Neuvillette pondered for two seconds before speaking.
"So… that 'certain power' just now."
"In other words, the Primordial Authority awakened some kind of memory within Focalors, causing her to feel familiar with the Sect Leader?"
Furina froze for a moment.
She looked at Focalors, then turned to Gu Chen in confusion.
"Why though?"
Gu Chen seemed thoughtful but didn't answer.
Focalors rubbed her temples. She appeared slightly more awake now.
As soon as she recovered a bit, she hurriedly asked:
"You… why are you all here…?"
"Has the prophecy crisis been resolved?!"
Seeing that Focalors' first concern wasn't herself but Fontaine's prophecy, the citizens watching from afar were deeply moved.
What had Fontaine done to deserve a God of Justice who always kept her people in her heart?
"Don't worry."
Neuvillette gestured reassuringly.
"In a certain sense, your plan and everything you intended to do has already been exposed."
"It's now known to the entire world."
"Even Heavenly Principles have seen it."
"But there's no need to worry."
"The prophecy will no longer happen."
After all, Skirk was now in the group chat.
Even if she was quiet and aloof, she would certainly restrain the All-Devouring Narwhal for the time being.
As for other possibilities triggering the prophecy…
Neuvillette wasn't concerned.
"Is that so?"
Focalors let out a long breath.
It felt as if a massive stone pressing on her heart had finally fallen away.
Her entire demeanor suddenly seemed lighter.
"Gu Chen…"
Focalors turned toward him.
Her face—identical to Furina's—looked at him for a long moment before she suddenly smiled.
"It should have been you, right?"
Gu Chen raised an eyebrow.
"What are you asking?"
"The prophecy crisis."
"Unfortunately," Gu Chen said with a shake of his head.
"I haven't solved it yet."
"At least not personally."
"But don't worry."
"When saving someone, you finish the job."
"When sending a Buddha off, you send it all the way."
Focalors nodded softly, smiling.
"It's strange."
"Why I have memories about you."
"But the way you speak…"
"It perfectly matches the you in my memories."
Gu Chen simply smiled without replying.
Furina watched for a while, completely confused.
She quietly poked Gu Chen in the waist and whispered:
"Sect Leader… what's going on?"
Gu Chen glanced at her.
"I don't know either."
Chat Group
Kaeya:
"'I don't know either.'"
Zhongli:
"'I don't know either.'"
Venti:
"If anyone else said that I'd believe it."
"But when the Sect Leader says it, somehow it sounds suspicious." 😏
Albedo:
"It's quite obvious."
"We may not know what the 'Primordial Authority' Neuvillette mentioned truly is."
"But it awakened memories of the Sect Leader within Focalors."
Shikanoin Heizou:
"Hold on, let's stop joking."
"There are too many inconsistencies."
"Everyone knows the Sect Leader only arrived in Teyvat recently."
"Focalors didn't learn about him through the Oratrice."
"Nor through the videos."
"And judging by her situation, she had no contact with the outside world."
"So how could she possibly know him?"
"Did she have the ability to see the future?"
"That doesn't make sense either—if she could see the future, she wouldn't have made such a plan."
"Can someone provide clues?" 😓
Kaveh:
"I recognize every word you said…"
"But together they make my brain hurt."
Alhaitham:
"The former Grand Sage hides many secrets."
"But on the matter of when he arrived in Teyvat, I believe he told the truth."
"So perhaps we should ask the Mrs. Gus."
Albedo:
"If I remember correctly…"
"Someone once mentioned that the rewards from the videos weren't new memories."
"They were awakened memories buried deep within the heart."
Ganyu:
"That's correct."
Raiden Ei:
"Mm."
Albedo:
"Then let's consider a hypothesis."
"What if Focalors is the protagonist of a future video?"
"And the power called the Primordial Authority happened to awaken her sealed memories?"
Kaeya:
"Holy—"
Osial:
"Wait. That makes it even more terrifying."
Nilou:
"Huh? Why terrifying?"
"If Focalors is a future protagonist, isn't that good?"
"More ships to support!" 🎉
Tighnari:
"Hold on."
"The terrifying part is why the memory was sealed in the first place."
