The great sword in his hand was engulfed in raging flames, sweeping down directly towards the Hilichurl crowd.
Unleashing a powerful Pyro-infused heavy attack.
The Traveler followed closely behind.
With a raise of her hand, a strong Anemo energy began to spread.
While simultaneously pulling the nearby Hilichurl closer, she also caused the flames unleashed by Diluc to spread outwards in all directions.
Creating a terrifyingly wide area of effect.
"Wind Blade!"
"Ahhh!!!"
Guided by the wind, the flames engulfed the entire path.
Blocking off a scene that resembled a purgatory of death.
Facing such a terrifying elemental impact,
the Hilichurl caught within immediately screamed in agony.
They barely even touched the two's faces.
Under the impact of the flames, they swiftly turned into piles of ash.
"So powerful..."
"Is this the combination of fire and wind?"
Little Paimon blinked as she witnessed this scene.
Facing such an efficient way of clearing Hilichurl, she couldn't help but let out a sigh.
As a guide,
Paimon naturally knew that combining Visions of different elements could unleash vastly different powers.
But knowing is one thing; seeing the effects of different elemental combinations with her own eyes.
This was truly the first time for her.
"After all, wind can fuel fire..."
"Just a tiny spark, guided by the wind, can unleash unimaginable energy, you know."
Kai said with a somewhat leisurely smile.
"Uh..."
"But why is Kai still here? Shouldn't he be helping with the fight?"
Turning her head to look at Kai beside her,
Paimon's eyes showed confusion, and her tone was full of bewilderment.
"Because I need to stay here and protect Barbatos."
Kai would never admit the truth that he was too lazy to act because the enemies were too weak.
"In any case, none of that matters."
"It looks like the battle is completely over."
"Eh?"
Indeed, almost as soon as Kai's words fell, the battle in the distance gradually subsided.
Although there were quite a few Hilichurl attacking, and there was no shortage of Hilichurl Brutes among them, under the intertwining of fire and wind, they resisted for only a moment before being all reduced to piles of ash.
Gazing at the battle that was resolved so simply, even the Traveler couldn't help but show a slightly surprised expression.
She clearly hadn't expected such a thing to happen.
"Are... are all those Hilichurl that weak?"
The Traveler's expression was full of astonishment; it was truly her first time resolving such a large number of enemies so effortlessly.
"Because the combination of Anemo and Pyro can create a Swirl effect."
"Making the already impressive damage become more than the sum of its parts."
Seeing the Traveler walk over, her face full of questions,
Kai, having nothing else to do, decided to help explain.
"And besides Pyro,"
"It can actually create Swirl effects with Electro, Hydro, and other elements."
"Of course, if it's Geo, then there's nothing that can be done."
In Teyvat, Anemo and Geo are relatively speaking special types of elements.
They can react with any element.
But without the assistance of the other five elements, they simply cannot unleash their true power.
Geo is still manageable.
If an enemy is imbued with an element, at least a Crystallize reaction can occur.
Which is equivalent to giving oneself a weakened version of an Abyss Mage's shield.
But if it's Anemo... thinking about a situation without any elemental reactions to Swirl, the damage might truly be described as quite 'touching,' wouldn't it?
Naturally, if it transforms to the level of Dvalin, that's another story.
"I see..."
In fact, having only woken up a few months ago, the Traveler was still only vaguely aware of the elemental powers on the continent of Teyvat.
She truly didn't know that they could have such a significant effect when combined.
Judging by the scene just now, just by combining with Diluc's flames, the damage of Wind Blade increased by at least threefold.
This was a truly terrifying evolution.
"Hmm... Should I teach her how to create Pyro elements herself to trigger Swirl effects when no one is helping her?"
Seeing the Traveler, whose face was filled with shock as if she had discovered a new continent,
this thought couldn't help but surface in Kai's mind.
However, he looked at Stormterrors Lair behind him, pondered for a moment, and decided against it.
He would talk about it later if the opportunity arose.
"Alright."
