Chapter 46: Falcon of the West vs. Dragon of the East

"Amber, Amber! The juice is overflowing!"

In a certain restaurant, Jean called out several times before Amber finally snapped back to reality. Looking closely, she saw that the beverage in the cup before her was already spilling over the rim.

"Ah!"

Amber let out a startled cry and hurriedly stopped pouring. However, moving too abruptly, she accidentally knocked the cup over. The juice from the cup instantly splashed across the tabletop, dripping down onto Amber's trousers.

"Waaah!"

Amber yelped again, instantly jumping up from her seat and frantically patting at the wet stains on her legs.

"S-Sorry, I-I'll go take care of this!"

Amber offered an apologetic smile to Jean and the others, then prepared to head toward the restroom.

However, Lisa glanced at the direction she was heading and sighed helplessly, calling out, "Amber, that's the direction of the front door. The restroom is that way."

"Huh?"

Amber stood in a daze, looking straight ahead, then turned to look in the direction Lisa pointed, finally realizing she had indeed gone the wrong way.

"Oh, oh, oh! Thanks, Lisa."

Amber thanked Lisa once more, then changed direction and hurried toward the restroom.

Watching Amber nearly bump into two waiters before finally "successfully" reaching the restroom, Jean and Lisa could not help but knit their brows.

"What is wrong with Amber?" Jean turned to Eula and asked. As her roommate, she ought to know something, right?

Lisa cast her gaze over as well. Today, after much effort, they had finally reached the weekend, and the group had come out to relax together. Yet all along the way, Amber had been in this state, bumping into pedestrians several times and even nearly causing traffic accidents on a few occasions. How could this not be worrying?

Eula fell silent for a moment before letting out a long sigh, recounting the origin of the matter.

Upon hearing this, Jean and Lisa exchanged a startled glance, both seeing astonishment in each other's eyes.

"Eula, you mean Amber turned into this because of a video game?"

"Mm!" Eula gave an affirmative reply.

This truly shocked both Jean and Lisa. Judging by their understanding of Amber, she did not seem like the type to get addicted to video games.

In truth, over the past few days, Eula had become basically certain that the deeper reason behind Amber's current state undoubtedly originated from "him" in that video.

However, driven by certain feelings, she seemed reluctant to let Jean and Lisa know about that young man, so she had not mentioned this particular detail.

Yet, as the old saying goes, the things one wishes least to happen are often the very ones that do.

Jean asked, "Eula, do you know what game that is?"

Eula: "..."

Lisa continued, "Well~ we really should find out so we can prescribe the right remedy! We can't just let our little Amber stay like this. Eula, where can one download this game?"

Eula: "..."

In the end, though quite reluctant in her heart, Eula knew such a matter could not be concealed, and she was indeed genuinely worried about Amber's condition. Thus, she still pulled up the official website and played the video.

(Never mind, for Amber's sake, I'll let them watch. They won't know anyway...)

"Rumble!!"

High above the vast sea beyond Starfell Cliff, violent elemental energy raged frantically through the space.

Fierce winds howled unceasingly, flames burned intensely, and biting cold ice pierced the air. They continuously intertwined and collided high in the sky. Accompanied by the melodious tune played on the lyre by the bard, they jointly composed a thrilling and magnificent battle hymn of ice and fire.

Venti stood quietly at the edge of the cliff, his fingers gently plucking the strings, continuously bestowing the Anemo Archon's blessing upon the three people engaged in fierce combat with Dvalin high above, preventing them from plummeting from the sky.

He did not join the battle personally—not because he was unwilling, but because with the meager strength he had currently recovered, he simply could not sustain the consumption of a prolonged battle. Nor could he subdue Dvalin in such a brief span of time.

Instead of doing that, it was far better to use this little strength to act as support for Chen and the other two. In this way, he could minimize his current greatest weakness and allow his remaining divine power to exert its maximum utility.

"Roar!"

In the sky, with the coordination of the Abyss Mage, wind and ice blended together, stirring up successive piercingly cold, gigantic tornadoes that swept toward Chen, Diluc, and Jean.

Within those freezing, violent winds were various shapes of ice crystals created by the Abyss Mage. Ice thorns, ice cones, ice blades... spinning rapidly along with the gale-force winds, making the tempest stirred up by Dvalin seem like an invisible meat grinder. Once sucked into it, one would inevitably meet a tragic end of being smashed to pieces.

