Severin borrowed the book not to read its contents, but to confirm one thing.
If Celestia had tacitly allowed Barbatos to secretly store Before Sun and Moon—the text he had obtained during his expedition in Enkanomiya—in the underground archive of the library, then there was only one explanation.
The contents of this book were likely false—or at least deliberately misleading.
Otherwise, this forbidden tome should have been destroyed by Celestia long ago. There was no reason it should still exist, let alone be found by Barbatos or anyone else.
Which meant that the truth behind the cataclysmic war of ages past was very likely the opposite of what Teyvat's historians believed.
It wasn't the First Throne that defeated the Second.
It was the Second Throne that crushed the First.
The creator god of Teyvat—the ruler of the First Throne—
Phanes, the Primordial One,
was most likely already dead, slain by the Second Throne.
Arriving at this conclusion, Severin felt deeply unsettled.
That eerie sensation—the feeling of being watched by some vast, terrifying existence—grew stronger by the second.
"Hiding behind theatrics… how tiresome."
Rather than retreat, Severin decided to press forward and use this forbidden book to probe Celestia even further.
If this world truly harbored taboos, then so be it.
He feared none of them.
The Prince of Snezhnaya existed for the sole purpose of shattering such prohibitions.
His gaze shifted to the librarian beside him.
"Miss Lisa. I need to borrow your Vision."
Countless people longed for divine recognition, yearning to be granted a Vision—a sign of the gods' favor and blessing.
To most, a Vision was their most precious possession. Even among family, it was rarely entrusted to another, let alone lent out.
Severin's request, by any measure, was brazen.
But Lisa was not like most people.
Before coming to Mondstadt, she had been a once-in-two-centuries prodigy of the Sumeru Akademiya. After witnessing the obsessive fanaticism of scholars in pursuit of knowledge, she grew profoundly disillusioned. Two years later, she left Sumeru and became a librarian in Mondstadt.
Her studies there had given her a very different understanding of divine power.
Where others rejoiced upon receiving a Vision, Lisa had felt only unease.
A Vision granted elemental power—but at an unknown cost.
And the unknown frightened her… while simultaneously igniting her curiosity.
From that day on, she fashioned her Vision into an elegant necklace, wearing it as an accessory rather than guarding it as a sacred treasure.
"Ah~ Your Highness," Lisa sighed lazily. "You're the first person who's ever asked to borrow my Vision. Since it's not exactly essential, I suppose you can have it. But you'll have to take it off yourself—I can't reach the clasp."
She removed her purple witch's hat, brushed aside her wavy brown hair, and turned her back to him.
Severin stepped closer, working at the clasp behind her neck. A faint, soothing fragrance filled the air.
After a while, Lisa frowned. "Why is it taking so long?"
"Miss Lisa… does the clasp turn left, or right?"
"Ah—haha…"
She covered her mouth, laughter dancing in her eyes, as though she had uncovered a shocking secret.
So the fearsome Prince of Snezhnaya—the man who had left the Knights of Favonius in shambles—didn't know how to undo a woman's necklace.
"Your Highness, you don't twist it. You pull it apart."
With that clarification, Severin finally freed the necklace and let out a quiet breath of relief.
Frankly speaking, this had been harder than slaughtering monsters along the northern border.
"Please step back, Miss Lisa."
"Be careful, Your Highness."
Lisa retreated, fear and anticipation warring in her heart.
If anyone in this world could unravel the secrets behind Visions and forbidden knowledge, it would be Severin.
He held Lisa's Vision in his left hand—still warm from her body—while gripping Before Sun and Moon in his right. Slowly, he aligned them, palm to palm, and activated his Electro power.
Divine lightning surged through him, flowing through the Vision and pouring into the ancient book.
In an instant, Before Sun and Moon erupted in blinding brilliance.
That very day, a pillar of light descended from Celestia—holy and overwhelming—piercing through the thick walls and floor of the Knights of Favonius Library, illuminating the underground chamber.
At the center of that beam stood Severin.