Just moments after the Hilichurl were eliminated, as Barbatos's smug voice rang out, the barrier that had enveloped the entire Stormterrors Lair was forcibly cleared away from a large area at a visible speed.
Putting away his lyre, Barbatos took a step back.
A hint of smugness, truly showing off his effectiveness, appeared on his face.
"See? I told you that a mere wind barrier is absolutely no trouble for me."
"It seems it's cleared..."
Glancing at the path, which was clearly free from the storm's interference,
Kai nodded thoughtfully, completely ignoring Barbatos's attempt to take credit.
"It seems you, the bard, are still somewhat useful after all."
Fortunately, Paimon recognized his efforts.
After thinking for a moment, she finally decided to give him a compliment.
"Ehe~ You're too kind!"
"So, shall we continue?"
"Mm, let's go."
Kai nodded and said.
"The Abyss Order should have noticed us eliminating the Hilichurl just now."
"While I don't care about those guys, you all be careful yourselves."
"Don't get ambushed."
Abyss Mages are creatures that love to sneakily attack people.
Kai was extremely familiar with this.
Although every time they ambushed someone, they would simply be found out, this couldn't change their inherent habit.
To prevent the Traveler from becoming complacent due to his excessive display at Starsnatch Cliff yesterday,
Kai decided it was better to give an extra reminder.
"Understood, Kai."
"Don't worry."
"Ehe..."
As the words fell,
walking on the path leading to Stormterrors Lair, everyone fell into silence one after another, their gazes vigilantly scanning their surroundings.
At this moment, as they passed through the storm barrier, the surrounding scenery had gradually begun to change.
The previously relatively flat path had long disappeared, replaced by a scene that resembled ruins.
The ground was overgrown with weeds, mixed with unknown debris.
It seemed to be the remnants left behind after a building collapsed.
The sky became exceptionally dim, further darkened by the already dense Anemo interference.
It even appeared somewhat eerie.
Even the temperature had noticeably dropped a level.
"Is this Stormterrors Lair?"
"The scenery is truly magnificent."
Paimon couldn't help but murmur to herself, her voice full of awe, as she surveyed the ruins-like surroundings.
Upon entering the interior of Stormterrors Lair, what appeared before their eyes was a truly shocking scene.
A colossal azure wind barrier descended vertically from the sky.
From the inside, it resembled an insurmountable waterfall, completely dividing the world into two.
Howling gales, accompanied by violent elemental power, filled every corner of this land.
Along with the ubiquitous ruined buildings, even though they were just crumbling walls and broken bricks, one could vaguely sense the grandeur of Old Mondstadt from a thousand years ago.
"Of course. This is a city personally built by the tyrant."
"While it did indeed shield the people here from wind and snow, it also imprisoned their freedom."
"Look at the sky… in such a confined environment, even with wind, it must feel stifling, right?"
Barbatos began to explain eloquently beside him.
The azure wind curtain not only isolated everything, but even the sunlight was blocked out, making the sky appear somewhat blurry.
He looked up.
Although there was still an immensely vast distance to the edge of the wind barrier, even so, it still made one feel an extremely strong sense of oppression that was impossible to describe in words.
It was as if this place was not a city, but a… prison from which one could never escape.
"Indeed, no wonder the tyrant was overthrown."
Paimon said with a dazed expression.
Even with her small frame, she felt a sense of oppression here.
"Ahem, if you're interested in the tyrant's story, I can perform a special piece for you later."
"But for now, let's focus on Dvalin's whereabouts."
Barbatos pulled the conversation back.
He glanced at Kai, who was observing the environment, then continued: "First, we need to go to the true center of Stormterrors Lair."
"Perhaps we can find traces of Dvalin there."
"That is… that dome-shaped building!"
Following Barbatos's pointing direction, everyone could clearly see.
Not far away… an ancient building, enveloped by a storm, stood at the end of the bridge in an extremely tenacious posture.
Even within the entire Stormterrors Lair, this building was extremely conspicuous, making it impossible to ignore.
"Is this where the tyrant used to live?"
