The next day we were back at Dawn Winery.

Diluc: The Abyss Order... Enemies of the human race. Even the underground networks rarely come across any information on them. With that said, it was a bit of a hassle, but I managed to dig up a few clues.

Venti: Really? That quickly? You really are well connected, Master Diluc.

Paimon: Come to think of it, Mr. Big Anemo God Barbatos — why exactly did you need the help of mere humans...?

Venti: Ahh... How do I put it... "The Seven" as people now know them, were once known as "The Seven Archons." Each archon presides over their own part of Teyvat. That is the role the archons play. Only in performing this duty we can attain power, but I don't like the idea of "ruling" Mondstadt — and I don't feel Mondstadt would really like it either.

Jean: "Go forth and establish a city of freedom without rule." We have not forgotten Barbatos' wish for Mondstadt.

Paimon: Jean... You're such a devotee! Maybe someone got a little too free and is just too lazy to care...

Venti: Ahh... However it may have come to be... I haven't been back to Mondstadt for an extended period of time. Without a doubt, I am now the weakest archon among The Seven!

Aether: And yet you sound almost proud...

Venti: Aww, you flatter me.

Diluc: Oh, such a humble god... Is it a blessing or a curse? But we digress. Let's get back on the topic at hand: the common enemy of all mankind. We have tracked the Abyss Mage to the vicinity of the winery.

Jean: I cannot stress enough how important it is to not let it escape.

Aether: Let's hunt it down!

Patrick and Valkyries: Yeah!

At the vicinity of the winery we killed the hilichurls and the Abyss Mage.

Venti: Huh? What's this... After the Abyss Mage was defeated, a certain energy dispersed from its body... It seems that energy was being used to cut off the connection between me and Dvalin. ... Do you know of Stormterror's Lair?

Aether: I think I've heard people talking about it in Mondstadt.

Patrick: Toriyama and I went to it last night and saw Dvalin fly to it.

Venti: Of course. I believe the people of Mondstadt all know of it. After Dvalin woke up, the ancient ruins as his lair. As it was with the storms that previously cut Mondstadt off from the outside world, the entrance to the ruins is also sealed by a special barrier. But now, as the energy dispersed from the Abyss Mage, I was able to read the rhythmic flow of how the barrier's magic was woven. I must admit, it sounds even more horrendous than a chorus of hilichurls, but... ...It should be enough to let us break through the storm barrier and reach Stormterror's Lair.

Diluc: Which means we're going to confront Dvalin? I'm fine with that... Jean is the one who wishes to avoid any direct confrontation.

Jean: No. When there are no other options left, it is my responsibility to alter our course of action. If slaying him is our only chance that leads the charge.

Venti: Fortunately, we have yet to go that far.

Diluc: Hmm?

Jean: By that, you mean...

Venti: I mean that the Holy Lyre is not our trump card. Our real trump card? The traveler and The St. Freya Knights and Valkyries of course.

Paimon: The traveler and The St. Freya Knights and Valkyries?

Kiana: How are we the trump card?

Aether: Is it because we purified the Teardrop Crystals?

Venti: Correct. But you have a much more precious forte. The impurities in the tears, and the curse that binds Dvalin to the same maleficent power. Which means...

Paimon: You Tone-Deaf Bard, don't you know how crazy this is? You've seen what Dvalin is like when he's ticked off! The traveler and The St. Freya Knights and Valkyries will be swallowed whole before they even get to lift a finger!

Kiana: Hey! We fight monsters the same size as Dvalin all the time! And we never get swallowed whole!

Patrick: Kiana is right. We've faced a lot more beasts even worse than Dvalin. And as long as I have my master Toriyama with me, we won't get swallowed whole.

Theresa: For years we've taught our girls and boy how to fight and they can manage.

Himeko: Theresa is right, we've taught them how to fight against beasts like dragons and they can do this.

Mei: We're in this together.

Bronya: We won't get eaten up by a dragon.

Seele: We can fight against Dvalin.

Aether: This battle... it's going to take everything everyone's got.

Diluc: ...Hey. Nice plan. Worth a shot.

Jean: I am with you, Honorary Knights and Honorary Valkyries!

Paimon: Ho~! So we just need to fight monsters from the abyss... and a dragon! No pressure or anything.

Diluc: Humans aren't without their strengths. Let's go.

Venti: And so... Epic actions of brave heroes finally leads to this eleventh hour.

(Stormterror's Lair)

We got to Stormterror's Lair but was blocked by a storm barrier.

Paimon: It's a storm barrier! It looks so dangerous...

Venti: Leave it to me. Although this wooden lyre is all I have... I don't need the lyre to break through this kind of storm barrier— Ah, what is that?

Hilichurls appeared.

Jean: Enemy attack! Prepare yourselves!

Venti: The stage will ned to be cleared before I can begin my performance. Generally speaking, such chores are not the concerns of the performer himself...

Jean: Wait. What's going on? Something's not right. There shouldn't be any hilichurl camps in the vicinity of Stormterror's Lair...

Patrick: We'll figure it out later. Get to fighting!

I charged in and slashed in half one of the hilichurls.

Jean: Oh... Right!

Everyone else charged in all except Paimon and Venti. We killed all the monsters in a few seconds.

