Original God, But Chat Group

While waiting for Master Lu to pour the juice, Li Yue-kun saw the chat group members chiming in. Ever since he entered Mondstadt, his livestream had been running nonstop, so the group had witnessed Venti's entire performance.

Hair Gel Man in the Sky: So, in Li Yue-kun's world, besides the Seven Archons and their Seven Nations, there are other nations and powers too?

Fat Woman in Black Stockings: This world's setting feels pretty complex—more involved than some light novels I've read.

Meme Lord: Yep, honestly, I don't even know how many hidden layers this world has. The Seven Archons and Seven Nations are just the surface-level factions and powers.

Hair Gel Man in the Sky: It seems Li Yue-kun's world is even more interesting than I imagined. That said, this bard actually knows about the Anemo Archon and his dragon companion—his identity must be no simple thing.

Meme Lord: It's not simple. He's Mondstadt's Anemo Archon, Barbatos.

Hair Gel Man in the Sky: ?

Fat Woman in Black Stockings: ?

Fat Woman in Black Stockings: Wait, he's the Anemo Archon? Do the other people in Mondstadt City know?

Meme Lord: Not right now, they don't.

Fat Woman in Black Stockings: A Geo God faking his death to retire, a Dendro Archon locked up for 500 years knowing nothing, and a drunk Anemo Archon disguised as a bard. Li Yue-kun, are all the Seven Archons in your world this quirky?

Meme Lord: Yep, exactly!

24. Loudly Plotting Right in Front of Master Lu

Meme Lord: As they say—Mondstadt's Drunkard, Liyue's Street Loiterer, Inazuma's Homebody Girl, Sumeru's Silly Kid. Every god in Teyvat has their own personality.

Fat Woman in Black Stockings: Sounds ridiculous, but three gods have already proven it. Inazuma's probably no different. You've mentioned four gods, Li Yue-kun—what about the other three?

Meme Lord: Not familiar, so I can't judge. But they're probably just as messed up.

Fat Woman in Black Stockings: I can guess.

Hair Gel Man in the Sky: I'm suddenly curious—how did these gods even win the Archon War?

Meme Lord: I know a few of them. Some are second-generation gods who inherited the seat directly—never fought.

While chatting with the group, Li Yue-kun was also talking with Venti in the tavern.

"Li Yue, coming to a tavern and not drinking—that's no fun at all."

"I'm not that into alcohol. I came to the tavern to gather information. Taverns are where people gather, so you can pick up a lot of intel here."

Li Yue-kun ignored Venti and drank his juice with Nahida.

"See? I only paid for one cup of apple cider, and I got information about Dvalin out of you."

"Hmm... you've got a point."

Venti couldn't argue. He couldn't exactly say he'd deliberately leaked info about Dvalin. If he were just a bard, he wouldn't know a thing about Dvalin!

Diluc, standing behind the bar, was also listening. As the tavern's owner, he usually wasn't here—Charles handled things. But with Dvalin causing so much trouble around Mondstadt City lately, he'd come to keep an eye on the situation and be ready to respond.

He hadn't expected to hear such detailed intel on Dvalin.

"Alright, Venti. According to you, Dvalin was once the East Wind Guardian but lost his mind to poisoned blood. So how do we restore his sanity?"

"Oh? I thought you wanted to fight Dvalin?"

Venti looked at Li Yue-kun curiously. Diluc kept wiping a glass, listening intently.

Li Yue-kun crossed his arms and started showing off.

"I originally thought Dvalin was a powerful dragon, so I wanted to fight him—drive off a monster threatening the nation. That would've been fun. But now you're saying he was once the Anemo Archon's companion, just out of his mind. A mindless monster, no matter how strong, has a ceiling. Fighting something like that holds no joy."

"Instead of bullying a poor, mindless creature, I'd rather help him regain his sanity and strength, then spar with him. That's a real fight!"

As Li Yue-kun spoke, Venti and Diluc felt a surge of pressure burst from him—an imposing, heroic aura!

