At the base of the colossal statue in Mondstadt Plaza, ancient characters were engraved.
Translated, they read:
—The Gate to Celestia—
Few citizens ever noticed the inscription.
Fewer still could decipher its meaning.
That Barbatos sought to ascend to Celestia had never truly been a secret.
Among the Seven Nations, only Vanessa, creator of the Knights of Favonius, had ascended in person. A thousand years ago, at the end of her life, she rose as the Wind God's contracted champion and stepped into the heavens.
The massive wind field in Mondstadt Plaza—where the Traveler would later obtain their gliding license—was precisely Vanessa's ascension site.
Legends claimed that after reaching Celestia, Vanessa became a god and watched over Mondstadt for a thousand years.
But the truth was far colder.
After her ascension, Vanessa never returned.
She never contacted Barbatos again.
That silence gnawed at the Wind God.
He feared for her safety. He needed answers. And so, for centuries, he searched for a way to reach Celestia himself—to learn what truly awaited those who ascended.
Among the Seven, Barbatos was second only to Zhongli in age, having lived over two thousand six hundred years.
He appeared weak. Carefree. Indolent.
Yet he had survived the destruction of Khaenri'ah five hundred years ago—proof enough that his strength was far from negligible.
The reason he seemed powerless was simple:
to retain divine authority, an Archon must govern their people.
Barbatos had chosen not to.
By severing his connection to Mondstadt's faith, by abandoning his role as ruler, his divine power naturally withered. To outsiders, it looked like laziness. In truth, it was a deliberate retreat—an act to avoid erosion, and more importantly, to deceive Celestia.
All of it bought him time.
Time to search for a path upward.
Fatui intelligence had repeatedly noted sightings of Barbatos near the ruins of Khaenri'ah, as if he were searching for something long lost.
Yet from the Tsaritsa herself, Severin had learned the truth:
Celestia was not a paradise.
It concealed a conspiracy vast beyond imagination—and dangers capable of destroying gods.
The Seven had never personally set foot there. Even the Tsaritsa could only speculate. That was why she sought the Gnosis.
Her hypothesis was simple:
Collect all seven Gnoses—and the path to Celestia would open.
Then, at last, the truth would be revealed.
"Prince of Snezhnaya," Barbatos said lightly, lifting a wineskin,
"I'm nothing but a drunkard lost in song. But if you ever wander into a land without wind, I'll play you a melody from the high heavens."
Severin thought he might summon the Skyward Harp.
Instead, Barbatos took a long gulp of wine and let out a lazy hiccup.
…Feigning madness, then.
No being—god or mortal—would confess their greatest secret the moment it was exposed.
Especially when that secret could bring annihilation.
Severin shook his head faintly.
"Enough. With Celestia watching, I understand why you cannot speak freely, Barbatos."
"The Skyfrost Nail once fell from above and annihilated the mountain kingdom of Sal Vindagnyr. The ice atop Dragonspine remains bitterly cold to this day."
"Celestia hangs above Mondstadt like a blade. You fear it—naturally. After all, your nation lies closest to it."
Before Mondstadt was founded, the land was harsh and uninhabitable. Barbatos reshaped it with divine power.
But the deeper truth was this—
The highest peak in Mondstadt, once known as Pilos Peak, rose through tectonic shifts until it pierced the false sky, intruding upon Celestia's domain.
Barbatos had climbed that peak.
He had glimpsed something he was never meant to see.
And so he acted.
He reshaped the land.
He summoned endless winds.
And Pilos Peak was erased from the world.
Barbatos knew too much.
And he knew that if he spoke openly, another Skyfrost Nail might fall—this time upon Mondstadt itself.
After a long silence, Barbatos finally spoke, his voice heavy.
"The people of Mondstadt know that freedom enforced by a god is still a form of bondage."
"But they don't know this—
that a god who worships freedom… is never free."
It was a roundabout answer. Filled with resignation.
But it was enough.
More than secrets, Severin wanted the Wind God's stance.
"The throne in the heavens was never meant for you," Barbatos continued softly.
"But those who defy it must not stop halfway. No one is allowed to watch the fire from across the shore…"
Ever the bard, he cloaked his meaning in verse—clear enough for a god, opaque to all others.
As Severin listened, the air around him began to change.
The presence of Anemo grew thicker, denser.
Guided—intentionally or not—by Barbatos, Severin felt himself dissolve into the thousand winds.
To defy heaven.
To stand like Xing Tian.
Undying. Unyielding.
One will, split into countless forms…
The state lasted nearly half an hour.
When Severin returned to himself, Barbatos' song had ended.
With Dvalin's aid, Severin had already grasped the essence of Anemo at Stormterror's Lair.
Now, beside the Wind God himself, he touched its true core.
Ice.
Lightning.
Wind.
Three elements answered his will.
A radiant Anemo Gnosis, drawn by the dense Anemo within Severin, drifted into his palm of its own accord.
Barbatos handed over the Heart of God.
"…Thank you."
"Think nothing of it," Barbatos replied easily.
"Even that stubborn god of Inazuma was willing to help you—how could I do less?"
"And besides, you made me realize the damage caused by the Backwind Accord."
The fact that he dared call the Electro Archon "stubborn" suggested he had clashed with Raiden Ei more than once.
The storm had passed.
Mondstadt's sky was a flawless mirror, white doves circling above the city as merchants' calls returned to the streets.
Life went on.
Just as Severin predicted, the absence of the Knights of Favonius barely affected daily life at all.
"Well then, Prince of Snezhnaya," Barbatos said with a grin,
"before you depart for your next destination, perhaps you should return and enjoy your spoils."
"Honestly, two years ago she should've accepted the Tsaritsa's marriage proposal—"
Severin cut him off with a calm smile.
"Barbatos, you wander Mondstadt as Venti, breaking hearts in taverns and wine halls, so you assume everyone is as careless as you."
"But I am only the Prince of Snezhnaya. I wear no mask like the Eleven Harbingers."
"I must cherish my reputation."
Barbatos laughed awkwardly.
Among the Seven, he truly was the most incorrigible.
Severin even suspected that once—long ago—the Wind God and Vanessa had shared a scandalous romance of god and mortal.
"Ha… ha…"
Amid laughter that was polite yet unmistakably strained, Barbatos dissolved into the wind.
As for when he would appear again—
Only the thousand winds knew.
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