Genshin Impact: The Beginning of the Wind

"But being required to be commanded is also a form of freedom."

“My God, my friend, my poet, this is the will of the wind dragon Dvalin, the life beneath this land is rightfully mine to protect!”

Dvalin's voice became softer than ever before, while the Knights of Favonius, who had suddenly defeated their opponents, looked at each other in bewilderment—when they first came, they thought it would be a bitter battle that would require everyone to shed blood, but no one expected things to turn out this way.

But... this isn't bad either?

After sheathing their swords, the knights exchanged glances for a moment and then broke into bright smiles.

Even if we don't know exactly what happened, this ending is perhaps the best possible outcome—as beautiful as a fairy tale.

"Alright, now that you've resolved your inner conflict, go and let that traveler help you purify the curse and abyss within you. After all, it's not a good thing for that thing to remain in your body."

Having witnessed the entire exchange between Wendy and Dvalin, Su Feng finally spoke up. After hearing this, Dvalin hesitated for a moment before spreading his wings and slowly floating towards Glow.

Even though he didn't believe that Ying could really solve the abyss within him that was like a leech clinging to his bones, it was, after all, the good intentions of the people who had once helped him, and Dvalin didn't want to refuse to communicate with these little people again.

Then give it a try!

When Dvalin went to re-establish a link with Mondstadt, Su Feng looked at Wendy.

"feeling bad?"

Chapter Thirty: Retribution from the Past

Wendy has very delicate emotions, and without this sensitivity, she wouldn't have become the world's greatest poet. But this also means that Wendy isn't always able to... control her emotions.

"Why shouldn't I feel sad? My friend ultimately chose a path that was extremely difficult for him."

Wendy's eyes didn't have much of a spark at this moment. The unrestrained and flamboyant poet of the past had completely disappeared. Su Feng even thought that if there weren't so many people around and Dvalin was still there, the poet's eyes might have been filled with tears.

"But this is an inevitable outcome."

"You don't want to impose your thinking on anyone, but you should know that the continuous permeation of powerful forces and noble essence is, to some extent, more effective than any other method in fundamentally changing a life—whether it's a life form or a way of thinking!"

"In Teyvat, this infection becomes even easier and faster."

"When you are not truly free, when you bind everything to this land... can Dvalin, who has been with you for so long, really not be changed by you?"

"..."

Su Feng raised a very real issue.

Regardless, Dvalin was Wendy's companion, and they spent unimaginable years together. But during those years, was Dvalin truly not changed by Wendy's stronger influence?

You must understand, Dvalin is a dragon, and he has never been bound by the rule of 'the lover of a demon god,' but now he is...

Wendy shook his head helplessly as he watched Dvalin's venomous stings being rapidly purified by Lumin's hands. He knew certain things, but what could he do?

Tvalin has been changed by him.

"Freedom... what a longing word! It's just a pity that I probably won't understand what freedom really means even when I reach the very end of my life."

Wendy, who had somehow produced a bottle of cider, couldn't help but take a sip and utter these words with indescribable emotion, while his jewel-like eyes gradually dimmed.

But Wendy's gaze quickly returned to normal, and he turned his attention to Su Feng.

"Then can you walk with me for a bit? This place is practically Dvalin's private spot now. I, the Wind God who hasn't shown up in a long time, shouldn't embarrass myself in front of the Mondstadt people. After all, destroying other people's faith will make me hated."

Wendy, whose voice seemed to have returned to its usual playful tone, said this, while Su Feng shrugged indifferently at his boss's seemingly unreliable demeanor.

"Shall we meet at our usual spot?"

Su Feng spoke these words before Wendy could, and Wendy, who was originally planning to play a riddle, was stunned when she heard them. By the time she came to her senses, Su Feng had already disappeared from the spot.

"This guy!"

Wendy was furious that he had been tricked by a riddle, but Su Feng, who had left so quietly that even he, the god of wind, hadn't noticed, was not so easy to catch up with. So Wendy could only helplessly accept his loss.

