Genshin Impact, Teyvat's own beloved immortal.

"Even your master has to respectfully call me 'brother,' who do you think you are?"

These were the last words the Abyss Mage heard before his death. Before he could even think about them, his head was blasted into a pile of dust by a palm lightning bolt.

Lu Sheng happened to kill an ice-type abyss mage, and he was not about to waste the opportunity. He greedily absorbed the ice elemental power from the abyss mage's body into his own.

[Ding! Elemental force detected, conversion initiation...]

[The Ice Element branch has been activated, granting a new skill: Frost Arrow—Condenses ice elemental power to generate ice spikes, which can be fired freely or combined with a bow for extended attack range.]

[Ice Element skill level has been upgraded, gaining a new skill: Ice Mirror - Creates a smooth ice mirror that can reflect low-power attacks. When encountering attacks outside its range, the ice mirror will shatter and absorb some of the power.]

It actually leveled up two levels directly. As expected, the elemental power on the Abyss Mage is much denser than that on the slime.

The two newly unlocked skills, Little Rain and Barrier, are both quite useful.

The remaining two elements are grass and water. One is blue silver entanglement, which is hard to resist just from the name. The other is endless life, which sounds like a healing skill.

Lu Sheng dealt with the Abyss Mage, while Lisa cleared out the remaining Hilichurls.

Seemingly due to excessive force, Lisa's chest heaved, and drops of sweat trickled down her snow-white neck into her cleavage.

"I never imagined the Abyss Church was behind this. I thought they had long since fallen... That Abyss Mage just mentioned Kanria and revenge... Could it be that a descendant of Kanria from back then is orchestrating all of this...? No, I have to hurry..."

She suddenly felt dizzy, lost her balance and fell, but Lu Sheng caught her in time.

"Are you OK?"

"I'm fine..." Lisa leaned on Rikuo's shoulder to recover, rubbing her throbbing temples and blaming herself, "I just overused my magic. Sigh~ It's all my fault for being too lazy. Ever since I became Mondstadt's librarian, I've been living a life of leisure, neglecting my magic training. I spend my days reading magazines or drinking afternoon tea, and my strength has deteriorated too much."

"Thanks to you being with me today, little guy. Without you, I probably wouldn't have been able to kill all those monsters so easily."

"Sister, I really owe you a huge favor..."

"It's nothing, I'll take you back to Mondstadt to rest first."

Riku bent down and carried Lisa on his back. After meeting up with the Knights who were waiting outside, they rushed back to Mondstadt together.

First, the Fatui wereted a lot of time, and now they have to send Lisa home. They definitely won't be able to go to the remaining two Temples of Favonius. Given Kaeya and Amber's efficiency, they should have finished by now.

It's a bit of a loss not to be able to enjoy the wind elemental power in the other two places, but I encountered an abyss mage along the way and stopped the loss in time, so it's not a big loss, just a small one.

When everyone returned to Mondstadt, the storm in the city had subsided. Kaeya and Amber had already returned to the Knights of Favonius ahead of time, while Lisa's team was the last to complete the mission and return to the fold.

At the Knights' headquarters, Lisa briefly recounted her and Lu Sheng's encounter in the Temple of the West Wind, and introduced the mysterious force known as the Church of the Abyss.

"The Church of the Abyss? Haven't they disappeared long ago? How come they suddenly reappeared and got involved in the Wind Demon Dragon incident?"

As Mondstadt's top intelligence strategist, Kaeya was exposed to all sorts of information, but he knew nothing about the Church of the Abyss.

According to his intelligence, the Church of the Abyss had disappeared from the continent of Teyvat a long time ago, and everyone believed that the organization no longer existed.

At this moment, Kaeya was surprised to hear that the Stormterror's rampage was caused by the Church of the Abyss.

"Does that mean all my surveillance of the Fools these past few days has been pointless? And that I've wronged them?"

Hearing Kaiya's complaints, Rikuo chuckled inwardly.

Arresting ten fools might wrongly accuse one innocent person; arresting three and then leaving one behind will inevitably result in someone escaping the net.

The Church of the Abyss, the Fools, the Knights, and myself—these four forces each harbor different intentions, yet their goals all point to the same thing.

Oh, and there's that bard who hasn't shown up yet.

The small city of Mondstadt has gathered several brilliant minds; it's unimaginable how exciting things will get later.

Mondstadt-Liyue Chapter: Chapter Twelve: Jean's Troubles

The news from the Church of the Abyss made Jean, who was already overwhelmed with worries, even more depressed.

Before the Grand Master left, he entrusted the entire Mondstadt to me. Although I was the acting Grand Master, I had always worked diligently and managed the city meticulously.

But the current situation is truly disheartening.

With great power comes great responsibility. Many people think that the position of Grand Master of the Knights of Mondstadt is glamorous, but those who are not in the position cannot do the work. Only Jean can understand the true feelings behind it.

Pressure, nothing but pressure.

The Stormterror's situation was already troublesome, not to mention that Mondstadt was now riddled with infiltration by the Fatui. Jean couldn't think of a solution to these two issues alone, and now the Abyss Church had appeared...

If I could give up this position to someone else, I would have done so long ago.

If only the raid leader were here...

"Not good! Not good!"

Barbara's urgent voice came from outside the door.

"Captain Qin! The Sky Harp... is gone!"

Upon hearing the devastating news, Qin, who was already overwhelmed by immense pressure, felt her vision go black and nearly fainted.

"What happened? Wasn't the Sky Harp always kept safe in the church?"

Kaiya also looked incredulous; nothing good had happened these past few days.

