"Ah…"
A heavy sigh escaped Eula as she sat on a rock by the lakeside, hands braced behind her, gazing at the sunset slowly sinking beyond the horizon.
What a twisted fate.
She had just received a message from Amber, asking about her current location.
From Amber's anxious tone alone, it wasn't hard to guess—
Mondstadt's citizens had already erupted in outrage over future Eula's choice to stand with Aerin.
Eula didn't tell Amber where she was.
She only sent a smiling emoji, assuring her she was safe—
And quietly decided to lie low for now.
"Damn Fifth Descender… damn Aerin."
"I could still return to Mondstadt before."
"And now you've driven me into wandering the wilderness."
"This grudge… I'll remember it."
When alone, the dignified Spindrift Knight couldn't help but reveal a hint of girlish petulance.
Her puffed cheeks made her displeasure obvious.
But after a moment, she shook her head and laughed bitterly.
What does this have to do with Aerin, really?
This was her own choice.
"For now, I should find something to eat… and somewhere hidden to rest."
She stood up, eyes drifting toward Mondstadt in the distance.
"I just hope things take a turn for the better."
"Otherwise… I really will have no choice but to rely on the Fifth Descender."
"…But where exactly is Aerin hiding anyway? He hasn't shown himself at all."
With no reversal in sight, Eula chose to avoid the storm and temporarily live as a wanderer.
Stormterror's Lair
Unbeknownst to Eula, Aerin had already been written into her little mental blacklist.
At this very moment, he was calmly enjoying the rewards of another draw.
Stimulated by the light screen, the chat group, and the emotional ripples spreading across Teyvat—
Aerin had quickly accumulated another twenty-pull.
[Authority over Force — manifested as gravity, repulsion, and attraction.]
[Derived abilities: Universal Pull, Divine Repulsion, Mimetic Black Hole.]
Three abilities—unlocked at once.
Even Aerin, as the master of the Future Weaving System, felt a rare moment of surprise at its generosity.
There was also a particularly interesting item:
[Energy Suppression Collar]
A device worn around the neck that reacts to a target's energy fluctuations. It releases electrical shocks calibrated to the target's tolerance. Maximum output causes unconsciousness but not death, and does not damage organs.
The rest of the rewards were familiar—
combat experience, overall enhancements, and assorted refined lifestyle items.
Aerin glanced at the setting sun.
"Tonight…"
"May the people of Mondstadt sleep well."
With a faint smile, he combined his newly acquired abilities and released the final future fragment of the day.
[Night fell upon Teyvat.]
[Aerin walked alone through a valley until a green barrier blocked his path.]
[He raised a hand, touching the barrier.]
[A powerful wind swept past his palm.]
["So this is the barrier set by Barbatos."]
["Even Dvalin no longer nests here—what purpose does this serve?"]
As he spoke, space around his hand twisted violently.
A pitch-black void rapidly formed—
a mimetic black hole.
The terrifying pull devoured the surrounding winds in an instant.
The barrier Barbatos had once cast over Stormterror's Lair vanished without a trace.
Aerin stepped inside.
What greeted him was utter ruin.
Broken walkways like severed cliffs stretched toward a shattered tower in the distance.
Near the tower, several wind walls still remained.
The scene left many viewers confused.
Why had the Fifth Descender come to Stormterror's Lair?
Meanwhile, Venti, using ancient winds to search Falcon Coast for Aerin's whereabouts, frowned deeply.
"What did he just do…?"
"He absorbed my barrier entirely?"
That barrier had once sealed the entire ruin like a dome.
And it had been erased—so easily.
Dvalin rolled his eyes, utterly at a loss for words.
Benares had already dealt him a crushing blow.
Now even Barbatos hadn't escaped.
[Rosalyne]: "So the barrier of the Anemo Archon was this fragile?"
[Furina]: "Wait—that was a god's barrier? And he erased it just like that?"
[Childe]: "Eula's already a Valkyrie. Shouldn't this be the perfect time to attack Mondstadt? Why go there?"
[Jean]: "Do the Fatui really have nothing better to do than hope for Mondstadt's destruction?"
[Ganyu]: "I remember—after Amber escaped, he said he still had something to take care of before attacking Mondstadt."
[Yae Miko]: "Oh my~ Ganyu is surprisingly sharp, catching details like that."
Abyss Order
Aether studied the light screen like a detective, unwilling to miss a single detail.
Yet Aerin's actions made no sense to him.
"Pyro Abyss Herald… why Stormterror's Lair?"
"There's nothing left there worth investigating."
"You're correct, Your Highness," the Herald replied respectfully.
"Dvalin no longer nests there. I can't comprehend his intent either."
"…Could he simply be enjoying the night scenery under the stars?"
[Aerin moved as if the ruins were uninhabited, casually dispelling every wind wall.]
[Step by step, he ascended toward the tower.]
[He never looked back, never paused—his purpose unmistakably clear.]
He stopped before a discarded Ruin Guard.
Raising his hand, he reached toward its core.
The next instant, the eye fell neatly into his palm.
After inspecting it, Aerin nodded in satisfaction and stored it away in his Imaginary Space.
Under the moonlight—
A blond man with an eyepatch emerged silently behind him.
["What you just took… could it be—"]
The man stared at Aerin's back, wary.
["You don't carry the Abyss' aura."]
["You're not with the Abyss Order."]
["Who are you?"]
["And why are you taking this?"]
Aerin didn't answer directly.
Instead, he chuckled softly, intrigued.
["So you really did track this thing down."]
["The Twilight Sword of Khaenri'ah—Dainsleif."]
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