Five figures and a ball of cyan light rode the wind, bursting in through the massive arched window.
They landed on the stone floor of the outer ring. Before them, a tall and solitary throne stood with its back to them.
Amos was the first to land, stumbling. The dizziness from the weightlessness had not yet completely faded.
The exhaustion accumulated over three consecutive days, combined with a spirit shattered by the impact of the truth, left her nearly unable to stand.
Tears streamed uncontrollably from her eyes, blurring her vision. She paid them no mind and rushed forward a few steps.
Facing the back of the throne, she cried out with all her might, her voice filled with humble pleading and a final shred of frantic hope:
"My King! Look at me! In all these decades, have you ever... even once... truly seen me? Tell me, do you... do you have... even a little..."
Upon the throne, the figure remained as still as a mountain.
After what felt like a long time, a cold, emotionless voice slowly sounded:
"Three days ago. The resistance base."
"No... don't... don't ignore me..." Amos's voice instantly dropped, turning into a despairing whimper.
The next moment, like a beast cornered, she let out a hoarse shriek and charged madly toward the side of the throne.
She had to get to the front. She had to see with her own eyes the face she had looked up to for decades but had never truly seen!
"Don't go forward!" Gunnhildr's warning rang out urgently.
Almost at the instant her words fell, Decarabian's will stirred slightly.
A majestic divine wind was generated out of thin air around the throne, pouncing on the five people and one sprite who had just landed!
The cyan light around Venti flared, and the pure power of wind instantly unfurled, forming a supple yet sturdy barrier that enveloped everyone.
Gunnhildr and the others reacted with extreme speed, immediately lowering their centers of gravity to resist the wind pressure.
But Amos had charged too far ahead and was completely exposed at the forefront of the divine wind.
The violent airflow slammed viciously into her slender body, flinging her backward like a fallen leaf.
The fierce wind was mixed with destructive divine power, forming countless invisible blades.
Although she managed to raise her arms in time to protect her head and face, her body was still sliced open with bloody cuts, and blood instantly seeped out.
That brutal divine power simultaneously invaded her body, rampaging through her internal organs!
The intense pain made her vision go black, and she instantly lost consciousness.
Coppelia immediately flew over to catch her, preventing her from being thrown from the high tower.
The fierce gale howled and raged in the throne room. However, the anticipated scene of the intruders being cut to pieces did not occur.
The wind barrier unfurled by Venti displayed astonishing resilience and skill. Most of the attacking gale was skillfully guided and deflected to the sides.
The wind blades struck the surrounding stone pillars, walls, and floor, carving out deep grooves and sending stone fragments splashing like rain.
The other portion of wind blades that penetrated the barrier was greatly weakened by Venti's power, and by the time they reached the group, they left only shallow scratches.
Decarabian let out a soft hum. The divine power He had mixed into the wind was enough to slice through metal and shatter jade.
He had originally thought that the white-robed girl floating in the air with her eyes always closed might be the foreigner to be wary of, but the one who truly blocked His gale was the inconspicuous wind sprite beside her!
Moreover, this power had come without any warning, as if appearing out of thin air!
What shook his mind even more was that this power was by no means something an elemental sprite could possess. It carried the true authority of a god!
He placed both arms on the armrests of the high-backed chair and slowly rose.
...
Three days ago. The resistance base.
Venti's halo flickered gently.
"The Master of Time gave me a fragment of the authority over time."
Gunnhildr's brow furrowed slightly.
"Time... This power is indeed great, but how can we use 'time' to defeat Decarabian?"
Columbina, floating to the side, spoke softly, with a hint of inquiry:
"Hmm... Make him reverse time, and we deal with his 'younger' self?"
Venti's light wavered, seeming a bit helpless.
"It seems it can't be used that way."
Coppelia crossed her arms, analyzing calmly:
"Instead, let's look at how the Master of Time herself uses time. In Inazuma, there grows a 'Sacred Sakura' that 'suddenly appeared' in history, protecting that land for several hundred years. And the most miraculous thing about that tree is that its seed... came from the future."
Lumiere's eyes lit up, and he clenched his fist.
"Bring a powerful weapon from the future to the past—no, send it to our present? And use it to deal with Decarabian!"
Columbina softly added again:
"A weapon that can slay a god is likely not something an ordinary human can wield."
Coppelia nodded, continuing to guide the thought:
"Another point worth noting is that a god's authority can be lent to others."
Coppelia still remembered that in the Fontaine main quest, Neuvillette had lent the authority of the ancient dragons to the blonde Traveler to jointly fight the All-Devouring Narwhal (Note 1).
Venti seemed to have an epiphany, the halo around him suddenly brightening.
