The dawn over Mondstadt was cold and clear.
Su Han stood on the roof of the Church, the wind whipping his silver hair. He looked toward Stormterror's Lair, his face unreadable. Rosalyne—now "Luo Lin"—emerged, dressed in the simple, dark robes of a Church attendant. Her silver hair was tied back in a severe but practical tail. The change was stark; the arrogant Harbinger was gone, replaced by a quiet, sharp-edged shadow.
"My old contacts in Snezhnaya have been... activated," Luo Lin said, her voice a low rasp. "My death has been officially confirmed by the Tsaritsa. It seems Dottore and Tartaglia have no desire to admit they were routed by a 'dead' woman."
"Good," Su Han said, not taking his eyes off the horizon. "That gives you a new life."
"A life in your service," she corrected, not with bitterness, but with a flat acceptance. "My new master, you gave me a simple task: find Venti."
Su Han turned. "And?"
"He's not in Mondstadt. He's at Stormterror's Lair. He's been there all night, trying to comfort the dragon. He's failing."
"He was always going to fail," Su Han said. "He thinks a song can cure a poison of the Abyss. He's a fool."
"He's a sentimental fool," Luo Lin countered, a flicker of her old fire in her eyes. "He's about to get himself killed. Dvalin's new corruption… it's not just rage. It's Dottore's work. It's designed to feed on Anemo energy. The more Venti tries to soothe him, the stronger the poison gets. The dragon is in agony, and Venti's presence is only making it worse."
Su Han's eyes narrowed. This was the "counter-play" he had been waiting for. Dottore hadn't just re-poisoned the dragon; he had set a trap, knowing Venti would come.
"He's trying to kill them both," Su Han said, a cold understanding dawning.
"And you're going to let him?"
"He's my 'brother,'" Su Han said, a humorless smile twisting his lips. "And I always take care of my family."
He didn't wait for her. He stepped off the roof. The Tessusaiga, in its Azure Dragon form, materialized beneath his feet, and he shot into the sky like a comet, a silver streak against the rising sun.
When he arrived, Stormterror's Lair was a maelstrom of chaotic, dark wind.
Dvalin was thrashing in his nest, roaring in agony, his body wreathed in the black-red Abyssal flames. Venti was on a nearby pillar, his lyre in hand, a desperate, glowing green barrier of Anemo power shattering around him.
"Dvalin, please! It's me! Listen to my voice!" Venti pleaded.
"IT BURNS!" the dragon roared, the Abyssal energy flaring with each pulse of Venti's "healing" song.
"Stop!" Su Han's voice cut through the storm like a thunderclap. He landed between them, his Conqueror's Haki flaring, forcing the chaotic winds into stillness.
Venti stared at him, his face pale and tear-streaked. "Su Han! You have to help! I don't understand, my songs… they're making it worse!"
"Of course they are, you idiot! Dottore set a trap for you. Your Anemo power is food for that poison. Now get back, and don't interfere."
Su Han turned to the great dragon. Dvalin's eyes, slit with madness, fixed on him.
"You…" the dragon hissed. "You… hurt me…"
"I did," Su Han said, his voice calm and unyielding. "And now I'm here to finish the job."
He held up his hand, not in attack, but in offering. "That poison is rooted in Dottore's malice. It's a corruption of Durin's blood. My power is the only thing in this world that can cleanse it. But you have to let me. It will be more painful than anything you have ever known."
Dvalin stared, his massive body trembling. He looked at Venti, his "father," who was powerless. Then he looked at Su Han, the man who had defeated him.
"Do it," Dvalin roared. "Free me… or kill me."
Su Han nodded once. He activated the Chains of Heaven, binding the dragon not as a prisoner, but as a patient to an operating table.
He then drew the Tessusaiga. "You'll feel a... prick."
He plunged the blade deep into the dragon's back, right into the heart of the re-opened, festering wound.
"Keqing, Xiangling!" he yelled. "Get the containers! Now!"
The two women, who had arrived on the second crane, flew in, their faces grim. This was not a hunt. It was an exorcism.
"The poison is in his blood," Su Han commanded, his hands glowing with a furious purple light. "We have to get it out."
This was not a gentle healing. It was a violent, agonizing purification. Su Han used his powers to draw the thick, black, corrupted blood to the surface, and the Tessusaiga's power to cut it free. Rivers of Abyssal blood, steaming with dark energy, poured from Dvalin's back.
"PURIFY!" Su Han roared, unleashing his Pure Yang True Fire. The black blood ignited in mid-air, turning to sterile ash.
Dvalin screamed, a sound that shook the mountains, but the chains held him fast.
For three solid hours, Su Han worked, a surgeon in a storm of demonic blood, until finally, the last of the black poison was drawn out. Dvalin's body slumped, his breathing ragged, but his eyes… his eyes were clear.
"It's… it's gone," the dragon whispered, his voice weak. "The pain… it's gone."
He looked at Su Han, not with hatred, but with a profound, soul-shaking gratitude.
"You saved me."
"I saved Liyue's interests," Su Han corrected, wiping the black, viscous blood from his face. "You were a threat. Now, you're an asset."
He looked at the pile of purified dragon meat and blood that Keqing and Xiangling had collected. "And you're also compensation."
Dvalin, his mind finally clear, could only weep. "Thank you, Su Han. Thank you."
Su Han just smiled, his eyes cold. "Don't thank me. Thank my brother, Barbatos. He's the one who's going to pay for this."
He turned to Venti, who was staring, speechless.
"Ten thousand bottles of your best wine, brother. For my trouble."
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