Wind of Long Sleep

"It's over..."

Wei Zhenzu gasped for breath as the golden light in his chest dimmed.

The ruthless personality that had forced him to keep fighting receded like a tide, and the exhaustion of extreme overexertion and the agony of torn muscles washed over him at once.

His legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the platform, which was littered with shards of ice and rubble.

At the very center of the ash that filled the sky, the demonic dragon's core had been utterly shattered.

Only a faint remnant soul, glowing with a pure cyan light, drifted alone in midair.

It was the last trace of Dvalin's consciousness.

"Whoosh-"

A gentle breeze blew through the ruins.

"You always like to show up when everything's almost over, don't you?"

Wei Zhenzu weakly rolled his eyes and looked toward an empty spot nearby.

Amid a few falling Cecilia petals, the bard in a green cape finally appeared.

The smile on Venti's face was free of its usual irreverence. He gazed quietly at the remnant soul, a flicker of deep sorrow passing through his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Dvalin," Venti said softly. He walked slowly over to Wei Zhenzu and held out his hand.

"Could I borrow it for a moment, wind from another land?"

Wei Zhenzu sighed, manifested the Holy Lyre der Himmel, and handed it over.

Venti took the divine artifact that belonged to him.

Without another word, he sat down on the ground and laid the Holy Lyre der Himmel across his knees, gently plucking its strings with his slender fingers.

Clear, ethereal music flowed slowly over the deathly silent ruins.

The music carried no trace of aggression now, only endless comfort and farewell.

Venti closed his eyes and, to the accompaniment of the lyre, softly sang an ancient, soothing song:

"Sleep now, my friend of the azure sky,"

"Let the gentle breeze carry your sigh."

"The storms have passed, the chains are gone,"

"Rest in the wind, until the new dawn."

As the final note slowly faded into the air, Dvalin's cyan remnant soul seemed finally to lay down the burden it had carried for a thousand years.

It circled Venti twice, as though giving him one last nuzzle goodbye, then turned into countless specks of starlight and vanished completely into the winds of Mondstadt.

[Special Abnormality: Final Judgment Heavenly Demon::Dvalin suppressed]

[Obtained one special personality overwrite opportunity]

[Special resonance material: Forgotten Cyan Dragon Scale]

Varka, who had been standing nearby, helped Kaeya forward.

"Hah, Lord Barbatos, you've finally arrived."

Venti raised a hand, and a breeze swept past. Everyone's injuries began to heal slowly.

"Hehe, good wine is worth the wait."

Wei Zhenzu watched, his feelings mixed.

"Don't think playing a nice song means I'll forgive you for slacking off."

Wei Zhenzu muttered under his breath.

Just then, an icy gaze made his back go cold.

Vergilius had already dismissed his E.G.O.; the scarlet cape and laurel wreath were gone, and he was once again the cold-faced man in a pinstriped suit.

Vergilius shot Wei Zhenzu a cold glance and put away the short blade in his hand.

"Don't get too carried away, Manager." There was no warmth in Vergilius's voice.

"Some old friends from The City seem to have arrived quite some time ago."

"Yes, yes, Director V, you're right to lecture me..." Wei Zhenzu quickly drew in his neck. When under another's roof, one had to bow one's head.

As soon as he finished speaking, the storm above the ruins died down completely, revealing the long-unseen starry sky.

But immediately afterward, a harsh engine roar, like the bellow of a beast, abruptly shattered the peace.

The void was torn open once more.

A massive Bus Projection, the Mephistopheles, with a fearsome demon ornament on its front and dried blood covering its body, smashed wildly through the barrier of space and landed heavily in the ruined plaza with a bang.

Its wheels carved two deep, scorched tracks into the flagstones.

"The bus!"

Wei Zhenzu's flagging spirits instantly revived. Like an internet-addicted teenager reunited with his own father, he scrambled up on all fours and charged excitedly toward the bus.

"Psssh-"

The doors opened with a hiss of compressed air.

Charon, petite and wearing a large hat, leaned halfway out, holding the steering wheel with an expressionless face.

"Charon arrived on time. Mephi says it's very hungry now, but Charon has already eaten her fill."

"Charon! My dear family!" Wei Zhenzu was so moved he nearly wept as he plunged into the bus.

Inside the bus, the sinners all visibly breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the red figure was still alive.

"Hey, Manager, next time you kick up a fuss like that, could you give us a heads-up?" Heathcliff grumbled irritably, his bat over his shoulder, though the corner of his mouth still quirked subtly.

"Faust knew long ago that the Manager's vital signs were as resilient as a cockroach's." Faust sat elegantly upright in her seat.

"Buddy, you scared me half to death back there. My right arm was cramping so badly I almost couldn't get it to stop..." Gregor gave a wry smile and shook his insect arm.

"Ohhh! Manager Esquire! Thy heroic bearing just now was that of a peerless knight slaying an evil dragon in an epic! We here-mmph!"

Don Quixote's eyes shone as she excitedly rushed over, only for Wei Zhenzu to grab her head.

"There, there, there, there!"

Wei Zhenzu rubbed Don Quixote's head furiously with both hands as though kneading dough, turning her already messy blond hair into a bird's nest.

This was a living, breathing Don Quixote! That feel! That fluffy texture!

The pressure of repeatedly teetering on the edge of death moments ago found an epic release at that moment.

"M-Manager Esquire! W-what manner of wondrous knightly etiquette is this?! My head is spinning..."

Don Quixote was left dizzy from all the rubbing, her eyes turning into spirals, but she didn't push him away. Instead, she murmured happily.

Wei Zhenzu let go, thoroughly satisfied, and breathed a long sigh of relief. He ran over to the large screen he remembered from his first time on the bus.

"I'm finally back on the bus. Let me connect to the bus's Wi-Fi and claim today's monthly pass Lunacy to calm my nerves..."

Just as his finger was about to touch the screen-

"Bzz... Bzzzt..."

The large central control screen at the front of the bus suddenly emitted a piercing crackle of static. The map on the screen flickered several times, and an unknown video signal connected on its own.

The bus fell silent at once.

All the sinners instinctively gripped their weapons. Even Vergilius, who had just boarded, stopped in his tracks, his gaze darkening.

The static cleared from the screen.

A man appeared, dressed in an elegant, perfectly tailored blue medieval outfit.

He held a glass of swirling red wine with an air of grace, his long gray-blue hair hanging loosely around him. A chilling, feverish, enraptured smile adorned his handsome face.

He raised his glass on the other side of the screen, as though offering a greeting from afar.

"A pleasure to meet you, Manager from another planet."