It was Reiatsu! I added Reiatsu!

"I see!"

Venti nodded happily, approving of Li Yue-kun's willingness to help Dvalin for the sake of a fair fight.

He'd been worrying about finding someone to solve Dvalin's problem—and now here was the guy!

Diluc nodded inwardly too. This man claiming to be from Liyue had an upright way of thinking.

"If you want to know how to restore Dvalin's sanity, I happen to know!"

"Oh? Sounds like you know quite a bit."

Diluc's attention snapped back to Venti. He'd been watching the bard since the story about Dvalin, but Li Yue-kun had stolen the spotlight. Now it seemed this bard knew a little too much.

"Mm-hmm~ I'm the best bard in all of Teyvat. If I didn't know many stories, how could I be the best?"

Venti puffed out his chest, proud.

"Then let's hear it. How do we restore Dvalin's sanity?"

"First, to calm him down from his chaotic state, you need something special."

"What?"

"The Lyre of the Sky!"

"The Lyre of the Sky?"

Li Yue rubbed his chin. Compared to Li Yue pretending not to understand, Diluc behind the bar was surprised enough to widen his eyes slightly.

"What is that thing?"

"That's an instrument once used by the Anemo Archon Barbatos, now kept in Mondstadt's cathedral."

Venti, completely unconcerned about Diluc eavesdropping nearby, laid out his plan in full.

"Dvalin is in a state of chaos, so it's hard for him to stop—he'll keep flying endlessly through the sky. That way, no one can stop him. If we get the Lyre of the Sky, and I, the best bard in all of Teyvat, play it, we can lure Dvalin in and calm him down. Then we'll have a chance to clean off those poisonous blood clots on him."

"So, what we need now is to ask West Wind Cathedral for the Lyre of the Sky?"

Nahida voiced her first question.

"That's right. We'll have to go to West Wind Cathedral and borrow the Lyre of the Sky."

"I think you can forget about that."

Li Yue waved his hand dismissively.

"Even though I'm not from Mondstadt, I know the Knights of Favonius Church pretty well. Or rather..."

"No one knows the Church better than me!"

Li Yue struck a familiar know-it-all pose and started playing an air accordion.

"Oh? Li Yue, you're that familiar with the Church?"

Venti was very curious.

"That's right. Although the Church wasn't founded by the Anemo Archon Barbatos, their faith in him is incredibly devout. They control Mondstadt's beliefs, and they'd guard the Lyre of the Sky, once used by Barbatos, with extreme care. If we go to West Wind Cathedral to borrow it, we'll just get flatly rejected."

Li Yue laid out the outcome from the original story, where Venti took the Traveler to borrow the Lyre.

"Then how do we get the Lyre of the Sky?"

"We still borrow it, of course!"

Li Yue pointed his thumb at himself.

"Only, I'll be the one borrowing it!"

"Huh?"

Venti scratched the back of his head in confusion.

"What's the difference from what I said before?"

Diluc was also curious, wanting to know how Li Yue's approach differed from Venti's.

"Of course it's different!"

Right in front of Diluc and Venti, Li Yue gave a mysterious smile.

"Taking something without asking is stealing. But if you return it before the owner finds out it's gone, that's borrowing!"

Diluc was instantly speechless. So you're planning to steal it!

"Great idea!"

But Venti slapped the table in agreement.

"If you're going to borrow it, I suggest you go at night. The guards at West Wind Cathedral knock off work then—that's the safest time!"

"Got it. Tonight at 8, I'll make my move. We'll meet back here!"

"Alright, I'll be waiting for you here!"

The two of them made their pact right in front of Diluc without a care.

Diluc's expression soured even more. Li Yue being from Liyue was one thing, but why was a Mondstadt bard so on board with this? And why were they so blatantly using his tavern as a meeting spot?