"I understand!"
...
Two thousand six hundred years later. Stormterror's Lair, top floor of the tower.
Time had left deep marks of erosion here; the architecture was in ruins.
The Anemo Archon Venti, now in the form of a young man, stood amidst the ruins.
Braids with cyan gradients at the ends hung by his temples, he wore a hat adorned with a Cecilia, and he held his cherished Skyward Harp.
Paimon floated to the right of the golden-haired Traveler. Opposite them stood Venti.
To Venti's left and right were the upright Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius, Jean Gunnhildr, and the black-clad, red-haired, steady and powerful Diluc Ragnvindr.
The passage before them led to Stormterror's lair.
Venti strummed a string, his tone carrying the unique sentiment of a poet.
"I was thinking, after this is all over, I want to write all of this into a song..."
The Traveler looked at him and smiled.
"So much has happened recently. Venti and I are practically old partners now."
Venti smiled in response.
"Mm-hmm, this song will be sung by the people of Mondstadt, just like 'The Legend of Vanessa'."
Beside them, the blonde female knight Jean Gunnhildr placed a hand on her chest, her expression earnest and resolute.
"I've loved that song since I was a child."
She turned to the Traveler.
"So, Traveler... how are you feeling today? I've already adjusted to my best condition and will surely be of help to everyone."
The Traveler praised her sincerely:
"Grand Master Jean is so reliable! Don't worry, I'm at my best too!"
Paimon drew a little closer, looking at Diluc.
"Speaking of which, Master Diluc has also accompanied us all the way to the end. Even though he was just accidentally dragged into this at the beginning... right? A passerby?"
Diluc crossed his arms, his tone calm yet weighty.
"You shared your secret with me. I am merely returning the same trust."
The Traveler's gaze turned to Venti, with a hint of curiosity.
"So what about you, Venti? What's your reason for fighting?"
A gentle yet profound smile appeared on Venti's face.
"It's 'freedom,' you know."
Paimon tilted her head.
"Freedom...?"
Just then, Venti suddenly turned his head, as if listening to a faint sound carried on the wind that only he could capture.
Paimon was puzzled.
"Venti, did you hear something?"
The smile on Venti's face did not change, but his fingertips were already gently caressing the strings of the Skyward Harp.
"Wait for me a moment. I need to send a wisp of wind..."
The clear sound of the lyre echoed leisurely through the ruins, piercing through time.
...
Now.
The cyan light surrounding Venti was richer and more sacred than ever before. He announced loudly, his voice carrying an echo that crossed time:
"My future 'self' has borrowed the 'Wind'."
Gunnhildr and Lumiere exchanged a look and nodded heavily.
"Yes, we received it."
Two streams of pure Anemo authority separated from Venti's body, flowing like docile streams into Gunnhildr and Lumiere.
Cyan Anemo elemental power immediately swirled around them.
The gale that had been so oppressive it made it difficult for them to move now felt like a friendly companion, easily commanded by them.
They slowly straightened up, raised their sharp swords, and pointed the blades directly at the Solitary King!
Coppelia carefully placed the unconscious Amos by a relatively safe arched window.
Then she too walked forward.
She received a portion of the Anemo authority from Venti, pressed her hands forward in a virtual gesture, and a shield as solid as cyan glass, flowing with elemental light, instantly unfurled, enveloping everyone.
At the same time, Decarabian rose completely.
The high-backed throne behind Him silently disintegrated, turning into countless fragments of dense cyan light.
Like living things, they gathered toward Him, piecing together and covering Him, forming an exquisitely styled suit of cyan armor that covered every inch of His body. Its lines were cold and hard, flowing with the power of the storm.
In His right hand, a gale was highly compressed and condensed, forming a strangely shaped double-tipped spear. The shaft was wrapped in a howling vortex of wind, and the tip glinted with a cold light. Its very existence seemed capable of tearing space apart.
Once the armor and spear were fully formed, He slowly turned around to face the intruders.
The armor on His head completely concealed His face, leaving only a deep shadow, and no one could glimpse a trace of emotion behind it.
The next second, He moved. The double-tipped wind spear in His hand swung forward in a seemingly casual manner.
Boom! A dozen miniature tornadoes were suddenly generated, each one swirling with hundreds of sharp wind blades, letting out piercing shrieks as they charged toward Gunnhildr's group to tear them apart!
The tornadoes slammed viciously against the cyan glass wind shield created by Coppelia!
A piercing shriek of friction exploded, and spiderweb-like cracks instantly spread across the surface of the wind shield, its light flickering violently.
After a moment of stalemate, the tornadoes and the wind shield exploded simultaneously, turning into a chaotic airflow that dispersed in all directions.
