The root of the disaster

Tartaglia, in his Foul Legacy form, saw that the danger had passed and looked down, meeting Neuvillette's gaze. The two stared at each other for a few seconds.

Then Tartaglia gave him a thumbs-up, turned it downward, and toppled over as though all his strength had drained away, falling into the rift as well.

[Wriothesley: What was that whale just now? It was so powerful that even Neuvillette came off worse against it.]

[Barbara: How terrifying! It looks so scary.]

[Tartaglia: Ahem...]

[Ningguang: It must be the source of Fontaine's crisis they were discussing in the video just now!]

[Navia: Then does that mean we can resolve Fontaine's crisis just by eliminating that whale?]

[Lyney: In theory, yes, but even Monsieur Neuvillette couldn't do anything about it. I'm afraid eliminating it won't be that simple!]

[Tartaglia: Ahem...]

[Albedo: I've never seen a creature like this before. It doesn't seem to be a species that would exist in Teyvat.]

[Paimon: Whoa, Traveler, is it like you, from somewhere else?]

[Sucrose: Even you haven't seen it before, teacher?]

[Tartaglia: Ahem...]

[Baizhu: My friend, is your throat bothering you? Would you like some medicine?]

[Rosaly: His throat isn't bothering him. He's just upset nobody's praising him!]

[Arlecchino: ...You would probably be better suited to spending time with the children of the House of the Hearth!]

[Tartaglia: Hey, what do you mean by that? Everyone's looking at that whale, and nobody's talking about me. Didn't my performance deserve some praise? I never imagined my future self would be so strong. Even though it's impossible, I really want to fight my future self and see just what level I've reached!]

[Pantalone: I won't say who ran out of strength and fell at the end.]

[Freminet: It really was impressive, but what shocked me even more was that final gesture. I've never seen anyone treat Monsieur Neuvillette like that before!]

[Sandrone: Keep celebrating. You still don't even know what crime you committed in Fontaine!]

[Arataki Itto: Not bad, not bad. You've earned my approval!]

[Yelan: There's still one question: what is Furina's purpose in doing this?]

[Hu Tao: That was incredible. I'm so excited right now. Inspiration has struck! This director is going to compose a poem!]

The scene continued.

Paimon said, "That was way too close! How did such a huge whale suddenly appear beneath the opera house? Lumine, is that the whale you mentioned?"

Lumine nodded. "Yes. It should also be the one Childe once saw..."

Neuvillette said, "As for why it appeared here, I believe..."

"That whale is not a creature of Teyvat. It is a monster that constantly sheds tears as it wanders between planets."

"It had been devouring the energy within the Primordial Sea, using that energy to keep growing. This also caused the sea level to rise!"

"However, the Primordial Sea's energy is not inexhaustible. I'm afraid there isn't much left in it now..."

Clorinde said, "You mean the Primordial Sea Water within Fontainians' bodies..."

Neuvillette said, "Exactly. There is little energy left in the Primordial Sea now, and the Primordial Sea Water inside Fontainians' bodies holds an unparalleled attraction for that whale."

"So after leaving the Primordial Sea, its first target was the opera house, where a large number of Fontainians were gathered."

Navia frowned. "But we didn't kill it just now. It still escaped. Doesn't that mean it'll come back once its wounds heal?"

Neuvillette said, "Yes. In fact, that whale must have been trying to come up for quite some time. The reason we only just saw its true appearance was probably that the Fatui Harbinger was holding it back."

"Judging by the way he fell into the rift just now, he was utterly exhausted. I'm afraid he must have been fighting that whale for quite a while..."

Paimon said, "You mean [Childe]? He did seem to have some connection to that whale already. Who would've thought..."

"Well, now that we've found the source of the disaster, all we have to do is eliminate it, right?"

Neuvillette shook his head. "Alas, we discovered it too late..."

Lumine said, "Too late?"

Neuvillette said, "Before we discovered it, this whale had been frantically absorbing the power of the Primordial Sea. By now, it could be said to have become one with the Primordial Sea."

"That means even if all of Teyvat were destroyed, the whale would remain unharmed and simply move on to other worlds, safe and sound."

Navia said, "No... that's so unfair. We've done everything we could, even what we couldn't. We've found the source of all these disasters, too..."

"All we should have to do is defeat it, and now you're telling me it can't be defeated. That's so unfair."

Lyney also took a few steps forward. "If such a spectacular opening act ended just like this, it would be rather anticlimactic."

Clorinde remained as expressionless as ever, but said firmly, "No matter what, I will never give up."

Paimon said to Lumine, "...So fate really is hard to change..."

Hearing Paimon's words, Lumine did not speak immediately. A voice suddenly rang out in her mind.

It was what Witch N had mentioned earlier.

"The prophecy... will not change. It will certainly come to pass. Think of it as the history of the future."

Lumine felt somewhat dejected and thought to herself, It still ended up like this... Fate still can't be changed. Wait, fate...

Witch N's words continued to echo in her mind.

"Just as prophecies generally show only the future seen from a god's perspective, could things also be happening... in the blind spots of a god's gaze?"

"You should be able to understand, shouldn't you? What is inconsequential, and what you must reach out to."

Lumine suddenly understood, recalling a crucial factor they had overlooked.

Furina! On the way here from Poisson, what was the last thing Furina wanted to tell me...?

Lumine kept thinking.

Just then,

The Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale suddenly made a noise.

Everyone present was bewildered when they heard it.

Navia asked in confusion, "What happened? The [Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale] is... 2."