The system panel flickered up in front of Kairo again.
Option 1: Accept happily. Since the Trailblazer invited you to come along, there's no reason to refuse. You haven't actually seen a Stellaron up close — this is your chance. (Reward: Light Cone — "Songfall": imbued with the Path of Destruction. The wearer deals +20% damage to enemies whose current HP is above 50%.)
Option 2: Decline politely. You wave it off and say, "As long as you're not directionally challenged, nobody gets lost in Belobog — the terrain is too simple." (Reward: Trailblazer's Coat — a sharp coat tainted by Destruction-path aura. Wearing it grants a small chance to step onto the Path of Destruction; the aura also makes it hard to damage.)
Option 3: Scheme in the shadows. You deliberately send the Trailblazer on a longer route, then secretly notify Bronya's mother so that while the Trailblazer is attracting attention, you take a shortcut to reach the Stellaron chamber first, seal it, and stash it away. (Reward: Old Evil of the Brood that Gnaws at Stars — a brood-nest once hand-bred by the Insect Emperor. Its only instinct is to expand its swarm. It reaps star-bodies with scythe-limbs to make new hives, breeds without rest, drowns whole civilizations, and even in death leaves worlds scoured clean. On shattered planets its locust seas blot out the sky; beetle titans raise the new hive as tribute… may such scenes remain only in records.)
Kairo: "…what?"
He actually blinked.
Option 1 — fine. Option 2 — also fine.
Option 3… was the system drunk?
"Steal the Stellaron" was already a red flag.
But "reward: universe-eating bug nursery" was several flags at once.
If that thing spawned in Teyvat, Mondstadt would be writing requiems instead of ballads.
Kairo rubbed his brow. "So this stupid system can roll chaotic-faction options too, huh."
He ran through it fast — all in a heartbeat.
He can't currently seal a Stellaron by himself.
The Stellaron's temptation is the main problem — it warps will.
The Trailblazer's side already knows the route; sending them in circles is pointless unless he can finish the seal faster than they can walk.
"Notify Cocolia" in Teyvat-space? With the system re-mapping identities? That was just asking to get grabbed.
So no — Option 3 was basically "walk into the boss room without a party."
Still… it gave him an idea.
Belobog's Stellaron is hard to steal.
Xianzhou Luofu's Stellaron, someday… maybe.
"—Kairo? Kairo!"
Paimon tugged his sleeve when he went quiet.
Kairo smiled. "Of course I'm coming. I've followed the whole thing till now; I won't bail at the last step."
Paimon lit up. "Knew it!"
Jean turned to Venti at once, eyes full of that knight-captain firmness. "Then we move now. With Lord Venti leading the winds, we should be able to reach Stormterror's Lair before nightfall."
She was right.
From Dawn Winery to Starsnatch Cliff, Venti had just… carried them. No stamina, no provisions, no rests. Just wind.
From Starsnatch Cliff to Stormterror's Lair was basically south-edge to north-edge of Mondstadt. Even with Anemo Visions it would be three to five days on foot.
But with the actual Anemo Archon?
"Then," Venti spread his arms, eyes bright with bard-drama, "the hero's song is finally entering its climax!"
The wind came like it had been waiting.
It curled around every one of them — Jean, Diluc, Lumine, Paimon, Klee, and Kairo — picked them up, steadied them, and then pushed.
"W–we're leaving already? So sudden!" Paimon yelped, but the wind cradled her so gently she didn't even wobble.
They flew.
Not glided — flew.
The Mondstadt fields blurred into green ribbons beneath them. Rivers flashed silver. The winery became a toy in the distance. Even Diluc, who'd seen a dragon today, had to flick his eyes back to Venti.
This was not a Vision holder's wind.
This was the wind.
"Wind God…" Diluc thought, stunned despite himself.
Jean was thinking the same thing. Even the best Anemo Vision users could maybe lift themselves and one more person, carefully, slowly, burning focus every second. Venti was carrying an entire party at cruising speed — and making it look easy.
"Comfy, right?" Venti flipped once in the air and grinned back. "VIP seats. You don't get this every day."
Paimon rolled her eyes. "Show-off."
Time slid by like that.
