Genshin Impact: The Beginning of the Wind

"Knights of Favonius, form ranks!"

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Su Feng's Test

Barbatos was caught off guard by the sudden arrival of the Knights of Favonius, but he understood what was going on when he saw the gentle breezes that surrounded the knights and protected them.

"This is too dangerous for them!"

Barbatos said in a low voice, somewhat dissatisfied, knowing full well that his voice could reach the ears of the person he wanted to speak to.

Of course, at this moment, he also waved his hand again, and the wind that flowed with his movement directly blocked the space that had been torn apart by the hounds.

Once the space began to flow with the wind, the wounds that had torn the world together began to heal at a visible speed.

He needs to first cut off the possibility of the Beast Hounds constantly appearing, otherwise the current Knights of Favonius will not be able to fight against this pack of hounds.

Moreover, he had no intention of involving the Knights of Favonius in this war of the gods; it was too early for them.

Yes, this place is now a battleground for gods for Barbatos, a realm that mortals cannot enter.

“It’s not dangerous—with our protection, this group of knights is already at its safest.”

“Barbatos, you cannot forever shelter Mondstadt under your wing, just as the One in the heavens also wanted to shelter the whole world under his command, but what was the result?”

"Joining this war was also a choice they made freely."

Su Feng's voice reached Barbatos's ears again, but all he got in return was endless silence from Barbatos.

"But freedom comes at a price and has its limits, which they cannot afford right now."

Barbatos's voice was low and dejected, and his objection seemed equally weak and powerless.

"The breeze that symbolizes turning point and hope should make you feel that Teyvat has reached its most critical moment. An unprecedented disaster has descended upon it. Do you really think you can protect Mondstadt again now?"

"Let them grow, Barbatos!"

As Su Feng's last words fell, his figure appeared before Barbatos amidst a raging tornado. The Wind God, rendered speechless by Su Feng's words, looked with a heavy and reluctant gaze at the knights who were doing their utmost to fight against the remaining Beast Realm Hounds on the snow-capped mountains.

"..."

"Think about it!"

When Su Feng saw Barbatos fall silent, he simply shrugged. After all, Barbatos was the master of Mondstadt, and what he wanted to do was not something Su Feng could interfere with.

But since Barbatos granted 'freedom' to Mondstadt, there must be certain things to face.

Meanwhile, Su Feng, who had temporarily given up on controlling the Thousand Winds within Mondstadt, looked with great interest at Dulin, who was still bewildered after struggling to regenerate even under Dvalin's seemingly endless wind blasts.

"Wind, poetry, joyful singing..."

"Ah! A dragon like a jewel and a poet singing!"

"Dulin... likes you guys!"

The bewildered dragon saw its favorite dragon and poet, and joyfully raised its head, wanting to dance and sing with them once more. However...

The ferocious dragon head spewed out vicious curses, the pitch-black smoke melted the life of all things, and the blazing flames burned away the foundation of everything... This was truly an unimaginable demonic dragon, a demonic dragon whose mere existence was enough to bring enormous damage to everything in the mortal world!

When the dragon spread its wings, the terrifying abyss surging within its body seemed capable of completely swallowing up the entire mortal world.

"..."

"Judgment...no, although it's similar, it's actually much lower...Emperor level?"

"Hmm... there are still some differences. Is it because of the difference in the way they are presented?"

After seeing Dulin and feeling the power surging within it, Su Feng muttered a few words to himself. Barbatos, who heard his voice, looked thoughtfully at Su Feng, who seemed to be deep in thought.

It instinctively sensed that Su Feng's mutterings contained a great deal of information, but the intelligent creature did not want to gain any knowledge from Su Feng. After all, too much knowledge that did not belong to Teyvat was no different from poison to it, so it quickly shifted its attention.

And Tvalin needs help now.

Dulin is an extremely dangerous dragon. Both Barbatos and Dvalin paid a heavy price to defeat Dulin, and that price has not been erased even now.

Now, Tvalin is also at a huge disadvantage because of this cost.

Even now, Dvalin still has two crystals containing the poison and curse of Durin. Although Dvalin's previous outburst compressed and temporarily sealed the poison, a simple treatment is clearly insufficient when facing Durin now.

Dulin's mere instinctive activation of the toxins and curses deeply embedded in Dvalin's body made the already weakened Dvalin even weaker. And when it took to the air, Dvalin tragically discovered that the wind wall that had previously been used to seal off the battlefield had now become a cage confining it to this small battlefield.

No matter how agile a bird is, it cannot escape the claws of a cat that catches it once it is imprisoned in a cage. Moreover, Dulin is not comparable to any cat!

"Buzz!"

Fortunately, Dvalin was not fighting alone at this moment. Just as Dulin was about to catch up with Dvalin in the air, Su Feng simply raised his hand and created a nearly impenetrable wind wall between the two dragons.

Dulin, completely unprepared, crashed straight into the suddenly appearing wind wall.

If it were a wind wall in the ordinary sense, whether it was naturally formed or formed by pure elemental force, it would be nothing more than fragile residue that could be easily removed with a flick of the wrist in front of the power surrounding Dulin that was enough to melt everything in the world.

However, the wind wall that appeared this time was different. For the first time, Dulin crashed into the wind wall that it had never taken seriously before. The huge impact directly stopped the huge dragon body that was accelerating all the way.

