Looking at this string of true riddles, Traveler Lumine suddenly felt a chill run down her spine.
She was a Traveler from the sea of stars, and regarding matters of fate and The Prophecy... she had always been half-skeptical.
But what happened today left her somewhat bewildered.
"If this stone slab was placed here long ago, then why... did the words below change when the first stone slab was lost?"
"Or could it be..."
Traveler Lumine's golden eyes widened instantly, as if she had thought of something terrifying.
"Did the person who placed the stone slab already realize it would be...?"
"Or perhaps... this is a cycle of fate itself?"
Almost at the very moment she had this thought, a slightly familiar voice entered her ear.
"The God of the ruined nation responded to the Immortal Spirit and her own wish, relinquishing her authority."
The aged voice felt familiar to her, but... she couldn't pinpoint where she had heard it before.
Perhaps because of that old and hoarse voice, or perhaps because of her previous overthinking, a bone-chilling cold rushed from her spine into her brain.
—It was as if her current location was not within some ruins in Fontaine, but directly beneath The Nail of the Cold Heavens in Dragonspine, Mondstadt.
The biting cold nearly froze her thoughts, as if her entire being had fallen into an ice cave.
"...Traveler Lumine?! What's wrong with you?! Don't scare me! Say something!"
Paimon's somewhat blurry voice entered Traveler Lumine's ear, like a grappling hook descending from the heavens, pulling her out of the ice cellar.
Amidst Paimon's calls, Traveler Lumine's consciousness barely returned.
As her consciousness gradually cleared, she slightly raised her head, and the first thing she saw was Paimon, her face full of worry, her eyes glistening with tears.
"Wah! You're finally awake! I thought something bad was going to happen to you again!"
Hearing this, Traveler Lumine's mouth twitched, but she still softly comforted her:
"I'm fine, but right now... what's more important is that blurry inscription."
Neuvillette nodded gently upon hearing this, and after carefully reading the sentence once, he fell into a long silence, only speaking after a while:
"The God of the ruined nation... this should refer to Furina, but what exactly are this Immortal Spirit and relinquishing her authority...?"
Neuvillette frowned, a rare look of confusion appearing in his grey eyes.
Although Neuvillette did not possess those ancient memories, it did not mean he didn't know what an "Immortal Spirit" was.
"Fontaine... does it still have Immortal Spirits?"
Neuvillette frowned slightly, seemingly unable to think of anything that could be directly linked to the words "Immortal Spirit."
Traveler Lumine and Paimon quickly detached themselves from their previous somewhat melancholic mood, and then began to collectively ponder the true meaning of the sentence.
Paimon tilted her head, then looked at Neuvillette and asked:
"Hmm... in my impression, shouldn't Immortal Spirits be those floating blue sprites? This guy always chased them in the wild..."
"Or could it be... that Yuto, who never knew his own race... is actually an Immortal Spirit?"
Neuvillette shook his head upon hearing this, and after a slight sigh, he said:
"I'm not sure whether the Immortal Spirits mentioned in this sentence are those empty shells that have lost their souls and wisdom, or those Divine Envoys who walked in ancient times..."
"But I can be certain of one thing, Mr. Yuto is not an Immortal Spirit."
"Before joining Palais Mermonia to become Chief Justice, I once encountered Immortal Spirits in the wild in Fontaine."
"Although they were like empty shells that had lost their souls, I could still sense an unusual aura from them."
"If Mr. Yuto were an Immortal Spirit... I should at least be able to sense it, but I haven't."
After listening to Neuvillette's explanation, Paimon gently nodded her small head, then continued:
"So the problem now lies with... the Water God."
After saying this, the three present fell into silence, and after a long while, Neuvillette slowly spoke:
"It seems the clues... still need to be found from Furina."
To this, Paimon and Neuvillette nodded gently, but then immediately lowered their heads, seemingly thinking about something.
...
While the three were individually contemplating their next plans, in a certain corner of Teyvat... there was a hard-to-notice cave.
At the end of that deep darkness, a massive purplish-black irregular crystal was suspended in mid-air by countless iron chains.
The crystal emitted a captivating aura, as if one would become addicted to it with just a glance.
But there were no believers here, no signs of human activity, not even an insect could be seen.
—It was as if this place was a forbidden zone for life.
Suddenly, the chains embedded in the walls began to tremble, and the purplish-black crystal in the middle also began to emit some strange light.
But this state did not last long; the crystal, as if conscious, autonomously reined in that strange glow.
After a brief silence, an aged sigh came from within.
"A 'Descender'... a new variable, perhaps...?"
After saying this, the aged voice once again fell into silence, only to speak faintly after a while:
"The few remaining Immortal Spirit tribe and the power of the Abyss, forcefully moved him from an ordinary status to a level akin to a 'Descender'..."
"Although his power is still weak, he now has the ability to break 'The Prophecy'..."
"Such a vision... does it also have blind spots?"
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