Thanks for Exalted, Gallerhad and Michael Thunder for becoming as Supporters!
===BREAK===
Alice cut off the communication in a rather sheepish manner.
Victor Wang let out a long sigh and muttered to himself, "Looks like I can only resort to the backup plan."
["Ah?!"] Little Wen suddenly cut in. ["There's a backup plan too?"]
"Of course there is. For something this important, it's only normal to prepare two approaches."
The so-called backup plan…
Zhongli had clearly documented feats such as sealing the Evil Gods, sealing the Overlord of the Vortex, and sealing Azhdaha. There were likely even more unrecorded achievements. Among the Seven Archons, the sealing techniques he possessed were probably the most mature and the most extensive.
Nahida's direct combat power was indeed low, but weaving dreams to control an enemy's consciousness was precisely what she excelled at.
If those two could be persuaded to work together and seal the All-Devouring Narwhal without provoking a violent backlash, then the second step of the [Focalors Salvation Plan] would be considered complete.
But that would turn the problem into how to convince Zhongli and Nahida to help.
The pressure fell back onto Victor Wang once again.
"Such a headache…"
Victor Wang sighed. The three Colossi that had been holding down his chair dissipated one after another. He himself had no intention of staying any longer—if someone else happened to turn back and run into him, it would be hard to explain.
However, before standing up, he noticed that a cup on the tea party table had somehow been filled with hot tea and placed in front of an empty seat, as though prepared for someone's enjoyment.
Then, from that empty seat came a clearly female voice. "Hello?"
Victor Wang was startled, unsure how many secrets this [invisible person] had overheard.
"You reacted? I finally get to see you!"
A vague guess formed in Victor Wang's mind, but he still asked, "And you are?"
"N from the Hexenzirkel. Since you're sitting here, you must have heard Alice mention me."
"So, it really is you… I was just looking for you."
"I was looking for you too. For a very, very long time."
"What do you mean?"
"Literally."
Victor Wang grew even more confused. With the abilities Nicole had shown, how could she possibly fail to find him? Unless she was a fake…
Nicole explained, "Just as you couldn't see me, until the moment before this conversation, I couldn't see you either. It's actually quite easy to understand. I don't view this world through sight, but through fate. Yet your fate was as though it didn't exist—thus, to me, you were invisible. I could always sense the changes you brought to Teyvat and kept trying to find you. I could infer where you might appear by observing others' fates, yet I never once saw you."
"My fate… many people have said my fate is hidden. Now you can see me—does that mean… my fate has manifested?"
"Yes, and no."
"Then which is it?"
"I can't see your past, and I can't see your future. I can only see your present."
"My present…"
"You said you were just looking for me, and then you saw me, right? It's as if the one protecting you deliberately revealed your current fate so that you could meet me—I can see it now. Your fate shows that you're speaking with me at this very moment."
Fate was already an abstruse concept, yet someone could manipulate it as though it were a toy?
Victor Wang opened his mouth slightly and murmured, "Is… that really possible?"
Nicole answered with absolute certainty. "For someone capable of hiding your fate, deciding to reveal a part of it is not difficult."
"And you said the one hiding my fate is protecting me…?"
"Someone hid your fate—there's no doubt about that—and it was done to protect you. Because within Teyvat's predetermined fate, your fate does not exist. Therefore, without even seeing it, I can assert—you are an outsider."
"Even though someone has been protecting me in secret, and even deliberately making an exception just because I wanted to meet you… that's truly touching. But aren't all outsiders excluded from Teyvat's predetermined fate to begin with?"
"Teyvat's [fate] is not something immutable. It is more inclusive than anything else in this world. Even the fate of outsiders, it can accept, accommodate… or rather, capture. In the end, outsiders will also obtain an [outsider's fate]. You, however, keep altering Teyvat's predetermined fate, all thanks to that person's protection. Perhaps you might even become a [Transcender]."
A new term emerged, and Victor Wang had no choice but to ask, "What is a [Transcender]?"
"Let me give you an example. Suppose, within a script, there appears a so-called [final villain beyond fate], unknown to any other character. Would you say that villain is truly [beyond fate]? No, it wouldn't be. Only those who never leave their name within the script are truly [beyond fate]. And the one who allows the characters within the script to transcend the script itself—that is a [Transcender]."
"..."
Nicole emphasized again, "Having your fate hidden brings you no tangible sensation, yet it grants you infinite unknown possibilities on the continent of Teyvat. Otherwise, you would slowly become just another character within the script. This protection is a heavy one."
After hearing Nicole's first statement, Victor Wang was already certain that the voice guiding him to seek out the Seven Archons was not Nicole. Perhaps it was the owner of that voice who had been protecting him all along?
It truly was heavy…
"Alright. I wanted to meet you purely to meet you. As for you wanting to meet me—was there something you needed?"
After touching upon those deeper topics, Victor Wang thought for a moment and decided not to beat around the bush. "The prophecy that Fontaine will be submerged by seawater… must that seawater be Primordial Sea water?"
"That…" Nicole paused briefly. "There are some things I can't say outright, but yes—it must."
"It must…"
"That prophecy does have loopholes, but only the tiniest of them. Or perhaps… that loophole was written into the script from the very beginning."
"It must…"
If Fontaine had to be submerged by Primordial Sea water, then the people of Fontaine would have to erase their [sin] to survive. And to erase that [sin], someone would have to obtain the complete authority of the Hydro Dragon—meaning Focalors had to die.
"No more questions? Then we'll meet again if fate allows. Having your fate hidden is your advantage—don't expose it for too long, or you may be captured. Do your best."
When Victor Wang came back to his senses, Nicole's teacup had already returned to its original place. The tea inside had been completely drunk, as though nothing had happened at all.
"Little Wen, did you hear that?"
["Mhm! All that stuff about fate, outsiders, Transcenders—and the answer to the question you wanted most. That unseen person said it was a [must]…"]
"So, it wasn't just my imagination…"
The [Focalors Salvation Plan] vanished in an instant.
===BREAK===
Like the story and want more chapters?
Join and support me by joining my Patreon!
[email protected]/SiRoasa