Ryan, uncharacteristically somber, murmured, "Still, by the time all that happens, the world might already be at peace. And if that's the case, the organization might not even need to exist anymore."
"Wiping out the Abyss Order and the Battle Technique Hunters will bring peace to the world? What about the Fatui?"
What about Celestia?
"That's why I said 'maybe'. Maybe by then, the Cryo Archon will just dissolve the Fatui herself."
"What does she have to do with it?"
Sure, the Abyss was a cancer on Teyvat—but the Fatui were no better. Both were villainous forces.
And the Battle Technique Hunters… they hadn't even appeared in the game. If not for the Grand Instructor, Victor probably wouldn't have gotten involved with them at all.
"This leads us to the Battle Technique Hunters. Remember what I told you last time? The regular members are fallen Vision holders—but their leadership? Not so."
"The Four Heavenly Kings?" Victor threw out the cheesy nickname.
"Exactly. And not only are they not ordinary people—they weren't even born in Teyvat."
"!"
Victor tensed, caught between suspicion and performance. "Not born in Teyvat? What do you mean?"
Ryan nodded with satisfaction. "They came from outside of Teyvat. Shocking, right? I was floored when I first heard it. Who would've thought there are other worlds beyond this one?"
"No way!"
Victor displayed open skepticism—though his doubts weren't for the same reasons Ryan assumed. That was exactly the effect he wanted.
The Fatui called such foreign beings Descenders, and Lumine ranked fourth.
According to Nahida's deductions, the first Descender was Celestia itself.
But from Victor's perspective, the First Throne came before that. Celestia and the Original Four Shadows were its creations. The second Descender was likely the Second Throne. The third might've been Alice—or another unseen figure.
Where did the Battle Technique Hunters' Four Heavenly Kings fit into that?
Wait… Nahida only said Lumine was fourth, not that there were only four Descenders...
"Ahahaha!" Ryan laughed heartily, relishing Victor's supposed ignorance. The satisfaction of withholding knowledge—he clearly enjoyed the gap.
After a good laugh, he patted Victor on the shoulder.
"Listen up, kid. The Battle Technique Hunters' leadership really are from beyond Teyvat.
"According to records within the organization, a god tried to strike them down two hundred years ago. They vanished afterward. Now think: what place could a god not reach? That's right—outside the world."
Victor was bewildered. Did the Four Heavenly Kings just… fly into space? Didn't that mean they'd slam right into Celestia?
Ryan got serious.
"They escaped through the far northern border of Teyvat. That's probably where they came in, too.
"Think about it—if a few outsiders could waltz in and stir chaos, what happens if they bring more? Teyvat could be overrun.
"And the nation in the far north? Snezhnaya—the Cryo Archon's realm. If you were her, wouldn't you be nervous?"
"Huh?"
Victor finally understood. The Four Kings hadn't descended from the sky—they'd slipped in from the edges of the world…
So, do they count as Descenders? What even is this boundary? Is it the same type Alice is guarding?
Assuming Victor's confusion was about the border, Ryan explained further:
"Teyvat does have borders. The organization spent a lot to confirm that.
"If you travel far enough in one direction, eventually you'll hit a chaotic elemental zone—fierce and unstable.
"These regions are so close to the edge of the world that the elements go wild—freezing cold, searing heat, no wind, no water… barren wastelands, lightning seas. No life can survive there.
"If you make it through, you reach the border. But lifeforms from Teyvat can't cross it. Anyone who tries just ends up circling the same place endlessly—it's like being trapped in a maze. This is all based on centuries of internal expeditions."
"So now you see why defeating the Battle Technique Hunters is connected to the Cryo Archon dismantling the Fatui. The organization believes one of the Archon's main motives for growing stronger is concern over that external threat."
"…"
So… was it Alice who was originally responsible for stopping the Four Kings?
Victor recalled how she once asked, 'What if I can't wait for Klee to grow up?' It made his head throb again.
It really was a dangerous job. If she were maintaining the whole border alone… Even with teleportation, she hardly had time for her daughter.