Gunnhildr was the first to act. The Anemo element coiled around her blade like a living thing.
She used the airflow to leap out, closing in on the Solitary King from the flank like a swallow in the wind.
The light of her sword flashed, stabbing straight for a joint in the armor.
Decarabian's wrist turned slightly, a sharp horizontal sweep stirring up a fierce wind, forcing Gunnhildr to spin and retreat.
Lumiere seized this fleeting opportunity, charging forward from the front like a cannonball.
His greatsword, infused with the authority of wind, carried a wind pressure as solid as a mountain as it came crashing down on the Solitary King's head!
Facing this powerful blow, the Solitary King withdrew his spear, held it horizontally, and parried with precision.
"CLANG—!"
A massive clang of metal on metal exploded. The rebound force pushed Lumiere back half a step.
As the Solitary King blocked, the fingertips of his left hand had already condensed three sharp wind blades, which shot silently toward Gunnhildr, who had just landed.
Coppelia made a virtual gesture with both hands, and three small but tough, instantly-cast wind shields flashed into existence in front of Gunnhildr.
"Pfft, pfft, pfft," the wind blades struck the shields, and both were annihilated.
Gunnhildr and Lumiere exchanged a look and charged again at the same time. One from the left, one from the right; one sword swift and tricky, the other heavy and powerful.
Decarabian snorted coldly, gripping the middle of the spear shaft with both hands and unleashing a series of thrusts.
The front and back tips of the spear became a curtain of death, like a sudden storm, enveloping both of them completely!
"Fall back!" Lumiere roared, his greatsword spinning like a windmill, barely holding on.
Gunnhildr, relying on her agility, weaved through the dangerous spear shadows, carefully evading them.
Venti streaked past as a cyan stream of light. A clever updraft lifted Gunnhildr, allowing her to avoid a spear thrust that would have pierced her chest.
Seeing his attack nullified, Decarabian gripped the center of the spear shaft with both hands, held the spear level, and began to spin it at high speed!
A deathly ring that perfectly covered his surroundings instantly formed.
The fierce wind howled, not only forcing back the two who were closing in, but also shattering all the elemental shields Coppelia had constructed.
After forcing everyone back, the Solitary King feigned a retreat, revealing a tiny opening.
Lumiere stomped forward, his greatsword rising again.
At that moment, Decarabian's waist twisted violently, and a tricky and vicious back-thrust shot out like lightning, straight for Lumiere's throat!
"Watch out!" Gunnhildr cried out in alarm.
In the nick of time, Coppelia focused all her spirit and condensed the most solid miniature wind shield in front of Lumiere's neck.
The spear tip struck the wind shield, emitting a teeth-grating tearing sound. The wind shield shattered on impact, but the spear's momentum was also halted for an instant.
Lumiere took the opportunity to lean back. The spear tip, carrying a cold chill, grazed past his neck, leaving a shallow, bloody line. Cold sweat instantly soaked his back.
Columbina, hovering at the edge of the battlefield, could clearly feel that the fragment of authority belonging to her was imprisoned just a short distance away, tightly wrapped in a dense gale.
The fragment emitted an irresistible, strong attraction to her, as if a child long separated from home were calling for its mother, or as if a missing part of her soul were beating violently, longing to return.
But she remembered the plan and forcefully suppressed the desire to rush forward, merely hovering quietly, using all her senses to perceive every subtle change in the battle, waiting for the Solitary King to be forced to use His fragment of authority.
Outside the wind wall.
Andrius sensed the instability of the wind wall and attacked its weak points at multiple locations simultaneously.
The north wind, carrying hail, smashed one hole after another in the wind wall, but a fierce gale would immediately surge over to fill them.
...
Lumiere roared and charged again, his greatsword bringing down a wind pressure as heavy as a mountain.
Decarabian no longer blocked completely, instead taking the blow with his shoulder guard while his double-tipped wind spear thrust like a venomous snake toward Lumiere's wide-open abdomen.
"Clang!" The shoulder guard tore, and fragments flew.
But Lumiere paid it no mind, pressing his greatsword down and leaving a deep wound on the Solitary King's shoulder that revealed the light and shadow within. At the same time, he contracted his abdomen, trying to avoid the spear tip.
"Pfft!"
The wind spear ultimately grazed his ribs, taking a spray of blood with it.
Both grunted at the same time and retreated.
Blood streamed from Lumiere's ribs, while at the wound on the Solitary King's shoulder, Venti's otherworldly divine power had already begun to cling and corrode like a disease festering in the bone.
Gunnhildr keenly seized the momentary sluggishness caused by the Solitary King's shoulder injury.
