However, this time the Abyss Mages and the Hilichurl tide didn't even have the qualification to "fight" before they were thoroughly "suppressed" by Kael!
In a trance, she even had the illusion of being in a dream.
Is this Kael's ability?
Jean took a deep breath, her palm tightening unconsciously, waves surging in her heart.
If Kael was willing to join the Knights of Favonius, Mondstadt's defensive power would probably rise to an unprecedented height!
"Hilichurls... usually, they don't move around in areas with excessive elemental concentration."
Venti glanced at them, then withdrew his gaze, speaking softly. "Here, their bodies have to bear a greater burden."
"So, this place can also be said to have degenerated into a base for the Abyss Order?"
Diluc looked thoughtful. "But now that this special barrier exists, even if the Abyss Order wants to invest troops inside, they probably can't do it."
"Then, without further delay—"
Venti spoke softly. "The audience this time is just the wind. It doesn't matter if I play faster."
After speaking, Venti gently plucked the strings.
Melodious melody drifted out with the wind instantly.
As the notes fell, the surrounding air seemed to quiet down.
Even the violent Anemo elements paused for a moment at this moment.
The melody was melodious and soft, seemingly telling an ancient story, as if pulling time back to the era of free soaring.
The lyre sound echoed before the wind barrier, as if talking to the wind, telling of its past beauty, and softly soothing its rage.
The melody gradually climbed, like a breeze blowing across a green field, or the dawn shining on the earth, slowly penetrating into that violent wind barrier.
The flow of the wind began to soften at this moment. The once raging hurricane seemed to be caressed by a pair of gentle hands, gradually stretching out.
Crack, crack, crack!
Immediately after, traces of green light appeared on the wind barrier.
As if an ancient seal was slowly loosening.
A glimmer bloomed within. With the rhythm of Venti's music, the entire wind barrier actually began to rotate.
Between the flow of the melody, that indestructible barrier dissipated like thin mist under the morning sun.
"Wah, it really opened!"
Paimon widened her eyes, looking incredulous. "Tone-Deaf Bard, you are actually useful sometimes!"
"This isn't 'sometimes'."
Venti blinked with a smile, putting away the Holy Lyre and stepping forward. "Alright, the barrier has been lifted. Next, it's time to enter the Wind Dragon's Lair."
Saying this, Venti stepped in first, walking into Stormterror's Lair.
After everyone walked in, they saw the true face of an ancient ruin sleeping in the north of Mondstadt.
The former glory had been eroded by time. Now only broken walls remained, standing lonely in the roar of the storm.
As Venti stepped in, everyone felt the scene before them change suddenly, as if entering another world.
The night sky here was completely different from the outside world.
The firmament was completely shrouded by terrifying storms. Gales howled, clouds rolled.
Turbulent blue Anemo currents intertwined in the high altitude, like countless hideous claws, silently telling the anger and unease of this ruin.
Ahead, a simple and dilapidated road extended into the distance.
The blue-gray stone road was mottled, densely covered with cracks, as if it would collapse at any time.
At the end of the road, a majestic tower lay across the center of the storm.
That seemed to be Stormterror Dvalin's lair, and the last pillar of this ruin.
Layers of wind barriers surrounded the tower.
Anemo elements churned in the air as visible light streams. Every stream of wind seemed to contain the power of destruction, making people daunted.
The tower body had long lost its former glory, covered with traces of weathering.
Jagged stones teetered, but still tenaciously supported this only passage to the Wind Dragon's Lair.
The top of the tower was wrapped in layers of blue halos, which seemed to be formed by the Wind Dragon's roar.
Its anger even made this ancient tower tremble.
Under the night curtain, lightning occasionally cut through the thick clouds, illuminating the entire Stormterror's Lair even more gloomily and terrifyingly, as if reminding the intruders—
No one is welcome here.
Paimon couldn't help sucking in a breath of cold air, hugging her arms and shivering. "Wah, the atmosphere here is so gloomy... feels like something will rush out at any time!"
"By the way, why is there still a seal in the center of that tower?"
Diluc looked at the tower not far ahead and frowned. "There is actually a barrier on the periphery."
"Because this ruin was once an ancient city. Dvalin is just living here temporarily."
Venti glanced at it and whispered, "There are some very ancient seals in this ruin."
"The ruin itself is actually older than the era of the Four Winds."
"Mondstadt is a city-state without a king. But before Mondstadt was established..."
"A Tyrant once ruled here..."
"Hmm... If there is a chance in the future, I will play the story of that monarch for you."
Venti stopped here.
Jean and the others had already arrived in front of the tower.
