An empty heart was suddenly filled with a sense of powerlessness.
This feeling... suddenly reminded Aether of when he first arrived in the world of Teyvat as a Traveler, when he encountered the powerful Sustainer of Heavenly Principles.
The brother and sister joined forces, twin stars soaring through the heavens, but they were still defeated by the crimson cubes of the Heavenly Principles.
A similar feeling!
Incomparably powerful mental pressure and Divine Authority!
When these thoughts came to his mind in the last moment of clarity...
The next second, Aether fell into a beautiful dream.
However, his dream was not the prosperous scene of Khaenri'ah in its heyday, the Black Sun dynasty, or the Field of Tillers.
Instead, he and his sister met again. Hand in hand, they traveled around the stars and visited strange and magnificent worlds, free from the burdens of destiny or the Abyss.
The corners of Aether's mouth could not help but curl up slightly into a genuine smile, and before he completely lost consciousness, he murmured:
"That's great..."
The Underground World.
This time.
The dark land illuminated by the New Moon became quiet.
No more noisy "fleas" jumping around. The Abyss Mages and Lektors were all slumped on the ground, snoring peacefully or smiling in their sleep.
"A standard one-shot ultimate move to clear the field."
Hiroshi held up the Pokédex and turned on the wide-angle camera to record the aftermath of Cresselia's Lunar Dream explosion just now.
"Well done!"
He gave a thumbs up to Cresselia without being stingy.
Hiroshi took back the Pokédex and had no intention of uploading the video to the group chat. He was afraid of scaring the various friends in the group with the sheer scale of the power, so he just recorded it for his own records and analysis.
Then, he moved an object with a thought—using his awakened Aura to guide his Psychic power.
His brother-in-law (sort of), Aether, who was sleeping in a beautiful dream, floated over and lay gently on the ground in front of Hiroshi.
Hiroshi was thoughtful.
The siblings, Aether and Lumine, judging by Teyvat's combat prowess standards, definitely belong to the Demon God (Archon) level in terms of potential and durability.
And they are not weak demons.
However, when they first arrived, they encountered the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles, the ceiling of this world's power.
You know, as powerful as Morax, who holds the title of Warrior God, he could only choose to seal many of his old enemy demons in the past, and cannot completely kill them due to the nature of their elemental residue and grudges.
Hiroshi faced a similar situation as Morax now.
Although he did not really want to kill Aether, it did not prevent him from weighing the pros and cons secretly.
Perhaps the Heavenly Principles once encountered similar problems, so she chose to seal the brother and sister duo, stripping their powers and letting them fend for themselves on the continent of Teyvat to observe them.
"Dismantled and buried? Well... the harm would far outweigh the benefit."
"Lumine will be hostile to me if I kill her brother. It's not good to fabricate a Protagonist-level enemy out of thin air."
"Besides, the Abyss Order is in a mess without its leader. The underground civilization is also a civilization. It is much easier to control if there is a rational leader."
"To promote and popularize Pokémon, it is better to be more stable and harmonious."
"Well, although in the eyes of others, the Abyss Order is one of the most unstable factors in the world, full of chaos and destruction..."
Hiroshi started from the perspective of the creator of the Pokémon Era.
The Fatui. The Abyss Order.
As two major villain factions, they have very good reasons for existing.
The world must have Light and Darkness. It's like an ecosystem. Without natural enemies, the balance will be broken, and the Trainers won't have anyone to level up against.
"Capturing and poaching wild Pokémon..."
"Or using Pokémon to do various evil experiments..."
"This is my bottom line for you villain organizations. I hope you won't have such a criminal record!"
Hiroshi glanced at the unconscious Aether on the ground faintly.
"Other political issues are left to the Heavenly Principles, the Seven Archons, and the Original Sovereigns to worry about. I, an outsider, just want to quietly be a Pokémon Promoter."
He snapped his fingers.
"Cresselia, wake him up gently."
He asked Cresselia to remove the power of the dream.
Huh?!
After a while, Aether groaned, turned over, and sat up. There was a look of deep regret and unwillingness in his golden eyes as the dream faded.
"Hey. Sweet dream... is it over?"
"If you still want to have a good dream, I can help you sleep for another five hundred years..."
Hiroshi said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
Aether waved his hands quickly, his face turning pale.
"Forget it. Forget it."
Hiroshi saw that Aether did not struggle after he woke up. He was honest and had obviously realized the insurmountable gap in combat power between them.
"Then we can sit down and have a good talk."
"I discovered that the Underground World is actually quite vast."
"It can fit into many Pokémon Ecological Zones, and is even very suitable for the habitat of some Ghost, Dark, and Poison-type Pokémon, as well as the placement of Secret Realm Gates..."
When Aether heard this, his face was filled with confusion.
What is this person talking about?
Pokémon Ecological Zone? Elven Habitat? The Door to the Secret Realm?
Aether: ? ? ?
I feel like we, the Abyss Order, and you, the surface dweller, are as far apart as two different planets!
Starsnatch Cliff.
After Hiroshi chased the Abyss Order through the portal...
Dvalin was alarmed by the sudden disappearance of his controllers and the burst of divine energy. He roared in confusion and flew away, his figure disappearing far away in the direction of the Stormterror's Lair.
Lumine and Paimon were a little dumbfounded.
"What do we do next?"
Venti also didn't expect that the story would have such an unexpected twist. The corner of his mouth twitched.
"It seems that Manager Hiroshi and the Abyss Order will be entangled for a while."
Jean asked with concern, "Then, who will win?"
Diluc said calmly, adjusting his gloves.
"I believe in Manager Hiroshi. He is an earthly god with great power. The Abyss stands no chance."
As he said this, Diluc also glanced at Venti sideways with a meaningful look.
"Hey..."
Venti scratched his head; he understood the meaning of this look perfectly.
Isn't that what Diluc is saying?
You, the Anemo Archon, should be half as domineering as the Store Manager when facing the Abyss Order.
Do you dare to chase people through the portal to the spring of the Abyss Order? No, you just play the lyre.
Venti coughed and stopped being the Riddler for the time being.
"Ahem. Only by performing Archon duties can you accumulate divine power... but I don't like ruling. I think Mondstadt is good as a City of Freedom."
"All in all, I haven't returned to Mondstadt for so long, and I have been sleeping for a long time to recover from Dvalin's poison, so now I am undoubtedly the weakest among the Seven Archons..."
Paimon was floating in the air, with her hands on her hips and her little head nodding seriously.
"Humph! I know you are very weak. Compared with Manager Hiroshi, you seem to be a fake god! The Seventh Ruler? You are just messing around and doing nothing!"
Venti: "Hey! Thank you for the compliment!"
Jean, Lumine, and Diluc: ...
What a piece of hob meat (shameless person). There is no way to break through his defense no matter what.
Venti took the lead, and everyone returned to Mondstadt under the sunset.
"Go back first and discuss the battle plan to go to the Stormterror's Lair to awaken Dvalin properly this time."
"Maybe this time, we have to really fight Dvalin to knock some sense into him!"
The group of people left with their backs to the sunset.
However...
Another visitor came to the wind-swept Starsnatch Cliff after they left.
He was a tall man in black with blond hair and blue eyes, wearing an eyepatch over his right eye.
Thousands of winds blew his cloak violently.
The starry sky pattern on the underside of his cloak revealed indescribable mystery and depth.
He is none other than the Bough Keeper, the Twilight Sword—
Dainsleif!