allonlinenovel Chapter 171 The enemy has 30 seconds to arrive at the battlefield
Chapter 171 The enemy has 30 seconds to arrive at the battlefield
"Yes, according to Dr. Mei's plan, this is how it should be done first."
After converting a portion of the power belonging to the Abyss into the energy needed for the Imaginary Tree, Kiana began repairing Teyvat according to May's plan.
As time passed, Teyvat's branches were mostly repaired, and Kiana keenly sensed that a broken consciousness was awakening inside the branches.
Out of curiosity and kindness, Kia pieced together the consciousness. As expected, the consciousness was that of Fanes, who had chosen to sacrifice herself. Perhaps because the consciousness was pieced together, Fanes' awakening was accelerated, and her consciousness opened her eyes shortly afterward.
"It's you. It seems you've made up your mind."
"Aren't you happy to open your eyes and see me tens of thousands of years later?"
"Does your presence here mean that a solution has been found for Teyvat falling into the sea?"
"I guess so, but I didn't expect you to still have some consciousness left after all this time."
Fanes gave a wry smile: "I didn't expect it myself. I only discovered this after I transformed my own existence into energy and poured it into the tree branch. The power of the branch was much greater than I imagined. Even a broken branch has much more energy than I thought. So I made a bold attempt, and the result is the situation we have now."
"In other words, you merged your consciousness into the tree branch before it completely dissipated, and as a result, you unexpectedly preserved your consciousness."
"That's true, but that's all there is to it. As time goes by, my consciousness is slowly fading away. At the original rate, it will probably dissipate completely before the branch breaks completely."
As he spoke, Fanes glanced at Kiana, then smiled and said, "But you don't need to worry about it now."
"Come on, even if I completely repair the branches, I can't completely preserve your consciousness. It will still disappear with the passage of time. Not to mention, the abyss won't recede because of this. On the contrary, you will be the first to face the erosion from the abyss."
"So someone needs to succeed me, isn't that why you came here?"
"That's partly true, but let me finish repairing the branches first."
"That's true."
After saying that, Fanes stepped aside to watch Kiana's actions. After an unknown amount of time, Kiana finished her actions.
The branches of the Imaginary Tree have finally been fully repaired, and the good news is that Teyvat will no longer fall into the Sea of Quanta over time. The bad news is that the erosion of the Abyss continues, meaning that Teyvat's future destruction remains unchanged.
However, the only place in Teyvat that is most severely affected by the Abyss is Natalya; the Abyss influence in other areas has been somewhat suppressed.
The subsequent succession of Heavenly Principle was quite simple, essentially just a transfer of authority. Originally, it required the presence of four shadows simultaneously to perform a ceremony, to recover as much of Fanes' scattered power as possible, repair the shattered First Throne, and then hand it over to Kiana.
Now, thanks to the appearance of Fanes, everything has become very simple. Fanes himself has full authority over controlling the World Tree and the ley lines, so all that is needed is to transfer this authority to Kiana.
The throne representing Phanes in the void shattered into fragments. These fragments then traveled through an unknown passage to the throne that Kiana had temporarily created and merged with it. Thus, Kiana's throne was completely elevated, and she herself was recognized by the world, officially becoming the next Tenryu.
The moment the transfer was completed, Faneston felt a wave of weakness. From that moment on, she was no longer Tianli, and had lost all connection with Teyvat. She was merely a consciousness attached to a tree branch.
Kiana finally breathed a sigh of relief after glancing at the mission objectives she had already completed on her mission board, but now was not the time to head out and find the captain.
Kiana needs to make some more preparations; she doesn't want this place to be destroyed by the Abyss when she returns next time.
Upon returning to Sky Island, Kiana encountered the Keeper of Heaven's Law, who had been waiting for her for some time.
"Success?"
"That's it."
"And the scent emanating from you... could it be..."
"We've met, but her current situation isn't too bad."
