Looks like the stage was set pretty well.
Venti finally turned serious for once as he stared up at the girl on the statue — she looked almost exactly like him. Why would a fake Wind God bother to copy his face and change gender? And did she really make the statue disappear a moment ago?
Diluc was puzzled too. He couldn't figure out the impostor's intentions or how the statue vanished and reappeared.
"Barbatos," Jean whispered as she came up beside Venti. She knew this would be an important moment for Mondstadt.
"Leave it to me. You go secure the people," Venti said, offering a reassuring smile—this was his city to protect. Even though the Knights and Church handled most affairs when he slept, whenever Mondstadt faced a crisis he woke to defend it.
"I understand, Lord Barbatos," Jean answered, comforted by his confidence.
Venti stepped forward toward the figure on the plinth. He had expected confrontation—the girl had stolen his Skyward Harp, even whisked away Dvalin, and now she dared impersonate him. He couldn't just let it slide.
"You're the fake Wind God, right?" he demanded.
The girl on the statue tilted her head in apparent confusion, as if she didn't see the problem. Venti blinked.
"If I weren't Barbatos myself, I might've believed you," he muttered with a bitter laugh. Su Mo (Su Mo? — the narrating persona) replied with a bored tone, and when asked what he called himself, the impersonator said sweetly:
"Wen~Di."
…Venti froze. She'd just claimed his name—Venti—and looked identical to him in every way except gender. He felt insulted and incredulous.
"Why don't we ask the people?" Su Mo suggested, clearly enjoying the absurdity.
And that's exactly what she did: she turned to the gathered crowd and asked them who they thought the true Wind God was.
The crowd erupted into opinions—some favored the pretty girl, some the gentle-looking man. The noise thickened, and Venti lost interest; the impostor's trick was working on the crowd. Diluc, hands ready, braced for violence.
Then the girl called out for two witnesses: "Dvalin! And that other one—whatever, call it 'the husky'—come show them who the real god is."
At her words there was a shifting in the air. Familiar auras—Dvalin and Andrius—answered the call. Venti's astonishment peaked: had Dvalin and Andrius sided with her?
Huge forms manifested above the plaza. Andrius—huge, spectral—appeared, and Dvalin circled in the sky. Both bowed or attested: the girl was the real Wind God.
The crowd, seeing the two mighty spirits calm and not attack, took this as proof. The girl had only to say she wouldn't harm Mondstadt or Barbatos, and both great beings accepted. Panic turned to belief: if the winds and the great creatures accept her, she must be the true Barbatos. The secret agent watching from the shadows—"the Lady" (the disguised antagonist)—now had confirmation to act on.
Venti seethed inside, watching his name and godhood be handed over to someone who looked like him and called herself "Wendi." The girl's power was undeniable—she'd made a statue vanish, controlled ancient beings, and bent the crowd. She'd even persuaded Dvalin and Andrius to declare her the true Archon.
"Ah—so you are Barbatos," the voice in the shadows seemed to say. With that cold certainty, the scene set the next moves for everyone: the Lady's plan sharpened, the Knights and Venti braced for repercussions, and Mondstadt's fate hung on the tide of belief.
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