"Hey! What's the relationship between this guy and Dvalin? Why did Dvalin keep him around?" On Starsnatch Cliff, Yu Jin poked the unconscious Abyss Mage with a stick and asked everyone.
Venti walked forward, looked at the non-human creature beside Yu Jin, and said in a low voice, "Abyss Mages, it truly is them."
"They must have agitated the poisonous blood within Dvalin, further corroding him," Venti continued to explain.
The torment of the poisonous blood alone couldn't make Dvalin so violent, but with the corrosion from the Abyss Mages, it was a different story.
Just then, the Abyss Mage woke up. He looked at the crowd surrounding him and uttered a series of obscure, incomprehensible syllables.
"$&am!" Congealed ice mist gathered around him, and his figure gradually began to become ethereal.
"Trying to escape?" Diluc noticed the anomaly the moment the surrounding elemental energy surged. He instantly appeared in front of the Abyss Mage and tightly gripped his collar.
"You'd best not entertain any crooked thoughts. Otherwise, you'll regret it," Diluc casually threw the Abyss Mage to the ground and snorted coldly.
These creatures, as monsters, possessed some human-like intelligence, making them very difficult to deal with.
"Wow! Master Diluc is so cool!" Paimon clapped her hands. Diluc's move just now had completely captivated her.
"Cough, cough!" The Abyss Mage lay on the ground, coughing a few times, seemingly not having recovered from Diluc's excessive force.
"Heh heh, that dragon is going to serve its true master. As for Mondstadt, it will cease to exist under The Order's attack! Hahaha!"
Perhaps because he hadn't spoken in a long time, the Abyss Mage's tone was blurry and sharp, but fortunately, everyone could still understand his meaning.
After hearing the Abyss Mage's words, the one with the most somber expression was not Venti, nor Diluc, but Acting Grand Master Jean.
For Acting Grand Master Jean, who had sworn to protect Mondstadt, these words undoubtedly crossed her bottom line.
"Acting Grand Master Jean…" Paimon had never seen the usually gentle Acting Grand Master Jean with such an expression before, and couldn't help but feel a little scared.
"I'm fine, don't worry about me." However, Acting Grand Master Jean quickly returned to normal. She smiled kindly at Paimon and comforted him.
She had truly worried too much; Mondstadt's strength was not that weak. Not to mention the people present, even Lisa, Kaeya, who remained in the city, and Albedo, who resided deep in Dragonspine, possessed considerable power.
Since the Abyss Order wanted to challenge Mondstadt, then let them come! Mondstadt was confident in repelling any invading enemy!
"Hmph! Big words!" Diluc also considered protecting Mondstadt his duty, and his expression hadn't improved much either.
"Just a routine question: if you have more information, perhaps we might let you off." Diluc pulled out his Flaming Claymore, as if it were truly just a formality.
"Have you ever seen anyone betray The Order?" The Abyss Mage showed no panic at this sight. He had no regrets about dedicating himself to The Order.
"Tsk, harder than Shitou!" Diluc wasn't surprised; these monsters seemed to have no concept of betrayal.
All their information was discovered by humans themselves. As for their internal news, there was none at all.
"Boom!" The greatsword struck the Abyss Mage, and surging flames immediately spread, rapidly engulfing him.
An Abyss Mage without a shield was just that fragile.
"Holy cow, they can actually talk?" Yu Jin only realized this belatedly. He had only seen one talking monster before, the tall one he had killed in the Temple of the Thousand Winds.
As for the Abyss Mages, perhaps they had always been instantly killed before, so he hadn't paid them any mind.
"Of course, their wisdom is no less than that of humans." Venti chuckled softly, having also adjusted his mindset.
The lyre of the heavens was still intact; at worst, he would just play it for Dvalin again. From what he had just seen, Dvalin had already softened quite a bit.
"This isn't the place to talk. Everyone, let's retreat to Dawn Winery to discuss our next course of action!" Acting Grand Master Jean stirred the flowing wind, extinguishing the Burning flames on Starsnatch Cliff, and said to everyone.
Everyone nodded. Things had changed, and a new plan needed to be discussed.
"So, do you want to fly again?" Yu Jin pulled out a rope, eager to try.
At this, everyone shook their heads like rattles. The flying experience with Yu Jin was truly nothing to write home about.
"Alright, then we'll walk back." Yu Jin put away the rope and led the way down. Walking wasn't bad either; he could enjoy the scenery… Dawn Winery. By the time everyone returned, it was already afternoon. But returning before dark was still not too late.
"So tired! So tired!" Venti sat on a chair outside Dawn Winery, casually grabbing a bottle of wine from the table.
Diluc twitched the corner of his mouth at the sight, but he didn't mind; he just considered it a gathering.
"By the way, what exactly is that 'The Order' that I keep hearing them mention?" Yu Jin also sat down and asked the group.
"The Abyss Order? All we know right now is that they are an organization composed of Abyss Mages, hostile to humans."
"Furthermore, there seem to be higher forms above the Abyss Mages, but I haven't seen them," Diluc recalled the information he had seen before and shared it.
"That's it?"
"That's it." Diluc shook his head. Information about the Abyss Order was scarce, and that was all he knew.
"By the way, why does Venti, as the Anemo Archon, still need to rely on human strength?" Paimon looked at Venti, who was drinking wine, and asked curiously.
She had been quite surprised when Venti revealed his identity on the way! Actually, only he was surprised, because everyone else had guessed it beforehand; only Paimon knew nothing.
"Tsk, the Seven Archons, or rather, the Seven Archons of the mortal realm. Dividing the mortal realm, each ruling one-seventh of the continent—that is our duty."
"Only by fulfilling one's divine duties can one accumulate divine power. Do I look like the kind of god who enjoys ruling?" Venti calmly stated the reason for his weakening, not caring in the least.
Yu Jin glanced at Venti. It was his first time learning that the divine power in this world worked like this.
But this guy was lying; his own power was clearly not weak.
Yu Jin sensed the vast elemental energy within Venti and muttered a slight complaint. A lazy fellow.
"'Establish a nation of freedom where none shall rule'—Lord Barbatos's ideals, we hold them firmly in our hearts." Acting Grand Master Jean placed her hand on her chest and recited the Anemo Archon's past teachings.
"Acting Grand Master Jean is so devout. I think it's simply that someone is too lax and doesn't want to manage things," Paimon spread his hands, looking at Venti with a hint of disdain.
Yu Jin felt that this statement also included him. When he had sacrificed himself, besides healing his wounds, a very important point was that he didn't want to manage things.
The thought of spending an eternity in endless paperwork made Yu Jin feel like he was going to die.
So, he chose to run away before duty caught up to him! Now, it seemed this decision was incredibly correct.
"Cough, cough! That's why I'm weak!"
"Those words truly carry weight." Lumine also rarely made such a sarcastic remark.
"Alright, what are everyone's thoughts next?" Acting Grand Master Jean saw that the casual chat was winding down, so she brought up the main topic.
"The lyre of the heavens is still fine, we can play it again!" Venti raised the lyre of the heavens in his hand, which still glowed with a faint green light, and raised an eyebrow, saying.
"But before that, we need to clear out those Abyss Mages. Once the source is dealt with, it will be easier to cure the illness." Diluc crossed his arms. The Abyss Mages were too rampant; they needed to be taught a lesson.
"Naturally." Acting Grand Master Jean also agreed with Diluc's idea. These guys, once the Dragon Scourge was gone, they popped up again.
"Alright, I'll use my intelligence network to gather information, and I'll notify you all then." Diluc nodded, already considering what to do next.
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