The day after the dragon disaster, the sky had already returned to clear.
Knowing what had happened, Victor Wang sighed inwardly. It seemed that Amber, Lisa, Kaeya, and Lumine had led the squad to break the power nodes of Stormterror at the three Four Winds temples overnight.
According to the plot's progression, today would be the time for Stormterror's lawyer—Venti—to present his defense.
He had planned to finish reading the Adventurers' Guild's morning bulletin and then go to Windrise Plaza to join the fun, but upon arriving at the Guild, Victor Wang was surprised to hear the sounds of battle coming from outside the city.
He walked out of the city gates and approached Mondstadt Bridge, only to be stopped by the Knights of Favonius' guards.
"Hello. Taking advantage of Stormterror's attack, those despicable Abyss Order mages and Hilichurls are causing trouble too. It's not safe outside the city right now, please don't leave the walls for the time being."
"Even Hilichurls dare attack Mondstadt now?"
"It started last night. The offensive was even fiercer back then. But Mondstadt only has this one exit—it's easy to defend and hard to attack."
Victor Wang stood on tiptoe, trying to peer past the end of the bridge, but all he could see was the Knights of Favonius stationed heavily on the span. Anything beyond was unclear.
"Can I climb up the city wall to take a look?"
"Uh..." Swan had never received such a request. To be honest, this was the first time in his life he'd seen Hilichurls laying siege to the city, so he could understand Victor Wang's curiosity.
"As long as I don't leave the city, right?"
Swan exchanged a look with his fellow guard, Lawrence. "Alright. Just be careful."
"Don't worry, I'm an adventurer."
Right in front of Swan and Lawrence, Victor Wang scaled the walls of Mondstadt. As expected, his view widened considerably.
Hilichurls generally gave off a sense of disorder—no structure, no discipline. As Victor Wang's former boss would have said, "That's a gang. A real team has organization and discipline."
But the Hilichurls currently laying siege had a faint sense of teamwork about them.
At the far end of Mondstadt Bridge, a dense swarm of Hilichurls covered the area. At the border between them and the Knights, bursts of elemental light occasionally exploded—that must've been the Knights wielding their Visions.
With a Vision, cutting down Hilichurls was as easy as slicing melons. But the Hilichurls showed no fear, charging in with wild abandon.
Victor Wang noticed two Abyss Mages behind the Hilichurl ranks—one clad in red, one in blue—acting like overseers, directing the Hilichurls to trade their lives for the Knights' stamina.
No wonder the Hilichurls were displaying such cohesion and intellect. Why not just establish a Hilichurl nation, then? Turned out, they were being manipulated by the Abyss Mages.
I'm a Hilichurl now too. If I run into an Abyss Mage, would I be controlled too?
Being a Hilichurl is really tough...
And what about those soldiers? If they knew Hilichurls were once humans, what would they think?
Shaking his head, Victor Wang dismissed his thoughts.
That's just ordinary war, isn't it? If someone attacks your home, of course you strike back.
But Hilichurls can resurrect. Ordinary people die for real. Sorry, Hilichurls... I hope you lose.
With that thought, Victor Wang wanted to see what Hilichurl corpses looked like. He discovered that newly fallen Hilichurls just collapsed onto the ground, while older corpses gradually turned into black smoke and drifted into the sky.
"And then they go to that dark stream? Could that be the Yellow Springs, or the River Styx?"
He recalled his own post-death experience: the faint sound of flowing water, and Alice's comment that the true essence of the undying curse was being rejected.
A bit dramatic, but it's like being beyond the Five Elements, outside the Six Realms, leaping free of reincarnation.
"How could that be possible?"
Victor Wang chuckled at his own imagination. Could it be that Hilichurls are actually perfect beings?
As for what lay beneath Teyvat, the only thing he could think of with his current knowledge was the ley lines.
Climbing back down from the wall, Victor Wang asked Swan about the Knights' casualties.
"Ordinary Hilichurls are handled by regular soldiers. The Mitachurls and Samachurls are dealt with by those with Visions. So far, there have been injuries but no fatalities among the Knights. Rest assured, we'll protect Mondstadt!"
