Chapter 42: Army 2

With the backlines eliminated, defeating the rest of the hilichurls was easy. The rest were defeating the hilichurls in the front while I was defeating them at the rear. I transformed back to my Flamin Tiger form and took out the Attache Calibur to speed up the process

[Fire!]

[Authorise]

[Progrise!]

[Gigant Flare!]

[Flaming Tiger!]

[Explosive power of 100 Bombs]

I sent flames toward the hilichurls and they caught on fire. I slashed and cut them, trouncing them. Diluc and Eula were sending Pyro and Cryo energy, defeating them quickly, creating scorching fire and pillars of ice. Lisa was also casting magic affecting a wide area and lighting came down each time she cast. Kaeya, although not flashy, was defeating hilichurls and mitachurls in record time with his ice blades. Amber was shooting faster while still being accurate and throwing multiple baron bunnies as they exploded dragging many hilichurls with them. Jean and Lumine combined their anemo energy to create a gigantic tornado dragging all the hilichurls in the area in it. The tornado died down and with it all of the defeated hilichurls. The battle ended with a few of us tired and breathing heavily.

“Everyone, let’s rest before we proceed.” Jean said and agreed with her. We all rested for an hour and went to Venti who was still waiting in front of the wind barrier

“It’s nice everyone is okay. The hilichurls usually do not venture into areas with high elemental concentrations. It puts a heavy burden on their bodies.”

“The Abyss Order must be manipulating them behind the scenes, yet they shouldn't have been able to determine that we would come. They're presumably spreading their forces to halt our plans.” said Diluc

Venti contemplated before deciding to pay it no mind as curing Dvalin was more important “Without further ado… I suppose I can play faster if my only audience is the wind.”

Venti plays the holy lyre singing a beautiful tune. The wind barrier shakes after each tune and when Venti finishes playing the wind barrier disappears releasing gusts of wind. I had to cover my eyes to avoid the specks of dust coming to me

“It actually opened! You're not entirely useless, Tone-Deaf Bard! said Paimon

Jean went forward to lead everyone “This is it. We are now entering Stormterror's Lair. Watch yourselves. Let's move.”

Eula was surprised at how a bard was able to disperse the wind barrier “Who is that bard?” Eula asked me

“Um… he is just a really talented bard…” I said trying to not make eye contact with her

“Barbatos…”

“Huh?” I was surprised and turned my head to Lisa. She looked at me and that gave her the confirmation

“Venti… are you Lord Barbatos?” Lisa asked Venti

“Hehe, I guess you discovered it. I guess given how smart you are, you would have realized it sooner or later.”

Eula widened her eyes at the sudden truth “Wait! He is Lord Barbatos? The god of anemo, the patron deity of Mondstadt… him!?”

“Wasn’t your expectation?”

“I didn’t expect Barbatos himself to join our little group. Then again we are facing Dvalin a friend of yours, so it is not surprising.” said Kaeya calm as ever

Kaeya looked at Jean and addressed her “Jean did you know about this?”

Jean looked a bit remorseful. “Yes, we all know Venti is Barbatos, but I did not want to expose him as he wants to remain as a bard.”

“It is alright Jean, keeping his identity a secret is okay for me.” said Lisa

“Lord Barbatos it is alright to continue to call you Venti I presume.”

“Yes, I prefer to stay as a humble bard than to be the god of Mondstadt. May also request the two of you.” Venti asked Kaeya and Eula

“It is fine for me. I feel more assured with you with us, and keeping this secret is interesting.” said Kaeya

“I don’t mind keeping it as well but… Lord Barbatos I would like to ask…”

Eula hesitated and was scared before gathering her courage to ask Venti “What do you feel about the Lawrence clan? We had betrayed you and are now in exile after the revolution. Do you… despise us…” Eula’s words trailed off as if she lost her courage

“Eula…” Amber was saddened for her friend

“The Lawrence clan had done many wrongdoings in the past but… It is not my right to despise or forgive you. The people of Mondstadt have that choice but I have heard of you Eula. The wind carries your achievements and I’m happy and thankful for everything you have done for Mondstadt, whether you are a Lawrence or not does not matter. You have done a lot but the people still resent you. Don’t worry your actions will someday reach them and you still have friends who stand beside you, aren’t they here are they not?” Venti said with a gentle smile

We all looked at Eula smiling to reassure her and she also looked at us. As if a burden had been taken off her shoulder she visibly got more relaxed and smiled “Thank you… Venti.”

…

We all headed into Stormterror’s Lair and the area was massive. We could see ruins of the old capital littered everywhere. A tall tower in the center is surrounded by a storm which Dvalin presides over. Broken stone bridges connecting different areas. Small lakes with slimes swimming and Hilichurls and Ruin Guards roaming the grounds.

Paimon notices a gate and calls it out “Looks like this is the front gate to Stormterror's Lair. The gate is enormous compared to us... But still, Paimon wonders how Dvalin gets in there with a body that huge?”

“He doesn't walk in, he flies in.” said Venti correcting Paimon

“...Oh. Hmm, you do have a point.”

Jean calls us to remind us “Everyone, stay together and watch your surroundings. This is uncharted territory and danger could be lurking around every corner. So I want everyone to remain vigilant.”

We all nodded and went toward the tower to find Dvalin