Without needing to ask or investigate, the wind had already told Venti everything that had transpired.
Venti's divine power surged around him as he floated in the air, the Elegy for the End drawn in his hand.
He nocked an arrow, conjuring it from thin air.
Unlike his previous tranquil shot, this arrow unleashed a tempestuous gale, gathering dark clouds that swirled into a vortex visible to the people of Mondstadt below.
"Nowhere?!"
Every wisp of wind served as Venti's eyes, yet he couldn't find that bastard anywhere!
There was no trace of the Abyss scum in the vicinity. It had already fled before his arrival.
Frustrated by the lack of a target, Venti released the fully charged arrow into the sky, dispersing the dark clouds.
He descended toward the crowd, who parted respectfully.
"Lord Barbatos!"
Noelle, her face streaked with tears and her armor battered and torn, knelt before Venti in fervent supplication. "Please save Rola! I beg you, Lord Barbatos!"
Jean and the others were all wounded and disheveled, their eyes fixed on Venti with a last glimmer of hope.
Diluc's expression was more distraught than ever before. He clutched Rola's lifeless body tightly, refusing to let go, gently pressing his forehead against hers. His heart grew as cold as her skin.
Seeing Venti approach, Diluc looked at him with desperate hope:
"Can you save her?"
Venti crouched slightly and gently touched Rola's forehead.
For the first time since his arrival, an expression of fury flickered across Venti's usually impassive face.
In Teyvat, the souls of the recently deceased lingered briefly in the world. But Rola had only just died—why couldn't he sense her soul?
A chilling realization flashed through Venti's mind. His eyes sharpened, burning with murderous intent.
Did it steal Rola's soul?!
Sensing his emotions spiraling out of control, Venti immediately closed his eyes to regain his composure.
Wearing the Divine Crown, he was the Anemo Archon, his emotions buried deep and beyond external control.
Moments later, Venti opened his eyes, meeting Diluc's anxious gaze.
"I'm sorry, she's already..."
Venti didn't reveal the truth about Rola's missing soul. He could see Diluc was already on the verge of collapse. He feared the cruel reality would break him completely.
Venti didn't finish his sentence, but everyone present understood his unspoken meaning.
Diluc silently hugged Rola tighter, tears welling up in his eyes once more.
Sniffles echoed around them.
Lumine felt a burning rage with no outlet. She hated her own powerlessness. If she hadn't lost her strength, if she had been just a little stronger, if...
Rola wouldn't have died!
Clutching the longsword Rola had gifted her, Lumine didn't turn back to look at Rola's body. Instead, she collapsed to the ground, landing hard on her rear.
She couldn't bear to see Rola's current state, though there was no need to look—the image was already seared into her heart.
Sitting on the ground, Lumine rubbed her eyes repeatedly.
The sandstorm is so bad today. The sand keeps getting into my eyes...
-
Player World.
The final scene of the storyline showed Lumine sitting alone in a corner, silently weeping.
Throughout the entire storyline, Guojia's tears had flowed without ceasing. Not just tears, but also snot—she had used up half a pack of tissues.
"Waaah, Mihoyo, you heartless bastards! Why? Rola was so adorable and popular! Why did you have to kill her off? Waaah..."
"If you want to make money, just put her in the gacha! The cash would come pouring in! Waaah~"
"Do you even realize how many players this move will devastate? Is that what you wanted to see? Waaah~"
Guojia watched the images on her computer screen, crying and wiping away tears as she ranted incessantly to her live stream audience.
[This hurts so much, guys... What am I supposed to do? Every time I quiet down, I think of Rola. I'm probably not going to sleep for days.]
[Ugh, I haven't cried this hard in ages. My mom saw me and thought I'd been dumped, so she spent ages comforting me.]
[Let's organize a knife shipment to Mihoyo! Who's in?!]
[I saved up over 300 pulls just to get Rola. She's the most beloved character I've ever encountered in all my years of gaming. I can't believe this... I just can't believe it...]
[I can tell Venti is heartbroken. He doesn't say much, but his silence speaks volumes.]
[How many times have we met Venti in total? Almost half those encounters involved stories about him and Rola. He must really love her too...]
[I'm most worried about Diluc. Enduring the pain of losing a loved one again... he must be devastated.]
Penguin, a streamer from next door, was so enraged by Rola's death that he immediately quit the game, uninstalled it, and ended his stream.
As he put it, "What's the point of playing this game if Rola's already dead?!"
But just two hours later, he was back, vowing to crush that bastard in-game and avenge Rola!
-
After fleeing the Mondstadt battlefield, Malice rapidly retreated, desperately trying to distance himself from Venti's location.
Facing the wrath of the Anemo Archon, he couldn't guarantee a perfect escape.
While his concealment was said to be impenetrable even by the Seven Archons, a massive, area-of-effect attack would instantly expose his newly-created disguise, leaving him doomed.
Malice finally slowed down near Mondstadt's border.
This seemed to be the Stone Gate boundary, but why was there a barrier here?
He recognized it immediately—the same barrier he had used to block Venti's perception of Mondstadt, though this version also trapped those within.
Someone had clearly seen through his concealment and was lying in wait for him.
"Having committed such heinous deeds, do you think you can simply vanish?"
Malice turned to face his pursuer—Dainsleif, who had vanished long ago.
Malice couldn't fathom how Dain had tracked him down. He knew little about Dain, only that he was the last Captain of the Khaenri'ah Royal Guard, known as the "Twilight Sword."
"Dain...! Dains...leif!" Malice rasped, his voice hoarse as he called out Dain's name.
"You know me?"
"Dainsleif! Enemy of the Abyss! Destroy! Crush!" Malice roared, charging at Dain.
Since I'm already taking the blame for everything, what's one more sin?
Dain drew his longsword to parry, his earlier suspicions now shifting slightly.
It really is you, Aether... Why are you doing this? How can you ever face your sister again?!
Shaking off these intrusive thoughts, Dain focused on the enemy before him.
"Whoever you are, you will pay the price!"
The clash lasted only a few moments before Malice was struck several times by Dain's blade. If not for his thick hide, he would have fallen already.
As expected of the Twilight Sword—his strength is truly formidable!
Unwilling to continue fighting here, Malice seized an opportunity to shatter the barrier and vanish before Dain's eyes.
Dain stared at the shattered barrier, silent for a long moment.
Next time we meet, you won't survive!