60. Dvalin: Barbatos!!!!!
"A portrait of La Signora, and you want it to be a black-and-white sketch? No problem, I've noted it down."
"Then I'll leave it to you, Master Albedo."
Outside Albedo's temporary camp halfway up Dragonspine Mountain, Li Yue, having settled the newly added commission for La Signora's portrait, bade Albedo farewell.
Meanwhile, Venti and Nahida waited nearby, admiring the snowy scenery.
"Nahida, what do you think? You've never seen scenery like this before, have you?"
Li Yue walked up behind them, gently rubbing Nahida's head as he asked.
Nahida nodded happily.
"Mm. There's no scenery like this in Sumeru. It's a little cold, but this pure white landscape is truly beautiful."
"That's right. Dragonspine Mountain is the only place in Mondstadt where you can see snow, and the only place on the Teyvat continent besides Snezhnaya where snow can be seen. That makes this a very rare place."
As a local of Mondstadt, Venti seemed immensely proud that Mondstadt possessed such unique scenery as Dragonspine Mountain.
"Beautiful as it may be, it's also deadly. Even well-prepared adventurers can lose their lives if they aren't careful while exploring the mountain."
Li Yue looked over the blizzard-filled sky before turning to Venti.
"Alright, I've finished discussing the commission with Master Albedo. Now we can get down to business. Nahida's here too, which is perfect."
"Hm? What are we doing?"
Venti looked at Li Yue curiously.
"Didn't you say you could call Dvalin over? Naturally, we're calling Dvalin here to spar with me. I can teach Nahida how to fight giant creatures while we're at it. Compared to Aether's earlier demonstration, an actual battle will definitely be more effective. Have Dvalin fight me in close combat on the ground later."
Li Yue pointed toward the eastern sea.
"Over on that stretch of coast. It won't disturb Mondstadt's residents there."
As Venti listened to Li Yue, a bead of cold sweat trickled down his forehead.
Although he had left Li Yue and Nahida earlier, he had still watched Li Yue teaching Nahida through the Thousand Winds. That hundred-meter-tall giant Wood Person and Wood Dragon had been utterly absurd. Since when had Greater Lord Rukkhadevata been a Demon God who used the Dendro element to fight like that? She clearly specialized in the authority of dreams. She was the God of Wisdom, alright? And because she possessed the World Tree's traits, no Demon God would ever fight her. She had been a god chosen by fate from the very beginning, entirely different from the others!
But Li Yue truly was wielding the Dendro element's great authority now, which meant he had indeed obtained power from Greater Lord Rukkhadevata. Especially with the sleeping incident involving the Knights of Favonius in Mondstadt City, it was clear that he also possessed the authority of dreams. In that situation, Venti had no way to say Li Yue's way of using the Dendro element in battle was wrong. Could he possibly understand the Dendro element better than Greater Lord Rukkhadevata?
Could the Dendro element's great authority really be used like this? After all, Apep, the Dragon of Dendro, was an enormous behemoth himself. Did that mean the Dendro element was actually adept at creating gigantic objects?
At the time, Venti had forcibly convinced himself of that.
But now, at the thought of making Dvalin fight such a massive and vicious Wood Person, Venti could not help worrying for him. Dvalin's slender frame was even better than Venti's at attacking from a distance with the power of wind, but in close combat, wouldn't he get hammered flat?
"Um, Li Yue, my friend, Dvalin is a servant of the Anemo Archon. He loves flying freely through the sky and represents the unrestrained wind. If you make him stand on the ground, wouldn't that strip Dvalin of the very qualities he should possess?"
Though he had practically sold Dvalin out, Venti still had a little conscience left and wanted to fight for him.
"Dvalin does represent the wind, since he is a servant of the Anemo Archon. But unfortunately, this spar isn't meant to show off the power of wind. I simply want to teach Nahida. Among the large enemies within Mondstadt, Dvalin is practically the most suitable one possible."
Venti pouted.
