"Rosalyne..."
"Shut up!" The anger in the Lady's eyes grew stronger. The Cryo energy around her surged, and a cold wave rushed toward Venti's position. "You have no right to call me by that name!"
Facing the cold wave rushing toward him, Venti's expression changed several times. In the end, he gave up resisting. The light emanating from his two braids dimmed.
Two Pyro Debt Collectors appeared behind Venti, forming a pincer attack together with the Lady.
"Venti!"
At the critical moment, it was still the protagonist who had to act.
Anemo energy in cyan wrapped around Lumine. She accelerated and rushed behind Venti, holding the Favonius Sword in hand and single-handedly blocking the sneak attack from the two Debt Collectors.
A flash of scarlet passed by. Jun Bai spread his flaming wings and shielded Venti in front of him.
The cold wave howled, but it had no effect when it landed on Jun Bai.
"That's enough, Rosalyne. The fault of the [Gold] Rhinedottir should not be counted on Venti."
"Venti, like you, is only a victim."
Jun Bai held the Favonius Lance, yet he did not point the spear tip at the Lady. His gaze was calm as he looked directly at her.
Although the Lady was an enemy, only after learning her story would one discover that a hateful person must have a pitiable side.
The death of her beloved caused the originally kind girl to exhaust all her tears and songs. The girl's time ended there, and the moment of the Pyro Witch's destruction began, until all monsters and all the pain caused by monsters in the world were burned away.
The Witch had long lost any attachment to the world and walked alone onto the path of revenge.
The gods and the Abyss were the Witch's targets of revenge.
Jun Bai sympathized with her experience, but he would not stand by and watch her harm Venti because of it.
"Victim? A god who disappeared when his nation faced disaster can he also be considered a victim?" the Lady sneered.
Jun Bai wanted to defend Venti, but Venti tugged at the corner of his clothes and shook his head at him.
"..." Jun Bai met Venti's gaze, wanting to speak but stopping. In the end, he closed his eyes, shook his head, then turned and joined the battlefield between Lumine and the Debt Collectors, leaving the space to the Lady and Venti.
The Lady's gaze followed Jun Bai's movement and landed on Venti. She snorted coldly. Then, instead of attacking again, she walked straight up to Venti and extended her hand.
"Hand it over. What the Cryo Archon deserves."
Venti took out the Gnosis from his bosom and looked deeply at the Lady.
"I'm very sorry about Rostam. If only I could have returned a little sooner..."
The Lady snatched the Gnosis and interrupted him. "You have no right to say that name."
With that, the Lady ignored Venti and the two Debt Collectors who were being beaten nearby, turned around, and left the scene directly.
"Venti! Are you okay?" Seeing the Lady leave, Paimon, who had been watching from the side, flew over anxiously.
Venti shook his head. "I'm fine."
Lumine, who had finished dealing with the Debt Collectors, walked over and asked, "Who was that woman?"
"Fatui Harbinger, Rank 7 — [The Lady]," Jun Bai walked over and answered for Venti.
Then he looked at Venti. "Change locations?"
Venti nodded. He then took out his lyre and gently plucked the strings. A stream of cyan wind swirled up everyone's bodies.
Lumine and Paimon only felt the world spinning. Their vision blurred for a moment. When they came back to their senses, they were already in front of the large tree at the Windrise.
"If we continued to stay in that place, there was a possibility my identity would be exposed. So I'm sorry, I could only bring you here first before explaining."
Venti said.
"That person is the Fatui Harbinger, Rank 7, codename [The Lady]. She is from Mondstadt. Her goal is the Gnosis in Venti's hand. That is the symbol of the Seven Sovereigns of the mortal world."
Jun Bai explained to the two.
"Eh? Isn't that a very important thing?" Paimon exclaimed. "You just handed it over to the enemy like that?"
Jun Bai shook his head. "It's just a difference in stance. If we're talking about enemies, it hasn't reached that level yet."
"As for easily handing over the Gnosis..."
Jun Bai's gaze fell on Venti. "I also need Venti to give me an explanation."
Venti guiltily lowered his head, then put on a playful smiling face. "Isn't it because you haven't recovered yet?"
"Gods gain power from the faith of the people under their rule. But I have been asleep for a very long time. The current me is undoubtedly the weakest among the Seven Archons."
"A weak me has no chance of winning against a Fatui Harbinger. Even if you, Jun Bai, helped, the best outcome would only be both sides suffering losses."
"As your close friend, I didn't want to see that scene. So I could only hand over the important Gnosis."
His expression was sincere and his tone earnest. If Jun Bai hadn't been a player before crossing over, he might have actually fallen for Venti's act.
"You'd better really believe I would buy that." Jun Bai crossed his arms. "As fellow gods, how come I didn't know about this?"
"Because you're not one of the Seven Sovereigns of the mortal world..."
"Then I also never heard the Rex Lapis mention it."
"The old man is already strong enough. That little boost wouldn't mean anything to him."
"...Fine, you pass." Jun Bai nodded.
"Ehe!"
"But even so, it still doesn't make sense." Jun Bai said quietly. "You say gods need faith to gain power. But the problem is that Mondstadt's faith in the Anemo Archon is just as firm as Liyue's faith in the Rex Lapis."
In Mondstadt, even a dog on the roadside can say "May the Anemo Archon bless you." If faith really equals power as Venti said, Venti's strength wouldn't be weak.
"Uh..." Venti scratched his head and smiled awkwardly.
"Never mind. It's not my Gnosis anyway. Do whatever you want." Jun Bai sighed.
Jun Bai looked at Lumine. "There are no outsiders now. If you have questions, you can ask me or Venti."
Lumine looked at Jun Bai and said, "Can you tell me about the grudge between you and my brother?"
Jun Bai pondered, recalling the background story he had set for himself. He turned around, stood with his hands behind his back, and said, "Three thousand years ago, I formed a contract with the Rex Lapis and took the position of Marshal of the Millelith in Liyue."
"As Marshal and bound by the contract, the Millelith and I complemented each other. I once led the Millelith to exterminate monsters, and the Millelith followed me to fight gods."
"To me, every soldier of the Millelith is a brother who has gone through life and death together, irreplaceable."
"And five hundred years ago, the ancient human nation of Khaenri'ah, independent from the seven nations, attempted to use the power of the Abyss to shake the Heavenly Principles, and was thus destroyed by the Seven Archons."
"At the time of Khaenri'ah's destruction, all seven nations encountered disasters from the Abyss, including Liyue. Countless monsters surged out from the Chasm, intending to invade Liyue."
Jun Bai sighed. "To protect the people of Liyue, that generation of Millelith rushed to the front lines one after another."
"That battle was so tragic that even I felt it was intense. Countless Millelith sacrificed themselves in the Chasm. No monster was able to walk out of the Chasm… This was bought with the lives of the Millelith soldiers, my brothers."