The Keeper of Fate — the Sky Archon Asmode — felt her head spin when she caught Su Xuan's meaning.
From the first time Su Xuan displayed his extraordinary power, the Four Shadows of Heaven had taken notice. Even though the diary copies let them receive first-hand intelligence about him, what they cared most about was that scene hidden beneath the psychokinetic barrier — the part they could not spy on.
They had expected some earth-shattering secret. The truth was… well. It was an earth-shattering thunderbolt.
Asmode had to admit: among the mortals below, there were beings who could overshadow Jean-level figures. Take Clorinde, whom Furina had just mentioned — she was absolutely no joke. The revelations under the psychokinetic dome hit Asmode hard.
Still, as the current executor of Fate on the world's behalf, Asmode understood that such spectacles were an important form of expression for living things. It was just—mentally, mingling with the mortals as she was now felt odd.
A quick pivot, then. Asmode deftly changed the subject. "I came because you said you wanted to replace the regents of Mondstadt and Liyue. I brought the God-Seats, the God-Heart, and the doctrines connecting the Seven Regentes—so you could better collect faith-power."
"Also," she added, "I recall you're dissatisfied with the present Fate System, so—"
Su Xuan waved a hand. "The False Heaven's Fate System will be adjusted however it needs to be. Don't overthink it."
"I'm not the sort who fusses over other people's lives. I just want to live peacefully with my own little patch of ground." He said it casually. "Besides, the people close to me aren't mapped by the False Heaven's fate reflections, so I don't need the Fate System's doctrine. As for God-Seats and God-Hearts and the Seven Regentes, just graft Liyue's regency nominally onto Guizhong and hang Mondstadt's regency on Siskirk. Oh — and unseal the God-Seat's suppression over the Ancient Dragon's authority. The rest can wait."
Asmode nodded, just slightly. When Su Xuan's gaze flicked to her, she felt her heart twitch. Before he could speak, she offered, "If that's your stance, things become very simple. Would you like to come with me to the Sky-Islands? You know there are three others at my rank up there — the other members of the Four Shadows."
Even when fate's inescapable intrusions were upon them, Asmode made the choice most favorable to herself: before she fraternized with all the diary-copy holders, she would not make a fool of herself in front of them. Better to be embarrassed before equals than before one's new charges.
"You're smarter than that greedy little sprite," Su Xuan teased.
(And so the Sky Archon and the sky-moon goddess blur into one another — new PV twist: Paimon's true identity could well be Asmode, Keeper of Fate. Suddenly Paimon's fate looks very, very precarious.)
Su Xuan didn't answer Asmode's invitation right away. He quietly produced his diary and the entry flickered before them.
[Furina's courage is sesame-sized.]
Furina blinked. "Huh?"
[The Keeper of Fate did not come down because of Furina shouting she'd judge High Heaven.]
[Asmode's main purpose was to bring the world's final secret to me.]
[Aside from freeing the Ancient Dragon's authority and arranging Guizhong and Siskirk to become the new regents, the doctrines she carried don't interest me.]
[But her invitation for me to ascend the Sky-Islands does pique me.]
[A few days up there wouldn't hurt.]
High above, in the strange space of the Sky-Islands…
"She actually brought the Fate System and the seven God-Seats? Isn't that a betrayal of Fate?" a silver-haired, languid woman murmured as she flipped a diary-copy over in her hands.
"Worse than that," a pale-winged woman observed in a dry voice. "Letting this inscrutable outsider set foot on the Sky-Islands — is that wise?"
Yonavah (the Death Regent) rifled the diary. She couldn't fathom how the diary's owner could become so terrifying so quickly. It started with a few seconds of looking away — and by the time she looked back, a monster had been born.
A golden-haired woman with heterochromia laughed, arms folded. "When he lands, shall we duel him? He's been shredding the rules."
The glares of Yonavah and Istaroth fell on the gold-haired woman. Anyone who spoke so casually about dueling the newcomer was clearly not the same colleague they knew.
"You sure, Lady Reindolt?" Yonavah's tone was iced.
"Just kidding," Reindolt said with a quick shrug. "I value life more than madness."
Reindolt's mind flickered with another voice — one that mirrored her appearance except for the halo of color behind her. "If he could make a new body for the mind-only Focalors and separate Focalors and Furina, perhaps he could separate us two as well…" a thought suggested. "That would be no small matter, Naberis." Reindolt shook her head. "If you want a power, it's yours." Naberis replied lightly.