Soon the outline of Stormterror's Lair rose in the distance — a torn-up ring of ancient stone, wind raging through it like an organ made for a dragon.
When they touched down at the entrance, the mood changed.
Here, the wind wasn't playful.
It was angry.
Jean narrowed her eyes. "The wind here… is afraid."
The massive stone gate ahead was cracked and weathered, but the barrier behind it was not. Raw Anemo roared and twisted, eating at the air. Even Diluc had to brace.
"No wonder Adventurers' Guild marks this as forbidden," Diluc said, voice low. "Without the bard, no one's getting through."
Paimon hugged Lumine's arm. "Yeah, this is 'get shredded instantly' wind…"
Venti sighed once, looking genuinely sad. "It's crying. But we'll make it stop."
He raised his lyre — then stopped.
Two cold blue lights lit up in midair.
Space tore — and two Cryo Abyss Mages dropped out of thin air, frost cloaks snapping in the wind.
Of course the Abyss would be waiting here.
"Always everywhere," Venti muttered. "Fine. We clear the stage first."
Behind the mages, their spell pulsed — and from the ruins, hordes of hilichurls poured out like a black tide.
"Hey— that's a lot!" Paimon yelped.
Mitachurls, axe-wielders, archers crackling with Electro — all marching in rhythm, not like wild monsters but like a drilled troop. Even Jean's expression tightened. This was a mini disaster wave.
Diluc's claymore lit with fire.
Jean's sword sang with wind.
"Bang. Bang."
Two shots beat them to it.
Everyone's heads snapped toward Kairo.
He hadn't even changed stance. He just lifted Bronya's preservation-rifle, sighted, and fired twice.
Two spiral lances of blue-white energy tore straight through the raging air and hit both Cryo Abyss Mages in the face.
"—!"
The mages didn't even get to chant again.
The impact wrapped them in a crushing field, their Cryo shields locked and then detonated. The explosion shook the doorway and turned both mages into drifting black dust — no bodies, no staffs, no whining monologue.
Jean actually stared. Diluc, too.
They'd just seen him do this on Starsnatch Cliff.
Seeing it right in front of the Lair, under full Abyss support — it was even scarier.
"This rifle…" Diluc's fingers tightened on his greatsword. "It's more practical than a claymore."
Jean's thought was worse:
There was no element on those shots.
No Vision glow.
No chant.
Just… fire and delete.
If normal people could use this, then a whole squad of Knights with this weapon would make Mondstadt basically immune to Fatui harassment.
The hilichurls, leaderless for a second, still rushed in by instinct.
"Wind, rise!"
Jean swept her blade — Anemo surged, tossing the front line back.
"Burn."
Diluc stepped up, exploded fire across the pushed targets — fire and wind swirled into a roaring vortex, eating through the hilichurl ranks.
And then Kairo flicked his wrist.
A clean white flare rippled from him, washing over the oncoming monsters.
Every hilichurl it touched froze — not physically, but in their heads. Their eyes went glassy. Their swings stuttered. Their steps tangled.
Sampo's conceal-and-confuse skill.
Klee's eyes lit up. "It's Kairo-nii's flashbang!"
She began happily tossing bombs into the slowed mob.
Boom — boom — boom.
With the hilichurls blinded and stumbling, Jean's wind and Diluc's fire tore through them like paper. In less than twenty seconds, the entire monster wave that should've cost the Knights a whole squad was smoking on the ground.
Silence fell over the ruin.
Paimon's mouth was open. "That's it…?"
Lumine whistled softly. "That is really convenient."
Jean just stood there for a beat, sword still raised, wind still spinning on the edge… and realized she hadn't actually needed to do that much.
Kairo had shot down both Abyss Mages.
Kairo had blanked the entire wave.
And that was after showing a 100% cleanse-and-act Path skill in front of them earlier.
No wonder the Abyss wanted him.
No wonder Venti was suddenly very, very happy they had him on their side.
Kairo, lowering the rifle, glanced at the barrier. If "Combat Redeploy" could purge any negative state… then yes:
Stormterror's curse might really be something he could strip without making Lumine do all the work.
But that would have to wait… until they were inside.
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