Although she protested, Miko also understood that Venti, as the Anemo Archon, embodied exactly what a god of freedom should be.
For a free, unrestrained god to send an invitation with such solemn wording, and to specifically state that Makoto, Ei, the Shogun, and Scaramouche all needed to go, it had to be important.
Miko began thinking about what those four had in common.
Makoto and Ei were gods. The Shogun possessed power no weaker than Ei's, and Scaramouche had once become a god as well.
That had to be the connection between them.
They were all gods, or had once been gods.
Once she realized that, Miko stopped saying anything.
After thinking for a moment, Ei said to Makoto, "There isn't much time left before Liyue's Lantern Rite. We definitely won't make it by boat. Let's fly there directly."
"What about me?" Scaramouche asked. "That Lora already drained the divine power from my body. I can't fly that far."
"Then the Shogun can carry you," Makoto quickly offered.
Scaramouche: "Am I cargo?"
"Close enough," the Shogun said with a nod from the side.
"How about we go outside and fight?" Scaramouche looked at her and issued a challenge.
The Shogun shook her head. "I won't fight."
"So you know you can't beat me?" Scaramouche looked a little proud. "Good. After all, I am older than you..."
"I'm afraid I would beat you to pieces." The Shogun looked at him very seriously. "Kunikuzushi, don't forget. I am a god."
Scaramouche: "..."
As if he had never been a god!
Ah!
Aaaaah!
"And don't call me that name!"
"Kunikuzushi! Don't be so rude!" Ei glared at him in warning.
After everything was arranged, Makoto led the group off toward Liyue. The Shogun grabbed Scaramouche by the collar and dragged him through the sky, while he stared at the sea rushing backward beneath his feet with a look of utter despair.
Today, the waters outside Inazuma were silent.
...
Meanwhile, inside Snezhnaya Palace.
The Tsaritsa sat upright on her throne. The cold inside the palace was piercing, and blue dominated the entire space. In the vast hall, the Fatui Harbingers stood in two rows on either side, watching the green-clad bard in the center together with their queen.
"Barbatos, have you come to take back your Gnosis?" the Tsaritsa asked.
Her voice was as cold and cutting as ice that had lasted ten thousand years, without emotion or the slightest fluctuation.
The Harbingers all looked extremely serious as they stared straight at Venti. If he said yes, they looked ready to rush him all at once.
Hearing that, Venti smiled and shook his head. "Of course not. I already gave you the Gnosis, and it wouldn't be much use even if I took it back. Besides, you know very well that a Gnosis isn't all that useful to us."
Some of the Harbingers did not look pleased when they heard this.
They had gone to great lengths to retrieve the Gnoses, only for Venti to describe them as not very useful. Naturally, that did not sit well.
"Then why are you here?" the Tsaritsa asked with a frown. "We have not spoken in five hundred years."
In truth, even Venti's arrival today had been abrupt. He had swept through Snezhnaya like a gale, passed every guard, and appeared directly before her. The Harbingers had only arrived afterward.
Venti looked at her and said, "I came to deliver an invitation."
"An invitation?" Her frown deepened.
He nodded. "An invitation for you to attend Liyue's Lantern Rite."
"Lantern Rite?" The Tsaritsa looked at him coldly. "You should understand that I cannot possibly accept such an invitation."
"A lot of people will be going. Lora, Makoto, Sophia..." Venti listed the attendees one by one.
"Sophia?" The Tsaritsa looked a little confused when he suddenly mentioned a name she had never heard.
Venti explained, "Greater Lord Rukkhadevata."
"She... Wasn't she..." A flicker of astonishment crossed the Cryo Archon's eyes when she heard that.
Venti smiled. "Have you forgotten Lora? She is the Heart of the Primordial Sea, with life force far greater than yours or mine. For her, extracting a god's information from the Ley Lines and reconstructing everything about that god is not impossible."
"What about Mavuika?" the Tsaritsa asked again.
Hearing the question, Venti sighed. "She won't be coming. You know how she is. She still hasn't settled things with that Dragon Sovereign, so she won't leave Natlan."
Before coming to Snezhnaya, Venti had already gone to Natlan, but the Pyro Archon's situation was rather special, so she could not attend.
"And how are you so certain I will go?" the Tsaritsa asked.
"Aren't you trying to rebel against the Heavenly Principles? I don't think you'll miss this gathering." Venti looked at her, then at the Harbingers around them. "If you want to overturn their order, your power is still too weak."
The Harbingers frowned after Venti called them weak.
"You actually dare to say such things so openly?" the Tsaritsa asked, surprised.
"The Heavenly Principles are asleep, and the Sustainer is slowly dying. Why wouldn't I dare?"
Venti showed no fear at all.
The Tsaritsa remained silent and did not say whether she accepted his invitation.
Venti tossed it toward her. The wind carried it forward, and then he said, "I'll leave this here. The address and time are written on it. When the time comes, just head over."
After saying that, he turned to leave.
Some Harbingers tried to step forward and stop him, but none of them moved faster than Venti.
In the blink of an eye, he vanished before everyone's eyes, leaving only a faint trace of Anemo energy drifting away.
"Hmph... Rude bard," the Tsaritsa said slowly, looking at the invitation floating before her.
"Your Majesty, should I go capture the Anemo Archon?" one of the Harbingers asked.
She shook her head. "No. Unless he lets you catch him, you will not be able to. All of you may withdraw."
Then she turned toward Il Capitano.
"As for you, Capitano, you will soon be setting out for Natlan, correct?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," Il Capitano answered with a nod.
The Tsaritsa said to him, "Mavuika is a god whose mind is filled entirely with battle. If you want to obtain her Gnosis, schemes and tricks will be useless. Only battle can earn her acknowledgment."