Sunday looked at Stelle rolling around on the ground throwing a tantrum, and fell into deep thought. How had he actually lost to someone like this back then?
For the Astral Express crew, the philosophical fetus could practically be called absurdly overpowered.
"Brother Sunday, are you thinking about how you even managed to lose?" Koji asked with a grin.
Sunday froze for a moment, then nodded.
"That's because your sister wasn't standing by your side. She was standing in the same formation as the Nameless," Koji said.
Hearing that, Sunday thought it over and realized that really was the case.
Back then, seeing his sister standing with the Nameless had left an awful taste in his mouth.
She was his only family, yet not only did she fail to understand him, she stood against him instead. Of course that would hurt.
Because of that, he had been nowhere near his peak condition. He had not even truly wanted to go all out. What if he accidentally hurt his sister?
That was the thought process of a top-tier siscon.
"Hypothetically," Koji said with great interest, "and I mean purely hypothetically, if the Nameless had hurt your sister, how would you have reacted, Brother Sunday?"
"Hah, Koji, you're joking... right?" Stelle was the first to speak.
The moment they met him, they could all tell just how much Sunday cared about his sister Robin. He was absolutely the pinnacle of sister-obsessed brothers.
If they had been the ones to hurt Robin, just imagining it made their scalps go numb. He would have killed them.
At that point, it would not have been a matter of escalating one day at a time. On day one, he probably would have gone straight to his ultimate move, and after that, he might even start using that same move as a basic attack.
Thinking about it now, although it did feel a little like leverage, thank goodness Robin had stood on their side. Otherwise, they would have been facing a divine Sunday with absolutely nothing holding him back.
"..."
Sunday did not answer. Just thinking about it a little made grief seize his chest so hard he could barely breathe. He did not care what happened to himself, but if anyone hurt his sister, then it would be a fight to the death.
Himeko and the others found it funny, though they also felt a little relieved.
A Sunday going all out at full power probably would not have been something they could handle, even with Acheron added to their side.
In a certain sense, in that state, divine Sunday already counted as a pseudo-Aeon. Other than an actual Aeon, nobody could defeat that version of Sunday head-on.
"Old Sunday, be honest. Can you still use that Choral Assembly, Dominicus thing or not?" Stelle asked curiously.
"Well..." Sunday did not know how to answer that. Right now, he was just an ordinary Pathstrider.
"Stelle, that's not how you should ask it," Koji added. "You should ask it like this: if something happened to Robin, would you use the Stellaron inside me to fire off Dominicus at full power?"
He had already used the Stellaron in Penacony before, so the one inside Stelle should be usable too.
"How can you say something that cold with a straight face?" Stelle's mouth twitched. What did he mean, use the Stellaron inside her to fire off Dominicus?
That was straight-up dark humor. The thought alone was enough to make her shiver.
She seriously suspected that if what Koji described really happened, Sunday might genuinely do it.
If something happened to Robin, right or wrong would no longer matter to him.
Choral Assembly—Dominicus!
Sunday gave a bitter smile. Even though he had already been somewhat assimilated by the Astral Express, that kind of dark joke was still hard for him to accept.
"Let me give you all an introduction to this place..."
By now, Koji could practically be considered a local of Teyvat, so he gave them a simple introduction to Teyvat itself, as well as the general situation of the Seven Nations.
Once Himeko and the others had taken some time to process it, surprise appeared on their faces.
"It's a very unusual world, with an exceptionally long history of civilization," Himeko said.
"You could say the era of gods ruling directly is mostly a thing of the past now. These days, things are basically left to humans to govern."
"The Anemo Archon of Mondstadt is a drunkard who loves drinking and almost never gets involved unless something major happens. The Geo Archon of Liyue is basically a carefree wanderer who enjoys roaming the mortal world..."
As Koji continued introducing the various gods, the members of the Astral Express crew all wore strange expressions.
These gods were truly unique. They were nothing like the gods in their understanding.
They felt more like gods in name only, who hardly managed anything themselves at all. There was almost a mascot-like vibe to them.
"You can't completely put it that way, Little March," Himeko said with a smile. "If the gods really do need to act, that means humanity has already run into something it cannot solve on its own."
For these nations, the gods served as a kind of deterrent. You could neglect affairs, perhaps, but you could not afford to lack a god entirely.
A weak nation had no diplomacy. Could a nation without a god truly enjoy lasting peace and stability?
If a god took action, it would always be at the final moment.
"What do you all think of the environment in this region?" Koji asked with a smile.
"The climate is very mild," Dan Heng said.
"I've heard that Barbatos used his divine power to regulate Mondstadt's climate and keep this region blessed with favorable winds and rains."
"And what if the Anemo Archon took back that divine power?" Stelle asked.
"Then the snowstorms from thousands of years ago might come sweeping back again," Koji replied.
The lone king of the tower had once used walls of wind to block the raging blizzards. After Venti became the Anemo Archon, he had also used divine power to disperse the snowstorms and regulate the climate.
Something like that obviously could not be accomplished in an instant, so even now, Venti was still using his power to shelter Mondstadt.
Just like after the Dvalin incident was resolved, when the prince or princess of the Abyss Order instinctively thought of the Anemo Archon being crowned. That so-called crowning might very well mean reclaiming those powers.
After thinking it over carefully, everyone's opinion of the Anemo Archon shifted somewhat. He might sound lazy, but when it came to the people under his protection, he truly had done a great deal for them.
"Brother Sunday, I think I finally understand what you once said."
"'If people are born weak, then from which god are the weak supposed to find peace?'" Stelle said with a smile.
Here, in every nation, it seemed like the people truly could seek help from their gods.
"Heh, Teyvat really is a miraculous world. Saying that the gods love mankind... that wouldn't be wrong, would it?" Sunday said with a smile.
Gods who sheltered humanity truly possessed a noble way of thinking. Though at the same time, it did feel a little strange.
"More or less," Koji nodded. "The gods all love humans. It's just that they express that love in different ways, and not every way is something humans can accept."
For humanity, some gods' love was nothing short of torment. Once humans could no longer endure it, the god in question would instead grow angry that humanity failed to appreciate their good intentions.
Take Mondstadt's lone king of the tower, for example. His original intention had been to block out the snowstorms, but the raging cyclones he created were something humans simply could not adapt to or endure.
There was no doubt about it: after the Archon War, the Seven Nations that remained, and the seven gods who remained, were at the very least ones humanity was capable of living alongside.
(End of Chapter)
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