Chapter 208: Phantom Thief's Whirlwind Dance

"Furina's" appearance and demeanor were utterly unlike the Furina Neuvillette knew.

"You..." Neuvillette couldn't help but voice his bewilderment.

"Pfft... Hahaha! Did you see that? Neuvillette actually looked shocked!"

Luna smiled beside him. "It's certainly a rare sight."

Neuvillette now realized that the person before him wasn't Furina.

"Who are you?"

"The Hydro Archon Focalors. Yes, the real Hydro Archon Focalors. It seems I successfully deceived you all, except—"

Focalors glanced at Luna and shrugged. "—Miss Phantom Thief here."

The Hydro Archon Focalors? The true Hydro Archon? Neuvillette surveyed his surroundings, and understanding dawned.

Why could the Oratrice make independent judgments?

Why could it convert the people's faith into Indemnitium?

The answer was clear: the true Hydro Archon, Focalors, resided within the Oratrice.

So, Furina was merely an ordinary person afflicted by the Curse?

And the Phantom Thief White Cat, standing beside Focalors, had known from the beginning that the Prophecy was destined to come true...

"When did you two begin working together?" Neuvillette asked.

"Not long ago."

Focalors clasped her hands behind her back and skipped lightly. "Honestly, it gave me quite a fright. I was intentionally guiding Miss Phantom Thief, but I never expected her to catch on so quickly."

"In essence, she's my temporary proxy."

"'Isn't it inappropriate for a sinner to assist a God?' That might be what you're thinking."

Not at all.

But Neuvillette remained silent, listening intently.

"But you already know of the Hydro Archon's sins. I am Egeria's successor, and her loyal vassal."

"By inheriting the Hydro Archon's Divine Throne, I also inherited its corresponding responsibilities and unpaid debts."

"Moreover..."

Focalors lifted her gaze, as if peering through the space toward the distant horizon.

"I'm actively deceiving Celestia itself."

The original sin of the previous Hydro Archon, compounded by the sin of deceiving Celestia.

It was truly sin upon sin.

"Without a doubt, I am an unrepentant sinner."

She smiled brightly at Luna. "Sinners belong together, wouldn't you agree? That's why I shared my plan with her."

"And she knew exactly what to do."

Luna snapped her fingers. "To save Fontaine, we have to outwit Celestia."

The very Prophecy Celestia had issued served as the perfect loophole.

Neuvillette finally understood everything.

"I never expected you to go to such lengths to protect Furina's secret," Focalors chuckled.

Logically, Furina's secret was bound to be revealed during the Judgment.

While its exposure wouldn't jeopardize the Plan itself, Furina's very nature made it impossible for her to continue deceiving everyone indefinitely.

"Because I cherish the beauty she embodies," Luna replied.

"And if her wish is to continue acting until everyone is saved, then I will grant her that wish," Luna added with a gentle smile.

Focalors' gaze softened.

"...Thank you."

"I simply wanted to do it," Luna said, her smile unwavering.

"Oh my, how painfully honest," Focalors teased.

Seeing the lingering question in Neuvillette's eyes, Focalors elaborated:

"The Furina you see is the part of me that separated when I became an Archon."

"Body and spirit, Godhood and humanity—she is the human part of me, but she is far from perfect."

Focalors recalled the Furina she had observed.

"She is cowardly, fearful, arrogant, heartbroken, and tormented."

"She possesses all the virtues of humanity, and all its flaws as well."

"But precisely because of that, she was the most perfect human in my eyes—the ideal 'me' I could never be."

"Then, I cursed her."

Focalors paused. "To complete the plan to deceive Celestia."

To deceive Celestia, a God had to exist.

And Furina was that God's actor.

After weighing her own suffering against the lives of all Fontainians, Furina resolutely chose to protect her people, enduring centuries of solitude and torment alone.

As long as Focalors' Godhood remained, the curse upon Furina would never lift.

Furina would never die, but she could never experience the happiness of an ordinary human.

Neuvillette lowered his head.

"...So she was always just an ordinary person."

"Yes..."

"She didn't have your power."

"No, she didn't."

Focalors clenched her fist. "If I had tainted her with my power, she might have been caught in the crossfire."

Neuvillette: "..."

"Feeling guilty?"

"...Yes. If Furina had continued acting wholeheartedly, what we just did would have undermined her efforts and hopes."

But thanks to her... Neuvillette raised his head.

"You anticipated this outcome, didn't you?" Neuvillette asked Luna.

Luna avoided a direct answer. "It's regrettable that Lady Furina ultimately wept. Though her tears were heartbreakingly endearing."

"Heartbreakingly endearing, yes," Neuvillette agreed, "but also deeply painful."

Focalors murmured, "Fate is such an unreasonable thing. But precisely because she persevered until the end, my plan had a chance to succeed."

"Plan..." Neuvillette murmured.

"Exactly," Focalors nodded. "I fused my Gnosis with the Oratrice."

"And all the Indemnitium energy accumulated over these five centuries was, in truth, prepared for today's execution."

The energy amassed over half a millennium, enough to sustain Fontaine for thousands or even tens of thousands of years, had been concentrated within the Oratrice. Its physical manifestation, perhaps...

Luna lifted her gaze to the sword suspended in mid-air.

