"W-What… what are you talking about?!"
Seeing this scene, Paimon's brain practically started smoking.
"Heh…"
Hearing Signora's tone, Zhongli let out a faintly disdainful chuckle.
"The contract has been fulfilled."
"As agreed, I shall grant you what was promised."
With that—
He raised his hand.
A chess-piece shaped gem appeared, floating in his palm.
The Geo Archon's Gnosis.
Paimon was completely stunned.
Her eyes widened as she stared blankly at the glowing object in Zhongli's hand.
"Hmph… such a condescending tone."
Signora crossed her arms and snorted.
"Rex Lapis… is Zhongli?!"
Lumine stared at him in disbelief.
Even she could finally piece it together now.
Qiu Nian.
Zhongli.
The two of them had been acting from the very beginning.
And Zhongli—who was clearly Rex Lapis himself—had even organized the Rite of Parting.
"For you…?"
"You're the Geo Archon?!"
Paimon gasped.
In Xuehua's livestream—
"Zhongli really is Rex Lapis!"
"I like him even more now!"
"One Qiu Nian, one Zhongli—both of you are ridiculously powerful!"
Xuehua shouted excitedly.
She wasn't that shocked, though.
Many players had already guessed Zhongli's identity.
The chat exploded.
[WAIT… ZHONGLI REALLY IS THE GEO ARCHON?!]
[So Childe was right—he actually faked his death]
[Man literally attended his own funeral]
[The real question is how he kept from laughing the entire time]
[True acting veteran]
[Qiu Nian/Guixu: kids, I've been carrying two huge accusations]
[One for assassinating the Geo Archon]
[Another for stealing the Gnosis]
[LMAO]
[Why is Signora talking to the Geo Archon like that??]
[Yeah I already disliked her since the Venti scene]
"But… even if that's shocking…"
"W-Why would you give your Gnosis to the Fatui?!"
Paimon stammered.
"It was not a gift."
"It was a transaction bound by contract."
"This matter concerns only myself and the Tsaritsa."
Zhongli turned slightly toward Paimon and answered calmly.
At this moment—
Lumine looked at him with clear anger.
The entire time they had traveled together preparing the Rite of Parting.
Her goal had been to find Rex Lapis.
Zhongli had known that.
She had even fought Childe to protect the Gnosis.
And in the end—
Zhongli was Rex Lapis himself.
He organized his own funeral.
Then calmly handed his Gnosis to the Fatui.
She had been played the whole time.
"Your reasoning… makes no sense to me."
"And why did you fake your death?"
Lumine asked sharply.
Xuehua laughed softly in her stream.
"Look at Lumine's expression."
"She's seriously angry."
Since the parallel-world version of the game had full voice acting, the emotion in Lumine's voice was obvious.
The chat agreed.
[Anyone would be mad after getting played like that]
[I tried imagining myself as Lumine and I'd be furious]
[Angry Lumine is cute though]
"Yeah! Your fake death was way too much!"
"We were all preparing the ceremony to welcome you!"
"Then suddenly—BAM! A dragon falls from the sky!"
"And Liyue Harbor falls into chaos and almost faces disaster!"
Paimon complained.
"Heh…"
"Gathering the undercurrents beneath the surface…"
"Pressuring them to their limits before letting them burst…"
"Isn't that exactly what he wanted to observe?"
Signora said with a faint smile.
Zhongli stepped forward.
"I shall explain it myself."
He faced Lumine and Paimon.
"As you know, I have lived for over six thousand years."
"I founded Liyue with the adepti 3,700 years ago."
"Even the strongest stone…"
"…will eventually erode under the flow of time."
"I simply convinced myself that the day the cracks appeared had not yet come."
He paused briefly.
"Until one rainy day."
"I was walking through the harbor and overheard a merchant praising his subordinate."
Zhongli looked slightly upward.
"You have completed your duty."
"Now… go and rest."
"At that moment…"
"I stood among the passing crowd for a long time."
"And asked myself a question."
"Have I already fulfilled my duty?"
His voice carried a faint trace of exhaustion.
"Zhongli…"
Paimon murmured softly.
Even Lumine's anger softened.
"But when I began considering whether I should step down from the divine seat…"
"I realized there were still many reasons binding me here."
"Liyue—the land that has long walked alongside its god."
"Is it ready to enter a new era?"
"I needed an opportunity to observe it carefully."
"And only then decide."
"So…"
"I arranged this false death."
"And drew Childe, the adepti, and the Liyue Qixing into a single storm of chaos."
Xuehua sighed quietly.
"Three thousand seven hundred years of work…"
"No wonder he's tired."
"Honestly, retiring makes sense."
The chat reacted as well.
[Translation: he wants retirement]
[The god of contracts has discovered the art of slacking]
[Jokes aside, Zhongli protected Liyue his whole life]
[Yeah… you kind of feel bad for him here]
"So… was it a good ending?"
"And if things had gone wrong…"
"You had a backup plan, didn't you?"
Lumine asked.
"That is precisely why…"
"I kept the Gnosis until now."
Zhongli nodded.
"So if everything had spiraled completely out of control…"
"You would have stepped in personally and used divine power to suppress the vortex god?"
Paimon asked.
"Of course."
"And for him…"
"That would be effortless."
Signora answered calmly.
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