Looking at Stormterrors Lair, once a place of residence, now so ruined it could be described as a relic.
It was blown up by someone who didn't cherish it at all.
Honestly, for a moment,
Barbatos's heart was extremely conflicted.
"Aren't adventurers supposed to protect ruins?"
"How can there be such a one?"
"Perhaps when she became an adventurer, she hadn't learned about protecting ruins yet."
Kai thought about it.
In this situation, it seemed like this was the only explanation.
"Anyway, don't mind these details."
"Now, Barbatos, open a wind current and take us in."
"It's time to find Dvalin."
Within Stormterrors Lair, there were wind anemo at every corner.
However, since Barbatos, the God of Anemo, was present, there was clearly no need to waste time collecting any wind anemo.
"Alright…"
He sighed helplessly.
Although the fact that Stormterrors Lair had been bombed like this felt a bit strange and off.
However, the most pressing matter was clearly Dvalin's situation.
So he raised his hand.
Anemo energy quietly gathered.
A powerful wind current suddenly formed at the end of the corridor.
Stirring up an incredibly fierce hurricane.
"Then, let's go in."
"Everyone~"
"It seems we can only go this far."
"Yes, it seems we can only go this far."
With the help of the wind current, the group quickly entered the tall tower.
Paimon said with a look of regret at the very top floor...
Barbatos, beside her, repeated it.
Facing the somewhat silent scene around him, he clearly felt a massive headache.
Theoretically, his search direction should be correct.
Although nothing could be seen with the naked eye.
However, with the power of a god,
Barbatos could still sense traces that no one else could.
He could clearly determine that Dvalin was definitely here.
But the problem was... facing the desolate top of the tower, apart from the ruins,
There was almost nothing around.
Barbatos was a little depressed.
"Although it seems there's no way left."
"But I seem to feel an ancient sealing power."
"Is Dvalin hidden because of this seal?"
Feeling the faint aura emanating from all directions,
Barbatos murmured to himself, making a slight judgment.
"Seal…"
"You mean this thing, right?"
The area of Stormterrors Lair was clearly much larger than what Kai had seen in the game before.
Hearing Barbatos's questioning voice,
Kai searched for a moment and quickly found something.
He slightly raised his hand... a strong energy transformed into a fierce gust of wind that tore through the air.
Directly overturning the accumulated debris.
"Eh?"
The next second,
A device resembling some kind of magic circle instantly appeared before everyone's eyes.
Its surface emitted a faint blue light.
On the pillar in the very center, there was a stone engraved with a peculiar mark.
It seemed to symbolize some mysterious meaning.
"Buzz~"
As if some kind of resonance had occurred,
As the sealing device was discovered by Kai,
The sealing aura in the air instantly became even stronger.
Noticing the change here,
Diluc and the others couldn't help but walk over to Kai.
They looked at the device before them with thoughtful expressions.
"It really is a seal."
Barbatos's face lit up with joy.
Upon seeing this device, he almost immediately understood.
Where Dvalin was hidden.
"If I'm not mistaken, according to my knowledge of archaeology,"
"This seems to be a Guiding Light mechanism?"
Standing in front of the sealing device,
Facing the somewhat familiar markings, Diluc murmured to himself.
Clearly recalling something in his mind.
"Guiding Light mechanism?"
"It's a type of ancient seal. The way to break it is to collect all the components and reinstall them into the mechanism."
Kai explained to Paimon and Lumine.
His gaze searched the surroundings for a moment, and soon, in a corner of the ground,
He found a triangular object buried deep within.
Then he waved his hand, and the debris covering it immediately shattered.
Allowing the part to fly directly into his hand.
Although a thousand years had passed,
Even so, the faint glow covering it
Also symbolized that this item still had its value.
"Here…"
"It's this thing."
"So… so fast."
In just a few words of conversation,
He successfully found the mechanism and almost completed the deciphering.
Paimon couldn't help but gape.
Even Lumine, beside her, showed a faint look of surprise.
Clearly, she hadn't expected everything to go so smoothly.
"Fast?"
"It's alright, after all, it's just the beginning."
As he said this,
Kai walked forward.
He directly took the part he had just obtained in his hand.
Aimed it at the groove on the mechanism, and then pressed it in.