Perhaps it was this "Sword of Judgment."

The Oratrice, a machine designed to slay the God of Justice.

"Only such immense power could shatter the established order of the Seven Archons of Teyvat, shake the rules decreed by Celestia, and destroy the Hydro Archon's Divine Throne."

"Only then could the Authority of the Hydro Archon be returned to you, Monsieur Neuvillette, the current Hydro Dragon Sovereign."

Focalors smiled mischievously.

Only by restoring the Authority of the Ancient Dragons to Neuvillette, allowing him to become a complete dragon, could the crisis facing Fontaine be resolved and the nation truly saved.

Neuvillette remained silent.

In other words, everything Focalors had done was solely for the sake of sacrificing herself?

"If that's the case..."

Focalors closed her eyes.

"Stealing the power of the Primordial Sea is Fontaine's Original Sin."

"Yet, transcending all notions of right and wrong, the very birth and existence of Fontainians as human beings constitutes Fontaine's Original Justice."

"In other words, 'existence' itself is Egeria's justice... and for me, justice means 'survival'."

"Breaking the prophecy and ensuring the survival of the Fontainians must now be the paramount justice."

Focalors smiled serenely.

"Chief Justice Neuvillette, once you reclaim the full power of the Elemental Dragons, what judgment will you render upon us?"

Neuvillette remained silent for a long moment.

How cunning, he thought. Focalors knew perfectly well that having uncovered the complete truth, he could no longer pronounce a guilty verdict.

"And Miss Phantom Thief..."

Focalors gently took Luna's hand.

"I entrust Furina to you," she said, squeezing Luna's palm lightly.

"Your justice is as unwavering as any will. I believe that by your side, Furina will surely find her own happiness."

Focalors' hand was warm and soft. Though she looked exactly like Furina, her smile radiated boundless gentleness.

Is this what a god is like?

Luna's crimson eyes, hidden behind her mask, reflected Focalors' smile.

Then, Luna parted her lips.

"Forgive me, but I must decline."

"Hmm?"

Luna pinched a card and offered it to Focalors.

"What's this?"

Neuvillette's eyes widened slightly. An Announcement letter?

What is she planning?

Focalors took the letter and read aloud:

"To the God of all waters, all lands, all peoples, and all laws—the true Hydro Archon, Focalors. The world is filled with countless forms of justice, but none of them concern me."

"Good and evil, right and wrong, justice and sin... Drama loves to explore these themes, but for me, there is only one stage I desire."

"—A stage overflowing with treasure."

"When the end arrives, I will claim your sins and your future, becoming the absolute protagonist of this grand spectacle."

"Whether human or god, all shall serve as my audience."

The more Focalors read, the harder she found it to suppress her astonishment.

Claim my sins and my future?

She looked up, ready to demand an explanation, only to see Luna reach into her chest.

"Ugh!" A flicker of pain crossed Focalors' face.

Neuvillette instinctively lunged forward, ready to intervene.

"Please don't move, Mr. Neuvillette," Luna warned. "Or I can't guarantee what will happen to our lovely Hydro Archon."

Neuvillette froze, his voice sharp with suspicion. "What are you planning?"

The advance notice meant Phantom Thief White Cat had planned this meticulously. He had assumed she was merely trying to help Focalors and Furina, but now it seemed she had ulterior motives.

"What am I planning?" Luna retorted, withdrawing her hand. Focalors collapsed to the ground, completely drained of strength.

To Neuvillette's eyes, the aura radiating from Luna had undergone a radical transformation. No longer human, but... divine?

"You... stole the Hydro Archon's Authority?" Neuvillette exclaimed in disbelief. Had Phantom Thief White Cat become the Hydro Archon?

[Steal (LV: 5/5): There is no limit to the number of items you can steal from a target. You can directly seize their power, even if they are a god.]

Luna savored the surge of the Hydro Archon's Authority within her, finding the sensation surprisingly novel.

"Celestia can steal the Authority of your Ancient Dragons," she continued. "And Focalors herself wanted to return it to you."

"If it's something that can be exchanged so easily, there's no reason I couldn't steal it, right?"

Focalors coughed, her voice weak. "Wait... Luna..."

Luna?

Neuvillette stared intently at Luna's mask.

"Phantom Thief White Cat is Luna, and Luna is Phantom Thief White Cat... So everyone was deceived by you?" he murmured.

Luna smiled. "Not only were you all deceived before, but you're being deceived right now too."

"I'm afraid, Miss Focalors, my true target was you all along."

Luna stepped back a few paces.

Neuvillette immediately rushed to Focalors' side and helped her up.

"Cough... I thought our goals were aligned," Focalors gasped.

Luna turned, her tone light and airy. "Aligned? Hardly. You saw me as an accomplice, but I never saw it that way."

You shouldn't have expected anything from me, Focalors.

"Your part in this play is over, Miss Focalors."

Now it's my stage.

"This will be a drama no one could have foreseen!"

The Phantom Thief who leaps onto this stage will become the absolute protagonist, shattering and rewriting the entire story, seizing Fate itself into her own hands.

"Enjoy the show—Where Sin and Punishment End!"

The final performance is about to begin!

-

Gasp! She stole her "heart"?! (⊙ _ ⊙ )