Before Nagami's eyes stood a colossal tree that reached from the depths of the earth to the heavens — a tree woven entirely from shimmering silver light.
Its vast roots spread like wings across the sky, while countless tendrils stretched endlessly into the void.
"An Ether Anchor…"
Even without his Alpha Stigma Eyes, Nagami could recognize the essence of this structure at a glance.
Because of the faint silhouette of Beelzebub lingering on its surface, this space showed no signs of rejecting him.
Free to move, he turned his gaze toward the countless root-like tendrils, writhing and intertwining like living things.
Brilliant streams of light flowed along them, converging into countless soul-lights of every color imaginable.
"Heh, no wonder so many demon gods fight over the Seven Archons' positions," he murmured with a grin.
"Seven free passes to roam the mortal world — while the rest are stuck up here on Celestia, acting as glorified data servers."
His eyes finally settled on the glowing spheres at the ends of the tendrils.
After a brief pause, he drifted toward the nearest one, extending his hand as void energy mingled with Beelzebub's will.
"Hello? This is Beelzebub speaking — anyone home?"
He politely knocked a few times on the soul-light, but no response came.
"Alright then," he smirked. "Don't blame me for being rude."
Nagami's lips curved into a mischievous smile as he grasped the glowing orb.
The power of the void surged violently into it —
if persuasion failed, robbery would do just fine.
He began studying it freely, though it was admittedly far less convenient than using his Alpha Stigma Eyes, which could instantly analyze all things.
Doing it manually felt painfully slow.
"Oh? Celestia's more… divine in its management style than I expected," he mused.
"At least less oppressive than the capitalists from my past life."
If one thought of a god's soul as a processor, then the Ether Anchor's data-handling duties didn't fully occupy its capacity.
Archons still had enough memory left to manifest as various forms within the world below — observing everything through countless eyes.
They could be a roadside flower, an eagle soaring through the clouds… or even one of those poor fish blown to bits by Klee's bombs.
Like controlling avatars in a game, their incarnations' deaths meant nothing to them.
A destroyed vessel could simply be recreated.
After all, they held authority over the world's very ley lines.
The particular soul-light Nagami was holding had no consciousness left — only a mechanical will continuing its programmed task.
Channeling the logic of the void, he extracted a stream of data from one of the tendrils.
Tens of thousands of data threads flooded into his mind.
From the coordinates, this specific stream corresponded to a small hill within Mondstadt.
From the perspective of the true god governing the Ether Anchor, such information formed an ocean of intricate data.
This flood would have torn apart an ordinary soul — but for Nagami, it was nothing.
Still, considering the sheer number of these soul-lights…
"At my current level, I can't possibly process all the world's data at once…"
Unless he merged souls with Lumine again — in that case, this much data would be trivial.
But their fusion couldn't be maintained permanently.
Holding the Ether Anchor for a short time meant little if things would reset after separation.
Moreover, due to the ongoing tension between the Quantum Sea and the Imaginary Tree — between stars and the Abyss — the world was currently in balance.
The Ether Anchor only governed half of Teyvat's ley lines.
Gazing at the immense, wing-like roots that shimmered endlessly, Nagami rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Well, I've got a clear picture of Teyvat's situation now… as for what comes next…"
He chuckled softly, ending his infiltration.
His form dissolved into countless streaks of light, scattering into the void.
———————————————————————
In other place lightning roared across the sky, splitting the air with violent energy.
Arcs of electricity danced over the surrounding buildings, scorching the ground into a cracked wasteland.
This was the byproduct of Ei's attempt to create the Raiden Shogun — an artificial being not modeled after her own appearance or mind, but still forged with her divine power as the foundation.
The project had changed midway.
Ei abandoned this prototype early on, intending to discard it completely.
But deeming that too cruel, she chose instead to seal away its power.
Later, due to an unknown error, the puppet awoke from its "slumber" on its own.
Bugs — sometimes they turn disasters into miracles.
After joining the Fatui, the Tsaritsa's Cryo power unsealed Scaramouche's restraints, and with the "Doctor" among the Fatui Harbingers modifying him.
His strength grew even greater — surpassing even the level he'd once held before Ei's seal.
Now, he was far stronger than certain colleagues who couldn't even withstand one slash from the Raiden Shogun herself.
"I will kill you."
A cold, emotionless voice echoed through the storm.
"Tch tch tch… So you traded intellect for power? How amusing. Still—" Nagami smirked. "—you really are strong."
An overwhelming pressure radiated from the figure cloaked in lightning.
If this were the Lumine from before she became the Abyssal Wanderer, she'd probably have turned and run by now.
Facing an opponent of this level head-on? There was no outcome other than getting flattened.
Death itself wasn't really the issue — Aether would never allow that to happen.
Still, ever since she'd turned her dear "brother" into her "sister," there hadn't been any Abyss Apostles secretly watching over her during her more dangerous adventures.
Maybe Aether thought she didn't need protection anymore.
Lumine raised her gaze toward Scaramouche.
A sweet, deceptively gentle smile blossomed across her face as she lifted her small, pale hand — and snapped her fingers.
She might not fully grasp the higher realms — fate, time, the boundary between truth and illusion but the powers she used every day?
Those she knew inside and out.
"The boundary between Electro and Pyro."
A subtle tremor rippled through the fabric of reality itself, unseen by any mortal or god.
Half of the dense, raging Electro energy surrounding Scaramouche abruptly shifted — transformed into bright, fiery Pyro.
And that Pyro energy… was just a little too affectionate.
The two elements immediately embraced like long-lost lovers.
Then—
'BOOM!'
A blinding explosion tore through the air, thunder roaring alongside a scorching inferno.
The shockwave rippled outward with devastating force.
At this range, no one — not even Scaramouche, whose intelligence was technically intact — could have predicted or reacted to such a sudden, chaotic reaction.
A point-blank Overloaded reaction, supercharged by the absurdly high elemental density around him.
The blast reached its absolute peak of destructive potential.
By the time the shockwave expanded, Lumine's golden figure had already vanished.
In the next instant, a blade — Dreams Within a Dream — wrapped in violet lightning, cleaved through the void.
Thunder cracked as it descended, guided by the concept of "the boundary between speed and stillness."
Earlier, Scaramouche had been provoked by Lumine's mocking tone.
Freed from the Doctor's modifications, his sealed power now surged to its limit — granting him the strength of the prototype Raiden Shogun.
For any ordinary wielder of a Vision, such power would have been utterly insurmountable.
Even if incomplete, it was still divinity — the might of a Archons.
But against the current Lumine?
That wasn't nearly enough.
Her terrifying mastery over the Boundaries, combined with tens of thousands of years of battle experience, made her no mere adventurer — she was a force of nature.
In fact, her ability directly countered anyone who relied on elemental energy.
Yes — anyone.
This wasn't some video game where elements were just flashy effects. Elemental reactions here were real.
If her opponent were a true god, Lumine's current output might not have been enough to rewrite the elements under divine control.
But a creation of a Archon?
Reconfiguring his unstable elemental energy was child's play.
Ultimately, it all came down to the sheer, unfathomable nature of her Boundary powers.
Given enough energy to sustain them… she truly could achieve the kind of impossible feats her power's description implied.
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