Maybe he had no right to complain.
Blame your boss, Alice. They should've hired more help.
Still, it might not be all on her. The Four Kings came through five hundred years ago—when even Celestia couldn't hold the line. The heavens still slept. Maybe they exploited some kind of opening.
Once Victor finished piecing it all together, he turned back to Ryan. "I understand now."
"Good! Next is the info I know you've been dying to hear—about the Demonic Sword.
"Of the Four Heavenly Kings, only two have confirmed survivors from encounters: the Demonic Sword and the Demonic Ring. The others—and the Battle Technique Hunter leader—left no living witnesses. We have no reliable intel on them.
"First, the Demonic Sword. You've seen it yourself. Its main ability is to pull its victim's consciousness into a phantasm.
"One second in reality becomes a whole day inside the illusion. If you lose yourself in there, your spirit is trapped forever, doomed to play a puppet's role in the Demonic Sword's dreamworld.
"Inside that dream, anyone you're deeply familiar with is simulated from memory. Everyone else? They're other trapped souls—forced to endlessly repeat the same scenes, each second outside becoming 236 years in there."
Victor shuddered at the memory.
His family… the street pedestrians… the people at the train station… the clinic staff… his sister's roommates… that burly neighbor who banged on his door late at night…
All real people. Once full of life.
He suddenly recalled—the two-meter man who ran off that night was the Grand Instructor.
Each day Victor had spent inside… for the Grand Instructor and the rest, it was a cycle of 236 years.
The Hilichurls of Khaenri'ah had only endured 500 years.
At that rate, they'd surpass them in three days.
That kind of torment… it's inhuman.
Crack! He heard something snap in his left cheek—it was his own teeth, clenched too hard. His heart trembled, eyes flaring with rage.
"That damned monster!"
Unseen by either of them, five extra eyes on Victor's back flared open as well.
Ryan waited until Victor calmed down.
"Once you're inside the Demonic Sword's illusion, your body becomes its puppet. There are two ways to break free:
"One, sever contact with the sword.
"Two, repeat the exact same action for a full day within the illusion. That repetition will sync up with a single second in the real world and allow your real body to react."
That's how the Grand Instructor warned me… and sacrificed himself.
Ryan hesitated, then added, "I have news—not good or bad. Just news."
"What is it?"
"The night of the storm, someone saw Wilbur Cobb swimming eastward off Falcon Coast—after your encounter."
"He destroyed his own heart! How could he still be alive?"
"The sword has another ability: it can drain unresisting life force to heal its host. So… Wilbur Cobb might still be alive. But it's been six days. Even if we save him… his mind may be gone."
"What happened after it entered the sea? Did anyone follow?"
Ryan shook his head.
"The agents on site had no idea what had occurred. They didn't dare get close or track it. After that, the Demonic Sword vanished.
"But the Sword and the Ring are the most active of the Four. If the Battle Technique Hunters are back, we'll run into them again."
"I'll give you the Ring's intel too. It's stronger than the Sword—and even more dangerous.
"Like the Sword, the Ring drains unresisting life force to heal. It also pulls minds into illusions. But its range is far greater—anyone who touches its host's body gets dragged in.
"The Ring's illusion has the same time flow as reality. But it's a black void—no sky, no ground, no sun or moon. Just endless falling.
"Those trapped see only others falling around them. You can't move. You can't speak. Your voice doesn't even carry.
"And again—once you're inside, your body is controlled. There's no way to affect the real world from that illusion. If you face the Ring alone, you're as good as dead."
"They both target the mind. Maybe if someone had strong enough mental strength…"
"Who knows? But mental strength isn't something easy to train. And now that these monsters are back… who knows if they brought more with them?"
Ryan's expression darkened.
"The organization has already sent scouts to the Teyvat border. With any luck, we'll get an update soon."
Teyvat's borders have been growing weaker over the past two years… That was something Alice mentioned in the game.
Victor felt overwhelmed. The more he learned, the more perilous Teyvat seemed.
Maybe this isn't paranoia after all. Maybe… Teyvat really is on the verge of collapse.