"The style of this seal... According to the archaeological knowledge I know, it should be a Light Actuator mechanism."
Diluc looked at the seal style of the tower in front of him and pondered. "Since it is a Light Actuator mechanism, there must be mechanism fragments. We just need to find the mechanism fragments and put them in."
"But this ruin is so big, finding mechanism fragments isn't easy."
Saying this, Diluc paused and looked around.
Stormterror's Lair was really too big.
Finding fragments of this mechanism was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
The scale of this Stormterror's Lair was not comparable to the Thousand Winds Temple.
Not to mention, no one set foot here. Who knew if the fragments of the Light Actuator were lost outside?
"It's okay, we have Kael."
Hearing Diluc's words, Paimon grinned, rubbing her hands excitedly. "Anyway, Kael finds things very fast."
"Wait, that's not right."
Beside them, Lumine suddenly thought of something and looked at Venti. "...Living in a place with mechanisms and seals, doesn't Dvalin find it troublesome to go home?"
"He doesn't walk where people walk. He flies."
Venti was silent for a moment, then said.
Paimon's eyes widened abruptly. "...You make a lot of sense."
"But since Stormterror can fly in through the top of the tower, there's no reason we can't fly in."
"With you here, we can follow the sky where Stormterror went back and fly into the tower too."
"Yeah."
Hearing Lumine's words, Jean and the others present also looked at Venti.
Yeah.
If Venti let them fly in too, it wouldn't be impossible.
"Hmm, how should I put it?"
Hearing this, Venti nodded gently. "If we unlock this ancient mechanism, Stormterror's Lair can become an adventure point for adventurers in the future."
"There was a special barrier here before, which was a forbidden area for adventurers."
"It's also good for Mondstadt."
"After solving Dvalin's matter, let's solve this mechanism along the way."
As he spoke, Venti smiled.
He flicked his finger gently. Anemo elements instantly condensed into a strong and gentle airflow, wrapping everyone in it.
In the next second, the gale rose suddenly, lifting everyone toward the top of the tower.
The tower of Stormterror's Lair was already full of cracks under the erosion of time.
And the dome at the top was severely damaged, revealing a hideous crack.
Through the crack, the storm under the night curtain churned. The gale whistled past, rolling up broken stone chips, circling in the air like ghosts.
Everyone seemed to turn into duckweed in the wind, steadily sent into this broken holy land by Venti's Anemo power.
The moment they landed, the scene before everyone changed abruptly.
This was a magnificent and ancient ruin.
Although the carvings on the walls were mottled, mysterious runes belonging to ancient seals could still be vaguely seen.
The ground was paved with bluestone bricks, but covered with cracks, telling of its vicissitudes and fall.
The most striking thing was the huge blue magic circle in the center of the ruin.
Halos flowed like interlaced stars. A slowly rotating halo suspended in mid-air.
Emitting pure and strong Anemo energy. A dazzling pillar of light shot up from the center of the magic circle, illuminating the entire space into a dreamy blue ocean.
"There's still a seal?"
Paimon stared wide-eyed, looking at this magnificent and mysterious scene in amazement.
Venti landed gently on the ground, arms crossed, gazing through the flowing brilliance at the barrier, his tone calm but serious. "This is not a seal, but a Boundary... The true Wind Dragon's Lair is on the other side of this boundary."
Venti tilted his head slightly, his emerald pupils flashing with deep light, continuing to explain: "This is like an entrance to a Sky Domain. After entering, we will face a completely different space."
"Sky Domain?"
Jean frowned, pondering for a moment.
Then she nodded. "In other words, it might be filled with the violent power of Anemo elements inside?"
"That's right."
Venti raised his hand to stroke the strings lightly, Anemo gathering quietly at his fingertips. He whispered, "There might even be an ambush by the Abyss Order, so—be careful after entering."
"Even with me here."
Diluc narrowed his eyes at this barrier.
He could perceive that this barrier was not a simple Anemo barrier, but some deeper spatial conversion structure, like a special Domain dimension, not completely overlapping with reality.
"I was thinking, after everything is over, I will write all this into a song."
Venti looked at the barrier in front of him and whispered, "This song will be sung by the people of Mondstadt like 'The Legend of Vennessa'."
"After all, there are two travelers from another world."
The last sentence was said by Venti in his heart.
As Venti spoke, he looked at Kael and Lumine.
The solution to this problem was incredibly smooth for him.
In this, Kael performed a great service.
"I have loved that song since I was a child."
Hearing Venti's words, Jean said softly, "I have adjusted to the best state and can definitely be of help to everyone."
