For Jean, the strangest part wasn't that the Abyss Order showed up.
It was that this time… they didn't even get to fight.
A full wave of hilichurls, two Cryo Abyss Mages, plus a wind barrier right in front of Stormterror's Lair — normally that was "call every Knight you have, reinforce from the city, and pray the Favonius cathedral is ready for wounded" level.
But with Kairo there, it got wrapped up in less than a minute.
Two shots → both Abyss Mages gone.
One flash → the entire mob was blind.
Then wind + fire + Klee's bombs → battlefield cleaned.
It was so fast that Jean's body still held the tension of someone expecting a hard fight, but the enemy had already disappeared. It felt… unreal.
If he joined the Knights… Mondstadt's defensive power would jump a whole tier. Jean's fingers curled a little tighter around her sword.
Venti, on the other hand, just glanced at the spot the hilichurls had rushed out from and shrugged. "Hilichurls don't like high-element zones. Too much Anemo here, it stresses their bodies. If the Abyss is pushing them in, that means this place really has become another Abyss foothold."
Diluc nodded, eyes on the still-spinning barrier. "But with this kind of wind ward in front, they can't send in large forces. Not easily."
"Exactly. So—" Venti raised his lyre again,笑——
"Playtime."
He plucked the strings.
This time he didn't play for humans, or for show, or to lift people.
He played for the wind.
The melody rolled out light and clean, the kind of tune you could hum on a hilltop, but when it hit the storm in front of them the entire barrier paused. The angry, shredding wind that had been roaring in the doorway… listened.
Green light traced across the gale like glowing cracks in glass.
"Whoa, it's really opening!" Paimon's eyes went round. "Okay, bard, sometimes you are useful!"
"This is not 'sometimes,' this is my job," Venti said, eyes smiling as the barrier spun, loosened, and peeled away like dew in sunlight. "All right. Door's open. Stormterror's Lair, come on in."
He stepped through first.
Everyone followed.
And right away the space changed.
Outside, it was Mondstadt at dusk.
Inside… it was an ancient, angry sky.
Dark clouds churned overhead like a permanent hurricane. Anemo currents, bright and blue, clawed at the air like living things. Ruined stone avenues led toward a broken tower in the middle — Stormterror's roost — wrapped in even more wind.
Old walls. Old runes. Old scars from before Mondstadt was the city of songs.
Paimon hugged herself. "Creeeepy… it really feels like something's gonna jump out any second."
Diluc narrowed his eyes. "There's another seal ahead."
"Because this whole place is older than Favonius," Venti said, looking up at the tower. "This was a city before Mondstadt was free. Stormterror just… borrowed it. The ancient mechanisms are still here."
He looked like he was about to start telling that story — the one about the tyrant that ruled here before the winds were free — but Jean was already studying the structure.
"A light-guiding mechanism?" Diluc said first. "If that's what it is, then the pieces have to be scattered through the ruin."
"And this ruin," Jean added, looking around at the sheer size of the place, "isn't small. Finding them all won't be easy."
Paimon waved her hand. "We have Kairo, we're fine!"
Lumine suddenly frowned. "Wait. If Stormterror lives here and there are always seals and wind barriers and ancient doors… doesn't he find that annoying?"
Venti paused.
"…He flies in," he said, deadpan.
Paimon blinked.
Then she pointed at him. "Then why can't we fly in?! You have wind! You just carried us across half of Mondstadt!"
Jean, Diluc, Lumine — all looked at him.
It was a fair point.
Venti raised one finger. "Because if I leave it locked, this stays a forbidden zone. If I open it properly, it becomes an adventure zone. Mondstadt benefits. Adventurer's Guild benefits. And we don't have to escort every single rookie to the top in the future."
"…that actually makes sense," Paimon admitted, a little deflated. "I hate that it makes sense."
"Besides," Venti added, smiling, "I did fly you in."
He snapped his fingers.
Wind wrapped around all of them again — cleaner, thinner, but powerful — and lifted the whole party up the tower like they were in an invisible elevator.
The top of Stormterror's tower was a ruin of a dome, open to the storm above. Wind screamed through the cracks, dragging pebbles into the sky. Venti set them down gently on the ancient stone.
And right in the middle of the platform was a blue array, spinning like an eye of wind.
Rings of Anemo flowed around it, and from the center a single column of light pierced upward, painting the space blue.
"Another seal?" Paimon breathed.
"No. A gate," Venti said, folding his arms. "The real nest is on the other side. A sky-realm. Very windy. Probably more Abyss. Even for me… not something to walk into half-asleep."
Diluc studied it, brow furrowing. "A self-contained space. Tied to this ruin, but not the same plane."
"Exactly." Venti's expression turned rare-serious. "Once we're in, stay sharp. Even with me there."
Kairo's gaze flicked over the array, then to the swirling winds below. If I can throw Bronya's redeploy skill at Twalin… can I strip his curse directly? It was a bold idea. Strip, strip, strip, until the corruption was gone. Even if it buffed Twalin in the process, a cleansed dragon wouldn't keep attacking.
It was worth testing.
"I'm writing this all down later," Venti murmured, almost to himself. "A song about two off-world travelers, Mondstadt's dragon, and… a very, very dangerous person the Abyss wants."
His eyes slid to Kairo.
Jean smiled faintly. "I grew up listening to your songs. I'll look forward to that one, too."
"Jean is so reliable," Lumine said, cheerful again. "I'm ready too!"
Paimon, arms crossed: "I still didn't sign up for 'dragon realm raid boss,' but okay."
Diluc, simply: "You shared secrets. I'm just returning trust."
That made Paimon look between the three of them. "So Diluc's reason is trust, Jean's reason is duty, then bard, what's your reason?"
"Freedom," Venti said without missing a beat. "Mondstadt's people are free. Its dragon should be free, too. No one gets to tell it 'this city betrayed you,' and no one gets to tell it 'you must guard this city forever.' It should get to choose."
He turned, stepped into the light, and vanished.
Jean went next.
Diluc and Lumine followed.
Kairo and Paimon stepped through together.
The world snapped.
Blue, then white, then a roaring sky.
They stood on a floating slab of stone above a howling vortex. All around them, other chunks of ruin drifted like broken islands, getting shoved about by powerful air currents. Lightning flickered inside the clouds. Below — nothing but wind, a funnel big enough to swallow the city.
"Okay, this is way scarier than outside," Paimon whispered.
"ROAAAHHHHH—!!"
The roar hit them like a wall.
A massive shadow burst from the storm below — dark teal scales, enormous wings, a dragon made of Anemo — Stormterror Twalin.
He coiled in the sky above them, eyes burning an ugly, unnatural violet.
He should have been angry.
He should have been feral.
But when his gaze swept over Jean…
over Diluc…
over Venti…
and finally locked onto Kairo…
…his pupils shrank.
Not rage.
Not blind hatred.
Fear.
Venti's face changed. "Fear? That's… wrong. He shouldn't be afraid."
Twalin's wings snapped open and he dove, winds wrapping around him and turning into a storm of slicing blades. Dozens of wind sickles fanned out, shrieking toward the party, each one sharp enough to cut stone.
Paimon squeaked. "So why didn't you fly us in higher?!"
Venti's eyes narrowed, fingers already on his strings. "Because right now, he's not just angry… something in him is scared of Kairo. And if a dragon like Twalin is scared…"
His gaze hardened.
"…then the Abyss left more than a curse in him."
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