He really wanted to say that if Li Yue wanted a normal spar with Dvalin, Dvalin would definitely have no problem with it. After all, Dvalin in his complete form was practically the king of aerial combat in Teyvat. Venti had assumed that no matter how strong Li Yue was, he could not possibly defeat Dvalin, the king of aerial combat, which was why he had agreed so readily. Venti would never agree to something disadvantageous, after all~~~ But now Li Yue wanted the king of aerial combat to fight on land? Wasn't that obviously asking Dvalin to come get beaten up?
He felt that if he told Dvalin, Dvalin might come beat him up on the spot!
Seeing Venti remain silent, Li Yue frowned, seemingly displeased.
"Say, Venti, don't tell me you can't do it? Earlier, you patted your chest and said you had a great relationship with Dvalin. I also know that, as a Wind Spirit, you must have spent a long time with him, so I trusted you. Don't tell me you're saying you can't do it now."
"Uh... that's not what I mean."
"Then what do you mean?"
Li Yue gave Venti no chance to explain.
"One sentence. Just tell me whether you can do it or not."
"I..."
Venti's conflicted brows twisted into a knot.
Seeing Venti like that, Li Yue stopped pressing him and instead softened.
"Forget it. It's fine if you say you can't. After all, you're only a Wind Spirit following behind the Anemo Archon. It makes sense that you can't ask Dvalin, a servant of the Anemo Archon, to do this. I only wanted him to accompany me for one demonstration, but I am still making things difficult for him. As a servant of the Anemo Archon, Dvalin must have his own temper too. Like you said, he represents the free wind and shouldn't be bound to the ground."
As he spoke, Li Yue patted Venti on the shoulder and smiled gently at him.
"Don't worry, we're friends. I won't make things difficult for you, and I certainly won't let something this small affect our relationship. Everything I promised you before still stands. I'm still counting on you to travel around the Otherworld with me in the future."
Then he turned to Nahida.
"Sorry, Nahida. I won't be able to give you a practical demonstration."
"It's alright, Li Yue. I can practice more on my own with the things you taught me before."
Nahida was very understanding, smiling sweetly.
Looking at Li Yue and Nahida's tender father-and-daughter scene, then recalling what Li Yue had just said, Venti suddenly felt deeply guilty. He gritted his teeth and gave Li Yue a confident smile.
"Li Yue, my friend, of course I can handle something like this. You two go to the coastline first. I'll call Dvalin over right away!"
With that, Venti turned into a wisp of clear wind and vanished.
Watching Venti disappear, Li Yue looked at Nahida with delight.
"Nahida, it seems Venti and Dvalin are even closer than I thought. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You have to study carefully later!"
"Mm, I will!"
Nahida nodded seriously as well.
After leaving Dragonspine Mountain, Venti went directly to Gazing Star Cliff. Once he landed, he took out the lyre he carried with him and began to play. The music traveled with the wind to the Temple of the Four Winds, and Dvalin soon descended from the sky, landing before Venti.
"Barbatos, why have you called for me?"
Compared to their previous meeting at Gazing Star Cliff, Dvalin's tone was now exceptionally gentle.
"Dvalin, my dear friend!"
Venti put away his lyre, spread his arms, and stroked Dvalin's enormous jaw.
"There's something I'd like to ask of you."
"Please speak. I will do everything in my power."
As Venti's companion for thousands of years, Dvalin had answered many of Venti's summons. Every time he was called, he did his utmost to fulfill the request. He was truly dutiful.
"Do you remember Li Yue, the one who fought you before? He's the one who cleansed the Poison Blood from your body."
"Of course I remember. He is my benefactor. I still haven't had the chance to thank him."
Although Li Yue had imitated Aizen and acted arrogantly during his battle with Dvalin, that did not change the fact that he had helped Dvalin. Dvalin was therefore very grateful to him.
Hearing Dvalin say he wanted to thank Li Yue, Venti's eyes lit up.
"It's like this! He isn't just your benefactor, he's the benefactor of the entire Teyvat continent. Here's why..."
Venti told Dvalin how Li Yue had saved Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, cleansed the corruption within the World Tree, and rescued Andrius from the Abyss. Dvalin was astonished.
"I never expected him to be such an outstanding human!"
"That's right, he's exactly that outstanding. He doesn't even know how important the things he has done are to us. He even thinks the little Dendro Archon is merely a pitiful child, so he's now using Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's power to teach the Dendro Archon with all his might. He just lacks a sparring partner for the lessons."
