"Dvalin, let's get farther from here. If the shockwaves reach Mondstadt, it'll be bad."
The moment Venti leapt onto Dvalin's back, he urged him away from the city.
Sustainer—or rather Su Mo—had said she would "be careful," but Venti wasn't reassured.
Battles between beings on the level of gods were never safe.
"Those ungrateful humans aren't worth your concern,"
Dvalin growled, though he was already banking toward Windrise, away from Mondstadt.
That black-and-white wyvern… it didn't feel like an elemental creature at all.
Not created by nature—created by her?
Standing on Dvalin's back, Venti glanced over his shoulder at the steel-skinned dragon behind Su Mo.
He could sense nothing elemental from it—not wind, not lightning, not any natural element.
Only a strange, foreign substance he didn't recognize.
Then again, Sustainer was always shrouded in mystery.
Not understanding was normal.
And if he guessed correctly… Sustainer intended to use him as live combat practice for that dragon.
Sigh… is this punishment for slacking off too long? Or does she just think I'm easy to bully…?
Venti could only smile bitterly.
"Bella, don't disappoint me."
ROAR—!
Su Mo lifted her hand from Bella's head.
The wyvern let out a deafening roar, its wings whipping up a violent shockwave before it shot after Venti and Dvalin.
Su Mo vanished into the storm wind left in Bella's wake.
"It's coming, Dvalin."
Feeling the chaotic turbulence building behind them, Venti didn't even need to look to know Bella was closing in.
My Queen… I won't fail you.
Bella surged forward, determined—her life, her mind, her core, everything she was had been bestowed by her queen.
Disappear, insects…
Crackling lightning-wreathed flames gathered in Bella's jaws before she spewed them forward in a roaring torrent.
The destructive breath was so intense even the ambient Anemo scattered in its path.
"Dvalin!"
"I know."
Dvalin didn't need the warning; he'd already felt the storm of lightning surging behind him.
He twisted mid-air, his massive frame moving with impossible agility thanks to the Anemo around him.
"Be careful—it's catching up!"
Just as Venti spoke, Bella shot back into range—far quicker than either of them had expected.
ROAR—!
Crackle—!
"I know you can fly, but hold tight."
The roar and lightning were right behind them now.
Dvalin knew he couldn't dodge this time.
He braced himself to take the blow head-on.
Lightning? But that creature's not even an elemental being… how—?
Venti was confused.
Bella had no elemental body, no Vision, no divine blood—but she wielded lightning strong enough to warp the sky.
It made no sense.
None.
But it was Sustainer's creation.
He decided not to question it.
A shield of condensed Anemo enveloped him.
"Don't worry, Dvalin. I'm here."
No matter what, he wouldn't let Dvalin take the hit alone.
BOOM—!
CRACKLE—!
Bella's lightning breath crashed into Venti's shield—rippling, vibrating, refusing to fade.
The shield held… barely.
Such terrifying power…
Even Venti's fingers trembled slightly from the residual electricity.
"That… was lightning given form…?"
Dvalin was shaken too.
Even through the barrier, he felt the bite of the storm on his scales.
"I don't think so," Venti said. "Its body has no elemental composition. Whatever it is… isn't an element I know."
"Doesn't matter," Dvalin growled. "We just have to beat it."
Venti nodded.
Anything related to Sustainer was best not understood too deeply.
"I get it. Just like old times."
Dvalin suddenly tilted upward—almost vertical—shooting straight toward the sky.
Bella reacted a moment too slow.
What had been pursuit instantly became disadvantage.
Tch. Don't think this will stop me.
Bella also rose sharply—but in that instant, Venti and Dvalin counterattacked from above.
"Now, Dvalin!"
Wind surged.
Dvalin's wings pulsed with light, firing countless Anemo beams downward—
And as he inhaled, swirling wind condensed in his maw, shooting out as a concentrated blast.
Venti added razor-edged wind blades and compressed air currents, accelerating all of their attacks.
A storm of Anemo rained down on Bella.
But Bella didn't dodge.
Purple lightning crawled across her wings, spreading into a vast sea of storming electricity around her.
Thunder rolled, clouds churned—
The sky over Mondstadt darkened into a world-ending tempest.
"By— the— Seven—"
Back in Mondstadt, Kaeya looked up from evacuation duty—
And froze.
Two dragons, clashing atop a sky split by lightning and wind—
Bella surrounded by a storm-sea of crackling thunder,
Dvalin firing beams of pale blue Anemo light,
And colossal tornadoes forming around them—
It was like witnessing the end of the world.
He could only pray they didn't drift toward Mondstadt…
"Two… dragons… We're finished. Mondstadt is finished…"
"They're not… interested in us… right? Right?!"
"Where's the Knights? Where's Lord Barbatos? They said they'd protect us—where are they!?"
"If they notice us, we're dead— we're dead—"
Panic spread like wildfire.
Why…? After so many years of peace… why this?
Where was their Anemo Archon?
"Heh. Humans. What are you staring at?"
Kaeya stiffened—
A voice had appeared right behind him.
He spun, weapon raised—
But froze when he saw who it was.
"You—!? What do you want? Planning to kill us while Lord Barbatos is distracted?!"
"Kill you?" Su Mo snorted. "Don't waste my time."
She stepped closer, eyes cold.
"I want you to do something for me."
She leaned in slightly—
"This isn't a request.
It's an order."
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