"Hehe, I didn't expect to be with Kai again, and Master Diluc is here too... This time there will definitely be no problems."
Near Stormterrors Lair... Paimon floated in the air, swaying, looking at the two figures leading the way. Her adorable little face was full of confidence, appearing incredibly at ease.
Little Paimon, of course, remembered the events at Starsnatch Cliff very clearly.
Although Jean hadn't come along this time.
The point was that Kai alone had scared away Dvalin and defeated the Abyss Mage back then.
In this situation, as long as he and Master Diluc were here, everyone else probably didn't matter.
"Don't underestimate Dvalin too much, you know."
Behind them, Barbatos looked at the surrounding scenery, buried deep in his memories, with a nostalgic expression. Hearing Paimon's incredibly relaxed words, he couldn't help but remind her.
"Although I don't have any doubts about Kai's strength."
"However, Dvalin's power wasn't fully unleashed at that time because he was affected by the Abyss power. Especially when Dvalin is in Stormterrors Lair, he has special buffs."
"So this journey won't be as easy as you imagine."
In fact, Barbatos wasn't entirely confident about Kai's strength.
While it was natural for him to surpass his current self, judging by the skill he used at Starsnatch Cliff, he wasn't so strong as to be invincible.
At least a normal Dvalin could withstand one lightning attack and then counter-attack.
In this situation, with the battleground set in Stormterrors Lair, it was clearly not so easy to say that Kai could achieve a hundred percent victory.
"Special buffs?"
Hearing the keyword, Diluc frowned, a look of confusion on his face.
"Yes, because the Anemo energy here in Stormterrors Lair is simply too active. The strong winds hidden in the clouds are also extremely suitable for Dvalin to fight in."
"Plus, with the Abyss Order behind him, dealing with him will be very troublesome... And I don't know how much power Dvalin has recovered after a day."
After awakening, Dvalin's strength had been in a state of recovery due to his struggle against the poisoned blood.
Although the Abyss Mages did attempt to deepen the curse through various means, as one of the Four Winds and a former familiar of Anemo Archon Barbatos, Dvalin was clearly not so easily subdued with the help of the lingering God of Anemo power.
It wasn't until after Starsnatch Cliff yesterday that Dvalin's inherent consciousness of protecting Mondstadt completely succumbed to the Abyss power, which sought to destroy everything.
In this situation, with a night's time, who knew how much strength he had recovered?
"Speaking of which, aren't you the God of Anemo, bard? If the active Anemo energy is useful to Dvalin, shouldn't it also give you a buff?"
Little Paimon expressed her confusion, looking at Barbatos with a puzzled expression.
"You didn't get any power increase, did you?"
"Of course not! I am the God of Anemo... If the Anemo energy is too dense, it's very helpful to me too."
Barbatos proudly lifted his head, refuting Paimon's provocation with indignation.
"For example..."
Kai threw out a casual remark.
After about a few seconds, he got Barbatos's answer.
"It can make us walk faster?"
"Or, by using the Anemo energy here, I can create wind currents to make you fly, that's also doable, you know."
No... So, this time coming to Stormterrors Lair, in terms of strength, you really can't help at all.
Kai withdrew his gaze from Barbatos.
He was too lazy to pay attention to his embarrassed expression, sighing helplessly.
Although he had more than once learned that this God of Anemo was surprisingly weak, even so, hearing that Barbatos could only provide such limited auxiliary help even in a place rich in Anemo energy, with no significant combat assistance, Kai still felt a bit of a headache.
Wind currents or whatever... The Anemo energy was so dense that one could basically soar by jumping and opening a Wind Glider. As for walking faster, if it weren't for having to consider others, with Kai's speed, he would have already reached Stormterrors Lair, and perhaps even started fighting Dvalin.
It could be said that the role Barbatos could play for him at the moment was almost negligible.
So, the question was... what was the point of having such a god?
"Otherwise, let's just replace the God of Anemo."
"How about letting Jean be the God of Anemo?"
Such a terrifying thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
"Hehe..."
As if sensing something, Barbatos, who had just finished explaining, was suddenly startled and instinctively looked at Kai in the distance.
Although from his perspective, Kai hadn't done anything just now, merely walking normally.
But for some reason, staring at Kai in the distance, Barbatos suddenly had an ominous premonition.
"That guy just now, he definitely thought of something strange, didn't he?"
As a god...
Even though Barbatos' divine power had drastically decreased because he hadn't governed Mondstadt much, to the point where he could barely defeat a Hypostasis, his intuition was clearly still intact.
He felt that in that instant, Kai suddenly became full of danger.
"Something's not right," Barbatos chuckled awkwardly, experiencing a strange craving for power for the first time in his life. Perhaps he should do something productive to accumulate divine power?
"It seems this must be the place."
While Barbatos was pondering, Kai stopped and suddenly spoke, looking at the storm barrier not far away.
At this moment, not far ahead, at the end of the rugged path, a dark blue storm barrier, resembling a glass dome, stood like a light curtain, blocking everyone's way.
