As the flames rose, the scene shifted. Against a dim background, a burly man with lightning markings on his body and four arms appeared, looking somewhat weak.
He propped his head up with one arm, while the other three hung as though beyond his control. He seemed to be in great pain.
"...Menogias, where did you go just now?"
[Xiao: ??!!!]
[Zhongli: ...]
[Xianyun: Is that Bosacius?!]
[Ganyu: It is indeed Senior Bosacius.]
[A Ping: Of the five foremost yakshas, only Bosacius's whereabouts were unknown back then. It seems we can finally learn what became of him.]
[Mountain Shaper: Indeed. I thought this thing was an absurd joke, but I never expected such an extraordinary encounter.]
[Moon Carver: If we can see our old friend's face again, this thing has some value after all.]
The burly man had barely appeared before the discussion exploded. Although Teyvat's viewers, especially those in Liyue, did not recognize everyone who had just spoken in the discussion, they did recognize certain individuals-or at least understood who they were.
For example, viewers among the ordinary folk of Liyue Harbor were more familiar with Zhongli.
The staff of Yuehai Pavilion were more familiar with Ganyu.
Even if they knew neither of those two, surely no one in Liyue could fail to understand the conspicuous adeptal titles attached to the last two names.
Their damn names ended with adeptal titles in plain sight! What person from Liyue wouldn't understand what that meant?
Elsewhere, someone might dare impersonate an adeptus to deceive believers, but this was a discussion where even gods spoke freely. Everyone here was a prominent figure from their respective nation, so it was only natural for adepti to be among them.
[Yanfei: Bosacius... I remember hearing my parents mention that name. Hmm, I think I also saw records about him while looking through documents for a case not long ago.]
[Xiangling: Huh? Is this gentleman also a friend of Master and the others?]
[A Ping: Hahaha, Bosacius is an old friend of ours. Like many friends from the past, he was an adeptus who fought for Liyue.]
[Xingqiu: I think I saw that name when reading ancient texts.]
[Chongyun: My family has records passed down as well. Bosacius should be the true name of the leader of the five foremost yakshas who once served Rex Lapis.]
The explanations in the discussion enlightened the people of Liyue.
Although Liyue had preserved its ancient traditions more thoroughly than any other nation-far better than neighboring Mondstadt, which had completely forgotten its own Dragon of the East in a mere five hundred years-there were simply too many gods and adepti here, and too many heroes who had sacrificed themselves in the past.
Everyone knew Rex Lapis, but few could name all the adepti who served him, how many had fallen, or how many remained.
That was even more true of the yakshas.
Although the game mainly mentioned the five foremost yakshas, yakshas were an entire race, one dedicated to fighting for Rex Lapis. The fact that barely any remained alive showed just how many had been sacrificed in the past.
Yakshas like Xiao, who remained active to this day, were another matter. People could still occasionally catch sight of the Conqueror of Demons protecting Liyue, and tales of Xiao still circulated among the people.
But the other four foremost yakshas...
Well, one could look at how Pervases, another yaksha in the original game, had fared.
Even the damn temple dedicated to commemorating them had fallen into disrepair.
Yet although most people had forgotten the name of this leader of the yakshas, that did not mean the people of Liyue disrespected their heroes.
Upon learning that he was a yaksha who had fought under Rex Lapis, all of Liyue Harbor seemed to grow more solemn. As a place where wealth converged and the most prosperous port in Teyvat, Liyue Harbor was usually bustling even at night. Now, however, it fell quiet for the first time. Even visitors from other nations were affected by the atmosphere and paid their respects in silence.
Childe, Tartaglia, smiled as he glanced out the window of the Northland Bank at the people of Liyue, who were all gazing respectfully at the screen without anyone having given an order. He turned to instruct his subordinates.
"Quick, write down the names and code names of those first few speakers, along with everything they said. This is our best chance to learn how many adepti Liyue still has."
As he gave those instructions, Tartaglia looked at Zhongli's name among them. His gaze grew deep, and the smile on his face gradually widened.
"I only wanted to find a well-informed point of contact, but it seems I've hit the jackpot. This Mr. Zhongli must be an adeptus too. I wonder whether he could give me a chance to meet Rex Lapis."