From such a fierce offensive, it was easy to see that the strength of this Abyss Mage sent to bewitch Dvalin far surpassed that of ordinary Abyss Mages; it was undoubtedly among the most powerful of its kind.

Yet, facing such a terrifying and dreadful attack, the three opponents—Chen and his companions—showed not the slightest panic.

"Blazing flames, incinerate!"

Diluc burst into roaring flames all over his body, wielding his claymore and swinging it with all his might. The majestic Pyro element transformed into a bursting, blazing giant firebird, shrieking as it charged toward the opposing ice storm.

Seizing the right moment, Chen and Jean attacked simultaneously from left and right, endless Anemo energy swirling and converging in their palms.

"By the wind's guidance!"

"Wind's-breath surge!"

The two manipulated the surrounding Anemo energy, causing the fierce gale to blow horizontally. The wind current brushed past the body of the firebird, feeding the flames and making the firebird burn ever more fiercely. At the same time, driven by the gale, the firebird itself began to spin at high speed, transforming into a massive blazing spiral that charged forward with even greater velocity.

"Boom!"

The two elemental storms, respectively enveloped in frost and flame, collided violently in the center. The shockwaves generated by the impact spread continuously in all directions, stirring the airflow between heaven and earth into even greater chaos.

The ice melted by the blazing flames turned into pouring rain that fell continuously in sheets.

The battle between the two sides transformed the clear skies of Starfell Cliff from moments ago into a sudden storm of wind and rain.

During the struggle between the two storms, the combatants in the sky did not remain idle either. The Abyss Mage manipulated Dvalin, bypassing the storm to pounce upon Chen, Diluc, and Jean, attempting to engage in close combat.

Naturally, Chen and the other two would not pit their weaknesses against strengths. Relying on the Anemo Archon's power bestowed by Venti, they repeatedly dodged Dvalin's claw strikes, tail sweeps, and bites. Opening up distance while launching successive elemental attacks with their weapons, they struck at Dvalin and the Abyss Mage riding upon his back.

If comparing true strength, Dvalin, as the dragon attendant of the Anemo Archon, was undoubtedly superior to the current trio of Chen, Diluc, and Jean.

However, Dvalin was currently not at his peak state either. Having slept for five hundred years and been continuously tormented by venomous blood, though he was not as weakened as Venti, his strength had likewise been severely compromised.

Moreover, compared to the ice and wind combination of Dvalin and the Abyss Mage, the double-Anemo and Pyro combination of Chen's group yielded a much more significant amplification. The affinity between tangible ice and wind was ultimately inferior to the affinity between intangible wind and intangible fire. Coupled with the fact that fire naturally countered ice.

For a time, under the blessing of Venti's divine power, Chen and the others faintly gained the upper hand.

Yet facing this gradually unfavorable situation, the Abyss Mage showed not a whit of panic. Waving its staff, it let out strange, cackling laughs ("Heh heh heh"), as if mocking the ignorance of Chen and the others.

"Heh heh heh! You surely don't think your only opponent is me, do you?"

The three, who had been concentrating fully on the enemy, paused slightly, then seemed to realize something and simultaneously looked toward Venti atop Starfell Cliff.

Venti had also heard the Abyss Mage's words, but for a moment he had not grasped the meaning behind them. It was not until Chen and the others looked at him in unison that Venti seemed to sense something, the pupils within his azure eyes sharply contracting.

He forced his head sideways, catching a glimpse from the corner of his eye of three elemental magic balls—hydro, pyro, and electro, each the size of a Harpastum ball from the Ludi Harpastum—tearing fiercely toward him from behind.

Paimon, flying beside him, saw this even more clearly at that moment. Her eyes and mouth opened wide in unison, panic filling her entire little face.

The three in the sky also had their hearts leap into their throats, yet at this moment, they were too late to break away and rush back to reinforce.

Seeing that the three elemental spheres were drawing closer and closer to Venti and Paimon, just when all seemed irrecoverable, a high-pitched female voice rang out abruptly, breaking the predetermined outcome.

"Glacial torrent!"

A claymore carrying endless frost flew in a spin from the same direction as the three magic balls, arriving ahead of time with superior speed and striking precisely onto the three energy spheres.

"BOOM!!!"

Amidst the explosive sound, the four violent energies annihilated one another, and the shockwave generated pushed Venti and Paimon toward the edge of the cliff. Venti, who had not taken flight, nearly tumbled off the precipice.

Fortunately, this crisis was resolved without mishap.