Barbara looked so aggrieved she was almost crying. Her voice trembled as she explained, "I don't know either. The church had just settled the disaster victims, and Ms. Gotlinde asked me to check the church as usual. When I arrived at the altar where the Sky Harp is enshrined, I found it was empty, so I came to report to you immediately."

Kaiya angrily retorted, "Where are the church guards? What are they doing?"

“Kaeya, don’t blame the guards. Have you forgotten? When Stormterror attacked Mondstadt, I ordered all members of the Knights of Favonius to participate in the defense. The Sky Harp must have been stolen during that chaos.”

Qin leaned wearily against the desk and said softly.

At such a critical moment, as the leader, she must not be in a hurry.

"Now we need to find out who stole the instrument and what his purpose was in stealing it."

Yes, who stole it?

Lu Sheng glanced at everyone present, then lowered his head and pretended to be deep in thought.

Kaeya: "Who else could it be? It must have been those people from the Abyss Church!"

Lisa shook her head and analyzed, "Although the Church of the Abyss acts strangely, they shouldn't have the guts to come to Mondstadt to steal things."

"You mean there's a mole within our Mondstadt?" Kaeya asked.

Lu Sheng's heart skipped a beat, but Lisa quickly added, "It's unlikely to be an inside job. Have you forgotten that there's another group in Mondstadt who might be involved in the crime?"

In an instant, Kaeya and Jean shouted out the same name in unison: "The Fools!"

"The Fools?!" Lu Sheng suddenly shouted, righteously criticizing, "Their infamy is legendary! Assassination, threats, bribery, espionage, trade wars, interference in other countries' internal affairs—their crimes are unprecedented in history!"

"It must have been done by a mob of fools!"

Hearing Lu Sheng's scathing rebuke of the Fools, everyone suspected that he had been persecuted by them before, otherwise how could he have spoken so accurately and incisively tore off their hypocritical mask?

Kaeya was puzzled: "But what do the Fatui want the Sky Harp for? They don't want to take it back to play music for fun, do they?"

The Sky Harp has been passed down through generations in Mondstadt, and there are many versions of its legend, but basically everyone just regards it as a symbol, a succession of divine authority.

It's questionable whether the harp that Barbatos, the god of wind, once played can still produce notes after all these years.

As the acting leader, Qin understands the secrets better than ordinary people, and she learned about them by chance from the old leader.

"Legend has it that whenever Lord Barbatos, the god of wind, plays the Sky Harp, Dvalin will always come from afar to quietly watch over him and listen to his songs. If I'm not mistaken, when the Sky Harp plays that old tune again, Dvalin will reappear."

After hearing this, Lisa nodded slightly and said, "I've heard this story before, so the Fatui probably stole the Sky Harp to summon Dvalin, right?"

"That's easy. I'll just grab a Fool and interrogate him to find out the answer."

Kaiya started to walk out as she spoke.

Jean called out to Kaia, "Wait! We have no evidence; this is not in accordance with diplomatic protocol."

"At a time like this, who cares about etiquette? Do we have to declare war before we can turn against the Fools?"

Ignoring Jean's attempts to stop him, Kaiya led his men away from the Knights' headquarters alone.

"Sigh~ This is all too chaotic. Oh well, let it be. It's already... beyond chaotic."

Jean seemed to have aged considerably in an instant. She sat wearily at the table, pulled over the Mondstadt map, and began to plan the operation to defend against Stormterror.

"Lisa, do we really have to fight against Stormterror?"

Qin stared intently at the Wind Demon Dragon's Nest marked with a red circle on the map, her heart filled with a mixture of emotions, mostly bitterness.

"Jane, I know what you're hesitating about. Stormterror was a divine beast that once guarded Mondstadt, and the people of Mondstadt should rightfully call it a hero."

Lisa walked over to Qin and gently patted her shoulder. At that moment, only she could truly understand Qin's predicament.

"But as the current leader of Mondstadt, your duty is to protect this land and defend your people. Mondstadt is the home of the wind and the home of all Mondstadt people. For your people and for this land, even if your former friends have fallen into demonic ways, you must take up arms."

As she spoke, Lisa raised her eyes to look at Lu Sheng.

What do you think, cutie?

Lu Sheng frowned and remained silent, having to admit that Mondstadt's nickname "Giant Baby City" was not unfounded. The people here had lived in a fairytale world for too long and had probably long forgotten what war was.

In other words, the entire city of Mondstadt and its ten kingdoms rest on Jean's shoulders. In this situation of internal and external troubles, it is already a miracle that she can stay insane.

"There are some things that I, an outsider, shouldn't be saying."

Lu Sheng finally spoke.

"In fact, for Stormterror, death is also a kind of relief. It became violent due to pollution, was controlled by the Church of the Abyss, and was forced to show its sharp teeth and claws to attack the land it once protected and slaughter the people who once worshipped it as a divine beast. If it had a choice, I think it would rather end its own life than compromise."

Jean raised her head, seemingly touched. She had always thought about things from her own and Mondstadt's perspective, but had never thought about thinking from Stormterror's perspective.

Yes, how could a divine beast that bravely stood up to fight the evil dragon Durin and even swallowed poisonous blood to protect Mondstadt turn around and harm the land it loves?

"Jin, give the order! No matter what, we will fight alongside you!"

Lisa's words gave Qin a final boost of confidence.

"Very well! For Mondstadt, for the glory of the Knights of Favonius!"

Qin stood up, sweeping away her hesitation and doubt, and drew her sword to stab the Wind Demon Dragon's Nest on the map.

"All members of the Knights of Favonius, prepare for battle! Join me in conquering the dragon Dvalin! Defend Mondstadt!"

Mondstadt-Liyue Chapter: Chapter Thirteen: "The Lady"

"Lu Sheng, could you do me a favor?"