But he'll definitely get his revenge later!

......

The trees at the place where the wind rises still sway their leaves in the breeze, and that never-ending sound soothes all life and spirit here in the gentlest way.

This is a wonderful place to lie on the grass under this big tree and drift into the sweetest dream under the gentle sounds and the softest breeze. It is an experience that anyone can remember for a lifetime.

However, at this moment, a rather unpopular fellow leaned against a big tree and completely ruined all this beautiful scenery.

Because a drunkard was drinking heavily from a bottle, and the way he looked made you want to throw a rock at him and knock him unconscious.

"Hey, you should at least care about your image, everyone's watching!"

Su Feng looked at Wendy in front of him with a sense of helplessness, but what he said seemed quite strange.

Because there were only him and Wendy present at the Windrise, but he was referring to everyone as "everyone," which added a touch of eeriness to the otherwise peaceful atmosphere.

"Well, everyone should be used to me being like this by now, right? Besides, this is my only hobby. I think everyone will understand since I've worked so hard for so many years, right?"

"Besides, I'm finally free from maintaining the Great Melody of a Thousand Years. Shouldn't I, a prisoner for a thousand years, celebrate finally breaking free of my first chain?"

Wendy casually uttered something both terrible and incredibly touching, and after she finished speaking, the large tree above them couldn't help but rustle its leaves again, making a sound like...

"Look, they're all supporting me!"

Just as if he had gained the support of another friend in a debate with another friend, Wendy's face once again lit up with a triumphant expression, and he seemed to be quite happy now.

"It's truly astonishing to be able to utilize wind to such an extent. I've been trying to maintain Mondstadt's current environment for thousands of years, and there's still a long way to go before it's maintained. But your wind..."

After feeling the wind around her once again, Wendy couldn't help but utter this sentiment.

Although Wendy was well aware that Su Feng's power was strange and strong, he still felt somewhat frustrated that he was so easily surpassed in his specialty of modifying the environment. If Su Feng had appeared earlier, he would have had to endure so much hardship all these years.

"It's just a small application. The wind itself is inextricably linked to celestial phenomena, so it's not difficult to make use of it by slightly altering the environment."

Su Feng didn't seem to care much about Wendy's praise, but his attitude made Wendy shake her head helplessly.

Wind is certainly inseparable from environmental changes, but what Wendy cares about is not temporarily changing the environment with wind—he had already done that from the very beginning. What truly moved him was that Su Feng had built a complete wind circulation system in Mondstadt in such a short time and used this circulation to completely fix the environment of the entire Mondstadt.

From then on, Mondstadt's environment no longer needed Venti's constant investment of energy to maintain it, which is also the reason why Venti said she had broken free of the first chain that bound her.

However, since Su Feng didn't want to talk about this, Wendy naturally didn't intend to continue fussing over it.

Forget it, thinking about these things is too tiring. Besides, now that the environment in Mondstadt has stabilized, there's no need to know so much about everything.

drink wine!

Thinking of this, Wendy raised the bottle in her hand again.

"Speaking of which, have you thought about what to do next?"

"Others have limited patience. If you make them wait too long, it can cause big problems."

"Furthermore, I think Mondstadt is probably too vulnerable to another conflict right now—you should leave some room for Jean Grey, she'll probably be exhausted if she keeps working overtime!"

"Someone might come after you then and cause you trouble."

Su Feng gave Wendy a word of advice as she watched her continue to pour alcohol into her mouth. Upon hearing this, Wendy's arm trembled involuntarily before she threw the empty bottle to the ground.

"You make it sound so easy. Anyway, you don't have to deal with these things, right?"

Wendy spoke with a hint of resentment, but Su Feng didn't take it to heart at all. After all, no matter how much Wendy had opinions, there was nothing he could do about it. So Su Feng didn't mind watching this guy make a fool of himself.