"And what the last five hundred years of Focalors' life really mean."
Arataki Itto:
"I understood even less after reading that."
Kuki Shinobu:
"Let me simplify."
"Suppose you're twenty years old."
"You once spent twelve years living with Mr. Gu Chen."
"But you can't remember it now."
"One day you suddenly recall everything."
"But you're still twenty."
"So where did those twelve years in your memory go?"
Albedo:
"Interesting analogy."
"So let's make an even bigger hypothesis." 😏
Venti:
"What if the Teyvat we're living in isn't a simple world?"
"What if every past life the Sect Leader experienced really happened in a real Teyvat?"
"And the people he met—like the protagonists of those videos—were extracted and merged into our world?"
"Their memories sealed by some unknown power."
"They live out their lives along predetermined paths."
"And only when the Exposure System reveals everything… do they remember."
Itto:
"…What?"
Zhongli:
"In other words…"
"Everyone in this world—perhaps even every living being—could be a reincarnator or transmigrator."
Tartaglia:
"Holy—"
"So my buffs are stacked to max?"
"I'm the protagonist now?" 😆
Skirk:
"Interesting theory."
"You're quite bold."
Paimon:
"But what about single-line histories?"
Venti:
"There are still loopholes."
"But I think the old man's guess is close to the truth."
"Have you noticed?"
"Most of the videos repair past regrets."
"Raiden Ei's sister returned."
"Buer wasn't forgotten."
"Diluc's father came back."
"Little by little…"
"Our world is becoming more complete."
Kaveh:
"More complete?"
"People still die every second."
Alhaitham:
"Not perfect in that sense."
"Just… more fulfilled overall."
Layla:
"I already have to write a thesis."
"Why am I reading something that makes my brain hurt this much?" 😭
Sayu:
"Can't understand."
"Going to sleep."
Heizou:
"We're still missing key evidence."
"But one thing seems likely."
"Zhongli's theory might be correct."
"Because Focalors herself is the proof."
Kaeya:
"Alright, that's enough analysis."
"Let's discuss something else."
"Did anyone notice the way Focalors looks at the Sect Leader?"
"It's different from how she looks at others." 😏
Osial:
"The Sect Leader is clearly a veteran sea king."
"He leaves affection everywhere."
Zhongli:
"The Sect Leader is indeed like that."
Nilou:
"What did Mr. Gu Chen ever do to you?!"
Collei:
"I get it!"
"They're jealous they aren't girls!"
"So they can't marry Mr. Gu Chen!"
Yae Miko:
"That actually sounds plausible." 😏
Keqing:
"I can't look at these people the same way anymore."
Back in the Opera Epiclese.
Furina and Neuvillette explained everything that had happened recently.
Focalors finally understood the situation.
She looked at Gu Chen solemnly.
"Thank you."
Gu Chen accepted calmly.
"For now, I've only separated you from the Oratrice."
"There are still things left to do."
"There's no such thing as guarding against thieves forever."
"Soon, I'll completely eliminate the prophecy crisis."
"Wouldn't that trouble you too much?" Focalors asked.
Even though she had fragments of memories about him, they weren't close.
Receiving such a huge favor made her uneasy.
"It's no trouble," Gu Chen said.
"Exactly!"
Furina chimed in energetically beside him.
"You're thinking too small!"
"This is the Sect Leader we're talking about!"
"The strongest Sect Leader in heaven and earth!"
Gu Chen: "…"
Listening to his own fan praising him loudly while standing right next to him felt… indescribable.
Focalors looked at Furina, unsure what to say.
Not because of Gu Chen.
But because Furina now looked nothing like the dignified Hydro Archon she used to portray.
She was lively and chattering like a little sparrow.
Especially when talking about how amazing Gu Chen was.
Neuvillette, having mentally prepared himself for Furina's personality change, wasn't surprised at all.
"You all talk."
"I'll handle the rest."
Gu Chen finished speaking.
Cracks like spiderwebs spread through space around him.
Light shattered.
Void swallowed his entire figure.
Furina stamped her foot in frustration.
She had wanted to watch in person.
Now she had to run to the audience seats and watch through the livestream.
