Stormterror's arrival had thrown Mondstadt into turmoil. Though the knights of the Knights of Favonius were skilled, none of them had the ability to fly. Even with Wind Gliders, it was impossible to engage a dragon under these conditions. As a result, they could only focus on basic defensive measures for now.
At that moment, a foreign traveler suddenly took to the skies and began battling Stormterror head-on — and astonishingly, she seemed to have the upper hand. The citizens of Mondstadt, witnessing this scene unfold before their eyes, were riveted. Both the Knights of Favonius and the Church, as well as agents of the Fatui, all looked up to watch the aerial duel.
The citizens prayed fervently for this mysterious hero's victory.
Guided by Su Mo's instructions, Lumine led Stormterror toward the Wind God Plaza. Midway through the flight, dark clouds began gathering overhead. Within mere seconds, rain poured down in torrents, drenching the city as though great buckets of water were being dumped from the heavens.
And yet, strangely, not a single drop touched Lumine. Even without actively using Anemo to shield herself, the rain avoided her completely. Instantly, she understood. Glancing downward, she whispered to herself, "It must be Su Mo's doing."
Her guess was correct. At that moment, Su Mo and Paimon were making their way to Wind God Plaza, and the sudden downpour over the city was indeed his handiwork. The massive rainfall drenched Stormterror, leaving him thoroughly soaked.
"So this is what applying 'wet status' looks like," Su Mo muttered under his breath.
Once he felt the timing was perfect, Su Mo snapped his fingers with a crisp snap! The torrential rain came to an abrupt stop, though the dark clouds above remained. Instead, they gave way to a fierce blizzard and a hailstorm — not over the entire city, but localized directly above Stormterror. From the sky, snowflakes and hail pelted the dragon relentlessly, as if endless buckets of ice were being emptied upon him. Yet, just like before, the raging storm carefully avoided Lumine.
Stormterror let out a furious roar but found himself unable to escape the barrage. The hail and snow didn't cause him any real harm — the ice striking his massive body was hardly painful. However, the traces of elemental knowledge lingering in Dvalin's mind warned him that he couldn't allow this to continue.
Standing beside Su Mo, Venti finally understood his plan and couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, "Oh! So that's how you're doing it? Brilliant!" For a moment, Su Mo nearly mistook Venti's tone for that of Ellin, the overenthusiastic future knight. But Venti, unaware of Su Mo's internal musing, was simply relieved. Having always known the overwhelming scope of Su Mo's power — even greater than Venti's own in his prime — he had feared Su Mo might resort to simply slaying Dvalin outright. Now, seeing his far more merciful approach, Venti could finally relax.
Even Paimon started to catch on. "Is this that elemental reaction thing? I remember… water plus ice equals… freeze, right?" Although Paimon didn't possess a Vision and her understanding of elemental reactions was hazy, she still remembered the most basic Freeze combination.
"Exactly." Su Mo nodded. By now, they had crossed the final steps and arrived at Wind god Plaza. Before them stood the towering statue of the Anemo Archon.
"My plan is to freeze Dvalin first, rendering him unable to cause further chaos. As for calming him down and helping him regain his senses… that will be the bard's job," Su Mo explained to Paimon. While the elements of Teyvat themselves weren't special, their reactions often differed from those in other worlds. Ice alone couldn't freeze — it required the combination of Hydro and Cryo to trigger the Freeze reaction. That's why Su Mo had manipulated the weather, first drenching Stormterror and now unleashing the blizzard.
In the original game, Stormterror, as a boss, was immune to crowd control effects. But before divine power, even a mighty dragon had no choice but to submit.
Just as Su Mo finished his explanation, Lumine successfully lured Stormterror directly above Wind god Plaza. At that moment, the blizzard intensified. The moisture coating Dvalin's body rapidly froze into layers of solid ice, slowly creeping inward until the struggling dragon was completely encased, transformed into a massive floating ice sculpture.
Ordinarily, such a frozen behemoth would have crashed heavily to the ground. But under Su Mo's gentle manipulation of Anemo, the frozen dragon was guided downward gracefully, landing with a soft thud directly before the statue of Barbatos. The enormous ice-encased dragon knelt as if bowing before the Anemo Archon — a scene that vividly mirrored Dvalin's first encounter with Barbatos long ago, causing Venti to fall briefly into nostalgia.
Moments later, with a soft tap, Lumine landed gracefully beside them. Her gaze briefly met Su Mo's, her expression still flustered, though not to the point of fleeing like before.
"So… this is Stormterror?" Paimon curiously floated up to the enormous frozen dragon. It was her first time seeing such a creature this close. Through the transparent ice, Dvalin's features remained vivid, almost lifelike — or rather, still alive. In Teyvat, after all, boars frozen for centuries or butterflies sealed in amber for millennia could still spring back to life. The preservation properties of ice were remarkable.
Venti, too, was at ease because Su Mo's approach preserved both Dvalin's life and ended the immediate crisis. It was a perfect solution. The reason Venti hadn't thought of this himself wasn't due to laziness — simply put, almost no one aside from Su Mo possessed the ability to freeze a creature of Dvalin's size. Perhaps only the Hydro and Cryo Archons together might have managed it, but that was entirely unrealistic.
Though Venti had long known that Su Mo could command the skies, manipulating wind and lightning, this was his first time witnessing Su Mo's control over frost, snow, and rain — making him even more formidable than Venti had imagined. Yet, unlike before when he had some lingering caution about Su Mo's overwhelming power, Venti now felt no unease. Anyone whom the Traveler trusted so deeply could not possibly be evil.
Cheerfully, Venti leapt onto Dvalin's frozen head and, unfazed by the cold, sat atop the dragon's head while plucking a few chords from his lyre. "Yes, this is Dvalin!" he happily confirmed to Paimon, ignoring the fact that the conscious but immobile dragon beneath him was glaring up at him. After all, Su Mo had only frozen Dvalin's body, leaving his mind completely awake.
"Incredible… you actually froze Stormterror solid." Paimon floated higher to examine the full scale of the dragon, awe written across her face. "Su Mo, you're too powerful!"
Venti and Lumine both nodded in agreement. Even though they had spent considerable time alongside Su Mo, this was the first time Lumine had truly seen the extent of his power firsthand. Compared to destroying Hilichurl camps or casually shifting the weather, this — freezing an ancient dragon mid-air — was an entirely different level. It was nothing short of divine might.
Moreover, the strength granted to her through Su Mo's blessing astonished her even more. She, who had barely begun mastering the power of Anemo, had been able to overwhelm Stormterror with ease under his protection. It was almost absurd. Lumine couldn't help but think, if she had possessed such power back when she fought that unknown god…
With Su Mo's blessing, Lumine couldn't help but wonder if perhaps things might have turned out differently in her past battle had she possessed such power then. Although, thinking of the way that blessing was granted still made her a little embarrassed. As everyone silently reflected on similar thoughts, an unfamiliar young man's voice suddenly rang out, carrying a hint of slick charm, yet laced with seriousness.
"Quite impressive indeed!" the man remarked. "To have the strength not only to battle a dragon but to freeze one entirely. Tell me, are you guests of Mondstadt? Or perhaps… a new storm brewing on the horizon?"
The speaker approached, drawing everyone's attention. Draped in a snowy white fur cloak of some unknown creature and wearing an eyepatch over his right eye, he looked somewhat like a pirate. Su Mo glanced up and instantly recognized him — Captain of Cavalry, though more commonly known as Kaeya.
At the same time, the man introduced himself, "I am Kaeya, Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonius. Welcome to Mondstadt, heroes who have brought down the dragon!"