"…Huh? Why is it gone…?"
Staring at the empty entrance, Wendy frowned.
He clearly remembered that there used to be a solid wall of wind blocking the entrance to Stormterror's Lair.
But now—it had vanished.
Did Dvalin… leave this place?
The moment that thought surfaced, Wendy felt a bad premonition.
"Hey—bard, what are you mumbling about up there? You're blocking Paimon!"
Paimon, who had flown forward without paying attention, bumped straight into Wendy's back and clutched her head in annoyance.
"What's gone? Was something supposed to be here?"
Lumine stepped up beside them, confused.
"The wind barrier. There should've been a barrier right here."
Seeing they didn't understand, Wendy explained briefly.
"So it was meant to keep others from entering?"
Su Mo glanced at the empty doorway and commented casually.
"Then that barrier was something Dvalin made?"
Lumine remembered Wendy saying the lair was where Dvalin temporarily rested. It was a reasonable guess.
"I think so. Anyway—we should head inside first."
Without waiting, Wendy walked in. The others followed behind.
"So this is Stormterror's Lair? It feels big to us, but… how does someone Dvalin's size even get home?"
Paimon stared around. The interior wasn't as enormous as she had imagined.
"It doesn't need to use normal entrances. It can fly."
Wendy answered casually.
"…You—actually make sense."
Paimon looked embarrassed for asking something silly.
"Didn't expect such good weather inside… honestly, I thought it'd be dark and stormy everywhere."
Crossing the long stone bridge toward the central tower, Su Mo looked genuinely surprised.
"That tower… did Dvalin ram that? I know it's old, but did he really have to knock the top clean off…?"
The broken tower caught Paimon's attention immediately.
"Dvalin…"
Wendy's expression darkened.
He muttered the name softly—then suddenly sprinted toward the central tower.
"Hey! Bard! What's wrong with him?!
We should follow—quick!"
Paimon waved frantically and shot forward.
Wendy could feel no trace of Dvalin's presence.
The storms here had also… vanished.
And the tower, the shattered buildings…
Something had happened here. Something terrible.
When he reached the broken tower, Wendy crouched down and picked up a chunk of fallen stone.
Wind. A very light, lingering Anemo aura clung to it.
Dvalin's wind.
Which meant these fragments… came from a battle.
But why would Dvalin destroy his own resting place…?
"…Hey bard, did you rush all the way over here to look at some rocks?
Are they valuable or something?!"
Paimon lay on the ground staring at the stone, disappointed. "Just normal rocks…"
"These stones are from the tower… It looks like something smashed into it recently. Wait—did Dvalin crash into this?!"
Lumine arrived next and immediately saw how fresh the breaks were.
"Look there too."
Su Mo pointed toward a collapsed building further ahead. "Those marks are also new."
Wendy's face tightened and he rushed over.
He knew now.
Dvalin.
Something happened to Dvalin.
Fresh claw marks gouged the stone.
Deep impact lines.
And worse—marks of chains.
Chains.
Dvalin had been… restrained?
No.
That shouldn't have been possible.
Who could subdue him like this?
The Abyss Order?
No… they'd been corrupting him slowly through magic. They wouldn't need to use chains.
Unless… they changed their plan?
Or—
The fake Wind God.
The "Wind God's Messenger."
If she caught Dvalin, then stole the Holy Lyre immediately afterward…
The pieces fit too well.
"But what for…? The lyre can free Dvalin's mind, not control him…"
"Wouldn't it be the Abyss Order? You said they were strong…"
Paimon hugged herself and shivered.
"This footprint is really deep… its owner must've weighed a lot."
Su Mo's words snapped Wendy out of his thoughts.
Footprint?
He turned—and froze.
A line of footprints sank deep into the earth. Deep enough to be made by a giant.
Except… each print was small.
Very small.
"Wow… it's even smaller than Lumine's footprint! How can something so small make a dent this deep?!"
Paimon lay flat on the ground, arm buried in the footprint—and still couldn't touch the bottom.
"Every one of these is deep… was it a tiny-footed giant?"
Lumine tried to reason with it, but she herself didn't believe it.
Human-sized prints.
But pressed down with impossible weight.
A girl?
A girl with monstrous strength?
Wendy's expression sharpened.
"Let's follow them. We might find something."
Su Mo suggested, and Wendy immediately nodded.
"Right. But be ready. Whatever made these… might still be ahead."
After following for a long while—
"The footprints… they end here."
Paimon hovered uncertainly. "Did she fly away?"
"Someone that heavy… flying?"
Lumine muttered.
"Maybe she was carrying something heavy before?" Su Mo guessed. "Or… she really flew?"
Something heavy.
Chains.
Dvalin.
Wendy's pupils shrank.
Could she… have carried Dvalin?
"Carrying Dvalin? Are you crazy?! That's impossible!"
Lumine nearly choked.
Just Dvalin's head was bigger than a house.
No human—especially a girl—could lift him.
Unless…
Unless she wasn't human.
"Look—Abyss Mage!"
Paimon pointed. A figure was peeking at them from behind a boulder.
"I'll handle it."
Before anyone reacted, Wendy vanished—then reappeared with the Abyss Mage suspended helplessly in an updraft.
"H-hey… th-the bard is kind of scary…"
Paimon floated behind Su Mo for safety.
"Tell me. Did you take Dvalin?"
