The urge to swing his hand and unleash that terrifying destructive force nearly overwhelmed him.
But he knew this wasn't the time.
Kael drew a deep breath, forcing down the violent surge of annihilation churning inside him. His fingertips trembled slightly, muscles tensing against the sudden influx of overwhelming power.
"Calm down. Stay calm."
He willed the energy to settle, reining in the star-swallowing force and sealing it deep within his body. His control was still imperfect, rough around the edges. But at least he could prevent it from erupting at the wrong moment.
Even so, he could feel the newborn Destruction energy coiling restlessly beneath his skin, ready to pour from his hands and tear the earth apart at a moment's notice.
"Hah..."
Kael exhaled slowly, adapting to the weight of his new ability.
Stardust Ace. The Trailblazer's Destruction Path Ultimate.
Though only a branch skill from the Trailblazer's arsenal, it still embodied Destruction energy in its most extreme form. True strength wasn't just about wielding devastation but knowing precisely when to release it and when to keep it hidden.
"This harvest exceeded expectations."
He flexed his hand, feeling the transformation settle into his bones. A faint smile touched his lips.
Compared to previous Path abilities, receiving an Ultimate technique felt fundamentally different. The density of power, the sheer potential changed everything.
"Master Diluc, here's this week's ledger."
The bartender's voice drifted up from below.
Lumine immediately leaned over the railing to look down.
At the counter, Charles stood holding an account sheet, addressing a red-haired man with respectful formality.
Diluc accepted the ledger, scanning it briefly. "The wind disasters have truly damaged business."
"Let's hope this period passes quickly."
Charles sighed. "The last wind calamity barely ended a week ago, and now another one strikes. It's terrible."
Knock knock knock!
Urgent rapping broke the moment.
A Knight of Favonius strode through the door. Spotting Diluc, he hesitated, then hurried forward. "Master Diluc, you're here as well."
"Indeed." Diluc acknowledged him with a nod. "What's happened? Why the mobilization?"
"A thief stole the Sky Lyre."
The knight spoke quickly. "One of the Fatui mages. We've initiated a full lockdown. Many of our forces are at the embassy, but the Fatui deny everything and refuse to allow a search. We're expanding the sweep across the entire city, mobilizing every available resource."
"If you spot the mage, please report immediately."
"Understood."
Diluc nodded once.
The knight departed. But before the door could fully close, it swung open again.
"Ehe!"
Venti breezed in, spotting Diluc with theatrical surprise. "Master Diluc is here? Perfect! I'll take another bottle on credit."
He reached behind the counter with practiced ease, fingers closing around a wine bottle.
Diluc's expression darkened. "Put back whatever you just took from behind my counter."
"Let me finish this one first. I'll pay, I promise... with a performance."
"This isn't about money. You don't look old enough to purchase alcohol."
"Oh, you can rest assured about that." Venti patted his chest proudly. "I was drinking wine when you were still—"
He stopped mid-sentence.
"Ah."
Without missing a beat, Venti pivoted and headed upstairs, bottle in hand.
Diluc watched him go, then turned back to Charles. "I'm going to the embassy."
"The Knights have been hesitant and inefficient regarding the Stormterror crisis. Diplomatically, they're weak and overly cautious with the Fatui."
"I have my own expectations for this city."
"I need to see this for myself."
He strode out without looking back.
"You two performed brilliantly."
As Diluc departed, Venti reached the second floor and gazed at the Sky Lyre in Lumine's hands, grinning at both her and Kael. "Even without me, you navigated everything smoothly and managed to frame the Fatui in the process. Clever and brave!"
His expression shifted slightly as his eyes settled on Kael.
"Mr. Kael, you're also from another world, aren't you?"
Now that they were meeting properly, Venti saw no reason to hide what he already knew.
"Correct."
Kael inclined his head slightly at Venti's question. "Though I admit, I didn't expect Mondstadt's Anemo Archon to spend his days wandering the streets like a common bard."
There was no point in concealing the truth. Not anymore. His power would only grow more conspicuous with time, and Venti, as Mondstadt's Archon, could glean most truths from the wind itself. If he was asking, he already knew the answer.
"You really are the Anemo Archon?!"
Paimon and Lumine puffed up their cheeks indignantly. "You tricked us!"
