At the summit of the Skyfrost Nail, wind whipped snow pellets against the ice spires, creating a piercing whistle.
Two ink-black figures stood silently atop the ice peak, their silhouettes like cutouts smudged with thick ink. Their gazes pierced through layers of snowy plains, firmly fixed on the direction of Mondstadt.
The Abyss energy swirling around them was so dense it seemed tangible. Even falling snowflakes were instantly devoured by the black mist upon drawing near, leaving only a faint wisp of white vapor that vanished in an instant.
"They're here," the figure on the left suddenly spoke.
As soon as the words left their mouth, a battered figure stumbled up the snowy slope—it was Albedo Jr.
His body was covered in several gashes, revealing bleeding wounds. The injury on his back, inflicted by the Festering Desire, was particularly gruesome, with Abyss energy continuously seeping from the wound.
The hand clutching Lydia's Vision trembled, and his steps were unsteady, clearly having just suffered a crushing defeat and barely managing to escape to this place.
"Save... save me..." Albedo Jr. rushed to the base of the Skyfrost Nail, looking up at the dark figures on the summit, his voice filled with desperation.
Before he could finish, a strange suction force suddenly emanated from the top of the Skyfrost Nail, like an invisible hand gripping Albedo Jr.'s body.
He cried out in alarm as his feet lifted uncontrollably from the ground, and he floated toward the dark figures.
The Vision in his hand suddenly flared with a blinding white light. Pale white Cryo Elemental Power frantically intertwined with the black mist surrounding him, creating a powerful resonance.
"Useless," the right figure's voice was devoid of warmth. It looked at the approaching Albedo Jr. with eyes full of contempt. "You used the power of the Abyss and even borrowed the enhancement of a Vision, yet you couldn't even defeat a single Albedo! Keeping you alive would only waste our power."
Albedo Jr. struggled wildly in mid-air, black mist erupting from his body as he tried to resist the suction. "No! I followed the plan! It's just that Albedo..."
"Excuses." The two dark figures slowly merged, transforming into an even more terrifying ink-black entity that instantly enveloped Albedo Jr.
The black mist seeped into his body through his collar and cuffs. Wherever it passed, his skin began to dissolve bit by bit.
Albedo Jr.'s body convulsed violently. He glared at the dark figure, his crimson eyes filled with unwillingness and fury. "You promised me! You promised to help me become Gold's true creation!"
The dark figure sneered, making no effort to hide the mockery in its tone. "A replica is still just a replica."
"Did you think hiding your 'flaw' would make you 'perfect'? Let me tell you... from the moment you were born, you yourself were the greatest flaw!"
The Abyss's devouring accelerated. Albedo Jr.'s arm was the first to dissolve into black mist, vanishing into the wind.
He stared at his increasingly transparent palm as despair washed over him like a tide. "I'm not a flaw! I'm the perfect one! Albedo... he's the one who..."
"Futile struggles," the dark figure interrupted him coldly. The black mist abruptly tightened, constricting Albedo Jr.'s body like a noose.
His screams gradually weakened, finally collapsing into a core radiating Cryo Elemental Power. The faint blue light flickered a few times within the black mist before the dark figure swallowed it whole.
The moment it consumed the core, the Abyss's aura around the dark figure surged violently. Cryo Elemental Power swirled around the Vision, forming a bizarre vortex. The snow atop the Skyfrost Nail was swept up, creating a blizzard of snow mist.
It still gazed toward Mondstadt, its voice flat. "Albedo won a battle, but he won't win the war... The real show is just beginning."
-
Meanwhile, Albedo stood at a fork in the Snow-Covered Path.
His grip on the Cinnabar Spindle tightened slightly, his gaze fixed on the direction Albedo Jr. had fled. The ominous premonition in his heart hadn't lessened at all; instead, it had grown stronger.
-
Lydia walked along the road back to Mondstadt, clutching Festering Desire. The hem of her winter coat swept across the roadside grass, leaving faint, curved trails.