Howling winds, accompanied by dust swirling up from the ground, raged furiously in this area.
"Is… is this the entrance to Stormterror's Lair?"
Paimon curiously leaned a bit closer. Before she could finish speaking, a terrifying storm suddenly struck, enveloping her as if it would tear the sky and earth apart.
She had only leaned in slightly, yet the intensity of the wind she endured suddenly increased dozens of times.
"Whoa!!!"
In a panic, Paimon immediately flailed her limbs and cried out, but her voice was instantly torn apart by the storm, unable to last even a second.
It wasn't until the Traveler, reacting extremely quickly, pulled her back a few centimeters. As she moved out of the barrier's range, the surroundings immediately returned to normal.
"What… what a terrifying barrier!" Paimon patted her chest, still looking panicked, remembering the scene from just now.
"I almost lost my life."
"Hehe, this is a high wall built by a certain tyrant using the power of Stormterror's Lair itself," Barbatos said with a shrug and a smile. Seeing that no one was cooperating with his question, he awkwardly coughed twice.
He then said, "But it's alright, I still have a way to break it."
"If you have a way to break it, then hurry up and do it," Kai grumbled, glancing at Barbatos with a helpless expression after hearing him speak with such confidence.
In fact, Kai also had a way to deal with storm barriers.
Theoretically, as long as the energy output was large enough, directly disrupting the Anemo elements within it and forcibly triggering an elemental pulse could basically resolve such a storm barrier.
But the problem was that doing so would cause too much impact.
After all, triggering an elemental pulse would be like lighting a fire in gunpowder.
It was likely that the entire Stormterror's Lair would instantly experience an unprecedented explosion.
In this situation, Kai thought carefully.
It would be better not to do that.
After all, Stormterror's Lair was one of Mondstadt's famous locations.
If Barbatos, the God of Anemo, could solve it, then it would be better to let it handle it.
"Ahem, don't be so impatient," Barbatos finally stopped talking nonsense after hearing Kai's urging, and quickly walked to the storm barrier.
Unlike Paimon just now, as the God of Anemo, Barbatos clearly had a certain immunity to these defenses made of Anemo elements.
Looking at the familiar barrier before him, Barbatos naturally took out a wooden lyre.
"Although it's just an ordinary wooden lyre, it's more than enough to break through this barrier."
"But…"
"Traveler, is there something coming from behind you?"
"Eh?"
The sudden prompt made Paimon visibly stunned for a moment, then she instinctively looked back.
"Waaah~"
Almost simultaneously, the unique cry of Hilichurl echoed from not far away.
Under everyone's puzzled gaze, a large number of Hilichurl began to gather from the path they had just taken.
Their vast numbers were clearly astonishing.
"So many Hilichurl!" Paimon was startled on the spot.
However, remembering that Kai and Diluc were present, her initial unease quickly subsided.
Her tone became a bit confused for a moment.
"But when we walked over from that direction just now, we didn't see anything. Why are there suddenly so many Hilichurl?"
"Perhaps they sensed our presence and came over specifically?" Kai shrugged, not feeling too surprised.
Normally, Hilichurl wouldn't be too fond of places with overly concentrated elemental power, like Stormterror's Lair.
Especially the area near the storm barrier, which was an extreme point of elemental chaos.
With the Hilichurl' pitiful intelligence, they would usually instinctively avoid such places.
In other words, "These Hilichurl, are they the work of the Abyss Order?" Diluc's voice grew cold. The greatsword in his hand suddenly erupted with a dazzling burst of fire.
Dense Pyro elements instantly rose in the area.
Staring at the Hilichurl not far away, he was ready to strike at any moment.
"It should be them…"
"They guessed we might appear at Stormterror's Lair, so they sent these Hilichurl over in advance."
"Are they acting as sentries or something?" Kai murmured, a hint of amusement flashing in his eyes, sensing that no Abyss Mages had appeared.
"But it doesn't matter if they found us. Diluc and Traveler, quickly deal with these Hilichurl. Consider it our greeting to the Abyss Order upon arriving at Stormterror's Lair."
Facing the Hilichurl that were almost upon them, Kai said calmly, a slight curve forming on his lips.
In fact, Kai had never been afraid of the Abyss Order.
If he had to say what kind of trouble they could cause him, it would probably be that they were too good at hiding, making them difficult to eliminate.
Unlike Hilichurl and the Fatui, the Abyss Mages of the Abyss Order usually acted alone.
Finding more than two at once was considered lucky.
Just like when five Cryo Abyss Mages appeared simultaneously at Starsnatch Cliff not long ago, that was considered a rather luxurious lineup.
And it allowed Kai to have a satisfying fight.
In this situation, if you were to say that after Kai entered Stormterror's Lair, the Abyss Order dispatched a large number of Abyss Mages to try and annihilate him… Kai would probably wake up laughing from his dreams.
After all, Jean wasn't accompanying him on this trip, so in battle, Kai didn't need to have any reservations at all!
"Alright, let's go." Diluc nodded.