"Ouch!"
"Hiss~"
Two cries of pain rang out simultaneously. Lydia clutched the back of her head and squatted on the ground, tears welling up in her eyes from the sheer agony.
The impact had been so solid it felt like her skull was about to be dented.
Lumine also rubbed her forehead and took two steps back, her eyes wide with bewilderment.
Paimon shot straight into the air, her eyes bulging as she stared at the white-haired girl who had appeared out of nowhere.
Before they could make sense of the situation, a deafening dragon's roar suddenly echoed from nearby!
Lydia's heart tightened, and she whipped her head around to look.
Dvalin's previously lowered dragon wings abruptly unfurled, the black patterns on them glowing eerily under the sunlight.
His aura, which had calmed during the purification, instantly turned violent. His massive head snapped toward Venti.
The corruption of the Corrupted Dragon Blood had intensified again, causing him to subconsciously believe that his old friend Venti had conspired with others to ambush him!
"Dvalin! Calm down!"
Venti hastily retreated, barely dodging Dvalin's swiping claw.
The sharp talons grazed his sleeve and slammed into a nearby tree trunk. The trunk, as thick as a bowl, instantly snapped, sending branches and leaves crashing to the ground.
With a furious roar, Dvalin flapped his wings, whipping up a gale that sent stones and fallen leaves swirling into the air.
Venti knew that words were useless at this point. He instantly condensed Anemo Power in his hands, attempting to soothe his out-of-control old friend.
But the red glow in Dvalin's eyes intensified until, with a final, long roar, it threw its head back, beat its wings, and soared high into the sky.
Its massive figure quickly vanished into the air, leaving behind only a gale tinged with the scent of blood.
Venti stood rooted to the spot, gazing in the direction Dvalin had flown. The tips of his cyan braids began to glow faintly.
The purification process was interrupted. Dvalin has lost control again...
Finding another opportunity now will be nearly impossible!
"Who was that!?" Venti demanded, his voice low and strained.
He turned and saw Lydia squatting on the ground, clutching the back of her head, her hair still tangled with grass. Nearby, Lumine rubbed her forehead with an innocent expression, while Paimon floated beside her. At the sight of them, Venti's anger instantly dissipated.
He sighed helplessly, a faint, wry smile touching his lips.
"Honestly, you lot are nothing but trouble," Venti muttered to himself.
Before Lydia and the others could recover, he dissolved into a gentle breeze and vanished into the forest.
Lydia froze for two seconds, then shot to her feet.
Ignoring the lingering pain in the back of her head, she took a few steps in the direction Venti had disappeared.
She was now more certain than ever that it was him!
The familiar outfit, that distinctive voice... Lydia couldn't possibly mistake him!
"Damn it, why are you avoiding me!?" Lydia stomped her foot in frustration when she saw no sign of Venti anywhere.
Only the whisper of the wind through the forest answered her.
Lydia puffed out her cheeks, planting her hands on her hips. She was about to launch into another complaint when a thought suddenly struck her.
The girl immediately began searching the area, carefully examining every inch of the ground.
Lumine and Paimon followed her.
"Hey! Who are you? What are you doing here?"
"And do you know that guy in green from before?"
Paimon was the first to speak, her tone brimming with curiosity.
Lydia, still squatting and inspecting something on the ground, answered without turning her head. "My name is Lydia."
As she spoke, her eyes suddenly lit up, locking onto a crystal glowing with red light on the ground.
"Is this... a Crimson Crystal?"
Lumine and Paimon hurried over to get a closer look.
The crystal was about the size of a fist, its smooth surface tinged with a faint, bloody hue. It emitted a subtle warmth, and they could vaguely sense the corrupt energy contained within.
Paimon couldn't resist reaching out to touch it, then quickly snatched her hand back. "What is this thing? It feels dangerous!"
Lydia circled the crystal, studying it closely, her brow furrowed slightly. "I'm guessing... it fell from Stormterror."
The moment the words left her lips, her snow-white hair trembled.
Lydia suddenly realized—she had lived in Mondstadt for seventeen years. From the Knights of Favonius to the sisters of the Church...
...to the market vendors and adventurers outside the city, there wasn't a single face she didn't recognize.
But these two before her—one wore exotic clothing she'd never seen before, and the other could float in mid-air. No matter how she looked at them, they didn't seem like "one of Mondstadt's own."
"You two..." Lydia instinctively took half a step back, raising her arms slightly in a defensive posture. Her once-gentle eyes now held a sharp vigilance as she sized up Lumine and Paimon. "You're new to Mondstadt, aren't you? What's your purpose in coming here?"