Unaware that he might be even luckier than he imagined, Childe continued revising his plans while the video played on.
After the burly yaksha asked his question, the screen went dark. Then the scene shifted to a middle-aged man with a two-part mustache, dressed in an older style of Millelith thaumaturge's uniform.
The middle-aged man sighed and spoke helplessly.
"Ah, my yaksha brother, you're getting confused again, aren't you? How many times have I told you? My name is Boyang. I'm a thaumaturge fighting alongside you in The Chasm."
[Xiao: The Nameless Yaksha.]
[Xiao: I previously received word of a Nameless Yaksha who disappeared while fighting in The Chasm. It seems Bosacius really did take part in that battle five hundred years ago, on the battlefield in The Chasm.]
At that thought, Xiao tightened his grip on the Primordial Jade Winged-Spear.
The situation back then had been dire. The enemy had attacked ferociously, carrying heavy karmic debt and seeming endless in number. Battlefields across Liyue were on the brink of collapse. Not only Xiao, the Conqueror of Demons, but the other adepti as well had their own battlefields to defend. With no other choice, they had left The Chasm to military formations made up of mortals.
He had thought it would be the weakest point in Liyue's defenses, yet its defensive line had never retreated a single step.
Now, if the Nameless Yaksha he had heard appeared in The Chasm was Bosacius, what had happened there was not impossible to understand.
But Bosacius should already have been burdened by karmic debt then, his fighting strength greatly diminished. What exactly had happened? How had a weakened Bosacius and a group of mortals held back the endless monsters along a two-hundred-li defensive line?
At this point, Xiao was still the Conqueror of Demons who shouldered everything himself and had yet to understand the convictions and will of mortals. Naturally, he did not know what convictions had driven that group of mortals to hold back an army of monsters that even adepti would have treated as a formidable enemy, and lure them underground.
In the Jade Chamber, Ningguang, the Tianquan, sat at the head of the room and glanced at Yelan, who had seemed somewhat unusual since the middle-aged thaumaturge appeared, especially after he revealed his name.
Yelan had not originally been in the Jade Chamber. However, after the screen suddenly appeared, she had briefly gathered some intelligence as a precaution, then used a special route to reach the Jade Chamber, both to protect Ningguang and to consolidate the intelligence from the surrounding area here.
She had simply not expected to see a video connected to her own family as soon as she arrived.
Yelan and Ningguang exchanged a glance. They understood each other well, and Ningguang grasped Yelan's meaning almost instantly. She nodded to her.
[Yelan: Among my ancestors was a great-granduncle who fought in The Chasm and willingly sacrificed himself. Although the records passed down are vague, they do mention a yaksha who voluntarily joined the battle. In the end, he and my great-granduncle led a group of Millelith predecessors in luring the monsters into the deepest reaches of The Chasm.]
[Xiao: I see. Even at the very end, Bosacius never forgot his duty.]
[Ganyu: Conqueror of Demons, I believe we will see exactly what happened to Senior Bosacius that day.]
[Xiao: Don't worry. I understand.]
Ganyu's words revealed the more widely known identity of the star-rated user named Xiao. It was undoubtedly astonishing that the renowned Conqueror of Demons was also in the discussion, and that ordinary mortals like them could one day so casually watch an adeptus recount his own affairs, when normally only those with an adeptal affinity could meet one.
The people of Liyue, whose enthusiasm for seeking adepti had recently surged again, grew excited for a moment. But remembering that even gods were in there, they calmed down again.
After all, never mind the Conqueror of Demons-even Rex Lapis himself was probably in there right now.
Still, learning that the Conqueror of Demons' true name was Xiao gave many people a sudden sense of having glimpsed the truth, satisfying their curiosity.
It was foreseeable that as the video continued, even more of their curiosity would be satisfied.
"Boyang... Boyang?"
The voice of the Nameless Yaksha, or rather, the yaksha Bosacius, was filled with confusion.
"If you're Boyang, then who am I?"
Hearing this, Xiao let out an almost imperceptible sigh.
He already knew how Bosacius's life had ended.
It could be called the fate of yakshas like them.
The more they fought, the more karmic debt entwined itself around them.
