The miraculous display of power left Furina utterly transfixed.
As she recovered from her initial shock, she realized with absolute certainty that this was no mere magic trick. Yet, the man before her wore no Vision.
The middle-aged man standing there, thoroughly calm and detached, was an anomaly.
Her skirt fluttered gently as she descended back to the ground, offering an elegant bow.
"Well? Was it amusing?" Zoran smiled faintly.
"Truly extraordinary," Furina marveled. "In return for your performance, you have earned the privilege of dining with me."
In an instant, she puffed out her chest, aggressively assuming her grand persona as the Hydro Archon once more. Even so, a distinct layer of politeness remained beneath her theatrical tone.
This act was the very thing she guarded with her life, the human facade of the Hydro Archon, entirely devoid of actual power, yet determined to play the part perfectly in her own signature style.
"Very well. As it happens, I have a few things to discuss with you as well," Zoran said.
"With me?" Furina blinked, certain she had never laid eyes on this man prior to today.
A short while later, they arrived at the Hotel Debord.
It was currently tea time, and the establishment was widely considered the most luxurious dining venue in all of Fontaine.
The two sat opposite each other at a round table.
Furina seemed somewhat distracted, her fingers absentmindedly twirling a spoon inside her teacup.
"What exactly is it that you must discuss with me?" she asked, suddenly recalling the very first words Zoran had spoken to her when they met.
No matter how eccentric or carefree a person might be, it was impossible to ignore the ominous weight behind his entrance line.
Deep down, she was afraid.
Amidst the quiet ambiance, Zoran's opening remark sent an immediate surge of panic coursing through her.
"Before long, you will be put on trial," he stated matter-of-factly.
Furina's pupils dilated instantly, her spoon clattering softly against the porcelain cup.
Zoran continued seamlessly, "The prophecy is close at hand. The Primordial Sea is rising at an alarming rate."
He turned his gaze slightly toward the distance. Hidden from the view of ordinary men, it was as if his eyes could perceive far greater depths.
"Countless torrents of seawater are straining to breach their boundaries. The very moment I set foot in Fontaine, I felt it."
"What... What do you mean by that?" Furina blurted out, the sudden revelation catching her so off guard that she instinctively slipped into formal, reverent tone.
The grand, authoritative aura she had painstakingly maintained for five hundred years fractured instantly before Zoran.
"There is no need for concern. I have already struck a bargain with your other self. When the time comes, you simply need to accept the trial with grace."
Zoran spoke with measured calm. "As for the price of this transaction, you have no need to know it. Your only duty is to call out my name at the proper moment."
Furina shook her head in sheer bewilderment.
The man before her had effortlessly laid bare the secrets of heaven and earth. In his presence, it felt as though secrets simply could not exist. To be perfectly honest, she had yet to fully process the sheer shock of it all.
"I harbor no interest in your trials, your operas, or even this artificial world itself. I have come here for one thing, and one thing only, and Focalors has already promised it to me as payment..."
Zoran laid out the truth with absolute clarity.
In the entirety of Fontaine, only two individuals possessed the right to know of this grand design: the two halves of the Hydro Archon, Furina and Focalors.
Furina bit her lip, her expression a tangled knot of confusion and inner conflict, completely at a loss for words.
Her other self had actually forged an alliance with this mysterious man? Did this mean that following her grueling performance as the Hydro Archon, a new task had been thrust upon her?
But if that were true, why hadn't her other self appeared in person to tell her?
She already felt so deeply exhausted, yet from the sound of it, there were only a few days left. A strange mixture of liberation and confusion warred inside her head. She was a puppet kept entirely in the dark, existing from the very moment of her inception for a singular, predetermined purpose.
"I understand," she murmured softly.
After a long hesitation, she finally bit her lip and asked, "Will it succeed? What I mean is... will my people survive?"
"Naturally," Zoran smiled warmly. "Provided, of course, that you call out my name. For I must depart from this place for a brief period."
"I will! Please, tell me your name!" Furina balled her hands into tight fists, gripping so hard that her knuckles turned stark white.
Zoran's expression remained unchanged. He extended a single finger, tapping the air lightly as a thin wisp of violet-black shadow magic drifted toward Furina.
"What is this?" she asked, staring in bewilderment at the swirling energy.
The strand of Moon Demon Chi manifested in the palm of her hand for a fleeting moment before rapidly dissolving into her skin.
Simultaneously, a distinct, resonant name echoed clearly within the depths of her consciousness.
"Tso... Lan...?" her lips parted, whispering the name in a low murmur.
"This trace of Demon Chi serves but a single function: it allows me to hear your call. It can be invoked only once, after which it will vanish entirely. You must judge the timing for yourself."
Zoran spoke detachedly before rising smoothly from his seat.
For a long time after Zoran left, Furina sat frozen, staring blankly at the completely untouched dessert across the table.
Everything had transpired with a terrifying air of mystique, beginning and ending in the blink of an eye.
Yet, within the foreign energy Zoran had just passed to her, the substance he called 'Demon Chi,' she had detected a faint, lingering trace of a familiar aura belonging to her other self.
Was this her proof?
The undeniable proof that the man had spoken the truth.
Zoran walked out of the Hotel Debord, entirely at ease.
The task ahead of him was remarkably straightforward: lift a finger at a few critical junctures, and manifest himself at the exact right moment. There was absolutely no need for mindless, brutal slaughter to achieve his ends; everything would naturally unfold precisely according to his design.
As the Moon Demon, this patient, calculating approach was the very essence of his character and style.
By now, he had already left the Court of Fontaine, hovering directly over the open waters outside the grand city walls.
The strand of Moon Demon Chi would disintegrate the moment Furina called out his name, bridging the gap between entirely different worlds to deliver her cry directly to his ears. That was its sole purpose.
Suddenly, seven brilliant, cascading beams of light descended gracefully from the heavens.
At that exact moment, Zoran perceived a faint, subtle sensation of being observed from afar.
He looked down at the objects manifesting before him, a sudden smile playing on his lips. Very few things in this universe were worthy of his amusement, but the spectacle unfolding before him was genuinely comical.
Visions.
The unique external magical organs of this world, which inherently carried a much deeper, hidden significance, one that traced its lineage all the way back to the slumbering Sustainer of Heavenly Principles.
Those who held a Vision could harness it to command one of the seven elemental forces.
Zoran tilted his head up slightly, gazing toward the sky. "Is this an act of goodwill, malice? Or perhaps a mere test?"
Lined up directly before him were seven distinct Visions, one for each element.
They lay there like common trinkets on a market stall, left entirely to his discretion to choose as he pleased.
He had never once cloaked the reality of his descent upon this world. Yet, the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles had chosen not to manifest in person, sending these seven Visions instead.
To be sure, a Vision could grant a mortal unimaginable power, but to a being of Zoran's caliber, it was hardly a prize worth keeping. It was merely one of the core laws governing the operation of this world, and Zoran preferred to view the gesture as a calculated probe.
He let out a soft chuckle.
In the next heartbeat, the seven Visions, objects otherwise deemed utterly indestructible by the laws of Teyvat, shattered simultaneously like cheap glass marbles, dissolving into countless fading motes of starlight.
The display was truly amusing.
It was a striking equivalent to holding out a single cracker to Po Kong, testing the limits of her insatiable appetite.
A single cracker.
Could a meager cracker ever hope to satisfy the hunger of the Demon Sorceress of Earth?
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