The whale let out a roar and charged toward Neuvillette with a ramming attack.
Neuvillette remained calm and unhurried, opening a barrier to block the attack.
Both the whale and the dragon were bounced away at the same time.
[Hydro Dragon Sovereign!]
[Reminder that you should have pulled for him. No interruption resistance and you got sent flying (sarcastic)]
The whale twisted its posture in the air and charged toward the fleeing civilians.
At the critical moment.
A purple figure flashed out from the void rift and struck the whale's abdomen with lightning speed.
Forcing it to change direction.
It was Tartaglia.
He took action to save the civilians who were about to be devoured.
[Holy shit, so cool?]
[Delusion armament is awesome!]
[Wanderer is still employed!]
Childe and the whale tangled in the air. After Neuvillette stood up and stabilized himself, the two coordinated their attacks.
The whale was beaten until it let out painful wails and hid back into the Primordial Sea.
At this moment, Childe was panting heavily. Clearly he had been fighting for a very long time.
His left arm was also severely injured, but it didn't stop him from making the 'you're not a dragon at all' gesture.
[Too weak!]
[Childish brat hahaha, still holding a grudge]
[So cool, this part can be watched on repeat]
After evacuating the civilians, everyone gathered on the stage.
"That was so dangerous just now. Why did it suddenly rush out from inside the opera house? Is that the big whale you saw in your dream?"
"That's right." Lumine explained, "It should also be the one Childe saw when he was young…"
By now Neuvillette already knew the origin of the whale.
It did not belong to Teyvat. It was a monster that had been shedding tears while traveling between planets.
It greedily devoured the energy of the planet's Primordial Sea, growing larger and larger.
This was also the main reason for the rising sea levels.
The energy of the Primordial Sea would one day approach exhaustion.
Its next target was the portion flowing in the blood of the Fontaine people.
"It probably wanted to come to the surface a long time ago. The fact that this is the first time it has appeared before us is thanks to that Fatui Harbinger."
Even Neuvillette could not ignore Childe's contribution to Fontaine at this moment.
"Looking at how exhausted he is, he must have fought that whale for a very long time."
[It was only one version though]
Lumine thought of a question.
Childe had been found guilty for no reason.
Imprisoned in the Fortress of Meropide.
Then he escaped and encountered the whale…
Could all of this have been planned by the Oratrice? But why?
Just as he was about to voice this doubt, the Oratrice lit up first.
Then, from the player's perspective, a tear fell from Furina's seat.
Lumine noticed the abnormality with the Oratrice. Without time to explain, she used Anemo assistance and Electro flash to instantly appear beside Furina.
She thought the Oratrice was going to harm Furina.
However, that was not the case.
The moment she touched Furina's tear, she entered a strange space.
At the same time, Neuvillette was pulled into another scene.
"You are not Furina. Who exactly are you?"
"Hmm, seeing how surprised you are, it means I successfully deceived all of you. Obviously, I am the God Focalors."
Here, not only Neuvillette, but the players finally understood Focalors' entire plan.
When the previous Hydro Archon entrusted the prophecy to her, she also found it very difficult.
Everyone knew that the prophecy would definitely happen.
"I dove alone into the seabed and quietly thought for a very long time, until the clamshells beside me started bubbling. Only then did I come up with the only answer."
Since she could not oppose the Heavenly Principles, she would deceive them instead.
This way… she could save everyone while the prophecy occurred.
[Everything is the choice of Steins;Gate]
[It's all Satoru's fault]
[Wallfacer Focalors]
"Hmm, I really am a genius. And that's precisely why Egeria chose me as her successor."
After becoming a god, Focalors separated her divinity from her body and spirit.
What remained was the human-like self that had just been created.
Therefore, both were her.
The divinity was called Focalors, and the personality was called Furina.
Furina was an ordinary human bearing the curse of immortality.
All the qualities she possessed were the most perfect qualities Focalors thought of.
Whether it was joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness, or arrogance and cowardice.
Neuvillette raised his own question. "Even with a long life, her mental strength is only at the human level, right? For her… what kind of painful torment must that have been."
"Yes. Although Furina is the human version of myself, if there were another chance, I would definitely apologize properly to [myself]."
Focalors said, "These five hundred years… for her, it has been an incredibly long, incredibly lonely, incredibly painful… opera."
[Wuwuwu my Fufu, you've suffered too much]
[Five hundred years… even Ei would have to go into seclusion to avoid erosion]
[Fufu had to play the Hydro Archon while investigating the prophecy, and she couldn't let anyone notice anything…]
[Greatness needs no words]
From Lumine's perspective, the players began to learn about Furina's five-hundred-year experience.
[Act 1: In Front of the Mirror — Furina] began.
Until
[Act 182375: Opera House — Furina]…
By this time, Furina had already become somewhat numb.
The family across from her had already changed for nearly 20 generations.
Yet she was still playing the role of the Hydro Archon, not knowing when it would end…
"…Lady Furina… are… are you crying?"
This was the first time Furina had lost her composure.
"Ah… eh? Hahaha, what's going on? I didn't even notice."
[Her human spirit can no longer hold on]
[I'm getting emo too]
Furina quickly returned to her performance state. "Sigh, I guess the Hydro energy in my body is too abundant. There's really nothing I can do. Who made me the God who governs the Hydro element? Hahaha."
She raised her head, but the tears would not stop flowing…
After returning to her room, Furina could no longer hold back because of today's loss of composure.
"So long, so lonely… how much longer…"
"Hundreds of years have already passed. Maybe this play still has to continue for hundreds more years…"
She had never imagined the process would be so painful.
Have I already reached my limit?
No… I probably reached my limit a very, very long time ago.
Today I didn't even notice myself shedding tears.
"I really want to confide in someone… even just one person… but that would ruin everything, wouldn't it."
Over hundreds of years she had conducted so many investigations, yet there was still no hope of breaking the prophecy.
Now, the only way to save Fontaine was to continue believing and keep playing the Hydro Archon.
"Please, you must succeed, the me in the mirror!"
[Act 182376: Opera House — Furina, and…]
In this scene, Lumine in the audience heard her own voice.
"Could it be… from back then in the 'giant magic box'?"
Lumine was somewhat curious about this scene.
Because at that time Furina had already opened her mouth.
It was just that the timing was off by a little.
What was Furina going to say?
Would she confide in me?
After intense inner struggle, Furina chose silence.
She had never been a selfish person.
She would not risk the lives of Fontaine's people.
"It's nothing. I have nothing I want to confide. I am the God Furina. Everything will be fine!"
[This is why I like Fufu!]
[In her heart, Fontaine is already above herself]
Furina crossed her arms. "As an audience member, until the curtain call, you should just quietly witness everything."
Lumine finally received the answer.
At this moment, she truly realized Furina's greatness.
Furina was worthy of the position of Hydro Archon.
Furina was the Hydro Archon!