Back when she first arrived in Mondstadt, Lumine had practically cleared the entire bridge of pigeons. She had even managed to do it flawlessly. So—did that mean she was a qualified strong combatant by Teyvat's highest standard?
Fischl, hearing this "standard" for the first time, blinked in surprise. She was good at precision shots, and taking down a single pigeon wasn't difficult. But wiping them all out in one go? That… was a different story. Thankfully, she had Oz. With his speed, a quick dive from above could clear the whole flock. Judging by that, perhaps she too met the conditions?
"O Demon King who slays the gods, how do you intend to vanquish that gathered flock of calamity?" Fischl asked solemnly, her chuuni tone serious as ever.
Paimon blinked, clearly confused, so Oz helpfully translated: "Milady is asking how you'd like her to coordinate with you."
"You just need to shoot your arrow like normal," Su Mo replied simply. Though confused, Fischl nocked an arrow. Since she instinctively charged her shots, she infused the arrow with Electro energy out of habit. Once ready, she looked back to Su Mo for a signal. With a snap of his fingers, Su Mo activated his alchemy. A beautiful, semi-transparent butterfly materialized at his fingertip.
"That's… a Crystalfly?" Fischl recognized it instantly—specifically, a Cryo Crystalfly. As a seasoned adventurer, she'd seen them often in Dragonspine. They were commonly used to synthesize Condensed Resin. It was just surprising to see one appear here in Mondstadt—and clearly, it had been created by Su Mo himself.
"So pretty!" Paimon flew closer, watching the glittering wings in awe. "Didn't we see something similar before—a Wind Crystalfly?"
"Mhm," Lumine nodded, also remembering.
Su Mo gently guided the Cryo Crystalfly to rest on Fischl's arrow, then gave the signal. "You can fire now." Fischl let the arrow fly. The arrow, pulsing with purple lightning and carrying the delicate butterfly, whistled through the air toward the flock of pigeons by Timmy. The moment it hit, lightning burst outward. The Cryo Crystalfly morphed into a large, ethereal butterfly over a meter in size, flapping its wings and scattering icy flakes in every direction. In a flash, the nearby pigeons were all transformed into ingredients—perfectly preserved meat, ready for cooking. The result resembled Sucrose's elemental burst but not only did it gather enemies—it also applied Cryo, making it far more effective at neutralizing the flock.
With the test a success, Su Mo nodded with satisfaction and waved his hand. All the scattered pigeon meat floated up and gathered neatly into one pile, which he handed to Paimon. Waste not, want not.
"That butterfly just now—did you modify it into an elemental creature?" Lumine asked, catching on to Su Mo's method.
"That's right," he confirmed. "Its element can actually be altered—Cryo, Pyro, Hydro, Electro—all of them are possible."
It was a new type of elemental lifeform created using the theories he had learned from Albedo. Since he hadn't yet fully gone through all the alchemy materials, Su Mo could currently only create simpler beings like the Cryo Crystalfly. But once he fully understood the advanced techniques, he might even be able to make things like Geovishaps or even Cryo Regisvines.
—Genshin players, rejoice.
Fischl, watching the flurry of frost spread through the air, had stars in her eyes. This move—wasn't it the perfect Cryo application skill? If Su Mo were to team up with her, he could apply Cryo, Oz could apply Electro, and with constant Superconduct reactions, she'd absolutely dominate. No one would dare call her the "Oz Launcher" again. Brimming with excitement, she turned to Su Mo and declared, "O destined one, would you be willing to sign an eternal contract with the Prinzessin der Verurteilung?" She looked at him with bright, expectant eyes.
"...?"
Even with Su Mo's deep affinity for chuuni-speak, he couldn't help but misinterpret her words. Was this… a proposal? Was little Amy confessing to him? You couldn't blame him. Even Lumine did a double take, staring at Fischl in shock. Wait—was she trying to steal him from under my nose?! Su Mo paused and then looked at her seriously. "We've only met twice. Isn't this a bit too soon? Besides, shouldn't you consider the opinion of the Sovereign and the Empress of Condemnation before making this kind of decision?" He was referring to Fischl's parents.
"Hmm? Why would I need their opinion?" she replied, genuinely confused.
Even Oz looked lost. "Milady, may I ask—were you proposing marriage or recruiting a teammate just now?"
"Of course I meant teammate! H-How could that be a marriage proposal?!" Finally realizing the misunderstanding, Fischl's face went completely red.
"Oh thank god…" Lumine let out a sigh of relief. "You really gave me a scare."
