When Shen Qin looked up toward Timmy, he was alarmed to find that the boy was no longer at the railing. His pupils shrank in panic—but a second later, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Paige had firmly gripped Timmy's shoulders with its claws and pulled him back onto the bridge from over the edge. At that moment, its wings folded tightly to its sides, and three jet thrusters extended from its tail, switching into high-power flight mode.
"Paige, take Timmy to a safe place in the city and alert the Knights to defend the gate!"
"Understood!" With Timmy in tow, Paige flew back toward Mondstadt, giving Shen Qin the breathing room to turn his attention to the battle on Sucrose's side.
With the gale winds still raging, her combat power was significantly enhanced. The sharp air pressure slashed through the small-bodied monsters, leaving bloody trails across the Hilichurl berserkers' skin. But there were simply too many enemies. Despite her efforts, their advance continued at a steady pace.
Gritting his teeth, Shen Qin gave Haro the order: "Haro, combat mode activated! Do not let a single monster into Mondstadt!"
He hadn't planned to reveal the Dragoon Type-I this soon—he'd hoped to use it later to trick the Abyss Order or the Fatui—but now he had no choice but to rely on its firepower.
"Haro, combat mode activated!"
Haro's eyes turned from white to red. Its belly hatch opened, and a thick-barreled weapon emerged, glowing faintly with a haunting red light.
It floated to the front flank of Sucrose and fired a thumb-thick beam of white light from the barrel. This beam was a plasma guide ray—harmless by itself, composed of particles that repelled plasma.
The guide beam was hollow. Near the barrel, particle density—and thus repelling force—was high, decreasing toward the end. Once plasma entered the conduit, it would shoot through it at extreme speed and hit the target directly.
After exiting the beam path, the plasma would scatter in all directions, amplifying the area of effect.
The white beam targeted the shield of a Geo-shield Hilichurl berserker. Half a second later, a red beam burst forth from the barrel of the Dragoon Type-I and—
Boom!!!
Within a three-meter radius around the shield, a searing fireball erupted, engulfing everything in its path. When the flames finally died down, everything in that radius had been incinerated by temperatures in the tens of millions of degrees Celsius—leaving behind nothing but void. Even the wall nearby was blasted open with a gaping hole.
Sucrose was stunned. She stared at Shen Qin, wide-eyed. "This is the weapon we've been developing these past few days?"
"Uh-huh!" Shen Qin numbly nodded. He had run simulations on the Dragoon Type-I before. Once the plasma exited the guide ray, it would detonate in a spherical area of effect with temperatures reaching tens of millions of degrees Celsius at the core, and millions at the edges.
But calculations were one thing. Seeing it in action was a whole different story—and frankly, it terrified him a little.
"Haro, aim a little higher for your impact points! Sucrose, use wind to spread the high-temp flames after the blast!"
He was mainly worried that repeated detonations would collapse the bridge.
Boom!!!
The water near the bridge exploded into a towering geyser. Shen Qin looked up and saw Stormterror (Dvalin) circling within the thick clouds. Around it, magical circles were forming dense orbs of wind-elemental energy, which rained down indiscriminately over all of Mondstadt.
"Barbatos, can't you rein in your own dragon?!"
Inside the city, Venti stood atop a rooftop, gazing sadly at the chaos wrought by the dragon he once protected. Wind-elemental energy radiated from him, spreading across the city's architecture, weakening the incoming wind bombs so their maximum damage amounted only to broken tiles, shattered windows, or knocked-over flowerpots…
Meanwhile, far away in the ruins of Old Mondstadt, the investigation team was rushing back at top speed.
Earlier, while inspecting the barrier, Stormterror had suddenly broken free and flown toward Mondstadt. Not long after, a dark mass of clouds began to gather above the city.
They realized the Abyss Order's plan might have succeeded—Dvalin had been corrupted by the Abyss and was now attacking Mondstadt.
The team included Amber, Albedo, Rosaria, and Lisa. Thankfully, Jean had been stationed in the city lately, so they weren't completely panicked.
"But… can we really fight something like that?" Amber stared worriedly at the thick clouds. Even with a Vision, she felt utterly powerless in the face of such overwhelming force.
Albedo, calm as ever, said, "It only looks intimidating. The clouds and winds won't do much to Mondstadt… but if Dvalin uses wind-elemental energy for direct attacks within the city, then the casualties could be catastrophic."
A flicker of madness crossed his eyes. If the situation became truly irreparable…
"Faith, huh? It really is the cheapest currency… So what if people pray day and night? Before true power, they're nothing but ants." Rosaria stared into the storm clouds, a deadly aura emanating from her.
I will never allow anyone to destroy Mondstadt. No one.
"One of the Four Winds is gone already?" Lisa muttered, her Vision glowing as thunderous wrath gathered within her.
On the beach near Windrise, a blonde girl walked barefoot, leaving footprints in the sand as the waves washed over them and erased them again.
"Well? Well? Isn't walking on the sand fun?" the floating white sprite flew in front of the girl expectantly. (T/N: So the canon will now start.)
"Paimon, you could just take off your shoes and try it yourself."
"No way!" Paimon crossed her arms and turned her head away. "Just thinking about sand getting between my toes and my feet getting all wet makes me feel miserable! I'll just ask you instead!
"It actually feels really nice. You sure you don't wanna give it a try? Once we head inland, you won't find a beach like this again," Lumine said with a smile.
"Uhh…" Paimon looked down at the sand, rubbing her feet together midair, visibly tempted.
"F-Fine! I'll trust you this once! But if you're lying, you owe me a big meal!"
She took off her shoes and lowered herself carefully. The moment her foot touched the seawater, she yanked it back. "So cold!"
"It's a bit chilly at first, but you'll get used to it."
"No thanks, no thanks! It's too scary! Just imagining it makes me want to stop breathing." Paimon quickly shook the water off and put her shoes back on.
"Flying is definitely better…"
Suddenly, a powerful gust of wind swept through, flipping Paimon head over heels and sending her crashing into Lumine's arms.
"Wah! It's getting windy! That was a really weird gust just now!" Paimon floated back up, wide-eyed.
"The wind's blowing that way," Lumine said, pointing inland.
"That direction… that's where Mondstadt is! After all our wandering, you're finally ready to go into the city!" Paimon bounced excitedly in the air. "Once we get there, I'm gonna eat everything I can!"
"Oh? So the food I've been making these past few days wasn't good enough for you?" Lumine asked, hands on her hips.