"...Alright, now that you've met her, you should have obtained the authorization from her, right? That means you're now officially a member of the Heavenly Principles."
"But the problem of the Abyss has not been solved yet. I will also be setting off for another world in a while. So I came here this time to leave some backup plans to deal with the Abyss, so that you won't be finished when I come back."
"Why can't we just deal with the Abyss at the same time?"
"Unfortunately, it's not possible. Because Nidhogg brought the Abyss from the outside, Teyvat has been locked by the Abyss. As long as the mark left by the Abyss is not completely removed, the Abyss will continue to invade."
"So even you can't remove that mark?"
"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you for the time being. I can only tell you that the Abyss cannot be completely resolved until the Nata problem is solved."
The Suppressor of Heaven frowned upon hearing this; it was still Nata. He was the first being on Nighognörn to actively seek the power of the Abyss, his aim being to reclaim Teyvat's dominion from the First Throne.
The guardian of justice was naturally aware of the connection, but she hadn't expected that Nata, even with the help of Rona and Kiana, still hadn't solved the Abyss.
"Is the abyss there really that difficult to overcome?"
“There’s nothing we can do.” Kiana shrugged. “That’s where the Abyss first descended. I originally thought the place most affected by the Abyss would be the Dew Flower Sea of Sumeru, but I didn’t expect it to be Nata.”
"Can't we just rewire the ley lines there?"
"No, the people there have adapted to the presence of phlogiston. Trying to change the environment there rashly would only backfire."
"Ugh! This is so troublesome!"
"So I have a suggestion."
"What suggestion?"
"Let me destroy the throne."
"?" The guardian of justice looked at her in surprise. "Are you serious? Well, they are your direct descendants, so it's right for you to favor them."
Seeing that the misunderstanding between the upholders of justice and the law was deepening, Kiana quickly explained.
"It's not that I'm biased towards them, well, that's part of the reason. My main goal is to destroy the throne and return power to the ancient dragons so that the elemental dragon kings can help deal with the abyss."
"Why? Wasn't it Nighold who brought the Abyss back then? Aren't you afraid they'll turn against you and use the Abyss's power again? Don't forget all the good things Appep has been doing all this time!"
"Don't worry, of course I know that, but don't forget that just as you have a prophecy about Fontaine, the dragon race also has prophecies related to their revival."
"Is that Vilette?" The guardian of justice exhaled deeply.
"That's right, he is the prophesied son who will lead the dragon race to rise in the dragon prophecy. With him around, Apep will be much more restrained."
"Hmph! Damn Fucarus, if it weren't for her intervention that saved his life, Vilette would have been killed by us at birth, and the original fetal heart would have been placed into Fucarus's body."
Upon hearing this, the air pressure around Kiana suddenly dropped, and she stared at the maintainer of justice with half-open eyes, her gaze filled with oppressive force.
"What did you just say? I didn't hear you. Could you say it again?"
"...No, it's nothing, just do as you say."
So the two of them came to the throne room once again, and this time Kiana destroyed all the other thrones except for the throne of the god of fire.
In an instant, several powerful forces flew out from inside the shattered throne and entered the body of their original owner.
"Why were only you and the throne of the God of Fire left behind?"
"There are two reasons. First, the second-generation Fire Elemental Dragon King has not yet been officially born, so leaving this ancient dragon power here can serve as a check and balance. Second, the Throne of the Fire God still contains the power reserved for an important internal plan of Nata, so it is not yet time to destroy it."
Meanwhile, Navelette, who was working, sensed a powerful force flowing into her body from the direction of Sky Isle, and her previously incomplete Ancient Dragon Authority became completely whole again. Inside the Cardinal Council of Decree and Judgment, Fucarus smiled bitterly; it seemed that his five-hundred-year-old plan had been largely scrapped, or rather, accelerated.
Although I don't have to die, what should I do now in order to successfully carry out the plan?