"Same here!" Paimon chimed in, wiping her forehead dramatically.
Before Fischl could say anything else in her embarrassment, the wind above suddenly shifted. Amber soared in quickly using her glider, landing in front of them with a grave look on her face.
"This is bad!" The moment she touched down, she looked toward Su Mo and Lumine at the city gates. "There's been a theft at the Church of Favonius—the Holy Lyre der Himmel has been stolen!" Her eyes flicked around urgently. "Have you seen anyone suspicious leaving the city recently?" It was likely she asked them because they were near the gate.
"Suspicious people?" Lumine thought about it for a moment, then shook her head. "No, haven't seen anyone."
"…Wait, what's the Holy Lyre der Himmel again?" Paimon asked, tilting her head. Paimon blinked, clearly confused. "Why do you look so nervous, Amber?"
"Because it means the thief hasn't left the city yet!" Amber finally let out a small breath of relief upon hearing that none of them had seen anyone suspicious leaving Mondstadt. Other patrols were searching the other exits; her job was to guard the main gate and prevent anyone from escaping. Keeping an eye on the city entrance, Amber quickly explained, "The Holy Lyre der Himmel is a sacred relic of the Church of Favonius. It's really important! Legend says it was once played by Barbatos himself."
"But today, the nun in charge of guarding it discovered that it had been stolen! Acting Grand Master Jean has deployed the entire Knights of Favonius to search the city."
"I was ordered to block the gates and prevent any suspects from slipping out." As Mondstadt's official Outrider and reigning Gliding Champion, Amber's flight skills made her perfect for the task.
"It's a divine relic?" Lumine looked concerned now that it involved the gods. She subconsciously glanced at Su Mo.
"You're thinking about helping, right?" Su Mo immediately read her expression. She still didn't know that her "future brother-in-law" had already appeared, but she was determined to visit each of the Seven to search for the mysterious god who had taken her brother. Naturally, she wouldn't ignore anything related to the Archons.
"Yeah!" Lumine nodded firmly.
"Then let's go together." Su Mo agreed easily. "I'm curious about the thief who stole the Holy Lyre too." In the original storyline, it should've been Venti who tricked Lumine into helping him steal the lyre. But before that, the lyre was stolen by a Fatui Electro Cicin Mage. Which meant this time, there was no doubt—the thief was from the Fatui. Just like their sudden interference in the Stormterror incident, their goal was the same: anything related to the Anemo Archon. Whether it was Stormterror, one of Barbatos's favored, or the lyre once played by the Archon himself, both contained traces of his divine power. Following the flow of such divine energy, the Fatui could potentially track down Barbatos's true whereabouts.
In reality, their real target was Venti himself—or rather, the Gnosis he carried. With those thoughts, the group soon arrived at the Church of Favonius. Inside, Sister Barbara was kneeling before the statue of Barbatos, her head bowed in shame as she prayed for forgiveness. She had been tasked with guarding the Holy Lyre. This incident was entirely her failure. When she saw Su Mo and the others arrive, Barbara quickly lifted her head, her teary eyes filled with desperation.
"Mister Su Mo, Miss Traveler… could you help me? If I can't find the Holy Lyre, Lord Barbatos will never forgive me!" As a devout follower of the Anemo Archon, Barbara was wracked with guilt over her mistake.
"Don't worry. Barbatos isn't the type to blame his followers over something so minor," Su Mo said lightly—not to comfort her, but because he genuinely believed it. Knowing Venti's personality, it wouldn't be surprising if this entire theft was part of a script he himself had prepared.
After all, the same Archon who could flatten mountains and reshape Mondstadt's entire landscape wouldn't be taken down by the Fatui's "La Signora" so easily. Even if his power had waned from centuries of neglecting his duties, the strength of a god wasn't that fragile. In the events yet to come, both Venti and Zhongli seemed to have tacitly allowed the Tsaritsa's actions. They even deliberately let her obtain their Gnoses—perhaps as part of a greater plan to resist Celestia itself. Which meant that no matter how strictly Barbara guarded it, she couldn't have stopped the Anemo Archon himself if he wanted the lyre stolen.
"Thank you for the reassurance, Mister Su Mo..." Barbara looked slightly comforted. But then a thought struck her.
"Wait… the Holy Lyre doesn't have any real power. Why would anyone steal it in the first place?" It was a genuine question. As a sacred relic, it held symbolic value but little else. Even if someone did manage to steal it, it wasn't something that could be easily sold or pawned. Who could possibly be after such an item?