Loss of control, amnesia, madness, an inability to distinguish friend from foe, self-destruction.
Had a god from another nation not helped him once before, he would never have held out until now either.
As the eldest of the five sworn siblings, Bosacius had always charged at the front and shielded his brothers and sisters. That he would end up like this was also to be expected.
Zhongli and the other adepti could all reach the same conclusion. Watching Bosacius in the video, their feelings grew deeply complicated.
The video pulled back to reveal the full scene.
Bosacius and Boyang were clearly sitting in an underground cave, with a campfire burning between them.
"I'd like to call you by your name. Otherwise, we've agreed to stay here together, yet I can't even address you by name..."
"What a shame."
As Boyang let out that final sigh, the screen went dark.
[Lumine: These must all be heroes who sacrificed themselves, right?]
[Jean: Five hundred years ago... Yes, Miss Lumine. An enormous disaster struck Teyvat five hundred years ago. Not only Liyue, but all six other nations were affected. It is only thanks to the sacrifices of countless heroes who came before us that we can live normal lives today.]
At that moment, Yae Miko thought of Kitsune Saiguu, Raiden Ei thought of Raiden Makoto, and La Signora thought of her lover.
A considerable number of the star-rated users in the discussion had lost friends and family in that disaster.
Because of that shared feeling, no one even felt like arguing or joking in the discussion for a time.
The image returned. Bosacius pressed a hand to his mask, seemingly puzzled by Boyang's words.
"...Stay here?"
"No, you have to get out!"
Hearing this, Boyang grew very anxious. "My yaksha brother, don't talk nonsense. Didn't we prepare ourselves to stay underground forever?"
"Y-you can't go back on your word!"
[Xiao: By this point, Bosacius's memory must already have deteriorated badly. He told this thaumaturge to leave because ordinary humans who get too close to us yakshas will be contaminated by karmic debt. At the very least, they will go mad.]
[Yelan: In that case, our family does indeed have records saying that the ancestor of our branch became somewhat... mad after returning from The Chasm.]
[Xiao: Alas, by then, Bosacius's karmic debt must already have been beyond his control. That was why even brief contact would eventually contaminate others.]
"That seal mustn't be broken..."
Boyang struck his thigh, his tone urgent.
The scene shifted upward, allowing the viewers to clearly see an ominous opening where blood-red and pitch-black mingled.
"...The seal... Ah, right-" The confusion gradually left Bosacius's voice. "I am a yaksha who came here to fight!"
[Ningguang: A seal? I think I have some idea now.]
[Keqing: Some strange things have been happening in The Chasm recently. Could it be that the seal from back then has gradually begun to weaken with the passage of time?]
[Xiao: I will visit The Chasm afterward.]
[A Ping: Xiao, don't act rashly. At the very least, make thorough preparations first and inform Rex Lapis...]
[A Ping: Hmm, does saying it here like this already count as informing Rex Lapis?]
Zhongli sighed and decided to send the adepti another dream that night.
No, better wait. Too much has happened today. I should properly review everything later and give them all my instructions at once tonight. Otherwise, it'll be one dream now, then another dream later...
How exhausting.
The screen did not care whether Rex Lapis was exhausted. The darkness gave way to an image of Boyang holding a firelighter, his other arm supporting the weakened Bosacius.
"...Brother, brother! Are you all right?"
Bosacius gave a bitter smile. "...Haha, look how badly I'm hurt. I'm afraid I don't have long left!"
"It's just the two of us now. Don't you die on me."
[Xiangling: I don't know why, but hearing this man say something like "don't die before me" so calmly really makes me want to cry.]
[Yun Jin: How lamentable~.]
[Xingqiu: It must have been an entire Millelith unit that lured the monsters underground back then. Now, only the two of them remain.]
[Chongyun: Alas.]
[Hu Tao: Consultant, let's apply for the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor to go and have a look at The Chasm next.]
[Zhongli: That would be most fitting.]
[Ganyu: I will also make time to go along.]
[Beidou: Ha, count me in. I'm about to sail back from Inazuma.]
[Raiden Ei: Hmm?]
Miss Raiden, who had been quietly enjoying the show, felt as though the spectacle had suddenly turned toward her.