Thinking of this, she turned her gaze to Funina, who was standing by the mirror. Perhaps this child would be her destiny after the plan was completed!
Deep in the desert, Apep felt the familiar power returning to his body, and his mood was overjoyed. The return of the Ancient Dragon's authority meant that Kiana had become the new Heavenly Ruler, and now the Dragon Clan could finally launch a counterattack against Sky Island!
Then Navelette appeared in front of it.
"What are you doing here? Shouldn't we be preparing to attack Sky Island right now?"
"Apep, do you remember our agreement? Even though Ms. Kiana helped us regain the power of the Ancient Dragon, we cannot start a war at will. Otherwise, even if you are our senior, don't blame me for taking action against you!"
As he spoke, Villette forcefully struck the ground with his cane, his aura gradually rising, and even the air began to fill with water droplets.
"...I understand, I will abide by our agreement, but you didn't just come here to warn me, did you?"
"Just now, Ms. Kiana contacted us, saying that we need our Elemental Dragon King to support Nata."
"Nata... I didn't expect to end up back there. Aren't you going over there?"
"It is a pity that because the throne was destroyed, the Heart of God lost half of its power. The function of the decree cardinals that were originally made using the Heart of God has also been affected. Now, the law compensation energy in Fontaine is provided by me."
"So who else will go besides me?"
"The Naga King of Liyue will also be there. Judging by the time, it should have broken the seal and arrived here by now."
As they were talking, the earth shook violently, and the enormous body of the Dragon King Ruoduo appeared before them.
"I was wondering why there was such a powerful aura here. So it was the two of you. What, are you about to fight?"
"It's nothing, just a minor disagreement, but it's been resolved now."
Navelette dusted himself off and prepared to return to Fontaine. To be honest, the desert environment was really hard for him to accept. He wouldn't have come here so many times if he didn't have something to take care of!
On the other side, after hearing Navelet's explanation, the Dragon King of Rota immediately understood what was going on. He looked at the silent Apep and laughed loudly.
"Hahaha! I told you long ago that revenge is completely unnecessary. It's fine to live with humans."
Yes, Apep and the Dragon King of Rota had known each other long before Zhongli gave them the eyes. Apep had even tried to recruit the Dragon King of Rota, but unfortunately the Dragon King of Rota did not want to participate.
Especially after spending some time with humans, King Ratna had already let go of his obsession with revenge against Sky Island.
Because humans are so fascinating, King Ratna had to admit that spending a lot of time with humans did indeed make him attracted by their wonderful qualities.
Therefore, it once tried to persuade Apep to let go of its hatred and try to make contact with humans, saying that maybe Apep could accept living with humans.
But Apep refused; all the Dragon King Rātā saw in it was revenge. Perhaps this was the biggest difference between the first Dragon King and its current self as the second.
Although he was born early, he spent most of his time living in the dark underground. It wasn't until Apep found him that he realized the world wasn't all darkness. In Apep's description, the Dragon King Rota began to yearn for life on the surface.
Later, the Dragon King Ruoduo came to the ground and found that everything in front of him was still pitch black. Only then did he realize that he did not have eyes to see the world. Disheartened, he returned to the underground, where he was eventually discovered by Zhongli and given a pair of eyes that could see the light.
During his time with Zhongli, the Dragon King Ruoduo inevitably came into contact with humans. Over time, he grew fond of them. Later, Apep found him again, still with the same purpose of persuading him to join him.
But the Naga King still chose to refuse, and even when it was worn down and tormented to the point of being delirious, it still subconsciously wanted to protect humanity.
Now, times have changed, and the dragon race has also ushered in a time of rise, but not in the way Apep had imagined, which made the Dragon King Rota secretly relieved and at the same time express his gratitude to Kiana in his heart.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Apep, though somewhat reluctant, still followed Kiana's instructions and went to Nata with the Dragon King Rota.
There it sensed the atmosphere of an impending great battle, and the abyss of impending doom, ready to launch a final assault at any moment.