Li Mo spoke eloquently on stage, slowly recounting the experiences of that lifetime.
When emotion ran deep, he would lift his head slightly and gaze toward Inazuma City.
Three thousand years had passed without seeing them… those sisters had become the Electro Archons of Inazuma and fulfilled their dream of protecting the land.
But…
How were they doing now?
When Li Mo paused, the audience began urging him to continue:
"Storyteller, hurry and tell us… the Electro Archon sisters were only a few months old back then. How did they survive being burned like that?"
"What happened next? Did he find Celestia, or did he steal the sacred relic from the great Tengu clan?"
"Impossible. Celestia is mysterious and unreachable—how could a mere boy ascend there? And the great Tengu clan was incredibly powerful back then, one of Inazuma's strongest gods. How could a weak boy defeat them?"
"There must have been some kind of miracle…"
"It's too hard… I'm guessing the boy failed, and the two burned infants died. They couldn't have been the Electro Archon sisters."
"Must be a mistake. The Electro Archon is invincible—there's no way she had such a tragic past…"
Many began speculating about what would happen next.
In reality, the Electro Archon had survived to the present day, so there was no way she could have died back then… there had to be a turning point in the story.
They waited with anticipation.
Keqing, Shenhe, and Qiqi… all listened intently to the story, eager to know what happened next.
In the corner, Consultant Zhongli showed a faint hint of surprise when he heard about the great Tengu clan and their legendary sacred relic.
In ancient times, the Tengu of Inazuma had indeed lost a sacred relic.
Could it really be related to the boy in the story?
Zhongli set down the hand holding his birdcage and watched the storyteller on stage with keen interest, curious to see how the tale would unfold.
...
While Li Mo was telling his story…
At that moment, in Inazuma City, surrounded by the sea and far from Liyue Harbor…
Though the Sakoku Decree had brought temporary stability to Inazuma, it had also introduced many new problems.
As the ruler of Inazuma, the Raiden Shogun had an endless stream of affairs to handle. Even with the assistance of the Three Commissions, she was exhausted from the workload.
She had grown so tired that she had fallen asleep at her desk.
It seemed she had slept for quite some time.
The Raiden Shogun finally opened her hazy eyes, a single crystalline tear rolling down from the corner of her eye.
"Is this… the Tenryou Commission headquarters?"
She looked around the chamber in confusion, only realizing where she was after a moment.
She had been dreaming again.
As the substitute for the true Electro Archon, Beelzebul, she had once again been drawn into her original's memories.
"How strange…"
"I only slept for an hour, yet in the memory, I experienced more than a decade… it felt as if I were living through it myself."
"It seems it's time to ask Beelzebul about what happened in the ancient era."
As the perfect substitute for Beelzebul, the Raiden Shogun often recalled events from the distant past through the bond they shared via dreams.
Like the dream she had just experienced.
In that dream… she had witnessed Beelzebul's experiences in ancient times.
She dreamed that the Electro Archon Beelzebul not only had an elder sister named Baal but also a beloved older brother named Li Mo.
It was this "brother" who had rescued the two sisters from the blazing flames, sacrificing his own power in the process…
It was this "brother" who taught them swordsmanship, forging them into warriors of great skill…
It was the knowledge imparted by this "brother" that established the system of the Three Commissions, allowing Inazuma City to rise to power swiftly…
As Beelzebul's substitute, the Raiden Shogun shared the same emotions as the true Electro Archon. Recalling those past moments, she could not help but shed a tear.
It was this "brother" who had made the sisters' dreams come true…
But…
Where was that powerful brother, Li Mo, now?
And why did she not know any of this?
As a substitute, when she recalled those memories, her heart ached with an inexplicable pain.
This was Beelzebul's emotion.
As her substitute, the Raiden Shogun felt it as if it were her own.
After hesitating for a moment, the Raiden Shogun decided to meet with the true Electro Archon once more.
Perhaps Beelzebul still remembered everything.
...
At that moment, in Liyue Harbor at Wangshu Inn…
As Li Mo continued his slow narration, the illusory images formed by elemental energy above the inn changed.
In the images…
The boy, dragging his severely burned body, searched everywhere for Celestia.
He asked everyone he met:
"Excuse me, do you know where Celestia is?"
"I'm begging you, can you give me any information about Celestia?"
After entrusting the Electro Archon sisters to the woman, the boy rushed frantically to the market, asking everyone he saw about the location of Celestia.
But he found nothing.
Just as the woman had said, Celestia was the dwelling place of the gods—unreachable for mortals.
There was no hope at all.
Some passersby, upon hearing the boy mention Celestia, acted as if they had heard something forbidden and quickly took another path.
No one could help him.
In the blink of an eye, two days had already passed.
Hope was growing slimmer by the moment…
Not only had the boy failed to find Celestia, but he had also become a ragged mess.
Two days without food…
Two days without water…
Two days without sleep…
Coupled with his burned body, the boy was on the verge of collapse, staying conscious only through sheer force of will.
It seemed he was about to fall.
Finally, the third day arrived… the final moment…
As if he had made some kind of decision, the boy forced himself back up under the astonished gazes of passersby and dragged his battered body to the summit of a mountain.
He raised his finger to the heavens and cursed the gods:
"Cruel heavens… false gods…"
"You created this world, so why do you let them slaughter each other? You could protect every living being, so why do you allow demon gods to massacre humanity?"
"You won't save a single infant, so why should I believe in you?! I'm through with being your follower… you're not worthy…"
Just as the boy was raising his finger to curse the gods—
Suddenly!
A bolt of sharp lightning, wrapped in endless Electro energy, crashed down beside him with a deafening boom, nearly striking him dead.
"Damn it…"
"You'd kill even your own follower? Heartless gods… false gods…"
"Arrogant, worthless pretenders…"
"Damn you all…!"
...
At Wangshu Inn, Li Mo was completely immersed in the memory. With his bamboo hat on, he raised his finger to the sky and cursed the gods.
The audience below was terrified.
Had this storyteller gone mad?
How dare he, in Liyue Harbor of all places, raise his hand and curse the gods of Celestia?
"Mad, utterly mad… a mere storyteller dares to disrespect the gods. If Lord Rex Lapis saw this, he'd lose his head."
"Surely not… it's just storytelling. It's not like he's actually cursing the gods."
"It's not the storyteller cursing—it's the boy in the story…"
"This man is getting too lost in his own tale…"
"Sigh… I said it before. Those two infants with the same names as the Electro Archons are doomed. How could a mere mortal find Celestia? And even if he did, why would the noble gods listen to him?"
"During the Archon War, that's just how cruel it was."
"What a shame. After all the boy's efforts, he still couldn't save the poor infants."
"Hold on, it's only the second day. The infants still have one day left to live."
"What difference does another day make? Even if you gave him a year, he'd never find Celestia, let alone command the noble gods to do anything."
...