"Fight against the Heavenly Principles with me, Durandal."
"Get lost."
The battle ended, and Ashtal was, as expected, defeated by Durandal.
Ashtal acknowledged Durandal's strength. After leaving the illusionary world, she invited Durandal to join her in overthrowing the Heavenly Principles, only to receive Durandal's unequivocal "Get lost."
No one had ever spoken to her like that, not even the Archons of her generation. This made Ashtal's blood pressure soar, but considering Durandal's combat power, she could only helplessly sit back down, wanting to drink some black tea to calm down.
But after such a long time, the black tea was long gone, and Venti hadn't poured her a new one. Ashtal could only glare at Venti, who was enjoying the fine wine Durandal had given her, constantly attacking her with her gaze.
"Ahaha~ Don't glare at me like that, Ashtal. Even if I wanted to pour you new black tea, I don't have any left."
Normally, all her money went to buying wine. The little money Durandal gave her had to be saved for emergencies. The drink she had earlier was something she bought on the spur of the moment; she truly had no stock left.
Venti looked to Durandal for help. She should carry that in her personal space, right? She had seen Durandal take out black tea from her personal space for afternoon tea before.
"No. Say what you want to say now. If you have nothing to say, then leave. You are not welcome here, Tsaritsa."
Don't think that one fight would change her attitude. She allowed Ashtal to say everything she wanted to say, but she didn't agree to treat her kindly.
Venti was very helpless, but she understood that this was already Durandal's best attitude; any worse and she would be kicked out of Cape Oath.
Venti could only pull out a few Apples from her person and hand them to Ashtal. These were her last remaining stock; there were no others.
Ashtal looked at these Apples with disdain. She was the Tsaritsa, and the tributes the Fatui usually gave her were rare and precious items. How could she possibly care for such things?
However... Ashtal picked up an Apple and started eating it. While the tributes the Fatui gave her were indeed precious, none of them were edible.
Occasionally, when she wasn't playing the role of the Tsaritsa, she would secretly run to the streets to buy some delicious food, hide it, and enjoy it when no one was around.
Now, Durandal certainly wouldn't give her anything to eat, and seeing Venti eat made her crave food, so she could only satisfy her craving with an Apple.
"Before we begin, I'd like to show you something."
Ashtal took something out from her person. It was a piece of solid ice that showed no signs of Melt even when placed in the sun, and it was constantly emitting cold air.
There was nothing particularly noteworthy about this solid ice. The only thing that caught Durandal's attention was that something was trapped inside it. Even though it was Frozen by Ashtal's plague, that thing still showed signs of activity.
"What... is this?"
"I don't quite understand either. I found her in a ruin in Snezhnaya during an outing. That ruin seemed to have been occupied by the Abyss, and although everything inside had been moved out, a little something remained. This is what I found inside."
Leaving aside why she would personally go exploring ruins, this thing appeared in a place once occupied by the Abyss? This information alone warranted caution.
Durandal picked up the solid ice and examined it, then melted the ice, allowing the trapped object to emerge.
As soon as it came out, it eagerly tried to burrow into Durandal's body, seemingly for that purpose. Durandal didn't stop it, wanting to see what tricks it had up its sleeve.
But it struggled for a long time without being able to penetrate Durandal's skin. Unable to do so, it tried to find other easier ways to enter Durandal's body, but before it could even begin, Durandal grabbed it.
"I'm not in the mood for you to burrow into my nose, Abyssal creation."
With a squeeze, Durandal crushed the object and absorbed it into her body, using this method to observe what kind of existence it truly was.
"It's a problematic creation, that's for sure; otherwise, my body wouldn't react. I'm not sure what reaction humans would have if they absorbed it. But it's definitely harmful and shouldn't be approached casually."
"You don't need to tell me that. If I hadn't recognized its danger, I would have gone to the Fatui for research, not specifically come to you."
If it was just a simple archon residue or something else, she could have gone to the Fatui's research department; their research capabilities are no weaker than Durandal's.
She realized that this current thing was far more dangerous than the archon residue, which is why she risked being beaten to come to Durandal, and you give her such an answer?
"Do you think I know everything? If you want to find someone knowledgeable, you should go to Liyue to find the Geo Archon, not me. Although I've been deep into the Abyss, I don't really understand it."
Only that fellow named Dainsleif truly understands what lies within the Abyss.
The most Durandal can do is absorb the power of the Abyss, like the corrosion of the Abyss's power on people; beyond that, she can do nothing.