"Ehe." Venti laughed sheepishly. "I never denied it, did I? I told you from the start that I'm a bard."
The two exchanged glances.
He was right. When they'd asked before, Venti never denied being Barbatos. He simply said he was a bard. And everything he'd shared afterward, all those hidden details about Mondstadt's secrets, only someone like the Anemo Archon could know such things.
"So now that we have the Sky Lyre, the next step is calling Dvalin, right?" Paimon pressed.
"Mm... though this is indeed the genuine divine treasure of the Anemo Archon, I'm afraid it won't work yet."
Venti shook his head, accepting the lyre from Lumine's hands. He ran his fingers along its surface gently.
"Wood of flowing wind, strings of cool star-iron. Such a nostalgic feeling."
"As you can see, after a thousand years, the wind's power has long since withered away."
"To communicate with Dvalin, this is far from enough."
"But it's not the lyre itself that's the problem. It's the strings!"
"Now it's your turn, Traveler!"
"What do I need to do?" Lumine looked puzzled. "I don't know anything about repairing instruments."
"Don't worry, I'm not asking you to repair this precious harp." Venti smiled. "The issue is that the wind elemental concentration clinging to these strings is far too weak."
"You still have Dvalin's teardrop crystal, don't you?"
"Try letting it fall onto the Sky Lyre."
"Okay."
Lumine nodded, reaching into her coat and withdrawing the purified teardrop crystal.
The drop gleamed like condensed starlight, radiating a soft azure glow that seemed to carry all of Dvalin's ancient sorrow and forgotten memories.
She lifted it carefully and let the teardrop fall onto the Sky Lyre.
Instantly, the strings trembled as if waking from long slumber.
A faint ripple of wind elemental energy spread outward from the lyre's body. The aged, dulled wood began to shimmer with a gentle luminescence, wind's essence brushing across each string like downy feathers.
Then the transformation accelerated.
A brilliant column of light erupted from the lyre, strings resonating with a distant, ethereal hum that seemed to echo from centuries past. Radiance spread along the strings, and the dark wood began shedding its ancient patina.
In its place emerged a sacred golden brilliance, like dawn breaking over the horizon, enveloping the entire instrument.
Lumine's eyes widened in astonishment.
The Sky Lyre looked reborn.
The pure golden body gleamed magnificently, intricate carvings now clearly visible across its surface like wind itself dancing in frozen motion. The strings glowed with azure light, as if the Anemo Archon's blessing flowed through them. Each string hummed with wind's living essence, ready to sing divine melodies at the lightest touch.
Venti's eyes narrowed, a faint smile playing at his lips. He didn't seem surprised, only wistful and nostalgic.
He sighed softly and reached out to touch the strings. Wind elemental energy immediately flowed between them, like a long-dormant poem being reopened after ages.
"The Sky Lyre has temporarily regained its original form."
Venti spoke gently, voice tinged with reminiscence. "Thanks entirely to your purified crystal. Without it, the Sky Lyre's wind element would have continued withering."
"But it's still a ways from being fully restored. If we could gather more of Dvalin's teardrops..."
"How do we collect more teardrop crystals?" Lumine scratched her head. "Do we just need to make him cry? Can we beat them out of him?"
"Even now, Dvalin continues to weep."
Venti's sigh was heavy with sorrow. "Enduring his pain, alone in places where no one walks..."
While Venti spoke those melancholy words, elsewhere in the city—
Grand Acting Master Jean strode rapidly toward the Snezhnayan embassy, several Knights following close behind.
Her mind remained taut, occupied with strategies for confronting the Fatui's inevitable denials.
But in that moment, an unprecedented surge of wind elemental energy swept across half of Mondstadt.
The force moved like the prelude to a hurricane, carrying the wind's low whisper, rippling invisibly through the air. Then a clear, resonant note from a plucked string suddenly rang out, piercing the night and echoing across the entire city.
Like the Anemo Archon's murmur awakening the sleeping land.
Jean stopped abruptly.
Her pupils contracted sharply as she stared toward the source of the wind elemental disturbance.
That power... could it be the Sky Lyre?!
Impossible!
The Sky Lyre has been activated?!