Lawrence chimed in, "It's surprising that yesterday's storm only caused minor property damage. That massive tornado didn't even destroy a single building."
Victor Wang pressed, "Were there any casualties during the storm?"
"Rumor has it someone was swept into the sky, but then floated safely back down."
"Must have been the Archon's blessing."
Victor Wang nodded. That must've been Venti's doing. As the Anemo Archon, how could he remain indifferent while his people were hurt?
"That golden-haired traveler who drove away Stormterror—could they be the Archon's incarnation?"
"I can't accept that. No way our Archon is a blonde girl!"
"Then who else could've driven Stormterror away?"
"Hmph, it's just that there wasn't enough time. If Acting Grand Master Jean had gone out, she could've done it too."
"Which brings us to Mondstadt's true strongest force—"
Seeing the two guards start to bicker, Victor Wang offered his own thought. "Have you considered that the golden-haired girl might be the Archon's follower—or at least received their help?"
"Hmm…"
"That makes some sense. So, it was Lord Archon who intervened."
By the time Victor Wang made it to Windrise Plaza, Venti's performance had long ended. He was too late, and ended up sitting around the plaza the entire morning...
At 6:30 that evening, as he walked through an alley back to the inn, Victor Wang sensed movement behind him. Before he could react, someone bumped into him, sending him stumbling.
Thankfully, he managed to keep his balance—otherwise he'd have fallen flat on his face. Victor Wang was quite annoyed.
But the one who bumped into him spoke first. "What's your problem? Can't you watch where you're going?!"
Victor Wang turned around and saw a suspicious figure dressed in black with a black mask lying on the ground, clutching an oval-shaped package.
"You bumped into me, and you're the one yelling at me?"
"You break what's inside this, and not even a hundred lives would be enough to repay!" The masked man seemed extremely anxious about the contents of the package. He sat on the ground, inspecting it closely. Once he confirmed it was undamaged, he carefully wrapped it back up.
"Ay—my back..." The man groaned as he stood with help from the wall, then pointed a finger in Victor Wang's face. "If I didn't have business to attend to, I'd make you pay my medical bills!"
Victor Wang could tell—though he didn't have any elemental powers, his physical strength was above average. At least stronger than this guy.
"Dressed like that, and you expect me to believe you're a good guy? Medical bills? Wait right here. I'll go fetch the Knights and see who they arrest—you or me."
A flash of venom passed through the black-clad man's eyes. "You'll regret this!" he spat, then ran off.
"If I weren't worried about messing up the plot, I'd have handed you over to the Knights myself."
Victor Wang had caught a glimpse of what was inside the man's package, and he felt a bit puzzled.
In the game, it was the Electro Cicin Mage who stole the Skyward Lyre. But this was a man. Could his presence have caused some kind of butterfly effect?
With Mondstadt Bridge sealed off, perhaps the Electro Cicin Mage only stole the lyre, and someone else was assigned to smuggle it out? If so, this guy could be the Fatui's designated swimmer.
"If it had been the Cicin Mage who bumped into me, I wouldn't mind one bit. But alas…"
He sighed. The lyre's fate would naturally be resolved by Diluc. Victor Wang had no intention of interfering with the main plot.
First, the information gap was his only advantage.
Second, the Geo and Anemo Archons were still manageable, but the Electro Archon was reclusive, the Dendro Archon trapped, the Hydro and Pyro Archons had their own issues, and the Cryo Archon—don't even mention her. If the main story changed, his path to adulthood might stall forever at the Geo Archon's arc.
With those two points in mind, Victor Wang had no energy to meddle with the storyline.
Meanwhile, the masked man vaulted a wall and reached Mondstadt's side gate, where he rendezvoused with a contact at Dawn Winery's dock.
"What took you so long?"
"Ran into a bit of trouble. But I got the lyre."
"This little trinket can threaten Mondstadt?"
"Heh, would Her Ladyship ever be wrong?"
"Whatever. Get on the boat already."
The bespectacled middle-aged man waved at the ferryman, watching as the masked man sailed away.