The power that could melt everything was rendered useless in the face of that seemingly insignificant wind wall. The wind wall that flowed in front of everyone seemed to be completely isolated from everything at this moment, even giving people the illusion that the wind did not exist in this world.

"Roar!"

Dulin, whose entire dragon had crashed into the wind wall, roared instinctively, but the next moment it was met with a gust of wind so fast that it gave it almost no time to react.

A power barrier strong enough to resist any elemental force, scales so sturdy that no weapon could damage them, a body thick enough to withstand any attack—all the abilities Dulin relied on to roam freely in the mortal world were utterly useless against this seemingly insignificant wind.

"Tear!"

When Dulin regained his senses, a dragon wing had already been ripped from its body, and scorching dragon blood was once again spilled onto the mountainside where the snow had completely melted.

"It hurts, Dulin, it hurts so much!"

After the dragon wings completely separated, the dragon, which had been unable to steady itself for quite some time, finally reacted and let out a wail filled with a childlike voice.

"Although there are some differences, it's only to this extent."

Su Feng calmly looked at Du Lin, who was wailing, and made a nonchalant judgment.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Dragon and Man Make Another Pact

Although he had donned a shell of the Wind God's power, many of his essential qualities were not so easily changed, especially after sensing something familiar in Dulin, which made Su Feng even more interested.

And when the winds that didn't belong to this world began to blow, even Dwarin and Wendy, who had once paid a heavy price, were nothing more than that.

An extraordinary wind severed the dragon's wings, tore its scales, pulled out its claws and teeth, snapped its neck, and pierced its heart.

The unstoppable wind completely killed the newly resurrected Dulin.

He was killed very simply and uneventfully.

Until the very last moment, the bewildered soul still couldn't understand why its body had suddenly broken down—it didn't even feel that it had been attacked.

However, that is the truth; the bewildered soul returned to the source sea under the blowing of the wind.

Perhaps next time, the world will allow this poor life to truly be born here?

May the dragon then be able to soar freely in the sky, singing and dancing to its heart's content.

On the other side, even Barbatos fell silent upon witnessing this scene, while Dvalin stared in horror at Su Feng standing before Dulin's tattered dragon body—if Su Feng had treated him in the same way before, Barbatos would probably only be able to watch Dvalin's feathers fall in sorrow now.

"Where did you find this follower? He seems more like the wind god than you do."

Tvalin looked at Barbatos with a puzzled expression.

Theoretically speaking, Barbatos, as the god of wind, should be the most skilled wind manipulator in all of Teyvat. However, after seeing the wind that Su Feng summoned, which was unlike any wind he had ever seen before, Dvalin couldn't help but feel puzzled.

Why hasn't Barbatos, the god of wind, been overthrown yet?

"Hmph! No matter what, he's still one of my subordinates!"

Perhaps because Mondstadt's biggest crisis has been resolved, Barbatos's unreliability seems to have increased again.

He proudly puffed out his chest and raised his head, as if Su Feng was able to do this all thanks to the blessing of the Wind God.

"Humph!"

However, Dvalin, who knew exactly what kind of dragon Barbatos was, looked down on his god. If it weren't for the Knights of Favonius still fighting against many beast hounds on the snowy mountain, Dvalin would definitely want to have a good talk with his god about what 'shamelessness' really meant!

This guy deserves a beating!

At least on this point, Tvalin was convinced.

"Dvalin, that girl can help you remove the abyss and poison from your body. She was found by the Knights of Favonius. You should thank the children of the Knights of Favonius properly afterward. They have been working very hard because of you lately."

Perhaps sensing the unfriendly look in Dvalin's eyes, Venti, having exited his divine armor state, decisively pointed at Luminous, who was still fighting on the battlefield, and said this.

"..."

"Do you think I should continue to stay in Mondstadt as a member of the Anemo Archon's Familiar?"

Perhaps because he had dealt with Dulin, Dvalin seemed to have temporarily broken free from his slightly extreme emotions. He gazed at the Knights of Favonius who were still fighting the Beast Hounds on the snow mountain and said somewhat forlornly.

“I…after all…have caused so much trouble.”

As he said this, Tevalin couldn't help but glance at the still-broken Sky Nail on the snow-capped mountain peak—its meaning was obvious without even asking.

As a dragon, and even one with the potential to ascend to the throne of 'King', Dvalin's very existence sometimes signifies a threat. If he shows any sign of wrongdoing, the one in the sky would not hesitate to wipe him out of Teyvat completely.

After all, dragons are remnants of the old world.

"it does not matter."

Faced with Dvalin's hesitation, Wendy smiled and extended his palm. With his movement, a ball of cyan light slowly landed on Dvalin's body. As the light merged into Dvalin's body, the originally sky-blue dragon slowly turned emerald green.

"This is... the power of the Wind God's Familiar!"

Dvalin's previously dejected voice now sounded surprised. He never expected that even now, Wendy would still unhesitatingly bestow this power upon him once again.

“Even freedom commanded by the gods is still a form of unfreedom, Dvalin. I never wanted you to do anything, nor did I ever intend for you to continue doing anything for Mondstadt.”

"From now on, let me carry my strength and soar more freely in this sky."

"This is all I can do for you."

Wendy's voice carried a comforting gentleness tinged with a barely perceptible hint of melancholy—Dvalin may still have moments of freedom, but he...

"..."

"Roar!"

After a long silence, Dvalin, who had been staring at Wendy, suddenly roared again. With his movements, endless wind elements instantly reduced the monsters on the entire snow mountain to rubble.