The radiance fell like a tangible waterfall from the heavens, crashing down upon his body with crushing force.
Severin did not yield.
Lisa clapped a trembling hand over her mouth.
The so-called holy light was blood-red—ominous and deeply unsettling.
She had seen something similar in records of the fall of Khaenri'ah.
This was power born of the Heavenly Principles.
She was certain that even brushing against that crimson light would mean instant death.
"Since you have glimpsed the future… why do you not kneel?"
A vast, cold, authoritative female voice echoed down from Celestia.
It was not the white-haired Sustainer.
It was another woman entirely.
Lisa, caught in the shockwave of that divine voice, collapsed unconscious on the spot.
"The past belongs to death. The future belongs to oneself," Severin roared. "I am the future!"
Frost howled as Cryo energy erupted from him, coalescing into an enormous ice dragon that surged upward, charging straight toward the heavens.
"Insects trapped within the circle. False chosen. Disturbers of order—unworthy to live!"
The voice from Celestia burned with fury.
"So the Vision system truly is a conspiracy," Severin sneered. "You herd humanity, screen so-called 'chosen ones'… your crimes are unforgivable!"
Three elemental forces raged within him at once.
Today, he would challenge Celestia itself.
Had Lisa still been conscious, she would have grasped the terrifying implications of his words.
In Teyvat, the Seven never granted Visions.
That authority belonged solely to Celestia.
Every Vision bearer was said to possess the potential to ascend and become a god—hence the title Genshin.
And now Severin had exposed the truth:
the price of using a Vision was eternal observation and selection by Celestia.
In an instant, an apocalyptic aura enveloped Mondstadt.
The clear skies darkened, black clouds swallowing the city as though the end of the world had arrived.
"Still can't get in! No matter how I think about it, this door's impossible!"
A soft, high-pitched voice rang out from beyond the basement door.
"Ugh, hurry up and think of something!"
"The keyhole's way too small! There's no way I can squeeze through!"
"But the core of that Celestia light is definitely in this basement! I have to find out what's going on… maybe there'll be clues about my sister!"
Severin immediately recognized them—
The Traveler Aether, and his companion Paimon.
Before leaving, Severin had instructed the Mirror Maiden to arrange lodging for the Traveler at Goth Grand Hotel. Their appearance here could only mean that Schubert—sent to find them at Good Hunter—had arrived too late.
"Traveler, look! The holy light's fading—it's about to disappear!" Paimon shouted.
Severin felt it too.
The pressure vanished.
The blood-red radiance was withdrawn back into Celestia.
A battle that had been moments away from erupting was halted by the Traveler's arrival.
Was Celestia afraid to fight him outright?
Or deliberately avoiding the Traveler?
Severin had no answer.
He looked down at his right hand.
Before Sun and Moon had turned to ash.
The ashes scattered across the floor, dissolving into countless motes of light that drifted out the window, vanishing into the unknown.
Lisa's Vision, too, was completely destroyed—charred black like a lump of coal.
At times like this, the Delusions gifted by Il Dottore finally proved useful.
Severin stirred Lisa awake with a trace of divine power.
"Miss Lisa. As compensation, feel free to choose any Delusion you like."
Lisa stared at the chest before her, filled with exquisitely crafted Delusions, each unique in design, utterly at a loss.
While she was choosing, Severin opened the basement door.
Facing the travel-worn少年 and the floating fairy, he greeted them calmly.
"Traveler. Paimon. Hello."
Paimon planted her hands on her hips, eyeing him suspiciously. "Hey! How do you know our names? Are you secretly a bad guy?!"
"Mr. Albedo and I spoke briefly earlier," Severin replied. "He mentioned you. If you'd like to know what just happened here, come with me to the Goth Grand Hotel later."
Paimon puffed up, starry light flickering around her. "Hmph! But you don't look busy at all right now!"
Severin lifted his gaze.
It seemed to pierce through the ceiling—through the clouds—toward the faintly shimmering Celestia above.
"I came to the Mondstadt library for two reasons," he said quietly.
"The first is already done. What remains… is the second."
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