===✧✦✧===
The group followed their orders, soaring through the air with the aid of Venti's winds, concentrating their attacks on the poisoned blood clots covering Dvalin's body.
Dvalin's claws struck again, but this time, it was Jean who stepped forward to block the attack.
With a swift thrust of her Favonius Sword, Anemo energy spiraled and compressed, gathering at the tip of her blade.
This was Jean's Gale Blade.
Though Dvalin's strength was immense, Jean was no ordinary warrior.
Not only did she withstand the dragon's assault, but she also managed to momentarily stagger him.
Several wind arrows whirled through the air, tracing impossible trajectories like homing missiles before striking the poisoned blood on Dvalin's back.
"Roar!" Dvalin let out a pained cry, unleashing a torrent of dragon's breath toward Venti.
"Woo-hoo~" A sudden gust of wind erupted beneath Venti's feet, propelling him high into the air and evading the attack.
Dvalin attempted to pursue, but a massive phoenix of flames soared toward him, forcing him to divert his attention to the overwhelming Pyro energy.
The dragon's claws seized the fiery bird, tearing it apart with sheer force.
But that wasn't enough—Dvalin let out a deafening roar, summoning violent gales that swept across the battlefield.
Wherever the group stood for too long, whirlwinds erupted beneath their feet, forcing them into constant motion.
"This isn't sustainable. We can't outlast a dragon in stamina," Diluc remarked.
Jean nodded, then suddenly realized something—she glanced around but couldn't find the Traveler.
"Where's the Traveler?" she asked.
Diluc also noticed that the Traveler had been unusually silent since the battle began, as if they had vanished.
"Ehe~" Venti chuckled, pointing toward Dvalin.
Unbeknownst to everyone, Lumine had already climbed onto Dvalin's back.
The frenzied dragon seemed oblivious, still fixated on the greater threats—Venti and the others.
Lumine, wary of being discovered and ruining the plan, remained motionless for now.
"Cover her!" Diluc immediately assessed the situation.
Halting his evasive maneuvers, he lunged forward toward Dvalin.
"Understood, Senior," Jean responded without hesitation, charging from the opposite direction.
The two closed in from both sides, forcing Dvalin to split his attention between them and inadvertently neglecting his back.
Seizing the opportunity, Lumine swiftly advanced toward the poisoned blood clot.
As for Venti?
He had already stowed away his bow, replacing it with his lyre as he strummed a melody for the group.
The song itself held no power, but under the Anemo Archon's performance, it became a buff—enhancing everyone's resonance with Anemo energy.
"Gale Blade!"
Jean leaped into the air with the aid of an updraft, thrusting her sword toward Dvalin's vulnerable eye.
The dragon raised a claw to block, but the impact still left him momentarily stunned.
Lumine used this opening to climb near the poisoned blood, raising her Harbinger of Dawn.
"Hyaaa!!" She drove the blade downward with all her might, Anemo energy swirling violently around the sword.
"Roar—!" Dvalin howled in pain.
But the strike wasn't strong enough to fully sever the corruption.
"Dawn!"
Diluc's flaming slash struck at the perfect moment, weakening the clot further.
A cracking sound echoed—Lumine had successfully severed the poisoned blood.
However, Dvalin still had one more corruption remaining.
Even so, the removal of one clot briefly restored a sliver of the dragon's sanity.
"Barbatos…"
Dvalin's gaze, no longer clouded by madness, turned toward Venti.
"Why… do you seek to save me?"
"Mondstadt no longer needs the Protector of the East Wind…"
Venti didn't stop playing, his voice soft and melodic, as if reciting poetry.
"Dvalin, if you were me, and had witnessed your noble figure soaring through the skies, you too would fight for such beauty."
"The skies are now free of blizzards, the earth lush with greenery. Mondstadt needs neither a protector nor an archon."
"Just as in the days before the Four Winds, I wandered the land singing of the wind, while you soared above, gazing upon the earth."
"This… is Freedom."
These words resonated not just with Dvalin—even Diluc's perception of Venti shifted.
Though he had always considered the Anemo Archon reliable, he had never truly felt it firsthand.
After all, the god he knew spent his days drinking.
Now, he understood why this being was the God of Freedom, and how he had led Mondstadt down its path of liberation.
Jean's admiration ran even deeper. No wonder so many had rallied under the Anemo Archon's banner to overthrow the tyrant of Old Mondstadt.
How could such a deity not inspire devotion?
"Freedom…?"
Even Lumine seemed to grasp a deeper understanding of the ideal Venti pursued.
"I see… Barbatos, if you were me—"
Before Dvalin could finish, madness once again clouded his eyes.
The group braced themselves for battle once more.
"Should we try the same tactic again?" Lumine suggested tentatively.
Before Diluc could respond, Jean shook her head.
"No. The risk is too great this time."
Had the Traveler not acted so decisively earlier, Jean wouldn't have agreed to the plan in the first place.
"Then I guess we'll have to fight head-on," Lumine shrugged.
"This time… leave it to me," Venti suddenly spoke up.
The tips of his braids began to glow faintly.
With one corruption already purged, Dvalin's hostility had weakened significantly.
"I, too, wish to hear what Dvalin truly wants to say."
With those words, Venti's figure floated gently into the air, ascending until he hovered before Dvalin.
Dragon and bard—the latter not even the height of one of Dvalin's claws—yet the boy showed no fear.
Venti gently placed a hand on Dvalin's head, his voice tender.
"Dvalin… I've returned."
The moment he spoke, an overwhelming surge of Anemo energy erupted, encasing the two in a swirling barrier of wind.
The gentle dome tinted the entire space a serene azure.
A soothing breeze caressed everyone present, filling them with tranquility.
The violent gales summoned by Dvalin vanished without a trace, leaving only the calming winds within the barrier.
This gentle wind pacified Dvalin's rage, steadily eroding his hostility.
Now, removing the second corruption was only a matter of time.
Once it was gone, Dvalin's sanity would be fully restored.
"This… is the power of Lord Barbatos…"
Jean gasped, momentarily forgetting to address him as Venti and reverting to the Anemo Archon's title.
"Astonishing."
Diluc remained expressionless, but he had already sheathed his greatsword, crossing his arms as he watched—clearly placing his trust in Venti.
"So this is the power of a god…"
Lumine recalled the deity who had once opposed her and her sibling. That god's power had been nothing like the Anemo Archon's gentleness.
"W-Whoa! So the tone-deaf bard's this strong?!" Paimon stammered nervously.
I've been calling him 'tone-deaf bard' all this time… Is he gonna get mad?
Probably not. Venti had always been easygoing with his allies.
Besides… he preferred it when people treated him without regard for his divinity.