The moment Venti released the arrow, he clearly saw the dark figure's appearance.
It was a massive dragon shrouded in the black mist of the Abyss. Its scales shimmered with an eerie dark purple, and even its pupils were stained crimson. Though it had Dvalin's form, it radiated a savagery completely different from the "Dragon of the East."
"The Abyss..." Venti's fingertips tightened, the Anemo energy around them constricting abruptly.
He recalled Albedo and Lydia's descriptions of the fake "Albedo," another creature steeped in the Abyssal aura. A sense of unease crept into his heart.
Could this be another "imitation" created by the Abyss?
He slowly lowered his bow, the verdant Anemo energy coalescing around him into a gentle barrier. He held back from attacking again.
After all, this was an old friend who had fought alongside him. Even if it was just a similar form, he couldn't bring himself to strike so easily. "Dvalin? Is that you?"
Venti's voice was soft, tinged with caution. "Do you still remember the winds of Mondstadt?"
The only response was a series of low roars from the Abyssal Dragon, each one laced with the Abyss's corrupting aura.
It opened its massive maw, dark purple mist seeping from between its teeth. It clearly showed no reaction to Venti's words.
Venti's brow furrowed even tighter. He tried to transmit his thoughts through Anemo, but the moment the elemental energy touched the Abyssal Dragon's black mist, it was instantly devoured, leaving not even a trace of a response.
"It looks like me, but it's definitely not me. It seems to be the same type of creature as Durin," Dvalin remarked.
As one of the Anemo Archon's kin and Venti's friend of many years, he naturally understood the reasoning behind Venti's actions.
"No, it's different from Durin..." Venti's heart sank as a sudden realization struck him. "This isn't an imposter or an alchemical creation. It's just a soulless puppet."
He stared into the Abyssal Dvalin's crimson pupils. They held no emotion, only mechanical hostility.
"The Abyss used your form to create a puppet that only obeys orders. But why now, of all times? Just as I was about to head to Dragonspine..."
Venti pondered for a moment. "It seems they knew I was going to Dragonspine and sent this to intercept me."
The words had barely left his lips when the Abyssal Dragon attacked.
It beat its wings violently, launching wind blades shrouded in black mist toward Venti at astonishing speed.
Venti hastily summoned a wind wall to block the attack. The blades crashed against the barrier, exploding into a cloud of black mist. The acrid stench made him wrinkle his nose in disgust.
"Looks like I guessed right," Venti sighed helplessly, resummoning the Elegy for the End.
Albedo's fate on Dragonspine was still unknown. He had no time to waste here.
Seeing its wind blades blocked, the Abyssal Dragon refrained from another fierce assault. Instead, it spread its massive wings, scattering the clinging black mist across the sky like raindrops.
A terrifying black tornado erupted from the ground, trapping Dvalin and Venti within.
The dragon's claws gouged deep furrows in the earth, and each roar vibrated with Abyss energy, yet it maintained its distance from the pair.
Venti glanced at Dvalin beside him. The Wind Dragon's body was tense, its pupils fixed on the Abyssal Puppet. Its wings were slightly unfurled, ready for battle at a moment's notice.
"On Dragonspine... Albedo should be able to hold out."
"Old friend, it looks like we'll have to deal with this trouble first," Venti sighed helplessly.
He knew that Albedo, as a creation of "Gold" Rhinedottir, possessed power far beyond that of a Vision holder and wouldn't be in immediate danger.
Dvalin, however, was a different story. He had only recently recovered from the corruption of the corrupted dragon's blood. If he were entangled with the Abyssal Puppet for too long, he might be tainted by the Abyss once more.
For the sake of the greater good, Venti had no choice but to prioritize this battle.
As if understanding his intent, Dvalin let out a low, rumbling draconic roar in response. Anemo energy coalesced around him, resonating with Venti's own power.
Seeing the two prepare to join forces, the Abyssal Dragon suddenly attacked—it unleashed a blast of Cryo breath laced with black mist, aimed straight at Venti.
