"I was just saying it as a passing thought." Furina waved her hand dismissively, her tone light. "Don't be so tense."
"While the Five-Nation Alliance is powerful, they aren't idle enough to come all the way to Fontaine to cause us trouble. To be honest, I have no confidence in dealing with them."
She thought back to the intelligence reports filtering in from Liyue. Dragon Cavalry, thermal weapon units, heavy cavalry, light infantry... they had suppressed a god without suffering a single casualty. In the depths of her heart, Furina felt that if she were to face them herself, she would be crushed in minutes. She was no First-Generation Archon; once she left Fontaine, her power was at most that of a mid-level god, or perhaps even less. If they had manhandled Osial, what chance did she have? Not to mention, how many gods were on their side now? Zhongli alone was equal to four top-tier gods, and Venti, if he were serious, wasn't far behind. Ei, the Tsaritsa, Azhdaha... every single one of them was a top-tier combatant.
The elite and foundational strength of the Five-Nation Alliance had thoroughly eclipsed all of Teyvat. Yet, Furina still didn't think it mattered. In the war five hundred years ago, the participants were no less powerful than the current alliance. Even so, wasn't Khaenri'ah still crushed?
The Heavenly Principles could not be disobeyed. This was an absolute creed in Furina's heart. Therefore, she had no interest in the Five-Nation Alliance. The more united they became, the more brutal the suppression would be when the Heavenly Principles eventually awakened. She stretched, changed her posture, and waited to watch the show. "Let the Heavenly Principles handle such headaches."
Neuvillette looked up at her in silence for a long moment before asking quietly, "Do you truly think that when the war begins, Fontaine can remain above the fray?"
"I never said that." Furina smiled, a touch of helplessness in her voice. "If the war starts, the Heavenly Principles will surely force me to fight, just as she forced me five hundred years ago. She may not fear the combined strength of the Geo Archon and the others, but I would surely die. If things go poorly, Fontaine itself could be buried by the Alliance."
"Though I am too lazy to get involved in these affairs, it doesn't mean I am unaware of their strength. It is no exaggeration to say that if Liyue mobilized a thousand Dragon Cavalry and I did not intervene, Fontaine would fall within three days."
Neuvillette frowned. "And if you did intervene?"
Furina arched a brow, nonchalantly replying, "If I intervened? In a day, Fontaine would be reduced to nothing in a day."
"Why?" Neuvillette massaged his brow, looking distressed.
Furina answered candidly, "Do you take those Archons for fools? The Geo Archon, the Anemo Archon, the Electro Archon, the Dendro Archon, the Cryo Archon, Azhdaha, the God of Dust... not to mention countless adepti and demonic subordinates. If I make a move, a one-day fall is the most optimistic scenario. You don't actually think I can defeat those monsters, do you?"
"Get it through your head!" Furina spread her hands, annoyed. "They are either First-Generation Archons who earned their fame in the Archon War, or they are pure, top-tier gods. What do you expect me to fight them with? If the Geo Archon wants me dead, I couldn't survive a hundred moves. You know that Liyue even suppressed Osial using human strength just a few months ago, right? Rumor has it they even captured a god from the Dark Sea to use as a research subject. Do you take me for the Heavenly Principles?"
Neuvillette fell silent, troubled. "Then how can you be sure the Heavenly Principles can handle them? Why don't we forge an alliance with them?"
Furina paused. After a long moment, she spoke with a tone of quiet melancholy. "Because that is the Heavenly Principles... You haven't seen her move, so you don't understand. To her, the number and strength of gods make no difference. I have never believed the Five-Nation Alliance has any chance of victory against the Heavenly Principles. If so, what is the point of joining them?"
As she finished, Neuvillette said in a deep voice, "But what is the point of not joining? When the war begins, you don't think Fontaine can stay out of it, do you?"
"I have no such illusions." Furina waved her hand. "I just think that if we don't participate, Fontaine might suffer heavy losses, but at least we might preserve a spark of our civilization. Participating on either side will only lead to total destruction. You wouldn't want to turn into a Hilichurl, would you?"
Neuvillette sighed. "A disaster for no reason..."
"In the end, it is simply because we are too weak." Furina laughed softly. "Don't worry about the Five-Nation Alliance. It has nothing to do with us. We have our own mess to clean up. The old Hydro Archon's faction is still active from time to time; we have no time to meddle in other affairs. As for the Alliance and the Heavenly Principles... for us, it is an irresistible vortex from which there is no escape."
"Let's take it one step at a time. Now..." Furina perked up, looking at Neuvillette with a smile. "The trial continues. Let us enjoy this impartial judgment! Justice, from this!"