25. The Darknight Hero Is Still Staking Out

In the end, Diluc still went to the Knights of Favonius. But he didn't go to expose Venti and Li Yue's plan—he went to invite Grand Master Jean out.

If what Venti said was true, and Li Yue actually stole the Lyre of the Sky, then he had to take it seriously. Especially since Venti and Li Yue had discussed their plan without avoiding him at all, clearly hoping he'd get involved. Those two seemed to know he'd join in for sure.

After briefly arranging with Jean to come to his tavern at 8 that night, he left the Knights of Favonius and headed straight for West Wind Cathedral. As Mondstadt's secret guardian, bearing the title of Darknight Hero, he always protected the city in the shadows at night. He wanted to see how Li Yue would steal the Lyre of the Sky.

Though the Knights of Favonius' defenses were, in Diluc's view, utterly shoddy—the knights left behind were useless, couldn't handle anything, and it was all Jean and a few others holding things together—that didn't mean someone ordinary like Li Yue could just waltz in and succeed.

Diluc hadn't sensed any Elemental Power from Li Yue, nor did he have a Vision. Aside from a Tachi from Inazuma tied to his waist with a rope, there was nothing else. So Diluc was very curious about what kind of power this seemingly ordinary Li Yue might be hiding.

As night fell, Diluc waited until the Knights of Favonius guards clocked out, then slipped into West Wind Cathedral himself. To get the Lyre of the Sky, he'd have to go through the internal stairway inside the cathedral down to the basement, where the Lyre was kept.

At 8 o'clock sharp, Li Yue appeared right outside the cathedral's main door.

Li Yue walked in openly, without any attempt to hide, so Diluc, lurking in the shadows, spotted him immediately.

He's just walking up like that?

Diluc watched Li Yue in confusion, then saw him go straight to the cathedral door and raise his hand to knock.

"Just a moment, please."

A Sister's voice came from inside the door. Though the Knights of Favonius guards outside had clocked out, the Church's Sisters still had someone on night duty.

The moment the door swung open, Li Yue leaped straight up into the air and stopped mid-step. The cathedral door was so tall that the Sister opening it didn't notice anyone above her head. Taking advantage of the open door, Li Yue used a Flash Step to vanish from his spot and enter the cathedral. With consecutive Flash Steps, he crossed the main hall and reached the basement. Inside the basement, there were Knights of Favonius on guard, but they meant nothing to Li Yue. He flashed past them rapidly with Flash Steps; the guards only felt a breeze pass by and found nothing at all.

After slipping past the guards, Li Yue went straight to the room where the Lyre of the Sky was kept. He grabbed the lyre with one hand, then immediately drew the Enma's Blade at his waist and slashed through empty air.

Space was severed, and a Portal appeared. Li Yue leaped through with the Lyre of the Sky, and the Portal closed behind him.

The entire sequence took less than ten seconds. By the time the Portal shut, the Sister at the main entrance of the West Wind Cathedral had just opened the doors, found no one there, and puzzledly closed them again.

"Did I mishear something?"

On the roof of the West Wind Cathedral, a certain Darknight Hero watched the Sister shut the doors, then kept his eyes fixed on the cathedral's other exits, waiting for Li Yue to emerge.

"Yo! I'm back!"

Li Yue's Portal could open stably anywhere he'd been before, so he opened it on the second floor of Angel's Share tavern.

Venti, who had agreed to meet him, was already waiting upstairs with Nahida early on.

Seeing Li Yue return, the two gods in hiding ended their conversation and greeted him.

"Yo, my dear friend, welcome back."

"Welcome back, Li Yue."

Venti held out both hands.

"Let me see the Lyre of the Sky."

"You trusted me that much to get it?"

"Of course, my friend. Did you not get it?"

"Naturally, I did."

Li Yue brought out the Lyre of the Sky from behind his back and handed it to Venti.

"Mmm, it's been very well maintained!"

Venti took the lyre in both hands, gave it a quick once-over, and nodded in satisfaction.

Li Yue seized the moment to speak.