There was no need to ask or investigate; the wind had already told Venti everything that had happened.
Divine power surged around Venti as he floated in the air, summoning Elegy for the End.
He drew the bowstring, and an arrow materialized out of thin air.
Unlike the peaceful arrow from before, this one caused the fierce wind to roll and dark clouds to gather; people within Mondstadt only saw a vortex of swirling wind.
"None?!"
At this moment, every wisp of wind was Venti's eyes, yet he couldn't find that scoundrel!
There was no trace of that Abyss scoundrel around; it had already fled before he arrived.
With no target, Venti shot the fully charged arrow into the sky, dispersing the dark clouds.
Venti approached the crowd, and they parted for him.
"Lord Barbatos!"
Noelle's small face was streaked with tears, and her armor was damaged in several places; she knelt devoutly before Venti, "Please, you must save Ruola, I beg you, Lord Barbatos!"
Jean and the others were all injured, looking very disheveled; everyone was looking at Venti, with a last glimmer of hope in their eyes.
Diluc's face was more grim than ever; he held Ruola's body tightly, unwilling to let go, his face gently pressed against her forehead, his heart growing cold along with her body.
Seeing Venti approach, Diluc looked at him expectantly:
"Can you save her?"
Venti crouched slightly, gently touching Ruola's forehead.
Venti's face, which had been expressionless since he arrived, finally showed a look of anger.
On the continent of Teyvat, the souls of the deceased briefly linger in the world, but Ruola had only just died, so why couldn't he sense her soul?
A thought suddenly flashed through Venti's mind, and his eyes instantly became incredibly sharp, filled with murderous intent.
Did it take Ruola's soul?!
Realizing his emotions were out of control, Venti immediately closed his eyes to calm himself.
Wearing the divine crown, he was the Anemo Archon; his emotions were deeply hidden and could never be swayed by them.
Soon, Venti opened his eyes and saw Diluc, who was anxiously waiting for his reply.
"I'm sorry, she's already..."
Venti didn't tell Diluc about Ruola's soul; he could tell that Diluc was already at his breaking point, and Venti feared he wouldn't be able to bear such a cruel truth.
Venti didn't finish speaking, but everyone here could understand what he meant to convey.
Diluc silently held Ruola even tighter, tears once again streaming from his eyes.
Sobbing sounds also came from all around.
Lumine felt a surge of anger with nowhere to vent; she deeply resented her powerlessness, if her strength hadn't been lost, if she could be a little stronger, if...
Ruola wouldn't have died!
Lumine clutched the longsword Ruola had given her; she didn't turn to look at Ruola's body but instead sat directly on the ground.
She didn't dare to look at Ruola's current appearance, though there was no need to, because that image was already deeply etched into her heart.
Lumine sat on the ground, constantly rubbing her eyes.
The sandstorm today was so strong; sand kept getting into her eyes...
---
Player World.
At the end of the plot, there was an image of Lumine sitting alone in a corner, silently weeping.
Throughout the entire storyline, Guojia's tears never stopped flowing; she wasn't just crying, but also had a runny nose, and she had used half a pack of tissues.
"Wuwuwu, mhy, you have no heart, why, Ruola was so cute, so popular, why did you kill her, wuwuwu..."
"If you want to make money, as long as you put her in the gacha pool, wouldn't the money just pour in? Wuwu~"
"Do you know how many players will break down because of this move of yours, is this what you want to see, wuwu~"
Guojia cried and wiped her tears while looking at the image on the computer screen, her mouth never stopping, constantly complaining to the audience in the live stream.
"I'm so upset, brothers, what do I do? As soon as I'm quiet, I think of Ruola; I'll probably have insomnia for the next few days."
: "Sigh, I haven't cried like this in a long time; my mom saw me and thought I had a breakup, she comforted me for half an hour."
: "Let's form a group to send razor blades to mhy, who's in!"
: "My three hundred-plus pulls saved, just for Ruola; Ruola is my favorite character I've encountered in all my years of gaming, I never expected it, never expected it..."
: "I can tell Venti is very sad; although he doesn't say anything, it's like he's said everything."
: "How many times have we met Venti in total? Almost half of them involved his and Ruola's story; he must have liked Ruola very much too..."
: "What I'm most worried about is Grandpa; the pain of losing a loved one again, he must have broken down, right?"
---
A streamer next door named Penguin was so angry after seeing Ruola get killed that he directly quit, uninstalled, and ended his stream.
In his words, if Ruola is dead, what's the point of playing this game?!
However, he returned two hours later, claiming he must eliminate that scoundrel in the game and avenge Ruola!
---
After Malice left the battlefield in Mondstadt, it quickly fled far away, trying to escape Venti's location.
Facing the enraged Anemo Archon, it couldn't guarantee a perfect escape.
Although its concealment was undetectable even by the Seven Archons, if the Archon launched a super-large-scale attack, this recently created avatar would immediately be regretful.
Malice, which had run all the way to the border of Mondstadt, finally slowed down.
This seemed to be the Stone Gate border, but why was there a barrier here?
Moreover, it was familiar with this barrier; it was the one it used to block Venti's perception of Mondstadt City, but it was also slightly different; this barrier would also trap people inside.
It seemed someone had figured out its concealment method and was waiting here to catch it.
"Committing such maliciousness, do you think you can just escape like this?"
Malice turned around, and the person who had appeared was Dainsleif, who had been missing for a long time.
Malice was unclear how Dain had tracked its whereabouts; it knew very little about Dain, only that he was the captain of Khaenri'ah's last royal guard, known as the "Twilight Sword."
"Dainsleif!"
Malice shouted Dainsleif's name in a hoarse voice.
"You know me?"
"Dainsleif! Enemy of the Abyss, eliminate, crush!"
Malice roared and actively attacked Dain.
Anyway, the blame was already placed on Aether, so it didn't matter if another hat was added, right?
Dain drew his longsword to respond, and at the same time, his previously vague conjecture shifted slightly.
It's really you, Aether, why would you do this?
How can you face your sister like this?!
Throwing away the extra thoughts in his head, Dain focused on dealing with the guy in front of him.
"No matter who you are, you must pay the price!"
The two fought for only a while, and Malice was cut several times by Dain; if it weren't for its tough hide, it would probably be done for by now.
As expected of the "Twilight Sword," his strength is indeed formidable!
Malice was unwilling to continue fighting him here; it found an opportunity, broke through the barrier, and disappeared before Dain.
Dain looked at the shattered barrier, speechless for a long time.
"Next time we meet, you will definitely not survive!"
.
.
.
_