"Ah! H-H-Heavenly Principles!"
With a startled cry, Furina scrambled backward, nearly tumbling as she put several meters between herself and Ellin in an instant.
She could not help it. The so-called prophecy was a punishment the Heavenly Principles had inflicted on Fontaine.
In a sense, the Heavenly Principles were Fontaine's greatest enemy.
And now, the Heavenly Principles stood right beside her.
Although these were the new Heavenly Principles, she knew little about this successor's temperament or character.
More importantly, even if she knew what the new Heavenly Principles were like, she would not dare take that gamble!
Neither Focalors nor Furina dared to gamble.
They bore the burden of Fontaine's survival, the safety of countless Fontainians, and five hundred years of effort and sacrifice.
A single mistake would destroy everything they had fought to protect.
They could not afford even the slightest error, even though the deeds of these Heavenly Principles had already spread throughout Teyvat, even though every rumor praised her gentleness and compassion.
But the burdens they carried were far too heavy. They could not stake everything on these new Heavenly Principles.
No matter how good a person she might be, they could not choose to trust her.
That was precisely why both Furina and Focalors had reacted with fear, panic, and wariness the moment they discovered Ellin.
Faced with Furina's reaction, Ellin could not help smiling.
"Do you really need to be that scared of me?"
Ellin spread her hands. "I mean you no harm. If I really wanted to hurt you, the time you just spent spacing out would have been enough for me to kill you dozens of times."
"And another thing."
Ellin pointed behind Furina.
"I told you just now that it's dangerous here. That little puddle behind you contains a high concentration of