"This... this is!" Sucrose covered her mouth in astonishment.
Other than Shen Qin, everyone else also wore expressions of shock. Those who possessed Visions could clearly feel the powerful Anemo energy surrounding Lumine—despite her not having a Vision.
Lumine looked down at her hands. "I feel like… I can manipulate the power of wind."
A gentle breeze swirled around her, gradually gathering into a glowing orb of Anemo energy in her palm.
"To be able to use elemental power without a Vision and still be blessed by the Anemo Archon... Miss Lumine, can you tell us who you truly are?" Albedo looked at her with great interest.
An intriguing research subject.
"I…" Lumine let the orb in her palm fade away. Faced with the increasingly wary Rosaria, the shocked Klee and Sucrose, Albedo's inquisitive eyes, and Shen Qin's unreadable expression, she finally began to speak.
"I'm not from this world. I used to travel between different worlds with my brother, Aether. But when we were preparing to leave this world and head to the next, something unexpected happened. A strange god blocked our way, took Aether away, and sealed me. I only recently woke up, and now I'm searching for my brother."
"And me! I'm part of the story too!" Paimon added quickly. "Two months ago, Lumine saved me from drowning, so I've been traveling with her ever since to repay her kindness. I serve as her travel guide!"
"So you're traveling to find your family..." Sucrose murmured.
Albedo rested his chin in thought. "So you're not of this world… but why are you able to manipulate elemental energy without a Vision? Is this a power innate to you? Or is there a deeper secret behind it…"
"So you came to Mondstadt to confirm whether the god who stopped you was the Anemo Archon?" Rosaria asked.
Paimon nodded. "That's right. Even if Barbatos wasn't the one who stopped us, maybe we can still learn something about that mysterious god from him."
Rosaria replied, "Then I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. Even we Mondstadt locals don't know where Barsotab is right now."
Behind a tree near the lakeside, Venti leaned casually against the trunk, listening to the messages carried by the wind.
"Ah, it's Barbatos, Miss Rosaria. Even if you have the freedom to believe in any god, you should at least remember his name," he muttered with a sigh.
"But it seems yet another interesting person has appeared… hmm?" His eyes suddenly sharpened as he turned in another direction. "This aura…"
Meanwhile, Shen Qin and the others were preparing to return to the city. Since Lumine didn't have a flying glider, she had to stand on Sucrose's hoverboard. Fortunately, both girls were petite enough to share the board comfortably.
"Sorry to trouble you, Miss Sucrose."
"It's… it's no trouble, Miss Lumine." Listening to their polite exchange, Shen Qin couldn't help but chuckle.
Just then, he remembered something about teleport waypoints and was about to mention it to Lumine when a powerful gust of wind slammed into them. A massive shadow fell over the land as Dvalin soared overhead and descended into a nearby forest.
No one noticed the faint stream of pale blue light trailing behind him, disappearing into the woods as well.
"It's the Stormterror!" Everyone became instantly alert.
Why was Dvalin here?
To avoid being spotted, they immediately descended and began discussing what to do next.
"Should we keep going forward? Or take a detour and rush back to Mondstadt to warn the Knights?" Albedo asked.
He leaned toward taking a detour—informing the Knights so they could prepare for a potential attack. After all, they weren't strong enough to fight Dvalin head-on.
"We'll follow it and investigate. Dvalin shouldn't be here. I'm worried the Abyss Order is up to something," Shen Qin disagreed.
Normally, Dvalin should remain in Stormterror's Lair. The Abyss Order would never risk exposing him unless they had a reason—one they couldn't afford the Knights to disrupt.
Albedo looked at him and said, "Alright. But once we get close, let me go alone. Even if it turns hostile, I can protect myself."
"No problem." Albedo closed his eyes and extended Geo energy into the earth, using it to sense Dvalin's location.
When he detected the dragon just two kilometers away, he told the others to stop and proceeded alone.
Through his perception, he sensed two life forms ahead. One was immensely powerful, though its energy seemed faint and depleted, as if its vitality was slowly draining. The other presence was so faint and ethereal that he would have missed it if he hadn't focused.
A few minutes later, he reached a spot close enough to see Dvalin, who was lowering his head and speaking to a small green figure. Unfortunately, Albedo couldn't hear their conversation, and getting any closer risked exposing himself.
Dvalin lashed his tail, breaking several large trees in frustration. Then, the two seemed to argue. Dvalin roared, "Barbatos!" before flying off—not toward Mondstadt, thankfully.
Still, Albedo was shocked. Barbatos? Was that figure really the Anemo Archon?
During the dragon crisis, some Mondstadt residents claimed the Anemo Archon had driven away Dvalin—and the power that protected Mondstadt definitely wasn't ordinary.
Yet after the crisis, the Archon vanished. And now he had appeared again?
When Albedo looked back, the green figure was gone. All that remained was a crimson, teardrop-shaped crystal on a nearby rock.
What is that? As he approached, a wave of nausea and a pounding headache grew stronger.
He quickly retreated and returned to where the others were hiding, leading them to the site.
"I don't know what it is, but the closer I got, the worse I felt. It's similar to the Abyss, though not quite the same," Albedo said as he took out a black sealed container and gave it to Harrow. "Go collect it."
Haro quickly returned with the box, but as it neared Lumine—just three meters away—her body emitted a soft glow. The light surged toward the sealed box on its own.
As the glow faded, everyone turned to look at her. Lumine hurried to explain, "I-I don't know what happened. The power inside me just burst out on its own."
"Hmm." Albedo looked at her, then at the box, and told Harrow, "Take the box farther away and open it. Let's see if anything changed."
"Got it." Harrow flew about ten meters away and opened the container, then shouted back, "The color changed—it turned light blue!"
Albedo cautiously approached. As he neared, he no longer felt any discomfort.
Picking up the now-purified crystal, he turned to Lumine, who was walking over.
"It seems… your power can purify this kind of crystal."