Crossover: Monthly Character Templates in the Multiverse Chat Group — Chapter 98

Chapter 98: The Solution!

Furina’s face flushed a brilliant shade of crimson. “What kind of utter nonsense are you spouting? How could Neuvillette possibly be my second uncle?” She threw her hands up in the air, thoroughly bewildered by this sudden, bizarre family tree. Where did he even pull that connection from?

“Think about it logically,” Frez said, his tone perfectly even as he laid out the lore. “The first Hydro Dragon King was born as the heart of the Primordial Sea. Now, although Egeria was created by the Shade of Life, she possesses highly similar abilities. That basically makes her a sister to the first Hydro Dragon King, albeit with different parents.”

He gestured with his hands, speaking with the eloquent confidence of a scholar presenting a thesis. “Following that logic, since the position of Hydro Dragon King was already occupied, Neuvillette could only be born in human form—but he still counts as Egeria’s brother. And you, as Egeria’s creation, can technically be considered her daughter. Calculating it like that, how is he not your uncle?”

“Is… is that right?”

Furina blinked, her eyes darting to the side. She felt a distinct sense that something was horribly off with this deduction, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on the flaw in his logic.

‘No, that can’t be right.’

‘Wait, but mathematically…’

For a long moment, she stood frozen, her left and right brain locked in a fierce, silent battle of denial and acceptance.

Watching her short-circuit, Frez let out a loud laugh. “Alright, alright, you don’t have to think so hard about it. It was just a joke. You two can address each other however you like.”

Furina finally breathed a heavy sigh of relief and shot him a fierce glare. He was truly too wicked. If Neuvillette really were her uncle, how on earth was she supposed to face the Iudex in the future?

Her shoulders slumped as the banter faded, her mind returning to the heavy burden she carried. She remembered the grim plan Frez had outlined earlier. “That plan you mentioned… Focalors shattering the Divine Seat…” Her voice trembled slightly. “…Is there really no way to save her?”

She didn’t want Focalors to die. She wanted a flawless victory—a way to save everyone in Fontaine without sacrificing her other half.

“Not for now,” Frez replied, his expression sobering. “But if the chat group mall updates with something good one day, maybe you can find an item to save her. We can also keep actively looking for a method.”

He tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Maybe at the exact moment the prophecy occurs, her soul can be stored or intercepted. The core of the plan is simply to shatter the Divine Seat and return the Ancient Dragon Authority to Neuvillette, making him a complete dragon. As long as that happens, the method doesn’t matter.”

Frez shifted the topic to the timeline. “Anyway, when the prophecy finally arrives on your side, it will also be exactly when the Traveler arrives in Fontaine. Speaking of which, has the dragon disaster in Mondstadt started yet?”

“It started half a year ago.” Furina, who had been diligently collecting intelligence across the continent, nodded firmly. “The dragon disaster in Mondstadt has been going on for a while now. However, their Grand Master, Varka, led an expedition force away, leaving Mondstadt’s defenses very weak at the moment.”

“Then the Traveler should be arriving there right around this time.” Frez nodded. The dragon disaster didn’t trigger upon the Traveler’s arrival in Mondstadt; it had been an ongoing crisis long before they fished Paimon out of the sea.

Kiana leaned forward, genuine curiosity in her bright eyes. “What does the dragon over there look like? How does it compare to Bella?”

“It definitely can’t beat Benares,” Frez answered without hesitation. “Benares is at least a Judgment-class Honkai Beast; her raw combat power is nothing to scoff at. Dvalin, as the Anemo Archon’s familiar, just isn’t that strong in terms of pure destructive force. He’s probably still in his juvenile stage. I just don’t know if he’s actually a juvenile Anemo Dragon King born locally in Mondstadt or something else.”

“Oh, then it’s not that strong at all,” Kiana said, losing interest.

“The people in Teyvat generally aren’t that strong,” Frez noted, “though they should be stronger than the baseline on Master Yixuan’s side. Of course, I don’t know the deep details of Yixuan’s world.”

Yixuan, who had already changed into a fresh set of clothes, simply waved a hand dismissively. “That kind of power-scaling doesn’t matter to me.”

Furina pulled the ice pack away from her face; the swelling around her eyes had gone down significantly. She looked at Frez with renewed determination. “Are there any other ways to change the prophecy?”

“If only the Divine Seat could be directly transferred to Neuvillette,” Frez mused. “If he became the Hydro Archon, he would directly obtain the Ancient Dragon Authority housed within the seat. But with Neuvillette’s personality, he definitely wouldn’t want to be an Archon. Now, if he were made the God of Melusines, he’d probably jump at the chance.”

Wiš’adel picked up a brightly colored macaron from the table and tossed it into her mouth. “Then why not just find a scapegoat?” she mumbled through the pastry.

