Eula bent down, picked up the delicate little box from the pile of food residue, wiped the stomach acid off with a tissue, and asked Dvalin:
"Dvalin, this thing clearly isn't food. How did you end up swallowing it?"
"I… I don't know…" After seeing Barbatos' corpse and confirming his death, the now-calm Dvalin seemed to have fallen into a state of utter despair.
Seeing that nothing could be learned from Dvalin, Eula simply opened the box.
Inside, what met everyone's eyes was a large, elongated grape-cluster-shaped gland, resembling a human organ.
Beside it lay a small slip of paper.
"As I thought—it's Aji again. That was my first guess the moment I saw this box!" Su Yuan said.
"How in the world did Aji manage to hide something like this inside Dvalin's stomach?" Eula exclaimed in shock.
Everyone then turned their eyes to the slip of paper, which read:
[Ah, I didn't expect you to find yet another part of the Darknight Hero's body!]
[You people really do keep surprising me!]
[In Dvalin's stomach, you've discovered the Darknight Hero's pancreas…]
[Don't you think having someone eat your pancreas is such a romantic thing?]
[Keep it up—I look forward to the day you find all of Mondstadt's scattered Darknight Hero parts, and then come meet me!]
"This Aji is definitely a pervert. How could having someone eat your organs possibly be romantic?" Paimon frowned and muttered.
"But now we've already found three of the Darknight Hero's body parts—that's half of them…" Aether murmured thoughtfully.
"Though… all of this seems to be going more smoothly than I imagined."
While others didn't seem to notice anything strange, Su Yuan's heart was far from calm after reading Aji's note…
Because it reminded him of a work from his original world called "I Want to Eat Your Pancreas"—itself a tragic and romantic love story…
It was still unclear whether Aji's words were merely the ramblings of a twisted pervert, or if they carried some deeper meaning…
After some time, Albedo finished giving Dvalin emergency treatment and said:
"Dvalin, I've taken care of your wounds for now. Don't move around too much—if you rest properly, you should be fine…"
"And, do you have any idea about the cause of your corruption?"
"I don't know… my mind is completely blank. I don't know anything…" Dvalin replied, his voice low and dejected.
Everyone could see that Barbatos' death had dealt him a crushing blow.
"Everyone, let's leave Stormterror's Lair for now. Give Dvalin some peace and quiet so he can rest," Albedo suggested, and the others all nodded in agreement.
After leaving the ruins, the group headed back toward Mondstadt to regroup.
On the way, none of them could bring themselves to feel any joy…
"I can't believe that Venti… just died like that…" Paimon said sadly.
"When the Traveler and I first came to Mondstadt, the first people we met were him and Dvalin…"
"And now, only Dvalin remains… grieving all alone, while Venti has left us forever…"
"In our fight against the Eerie, I always knew sacrifices were inevitable. But to think that Lord Barbatos, who protected Mondstadt for thousands of years, has fallen… it still feels unreal," Eula sighed.
"If Acting Grand Master Jean and the sisters at the Cathedral learn of Lord Barbatos' death, I wonder what they'll think… would they still be able to hold onto their faith?" Albedo murmured.
By afternoon, the group arrived back in Mondstadt and prepared to split up.
Albedo, Klee, and Eula returned to the Knights of Favonius to report everything to Jean, while Su Yuan and Aether planned to visit Mona, hoping she could provide another divination.
Maybe, just maybe, she could reveal the locations of the remaining three pieces of the Darknight Hero's body…
And so, Su Yuan, Aether, and Paimon arrived at Mona's doorstep—only to find her already at home.
But when Su Yuan and Aether told Mona about Venti's death, she spoke with some confusion:
"Although you did indeed see Venti's corpse, as far as I know, the true form of the Anemo Archon Barbatos is a wind spirit, isn't it?"
"This body called Venti is just an avatar—something he uses to conveniently walk among mortals."
Hearing Mona's explanation, Su Yuan and Aether felt that it actually made a lot of sense!
If Venti's true form was a wind spirit, composed of wind and Anemo elemental power, how could the loss of a vessel mean true death?
"Aiya, if you really want to confirm whether Lord Barbatos lives or not, it's not that troublesome. I can try a scrying divination with my hydromancy…" Mona said with a smile.
"Of course, when it comes to an existence on the level of one of the Seven Archons, I can't claim that my astrology is absolutely accurate. But at the very least, I should be able to glean some useful information as reference."
She then summoned Hydro energy, forming a scrying disc of water before her.
After a series of intricate motions that Su Yuan and Aether couldn't make sense of, she arrived at a result.
"Eh? This result…" Mona frowned.
"The hydromancy is quite clear—Lord Barbatos is already dead."
"To ensure accuracy, I'll divine again a few more times, to see whether this is just a fluke."
She then performed the divination two more times, but the result was still the same—Barbatos was dead.
"Three times in a row, with the same clear outcome… it seems Lord Barbatos truly has passed away…"
Hearing Mona's words, Su Yuan and Aether both looked dejected.
Just moments ago, Mona's analysis had made them believe there was still a chance Venti lived.
But now, her water scrying had cruelly shattered that hope.
"Sigh, Traveler, don't be too discouraged…" Mona tried to comfort them.
"Perhaps my astrology is simply lacking? Maybe I got it wrong all three times in a row?"
"If that old hag of a master of mine were here, I'm sure she'd get the most precise and accurate result in a single try…"
------------
Exclusive access : 500+ch on paetron
Join now : patreon*com/DeCakraWnloverz