"Baalzebul, I think it's time we had a proper talk."
When there were too many people around earlier—and with how furious she'd been about Raiden Ei trying to steal her man— the Tsaritsa hadn't been in the mood for reason.
But after hearing about the Genius's series of unbelievable feats… after witnessing that terrifying power firsthand…
She could no longer treat him as a "special subordinate."
No—he was far beyond that now.
This wasn't a matter of talent.
This was a walking divine miracle, a pillar that even she couldn't afford to lose.
It wasn't that Su Ran depended on Snezhnaya anymore— it was that Snezhnaya was clinging desperately to him.
"Hmm, maybe we should talk," Raiden Ei said quietly, "but no matter what you say, I won't give him up."
She didn't understand what the Tsaritsa was planning, but one thing was clear—
Su Ran wasn't going anywhere.
"His legs are on his own body," the Tsaritsa replied smoothly.
"Who he chooses to walk beside isn't for me to decide."
Her tone was calm, but her thoughts weren't.
Even if I have to throw away my pride—cry, beg, or cling to his thigh—I am not letting that fox-eared fool take him away.
"As long as you understand," Raiden said, apparently satisfied.
The Cryo Archon almost laughed out loud.
So simple. So gullible.
For someone thousands of years old, the Electro Archon still had the mental age of a teenager.
A creature who could fight, sure—but who clearly thought with her sword, not her head.
Not a threat, the Tsaritsa decided inwardly.
"You do realize," the Tsaritsa continued, voice soft but deliberate, "that someone like him—someone who can freely come and go from beyond this world— can't be trapped by Teyvat. Not even by Celestia."
To casually erase a god, leaving not even divine residue behind— not even the Archons could do that.
The Genius's power was something that defied imagination— true world-ending, heaven-breaking strength.
Raiden Ei fell silent.
Those words struck at her deepest fear— the fear that Su Ran might one day leave Teyvat,
and never return.
She depended on him far too much.
She couldn't bear the thought of him disappearing.
"Even Celestia can't kill me with one strike," Ei murmured after a pause.
The Tsaritsa raised a brow.
Indeed— even the puppet general who shared her power had been crushed by Su Ran effortlessly.
So there really was always someone stronger… someone higher
"Seems like there's quite a story between you two," the Tsaritsa said dryly.
She wanted to ask more—but now wasn't the time for gossip.
If they truly wanted to defy Celestia, they'd need to unite every ounce of power available.
Once, she had dismissed the idea of alliance—especially with the likes of Baalzebul.
After all, the Electro Archon had openly declared:
"None may oppose Celestia. Only Eternity is closest to the divine."
But now… things were different.
"Celestia forbids any connection between Teyvat and the outside world," the Tsaritsa said.
"If he leaves one day, we'll have no way to reach him."
Raiden's eyes flickered.
It made sense.
The sky above was false.
What lay beyond the world—no one could truly say.
"All these rules we live by," the Tsaritsa continued softly, "they exist because Celestia imposed them.
But if we break free of that shackle… wouldn't we finally be able to live freely?"
She was baiting Raiden now— and the hook was sharp.
"You're afraid of losing him," she said.
"But shouldn't you be even more afraid… of losing him forever, with no way to find him again?"
Raiden's pupils trembled.
She understood now what the Tsaritsa was implying.
"So what you're suggesting is…"
"A pact between Snezhnaya and Inazuma," the Tsaritsa said firmly.
"Together, we can keep him here. Together, we can defy Celestia.
And if he ever leaves… we'll search for him, side by side."
An alliance.
Inazuma held three god-tier beings—
Ei, the puppet Shogun, and Baal.
And Baal was no ordinary Archon— she was a true god of war, forged in the flames of the Archon War itself.
A genuine battle-hardened killer.
For someone like the Tsaritsa, that kind of power was irresistible.
"Leaving him here is in both our interests," Ei said slowly, "but you stand to gain more than I do.
I help you fight Celestia—yet you profit the most."
She wasn't entirely wrong.
With Su Ran involved, fighting Celestia no longer seemed impossible.
But why should Snezhnaya take the lion's share of the benefits?
She was the elder, after all— a senior god, not some naive child.
"Snezhnaya can provide Inazuma with vast supplies," the Tsaritsa offered.
"Resources, trade, materials. Everything you need for development."
Raiden almost laughed.
"You mean development for a nation whose people now live in eternal dreamscapes—
free from hunger, pain, and death?"
The Tsaritsa's smile froze.
Right.
Since Su Ran's arrival, Inazuma's citizens had transcended physical needs entirely.
What use were material goods to spirits who lived in everlasting peace?
Her expression darkened.
Then, her eyes sharpened.
"Baalzebul," she said softly, "you don't want to watch him walk away from Teyvat… while you stand powerless, do you?"
There it was—the real strike.
Forget promises, forget bribes.
Fear was always more effective.
Because profit could be divided unequally, but crisis fell equally upon them all.
And the Tsaritsa knew Raiden well enough by now.
For all her talk of "Eternity," she was cautious— a god who would rather hold still than lose what she loved.
And nothing terrified her more than the thought of losing him.
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