Neuvillette sighed inwardly, gathered his thoughts, and gently tapped the small hammer on the table. "The fourth fair trial of the day, begin!"
The doors of the hollow court swung open, and it was soon packed. Yet, the silence of the court remained unbroken. It became even more deathly quiet. Furina stared eagerly at the court below, looking radiant. Compared to the existential crisis of the war between the Alliance and the Heavenly Principles, a fair trial was what she truly looked forward to.
In the MC world, Zhongli and the others were unaware of Furina's thoughts. If they knew she was still stubbornly convinced of the invincibility of the Heavenly Principles, even Zhongli might have laughed out loud.
The Heavenly Principles?
While the objective of the Five-Nation Alliance did include the Heavenly Principles, fighting them was no longer the primary goal. The development of civilization, the burning of its seeds, and the journey toward the stars, that was what they truly wanted. As for the Heavenly Principles... if she wanted to fight, they would accommodate her. Whether it was the gods of Celestia or the Heavenly Principles themselves, they could handle it. If all else failed, Ryen could just give the Heavenly Principles a slap.
Although news of the Otherworld had spread far and wide in Liyue, the true foundation of the Five-Nation Alliance had been kept secret. Even if the whole world knew the Alliance was based on Otherworld cooperation, could they imagine just how strange and mysterious that world really was? Could they imagine that there was truly someone who could flip the continent of Teyvat with pure physical strength? If Ryen chose to join the fight, there was never any possibility of defeat from the start.
Furina seemed to have forgotten something. She was not the only one who had seen the Heavenly Principles strike with her full power; Zhongli and the others had seen it too. But why, knowing they were potentially outmatched, had they formed the Alliance?
Furina simply didn't understand Zhongli. With his cautious nature, how could he have publicly formed an organization to oppose the Heavenly Principles without absolute certainty?
The sun in the MC world had climbed to the center of the sky. It was approaching noon. After a morning of sailing, the shadow of the New Continent had begun to appear in the mist. In this world, there was no such thing as "seeing the mountain but never reaching it." Once you saw it, it meant you were already very close. While everyone struggled to wrap their heads around the logic of this, they respected and accepted it. After all, trying to reason with this world was a fool's errand.
Ningguang and the others put away their notebooks. They had been idly chatting with Ryen about the key materials for Witchery development, which would be helpful to keep in mind when exploring the new land.
In the distance, the New Continent occupied the entire horizon. Looking out, one could see an endless expanse of grassland. Seeing this, even though they already understood the unreasonableness of this world, Zhongli couldn't help but comment, "Honestly, I have lived for over six thousand years, and I have never seen a landscape where grasslands grow right up against the sea. It is truly bizarre."
Ryen raised an eyebrow and laughed. "But would you say it's interesting?"
Zhongli gave a bitter smile and nodded. "By the principle of universality, it is indeed quite interesting..."
Cloud Retainer added, "If it is a grassland, landing and exploring will be much more convenient for us."
Madame Ping took out her binoculars and stood up to survey the New Continent. Beidou whispered, "Madame Ping, are you looking for Wizard Towers or similar structures? Don't bother. I've been here before, and there isn't anything related to Witchery within tens of kilometers of the coast."
Madame Ping smiled meaningfully. "That's hard to say... why don't you take another look?"
Beidou paused, hurriedly raised her binoculars, thinking some new buildings might have appeared, but she saw nothing. Seeing this, Madame Ping reminded her, "Don't look at the sky, look at the ground."
"The ground?" Beidou moved her binoculars in surprise, then froze in her tracks. She stood up, beaming. "So many! There are so many!"
"How did I miss them when I explored before?"
Hearing this, the others looked at Beidou curiously. "What did you see?" Ningguang asked.
Beidou lowered her binoculars, her voice buzzing with excitement. "Lots of witches! All red-eyed witches, walking around outside. A rough estimate, at least a dozen! And they are no more than two kilometers from where we are about to land!"
The group could no longer sit still. They grabbed their oars and accelerated toward the New Continent.
Red-eyed witches... while powerful, their wands and spells were strange and unpredictable. But to them, these red-eyed witches were veritable treasure delivery boys. The wands they held and the Witchery sets they wore had a chance to drop upon defeat. While the "Heal" and "Magic Missile" spells were fixed on the Evil Witches, the other three spells were random! What if there was a bizarrely powerful spell among them? Not to mention, Evil Witches dropped spell books.
Exploration of the New Continent and Witchery development would begin with the first wave of resources gathered from these Evil Witches. Aether felt his excitement rising. He turned around and said in a low voice, "Tell all the Khaenri'ahns: speed up to reach the New Continent! We need to secure at least three wands!"
"Understood, Your Highness!"