After all, Wendy had dumped a whole bunch of problems on him before. Su Feng didn't have time to retaliate before, so it's not bad to watch Wendy make a fool of herself as interest now.

"You guy!"

Su Feng made no attempt to hide his thoughts, so Wendy couldn't help but glare at him. Unfortunately, Wendy was usually quite unserious, which made her action, which should have been an expression of anger, look more like a comical performance.

"If possible, it's better for you to face it yourself. After all, some things you have to face sooner or later, don't you?"

Su Feng's voice now sounded like he was enjoying the show, and as he finished speaking, the graceful figure that had appeared under the Seven Gods statue at some point turned around to look at the two of them.

"Barbatos, the god of wind... is such a drunkard. What a disappointment!"

"Is this really what the wind god who just displayed his divine power on the snowy mountain should look like? If the people of Mondstadt saw you like this, they would probably be quite disappointed, wouldn't they?"

The woman's voice was slightly hoarse, her exposed left eye looked somewhat lifeless, and the smile at the corner of her mouth was full of formalism. Even her words sounded like she was reciting lines without any emotion.

"The Mondstadt people won't be disappointed—shouldn't someone as good a drinker as me make them even happier?"

"Besides, if I could, I really wouldn't want to see you like this."

Upon seeing the woman's appearance, Wendy couldn't help but sigh. He knew very well why she was there and what she wanted to do, but he felt a pang of pity whenever he saw her life frozen in place.

The tragedy was not his fault, but Wendy, who cared for every Mondstadt resident, simply could not accept seeing the former child so miserable and wretched.

But this was precisely the woman's own choice.

"Why would you think that? You just saved Mondstadt again. As one of the Seven Gods, would you be afraid of a little girl like me who has already reached the end?"

The woman's voice finally showed some fluctuation, but it gave the impression of gradually becoming mad—clearly, her emotions were becoming increasingly unstable. Wendy and Su Feng, who could see things that ordinary people couldn't, noticed that the ice on the woman's body, which was not visible to ordinary people, was melting little by little, and wisps of fire that burned everything were shining through from beneath the solid ice.

"You really want to do this?"

Seeing this, Wendy's reluctance became even more pronounced.

Because he knew that the ladies of the Fatui were gradually disappearing, and that the one who was about to appear before them was the [Flame Witch] Rosalyn Cruzshika Loehfat, who had burned away all the monsters five hundred years ago.

The Ice Queen's ice froze everything about the former witch in place, and when the former witch awakens, the flames that consumed her life will also reignite.

This means that Rosalyn's life is about to enter another countdown phase.

This is exactly what Wendy doesn't want to see.

However... he had no reason to stop her, because for Rosalyn now, perhaps returning to Yuanhai in peace and reuniting with her long-awaited lover was the best ending.

"Why not, my wind god—Lord Barbatos!"

Rosalind's hoarse voice echoed once more above the wind-swept land.

The blazing flames, along with the waste of the Red Lotus Moth, began to spread, the lush green grass turned yellow and withered, the cool breeze turned scorching, and even the big tree behind Wendy seemed to wilt considerably at this moment.

"Wind God...I know you're not wrong!"

Rosalind's voice became deep and terrifying. As the last flames appeared on the land, the former witch had been fully awakened, and the countdown to her life began again. However, Rosalind did not care about the approaching death. Her eyes, burning with flames, remained fixed on Wendy.

“You have done everything you could—five hundred years ago, far too many people in this world lost what they cherished, and that disaster is a pain for all of us.”

Rosalind knew very well that she was venting her anger—Wendy had done everything she could, and the knight from back then had also given his life for his ideals, something Rosalind knew very well.

But knowing all this doesn't mean you can accept it.

Because she couldn't even find anyone to take revenge on!

That's why she accepted the Ice Queen's invitation to join the Fatui at the very end—this world is just too terrible, it needs to be changed for the better.