At that moment, Dvalin, having sensed Venti's presence, was absolutely furious. 'I go out causing some destruction, and you bomb me once. Fine! But I'm sleeping peacefully in my own lair, and you—you freaking—bomb my home too?! You don't bully a dragon like this!'
The more Dvalin thought about it, the angrier he got. He blasted a torrent of Anemo energy toward the group approaching the tower. If he didn't hang these people from the tower of Stormterror's Lair today, how could he ever show his face in Mondstadt again?
"Scatter!"
Jean raised the Aquila Favonia and dispersed Dvalin's Anemo attack with a single strike. At her peak state, Jean's strength was not to be underestimated—something both Diluc and Venti were well aware of. Paimon, however, stared with sparkly eyes and gasped.
"Wow, Master Jean is so amazing! Lumine, when will you be this strong?"
Stung by the comment, Lumine gripped her Fillet Blade tightly and shot Paimon a dark look. 'Looks like I've found tonight's late-night snack. Su Bai gave me that portable cooking pot and I haven't used it yet—tonight's the perfect time to test it out.'
Paimon felt a chill run down her spine, as if some malicious intent was fixed on her. But when she turned to look, it was gone. How strange. Paimon scratched her head. Being as carefree as she was, she assumed she'd imagined it and didn't give it another thought.
"Lord Venti, please use your Anemo power to send me up to Dvalin. I'll help him find release."
Unwilling to see others get hurt, Jean presented her battle plan to Venti: she would take on Dvalin alone. Venti's mouth twitched. 'Release? I have a feeling the "release" she means isn't the kind I'm thinking of—it's the permanent kind. This woman is just as bold as her ancestor.'
"Dvalin, have you stooped so low as to bully ordinary people now? How utterly disappointing."
Boreas's eyes flickered with disappointment. Having once exhausted his power to drive away Mondstadt's blizzards, he had held some hope for both Dvalin and Barbatos. But in the end, one did nothing but laze around all day, and the other was now bullying ordinary people. Boreas wanted to go back in time and slap his past self—ask him just what he'd been thinking back then.
"Andrius? Was all of this your doing?!"
"That's right. It was me, Dvalin. It's time we settled the score between us."
Hearing Boreas's confirmation, Dvalin's eyes turned bloodshot. 'Oh, so it was you! You bomb me twice and still dare to show your face in front of me? Do you not know how to spell death?'
Forgetting all about Venti, Dvalin flapped his wings and charged straight at Boreas. Seeing Dvalin rushing toward him, Boreas actually felt pleased. He'd been thinking it would be difficult to fight Dvalin while he was airborne—he hadn't expected Dvalin to abandon his aerial advantage and come for close-quarters combat.
"Um... Lord Venti, does the dragon's corrupted blood have the side effect of making Dvalin dumber?"
Watching from a distance as Boreas pinned Dvalin to the ground like a giant flapping moth struggling beneath a cat's paw, Jean actually felt a little sorry for him.
Venti wasn't sure either whether Durin's corrupted blood had that effect. If it did, then fine—they could deal with it once the blood was cleansed. But if it didn't... did that mean Dvalin had just gotten stupider on his own?
"This is the first time I've met someone even dumber than Paimon."
Lumine's deadpan observation hung in the air. She'd actually worried for the big wolf when Dvalin charged at him, only to watch Dvalin get swatted to the ground with one paw.
(A/N: This scene is basically a kitten batting at a moth.)
"Andrius, let me go! If you've got the guts, let me up, and we'll settle this with elemental power!"
Trapped beneath Andrius's paw, Dvalin roared in frustration. But there was no escaping the wolf's peak strength—no matter how Dvalin thrashed, he couldn't break free.
"Dvalin, you've lived all these years only to regress? Challenging me to an elemental duel when I'm nothing but a lingering wisp of my former self? Say that out loud—see if it doesn't make you blush with shame."
Boreas laughed bitterly at the absurdity. If he weren't merely a remnant, a whelp like Dvalin would be an ice statue with a single burst of elemental power.
Wait a moment. When did that black blood clot appear on Dvalin's head? That didn't look like anything good. Boreas prodded the half-shattered clot of tainted blood with his paw. The touch sent agony rippling through Dvalin's very soul—damn, that hurt!
"Andrius, get your paw off me! That hurts!"
"Dvalin, what's that black thing on your head? Looks rather ominous."
"None of your business! Let me go, you mangy wolf!"
That did it. Now Boreas was genuinely offended. 'Here I am, showing concern for you, and instead of gratitude, you insult me? What kind of logic is that? If Barbatos couldn't teach you manners, I'll do it for him.'
Meanwhile, Yae Miko, who had been watching the spectacle unfold, quietly materialized three Sakura Sesshou. Under her control, bolts of lightning from the kitsune spiraled down and struck the clot of tainted blood with vicious precision.
"AAAAAAaaangh~!"
The relentless, excruciating pain wrung a series of wails from Dvalin—each one hitting a different note. Boreas glanced down at the dragon pinned beneath his paw. Who knew that after all those years listening to Barbatos play the lyre, Dvalin had actually picked up a thing or two about music?
Dvalin couldn't care less what Boreas was thinking right now. All he wanted was to kill the woman who kept striking him with lightning. The pain, which seemed to touch his very soul, was utterly unbearable.
"My, my~ no need to be so grumpy. I'm helping you, you know."
"If we don't deal with that tainted blood on your head now, you'll lose yourself to it eventually."
Yae Miko produced a bag of Lavender Melon seeds from somewhere and started casually snacking. These seeds were cheap in Inazuma. After Su Bai, Itto, and Ayato accidentally ate some roasted over a campfire one day, this cheap, delicious snack had taken the entire nation by storm.
Don't underestimate these little things—the profit margin was enormous. Back when they first appeared, not a single clan in Inazuma thought much of Lavender Melon seeds. Some even mocked the Kamisato Clan for selling "trash."
Yet this humble snack, with its astonishing profits, provided a lifeline for the embattled Kamisato Clan during their time of crisis, giving them much-needed breathing room.
(A/N: Selling seeds and various roasted snacks really is profitable. I went to buy some today and heard the auntie at the stall chatting with customers—her family owns three houses...)