Arlecchino's gaze hardened, her icy demeanor snapping into focus.
"Executives, our eyes should stay on Her Majesty's grand design," she warned.
"Don't let petty grudges derail you, Doctor," she added, voice flat.
"We need an envoy to seize Barbatos' Heart of the Gnosis," she pressed.
"The Ice Queen says he's stirring—someone Mond-savvy fits best," she noted.
Dottore opened his mouth, but a sharp voice cut through the gloom.
"Then I'll go," it sneered, dripping with scorn.
"Who better? It was my home once," the speaker taunted.
Two lines, and the air thickened with bitter loathing.
Footsteps echoed, deliberate and poised, from the shadows.
A tall woman emerged, white streaks blazing in her dark hair.
A black crown mask perched atop her head, regal yet sinister.
Her robe couldn't hide slender legs, red accents flaring like embers.
A white conch-like artifact hovered at her side, humming faintly.
Cold rolled off her—Zhidong's chill fused with a deadened soul.
The Fatui's Eighth Seat, "The Lady," stood unyielding.
Dottore and Arlecchino exchanged a glance, then nodded.
"You're the pick—Mond's your old haunt," Dottore mused.
"No one knows it like you, ex-wind child," Arlecchino agreed.
A Mondstadt native turned Winter's blade—she fit the bill.
Dottore's brow creased, a flicker of doubt surfacing.
"That Wind Knight's a thorn—your strength might falter," he cautioned.
The Lady's eyes narrowed, a glare slicing through her mask.
"Oh? Doubting me, Doctor?" she hissed, pride stung.
He cackled, a jagged edge to his mirth.
"Go if you must—here, take this," he relented.
Yin-yang barbs were their norm—Dainsleif alone shunned the game.
Dottore tossed her a metal orb, its surface etched with runes.
Her surprise flickered, curiosity piercing her frost.
"It's for Ye Ruo—his wind mastery's unmatched," Dottore explained.
"His Anemo Vision's honed beyond any I've seen," he continued.
"His body's a riddle—wind itself bends to him," he mused.
"'Tianluodiwang'—a trap tailored to cage his gusts," he revealed.
"Learn its tricks—snare him, and he's mine to dissect," he urged.
"I crave what fuels him past a Vision's limits," he laughed, dark.
A vital Zhidong experiment chained him here, slicing proxies.
Otherwise, he'd hunt Ye Ruo himself, scalpel in hand.
The Lady pocketed the orb, her scoff sharp and haughty.
"Wind Knight? A half-grown whelp—hair barely sprouted," she mocked.
"I'll drag him back if I cross him," she vowed.
She swept out, preparations for Mond already in motion.
Mondstadt slumbered, oblivious to the storm brewing north.
Crowds thronged Ye Ruo's "Wind and Bird" bookstore, buzzing.
They clutched Mora, eager for the second Old Mond volume.
The cliffhanger had left them ravenous, tempers frayed.
"How dare it stop there?!" a smith had roared, veins popping.
Novelists gawked—Ye Ruo's "chapter break" was genius.
"Steal that trick—it hooks them hard," one scribbled, awed.
A trend ignited—broken chapters rippled through the craft.
Ye Ruo shrugged—"Not my fault!"—and raked in the fame.
Idol Debut and Windhaven fans swelled the lines too.
New readers tumbled into his orbit, hooked by the hype.
The store's doors swung wide, and chaos erupted.
Sales soared—Ye Ruo's wealth piled high, a quiet empire.
Buyers tore into Old Mond Volume Two, eyes alight.
The Gunnhildr saga resumed, hope dangling on each page.
"Breeze and the Boy" unfurled, a title that stirred whispers.
A young man resurfaced—key or decoy? Readers debated.
"Barbatos storms in now—grand and mighty!" a baker cheered.
"He'll save them—mark my words!" a maid crowed.
"Bet's still on—loser runs the gate!" a brewer snapped.
"You'll eat dust doubting our wind god," his rival growled.
The wager flared, teeth bared, as they dove in.
In that frozen past, the Gunnhildrs teetered on ruin.
Despair cloaked them—death's jaws yawned wide.
Prayers from a child, a chorus of pleas, pierced the storm.
A wind sprite heeded, frail among the north's thousand gales.
No demon god's might—just a wisp of fragile hope.
The system thrummed, Ye Ruo's legend swelling anew.
Zhidong schemed, Mondstadt read—his tale bridged worlds.
***
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