After thinking so much, Victor Wang stretched lazily, unable to feel even a trace of sleepiness.
Because after thinking through all of this, he still hadn't reached the question of his own existence.
He turned over, got out of bed, and stood before the wardrobe mirror, examining the face reflected there—the face that now bore four extra violet-black eyes.
After obtaining [The Two Ends of Beginning and End] the second extra eye from the left had closed and vanished. This left the eyes on his forehead asymmetrical. If he could choose, he hoped that the next to disappear would be the second one from the right.
The beauty of asymmetry only needs to exist in the leg rings, he thought. In a place like this, I really can't appreciate it—symmetry just looks better.
He put on his mask, climbed out through the window, and took off into the air, rising above the inn.
Though the roof of the inn slanted sharply, small platforms had been built to accommodate windows—narrow, but still large enough for someone to lie on.
He lay there on the roof, and this time, he could truly gaze up at the vast, unobstructed night sky.
According to his earlier reasoning, all of Teyvat's past had now been strung together in a logical way. It was still speculation, of course—but this time, he planned to season it with something different. This was his imagined chronicle—The [Complete Record of Sun and Moon].
[Before the Descent of the Primordial One]
Teyvat was originally a world of blinding light—the Light Realm—where the concentration of elemental energy was extremely high. The creatures born there were elemental beings of nature, and at the top of that hierarchy were the dragons.
[The Descent of the Primordial One]
The Primordial One descended and created four shadows, then wrapped Teyvat in a barrier that cut it off from the universe and the true world, all in preparation to seal away a certain temptation.
[Forty Years After the Descent of the Primordial One]
The Primordial One spent forty years subduing the seven dragons, then carved out a lower-realm—the Human Realm—where elemental concentration was weaker. There, he created the mountains and rivers, the grass and forests, the birds, beasts, fish, insects—and humankind itself.
The world of dragons was taken from them. Some dragons submitted; others plotted revenge. Nibelung broke through the barrier and went beyond the world to seek new power.
Under the rule of the Primordial One, humans lived in peace and happiness. The only forbidden act was succumbing to that temptation, for the Primordial One believed the channel to it had already been sealed.
[Four Hundred Years After the Descent of the Primordial One]
Nibelung returned from beyond the world, having obtained a power of darkness. He led the dragons in a war of vengeance, bringing devastation and destruction—but also planting in the land a dangerous longing to break free of its shackles.
Around that same time, an outsider fell in love with an ancestor of the Seelie race. Perhaps this outsider was Nibelung—or perhaps the Second, or even the Third Descender.
The Primordial One defeated Nibelung, but the seal that had held back the temptation was broken upon Nibelung's return. To purify the land, he unleashed a cleansing storm of heaven and earth—and cursed the Seelie, fearing those who knew too much might betray him or fall to corruption. Only the nation of Byakuyakoku, protected by the Ruler of Time, and the dragons—creatures born from elemental force and impossible to truly destroy—survived with this knowledge.
[After the War—Early Stage of Power Diminution]
The Primordial One began to lose faith that humanity could resist the temptation. Gradually, he severed contact with humans. When signs of temptation appeared, he sent down the Celestial Nails to purge them. Human civilizations rose and fell, over and over.
[After the War—Middle Stage of Power Diminution]
When the Primordial One could no longer suppress the dragons, he sealed their ancient authority within seven divine thrones—though perhaps that power had long been in his hands already.
Together with another Descender, he forged the Gnosis from the bones of the Third Descender—a device that could command the ancient dragon authority. Through this, he sought to enlist powerful beings of the land to help him suppress the dragons.
[After the War—Final Stage of Power Diminution: The Archon War]
The Archons—the so-called "gods"—entered the Archon War willingly or unwillingly, a grand experiment of survival. From that struggle emerged the Seven Archons, and later, the holders of Visions.
[The Failing of the Primordial One's Functionality]
The Scarlet King was the first to come into contact with forbidden knowledge. Understanding its danger, he chose to end his life before the Celestial Nail descended—or perhaps, by that time, the Nails no longer fell at all.
Khaenri'ah had been developing in secret for a long time. Perhaps its people learned to wield the power of the Abyss—a force from beyond this world—under the guidance of the Descender prince, Aether.
