The Sky Screen Over Teyvat

He scrambled to steady himself, nearly dropping his lyre. His green eyes were filled with the despair of Not you too.

Columbina tilted her head. Her pale golden eyes were utterly earnest, as though she were discussing a solemn matter of doctrine.

"But that's what the Sky Screen showed. Mondstadt's pigeons say so, Mondstadt's dogs say so, even Mondstadt's wind says so."

"Th-that's—"

Venti opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again. At last, he buried his face in his lyre and mumbled, "...Everyone's just too enthusiastic."

Beside him, Su Yun was laughing so hard his shoulders shook.

Zhongli picked up his teacup again. Unable to suppress the curve of his lips, he hid it behind a sip of tea.

"And,"

Columbina edged half a step closer. Her voice carried a strange solemnity befitting Yue Shen.

"I'm Yue Shen. You just said, 'May the Anemo Archon protect you.' You're the Anemo Archon. So tell me, will you protect me?"

Venti had never faced anything like this. His head spun, and Varka's favorite saying suddenly came to mind.

"The winds of freedom are calling me!"

With that, he jumped out the window and vanished.

At the same time, time began to flow again across Teyvat. A pitch-black line suddenly appeared in the blue sky.

(Reference: the appearance of the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles.)

"What is that??"

Inside the Sanctuary of Surasthana, Nahida looked up from her work, full of questions.

At the Opera Epiclese, Furina stared nervously at the sky while Neuvillette frowned deeply.

At the Stadium of the Sacred Flame...

At the Zapolyarny Palace...

Across the entire world, including the three sovereigns on Celestia, every gaze converged upon it.

The first nine rankings flashed by. What they saw left them lost in a fog, especially the fighting power displayed by the Gods on the Sky Screen.

Could those even be called Gods?

Then, at last, it reached "Teyvat Academy."

The information on the poster stunned every living being. What kind of academy was this impressive? It had invited the gods of the Seven Nations? And who was that girl in the middle? What gave her a seat at the same table as the Seven Archons?

Since no trailer had played, they did not know Su Yun was the headmaster.

Nahida looked at herself in fourth place, puzzled.

When had she become the head of Teyvat Academy's Dendro House?

The other sovereigns were just as confused.

When the first god, Venti of the wind, lit up...

They watched the story unfold on the screen, saw the boy erased by time—and Venti, who had scattered Old Mondstadt's snowstorms, split its mountains, and brought freedom to its people.

All of Mondstadt erupted in celebration:

This was the Anemo Archon. This was the Anemo Archon they worshipped!

[Mondstadt Pigeon King: Oh my god, is that the Anemo Archon Mom told me about? He's been right beside us all along!]

[Lisa: So more than half his power goes toward maintaining the Great Symphony of a Thousand Winds?]

[Help, I said in the tavern just the other day that the Anemo Archon's singing was pretty average...]

[Oh my god, that boy who's always singing for money at the tavern and even shamelessly pestering Charles for Dandelion Wine is our Anemo Archon?]

Charles went numb when he saw it. His hands trembled, and his face turned pale.

"I turned down the Anemo Archon so many times!!"

Diluc looked up slightly from the accounts he was checking. "It's hardly surprising that he's the Anemo Archon. Don't worry. He won't hold it against you."

Charles froze at Diluc's words. So his boss had known the Anemo Archon's identity all along.

No wonder Diluc always said children weren't allowed to drink, yet secretly left the Dandelion Wine where Venti could reach it.

In no time, the Sky Screen became the focus of everyone in Teyvat.

Meanwhile, on Celestia.

Rhinedottir tapped a finger and posted a message on the Sky Screen:

Rhinedottir (Naberius): Interesting. A creation beyond fate?

Rhinedottir stared at "Naberius" beside her name in surprise. She had not expected Naberius to be included too.

Beside her, Ronava failed yet another attempt. No matter what she did, she could not erase the Sky Screen from the sky.

Fuming, she shouted at Istaroth:

"Istaroth, how can you still look so relaxed? Is your omnipotence any use against this thing?"

Istaroth played with her hair as she watched Venti on the Sky Screen.

"I can't reach him anymore..."

Ronava paused. She knew Istaroth meant Venti.

That caught Rhinedottir's interest as well. "Oh? That Sylph? Didn't you give him a fragment of your authority over time? Don't tell me he swallowed it."

Such things were hardly rare.

According to what Rhinedottir had learned from Naberius, fragments of the authority over life had also ended up in Snezhnaya.

Istaroth stretched and said languidly:

"Even the appearance of a creation like this hasn't awakened the sleeping Heavenly Principles. Clearly, matters have gone beyond their control."

"We're only shadows they created. There's little we can do. Rather than rage, we might as well watch what happens."

"If they wake and can respond, all the better. If even they're powerless, why should we waste our effort?"

In two words: she quit.

Ronava was about to boil over. Of the four shadows, one had been swallowed up, her personality coming and going;

Istaroth was a complete slacker. Unless someone dragged her to work, she was nowhere to be found.

The sovereign of space had simply disappeared.

Of the four shadows, she was the only one doing any work!

On Douluo Continent, Venti still had no idea his identity had been completely exposed.

He had not flown far. Instead, he sat on the roof of the Merchants' Guild.

Wine in hand, he watched Zhongli, who was about to appear on the Sky Screen.

"Ehe, it's the old man's turn. I wonder if they'll show me blowing those demon gods toward Liyue back then."

The two Sky Screens had synchronized by now, so the final recap showed Venti as he was at that very moment.

Naturally, Venti's words reached every living being in Teyvat.

He had blown demon gods toward Liyue...

The people of Liyue immediately saw red, especially the adepti.

No wonder Liyue had so many demon gods back then while neighboring Mondstadt had so few.

So that old rascal was behind it!

For a moment, they considered flattening Mondstadt while Venti was away. Fortunately, Zhongli was away too, so the idea had to be set aside.

After all, Mondstadt's Grand Master had returned.

Venti had not expected an offhand joke to be broadcast across Teyvat by the Sky Screen.

In truth, Mondstadt had had fewer demon gods partly because of the God of Storms and partly because of its environment.

Liyue had drawn one wave of demon gods after another simply because of its favorable location and abundant resources.