Wendy's voice was cold.
No jokes.
No smiles.
"W-we're searching for it too! We don't know where it is!"
The mage trembled violently. It hadn't expected to be caught that easily.
"So you know nothing?"
Wendy narrowed his eyes.
"There was… a girl… a strange girl… She called herself… the Wind God's Messenger… She was at the tower y-yesterday—ah—!"
Before it finished, Wendy dropped it.
He didn't need more.
It was her.
Then tonight… everything depended on their trap.
"…Let's go back."
He exhaled slowly.
The situation was far worse than he thought.
He could no longer afford to sit back and "let the wind handle it."
Not when Dvalin had been taken.
Not when someone dared impersonate him.
As the second-oldest of the Archons—
He would not be made a fool of.
Night.
Mondstadt's west gate.
Su Mo adjusted his cloak.
He was assigned to the third defensive line, so no one would question where he'd been.
The Church had already spread the message:
The stolen Holy Lyre was useless in its current state. Only the Church knew how to repair it, and they would not pursue past crimes if the thief returned it peacefully.
It was bait—blatant, deliberate bait.
Exactly what the "Messenger" needed to hear.
And exactly what Su Mo needed for his mission.
[System, cover me— actually, no, just teleport me straight to the Wind Dragon's Tear materials. Walking is annoying.]
[Understood, host.]
Inside the Mondstadt Cathedral—
Wendy crouched quietly in the shadows above the nave.
Will she come?
Will she take the bait?
Or has she already seen through us?
He sighed.
Dvalin…
Please be safe.
"You have my thanks."
"…?!"
A soft girl's voice echoed below.
Wendy's eyes widened.
Where did she—?!
There she was.
The "Wind God's Messenger."
Her attire resembled a nun's—yet the golden chains wrapped around her gave off a sacred, oppressive aura.
But—
How did she get inside?
There were guards everywhere. Jean, Diluc, Kaeya—
Even they hadn't sensed her.
This was impossible.
"Whatever trick you used… it ends here."
Wind surged beneath Wendy's feet as he sprinted toward her—
"You ignorant fools. Pray that the Wind God forgives your disrespect."
BOOM!!!
Su Mo exploded forward—straight through the cathedral wall.
A massive hole opened where he'd stood.
"What—?! She was inside?!"
Jean's group rushed in, only to find an empty hall.
Outside—
Wendy barely managed to stabilize himself in mid-air.
She had pushed him.
With one hand.
If he hadn't used a burst of Anemo to slow himself, he would've crashed straight into Cider Lake.
What was this girl?!
Only now did he fully understand the footprints.
She could carry Dvalin.
"Are you alright, Lord Wendy?"
Jean and the others caught up.
"Stop—don't approach her. She's dangerous."
Wendy warned sharply.
"Your insolence angers the Wind God. Yet He is merciful.
May His winds cleanse your sins."
Standing atop the Anemo Statue, Su Mo recited the dramatic lines he'd prepared.
"This is Mondstadt—the land of wind. Our Archon has never needed theatrics. Which means…" Diluc raised a brow, bored, "you're a fake."
"Yeah! Who ever heard of a Wind God with a messenger? And why not just show up himself? I—"
"Of course He will."
Su Mo interrupted.
"The Wind God will descend upon Mondstadt… tomorrow."
"…Oh?" Kaeya smiled lazily. "I look forward to it then. I've never had the honor of seeing the Archon myself."
The surrounding knights erupted in whispers.
"Tomorrow?! The Wind God is returning tomorrow?!"
"No way…"
"Unless… unless this messenger is real…"
"But—"
"Silence!"
Jean's voice cut through the murmurs.
Even she couldn't hide her uncertainty.
The Messenger radiated a power she had never seen before.
Could the Wind God truly…?
"Very well. My task is complete."
Su Mo bowed his head piously—
And his body dissolved into glittering wind.
"That… that was a miracle—!"
"Lord Barbatos is coming?!"
"Tomorrow—?!"
Jean clenched her fists.
Then, next to her—
"Actually, there's something I should tell you all."
Everyone turned toward the bard.
"I am Barbatos. The Anemo Archon."
"…"
Meanwhile, at the Goth Grand Hotel—
"Barbatos will descend tomorrow?"
"Yes, Lady Signora. I hid nearby and heard the messenger say so myself. After she spoke, she turned into wind and vanished."
"…I see. You may leave."
Signora waved him off.
Barbatos…
Why reveal himself now?
Was he injured?
Something about this timing irked her.
She remembered clearly—
That monstrous dragon had sent her flying with a single swat.
If not for that, she would've already taken the Archon's Gnosis.
That creature had been stronger than both Barbatos and Dvalin combined.
Which meant—
The Wind God might be weakened.
And if he appeared tomorrow…
Then his Gnosis would be hers.
A cold smile curved on her lips.
She began preparing immediately.
In the Abyss—
"Your Highness, I intend to go to Mondstadt tomorrow. The Gnosis is worth the risk."
Abyss Herald: Hydro knelt before the Prince.
Ever since the so-called Wind God's Messenger appeared and Dvalin vanished, they had been investigating.
And now—they, too, had learned the Archon would "descend" tomorrow.
If the Wind God was weakened from fighting the Overseer…
Then now was the perfect opportunity.
"Very well. Go."
The Prince didn't even look back.
"Yes, Your Highness."
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