"Yes, it's indeed the tyrant's former residence… Mondstadt has a book, [The King of the Gale Tower (Decarabian) and the King of the North Wind (Andrius)], which tells this story!"
Barbatos nodded affirmatively, and as he spoke, he was already leading everyone over.
A moment later… facing the storm barrier at the end of the bridge corridor that blocked their way.
Paimon blinked, looking extremely puzzled.
"Eh… no road?"
"It seems like there's no road. I thought this path could lead into the tower."
Barbatos muttered.
Seemingly noticing the gazes from the others directed at him, he quickly explained.
"Actually, there shouldn't be any passages next to the tower. We used to enter from the bottom entrance."
"Just now I saw a few more bridges here, and I thought we could go directly to the tower… I didn't expect to still be blocked outside."
At this point, Barbatos himself looked around with some confusion, clearly not quite understanding.
"But then again, where did these roads come from… if they were naturally falling columns from around, then they fell too coincidentally."
"Hmm? Was the path we're on originally not there?"
Looking at the path that led directly to the tower like a bridge, and the extremely high ground, Paimon pondered thoughtfully.
Her adorable little face immediately showed an undeniable look of triumph.
"Could it be…?"
"These things were done by Dvalin?"
"Don't think about it. Dvalin flies. Is it necessary to create something like this?!"
Noticing the conversation gradually deviating from the goal,
Kai sighed, only able to explain a little.
To pull their focus back to the objective.
"This was done by an adventurer named Alice. This adventurer once successfully entered Stormterrors Lair, and to make it easier for later explorers to ascend this tower,"
"She casually blew up a few corridors, which is how the bridges we're walking on now were formed… and according to her, this also makes Stormterrors Lair appear to have more of an 'ancient ruin' feel."
Although, at least for Kai, he couldn't see how these blown-up corridors contributed much to the so-called 'ancient ruin feel.'
"Alice?"
Diluc was taken aback, feeling the name sounded familiar.
"Emmm…"
"It's Klee's mother, that woman who especially loves playing with explosions. Do you remember now?"
Kai thought for a moment and gave that description.
Diluc, who had been puzzled, immediately showed a look of understanding.
"So, it was her…"
That strange woman in Mondstadt's history who was the first to attack Cider Lake with bombs just to catch a few fish to eat.
Although Diluc wasn't particularly familiar with her, such eye-catching exploits meant that even those who weren't close to her would have heard her name.
It's worth mentioning that the second person to bomb fish in Cider Lake was Klee.
So, in that sense, these two… truly were a family.
"I see, it was deliberately blown up."
Upon hearing Kai's simple explanation, Barbatos revealed a look of understanding.
"However, from the current situation, she apparently still failed, didn't she?"
Paimon pointed to the storm barrier not far away.
"Although the bridge does lead to the tower, with this thing blocking the way, we still can't get in."
"No, she succeeded."
Kai shook his head.
"Eh?"
Paimon's eyes instantly filled with confusion.
While there was no need to worry about Kai's strength, her own eyes shouldn't be mistaken; there really was no path ahead, right?
"Because the original purpose of this corridor was to get us here."
"As for the real way to enter, it should be from the sky."
"The sky…"
Blinking her puzzled eyes,
Paimon looked at the tower and quickly discovered something.
"It looks like there's a hole in the tower's roof. Is that where we enter?"
"Indeed, it's possible. If we fly in from the sky, we can certainly bypass the storm barrier."
"However, this hole…"
The method of entry was not an issue.
But looking at the hole in the ceiling not far away,
Barbatos always felt that something seemed a bit off.
"Uh… this also looks like it was blown out, right?"
"Be confident, remove the words 'looks like.'"
"It was blown out by her."
Kai was quite familiar with Alice, and he recognized the effects of this familiar 'explosion art' almost at first glance.
Barbatos couldn't help but fall silent.
As a former Anemo Archon, Barbatos's birthplace was here.
Although Old Mondstadt brought him indelible and painful memories, no matter what, considering it his homeland was perfectly fine.
And now…