She carefully concealed the excitement deep in her eyes, acting out the scene exactly as she had planned.
"Don't misunderstand! We're not bad people!" Paimon, startled by Lydia's sudden wariness, quickly waved her small hands and explained, "I'm Paimon, and this is Lumine! We only arrived in Mondstadt a few days ago!"
Lumine nodded along, her tone sincere. "We were just passing through and came over to investigate the commotion earlier. We never expected to run into a scene like that..."
She secretly tugged on Paimon's sleeve, her eyes conveying a silent warning—don't say anything reckless.
But Paimon missed Lumine's hint. "Right, right! We're just here looking for Lumine's brother, and maybe checking out the Anemo Archon..."
"Paimon!" Lumine quickly cut her off.
In Mondstadt, a city filled with the "Children of the Anemo Archon," revealing they were also looking for the Archon himself could easily make them seem like they had ulterior motives.
Paimon froze for a moment before realizing she'd almost said the wrong thing.
She quickly shut her mouth and floated awkwardly behind Lumine.
Lydia blinked, missing the subtle exchange between the two. She frowned and pressed, "Looking for your brother?"
"It's true!" Paimon peeked out from behind Lumine.
Seeing the sorrow that flickered across Lumine's face at the mention of her brother, Lydia's wariness gradually eased.
If she's truly searching for family, it must be incredibly difficult.
Having grown up without parents, Lydia's own longing for family had only grown stronger over the years. She figured Lumine's feelings about being separated from her kin were probably similar to her own.
She sighed, her tone softening. "Alright, I'll trust you for now."
"But you two need to be careful. The wilderness around Mondstadt has been especially dangerous lately."
She pointed to the Crimson Crystal on the ground, her brow furrowing again. "Stormterror has been causing trouble recently, frequently attacking merchants and adventurers. It's very easy for two people like you to run into danger out here alone."
Paimon immediately panicked. "Huh? What are we supposed to do then?"
"Don't worry, I'll take you back!" Lydia puffed out her chest confidently. "I know the roads around Mondstadt like the back of my hand. It's much safer than you two wandering around blindly."
Lumine and Paimon exchanged a glance, both seeing the pleasant surprise in each other's eyes. They hadn't expected to meet someone so kind right after a misunderstanding.
Lumine quickly thanked her, "Thank you, Lydia."
"Don't mention it!" Lydia waved her hand with a smile. She turned to pick up the Crimson Crystal on the ground. "Oh, right, we should take this crystal. Leaving it in the forest could cause trouble..."
She bent down, but the moment her fingertip touched the crystal, she snatched her hand back as if burned.
"Hiss— It's so hot!"
Lydia quickly stuck her finger in her mouth, sucking on it several times to soothe the stinging pain.
Gazing at the crystal floating just above the ground, glowing with a red light, Lydia's expression filled with resentment.
According to the plot, isn't this thing supposed to repel Visions?
Why can't even a normal person like me touch it?
Lydia instinctively glanced at the Visions hanging from her waist and shook her head.
That can't be right. These two Visions aren't even mine.
Could it be that the impurities in the crystal also repel normal people?
This is just discrimination, isn't it! I'm calling foul!
Lydia rubbed her fingertip, her eyes lighting up as she looked at Lumine. "Lumine, why don't you try?"
Lumine froze, pointing at herself. "Me?"
The images of Paimon snatching her hand back and Lydia getting burned were still fresh in her mind. Touching such a dangerous object felt like being asked to step on a landmine.
"Just a light touch," Lydia quickly explained. "If it doesn't work, we'll find something to wrap it in and take it back. Leaving something this dangerous here could cause even more trouble."
Lumine thought for a moment and realized Lydia had a point. The energy in the crystal was so volatile; leaving it in the wild was indeed unsafe.
She took a deep breath, reached out, and gently touched the Crimson Crystal.
To her surprise, when the crystal met her fingertip, there was no searing pain. Instead, it felt slightly warm, like holding a piece of heated jade.
Lumine's eyes widened in astonishment. She carefully cupped the crystal in her hands, and the once-violent energy within it grew remarkably docile.
Lydia and Paimon stared, completely stunned.
Paimon floated over to Lumine, circling the crystal. "Whoa! Why are you okay when you touch it? This is incredible!"
Lydia couldn't help but cheer. "Great! Now we can safely take the crystal back!"
With that, Lydia took the lead and started running ahead.