At his core, Orobashi wasn't a bad being—he was even considered a decent one. But he chose two paths that both led to certain death.
The first, he walked into knowingly.
The second—he didn't even realize he'd already been condemned.
As everyone knows, no god defeated in the Archon War ever met a good end.
They were either killed, sealed away, or demoted to menial tasks—some even ended up as restaurant waiters.
As someone who had lost on two separate fronts, the Great Serpent had only two options left:
Live a life in disgrace, never able to lift his head again.
Or die.
And the worst part wasn't even that. The worst part came after he fled to Enkanomiya—and accidentally uncovered one of Teyvat's greatest secrets:
"Before Sun and Moon."
In Teyvat's earliest days, there was no Heavenly Principles. No Archons. No humans.
It was a world inhabited solely by dragons and elemental creatures.
In other words, the current order of Teyvat—the Seven Archons, and even the supreme ruler, the Heavenly Principles—were all outsiders. Invaders.
There had still been seven great nations back then, but they were ruled by seven elemental dragon kings.
Eventually, the Heavenly Principles descended upon Teyvat—and wiped them out.
This entity, known by many names—First Throne and Primordial One—then created four shaders. Including itself, there were five entities total, each tied to a sacred relic.
The mountains and rivers, the flora and fauna, and even humanity itself—were all creations of the Heavenly Principles.
Which meant: humans, too, were outsiders. Not native to this land.
With their kings defeated, the dragon clans were forced into hiding, scattered to the edges of the world.
Enkanomiya, the realm beneath the ocean, became the domain of the Hydro Dragon King.
Azhdaha, meanwhile, was the Geo Dragon King.
Then came the Funerary Year—when a Second Throne suddenly appeared in the sky, representing a third faction.
It joined the battle for dominion over the continent. The ensuing war shattered the heavens and split the earth, sending part of the surface-dwelling human population plummeting into the sea.
Those who fell became the ancestors of the Enkanomiya people.
Because the dragon kings had already been defeated, some of the dragonkin had also been forced underground into Enkanomiya.
These became the creatures we now know as the Bathysmal Vishaps.
The fallen humans held lanterns to fend off the light-hating dragons, forcing them into deeper darkness.
The Vishaps retaliated, hiding in the shadows to hunt humans.
But in the abyss, darkness always outnumbered light. From the start, humans were at a disadvantage.
With nowhere else to turn, they placed their hopes in the Heavenly Principles, still locked in combat with the Second Throne.
But the Heavenly Principles—and the three shadows it had split—were too preoccupied to hear their prayers.
Three years passed.
Then, the fourth shader, known as the Ruler of Time, Istaroth, answered them.
To the people of Enkanomiya, he became known as Tokoyo Ookami. He granted immense aid to the struggling humans.
They revered him so deeply that, in all Enkanomiya's recorded history, they never dared to speak his name aloud.
Years later, a great scholar emerged among them.
His name was Aberaku no Mikoto.
He led the people in building an artificial sun deep beneath the sea—called the Dainichi Mikoshi.
With this manmade source of light, they brought day and night to what had once been eternal darkness.
From then on, Enkanomiya was renamed: the Nation of White Night, or Byakuyakoku.
Thanks to this revolutionary invention, humans finally pushed back the light-averse Vishaps.
And gradually, they began to thrive.
Their reverence for the Dainichi Mikoshi grew into religious devotion. They placed their faith and their future into the hands of this lifeless machine.
Eventually, they elected a ruler—the "Child of the Sun."
This ruler held the status of a king, but unlike conventional monarchs, the Child of the Sun was always a child.
Why?
Because children were easier to control.
With the nobles' full backing, the status of the Sun Children reached its peak.
Meanwhile, Aberaku no Mikoto—the very one who had given them the sun—began to resist their rule.
Logically, as the creator of the sun, he should have had the power to depose them.
After all, the title "Child of the Sun" only existed because he had created the sun.
But Aberaku never imagined how twisted humanity could be.
They did not thank him.
And because the Sun Children were children, they were easily manipulated by the elite.
Jealous of Aberaku's brilliance, the current Sun Child had long wanted him gone—but never had the opportunity.
When Aberaku finally rebelled, the nobles pounced.
They branded him a traitor—accusing him of trying to seize the throne.
And so, he was captured by soldiers and locked in a cold, lightless chamber within the Dainichi Mikoshi.
There, the man who had brought light to humanity—
died in the dark.
...