The blade pressed against her body beneath her coat, its heavy weight a comforting presence. This was her first weapon, the source of her confidence in protecting herself.
The closer she got to Mondstadt's gates, the more intoxicating the fresh air became, finally easing the tension that had gripped her for days.
"Finally back... I wonder if Venti and the others managed to heal Dvalin..."
Lydia hadn't even finished her sentence when, just as she stepped onto the stone bridge at Mondstadt's entrance, a deafening dragon's roar suddenly ripped through the sky!
Unlike the furious roars corrupted by the curse and corrupted dragon blood, this cry was utterly clear.
Lydia snapped her head up and saw a cyan figure soaring across the sky—it was Dvalin!
His scales shimmered with a gentle cyan glow, completely free of the dark marks of Abyss corruption. He circled slowly above Mondstadt.
"Dvalin! He's healed!" Lydia's eyes widened in surprise, her grip on the sword loosening slightly.
She was about to wave and call out when her gaze was drawn to the figures on Dvalin's back—Jean, Diluc, Venti, Lumine, and Paimon were all looking down at Mondstadt.
The moment he saw Lydia, Venti's eyes lit up. He was the first to leap from Dvalin's back.
Anemo energy coalesced into a soft cushion of wind beneath his feet, gently lowering him to the ground.
Lumine and the others followed, using the wind Venti controlled to land steadily in front of Lydia.
Paimon floated in the air, waving her hands excitedly. "Lydia! You're finally back! We've been waiting for you for days!"
Venti walked forward, about to make a teasing remark, when his gaze suddenly froze. Lydia had tilted her head back so far to look at Dvalin that the collar of her winter coat had slipped, revealing a shoulder wrapped in thick layers of gauze.
Faint red medicinal stains seeped through the edges of the gauze. Her arm was also bandaged from elbow to wrist, completely concealing half her limb.
"Your shoulder..." The smile vanished from Venti's face instantly.
He instinctively reached out, his fingertips nearly touching the gauze before he abruptly pulled his hand back, his fingers stiffening in mid-air.
"How did this happen? How did you get hurt so badly?"
Jean hurried over, her brow furrowed with worry. "The Knights told me you and Klee went to Dragonspine. What happened? Where's Klee?"
Her gaze fell on the Festering Desire cradled in Lydia's arms. The sword's dark hilt, barely visible beneath the coat, emanated a sinister aura, and a wave of unease washed over her.
Diluc crossed his arms, his gaze fixed grimly on Lydia's injuries. "The wound looks deep. Was it a monster? Or... a person?"
He had known something was amiss on Dragonspine recently, but he'd heard Lydia was with Klee to find Albedo and assumed they would be safe.
Now, it seemed he had been far too optimistic.
Lumine moved closer, gently taking Lydia's uninjured arm. "Lydia, does it hurt right now?"
Lydia hadn't expected her injuries to be discovered so quickly. Her cheeks flushed slightly, and she instinctively tried to pull her injured shoulder back, but the movement tugged at the wound, making her hiss in pain.
"I... I'm fine, really. Just a little accident on Dragonspine. Teacher Albedo already treated it."
She didn't want to worry everyone—the Dvalin incident had just been resolved, and Mondstadt had finally regained its peace.
She didn't want her injuries to spoil the mood.
In the game's event storyline, Albedo Jr.'s final fate was to be killed by Albedo. Although Lydia didn't know why Albedo Jr. had appeared "ahead of schedule," she figured it probably wasn't a major problem.
But Venti wouldn't let it go. He gently took her uninjured hand, his tone unusually serious. "What do you mean, 'fine'? You're this injured and you still say you're fine! Tell me the truth—did you and Albedo run into danger on Dragonspine?"
He had already learned from Jean that Lydia was going to find Albedo to repair her lyre, but he never expected something this serious to happen.
Lydia knew Albedo would eventually reveal the truth anyway, so she lowered her head and recounted the events of the past two days in full detail.