Five hundred years.
Did she really have to remain in Celestia the entire time?
Lora stared at the contract and fell silent.
This was no different from sentencing her to five hundred years of imprisonment in Celestia.
The Sustainer of Heavenly Principles looked at her and continued, "Outsider, you do not have much time to consider. I no longer have the strength to remain awake. Soon, I will fall into slumber."
"Once I fall asleep, your power alone will not be enough to break Teyvat's laws and allow Egeria to cross into another world to bring back your soul."
That final sentence brought Lora back to herself.
She took a deep breath, nodded, and agreed to the Sustainer's demand. Then she signed her name on the contract.
As ripples spread across its surface, the names Lora and Egeria appeared together.
This contract had been written into the laws of Teyvat.
Lora felt its binding force take hold. For the next five hundred years, she would be unable to leave Celestia. She could only remain here and watch everything in Teyvat from above.
The Sustainer put away the contract. She looked at Lora, seeming as though she wanted to sigh, yet also as though she felt a faint trace of relief.
But she hid it well.
Even Lora, standing right in front of her, did not notice.
"I will fall into slumber. The future of this world, and perhaps the future of humanity, will be entrusted to you," the Sustainer said softly.
She understood her own condition.
She knew that once she fell asleep this time, she might never wake again.
"I have already left the necessary rules behind. When the destined moment arrives, the world's barrier will open, allowing Egeria to reach your world and bring your soul here..."
The Sustainer's voice grew softer and softer until she vanished completely before Lora's eyes, merging into Celestia itself.
Lora was not alone in Celestia.
There were also the Genshin who had ascended there over the years. Not all of them had remained on the island, but after so much time, their numbers had still slowly accumulated.
However, Lora had little to say to them.
With the Heavenly Principles asleep, and the Sustainer no longer able to remain awake, Lora now held the highest authority in Celestia.
"Have I become the acting Sustainer of Heavenly Principles?"
That thought suddenly crossed her mind, and her expression turned rather strange.
In any case, Lora remained in Celestia.
With the laws of the Heavenly Principles binding her, she could not leave.
The Archons of the mortal world were all eager to keep their distance from Celestia, so naturally, none of them knew she existed.
From high above, Lora watched Focalors sink beneath the water. After thinking for a very long time, Focalors finally devised a way to break the curse.
Lora watched her create a persona named Furina, then write a letter inviting Neuvillette to Fontaine to serve as Chief Justice.
Fontaine's five hundred years of history unfolded completely before her eyes.
From Celestia, she witnessed Furina's tireless, solitary performance across those five centuries.
Every performance was one where not a single mistake could be allowed.
Watching it all, Lora fell silent.
Eventually, she could no longer bear to keep watching Fontaine.
After the Khaenri'ah Cataclysm, every nation was licking its wounds.
Lora saw Aether awaken and begin his journey with Dainsleif, only to eventually choose to join the Abyss Order and become its Prince.
The Abyss Order's goal was to use the power of the Abyss to overthrow the order of the Heavenly Principles, then rely on that same power to maintain Teyvat's stability.
In the end, they were also trying to save Teyvat.
But they had overlooked one thing.
The lives of Teyvat were fundamentally resistant to the power of the Abyss.
Because of that, the Abyss Order became an enemy in everyone's eyes.
High above in Celestia, Lora watched five hundred years of history pass beneath her.
And as time flowed on, those five hundred years passed in the blink of an eye.
From Celestia, Lora saw the radiance of the Harvisptokhm.
She saw Egeria's Divine Sense awaken.
As expected, Egeria had already forgotten many things. But she still remembered that she had to find someone from beyond the world to save everything.
Egeria tried to open a passage beyond Teyvat, and the power left behind by the Sustainer helped her tear open that path, allowing her to reach the world where Lora lived and bring Lora's soul to Teyvat.
The Lora in Celestia watched as the new Hydro Archon and the heart of the Primordial Sea were born before her eyes.
Watching herself like this felt indescribably strange.
However, because the Sustainer's power had been mixed into the process, the first Lora who came from another world was born in Celestia.
That would not do.
Lora looked at her other self, who had yet to wake up.
Then she walked over, aimed at a spot below Celestia, and kicked her past self down.
She watched that past self fall from the sky and land in front of Lumine and Paimon, then smoothly join them.
Watching Lora's actions in Teyvat felt like watching her own past unfold again.
It was an incredibly peculiar feeling.
Eventually, she saw her other self arrive in Fontaine, carry out the plan, and disappear before her children's eyes.
Lora's memories of those events ended there, so she had no idea what happened afterward.
And the moment the Lora in Fontaine vanished, the restrictions placed on Celestia by the contract disappeared completely.
Lora could finally enter and leave Celestia freely.
...
After everything ended, Fontaine's reconstruction progressed quickly with strong support from Liyue and Sumeru.
Since the flood had caused no casualties, order was gradually restored.
Because of this incident, the people of Fontaine also learned the whole truth.
Countless people mourned the loving mother who had given the Fontainians life, then sacrificed herself for them once again.
As the Hydro Archon, Focalors should have taken charge of Fontaine afterward.
But with Lora gone, she no longer had the heart for it.
She entrusted Fontaine's affairs to Neuvillette once more. Of course, Chaya also stayed in Fontaine for the time being to help set the nation back on track.
The Hydro Gnosis had already been handed over to Tartaglia.
As for the Electro Gnosis and the Anemo Gnosis, their respective gods simply tossed them to The Knave.
Both the Anemo Archon and the Electro Archon said those things were useless and might as well be given away.
After becoming a complete dragon, Neuvillette also obtained the memories of the original Hydro Dragon Sovereign.
Faced with so many gods, by all rights, he should have begun a war between the Dragon Sovereigns and the gods.
But the moment he thought of Lora, he lost all desire to do so.
The Dragon Sovereigns' true enemy was the Heavenly Principles.
The gods, too, were victims of the order imposed by the Heavenly Principles.
However, when Neuvillette learned that Chaya, the acting Chief Justice who had worked beside him for so many days, was actually the supposedly dead Rex Lapis, he fell silent.