Jean's breath caught, her heart clenching as if gripped by an invisible hand.
She knew better than anyone that the Anemo Archon's sacred relic had remained dormant for ages beyond counting. So long that even Vision bearers of wind couldn't coax the slightest response from it.
Once, the Cathedral had invited her to attempt activating the Sky Lyre with her wind element. No matter how much power she channeled, it remained inert, lifeless. A dead thing.
At first, they thought it was simply beyond their capability. But after repeated failures across months and years, the Knights began to suspect the relic had lost its power entirely.
Perhaps it was even damaged beyond repair.
But now...
Jean's gaze sharpened like a blade, locking onto the direction of the wind disturbance.
Without hesitation, she turned to the Knights behind her. "Leave one squad to watch the embassy. Don't engage the Fatui yet. I need to investigate this immediately."
"But..." One knight looked confused, hesitating at her sudden departure.
Why would the Grand Acting Master leave now?
He hadn't sensed anything unusual just moments ago.
"No hesitation required." Jean's voice was steady and absolute. "This takes priority."
She didn't wait for acknowledgment, already moving swiftly toward the source of the wind elemental surge.
The stolen Sky Lyre had been activated. She could track its exact location now.
But how could the Fatui possibly have the means to activate it?
Unless... the Fatui didn't steal it after all?
Yet that seemed impossible. The Cathedral guards had clearly witnessed the Electro Cicin Mage. At minimum, the Fatui had to be involved somehow.
Jean's mind raced as she channeled wind element to accelerate, closing the distance rapidly.
Behind her, the remaining Knights exchanged uncertain glances but obeyed orders, maintaining their blockade of the embassy.
Elsewhere in the city—
Diluc, master of Dawn Winery, moved steadily toward the embassy. His expression remained calm and analytical, plans already forming for how to deal with the Fatui.
But when the wind elemental ripple washed through the air, his steps halted abruptly.
An abnormally dense concentration of wind elemental energy surged past him. The sheer purity and magnitude of that power made him frown, unease stirring in his chest.
Mondstadt's wind element at night had never manifested such turbulent fluctuations.
And this wasn't ordinary elemental force. It carried something special, even traces of ancient, sacred presence.
Diluc's sharp gaze tracked back to the source of the disturbance.
As his focus intensified, he immediately pinpointed the location: Angel's Share?!
His own tavern?
Diluc's pupils contracted slightly. The green-cloaked figure immediately surfaced in his mind, that perpetually carefree bard who seemed to embody irresponsibility itself.
Could this be connected to that drunk bard?
Considering Venti possessed a wind Vision, Diluc's brow furrowed deeper, expression complicated.
Though he held no particular fondness for Venti, instinct told him this power was undeniably linked to that man.
Diluc's thoughts stilled for only a heartbeat before his gaze hardened and he reversed direction, heading back toward his tavern at speed.
Whatever was happening, he needed answers. Now.
"Wind elemental disturbance."
At that very moment, outside the Snezhnayan embassy—
Pyro Agent Chaimenhuofu, who had been waiting with calculated composure, suddenly jerked his head up. His pupils dilated violently.
He sensed a vast, profound wind elemental wave expanding like ripples across water. Like a dragon waking from eons of slumber, carrying a presence that made hearts tremble, sweeping across all of Mondstadt.
Accompanying it came the unmistakable sound of plucked strings.
His cold composure shattered into shock as he stared fixedly toward the elemental eruption's origin.
Without question, that was the Sky Lyre!
His breathing turned rapid, heart hammering violently as countless possibilities crashed through his mind.
The Sky Lyre has been activated?!
How could that be possible?
That relic couldn't be driven even by wind Vision holders! The divine artifact had lain dormant in Mondstadt for years, and now it suddenly erupted with such intense wind elemental fluctuation. What did this mean?!
It meant its true wielder had finally appeared!
It also meant someone else had taken it!
Chaimenhuofu's face turned dangerously dark.
His Fatui operation had completely failed. The Cicin Mage returned empty-handed, and he'd hoped to use the chaos to create another opportunity to seize the Sky Lyre. But the current situation had spiraled entirely beyond his predictions.
If he could reach the scene immediately, perhaps he could still seize the moment and claim the Sky Lyre as an offering to the Lady herself...