As the part perfectly fit into the mechanism, the entire ground suddenly began to tremble violently.
Rings of energy transformed into impacts spreading outwards.
The tall tower, originally dilapidated like an abandoned building, suddenly revealed four halos enveloping it.
Under the impact of the Guiding Light mechanism,
One of the four halos shattered instantly.
Turning into countless fragments, like scattered blue feathers.
And soon disappeared completely.
"It… succeeded?"
Looking at the shattered halo, Paimon's face couldn't help but show joy.
"No, I already said it's just the beginning."
Kai shook his head helplessly.
"The Guiding Light mechanism is actually a type of interlocking mechanism."
"Generally speaking, it doesn't exist alone; as long as one of them is deciphered,"
"It will trigger all the other Guiding Light mechanisms in the area."
Feeling the faint aura gradually emanating from within the ruins,
As his voice fell, Kai could clearly see.
At this moment, within Stormterrors Lair.
Three almost identical devices subtly emitted a flickering glow, raising the sealed aura to the next level.
Not only Kai, but also the confused Paimon, clearly sensed the approaching aura.
Their gazes quickly turned towards the outside of the high tower, and with the advantage of being high up, they quickly located the guiding light mechanisms.
"New mechanisms really did appear! Kai knows so much," Paimon exclaimed, blinking as she looked at the guiding light mechanisms, which flickered with light as a hint within the ruins.
She couldn't help but sigh in wonder, clearly a bit surprised.
"For that, you can thank your Jean," Kai shrugged helplessly.
After all, he often picked Jean up from work, but she was always working overtime.
In such situations... to avoid getting bored, Kai would often wander over to the library next door and borrow books from Lisa.
Over time, he really did pick up a lot of various strange knowledge.
"While I don't know if these are the only tricks the Abyss Order has up their sleeves..."
"But before thinking about that, let's deal with the guiding light mechanisms first."
"Then, I'll take the leftmost one," Diluc nodded coolly.
As soon as he finished speaking, he unfolded his Wings of the Sky and flew towards the designated guiding light mechanism.
"Eh heh~ Master Diluc is really impatient."
"In that case, I'll take the middle guiding light mechanism. The remaining one, Traveler and Kai can solve together, no problem?"
"I can do it alone," Kai waved his hand, clearly not needing help.
"Uh... while that's true..."
"However, the Abyss Order could appear anywhere at any time, so for safety's sake, it's better not to spread out too much."
Venti replied lightly.
"I can keep an eye on Master Diluc's side, after all, places with active Anemo are my stage, so Traveler should still team up with Kai."
"That's true," Kai pondered for a moment.
While he certainly didn't need to fear the Abyss Order, it would be too dangerous for Lumine to encounter them alone.
"Then..." Waving his hand, he made a decision.
Kai unfolded his Wings of the Sky and flew directly towards the remaining guiding light mechanism.
"Lumine, with me, let's go!"
Soon... after a period of gliding, Kai and Lumine landed on the ground simultaneously.
Looking at the familiar mechanism in front of them, Lumine pondered for a moment, feeling that something was slightly off.
"How come, compared to the previous ones..."
"This guiding light mechanism here has no light at all?"
"The mechanism in the high tower was only missing one part, so it was already two-thirds lit when we found it," Kai pointed to the three grooves beneath the mechanism and explained casually.
"As for the mechanism here, not a single part is installed, so it's normal for the sealing array to have no glow."
Normally, a guiding light mechanism requires three parts to be fully activated.
Each part collected would light up one-third of the mechanism.
"Which means..."
"This time, we need to collect three parts to activate this mechanism?"
"That sounds so difficult!" Paimon sighed.
In an instant, her originally enthusiastic expression completely vanished, replaced by an incredibly dejected Paimon.
Collecting parts felt so troublesome.
If they were outside, it would be fine.
Although they would still have to search for things, the scenery in the Mondstadt region was indeed beautiful.
Plus, adventuring in the wild also led to many interesting encounters.
Therefore, Paimon had no complaints following behind Lumine.
But in a place like Stormterrors Lair...
"I just feel like the environment here is so scary."
"Even if it's scary, you're not planning to help, are you?" Hearing Paimon's listless complaints, Lumine sighed helplessly, directly picking Paimon up and holding her.
