What… is that thing over there?
The Archon… is he all right?
While briefly coming up to the Jade Chamber to fetch some things, Keqing couldn't help glancing back at the place where the black clouds clustered. She knew that was the realm of wind—Mondstadt—but she had no idea what was tearing up the sky there, nor what terrible force had driven the Archon to utter such words.
Could it be… that white-haired girl?
The thought dragged her back to recent events—she still couldn't understand everything that had happened, because the Adepti and the Archon hadn't told the Seven Stars the full truth.
What's that—? No, that can't be…
Just as Keqing tried to look away, the clouds in the distance suddenly ripped open as if torn by an invisible hand. In an instant the place that should have been smothered by blackness turned washing-blue, sunlight pouring through a clean rift; elsewhere the clouds piled on as before, making the sky look cleaved in two. The sight was staggering.
Boom—boom—boom—
Before Keqing could fully process it, a series of thunderous crashes rolled from the distance: the peak of Dragonspine had snapped and tumbled into the sea. Because she was looking that way, Keqing saw it happen. Her eyes went blank—she could hardly believe what she was seeing—but the missing summit proved it was real. She was not dreaming.
So this is the Archon's enemy? A battle between gods?
Suddenly everything clicked. She had read many records describing the Archon Wars of a thousand years past, but nothing in ink had prepared her for this scale of awe. What kind of being was over there? What had happened to the Archon? Was he—okay?
"Keqing, worrying about the Archon again? That won't do." Ningguang approached, an edge of reproach in her voice. "We do not have the standing—or the means—to interfere. Leave it to the Archon. We each have our duties here."
"I understand…"
Keqing forced herself to collect her thoughts and turned to go take the items she'd come for, but Ningguang stared oddly into the distance, expression blank. Keqing glanced back—Ningguang was still gazing skyward, and now Keqing followed her line of sight to notice a strange golden rhombus pattern that had appeared in the heavens.
What is that? When did it show up?
Neither of them could say. They both felt uneasy.
"Ningguang, do you know what that is? Is it related to the Archon?"
"I don't… but somehow I don't feel so."
Ningguang shook her head. Though she didn't know what the golden sigil meant, it left a sour, inexplicable sensation. Keqing nodded—she felt it too.
"What if it was made by Adepti?" someone muttered nearby. "They've appeared in the skies so often these days—it would have been unimaginable before."
"Could it be an omen of great luck?"
"Maybe the Archon was just passing by and left it as a mark…"
"You don't think that shape looks… wrong?"
"Now that you mention it, yeah…"
The citizens of Liyue chattered like this below, but the Adepti on high wore grim faces. They sensed a rot at work across Teyvat—as if a picked herb were left to wilt in the sun. Ganyu, with her half-Adepti senses, felt the pervasive decay in the elemental weave, a sickly waning hurry spreading through the air.
"If this continues, it won't just be Liyue—this entire land will wither beyond recovery. All life would cease."
Liyue's gods and guardians did not speak lightly. The Remnant of that old abyss of disaster, the memory of the Cataclysm—such things still trembled in their bones.
The Adepti and Tianquan could not know what being had wrought this. It was not in their jurisdiction; all they could do was pray the Archon returned with word. The sheer scale of the effect—the feeling that the world itself was dying—terrified even the ancient.
"Keeper of Order? Fate-watcher? You've got a lot of flashy names here. 'Primordials,' 'Chrono-Rulers'—droll. You keep pretending you hold cosmic law when you're weak as saplings. It's… tiresome. Why are you just lurking? Come out and say something—if you want to watch, at least make it amusing."
Su Mo watched the white-haired girl floating before him and rattled off a stream of jabs. To him, an Anemo god, an Electro god, and a Keeper of Order were just different colors of the same picture—no special reverence required.
"Cease your actions, outlander. You are not welcome here," the Keeper of Order said solemnly.
The girl merely continued her monologue, bored. She didn't seem to hear.
She knew if this visitor—this child born of a power beyond the world—were allowed free rein, Teyvat would soon be corrupt to the root. The Leylines, the earth currents that held the world up, would be poisoned. If the Keeper did nothing, the high orders she served would be endangered along with everyone else.
"You're destroying this world."
The Keeper of Order had no illusions: she could not defeat this being in a straight fight without risking the world itself. She tried to negotiate. If she failed, battle might still be forced—but first she would try to avoid all-out war.
"I'm not doing that. I'm just standing here. Why haven't you acted yet? I thought you destroyed outside forces—look, I'm literally one of them."
Su Mo tilted her head, amused. "Oh—did I forget that spot? System, can you remove that symbol? Like, revert the card to how it was before the mark appeared?"
[System: Yes. The host can return the character card to the pre-mark state—so long as the host controls her power the mark will not reappear.]
Su Mo's tone was taunting toward the Keeper. Ningguang, Ganyu, even Barbatos—watching the exchange, Barbatos couldn't help but inwardly snicker. If not for some reasons he couldn't say, he'd clap and strum a tune. But the girl looked determined to burn the world if she pleased—Wendy's laughter vanished.
"Are you threatening me?" Su Mo asked, suddenly serious. "Fine—then come and fight. Or I'll fight you."
She gathered a spear of compressed air—if she'd wanted to, she could have razed the place already. Teyvat bothered her a little. Taking out the Keeper alone would be a small amusement.
The Keeper of Order fell into silence. She had not expected the outlander to be so flippantly eager to duel. Talking further might avert war; if the girl left on her own, that would be best. The Keeper proposed terms: leave immediately. She'd wait to see if the visitor complied.
"If you leave, I'll know," the Keeper said finally. "I give you one chance."
Su Mo answered curtly: "You'll see."
The Keeper of Order accepted the only workable compromise and—opening a portal—departed. Even she, with her title and mandate, had found herself powerless before this force.
Raiden Ei watched the retreating figure with complex emotion. In absolute power's face, even celestial orders could be meaningless. People feared Ei's might—but maybe that fear was for their own good.
"Wen~di~ who really is the Wind God? Also—do you have ice cream? Or a movie?"
Wendy blinked.
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