Looking toward Starfell Cliff now, the crowd discovered that the grassy slope leading to the cliff top had been overrun by a multitude of monsters. They had all been guided there by the three leading Abyss Mages at the vanguard.

Further behind these monsters, a female knight who had leaped high into the air was landing back on the ground.

Just moments before, she had arrived in time, recognized the perilous situation, and without hesitation leaped high into the air, hurling the greatsword in her hand with all her might to narrowly block the sneak attack of the three leading Abyss Mages.

The female knight landed on the ground, then without pausing a moment, her athletic legs pushed off the earth, and her figure rushed forward like a fierce leopard, plunging into the monster horde. Moving as though through an empty realm, she wove through their midst and very quickly pierced through the entire monster pack, arriving first at the summit of Starfell Cliff.

She pulled the heavy claymore from the ground, gripped the hilt, and drove it once more into the earth beside her.

"Hmph!"

She let out a cold snort, a single person with a single sword standing resolutely before the numerous monsters. In that instant, the imposing posture of "one man guarding the pass, ten thousand unable to open it" was fully displayed.

Seeing her, Jean finally let out a sigh of relief, then looked toward the young man beside her, her beautiful eyes filled with gratitude and thankfulness.

***

A few hours ago, Dawn Winery.

Everything was prepared, and the Lyre der Himmel had been successfully repaired. Time was pressing; the group was fully equipped and intended to set out immediately to launch the operation to rescue Dvalin.

Just before their departure, however, Chen called out to Jean and Diluc.

"Acting Grand Master Jean, Master Diluc, please wait a moment. I have something to tell you."

Jean and Diluc halted their movements and looked at him in unison.

Jean asked with puzzlement, "Chen, what is it?"

Chen looked at them and said, "Acting Grand Master Jean, Master Diluc, if you were to muster combat personnel right now, how many people could you gather in the shortest possible time?"

Muster combat personnel?

Jean and Diluc were somewhat puzzled. They had previously agreed that this operation would involve only the three of them plus Venti, along with little Paimon—a total of five people heading out together, without bringing anyone else.

After all, this was an operation to face a giant dragon directly. If ordinary people were brought along, should combat unavoidably break out later, they wouldn't be able to help at all and would merely become a burden.

Moreover, having too many people would easily expose their actions and potentially cause unnecessary trouble.

This had already been decided beforehand; why was Chen asking them to muster combat personnel now?

Faced with their questioning gazes, Chen could only explain to them the stealthy surveillance he had sensed earlier.

Diluc: "You mean our actions may have already been exposed to the Abyss Order, and they might turn our plan against us?"

"Yes. Even if the Abyss Order cannot guess the purpose of us gathering the dragon tears, they can certainly guess that our target is Dvalin. That being the case, whether we intend to rescue Dvalin or subjugate him, the Abyss Order might set a trap for us to walk right into."

After listening, Jean and Diluc both nodded thoughtfully, acknowledging Chen's speculation.

Jean: "Chen makes sense. If that's the case, we truly need to make some preparations in advance just in case. Only..."

A troubled expression surfaced on Jean's face. After a brief pause, she said, "Right now, the Knights of Favonius forces within Mondstadt City absolutely cannot be moved; they must remain behind to guard against the monsters currently gathered around the city's perimeter and prevent an assault. The only forces we can mobilize are the patrol squad currently stationed at Dragonspine."

Jean was somewhat worried. Although the patrol squad was an elite unit of the Knights, and their captain, Eula, was herself a powerful Vision wielder.

Yet if the Abyss Order had truly set a trap, relying solely on a single patrol squad might not be enough!

Seeing her concern, Diluc spoke up, "Although not everyone participating in gathering the dragon tears is adept at combat, a portion can still be selected. As for Mondstadt City, I can have Charles gather another group of people; that should be enough to handle any emergencies."

Hearing this, both Chen and Jean felt somewhat more at ease.

With the plan decided, Diluc immediately dispatched two parties. One group, carrying Jean's Grand Master token, hurried to Dragonspine to find the patrol squad, while the other group rushed to Mondstadt City to have Charles muster manpower and head to Starfell Cliff.

As for Chen and his companions, they set off ahead of time.

Staggering the schedule like this served two purposes: first, it would prevent Dvalin from immediately assuming they had organized an expedition to subjugate him upon seeing a large group of people.

Second, if an ambush truly awaited them, the supporting team arriving a step later might achieve an unexpected effect, catching the Abyss Order off guard.