However, Orion still felt something was off. In the game's storyline, wasn't it an Abyss Mage who shattered the sky harp here? Where was that Abyss Mage?
Before he could wonder, a sharp laugh echoed from behind Dvalin's head.
"Hahahahaha! That's right, Wind Dragon! Do not trust the sweet words of this unreliable Anemo God and his accomplices. Look at them, they claim to come to talk with you, yet each of them carries weapons. Who are they putting on a show for?"
Everyone looked over, only to see an Abyss Mage, completely wrapped in bandages, floating out from behind Stormterror's head.
Hmm?
Wrapped in bandages?
The Abyss Mage was about to continue provoking when it suddenly saw Orion standing among the crowd, immediately falling onto Dvalin and retreating with a shriek.
"Ah ah ah ah ah ah! It's, it's the Bomb Demon's brother! Is that, is that Bomb Demon also here?!"
Everyone looked at Orion.
A drop of sweat trickled down Orion's forehead. How was the plot deviating further and further from his understanding? What was a Bomb Demon?
Eh? Wait, bomb? Could it be referring to Klee?
Orion turned his gaze to Acting Grand Master Jean. Jean's face suddenly flushed under his stare: "Ah, uh, well, last, last time you and Klee blew up a Pyro Abyss Mage, and then I praised her, didn't I?
Later, Klee might have thought that blowing up Abyss Mages would earn her praise, so she, she often ran out on her own. Even after I put her in solitary confinement, she would run out again once it ended.
I really had no choice, and coupled with the story of Yu the Great controlling the flood that you told me in the tavern before, it's better to guide than to block. So, I, I just designated a few areas where the Abyss Order was active and told her she could go there to plant bombs..."
As Acting Grand Master Jean spoke, her expression became a little wronged, much like a mother who wasn't very good at raising children.
Klee was quite something too. Look at how she'd changed Jean. Jean, a young woman, now had a full-blown 'young married woman' vibe.
Orion heard this and slightly expanded his perception range, checking the minefields near Mondstadt.
He didn't know until he checked, and when he did, he was shocked. This wasn't just playing around with bombs!
Klee, by herself, had elevated Mondstadt City's mine warfare from the Middle Ages to World War II levels.
In the sky, the Cryo Abyss Mage was telling Dvalin how difficult the man on the ground was to deal with. Dvalin, currently in a stage of defiance due to the Abyss's corrosion, insisted on seeing for himself what was going on when he heard Orion was strong.
Suddenly, centered on Orion, a vast wave of mental energy quickly spread, covering all of Mondstadt in an instant.
Dvalin: "...RUN!"
"Barbatos, this time I will not argue with you. Right and wrong, we shall discuss another day!"
Then he quickly turned around in the air and flew away.
Venti watched Dvalin fly into the distance, then turned back to Orion: "You seem to have scared it away."
A moment later, everyone gathered in a circle.
In the center, Barbara knelt on the ground, clutching the sky harp and weeping.
"The, the sky harp! The Church's holy relic, Lord Barbatos's former divine artifact! It, it was destroyed in my generation, I am guilty!!!"
Paimon floated next to Lumine: "Anemo God, aren't you right here? Can't you fix it?"
Venti shrugged: "I have been asleep for too many years, and both my divine power and power of faith are depleted. If it's just to restore its appearance, it might be possible, but to completely restore it..."
Barbara, hearing the Anemo God himself say this, was even more at a loss.
Good news: the Anemo God manifested right before her.
Bad news: the Anemo God's artifact was destroyed, and even the God himself couldn't fix it.
Barbara looked pitifully at Venti: "Lord Barbatos, can it really, really not be fixed? This harp has appeared at the climax of every Windblume Festival for a hundred years. Countless children of Mondstadt look forward to seeing it.
As a believer, I am already satisfied to behold your divine face, but the children of Mondstadt still need this harp..."
Jean also bent down, comforting Barbara: "Barbara, don't trouble Ba — Sir Venti. The crisis in Mondstadt City has not yet been resolved. Compared to whether this harp can be repaired, Sir Venti's safety and Mondstadt's safety are more important."
Barbara was not a blindly devout person, but she also knew that Venti not revealing his identity meant he still wanted to maintain his image as a bard at this time.
So the outcome of this operation was that everyone failed to purify Stormterror, and the sky harp was also lost for nothing. From the result, she, a Deaconess who followed along, not only couldn't help much but also failed to protect the Church's holy relic.
The most intense episode of faith versus reality.
Seeing Barbara's dejected expression, Venti sighed, walked over to Orion in front of everyone, and patted his shoulder: "Think of a way, Mr. Anemo God's Messenger."
At the same time, a wisp of clear wind entered Orion's ear.
"I've given you a chance to show off in public. You should be able to do it, right?"
-
-
-
-