"So you want me to help him teach the new Dendro Archon?"
Dvalin understood what Venti meant, and Venti nodded repeatedly.
"That's right, exactly! My dear friend, you're the only one I could think of in Mondstadt!"
"No problem. If that's all it is, I agree."
"You agree? That's wonderful! However, he has one request. Because he uses Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's power, he needs you to stay on the ground and not fly."
"No problem. I can manage that much."
Dvalin nodded in agreement.
"That's great. Let's head over now. They should already be waiting for us on the coastline below the snow mountain. Oh, right, my identity in Mondstadt is Venti, a Wind Spirit who follows the Anemo Archon. Don't call me by the wrong name later."
"Hmph. You really do love using that name."
Dvalin snorted, but his words indicated that he would follow Venti's wishes.
One god and one dragon quickly flew from Gazing Star Cliff to the coastline southeast of Dragonspine Mountain. The moment they landed, they saw Li Yue and Nahida standing on the shore, gazing into the distance.
"Li Yue!"
Venti raised a hand and greeted Li Yue, then jumped directly down from Dvalin's neck while Dvalin lowered his massive body to the ground.
"I called Dvalin over."
Li Yue raised his head to look at Dvalin.
"Thank you for coming, great East Wind Dragon."
"Mm."
Dvalin was very pleased with Li Yue's form of address. Being respectfully addressed in such a way by such an outstanding human put him in a very good mood.
"Human, thank you for helping me break free from the Poison Blood before."
"It was a trivial matter, hardly worth mentioning."
Li Yue waved his hand.
"I heard from Venti that you want to battle me once in order to teach your daughter how to use her power. Is that correct?"
Dvalin looked at Nahida beside Li Yue. Mm, she really was the Dendro Archon. This human was truly impressive, to even be able to raise the new Dendro Archon.
"That's right. I hope the East Wind Dragon can help me teach my daughter Nahida."
Li Yue was exceptionally polite.
"I forgot to introduce her. This is my daughter, Nahida."
"Hello, great East Wind Dragon. I'm Nahida, Li Yue's daughter."
Nahida cooperatively introduced herself, looking up at the towering Dragon before her with curiosity filling her eyes.
Dvalin nodded at Nahida.
"I accept your request, and like Venti, you may call me by my name."
Outstanding humans who protected Teyvat, as well as the God of Dendro, were qualified to call him by name.
"Alright, Dvalin. Can we begin now?"
"Let's begin."
Dvalin nodded. Beside him, Venti immediately pulled Nahida away, clearing the field for Li Yue and Dvalin.
Dvalin looked doubtfully at Venti, who had run several hundred meters away. He could not understand why Venti had gone so far. Wasn't Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's power the authority of dreams? What could they possibly see from that far away?
Clap—
With the sound of a clap, the ground suddenly began to shake. Li Yue, standing before Dvalin, rapidly rose in height. In just five seconds, a ferocious giant Wood Person appeared before Dvalin, its shadow directly engulfing Dvalin's entire body.
The previously puzzled Dvalin was instantly dumbfounded.
"This... this..."
"Dvalin, here I come!"
Li Yue shouted from atop the Wood Person's shoulder, and the Wood Person immediately swung a fist at Dvalin.
At that moment, Dvalin finally understood why Venti had run several hundred meters away, and why Venti had demanded that he stand on the ground earlier.
Looking at the enormous fist already before him, Dvalin only had time to furiously shout one name.
"Barbatos!!!!"
Aerial Combat King, I'm Coming In!
How capable was Dvalin, the Dragon unable to leave the ground, in close combat?
Though he certainly would not be weak due to his enormous body, he would definitely be no match for a truly specialized ground-based close-combat opponent. After all, he was neither a strength-based nor defense-oriented fighter. His body structure determined that his upper limit in ground combat was not very high.
Thus, when facing a hundred-meter-tall Wood Person, Dvalin went down.
After knocking Dvalin over with one punch, Li Yue clapped his hands together. A Wood Dragon appeared behind the Wood Person and immediately coiled around Dvalin's body, leaving him no way to flee.
What Dvalin suffered afterward was a brutal barrage of punches!
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