Mondstadt.
It didn't take long at all.
A terrifying low-pressure front swept down from Dragonspine, howling like an enraged ice dragon. The blizzard swept through, covering everything in an extreme, biting frost.
Some people were already freezing to death.
Others shivered uncontrollably.
On this day, the people of Mondstadt remembered—this was what their city had once been like long ago.
It was the Tyrant of the Tower who, with his cyclones, had sheltered the ancestors of Mondstadt's people.
And then!
It was also the people of old Mondstadt who betrayed the Lord of the Tower, embraced a new god, and raised him to the seat of the Archon.
His name: Barbatos.
And it was also Barbatos who, with the power of the Millennium Movement, maintained Mondstadt's eternal spring-like climate, holding back the wind and snow for thousands of years.
Now.
Everything lay shattered.
Houses began to ice over, the ground started to freeze, as if spring itself was being forcibly turned into frozen earth.
More and more people died.
"Why is this happening…" Jean had never felt so weak.
But they couldn't rest yet.
If they didn't bring everyone indoors, light the fireplaces and bonfires, they wouldn't last even half an hour.
Just think about it.
The energy within their bodies was suppressed to its limit.
Forget generating body heat to resist the cold—simply avoiding immediate death from freezing was already a tremendous struggle.
What in the world had happened?
"Lord Barbatos has abandoned us… Hah, hahahaha…"
"Is this the revenge of the Tyrant of the Tower?!"
"Lord Barbatos, have you truly forsaken us?"
"Lord Barbatos…"
Some prayed, some wept bitterly.
Some acted as if they'd gone mad.
But everyone was so drained, it only made the scene more pitiable.
"Oh, give it a rest, all of you… Ah-choo!" Lisa was the typical mage—without her power, she was as fragile as paper, barely hanging on.
Even bundled under several layers of quilts, it wasn't enough.
Damn it! When had she ever been this pathetic? Some people, under the suppression field, couldn't even move.
Others could still manage, at least.
But it was a terrible struggle.
Vision-bearers were still slightly better off than ordinary people.
Otherwise, they'd truly be wiped out completely.
Jean had already sent people to look for Venti.
But no matter how they searched, he was nowhere to be found.
Now they couldn't even figure out what was going on.
She covered her face in agony. But what she didn't know was that Venti was suffering even more.
With all his power stripped away, the tiny wind wisp was like a guttering ember—he'd nearly faded away entirely.
Never mind saving Mondstadt. He could barely maintain his own existence.
He wanted to know what was happening too!
"Could it be…"
Is it the Heavenly Principles?
That's the only possibility. Even if he'd never heard of the Heavenly Principles possessing such power.
That didn't mean they didn't have it.
He could sense it wasn't just Mondstadt—other regions were affected too. It was like someone had flipped a switch, and everything just… shut down.
Old man… save me!
--+--
Over in Liyue.
Zhongli wasn't faring any better.
The good news was that the lingering resentment of the gods within Liyue, including the karmic debt weighing down Xiao, had completely vanished, as if they'd never existed.
However!
The bad news was…
He couldn't even kill a chicken now.
Reduced to a level-zero newbie.
Vision-bearers were rendered useless, no better than Muggles.
Ordinary humans could barely move.
BOOM!
A deafening roar echoed.
Zhongli's face twisted in pain.
The Jade Chamber plummeted from the sky. Even though it crashed into the ocean in the end, it still stirred up a terrifying tsunami.
Submerging most of Liyue Harbor.
"Help… glug glug… sa-save me!"
People were drowning.
Many more in the water lacked the strength to struggle, sinking straight down, giving up entirely.
It pained Zhongli deeply, but there was nothing he could do!
The adepti had all been rendered useless, like dead fish.
Even Mount Tianheng, the Guyun Stone Forest, and the countless stone spears left from the Archon War—the very foundations and mountain ranges that supported Liyue—
Now, they too began to crumble.
It was as if the very earth of Liyue was convulsing.
"Morax…"
The seal on the Overlord of the Vortex, Osial, had failed, but he was so weak he was like a limp toad.
Apart from muttering "Morax," moving even an inch was agony.
That purely elemental beings weren't instantly killed by the suppression field was only because Kiana had shown mercy.
Other nations, while not hit as severely, still suffered greatly.
--+--
Within Inazuma.
On Watatsumi Island, once uplifted by Orobashi's power, it now seemed to lose its foundation, beginning to sink into the sea.
They barely had the strength to scream.
But it couldn't mask the terror in their hearts.
The Tatarigami's corruption had vanished, but the Sacred Sakura had also lost its power.
Without the Sakura's support, vast areas of land began to collapse into sinkholes.
Raiden Ei had been stirred to action.
But she, too, could do nothing.
The Shogun puppet had run out of power, unable to move, and Ei herself had nearly perished within the Plane of Euthymia. She felt that if she'd been weakened just a little more, she would have died for sure.
What kind of power was this?
--+--
Over in Sumeru.
The entire rainforest had been created by the former Dendro Archon, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata.
Without her power sustaining it, the forests began to wither and collapse, turning into yellow sand.
"Heavenly Principles… why?"
Nahida gasped in pain, utterly lost.
--+--
Fontaine couldn't escape either.
Although the people of Fontaine had become true humans…
That was thanks to the power of the Primordial Sea and the blessing of the Dragon Sovereign's authority. Once those powers failed, they could only revert to their original forms.
"I… I've turned into an Oceanid…"
"No! How could this be…"
The only silver lining was that, even as Oceanids, their memories and minds remained intact.
If they'd dissolved completely like those consumed by the sea, that would have been the true nightmare!
"Neuvillette, please, help me!"
"…" Neuvillette's calm eyes were as lifeless as a dead fish.
I'm the Elemental Dragon Sovereign. I'm being specifically targeted here, thank you.
--+--
Meanwhile, in Natlan.
The Abyss had been completely purged. Hooray!
But the extinction of the Sacred Flame and the loss of their ancient blessings also brought great turmoil.
It's rather ironic, isn't it?
Natlan, previously the most troubled of the seven nations, now ended up with the lightest damage and the least impact.
Even if everyone was lying around like corpses, at least the sky wasn't falling, and no major natural disasters struck.
A small blessing in the midst of misfortune.
Only Snezhnaya received special attention.
Especially the Tsaritsa, and those Fatui.
They came closer to death than anyone.
"Heavenly Principles…" The Tsaritsa's exquisite form lay collapsed on the ground.
A picture of misery and despair…
Don't think the suppression field couldn't kill.
Il Dottore—no matter how many segments he had, it was useless.
Besides, in Sumeru, Nahida had compelled him to delete all other segments. In other words, the one here was his one and only self.
It felt like the whole world was against him.
Even the most basic energy needed to sustain life was erased.
He was deader than dead.
Lying there like a dead dog.
Beside him, Pulcinella, Capitano, and others who'd been tainted by the Abyss were targeted even more harshly.
But at least they weren't dead.
Witnessing this, the Tsaritsa felt grief welling up from the depths of her heart. With the Heavenly Principles awake, their plans could be considered utterly ruined.
The Heavenly Principles hadn't even shown themselves, and they were already nearly finished.
So pathetic, so ridiculous—this must be exactly what the Heavenly Principles wanted to see…
We don't even have the strength to end our own lives.
"Heh…"
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
20+ advanced chaps on my patreon.
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