Reindolt sighed. Knowing there existed a power that could read life simply by touch had dulled the temptation of Naberis' authority. If Su Xuan were not overwhelmingly strong, Reindolt might be very curious — indeed, the man had just blown up planets with a single strike. The authorities he bore were simply absurd. It was intoxicating.
The three, plus Naberis' lingering consciousness, debated how to handle Su Xuan's eventual arrival on the Sky-Isles. The diary blinked once more.
[Speaking of the Four Shadows of Heaven:]
[Sky Regent — Asmode.]
[Death Regent — Yonavah.]
[Time Regent — Istarlu.]
[Life Regent — one of the Seven Deadly Sins, the Golden Alchemist, Reindolt.]
The assembled maidens blinked. Mondstadt's crowd in particular went wide-eyed. Who? Reindolt as the Life Regent? — wasn't she Albedo's mother? How did she become the Sky-Isles' Life Regent?
[Originally the Life Regent was Naberis.]
[But Naberis inexplicably fell.]
[After Reindolt absorbed Abyssal force, she wandered with Albedo to gather alchemical materials and by shear luck found Naberis' heart.]
[Naberis' heart steadied Reindolt against Abyssal madness; Naberis' consciousness persisted in Reindolt's mind.]
[Thus Reindolt gained the authority of "Life."]
[Weird: who consumed whom? Will Naberis one day reclaim dominance?]
[Because Reindolt now stands in Naberis' stead, the Four Shadows' silver-haired symmetry is broken — a gold head among them.]
Reindolt fell silent, half amused, half resentful that Su Xuan might suggest she dye her hair to match the others.
[About the Four Shadows:]
[They're interesting.]
[Yonavah claims the Shadows will never betray Fate unless they love another more than themselves.]
[In practice, everything they do angers Fate.]
[The more Fate forbids them, the more they do it to spite Fate.]
[Their relationship with Fate is like that of a child to a guardian: boundless rebellion.]
Yonavah, Asmode, Istarlu and Reindolt — the diary's remarks were dry and amused. Istarlu's mouth twitched at the commentary: "That's a bit awkward…" she muttered. The pink-haired fox-eared woman giggled loud.
[Sky Regent — full of zeal and grand schemes.]
[Time Regent — Istarlu, she's dangerous.]
[Fate forbids the Undersea Court to return to the surface, yet Istarlu defied Fate and gave them the Sun-Carriage.]
[She even planted divine sakura seeds in Inazuma through temporal meddling.]
[Worse, she schemed against my cute Traveler — if you want the greatest threat to Fate, it's an Arrival that matches World-Will.]
[Istarlu and Asmode conspired around the Traveler and her brother to keep them from leaving Teyvat — apparently to cause trouble for the Law-King.]
[Don't let Istarlu's gentle looks deceive you — I suspect she's the Sky-Isles' biggest mole.]
Istarlu only smiled wryly. "So I get branded a mole. Charming." She asked what famous singer she resembled.
[Death Regent — Yonavah is steadier by comparison.]
[Her completion of Fate's commands ranks highest; she's diligent, even if only by comparison.]
[Perhaps Nata belonged to the Ancient Dragon Empire; the Abyss invaded the leyline, and Fate was reluctant to manage the people there.]
[So Yonavah stepped in and created rules Nata didn't have — the Night Pilgrimage's trials and the revival-in-Sacred-Fire rule.]
[Yonavah even stored part of her power inside the Fire God's God-Heart to resist Abyssal invasion.]
[She knew the act was forbidden, so she planned to blame the first Fire God should Fate notice.]
[If I were the Law-King, I'd be furious — a god forced into taking the fall.]
Yonavah's expression stayed unreadable.
[As for Life Regent — unclear when or why Naberis fell, but I suspect she had a hand in Erogelia's creation of the Fontaine people via the Primordial waters.]
[In short: the Four Shadows' deeds have overwhelmingly benefited mortals.]
[But for Fate's boss, not one of them is to be taken lightly.]
[Now that Life Regent has become delirious Reindolt, when the Law-King awakens in a few years, the Teyvat he sees will be unrecognizable.]
Yonavah's face tightened.
It was pure irony — Su Xuan, the one who really twisted Teyvat's shape, turned the finger back on them.
"Hmph. When he arrives I'll argue with him properly," Yonavah muttered, small-lipped indignation bristling.
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