She moved like a shadow, the tip of her sword no longer seeking to kill, but instead striking quickly at the joints of the Solitary King's wrist and elbow as he held the spear.
Decarabian swung his spear to block, but Gunnhildr's sword retreated on contact, only to stab from another tricky angle. This continuous harassment greatly disrupted His attack rhythm.
He made a swift chop, but Coppelia anticipated it. A wind shield condensed in front of Gunnhildr, shattering on impact but buying her the gap she needed to retreat.
The Solitary King's sure-kill blow missed, and his divine power dissipated slightly.
The cyan light that was Venti aimed for this fleeting opportunity, streaking past like a meteor. The pure divine power of wind seeped like a trickle into a wound on the Solitary King's chest that Lumiere had just made.
A sound like ice and snow melting was heard, and the cyan armor visibly dimmed and peeled away!
The divine power surging deep within the wound became more active, destroying the very source of power that constituted His body.
Decarabian let out a suppressed roar. The arm with which he held the spear trembled clearly for the first time.
Sensing their opponent's weakening, Gunnhildr and Lumiere's spirits rose, and their attacks intensified! The light of the sword and the wind pressure of the greatsword swept in from both sides like a storm.
Decarabian no longer defended. The double-tipped wind spear danced like a wheel as He launched a fierce, mutually destructive attack against both of them at once!
Spear and sword clashed, with constant explosions of sound!
Lumiere's blade once again left a wound on the Solitary King's abdomen, while he himself was hit in the chest by a sweeping spear tail, spitting blood as he retreated.
Gunnhildr, relying on her agility, narrowly avoided a piercing blow, but her blade also slashed across the Solitary King's leg, deepening another wound.
After this frantic exchange, the two sides finally separated again. The sounds of panting and the hiss of turbulent energy were clear in the empty room.
This cannot go on! Decarabian made a decision.
He fiercely thrust the double-tipped wind spear into the ground!
Vwoom—!
The fierce gale surrounding the High Tower rapidly weakened and subsided!
And inside the hall, all the gales, including the solidified Anemo element on the floor, converged crazily on Decarabian like a hundred rivers returning to the sea.
The armor on His body repaired and healed at a visible speed, and the wounds were forcibly closed under the infusion of majestic energy.
Beneath everyone's feet, the ground condensed from the fierce gale suddenly dissipated, revealing the bottomless core structure of the tower below.
The group immediately leaped back, landing on an outer ring of still-intact rock to avoid falling.
The moment the ground disappeared, Columbina's perception expanded abruptly. She saw, in the exposed core structure below, dozens of strange stones emitting a faint moonlight!
There were so many of them, no wonder the attraction was so immense!
Coppelia immediately reached out and grabbed Columbina, who could not yet fly freely with only her weightlessness authority. The Anemo element around her surged, and she was about to charge toward those moonlight stones.
But Decarabian was faster than them! He hovered opposite the group and made a virtual grasping motion with his hand.
A violent gale, like an invisible giant hand, instantly grabbed a dozen of the moonlight stones.
Immediately after, the gale applied an unimaginable pressure.
Crack! Pop, pop!
The moonlight stones were forcibly crushed into fluorescent dust!
This dust, under the forced compression of the gale, gathered into a constantly tumbling and contracting mass of energy.
The energy mass flew before the group, and a terrifyingly heart-pounding energy fluctuation emanated from it. The entire space of the hall began to distort slightly.
Coppelia's pupils contracted sharply.
"Not good! He's going to create an explosion!"
Columbina no longer hesitated, fully activating her weightlessness authority to reduce their weight.
Coppelia also kicked up a strong wind behind her, pushing them like an arrow loosed from its string toward that extremely dangerous energy mass, trying to snatch or interfere with it before it completely erupted.
They had just charged out one step!
Swoosh—!
A pure white light shot out from their side at a speed that surpassed visual capture! The light was pure, condensed, and aimed straight for Decarabian's heart!
It was an arrow of light.
Decarabian reacted with godlike speed, immediately raising his heavily armored arm to block.
However, that pure white arrow effortlessly pierced through His arm armor, pierced through His divine body, and embedded itself in His heart, which was constructed of storms.
The next second, the surging divine power around Decarabian suddenly dissipated. Decarabian's virtual form, hovering in mid-air, shuddered violently.
The mass of energy that had been compressed to the extreme and was about to explode lost its control and began to flash violently and unstably.
Note 1: In the Fontaine Archon Quest Act V, "Masquerade of the Guilty - The Opera of Noirceur and Blancheur," Neuvillette said: "I will lend you the power of the ancient dragons, let us find that opportunity together."
___
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