Venti: Ahh... The hilichurls usually do not venture into the areas with high elemental concentrations. It puts a heavy burden on their bodies.

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

Venti: Without further ado... I suppose I can play faster if my audience is the wind.

Venti used her wooden bard and played a song then the storm barrier dispersed.

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

Jean: This is it. We are now entering Stormterror's Lair. Watch yourselves. Let's move.

Before walking over the stone walkway into the lair itself, I summoned Toriyama to be our guard incase Dvalin, the Abyss Order, or the Fatui attacks us. Toriyama took flight then we went across the stone bridge.

Paimon: 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?

Venti: He doesn't walk in, he flies in.

Patrick: Show how he does it, Toriyama.

Toriyama did as I said and showed everyone how Dvalin would fly in and then came back.

Paimon: ...Oh. Hmm, you do have a point.

We got to the gate but was blocked.

Paimon: It's stuck.

Venti: It's stuck.

Paimon: Hey, check out that roof. Is there a giant hole in it?

We saw the hole on the tallest building of Stormterror's Lair.

Venti: Hmm... I suppose we could make use of that wind current.

Paimon: Let's make a detour then. Heading up!

Venti: Let's make a detour then. Heading up!

Patrick in mind: Venti really is annoyed at Paimon for calling him Tone-Deaf Bard. But we better keep going.

Paimon: Hmm... Do you think there will be Abyss Mages hiding in the ruins? Either way, if we do run into one, we will let the victorious Master Diluc do the—

Diluc: Do not underestimate them just because I have beaten one of them before. I'm not boasting, I'm simply saying there is more to the Abyss Order than a few mages.

Venti: Correct. That's why I tagged along after all. Well that — and also for your safety. Ah, why am I so diligent? Too diligent for a poet, in fact!

Paimon: So says the person that made zero effort to search for the dragon tears and drank in the tavern all day! Paimon doesn't get it, what part of you is remotely diligent?

As we went through the ruins, we fought against enemies then ended up at the top of the tower.

Venti: Oh, we can't advance any further. The ruins seem to be guarded by ancient seals.

Paimon: Is this the work of Dvalin?

Venti: No. These ruins were once part of an ancient city. Dvalin just happens to be nesting in these ruins for now. These ruins even predate the existence of The Four Winds. Mondstadt is a city without a ruler. However, before it was. It was ruled over by a tyrant. Anyway... I'll sing you that story when we have a chance in the future.

Diluc: The markings on this seal... If my archeological knowledge is not mistaken, this appears to be a light actuator. If we retrieve and reintegrate all the parts, we should be able to get it working.

Jean: We should be close to completing the ceremony for this actuator. Let's put the last part and see.

We put the first part back then something magical appeared then disappeared.

Venti: Looks like we're right. There are three more halos circling the tower...

Jean: Which means, there are three more corresponding light actuators to activate. I can see one from here. The rest must be scattered within the ruins around here. Let's go find them.

Paimon: ...Why did Dvalin pick a place filled with puzzles and seals as his lair? Doesn't he get annoyed coming back home?

Venti: He doesn't walk in, he flies in.

Paimon: ...You do have a point.

We each split up to break the seal in Stormterror's Lair. One group consisted of me, Aether, Paimon, and Jean. The second group was Kiana, Mei, Bronya, and Seele. The third group was Diluc, Venti, Theresa, and Himeko. We each got the light actuators working and the three halos of the tower appeared and started working. We met back at the top of the tower.

Venti: I'm thinking about turning these adventures into songs after we're done...

Aether: Well, we certainly have gone through quite a lot recently.

Venti: Hopefully, this song will be sung for years to come by the people of Mondstadt, just like The Legend of Vennessa.

Jean: I have loved that song since I was small. How are you feeling today Honorary Knights? I am completely prepared and fully confident that we can do this.

Aether: Res assured, we're also completely prepared.

Patrick: We are perfectly prepared just like you, Jean.

Paimon: Even Master Diluc accompanied us to the very end. Despite only being an accidentally involved... ...Bystander.

Diluc: You shared your secret with me, and I only returned your trust to the same extent.

Aether: What about Venti?

Venti: It's "freedom."

Paimon: Freedom...?

Venti: When you first arrived in Mondstadt, did no-one tell you that Mondstadt is the City of Freedom?

Aether: Amber...

Venti: Hahaha... She really is a child of freedom! Mondstadt is a romantic city, without the reign of a king. And its citizens enjoy the most freedom amongst the seven nations. I hoe the dragon that once protected Mondstadt will soon be free too... No-one should have deceived him by telling him that Mondstadt betrayed him. And no-one should have told him that it was his eternal duty to protect the city. He has the right and freedom to choose his own way of life.

Paimon: Venti...

Venti: Well then, travelers, may the thousands of years of wind that have blown through Mondstadt go with you. Just like last time, I shall channel Anemo energy for you.

Aether: I knew it. It was YOUR voice I heard.

Paimon: Oh! No wonder you said that his voice sounds familiar!

I looked out the hole and Toriyama was outside flapping his wings to keep himself in the air.

Patrick: It is now time to fight against Dvalin.

Toriyama: We'll give it our all.

We stepped into the seal then we were magically sent up as Toriyama flew behind us.