She ruffled Paimon's head, saying grumpily.
"Hehe~"
"That's because Lumine's embrace is really comfortable and makes me feel very safe!" Paimon didn't care at all about being petted like a pet by Lumine.
She nestled contentedly in Lumine's arms, rubbing her face.
"As a guide, my job is to help find where the parts are and foresee danger."
"So, collecting them can only be solved by Lumine!"
"Finding parts while hiding in your arms?" Kai glanced at Paimon, hearing such a statement.
His tone was quite off.
"Cough cough..."
"I have good eyesight," Paimon coughed lightly twice, then turned her face away, making a very forced defense.
"No, you don't need to find the parts."
He couldn't be bothered to waste words with her.
Seeing Paimon hiding in Lumine's arms, looking completely content to slack off, Kai raised his hand and directly lifted her out of Lumine's warm embrace.
Then he tossed her into the air.
"I already saw all the scattered locations of the parts when we came down."
"So your task is to follow us and collect those scattered parts."
"Understand?"
"Eh eh eh!!!" Being suddenly thrown into the air, Paimon's figure swayed for a moment, and it took her a long time to regain her normal flying state.
Hearing the task assigned by Kai, she immediately puffed out her cheeks, clearly having no intention of working.
"Those parts are all very heavy."
"My body is so small, it'll be hard to pick them up, won't it?"
"It's okay, you can definitely do it," Kai patted Paimon's head.
Seeing Lumine's doting gaze behind him, seemingly wanting to speak up for Paimon, Kai sighed somewhat helplessly.
"Lumine, you too, don't spoil Paimon too much."
"While she certainly looks like a mascot, let her help with some things, otherwise, if she slacks off too much..."
"Emmm... think about it, a guide who constantly follows you around, freeloading food and drink, and throws all the trouble at you, can you tolerate that?"
Spoiling Paimon and letting her leisurely slack off had gradually become a habit for Lumine.
After all, ever since she woke up, in this Teyvat where she had no family, Paimon was probably her earliest friend.
Facing this mascot-like guide, coupled with an irresistibly adorable face, as long as she heard Paimon's voice cooing in her arms, Lumine's maiden heart simply couldn't resist.
Anyway, before she met Paimon, she had done all sorts of troublesome things by herself on her journey.
In such a situation... letting Paimon slack off was probably fine, right?
Until now, hearing Kai say that, Lumine thought carefully.
Although such things were still fine, Paimon did seem a bit too leisurely.
"Sometimes, shouldn't you come out and help a little?"
Looking at the surrounding Stormterrors Lair.
Especially for simple collection tasks like this, it really wasn't appropriate to be too lazy.
So… Lumine nodded slightly, agreeing with Kai's actions.
"Huh?"
"You're actually on Kai's side!"
"Ugh… Lumine, you're abandoning your friend for beauty!!!"
Paimon hadn't expected Lumine, whom she considered her safe harbor, to agree with what Kai said.
Paimon stomped her feet in the air, huffing.
Her face was filled with unwillingness, clearly not expecting such a day to come for her.
"What do you mean, abandoning your friend for beauty?"
Lumine quickly raised her hand and tapped Paimon on the forehead.
With her back to Kai, Lumine suddenly felt a rush of tension.
Fortunately, he hadn't seen her current expression.
"Anyway, help me properly today."
"If we go back to Mondstadt like this, we'll buy Sweet Madame from Good Hunter for dinner."
"Really, really?"
Upon hearing about food, little Paimon was instantly filled with energy.
Her adorable little face showed pure anticipation.
For a moment, it was as if drool was about to drip from the corner of her mouth.
She subconsciously raised a hand to wipe it.
"Then… then it's a deal!"
"Where are Kai's parts?"
"I feel like I can do it again!"
Hiss… This change in attitude was really fast.
He hadn't expected just one meal to win over this little guy.
Kai rubbed his temples; wasn't her ambition a bit too low?
However… since she was willing to help, he naturally had no objections.
Facing little Paimon's enthusiastic volunteering, Kai walked deeper into the ruins and then said, "Just follow me. Those three parts are scattered on pillars or walls, and since you can fly…"
"It's really perfect to have you help collect them."