"Utterly risible!"
The girl perched on the arm of a massive humanoid puppet, her eyes fixed on a distant point.
[The Fatui Harbinger, Seventh Seat: Sandrone, the Marionette]
The man with a half-mask crossed his arms, closed his eyes, and wore a faint, almost imperceptible smile.
[The Fatui Harbinger, Second Seat: Dottore, the Doctor]
With this, all the remaining Fatui Harbingers had gathered.
[Angie!]
[Is that Angie in the Ice Coffin? The wicked woman who pinched Yuna's cheek?!]
[No! Angie can't be dead! Didn't they say villains always live a long time?!]
[Hug Childe, he looks like he's about to shatter.]
[Angie was Tartaglia's younger sister! Knowing how much he values family, this might be another Diluc situation.]
[Wait, my brain's a bit scrambled. Does this mean Angie fell in battle against the Abyss in some country later on?]
[Could it be Sumeru?]
[Impossible. They've already obtained all seven Gnosis. It couldn't be Sumeru. More likely Natlan or even Khaenri'ah, though I'd bet on Natlan.]
[Angie's gone too... still died fighting the Abyss...]
[I don't think the Fatui are the real villains. From what we've seen, they're just collecting Gnosis. The only true villain is that damned Abyss!]
[True, but... the Fatui sure are good-looking.]
Chen Xiyao stared at the PV playing on the screen. Any Harbinger would have been fine, but it had to be Angie.
She recalled a theory discussed by netizens: the "Person of Pure Soul" was the second nation representative shown in the Travail PV. She had already suspected this, and now Angie's death made her even more certain.
This PV clearly depicted events after the Natlan chapter of Genshin Impact. If even Snezhnaya's Person of Pure Soul had died, did that mean Yuna, Silaya, and the two representatives from Fontaine and Natlan had also...
A chill ran down Chen Xiyao's spine. Would Mihoyo really kill off so many characters?
Aren't they afraid of the backlash?
In the world of anime and games, many characters have dedicated fans. In a neighboring live stream, a streamer who had loved Angie since her first appearance was completely stunned. The character he'd devoted himself to was going to die before he'd even had a proper chance to meet her?
Influenced by him, most of the viewers in his stream had also grown fond of Angie.
Their streamer was a Genshin lore expert who had deduced Angie's personality and character from various small details. She was a member of the Fatui, but she wasn't an entirely bad person.
She went to Dragonspine to investigate the Fell Dragon's Heart, fought Qingge in Liyue to defend her brother's honor, and rescued The Fair Lady in Inazuma because they were allies. The Delusion incident there had nothing to do with her.
Moreover, players had learned from Fatui soldiers that Angie was at odds with both the Doctor and Scaramouche, even personally destroying one of the Doctor's "slices."
How can someone like her die when we haven't even gotten to push her yet?
The trailer continued to play.
Pierro, the Jester, emerged from the shadows.
"It's time to end tonight's foolish theatrics. Right now, you have no captive audience. Let every worthy sacrifice be carved in ice, and with this nation endure for all time"
The Harbingers stood in formation on either side of the coffin.
"In the name of Her Majesty, the Tsaritsa, we have already seized the authority from the gods..."
"Next... it is time to raise our swords against "her"..."
"Absolute peace"
"Such is the gift from the Tsaritsa, such is Her Majesty's benevolence"
Frost rapidly crept across the palace, completely freezing it in an instant.
The ice surged outward, engulfing the entire screen, and then...
An ice coffin lay silently encased in ice.
"Now you rest in this coffin, encased in layer upon layer of ice"
"But, Angie, I promise you..."
"Your final resting place will be the entirety of the "Old World"..."
The background music suddenly swelled with intensity as the scene shifted from Snezhnaya to Musk Reef.
Tartaglia's face was grim, his eyes burning with a chilling killing intent. He snapped two blades together to form a long spear, instantly donning his Foul Legacy Transformation without any wind-up.
With resolute steps, he walked toward the Abyss Gate and vanished into it...
[Nooo, my Childe... T_T]
[Tartaglia's going all out.]
[His little sister was harmed by the Abyss, and he's a pure warrior at heart. It's not surprising he'd make this choice, but still...]
[Didn't Mihoyo say characters in the gacha pool wouldn't be killed off?]
[They said they wouldn't be killed off before we reach Celestia. Who knows when this PV takes place?]
[Have faith in Tartaglia.]
In some unknown space, black mist permeated the surroundings as endless Abyss Monsters surged toward the center.
A tall, masked man clenched one fist and slammed it into the ground. A massive wave of Cryo-infused solid ice crashed directly into the monsters, instantly clearing the entire area.
The camera lingered on the tall man.
[The Fatui Harbinger, First Seat: Capitano, the Captain]
From deeper within, the roar of an unknown creature echoed. The Captain threw off his greatcoat, clenched his right hand in the air, and a longsword slowly materialized in his grasp.
He walked slowly toward the depths, saying, "Come..."
[THE FIRST HARBINGER!!!]
[So cool! Is this the peak combat power of the Fatui?]
[Probably not. There's still the Director above him. But this guy is seriously badass.]
[Is he fighting the Abyss too?]
[So, will the Abyss be everyone's enemy later on?]
[Not sure, but the Abyss is definitely an enemy!]
The scene shifted again, this time to what appeared to be a ruin.
Rosalyne and Sandrone flanked Dottore, the Crimson Witch of Embers and the towering Marionette unleashing their full power against him.
Dottore sneered with disdain, transforming into a monstrous form and clashing fiercely with the two.
The shockwaves from their battle triggered a small earthquake.
[Fatui civil war?]
[Why are they fighting each other?!]
[Dottore's no good anyway. Go, you two!]
The battle was fierce, but in the end, it seemed Dottore had gained the upper hand.
The scene shifted again. Somewhere in the sky, Columbina smiled and reached forward. Endless golden beams of light instantly shot toward the screen.
At this point, the PV cut to black, and the words Genshin Impact appeared on the screen.
After several seconds of darkness, a voice spoke.
"I must say, you're looking very young today, Doctor"