-
Far away in Wyrmrest Valley, Lu Qiuyun watched the scene unfold through the System, a faint smile touching her lips. "He chose Dvalin, just as I expected."
She reached out and brushed her hand over Durin's heart, where the black mist was steadily spreading along its veins. "Venti, by the time you reach Dragonspine, it will all be too late."
Her spirit body turned to the System panel, wincing as she saw her Emotion Points plummet again. She felt like she was having a heart attack.
Through Lydia's perspective, Lu Qiuyun had learned the moment Venti decided to head to Dragonspine to find Albedo.
The Demon Dragon had not yet revived, and "they" had not yet established a connection with Durin. The plan had just begun; it couldn't be interrupted by Mondstadt's guardian Archon.
So, gritting her teeth, she had spent a massive amount of Emotion Points to create the Abyssal Dvalin Replica.
It didn't need to be overwhelmingly powerful, but its HP and defense were maxed out, designed solely to stall Venti and Dvalin.
To be extra cautious, Lu Qiuyun had even given the Abyssal Dragon a barrier Skill, also maxed out.
That's right! The black tornado!
As long as the Abyssal Dragon remained alive and Venti was trapped, he would have neither the energy nor the time to break the barrier.
This way, Mondstadt's Anemo Archon would be completely cut off from Mondstadt!
"Time for the next step." Lu Qiuyun's spirit body floated toward the skeletal remains. She gathered black Abyss energy at her fingertips and slowly infused it along the bones' patterns.
The once pale-gray skeletons were instantly engulfed by black mist, glowing with an eerie, dark purple light. Even the air began to fill with a pungent, toxic fog.
Next, she turned her gaze to the "monster" being nurtured by Durin's heart. The remains had undergone initial modification, and black patterns now covered the bones.
Lu Qiuyun took a deep breath and manipulated Durin's heart, causing it to float slowly into the air. The heart began to beat again, its rhythm accelerating until it resonated strangely with the skeletons' chest cavities.
"Fusion begins," Lu Qiuyun's voice was laced with coldness.
With a light tap of her finger, Durin's heart precisely embedded itself into the chest cavities of Lydia's parents' skeletons.
Instantly, black Abyss energy erupted, flooding over the two skeletons like a tidal wave.
The bones began to restructure. Dark purple bone spurs sprouted from the joints, and heavy Abyssal armor solidified around the chest cavities.
The patterns on the armor perfectly matched the vein-like markings on Durin's heart. A pair of miniature black dragon wings even materialized on the shoulders.
When the black mist dissipated, two "Poison Dragon Knights" stood menacingly in Wyrmrest Valley—Lu Qiuyun's newly designed monsters!
Crimson flames flickered within their eye sockets, and a toxic fog, identical to Durin's, swirled around them. Every breath they took synchronized with the beating of Durin's heart.
"System, confirm the Poison Dragon Knights' traits," Lu Qiuyun commanded.
[Poison Dragon Knight: A fusion of Durin's heart and human skeletons. Its core is Durin's heart, housed within the chest cavity. As long as the core remains intact, the Poison Dragon Knight cannot be truly killed.]
"Excellent." Lu Qiuyun nodded in satisfaction as she watched her Emotion Points on the panel officially drop to zero.
Though she lamented the loss of Emotion Points, she had to admit this move was the right one.
Venti and Dvalin were tied down at Stormterror's Lair, while Albedo was preoccupied with Albedo Jr. and the massive number of monsters on Dragonspine...
It was time for the people of Mondstadt to face true terror.
She gazed toward the entrance of Wyrmrest Valley. The black mist was spreading out from the valley, gradually merging with Durin's skeleton.
The Poison Dragon Knights slowly walked to Durin's remains. Under their combined resonance, Durin's hearts—now beating within their chests—pulsed with ever-increasing force.
The air began to crackle with a suffocating pressure as flesh and blood, formed from the Abyss, started to reconstruct along the bones.