"Can these toxins be dealt with? That's good then; my trip here wasn't without its rewards."
Durandal looked at Ashtal, puzzled. Was she worried that this kind of thing would affect the citizens of Snezhnaya? That shouldn't be the case. Although these things are dangerous, they can also be used as a means to enhance one's own power.
Haven't the Fatui always been looking for ways to increase their strength other than through a Vision? They even used dangerous substances like the archon residue. Why can't they take these things back for research?
Thinking of this, Durandal propped her chin on her hands and said, "Are you worried? Tsaritsa. What is there to worry about? Even if this kind of thing breaks out like a plague in Snezhnaya, what then? Only a few tenths of the population would die. With the Fatui's capabilities, they might even be able to research it thoroughly during this time and eventually turn it into a new power."
"This is a way to improve the Fatui's strength, so why stop it? Just like what the Fatui usually do, isn't it enough to experiment on the people of Snezhnaya?"
"Wait a minute, could it be that in your eyes, the lives of Snezhnaya's citizens are lives, but the lives of people from other nations are not?"
Suddenly remembering something, Durandal spoke with a hint of sarcasm.
"I know what you want to say, Durandal. I also understand what the Fatui have done in other nations, but these are all necessary sacrifices to fight against the Heavenly Principles."
"[Sacrifices]? What a grand statement. Since it's so grand, why don't the Fatui experiment on the people of Snezhnaya? Why do they run to other nations and use deception, enticement, and kidnapping to make children from other nations experimental subjects?"
Durandal clapped her hands again. She recreated the scene she saw that day at The Expert's research base: those kidnapped Children were kept in cages like livestock, not treated as human beings at all.
"This is your so-called [sacrifice]? Treating these Children like objects, making them lose their parents, making them lose everything they possess—this is your [sacrifice]? What a high-sounding phrase."
"During my travels in Mondstadt and Liyue, I've met many people. Among them were Millelith who fought monsters alone to the last moment to protect others, and Adventurers who risked their lives for others. The actions of these people truly deserve the term [sacrifice]. What kind of [sacrifice] are these Children captured by the Fatui for experiments?"
The Tsaritsa did not answer. She merely sat in her seat in silence, her face grim as she lowered her head.
She couldn't refute Durandal's words because she knew the other party was right, but she needed a reason, a reason to comfort herself.
If she could, she wouldn't want to do this either. She also hoped that the Fatui would just be an organization to protect Snezhnaya, but the terror of the Heavenly Principles forced her to acquire stronger power to fight her.
The tragedy of the Kingdom of Khaenri'ah was still vivid in her mind. Although that disaster was brought down by her and the other Seven Gods together, it was under the Heavenly Principles' arrangement; even if they were unwilling, they had no choice.
Gods love people; no matter which God, no matter how inconspicuous they appear, they care about their people and humanity.
But that time, they passively annihilated everyone in the Kingdom of Khaenri'ah, simply because the Kingdom of Khaenri'ah did not trust the Seven Gods and, through their own efforts, built a powerful nation. This was not allowed by the Heavenly Principles, not recognized by the Heavenly Principles.
Therefore, the Heavenly Principles brought punishment upon the Kingdom of Khaenri'ah, collaborating with the Seven Gods to completely destroy the Kingdom of Khaenri'ah, making this nation seem as if it had never existed, disappearing into the dust of history.
Ashtal did not want such a thing to happen in her own nation, but Snezhnaya had already vaguely shown similar developments to Khaenri'ah. Snezhnaya had also developed various devices that could use elemental power without relying on a Vision.
Given time, they would definitely be able to develop more and stronger weapons. If at that time, the Heavenly Principles still did not allow it, then what if the events of the Kingdom of Khaenri'ah were to happen in Snezhnaya?
She would not allow it; she would absolutely not allow such a thing to happen in Snezhnaya. So, before the Heavenly Principles could punish her, she would punish her first.
To fight against the Heavenly Principles, she needed stronger power. In the process of acquiring stronger power, it didn't matter if her hands were stained with blood, if she was scorned by others, or if she was cursed by everyone.
She would eventually admit that everything was done by her orders to the citizens of Snezhnaya, and she would bear all the sins, even if she were to be completely destroyed in the end.
But before she was judged, the Heavenly Principles must be eliminated. Without eliminating her, Snezhnaya would have no future.
In fact, the entire continent of Teyvat would have no future.
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