"Grand Master Jean is really reliable."
Lumine smiled and praised, "Don't worry, I'm also full of energy!"
After all, she didn't use much effort along the way...
It's all thanks to Kael!
Thinking of this, Lumine looked at Kael excitedly.
After solving the Stormterror matter, when serving as Kael's assistant, I must drag Kael to travel!
Beside them, Paimon scratched her head. "Clearly we were just passersby who got accidentally involved..."
"I feel what we experienced today is more interesting than the three days I walked in the wild with the Traveler before."
"Speaking of which, Master Diluc also walked with us to the end."
As she spoke, Paimon looked at Diluc.
You have to know, it was Venti's action at the beginning, then they called Kael.
Later, because of the Holy Lyre, Jean was attracted.
But Master Diluc was just a tavern owner, even the owner of Dawn Winery, yet he was attracted over.
Logically speaking, Diluc shouldn't have come to Stormterror's Lair.
"You shared secrets with me, I'm just repaying with the same trust."
Facing Paimon's words, Diluc spoke calmly.
At the same time, he glanced at Kael and Venti without leaving a trace.
If not for acting with the Knights of Favonius, who could have imagined that this bard in front of them would be the legendary Anemo Archon of Mondstadt?
And there were two legendary travelers from another world.
"Master Diluc's reason is trust."
Hearing this, Paimon scratched her head and looked at Jean. "Grand Master Jean's reason is responsibility, after all, she is the Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius."
"So, what about the Tone-Deaf Bard?"
Speaking of this, Paimon looked suspiciously at Venti.
"It's Freedom."
Venti smiled. "When you came to Mondstadt, did anyone tell you that Mondstadt is the City of Freedom?"
"Yes."
Lumine nodded. "Amber..."
"Ahaha, that is also a free and easy child."
Venti laughed and continued, "Mondstadt is a romantic city-state without a king."
"And the citizens of Mondstadt are the freest citizens of the Seven Nations."
"I hope the dragon who once protected Mondstadt is the same."
"No one should deceive him, saying this city betrayed you."
"No one should tell him that protecting this city is your eternal obligation."
"He has the right to choose his own way of life."
"Everyone, next, the Thousand Winds of Mondstadt are with you."
"Let us unveil the final prelude."
Saying this, Venti stepped into the light curtain of the magic circle first.
His figure was instantly swallowed by blue brilliance.
Jean followed closely. Diluc and Lumine also stepped in without hesitation.
Paimon quickly followed Kael into it.
In an instant, the whole world seemed to fall into silence.
Only the low hum of the wind echoed over this ruin.
But in an instant, the surrounding scene changed dramatically.
The Sky Domain leading to the Wind Dragon's Lair was completely opened.
Clouds filled the sky, rolling like endless waves on the horizon.
The gray-blue firmament was torn with hideous cracks, and violent storms raged around.
Lightning flashed faintly in the clouds from time to time, illuminating the broken ruins floating in the distance.
Except for the huge floating stone under their feet.
The floating stones drifting in the distant air were like isolated islands, drifting constantly under the impact of strong air currents.
Even occasional broken stones were wrapped by the storm and rolled into the depths of the clouds, disappearing without a trace.
Below was a terrifying storm vortex.
Like an abyss swallowing everything, twisting the gale, breathing the chaotic air currents between heaven and earth, emitting an extremely dangerous aura.
"ROAR!"
Before everyone could look around, a sudden deafening roar rang out abruptly.
That majestic and furious roar echoed throughout the Domain, shaking the surrounding floating stones slightly.
Immediately after, a huge black shadow rushed up from the depths of the vortex.
The wings flapped, setting off a storm sweeping the world, instantly sweeping the entire sky.
It was Stormterror Dvalin!
His body circled in the air, deep blue scales reflecting a ghostly light.
Huge wings cut through the air, setting off a world-destroying gale.
At this moment, Dvalin's eyes flashed with ominous purple light.
He looked down at everyone.
Especially when his gaze fell on Kael, those eyes full of anger, pain, and fear contracted abruptly, as if seeing something extremely terrible.
"ROAR—!!"
Stormterror roared, his huge body diving fiercely, pouncing down with an impact force that seemed to tear the space.
Anemo elements surged violently around him, condensing countless high-speed rotating wind blades in an instant, sweeping toward everyone like a storm.
Every wind blade contained extreme sharpness. Wherever it passed, the air was cut and twisted, as if even the space was torn into countless cracks.
"Dvalin... is afraid?"
Venti, who felt the emotion instantly, changed his expression.
Why is there fear?
It should be anger.