The Stream
Behind Gu Chen stretched an endless darkness.
Ahead lay an ocean of stars—billions of galaxies floating within.
Yet from Gu Chen's perspective, the stars seemed strangely illusory.
He ignored it.
Instead, he raised his right hand.
The vast universe rapidly shrank.
Soon—
It rested in the palm of his hand.
Kaeya:
"???"
Azhdaha:
"Brother…"
"We're just solving a prophecy."
"Do you have to make it look like you're destroying the entire universe?!" 😨
Skirk:
"I can't even feel that our universe is in his hand."
Heavenly Principles' Sustainer:
"I feel nothing either."
"But Teyvat is definitely in his palm."
Nilou:
"The stars look fake…"
Venti:
"They are."
"Teyvat's sky is false."
"Behind that darkness behind the Sect Leader is the real 'outside world.'"
Gu Chen looked down at the universe in his palm.
He pressed his left hand over it.
The spherical cosmos flattened.
Like a painting being pressed into paper.
Soon—
The map of Teyvat appeared before him.
Threads of light appeared across the map.
Thousands of colors intertwined.
As Gu Chen moved his fingers, most lights disappeared.
Finally, eight pillars of light remained.
Seven representing the Seven Archons.
And one representing the judgment of Fontaine's original sin.
Albedo:
"The colors correspond exactly to the Seven Archons and their territories."
"The extra one must be the power judging Fontaine's original sin."
Kaeya:
"So this is the Sect Leader…"
"The whole world sitting in his palm like a painting."
"Terrifying."
Apep:
"This might not even be solely the Sect Leader's power."
Azhdaha:
"Seven colors represent the Seven Archons."
"If he pulls one out, an Archon might die."
"Zhongli, are you sweating yet?"
Zhongli:
"To the Sect Leader…"
"Teyvat is merely a painting."
"A few strokes."
"A few erasures."
"In front of him, you, I, and all living beings are the same."
Kaeya:
"Suddenly it feels like knowing the Sect Leader is an honor."
Gu Chen:
"Then why don't you kowtow to me?" 😏
Kaeya:
(posts a video of Venti kowtowing)
Venti:
"So that's the group's universal kowtow video?!"
In the void.
Gu Chen drew out the two threads belonging to Fontaine.
One extinguished in his palm.
The other condensed into a pure droplet of water.
He waved his hand.
The painting of Teyvat returned to an endless starry sea.
The next moment—
Gu Chen stood once again inside the Opera Epiclese.
Furina stared.
"…You're done already?!"
"What else?" Gu Chen replied.
Clorinde sighed.
"That was easier than correcting a typo on paper."
Neuvillette nodded in agreement.
Focalors spoke thoughtfully.
"That droplet…"
"It should be my divine throne—and the authority Neuvillette lacked, right?"
Gu Chen nodded.
He handed the droplet to Neuvillette.
"Sorry."
"I split your throne without permission."
Focalors shook her head.
"You've resolved a burden in my heart."
"Returning it to Neuvillette is perfect."
"Besides…"
"My throne was separated, yet I suffered no harm."
"You solved the prophecy crisis and my dilemma at once."
"I should be thanking you."
Gu Chen smiled.
He nodded to Neuvillette.
The droplet merged into his body.
At that moment—
He became the complete Dragon Sovereign.
Neuvillette declared solemnly:
"I, Neuvillette, Chief Justice of Fontaine—"
"Hereby proclaim the absolution of all sins of the people of Fontaine!"
"Wooooooo!!!"
Furina raised her arms and cheered.
She bounced excitedly before planting her hands on her hips.
"The divine throne is gone!"
"The Hydro Archon's position no longer exists!"
"Yet Focalors is unharmed!"
"Neuvillette has become a complete dragon!"
"And Fontaine's prophecy crisis is gone!"
"This…"
"Is a perfect ending!"
Chat Group
Osial:
"Casually rewriting a god's fate."
"This is the Sect Leader!"
"SECT LEADER IS AWESOME!!"
Venti:
"SECT LEADER IS AWESOME!!"
Azhdaha:
"SECT LEADER IS AWESOME!!" 🎉
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