A scapegoat?

“Is transferring the Divine Seat actually that easy?” Furina asked, her eyes widening. She had absolutely no memories regarding the mechanics of godhood; she truly didn’t know.

“It seems entirely possible,” Frez said, piecing the lore together. “If the Divine Seat is willingly transferred by the current Archon, it should work. For example, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata passed the Divine Seat to Lesser Lord Kusanali. If you think about it carefully, they are technically the same person, but the transfer still occurred. The Pyro Archon is a human who passes the mantle down continuously, though that’s a special case. And the Electro Archons were twin sisters… yes, the Electro Archon is the perfect example.”

He recalled the Khaenri’ah cataclysm. Ei had rushed to Khaenri’ah only to find Makoto drawing her last breath. Right then and there, the authority shifted, and Ei became the second Electro Archon.

In that case, the replacement of an Archon could absolutely be designated by the predecessor.

“Maybe we can convince Focalors to hand over the position of Hydro Archon to a scapegoat,” Frez suggested, his eyes gleaming with a new plan. “Then, we let the scapegoat die instead. It’s best to complete this transfer some time before the prophecy actually occurs. The chosen target shouldn’t be too weak, either; it’s better if it’s a relatively powerful existence to handle the strain of the seat.”

Furina gripped the edge of the sofa, her heart racing. This was finally some tangible, actionable good news.

If this plan could really succeed, Focalors could survive. The scapegoat would die, the Divine Seat would shatter, and Neuvillette would regain his full power to turn all the Oceanid-humans of Fontaine into true humans. Every single problem would be solved in one fell swoop.

She threw her hands up, unable to contain her joy. “Hooray!”

Yixuan raised a practical question, her calm voice cutting through the celebration. “Then where exactly should we find this scapegoat?”

Seele didn’t miss a beat. “My suggestion is Cocolia.”

Wiš’adel smirked, leaning back in her chair. “I have plenty of candidates over on my side in Terra, okay? Just point me at a Sarkaz mercenary group.”

“Don’t compete over who gets to offer up a sacrifice.” Yixuan stepped forward, giving both Seele and Wiš’adel a light knock on the head, perfectly embodying the role of a strict family elder. She turned to the protagonist. “Frez, what do you think?”

“It’s best to find a local,” Frez said, folding his arms across his chest. “We should be cautious about cross-world interference with something as delicate as a Divine Seat. We just need to find some local scumbag who deserves to die anyway, and let them take the fall in Focalors’ place.”

A specific name already floated to the forefront of his mind. He smirked, a dangerous glint in his eye. “Alright, I’ll go catch them later. I guarantee the person I’m thinking of absolutely deserves to die.”

Hearing that the heavy lifting was handled, Furina slumped back onto the plush sofa like a deflated balloon. Her spirit, strung tight with anxiety for centuries, finally allowed itself a moment of genuine relaxation. “Since Fontaine will be fine until the disaster actually breaks out, I can finally slack off a bit.”

“Wait, what about the rising sea level?”

Kiana tilted her head in confusion. “Are you guys just not going to do anything about the water?”

“Oh right!” Furina shot straight up, lunging forward to grab Frez’s hand. “The sea level in Fontaine has been rising steadily!”

“It’s fine, that will be solved naturally too,” Frez reassured her, patting her hand. “It’s just Fontaine being flooded. We should still respect Celestia’s prophecy in this specific regard so we don’t draw the Heavenly Principles’ attention prematurely. Your best bet right now is to find more Oceanids and bring them back to Fontaine, so you have a rescue squad ready to save people when the floodwaters actually hit.”

People with Visions could breathe underwater without issue, but the ordinary citizens of Fontaine would drown if they weren’t pulled to safety. Gathering Oceanids to act as a massive rescue fleet was the most logical countermeasure.

“But many of the Oceanids fled Fontaine a long time ago,” Furina muttered, her shoulders drooping. “And they don’t listen to me anyway. They didn’t recognize me as the real Archon.”

“I do know the locations of a few Oceanids scattered across Liyue, Mondstadt, and Sumeru,” Frez said, tapping his temple.

Just thinking about Rhodeia of Loch in Qingce Village gave him a phantom headache. The memory of her endless, unskippable dialogue echoed in his mind. ‘The power of water is its ability to take any shape…’

He shuddered slightly. Even if the Heavenly Principles themselves descended upon Teyvat, they’d probably have to stand there and finish listening to Rhodeia’s nagging before they were allowed to leave the arena.

“Frez, let’s go over there together to take a look,” Furina declared, her dramatic flair returning in full force. She puffed out her flat chest, placing a hand on her hip. “We will bring them back to Fontaine! On the surface, I am still the Hydro Archon! They have to listen to me!”