After the Fatui had made their miserable retreat, Jean turned to Su Mo with a bright smile and thanked him once more. Even Kaeya couldn't suppress the grin spreading across his face. "It seems everyone really dislikes dealing with those Fatui, huh?" Paimon observed, noticing the lightened mood among the group.
"That's because the Fatui always act like bullies!" Amber chimed in as she arrived, having rushed over. Behind her, Barbara was catching her breath, visibly tired from running. Judging by their appearance, they had come as quickly as they could.
After catching her breath, Barbara immediately turned to Jean. "Sis—Captain Jean, you called me here. Is there something you need me to do?" In her haste, Barbara hadn't gotten a clear explanation from Amber on the way.
"Yes, Barbara," Jean quickly brought her up to speed on the situation.
"The Frost-Encased Stormterror!" Barbara gasped once she noticed the massive ice-bound form of Stormterror behind them, covering her mouth in shock. Her gaze then shifted to Su Mo and Lumine. "You two are the heroes who subdued Stormterror, right?" she asked, her eyes filled with admiration. Deep down, Barbara wished she could possess such strength herself, so she could help her sister more.
"Hello!" Lumine and Su Mo greeted her warmly. Su Mo's eyes momentarily lingered on Barbara's familiar white stockings. In that instant, he recalled his original motivation back when he first played Genshin Impact. What had consumed most of his time back then? Drawing characters? Fighting bosses? Grinding dungeons? Completing story quests? No. It was sending the female characters gliding down from the cathedral roof just to admire the view of those beautiful white stockings!
But this was reality. There were no built-in censorship systems here—meaning, looking up from below would not result in any artificial blurring.
A bold idea crossed Su Mo's mind. But he didn't act on it. After all, he wasn't that familiar yet with Barbara. There would be time for such things after they grew closer.
As Su Mo pondered mischievously, Paimon tilted her head and looked at him suspiciously. "Su Mo's expression is a bit weird... it's like he's thinking of something bad."
Her intuition was indeed terrifying—but useless against Su Mo. "I was just wondering, Paimon—when are you going to grow up? When you do, I'll gobble you right up," Su Mo said with a wicked grin.
"In what way? Don't say scary things like that!" Paimon pouted, misunderstanding his deeper meaning and assuming he was simply teasing her.
Su Mo, not wanting to arouse suspicion, decided to let the matter drop for now.
Meanwhile, Barbara had moved to inspect Stormterror's neck, frowning as she examined the purplish-red poison spike. "Such potent toxicity!" she murmured. "Just looking at it makes my skin sting."
Even through the thick ice, she could sense the venom's deadly nature. Shaking her head in frustration, she turned to Jean. "I'm sorry, Captain Jean. I don't think I can neutralize this poison..."
Finally being called upon to help, only to find herself powerless, left Barbara deeply disappointed.
"Even Barbara can't purify the poison..." Jean was momentarily at a loss, visibly worried.
At that moment, Venti stepped forward. "Even if the poison can't be removed, it would still help if we could heal Dvalin. His current state is burning through his life force—we can't let that continue."
"If it's just healing, that's no problem," Barbara immediately agreed. Healing was her specialty. But even then, she couldn't cast her spells through the thick layer of ice.
Seeing her dilemma, Su Mo stepped forward and pressed his hand against Stormterror's frozen neck. In an instant, the ice covering the area around the poison spike melted away, exposing the wound to the open air and allowing Barbara access to administer treatment.
Although part of Stormterror's neck was now exposed, the remaining ice held him firmly in place, giving him limited room to move. However, sensing the release of the ice around his vulnerable neck—and with humans now standing on top of him—Stormterror instinctively panicked, mistaking their actions for an attempt to execute him. He let out a deep, rumbling growl, his eyes flashing crimson.
He glared furiously at the figure standing before him—Venti. Never in his wildest dreams did he expect Barbatos, the Anemo Archon himself, to stand idly by as he was nearly beheaded by humans without lifting a finger to help. The suffering had driven him to madness; betrayal filled him with rage. With the fear of death looming, he struggled desperately, wanting to tear Venti and the humans from the Knights of Favonius into pieces. Yet, trapped beneath layers of ice stronger than steel, he was completely helpless.
But then, amidst his frantic and futile struggle, Stormterror suddenly felt something strange—a cool, moist sensation spreading across his neck. The life force that had been leaking away was now being replenished. The pain he expected from the execution never came. He froze.
"...You... you're not here to kill me?" His deep voice resonated, but it was spoken in the language of Mondstadt, perfectly understandable to everyone present.
"Of course not," Venti answered gently, plucking his lyre and calming his old friend with a soothing melody. "I am your friend. Why would I ever come to harm you? We're here to save you, Dvalin."
Barbara stood by his neck, channeling her healing magic tirelessly. Jean, Kaeya, and the others wore expressions of concern, none of them wielding weapons. Even Lumine and Su Mo, who had helped subdue and freeze him earlier, showed no sign of aggression. Only then did Dvalin begin to realize that he had misunderstood something all along.
"You're... here to save me? But that's not what he told me..." His mind recalled the creature that had circled him constantly after his awakening—the Abyss Mage who whispered that he had been abandoned, that he should seek revenge. But now, standing before him, these humans' actions seemed entirely different from what that Abyss Mage had led him to believe.
As Stormterror gradually pieced things together, Su Mo glanced at Lumine and called out, "Lumine, come try it!" He remembered Lumine's special purification ability; perhaps she could deal with the Abyssal poison still corroding Stormterror's body.
"Me?" Lumine was surprised. She wasn't trained in any healing arts. Nevertheless, at Su Mo's encouragement, she lightly hopped up beside Barbara and reached out her hand towards the corrupted blood that even Barbara dared not touch directly.
The moment Lumine's small hand came into contact with the tainted blood, a brilliant light of purification flared. The venomous purple-red liquid, thick with corrosive energy, was instantly cleansed under her touch. Within mere seconds, the Abyssal poison was entirely purified from Stormterror's body.
"Incredible!" Barbara gasped in astonishment. This level of toxicity had been completely neutralized with nothing but a simple touch. No wonder Lumine had been able to stand against a dragon—her strength was truly extraordinary.
But Lumine herself looked utterly confused, her expression blank. "Why... can I do this?" She had no idea how or why she possessed such power. A mere touch had erased all traces of corruption.
"Probably due to your unique constitution..." Su Mo muttered thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. Her abilities were undoubtedly linked to her own identity. However, since her strength and memories remained sealed, there was little they could figure out at the moment.
Regardless, the Abyssal corruption on Stormterror was now fully purified, and Barbara had healed most of his physical wounds. Under Venti's gentle reassurance, Stormterror gradually understood how he had been manipulated and had his very mind tampered with. Ashamed, he recounted everything to Venti—the Abyss Mage who had tempted him, and the mysterious "Prince" spoken of by the Abyss Order.
Upon hearing this, Jean, Kaeya, and the others grew visibly grim. Though they were relieved to have saved Stormterror, the shadow cast by the organization behind his corruption weighed heavily on their hearts. What exactly was the Abyss Order planning? And who was this so-called Prince?
"This is getting really complicated..." Paimon muttered, scratching her head in frustration. "The Prince of the Abyss Order must be a pretty high-ranking villain, huh?" Lumine speculated aloud after a brief moment of thought.
Su Mo nodded silently. In fact, that so-called Prince... was his brother-in-law. But for now, it was better not to tell Lumine about that particular detail.