Or perhaps they simply calculated that the Primordial One could no longer act proactively. Maybe they were discovered by the Sustainer of Celestial Principles—or maybe something went wrong internally. Either way, the Khaenri'ah War erupted.
Khaenri'ah fell.
[The Death of the Primordial One—Birth of New Gods]
The Primordial One, the First Sustainer of Celestial Principles, was dying. The true Creator had not yet arrived. The boundaries of Teyvat shattered. The current Acting Sustainer fell into slumber during the Khaenri'ah War. The Cryo Archon raised her banner of rebellion, while the Abyss Order inherited Khaenri'ah's will to use Abyssal power. Judging by the stability of the Abyss Heralds now, that power seemed to have finally been stabilized.
"Seems about right…" murmured Victor Wang.
Nibelung's dark power from beyond the world, the Scarlet King's forbidden knowledge validated by Apep, and Khaenri'ah's so-called power from beyond—all bore the same signature.
They were one and the same—the Abyss.
From the Scarlet King's forced suicide, and from the differing attitudes of Aether, the Khaenri'ahn prince, and Dainsleif, captain of the royal guard, one could infer the nature of that power. The Abyss granted unimaginable strength—but at a terrible cost.
The people of Khaenri'ah became Hilichurls. Perhaps their Abyssal power ran out of control, as with the Scarlet King, causing a nationwide mutation. Whether they literally became Hilichurls, or whether the Sustainer of Celestial Principles transformed them to contain the spreading corruption—that remains uncertain.
It might have been a true curse, or perhaps a calculated containment. After all, Hilichurls, Ruin Knights, and Abyss Heralds all thrive within Abyssal energy instead of suffering from it—proof that they've adapted to it. Clearly, that power didn't come from the Sustainer who views the Abyss as a monstrous threat.
That also explains Dainsleif's and Kaeya's attitude toward the Abyss. They knew how easily its power could spiral out of control. Their homeland had been destroyed by it—so they rejected it completely.
But Aether, as a Descender, once journeyed alongside Dainsleif after Khaenri'ah's fall—their time in Sumeru was clearly an act of penance. He must have supported the use of the Abyss back then…
Yet, to rebuild Khaenri'ah, to end the endless torment of the Hilichurls, to defy the Sustainer and finish that unfinished war—to achieve any of it, he could rely on nothing but the Abyss. Its instability was like a ticking time bomb.
Perhaps he hesitated once—which is why he could still walk beside Dainsleif then.
Until he met the one who called themselves the "Sinner."
That Sinner might be the very embodiment of Khaenri'ah's runaway Abyssal power. The Sinner's transformation of Caribert gave Aether hope—that perhaps the Abyss could be controlled after all. And so, the Loom of Fate began to turn once more.
He chose the Abyss again—and from that choice came the split, even enmity, between him and Dainsleif.
So, the bodies of the Hilichurls must be…
At least partially shaped by Abyssal power. And perhaps, to prevent them from leaking that power into the world, the Sustainer altered their bodies to stabilize them—allowing them to live, yet never reincarnate, condemned to fade slowly in a living death.
If the Primordial One were still active, he might have simply struck Khaenri'ah with Celestial Nails as he did with Nibelung—purging it utterly. But perhaps Khaenri'ah hid too deeply, or perhaps the Nails could no longer be cast down. The Sustainer had no choice but to take lesser measures.
Moreover, "Sustainer of Heavenly Principles" is a title—not a single being. The entity who tore Lumine and Aether apart is almost certainly not the first Sustainer, but rather an acting one.
As for the Primordial One himself…
The bright version of the Primordial One was like the Lord of the Tower—protecting humanity from the Abyss, but limiting their freedom.
The dark version resembled the Sages of Sumeru—creating and raising humanity only to harvest their willpower.
And then there was a gray version—one who created the Human Realm, then let humanity flourish or perish on its own, their collective will nourish the ley lines, which in turn sustained the balance of the world.
That, then, was his conjecture—the supposed truth of a world tainted by the Abyss.
"Let's just go with that for now," Victor Wang muttered with a self-deprecating laugh.
"No matter if it's right or wrong, whatever the truth may be… knowing it won't help me turn back into a human."