Bathed in morning light, the three of them—Lori, Morax, and Barbatos—stood together in silence.
Each carried secrets too heavy to voice.
Yet none of them were willing to break the stillness.
At last, it was Lori who spoke first.
"Morax, have the Adepti and the Qixing withdraw."
The Geo Archon met Lori's gaze, as if reading something unspoken in his expression.
After a moment of quiet, he signaled for his subordinates to obey.
The Adepti did not complain—
Gods had their own burdens, and they knew better than to pry.
With the attendants gone, the bustling Yujing Terrace fell silent at once.
"After noise fades, ashes always feel colder."
Morax stepped toward the railing, gazing down at Liyue Harbor illuminated by morning gold.
This city—this jewel—was his treasure, one he had protected for over three thousand years.
Still unpolished, still rough…
but already radiating brilliance.
With the right tempering, it would become the brightest gem in the world.
Lori walked to his side.
"Yes… prosperity always fades. Even if we still share drinks like this today,
many old friends may only remain in memory—
their faces worn away by time."
Hearing this, Morax finally realized what Lori intended to speak of.
A cultured man understands meaning from half a sentence.
As one of the oldest surviving gods, nearly six thousand years old, Morax understood truths few others ever touched.
"Why are you two speaking in riddles again?"
Barbatos shoved himself between them, smelling strongly of wine as he pretended to be clueless.
Lori shot him a glance.
This guy was a riddle himself.
After all—
among the four shadows carved by the Heavenly Principles,
the Time God Istaroth was also known as the Thousand Winds.
And Barbatos?
He had once been born from a single fragment of the thousand winds.
To say they were unrelated would fool no one—including the dead.
But seeing Barbatos play dumb so convincingly, Lori knew questioning him would go nowhere.
Morax remained silent for a long time before finally saying:
"There are truths I cannot speak aloud.
If you truly seek answers… walk this land.
You will find them yourself."
Realizing his old friend would not reveal more, Lori did not press further.
Some knowledge—like that which doomed the god Orobashi—was dangerous.
Knowing it could bring disaster to both the revealer and the listener.
At this moment, Barbatos cut in again:
"I think Morax is right! Lori—why don't you come back to Mondstadt with me in a couple of days?
You haven't seen it in centuries.
You'll be shocked at how much the city we founded together has grown!"
Lori felt tempted.
"Once I finish visiting my friends in Liyue, I'll go with you."
He, too, had helped build ancient Mondstadt.
How could he not feel sentimental?
But like Barbatos, he believed that humans should shape their own history—
while gods simply watched over them, unseen.
That belief was what allowed him to walk freely between Mondstadt, Liyue, and Inazuma without burden.
"Then it's settled!"
Barbatos patted his chest proudly.
"I'll wait here in Liyue for you.
I'll also take this chance to help that Yaksha clear out his accumulated karma."
"Good. Once everything is in place, I'll call you."
Lori knew the Yaksha he meant—Xiao.
Long ago, Xiao had not borne that name.
He had been the servant of a cruel god, forced to devour people's dreams and commit countless sins.
A past drenched in agony.
When that god was defeated by Morax and Lori, Xiao was freed.
Morax renamed him and took him in as a protector of Liyue.
A redemption forged through blood.
In a way, that dark past was what allowed Xiao to remain uncorrupted in the coming Abyss disaster—
unlike his comrades, who either died or went mad.
Barbatos stretched lazily and yawned.
"Alright, I'm going to sleep.
You two continue your gloomy philosophical musings."
Even gods weakened under the erosion of Celestia's restraints.
They weren't yet as diminished as they would be five centuries later—
but the decline had begun.
Power, energy, vitality—
all slowly, quietly draining away.
The wind god staggered toward the inner pavilion to rest.
Lori and Morax stood side by side, gazing at the harbor—
from silent dawn to booming life.
Liyue's history rose in Lori's mind.
In the beginning, Liyue was only a mining village near Mingyun Village—
wealthy, but small.
Then came the Archon War.
Then the great flood.
Lori, Morax, and the Dust God Guizhong combined their scattered tribes and led them to the plains now called Guili Plains.
In those days, Morax wandered the land in the form of a princess, shifting between hundreds of appearances.
The three of them drank, laughed, and watched over their people's growth.
But the war grew fierce too quickly.
Demons ravaged the land—
Oceanhid, chasms, and monsters from all directions.
Even the peaceful Salt God could not avoid conflict with humans.
War broke out everywhere.
Lori and Morax cut down the gods who coveted their seats—
forcing most to flee into the outer seas.
But even their combined might could not protect everyone.
In a terrible moment, Guizhong—
the spirited girl with a mind full of ideas—
fell while protecting her people.
Lori still remembered her smile as she spoke her final words:
"There is only one Archon seat.
If one day we must compete for it…
I would rather die here than make you choose."
Had she truly chosen death to spare him from conflict?
Or was it just a cruel accident of war?
Lori no longer knew.
But one day—
he would ask her himself.
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